Timing: Tiger/Obama on Jan. Golf Digest cover; Barry Bonds; new AOL. logo; Thursday pulse

TIMING is everything Dept.

**Tiger Woods and President Obama adorn the January cover of Golf Digest with a beautiful set of words, which could only mean to the GD editors: "Why us?" Then again, millions will probably buy it, cover title aside.

**Barry Bonds: Maybe the agent is utilizing the tactic that Bonds can't. Yes, Barry, it IS over. You reap what you sow. The real question is HOF-status and right now its no, rightly or wrongly.

**AOL unveiled its new logo, which is a tad crisper than the old, but who cares? I do...In spite of rancor in the newsroom over the firing of a popular exec producer, KTVU still had a great November and will probably have a great December too. It's just that several of their top on-air talent who've left lately may have stayed a year or two longer, but instead opted to leave because they saw the writing on the wall. Figure it out...Headline: "No Tiger ads in prime time since Thanksgiving." Shocking news. What next? "Security detail review at White House?"...ABC7/KGO's Dan Ashley is often over-looked as a steady local anchor because of his hair status; in any event, Ashley is good, as is CBS5's Ken Bastida and Channel 2's Frank Somerville. Yes, we have some good local TV news anchors and a few bad ones too...Comcast will NOT buy KRON from Young, which is the rumor of the month; the thinking in many quarters is that NBC screwed up a good thing when they bolted KRON for Channel 11 in San Jose. YES, they did, but the new Comcast/NBC arrangement will not scoop up KRON, trust me, for a variety of reasons...Speaking of ABC7, yes, BEST consumer reporter in the business? Michael Finney, who also does a weekly show on KGO Radio...KNBR's Ralph Barbieri repeated the Chris Rock great line, a la Tiger Woods: "A man is as good as his 'options.'" Indeed...Capable Brian Copeland is filling in for vacationing Ronn Owens during the 9-Noon slot on KGO...

FINALLY: Props to Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area producer Bruce Macgowan. Selfishly-speaking dept: In a moment of personal need, a dear friend helped out. I'll leave it at that. And no, it has nothing to do with "booking."

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