A very full plate...

"How is your news plate this week? I dare say overflowing. And who knows? There could be another big shebang this week which will further complicate this very full plate."

Last night, in the middle of all the Kobe coverage, the news crew was trying to do a special event on the upcoming Super Bowl. Oh yes - that thing! Then it dawned on me. Most every year with an ordinary Super Bowl, the news cycle would have started spinning the week after the divisional playoffs. For sure, right after what they now call, the "Pro Bowl". But this week, the news coverage of this Super Bowl, which is supposed to be fantastic, will rank right up there with a bowling tournament in Fargo. Why? Way, way, way too many big stories are filling the news cycle this week.

The third impeachment trial of a President in our nation's history has every right to be the 600 pound gorilla of news this week. Whatever the outcome will be, it will be in the history books. The President's defense team will take the next two days to weave a well crafted defense against the entire charade. But - then we had yesterday late morning. Where one of the finest, most skilled basketball players of our time (along with one of his daughters) was tragically killed in a helicopter accident.

The tributes and upcoming funeral for Kobe Bryant and his daughter will take quite a bit of oxygen out of the news cycle this week. It for sure will eclipse the President's defense team. And as for the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday - what Super Bowl? Oh yes, that pesky little virus in China. That is also taking up some of the current news cycle.

Yesterday, on one of the news shows, there was a smuggled out video from a nurse in Wuhan, China. She said the Chinese government is not forthcoming about the coronavirus. It is much worse than what is being reported. Many more have died than is being reported. It is spreading much faster than what is being reported. All of this is causing some in our government to push for a global health emergency. If there was NOTHING else going on right now, this coronavirus thing would be THE story.

Then there is little old Iowa, trying to get ready for the first caucus in the nation next week. Besides having four of the Democrat candidates tied up in Washington for the impeachment and removal trial the House Democrats insisted we have this week, the coronavirus will make the Iowa caucus event look like it is only a corn eating contest in Iowa. That bad, huh? Yes - that bad.

This week, it you want to unplug from the grid, I don't blame you. It is going to be some kind of week. Way, way too much stimulation from the news. This is what Alvin Tofler warned us about in the early seventies. Future Shock, right here, right now. As humans, we cannot handle this much over selection and over stimulation. 

How is your news plate this week? I dare say overflowing. And who knows? There could be another big shebang this week which will further complicate this very full plate. How about that Pro Bowl? Anybody know who won? Anybody care? Most answers, including mine, are no and no. Now - onward and upward!