It's no secret that Keith Olbermann is a blasted imbecile not worthy of covering politics in Lost Springs, Wyoming (population: 3), but the stunt he pulled tonight is taking that to a whole different level and then some.
To use the quotes of Olbermann himself, it's not a left and right issue. It's a matter of "professional journalism" and "professional integrity" of which Keith Olbermann has completely none of. Fuck, he has less than none.
Last night, Olbermann chimed in his 2 cents on the election with this "Quick Comment", which in it's own right is quite despicable.
Yes, he just did say that to the man that one of the most liberal states in the country voted for as Senator, but regardless, he can have his opinions, however misguided and misplaced that they are.
But, the stunt that he pulled today irks me to no end. Either out of request from many others or to try and prop up ratings so people can watch him eat crow, Olbermann advertised an apology to that Quick Comment.
Basically what Olbermann wants is proof that Scott Brown is not a homophobe and a racist and he is claiming that you can't do that.
WELL NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!
Of course you can't do that. You absolutely cannot disprove that accusation.
And do you want to know why. Because things are NEVER what they are not. You cannot define something or someone by what they are not. You can only define it by what it is, so when Olbermann makes the wild, sad, and pathetic accusations that Scott Brown is a "homophobic racist" and then asks you to show him that he's not, basically he is asking people to do exactly what you can't do. Define someone by showing us what he isn't. What Scott Brown isn't: Someone from Mars, born in Jamaica, grew up with 253 dogs. Do you get my point? There are an infinite number of things that something is not so it is not a valid argument to make accusations about someone and then as proof of your argument say that "oh, it must be true, because there is just no evidence to say that is not true". You can't tell us who they are by saying what they are not.
And what is he going to do to disprove such accusations? Go out and hug a gay black man? But then Olbermann will counter that it was fake and contrived and that it is not actual proof that Scott Brown is not a homophobic racist. And wait, he added sexist. Is Scott Brown supposed to go out and hug a gay black lady? Again, it will look contrived and Olbermann would call Brown out on that. Either that or somehow he will spin it into a case of statutory rape. He's already done the same type of thing to Scott Brown once, why not try to do it again?
My bottom line is this: It does not matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, a far-left extremist or a far-right extremist, Keith Olbermann is the fucking scum of this earth and if you watch his show and think everytime Olbermann slams him you go in your mind "Fuck yeah, Olbermann rocks, he just slammed yet another douche bag Republican. He was such a great SportsCenter guy and now he is such a great Political Mastermind OMFG!!!!!!" then you are just as bad and are just as much scum of the earth as Olbermann is. No, I'm not being sarcastic and I am not exaggerating this. I am dead fucking serious. If you agree with this bastard and if you think it is okay to go on a national cable TV network and say the kind of shit that he spews then you are politically the worst of the worst of this country and if you never open your mouth again about politics, then this world will be better for it. If you want an intelligent liberal political show, go watch Rachel Maddow at 9 PM, on right after Olbermann's infamous Countdown.
Normally I would end this post with another call to Fire Keith Olbermann Now!, but seeing as NBC-Universal is run by a bunch of incompetent morons, that call would fall on deaf ears upon any NBC-exec that happened to stumble upon the ramblings of a 20-year old college student of no particular interest. Instead I'll just state that I am embarrassed that I share the title of American with this douche bag piece of shit and his staunch supporters.
Embarrassed.
Showing posts with label Special Comment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Special Comment. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Phillies Better Not Be Turning Into The '07 Mets
This is pathetic. And to think that I thought the Phillies had this division wrapped up too early. Now it appears as if there is a chance that it might not be wrapped up, period. The Braves are flat-out not losing and the Phillies can't beat the Houston Fucking Astros for the life of them. And to think that the offense could only muster 2 hits against a pitcher whose ERA looked more like a good QB rating than a good pitcher's ERA. It's pathetic, it's embarrassing, and it is getting to the point where I am really starting to wonder whether or not this team can clince the NL East.
The good news for the Phillies is that all of their games are home from here on out, and they are against a team that's eliminated from playoff contention (Astros) and another that is one loss or one Rockies win away from suffering the same fate (Marlins). Surely....surely.....with a magic number of 3 and 6 games to spare, they can just end this fucking thing so they can set their rotation for the playoffs, where at this rate, they could very well end up facing the red hot Cardinals. And there's another advantage to winning. I think a lot of Phillies fans will tell you they want the Rockies in the NLDS, well if the Phillies keep losing games like this, the taks will be a lot harder than that as I'm sure a lot of people will tell you that no one, NO ONE wants to play the Cardinals.
I mentioned the Phillies schedule, now let's take a look at the Atlanta Braves schedule. They have 2 more games against the Marlins and they end with a 4-game series against the Washington Nationals. Folks, the Braves can easily run this table. They damn sure are not going to lose 3 of those games. The Phillies need to step up against the Astros in a big time way. Win, win, win. Let's take the last 3 games of this series so that way we can be assured that regardless of what the Braves do that we can set our rotation for the NLDS. Who gives a fuck if Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer start a game a piece in a useless series against the Marlins?
