Usually on Fridays we like to have a website of the week, but it is impossible to ignore Miss America this week…again.

Why does the Miss America organization seem so bent on its own destruction?

I say this, being a huge fan of the system. It is the Miss America system that was my introduction to pageants…and you see it ended up with me starting the first podcast about beauty pageants on the internet.

So what happened? Well, the headline reads that “Miss America dumped by TLC.” First of all, is that true.

The answer, despite the protestations of the MAO, is yes. The party that writes the checks, my dear MAO, is the one that does the dumping in a contractual situation.

Sam Haskell of MAO is on the record via AP saying, “I’m a big boy, I’ve got broad shoulders — I’ll find us another network. I look at this as an opportunity. It doesn’t depress me in the least. We have a great franchise, we have a great audience, we have a great organization.”

Really? You do have a great franchise…and an incredible organization (an organization with an almost infinite amount of patience and forgiveness). But your audience was on the wane just 3 years back and dropping until TLC saved you from a disastrous CMT contract. Should you actually find a network, this will be the fourth network in less than seven years…not exactly a fantastic record.

Again, I say this as a fan of the system. The system has plenty of critics that would be far more dubious of the organization’s future.

Sam Haskell’s answer above, by the way mentions himself (I or me) five times and the organization only four. This is one of the major issues I have noticed is the Board’s and Mr. Haskell’s self promotion this past year, sometimes even to the point of forgetting to promote the titleholder (in the past year, Katie Stam)…there were quite a few press releases about Mr. Haskell’s book since April, something that I don’t believe had ever happened before in the history of the pageant.

As for the line up of would-be suitors, this is problematic. The cable outlets that would like Miss America would be networks like CMT and maybe We: Women’s Entertainment…but their national coverage is not fantastic and generally have lower prestige than their current network. Terrestrial television networks, like ABC and Fox, would not be willing to pick up a special event that draws approximately 3 million viewers in this day and age. Even Miss USA’s ratings have moved down, despite their controversy and excitement in recent years. Mr. Haskell’s frequent appearances on Fox & Friends may not be the best indicator of what network would like to be the financial support of the pageant in the coming year.

This leaves local cable, DirecTV (like “Friday Night Lights”), syndication, the internet, and other non-traditional media outlets…none of which with the prestige of TLC. So what were they thinking? Seriously? No adult in the work force would quit one job, bad-mouth the boss, and try to find a new job in this economy…but Miss America did exactly that.

This brings me to the conclusion that Miss America is at least a little bit self destructive. The evidence piles up quickly:

• Miss America fires Bert Parks in 1981; replaced in the 1982 pageant by that incredible master of all masters of ceremonies: Ron Ely
• Held a vote if they were to continue swimsuit competition…since, you know, they are embarrassed by their own history
• Screams about not being a beauty pageant, but a scholarship organization…evidenced by them pointing to the platform requirement: which was started by Miss America 1988, Kay Lani Rae Rafko; that’s right, it is less than 25 years old
• Surprised to lose the ABC contract in 2005 despite a decade or more of dropping ratings, they are so disorganized they need to postpone the pageant by more than 3 months
• The Civics Quiz. The Casual Wear. All the other senseless and nonsensical changes to the pageant’s basic formula.
• Reality show? Really? MAO likes to call Miss America the first television reality show…funny, I thought they were a scholarship program

I could go on, but with an active comments link, I’m sure my readers can fill in the blanks.

I hope I am reading this situation wrong. I hope this really is an opportunity. I hope they get a great new network contract. But, why, oh why, does Miss America continue to demand so much hope…so much faith? Couldn’t they, once in a while, take a good hard look at themselves, realize the passage of time and Miss America’s relative rank in society?

Please, Miss America, walk boldly to the future…but avoid the urge to jump in every puddle.