Better Late Than Never: David Axelrod Does Real Time

Bill Maher's second post-election show, the "season finale" before going on a two month hiatus, was loaded with big-time guests. He had Michael Moore and David Frum on the panel, and a late visit from Eric Idle. But the feather in the cap for Maher was Obama's Senior Strategist David Axelrod.

This was significant since Axelrod had been booked to do the show back in March but canceled. The no-show wasn't because of Maher, but rather because of Rush Limbaugh. Follow this logic:

In early March, Rush Limbaugh made the infamous nasty and vicious remarks about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. It became a big media blow-up, which ultimately became political. Conservatives didn't defend Limbaugh's comments, though many (like Mitt Romney) wouldn't denounce them.

And then, since the pendulum had to swing back, the Conservative Entertainment Complex found a false equivalent in Bill Maher. Fox News and others began pulling the most incendiary and offensive clips throughout the history of Maher's program. But here are the main differences between the two:

1) Bill Maher's audience knows he's joking. While many who agree with his politics are offended by his "potty mouth" and vile innuendo, nobody takes his laugh lines too seriously.

But Limbaugh's audience thinks he is the gospel. If he uses off-color characterizations, the ditto-heads are all-in, whether Limbaugh is serious or not. And I tend to think he's not serious.

In fact, I believe that Rush Limbaugh voted for Obama (twice). There's no money in playing the opposition if your audience is the party in power.

2) Bill Maher offers different points of view. While Real Time with Bill Maher is certainly liberally biased, he welcomes opposing views onto the show, and gives them some room.

In 2012, a presidential election year, Maher has a vast array of prominent conservative voices on his panel:

Grover Norquist
Darrell Issa
Ann Coulter
Jack Kingston
Reihan Salam
S.E. Cupp
David Frum

Can you imagine Rush Limbaugh hosting Bernie Sanders, Rachel Maddow, or Paul Krugman?

3) In Bill Maher's own words, "At least I know I'm an asshole." And that is the Mason-Dixon line.

Axelrod, being the strategist that he is, decided that being a lightning rod for the right wing would not be the prudent course in the heat of a reelection campaign. So after the election was over and the goal had been attained, Axelrod and his mustache showed up on location in Hollywood.

You rarely see him as anything other than a talking head, so I was thrown off at how tall and gangly he was. But as always he was professorial, and measured. For the first time, I recognized he was a separated-at-birth twin.

Axelrod's long-awaited appearance on Real Time wasn't particularly psychological. He was polite when Maher tried to corner him on Obama's loath for both Romney and McCain. And when Maher brought up his connection to the campaigns he won for black candidates, calling him "the Robert DeNiro of politics," Axelrod laughed it off saying he just had "good taste" and that Obama is a "great guy." Strategist, indeed.

Backtime Memo-Random: Orlando

I haven't done a game at the Citrus Bowl since New Year's Day, 2002. For the record, Tennessee routed Michigan 45-17. Casey Claussen threw for 393 yards, hitting Kelley Washington, Donte Stallworth, and Jason Witten all over the field.

Now the Citrus Bowl is a relic, kind of a cross between the old Orange Bowl and Legion Field, in the part of town the Magic Kingdom forgot.

But that bowl game isn't what stands out in my memories of Orlando. Neither is my son's Disney World Spring Break meltdown (now why'd you have to go and bring that up?). It's the 1996 NBA Playoffs.

I did five playoff games that spring at The O-Rena, and the games weren't anything really special. The Magic basically had their way with the Pistons (Grant Hill & Allan Houston) and the Hawks (Mookie & Smitty) in the early rounds.

Quick, name Orlando's starting five: There was Shaq and Penny, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, but who was the fifth?

Horace Grant was my favorite in a lineup of standouts. He was the relentless heartbeat of a team that was often questioned for its toughness, back when we wondered if Shaq would ever win a championship.

But before he was with the Magic, he won 3 titles with the Bulls. And when he would throw down an offensive rebound, you'd hear Bulls play-by-play man Jim Durham uncork HOAR-ess GRRANT!

I worked NBA and NCAA games with Jim Durham many years ago. It's a cliche, but he was a great broadcaster and a better guy. He did a lot of radio in recent years, and I had occasion to run into him when I was on the TV side of something. 

I would shake his hand and ask him, one time, to give me a full-throated HOAR-ess GRRANT! He would laugh and give me a half of one. You couldn't blame him for his lack of adrenaline without a live event going on, or an open mic in sight. He was a professional.

Jim Durham died last week at age 65. He was a power forward of broadcasting. RIP JD.

Back On Home Land

This is the picture in my mind when I'm away too long. But my return home wasn't a beautiful Savannah day - it was gray and cold and dreary. My lawn is brown, the paint is peeling, and it looks more like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at high noon.

It didn't help that there wasn't really time to manicure anything. Between conference calls, lunch with the kids, errands, sorting out upcoming travel, setting up a birthday party, filing expense reports, and getting back in the swing at karate class, I only had time for one thing at home:

I figured it was now 9 days after the election and I didn't want to be accused of spiking the football, so I  finally picked the souvenir up off my lawn. I'll just wait by the phone for the Smithsonian to call.

