Carpetbagger David Carr (Photo: NYT)

So we are in the middle of Day Two of The New York Times's capitulation to Oscar Fever--the reprehensible avian flu of entertainment media for which there appears to be no respite or cure. Despite acknowledging that the beat is kind of new to him, poor David Carr--the Father of The Reeler--has been charged with blogging about the latest news and insights surfacing around the films that have received the most Oscar hype.

While I stand by my previous criticisms of Carr, the guy is handling this whole thing about as well as I think a Timesman can--a close read of his Carpetbagger blog reveals liberal doses of self-deprecation and grains of salt the size of softballs:

The gesture is one of a bulletin board about Oscar coverage and will not be in the handicapping business, in part because you would be well advised to listen closely to any of my predictions and then go the other way as fast as possible. (If no one knows anything in Hollywood, that must mean I know less.) The Academy Awards are preceded by a campaign that everyone pretends is not a campaign: screenings, mentions, and minor awards are all major elements of an ineffable process that can lead to over-the-top speeches and riches beyond imagination, or at least enough legs for robust DVD sales. The Carpetbagger is designed to examine those glitzy folkways as they unfurl, and to have some laughs along the way.

Look, any guy who uses a New York Times blog to tee off on Roger Friedman (in a post titled "Sniffing the Hem of Celebrity," no less) is all right with me. And since Carr is always about three months off the pace for New York news, this could help him catch up. All he has to do now is just crash a few premieres and hey--sky's the limit. Good luck, Dave, and fight the good fight.