1097852 Anyone who hates my work will thank us for setting the table to write an attack column after this episode. I am seen wearing a clown suit. The haters can just fill in the blanks from there. <p> <object width="440" height="361"><param name="movie" value="http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/player.swf?mediaId=3711147"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/player.swf?mediaId=3711147" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="440" height="361" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object> <p> But we're not going to worry about those people. We're going to argue that even with me in clown-wear, this episode will be remembered for its subtlety. You'll have to look closely. But that's the way it goes with things subtle. Here's the breakdown: I'm in a clown suit. An important story breaks. I'm the only one available to cover it. In a clown suit. Julian McCullcugh played the role of the injured athlete in our clown episode and did great work. We couldn't get any real athletes to pretend to be injured. This is not because they are superstitious about pretending to be injured. It's because they're all scared of clowns. So am I. When I was five years old I won a writing contest and was invited to be on JP Patches, a clown TV show in Seattle. When I got to the studio I suffered my one and only experience with total stage fright. I did not want to go out there with that scary clown. After lots of prodding by my dad and my great aunt Mary (who said something like "Isn't this grand?") I finally walked on to the stage. But I stayed far away from JP Patches and couldn't wait for him to end my little segment. I won a pair of stilts for that appearance. They would have come in handy for this episode. So would have an athlete. But they were too scared. I wasn't. And I'm not scared to go ahead and put this thing into the universe. Not when I'm armed with subtlety upon subtlety. In a clown suit. Plus there is juggling. And tripping over clown shoes. And lots of yelling. Between the subtle parts. true 2008-11-21T11:04:28Z 72747 1 2008-11-21T11:06:05Z