When I settled down tonight I ordered a pizza, cracked open a Stone IPA and got caught up on Homeland. While I think Claire Danes's portrayal of Carrie Mathison is a little overdone, Damian Lewis as Sgt/POW/terrorist/Congressman Nicholas Brody is phenomenally layered and conflicted.

I like the second season better than the first, as the intrigue of Brody being a double agent is really reaching a boiling point. But there's still silly romance and family drama. If I'm going to watch a soap opera, it better have a lot of zombies getting decapitated on a weekly basis.

Although in the real-life intelligence community, it would seem that there's plenty of love affair sleaziness to go around. One pundit on whichever cable news outlet described the Petraeus fiasco as "The Real Housewives of CentCom." Maybe I'm too hard on these shows that romantically link all their main characters. Maybe life does imitate art after all.

Erik Murphy Needs An Entourage

Sometimes the support guy becomes the lead guy. This was the case tonight with Florida senior forward Erik Murphy, who was supposed to help carry the load for senior guard Kenny Boynton, who will likely become the Gators' all-time leading scorer by season's end.

But against nationally-ranked Wisconsin, Murphy was the star in a sublime performance of a lifetime: 24 points on 10-for-10 from the field, a couple of threes, and 8 rebounds to boot. It was a dazzling array of layups and jumpers, offensive put-backs and sweet half-hooks.

Erik Murphy? Where have we heard that name before?

"E" aka Eric Murphy was the guy behind the guy on HBO's Entourage. But he became the star of the show - well maybe not within the show where much of the show's ongoing theme was E breaking from Vinnie's shadow, but Kevin Connolly's name was first in the opening credits.

Florida's Murphy has now established himself as at least Boynton's co-star, and maybe a breakout lead on a Top 10 team. He should be getting the star treatment soon enough.

Watching Out For The Horizon

Watching the Tip-Off Marathon today on ESPN, the unofficial kickoff to the college basketball season, I have a different take: Try and identify March's upstarts in November. And I already see a handful from the Horizon League, even with perennial power Butler now in the A-10.

Valparaiso went at 8 AM, they're the preseason favorite. The Crusaders torched Northern Illinois. Valpo is coached by former NBAer and March Madness legend Bryce Drew.

Detroit had St. John's on the ropes in the 2nd half in Queens behind Ray McCallum (the coach) and Ray McCallum (the point guard). The Titans made the NCAA last year as a #15, and returning a senior all-league coach-on-the-floor, they should be even better this year.

And of course last night, Youngstown State left Georgia in the dust in Athens.

Youngstown State went to D1 in hoops 30 years ago, but had never beaten a major-conference team. Until Monday when Kendrick Perry and the Penguins knocked off an SEC team on the road, by 12.

So that's three teams to watch for in a league that can play with anyone. File away for your brackets.

Athens To Athens

"They got a message from the action man: I'm happy, hope you're happy too..."

I know it  sounds like a David Bowie song, but it describes my recent itinerary. The action man's been on the road for 8 days now, trying to keep things straight.

Last Monday, Athens OH; This Monday Athens GA. It's a little anticlimactic to be here at the University of Georgia without covering a football team that is now, actively, involved in a for real national championship chase. So even though the Georgia bandwagon is full I saw the actual empty vehicle in my hotel parking lot.

It doesn't mean there isn't some drama. The first basketball broadcast of the season almost always comes with unknowns, headaches, and stress. You just have to do what's in front of you. November is the craziest month of the year with football and basketball crossover.

The first order of business: Have a good breakfast.

The Five Star Day Cafe is one of the best in the country. Backtime recommends the Veggie Benedict, a twist on the traditional breakfast dish, subbing out the Canadian bacon and Hollandaise for fried green tomatoes and country gravy. Only in Athens...Georgia.

The Legend Of Johnny Football And The Perfect Storm

Think about the events that led to this moment. Kerrville-Tivy HS quarterback Johnny Manziel was not considered by Texas. He went to Texas A&M where he redshirted.

After a miserable 2011 season, the coach that recruited him (Mike Sherman) was fired. A big-time offensive coach (Kevin Sumlin) was hired.

The Texas Longhorns had created their own cable TV network. So Texas A&M told them to go fuck themselves, left the rivalry, left the Big 12, and joined the SEC. Texas A&M's facilities, rabid following, and most importantly their on-field program, were every bit up to the challenge in joining college football's toughest conference. They put all their faith in a 19-year old to lead them.

Hurricane Isaac wiped out a tough season opener in Shreveport vs Louisiana Tech, which cleared the way for the new Aggies to have a national rollout, complete with College GameDay in their SEC opener against Florida. Even though the home team lost by a field goal, they proved they belonged.

In Manziel's 4th career game, he set the SEC total offense record in a 58-10 win against Arkansas. In his 5th career game, he led the Aggies on 2 TD drives in the last 7 minutes to pull a victory out of the fire at Ole Miss. In his 6th career game he re-set the SEC single-game total offense record in a 59-57 thriller over Louisiana Tech.

In his 10th career start, after back-to-back road wins at Auburn and Mississippi State, Johnny Football took his team into Tuscaloosa and knocked off #1. Now we are rightfully talking Heisman, and the Manziels are talking about trademarking "Johnny Football."

In our wildest imagination, not even for a kid who starred in the real version of Friday Night Lights, could anyone have written a script like this. But the funny thing is, the story isn't over. Not even close.