News Me Baby: Fan of a Fan

It is a strange progression of events that led me to be sitting on my sister's couch Googling "Today Show guy in Audience" on this fine Sunday afternoon. See, I moved into a very, very small room masquerading as a "guest house" conveniently located as far as possible from any bus stop, and perched atop the main house on the lot, owned by a lovely Indian family who believe the term "electrician" describes anyone with a pick-up truck and a screwdriver.

After enduring 5 months of spotty U-verse, three failed cable boxes, and multiple power surges, my Landlord Family finally gave in to basic cable. Goodbye Top Chef, hello childhood memories of waking up with the Today Show & coffee. The NBC News theme, the lackluster fashion segments, Willard Scott's Happy Jam birthday greetings... the Today Show is a mild mannered cockroach- never offensive, and always there.

Seems I'm not the only one that enjoys the tradition. Every morning, as the NBC Anchors brave the elements to greet the waiting crowd in Rockefeller Plaza, the camera pans past a man (always in hat and glasses of some sort) who stares unassumingly at the camera. Two weeks of watching the crowd for this guy, and my curiosity got the better of me. Assuming he had to be a badly disguised security guard, I turned to Los Interwebs, and though I was seriously pissed that my dream of writing the next "Homeless Guy with the Golden Voice" type story was instantly dashed (the New York Times beat me to it), I did find the info I was looking for.

World, meet Linny Boyette, who is some kind of an Urban Hero. For 18 years, Linny has been a part of the Today Show's live audience. A retired military man who rises at 3:30am to trek from The Bronx to The Plaza, Linny is the Today Show's Biggest Fan.
I don't know why he hearts the Today Show so much, but I sort of heart him. He's become as much a part of my morning tradition as the awkwardly passive aggressive, slightly sexual quips between Matt & Meredith.