Any Phillies fan right now will tell you that they would like to see that, but at this rate, the Phillies might just be lucky to see the playoffs. This is getting beyond pathetic and beyond absurd. There is no damn fucking way that this division should still be up in the air. Kudos to the Braves for hanging in there and getting hot at the exact right time, but the Phillies need to start winning in a more consistent basis otherwise even if they do survive the season, there ain't a chance in hell that they will win any playoff games against anyone, let alone a whole series, playing like they've been. The offense has to step up. The starting pitching has to step up. The bullpen has to step up. Or else, despite all of the mocking we've done to the Mets, there is a chance that they might have the last laugh after all this year....
The good news for the Phillies is that all of their games are home from here on out, and they are against a team that's eliminated from playoff contention (Astros) and another that is one loss or one Rockies win away from suffering the same fate (Marlins). Surely....surely.....with a magic number of 3 and 6 games to spare, they can just end this fucking thing so they can set their rotation for the playoffs, where at this rate, they could very well end up facing the red hot Cardinals. And there's another advantage to winning. I think a lot of Phillies fans will tell you they want the Rockies in the NLDS, well if the Phillies keep losing games like this, the taks will be a lot harder than that as I'm sure a lot of people will tell you that no one, NO ONE wants to play the Cardinals.
I mentioned the Phillies schedule, now let's take a look at the Atlanta Braves schedule. They have 2 more games against the Marlins and they end with a 4-game series against the Washington Nationals. Folks, the Braves can easily run this table. They damn sure are not going to lose 3 of those games. The Phillies need to step up against the Astros in a big time way. Win, win, win. Let's take the last 3 games of this series so that way we can be assured that regardless of what the Braves do that we can set our rotation for the NLDS. Who gives a fuck if Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer start a game a piece in a useless series against the Marlins?
Any Phillies fan right now will tell you that they would like to see that, but at this rate, the Phillies might just be lucky to see the playoffs. This is getting beyond pathetic and beyond absurd. There is no damn fucking way that this division should still be up in the air. Kudos to the Braves for hanging in there and getting hot at the exact right time, but the Phillies need to start winning in a more consistent basis otherwise even if they do survive the season, there ain't a chance in hell that they will win any playoff games against anyone, let alone a whole series, playing like they've been. The offense has to step up. The starting pitching has to step up. The bullpen has to step up. Or else, despite all of the mocking we've done to the Mets, there is a chance that they might have the last laugh after all this year....
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
John Clayton Is An Assclown Who Knows Nothing About Football
I swear, ESPN hires some of the stupidest people in the world. This time, it's John Clayton, who know, that one ESPN reporter who is lost in the mix with Ed Werder, Mort, and now Adam Schefter. Yeah, well, there's a reason he is lost in the crowd and this is it. Just read this incredibly idiotic observation he wrote on Monday on McNabb's injury.
First of all, the Eagles were only up by 21 points before the McNabb touchdown/injury. Clayton tries to paint is as they were up 4 touchdowns and they were pulling a Bill Belichick circa 2007. That would be if the Eagles were up by 38 in the 4th quarter and they were still running all of their starters and gadgets to purposefully score more points. Scoring another touchdown when you are up 21, is at ramming the game down an opponent's throat and that is not the time to take your foot off the accelerator. Not in the 3rd quarter, at least. After all, the Eagles scored 3 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter in a period under 5 minutes with mainly defense and special teams. Who is to say that the Panthers could not have done the same thing with their defense and special teams?
And also, the Eagles were not doing anything tricky or trying to be fancy schmancy with that drive. They were establishing rhythm on offense after being totally out of sync during the pre-season. There was not anything fancy that said we want to shove this game down your throats. It was the Eagles offense running the Eagles offense. It's not the Eagles fault that the Panthers were unable to stop the Eagles' basic offensive scheme. Something that John Clayton knows nothing about.
And as far as the actual play itself and Donovan McNabb himself, it was a typical play. Nothing wrong, nothing over-the-top. He dropped back to pass, looked for a receiver, saw that no one was open, saw a potential running lane for the endzone and did what McNabb does back and take off and run for it. Now I can argue that the hit that fractured the rib was a late hit, but that's not really the point. The guy was trying to make the play. It may have been a tad late, but it was by no means egregious like it was in the 04 NFC Title game. Not that John Clayton would know anything about that, mind you.
But back to comebacks, not only have we seen 21 point comebacks in football games, if we think back to a several years ago on Monday Night Football (and the infamous Leaping game), Peyton Manning led a 21-point comeback with less than 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter! Sure Delhomme was stinking it up by then, but as mentioned earlier, who is to say that the Panthers could not have had a special teams/defense explosion. And while this was written before the game, who is to say that something like yesterday's Bills-Pats game could have happened. Of course, I'm sure John Clayton was quite surprised, shocked, stunned, and amazed all at once when he woke up this morning and saw that the Patriots won 25-24. Surely he had gone to bed when the Bills scored that touchdown that make it 24-13. After all, there has NEVER been an 11-point comeback with 3 minutes left in NFL history. After all, there have never been any halftime comebacks of 21-points or more. What we saw last night was truly unprecedented and chances are, we will never see anything like that again in our lives.
