Kidz and the 15-seconds of fame game

The closest Bill and I ever got to film immortality was that close. It was 1992, November, to be exact. Just after being squeezed into a crowd of onlookers inside a U.S. Capitol conference room, listening to Senators debate the Brady Bill and standing directly in front of NBC's correspondent Pete Williams, we filed out into the hallway.

We saw the TV cameras, the lights, the actions. It was time for the evening news on the East Coast, and Senators (all very tall) were lining up to give their sound bytes about the proposed gun legislation which later became law. We stood within 20 feet of the action---so close but so far from stardum. Later, walking down another hallway, we saw CBS legend Bob Schieffer interviewing someone.

Well, that was our big moment, and we didn't even make the 15 seconds. We had other moments while living on Great Northern Road---once when the eery, white "nuke" train passed through, attracting national media. I'll never forget the night I stood in the kitchen, watching the news with Peter Jennings, when the lead story flashed a photo of the controversial America's Promise Church next door. Our horses in the next-door pasture almost netted their 15 seconds.

Last week Annie sent me a photo from her iphone inside the stadium at the first-ever game for the newly formed Seattle Sounders Soccer team, which pulled off a 3-0 victory. That was news, but mainly to the soccer crowd and the Seattle fans who were thrilled to have their own major league team, partially owned by Price is Right host Drew Carey. Annie said she saw him at the game.

Last night, she sent me another i-phone photo while watching the Lady Zags warm up in Husky stadium for their NCAA women's contest with Pitt. I tried to call her during the game to see exactly where she was sitting, in case a television camera panned her way. She didn't answer; I understand why. The game was close to the end, but sadly, the Lady Zags will not go to their Sweet Sixteen.

Well, you probably know I'm leading up to something. And, you're probably correct. We do have one family member who has managed his 15 seconds of fame. Well, I'd call it "fame behind the names," and literally so.

Our son Willie was in hog heaven this past weekend. He had a press pass, which enabled him to watch the men's NCAA regional dance in Boise. He had a good time rubbing it in on Facebook, with twitters like "I'm off to the dance," or "I should be appearing on CBS soon." Well, he pulled it off, and, of course, if you're gonna be famous, you've got to let people who know you know you're going to be famous.

Unlike the proverbial family photos of yesteryear where our task was to "spot the deer" which blended in with its background, Willie's background perch in the CBS Sports clip left no doubt the the "Big Man" of the Love family was racking up seconds of full-fledged fame possibilities. Clear as a bell you could see him---well, most of us could.

One sister of mine said she could never get past the commercials, but the other saw her nephew and proudly passed on the link to her colleagues at Farmin School where Willie once attended. Staff members marveled, and all were happy to see that their Willie had made the big time.

Well, it's all in the perspective, and it's all relative, I guess. In this case, it's cuz it's a relative that makes it special. So, with no further adieu, I'll post the link.

And, if anyone wants to see our temporarily famous son working hard at his laptop and pretending that he's totally unaware of the camera which is really focused on the sports commentators in the foreground, not the sportswriters in the background, go check it out.

Oh yeah, you have to wait for the commercial before the commentators and their sportswriting counterparts show up for more than 15 seconds, even!

We're proud that someone in the family has finally made the spotlight, and now we can go on with life in the shadows, filled with contentment.

Here's the scoop, direct from Willie: See the two newspaper guys in the background pretending to be cool because they are TV? One of them is me (on the right). The other is my boss.

http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/collegebasketball/dYczUl0Luq6XMDpaxz5nSmtx_Q4PsOuv