This past season the Oakland Raiders played a huge role in welcoming home a serviceman, who happens to be a diehard Raiders fan, with a surprise on field reunion with his wife and kids. I was there at the coliseum to witness the emotional event that touched the hearts of almost every hardcore Raiders fan on that day and I must say that it was one of the classiest, unadulterated events ever presented to us fans during a half time break.
It was truly a proud moment for the serviceman and his family as well as for the silver & black organization and fans. I congratulate Lifetime TV for putting together the event and making a day in the return of a father a beautiful lasting memory that'll continue to touch all who witnessed it, most of all his four children.
That being said, I watched the hour long "Coming Home" lifetime series last night, which featured the serviceman's family being reunited that day. While it's content was as captivating as the halftime surprise, the presentation came across a bit too....E-Entertainment/Current Affair like.
Maybe because I witnessed it LIVE without the commercials, the Lifetime heroic background music, the hyping host with his salesman's "stay tuned as we return to present" narration, felt very commercialized and less authentic.
Thanks to the serviceman and his family's authentic love for one another, the Lifetime TV attempt to cash in on a human interest story did not and could not diminish what the reunion was all about; a family man returns, a loving wife thanks God and country for his safe return and the children have their sense of protection and security restored.
What I witnessed with tens of thousands of Raider fans that day (60,000+), besides a Raiders second half flop, cannot be duplicated, much less marketed for a profit. But I do understand the consumer community of our modern world and the competitiveness of television ratings. The touching story of the returning serviceman and his loving family was shared with the rest of the world through television media last night. If it touched even one heart out there, and I'm sure it touched on millions, then Lifetime TV has done right by society.
I'm so proud to be a Raiders fan. So Proud!
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