This just in: No more giving each ferocious new winter storm its own name, like Pax or Brutus or Dominatrix.
From now on, they’re all just going to be called “Al Roker.”
Seriously, what’s gotten into the “Today” show weather dude’s pop tarts?
Two weeks ago, he got all up in the grills of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed for their not-exactly-deft handling of Winter Storm Leon, aka the Ice That Ate a Lost Civilization of Commuters.
“They were warned about it and they should have been prepared for it,” he tonguelashed our elected leaders on “Today,” a clip that quickly found its way onto YouTube. “It’s a shame, it really is.”
But Storm Front Al was just getting started. Yesterday, he unleashed a torrent of scolding Twitter comments at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who’d sent kids to school in the morning, then reversed that decision a few hours later as the snow piled up there.
“So now my daughter’s NYC public school is being let out early,” Roker, who’s with the “Today” team at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, tweeted at 10:43 .a.m. “@NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools Is it worth putting kids’ safety at risk?”
The flurry intensified a minute later:
“And how about all the parents and caregivers who have to scramble to get their kids home?” Roker tweeted again.” Is there no one there with any common sense.”
By 10:48 a.m., Storm @AlRoker was at full force:
“I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools,” the Weatherman of Doom toldja so’ed. “Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio forecast: 1 term.”
(Shorter range forecast: Big city and small town mayors everywhere freaking out over the possibility of Storm Front Al calling them out on TV or Twitter whenever they don’t handle a weather situation to his liking. And who says he’ll even stop at weather? Picture a whole army of political consultants specializing in dispensing “What Will Al Say?” advice to elected officials trying to decide whether to OK a sewer project or attend the Rotary Club pancake breakfast.)
Meanwhile, the response from de Blasio, who’s had to deal with six snow storms in his first six weeks of running the nation’s crankiest city, was comparatively sunny and mild.
“I respect Al Roker a lot, watched him on TV for many, many years,” he said at a press conference yesterday morning. “It’s a different thing to run a city than to give the weather on TV.”
He totally could’ve added: “It’s a different thing to run a city than to give the weather on TV from balmy Sochi, where it’s nearly 60 degrees right now.”
But he probably didn’t want to take what could be perceived as a cheap shot at Roker.
Luckily, we have no such qualms.
Not only is it so nice at the “Winter” Olympics that Al et al. are practically sporting tube tops while we all shiver back here in the States. But … eagle-eyed viewers know exactly what he and his “Today” compadre Matt Lauer were doing on Thursday while the snow was falling in New York (and indeed, in much of metro Atlanta): Still basking in the glow of their trip to a Sochi spa.
Oh, they tried to make it sound kinda rough in a segment entitled "Relax Like a Russian" that aired on Wednesday's show (watch it here ). Apparently, getting smacked on the back by masseuses wielding hot eucalyptus leaves is a tad uncomfy.
Yeah, well, try telling that to folks hoping not to get decapitated by a falling icicle in New York or Georgia.
Storm Front Al wasn’t letting up at all this morning. He made clear on “Today” that he stood by his earlier criticism of de Blasio’s decisions, saying, ““It’s about safety, safety first for children.” But he did apologize for the “1 term” tweet, calling it a “little below the line.”
So’s this: On today’s show, viewers also got to see Roker in a luge segment sporting head-to-toe spandex.
To quote the great man himself: “It’s a shame. It really is.”
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