Media outlets are generally ready when prominent figures die with a bevy of coverage, both prepared and breaking. The Teddy Kennedy death today was certainly a prime example of that.

Nevermind the 82 inch main story/obituary and the responses from virtually every current and past member of the U.S. House and Senate. The real explosion came in video.

More than a dozen had moved in the a.m., maybe even more than generally move on all topics combined during that time.

Here’s a small sampling of what was offered up.

Kennedy Remembered in Washington

Kennedy Mourner: ‘We Lost One of the Best’

World Mourns Kennedy’s Passing

Dodd: ‘I Lost My Best Friend in the Senate’

Biden Gets Emotional While Honoring Kennedy

Obama: Kennedy Was Greatest Senator of Our Time

Mass. Residents React to Sen. Kennedy’s Passing

Kennedy: a Lifetime Through Photos

The Kennedys, a Storied Political Legacy

I came up as a sportswriter. It wasn’t really by design. It’s just that when you’re a young athlete in high school and college, the expectation is that you can write sports and might be a little less handy on stories about topics such as governmental budgets or race relations or basically anything else that doesn’t include a score.

And as a sportswriter, I was subjected to some of the most hackneyed and brutal canned coach quotes every devised.

“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time.”

“We just need to go out and give it 110 percent.”

“We just need to step up and make plays.”

Ugh …

But hackneyed phrasing isn’t the sole province of the sports beat, something I learned when I left sports to become a general news editor. Education, government, military and even cops and court reporters get their share of ridiculous phrases.

One of my all-time least favorite is the popular, “It’s a win-win situation.” First of all, it naturally implies that there are simply two sides to any given story in which the term is used, something that is generally beaten out of you in J-school. Secondly, the quote comes directly from the Department of Redundancy Dept.

That’s why I was so happy when we got a news release announcing the deal between Regional Health and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Oh, I’m happy that a deal is finally bringing a long-awaited solution to the folks in Spearfish who are covered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. But actually, I was much more excited that one of the principals was quoted in the release as saying, “With this new contract, Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy holders now have coverage at all the Regional Hospitals, which is a ‘win’ for all concerned.”

Holy Cow! I know it doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal, but it brings a small tear to this former copy editor’s eye.

Yes, small things make me happy.

Here’s the full statement from Steven Tyler on his accident at the Buffalo Chip.

STEVEN TYLER BREAKS HIS SILENCE (AND HIS SHOULDER) ON RECENT STAGE ACCIDENT
LOS ANGELES – August 13, 2009 – The following is a message from Steven Tyler to his fans regarding his recent accident at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
* * *
STEVEN TYLER: August 5th, 2009 Sturgis South Dakota at the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground. A major thunderstorm had delayed the show for an hour, but after it passed through, the full moon and tens of thousands of my biker buddies were ready to rock!
It was one of the best shows we’ve played in a long time! The band was slammin’ and I was lovin’ every minute of it!
And just as I’m thinking, it doesn’t get any better than this”… FUSES BLOW! We have an COMPLETE AUDIO SOUND SYSTEM FAILURE! (You can even see one the amps frying on Youtube.)
We were in the middle of “Love In An Elevator” and the band slowly realized something was up. Well, I wasn’t gonna go hide under the big top and play “ROCK STAR” and wait for everything to be fixed.
I wanted to go out to the crowd to continue the show… so, the Train Kept A- Rollin’ and I ran out on the cat walk and grabbed my mic to finish the song. I was doing the Tyler shuffle and then I zigged when I should have zagged…AND I slipped, and as I live on the edge…I fell off the edge!
I landed upside down, and after twenty stitches on the back of my head, and a broken left shoulder, I just want to say that I’ m plain grateful that I didn’t break my neck! In truth, after thousands of live shows, falling off the edge four times ain’t too bad.
I want to thank all of the fans for your love and support. I also want to thank the Aerosmith crew and the Buffalo Chip staff for taking care of me in a time of need… and the Sturgis Police Department and the Medvac helicopter crew for getting me outta there before I bled to death… and all the doctors and nurses at the Rapid City Hospital for putting my Humpty Dumpty ass back together again.
And most of all… I want to thank the angel on my shoulder.
Looking forward to seeing all of you very soon — S.T
Please direct all media inquiries to:
Union Entertainment Group
Greenberg@ueginc.com

Here’s the letter that Best Buy had to sent out those enterprising shoppers who got online pronto yesterday and ordered the $9.99. And below are a few of the Tweets folks sent out. It doesn’t sound as if they were counting on it too much.

CoroStone: Samsung 52″ LCD HDTV on Best Buy website for $9.00. Really? Had to try, but just got email saying that it was a pricing mistake. Really!?

addamh: @sonic43 last night at like 1 there was an error on best buy and there was 52 samsung 1080 LCD for 9.99 so I bought one.

walletpopper: A flatscreen TV for $9.99! Best Buy really is the best buy — or not. A classic corporate “oops” moment: http://bit.ly/eJYHT

DaniAgainstCity: I knew it was to good to be true, I just got an email from best buy canceling my order

The South Dakota State Historical Society Press is serializing part of a book it’s publishing about the courtship of Rapid City Journal founders Joe and Alice Gossage (nee Bower) on its blog.
The short excerpts are an interesting glance back more than a century, when the newspaper was the social hub of the community. And the letters are fascinating as much for their style as their content.
Check it out here.

Sorry about the intermittency of posting the past couple of weeks. Most of it has been due to preparation and then execution of Sturgis rally coverage.

While it doesn’t affect my blogging to this post directly, it certainly takes a chunk out of the work week. Or adds on a chunk.

Anyways, onwards and upwards.

With the rally in the rearview mirror, here’s a quick look at the top stories around the nation for Monday, Aug. 10.

1. Laura Rowley Money & Happiness
2. AP INVESTIGATION: Border police being busted more
3. Tiger wins Bridgestone for 16th win in WGC events
4. Death toll up to 8 in California police chase
5. Opposition Emerges to House’s Jet Spree

OK, that might be a little harsh, but not by too much.

Authorities are on the lookout for an Alabama man who is a person of interest in the double homicide death of his parents.

Adrian Edward Glass is apparently in the area. We know this because he used his debit card at a store in Piedmont. He is supposedly driving a red quad cab Tacoma pickup with tinted windows and may be armed. He is considered dangerous.

More on this later at www.rapidcityjournal.com.

This past weekend, we’ve tried a little something new with our sports coverage thanks to the use of Cover It Live, a software that allows live chat and commenting abilities.

We soft launched it on a whim on Friday and were surprised to get such strong feedback. We then used it to cover Friday night’s game between Post 22 and Post 320, which culminated in the first ever win by 320 over 22. We used it again on Sunday when 22 got their revenge — and a state title — over 320.

Hundreds followed coverage of the games, and it added a new feature to the site.

Look for more of it in the future, particularly from our sports staff.

To see an example of it, click here to see a live chat with the coach of the Harney baseball squad headed to the regional tournaments.