Yes, your humble Blog Goliard is finally back in town. I had a great time away, but at the same time I am happy to be back; and taken together, that’s a great feeling.

While travelling, I filed away a few tidbits for later blogging. One such item was an article from the Business section of Monday’s New York Times, “Couric Listens, but Who Will Watch?”, by David Carr. (I hadn’t imagined that an NFL quarterback would need a summer job these days; but at least he’s gotten one that doesn’t tax that poor body of his which was sacked 68 times last season.)

Obviously I’ve gotten out of touch with the curious world of the Timesies, because I was not prepared to run across the following flabbergasting grafs:

Fortunately Ms. Couric, I was in Minneapolis for the week, so I was able to help CBS out with a listening tour of my own in the local self-serve laundries, restaurants and bars. Give or take the dozens of people who declined to talk to me — Minnesotans are famously proud of their humility — I found some very encouraging news for Ms. Couric.

It turns out that people here, all kinds — black, white, young, old, liberal and, well, liberal — adore her. And why not? She is, by all accounts and evidence, funny, smart, nice and pretty.

Wha…but…the…mmm…how…er…what?!?

“By all accounts and evidence” Katie Couric is all of those things? Hmm. Maybe all the contrary accounts and evidence happened to surface in the middle of football season, when Mr. Carr wouldn’t have noticed. Bad luck, that; but such accounts and evidence exist nonetheless.

Let’s start with “nice”. Has everyone at the Times already forgotten the Alessandra Stanley piece from last year which famously alleged that

America’s girl next door has morphed into the mercurial diva down the hall. At the first sound of her peremptory voice and clickety stiletto heels, people dart behind doors and douse the lights. Or, at least, change the channel.

And “smart”? Er, maybe. Somewhat. But surely even Katie’s fans would hesitate to claim brainyness as her calling card, as one of the four traits you’d mention when describing her to strangers. Besides, how smart can a woman really be if she is capable of, say, gushing over Fidel Castro and how his “revolution delivered”?

(Yes, it is a very bad temptation to ascribe political differences to lack of intelligence…and as a conservative who works at a university, I know how it feels to be on the receiving end. But really—Castro?)

“Pretty”? Your Blog Goliard will err on the side of gentlemanliness here, and simply note that Katie Couric is definitely not his type.

Finally we come to “funny”. I’ll grant that Couric displays at least the minimum amount of amiable goofiness required of a morning-show personality. Yet, as was the case with “smart”, I demur at the suggestion that this is one of her defining characteristics; and I refer you to gossipy pieces like Stanley’s for a look at Couric’s apparent capacity to slip into the profoundly humorless role of Scary Diva when the cameras are off.

For his sake, I hope that David Carr is better at sizing up opposing linebackers than he is at evaluating television personalities.