Voices...

I'll be at the Voices of Vision forum tonight and should have a report on it tomorrow. A truly dedicated blogger would, of course, file a report tonight. But, in case you haven't heard, Jim and Pam from The Office will be back together tonight and the TiVo will be anxiously awaiting my return. Must See TV, indeed.

Speaking of must see TV, there's an interesting story about The Greatest Show Ever, The Wire, on ESPN.com's Page 2. It's apparently a favorite of athletes ("Half the [Ravens] squad TiVo's it"), which isn't necessarily surprising. What is, at least according to the writer, is how many athletes root for Omar, an incredibly likable, honorable and cold-blooded killer ("A man got to have a code"). He also happens to be proudly gay, something professional athletes tend be a little hostile towards.

"The thing is that's such a small portion of who Omar is," [Ravens receiver Derrick] Mason says. "He is respected because he is tough, he doesn't take any stuff from anybody and he doesn't apologize for anything that he does or who he is."

[Cleveland Cavalier Larry] Hughes says he just "closes his eyes to that part."

"He's one of the best characters on the show," the Cavs guard says. "I think Omar is very believable. If you can have a businessman be on the down low, why can't you have a gangsta?"

Or athlete?

"That's different," Mason says. "Because Omar does his thing but you don't have to be around him all of the time. In football, you spend so much time together and you're in the shower … it's just different. I still think if an athlete comes out, he would be committing professional suicide."

The show's examination of the role sexuality plays in society is yet another one of its most interesting, if sometimes confusing, facets (i.e. Major Rawls's fleeting appearance at a gay bar?), and is another reason why it really is a show without an equal.

At this point, I know it seems like I'm being paid to write positive things about The Wire. Really, I'm just another crazy zealot (though I will say that my experience as a newspaper reporter and an actor should more than qualify me for at least a bit part during the next season, which will shift focus to the city's media).