The Tampa Bay Rays came a long way in one year, and now their fan base is everywhere.

The above image is a screen capture from next week's season premier of "Friday Night Lights" (here is a slightly larger version). That handsome fella on the right side of the screen is your local Tampa Bay Rays blogger, me (you can see a reverse angle below). I play a reporter during a preseason press conference. The episode will air next Friday (Jan. 16) at 9:00pm et on NBC.

This is not my first foray into television, although it is my most prominent. I once even appeared as a basketball referee (of all things) in an episode of "Ultimate Road Trip" on the Yankees' Yes Network.

I must admit that I did find some humor in appearing on a television show based on a book authored by Buzz Bissinger, considering his very public disdain for blogs. We wonder what his reaction would be if somebody were to mention this to him. We hope it would be laced with explicatives. But more likely he just wouldn't care.

So there it is...If I follow the same meteoric rise of the Rays, by this time next year I will be starring in a Hollywood blockbuster. Unfortunately I would have to die in the final scene.