As the coronavirus numbers continue to climb, maybe the only good COVID news this week was the talk of progress on vaccines.
Whether it's Pfizer or another company, the prospects for a vaccine - sooner rather than later - gave everyone a much-needed lift.
But if/when a vaccine lands, the conversation turns to who will take it and when.
That debate will get heated - the anti-vaxxers are passionate - but the corporate and public good influence will be at an all-time high.
We don't even have a vaccine yet and a mega-corporation like TicketMaster already is exploring the idea of only selling tickets to concerts and sporting events to people who can verify they have taken the vaccine.
Now that's what I call taking the first shot.
Pay for play
OK, David Paschall, the excellent and longtime college football reporter at the Times Free Press, penned an interesting story that the only staff in the University of Tennessee athletics department who refused to accept a pay cut during these financially difficult COVID times were the football assistant coaches.
Hmmmmmmm.
First, when did pay cuts during pandemics become, you know, optional?
"Yeah, no thanks on that 10% cutback. I'm good."
Second, considering the actual job that the staff is doing, UT Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer better dang well refuse to accept requests for pay increases in the coming months, too.
What are you thankful for?
Every Thanksgiving, I give our readers the chance to say what they are thankful for. This year, the pickings feel slimmer, but email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com about what you are thankful for in 2020, and maybe it will be part of our community conversation.
Head-turner of a headline
In trying to compile this little Saturday skip across the media megaplex, the occasional headline always grabs my eye.
Take this one for example: "Suspended NASCAR driver says he didn't intentionally draw a swastika on his toaster strudel."
Read it again. Now which word is the one that piques your interest most?
Sure, we can agree that a swastika is never funny.
So after that one, which one pops first? On first read it was NASCAR.
Then it was toaster strudel, because if you are still eating toaster strudels, the Chef Boyardee Beefaroni must still be your lunch plan, right?
But I think the single most important word in that headline has to be intentionally. Do you accidentally draw a swastika? Is that even possible?
Or is this one of those cases like the tortilla chip that looks like Jesus or a potato that looks like Nixon, only reversed.
I do know this: There's no way anyone's not clicking on that headline.
Enjoy the weekend, friends.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
Jay Greeson