Like I mentioned before, I would be truly amazed if John Clayton has ever seen a football game in his life. What a complete ass and an utter moron.
FIRE JOHN CLAYTON NOW!
Brady is Back. Did Federer Give Up Against Del Potro? NBC Is The Clippers & Why John Clayton Is So Wrong. (On the DL Podcast)
McNabb's injury could have been avoided: Eagles coach Andy Reid wouldn't lift his foot off the accelerator with a 21-point, third-quarter lead, and as a result, he might not have QB Donovan McNabb for next Sunday's potential shootout against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Eagles QB Donovan McNabb padded a commanding lead, but he paid a price.Has John Clayton ever watched a football game in his life? I swear, this is one of the most idiotic things I have ever read. Let me break it down for you so you know what I mean.
With 6:59 left in the third quarter of a 38-10 win over the Panthers, McNabb suffered a fractured rib in the left side of his back as he scrambled into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown. That touchdown gave the Eagles a 38-10 lead in a game that was over in the middle of the second quarter. X-rays revealed one fracture. McNabb's a competitor, but there was no need for him to risk injury with that big of a lead. It's too early to determine McNabb's status, but he's more doubtful than questionable
First of all, the Eagles were only up by 21 points before the McNabb touchdown/injury. Clayton tries to paint is as they were up 4 touchdowns and they were pulling a Bill Belichick circa 2007. That would be if the Eagles were up by 38 in the 4th quarter and they were still running all of their starters and gadgets to purposefully score more points. Scoring another touchdown when you are up 21, is at ramming the game down an opponent's throat and that is not the time to take your foot off the accelerator. Not in the 3rd quarter, at least. After all, the Eagles scored 3 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter in a period under 5 minutes with mainly defense and special teams. Who is to say that the Panthers could not have done the same thing with their defense and special teams?
And also, the Eagles were not doing anything tricky or trying to be fancy schmancy with that drive. They were establishing rhythm on offense after being totally out of sync during the pre-season. There was not anything fancy that said we want to shove this game down your throats. It was the Eagles offense running the Eagles offense. It's not the Eagles fault that the Panthers were unable to stop the Eagles' basic offensive scheme. Something that John Clayton knows nothing about.
And as far as the actual play itself and Donovan McNabb himself, it was a typical play. Nothing wrong, nothing over-the-top. He dropped back to pass, looked for a receiver, saw that no one was open, saw a potential running lane for the endzone and did what McNabb does back and take off and run for it. Now I can argue that the hit that fractured the rib was a late hit, but that's not really the point. The guy was trying to make the play. It may have been a tad late, but it was by no means egregious like it was in the 04 NFC Title game. Not that John Clayton would know anything about that, mind you.
But back to comebacks, not only have we seen 21 point comebacks in football games, if we think back to a several years ago on Monday Night Football (and the infamous Leaping game), Peyton Manning led a 21-point comeback with less than 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter! Sure Delhomme was stinking it up by then, but as mentioned earlier, who is to say that the Panthers could not have had a special teams/defense explosion. And while this was written before the game, who is to say that something like yesterday's Bills-Pats game could have happened. Of course, I'm sure John Clayton was quite surprised, shocked, stunned, and amazed all at once when he woke up this morning and saw that the Patriots won 25-24. Surely he had gone to bed when the Bills scored that touchdown that make it 24-13. After all, there has NEVER been an 11-point comeback with 3 minutes left in NFL history. After all, there have never been any halftime comebacks of 21-points or more. What we saw last night was truly unprecedented and chances are, we will never see anything like that again in our lives.
Like I mentioned before, I would be truly amazed if John Clayton has ever seen a football game in his life. What a complete ass and an utter moron.
FIRE JOHN CLAYTON NOW!
Brady is Back. Did Federer Give Up Against Del Potro? NBC Is The Clippers & Why John Clayton Is So Wrong. (On the DL Podcast)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Stop The Madness!!!
Late Saturday night, 49er16 sent me an email regarding the tragic death of David Sale, who as I'm sure you all know by now, was beaten to death outside of a bar connected to Citizens Bank Park. I intentionally did not talk about it for I did not want to get into the rant that I knew I was going to get into if I talked about it. However, the media firestorm that has come from this has driven me to a point where I can no longer be quiet about this. The madness must stop.
Because of a reputation, based mostly on things that happened in the last century, the tragic death of David Sale is being blamed on Philly sports fans and the sports culture here in general. Yeah, hard to believe, I know. Something bad happens at one of our ballparks and it's because of the "hooliganism" in Philadelphia that caused this to happen.
Why can't you people wake up? Why are you such hypocrites? Do you honestly think this only happens in Philadelphia? If so, please, go back to Kindergarten for that is where your intelligence level is right about now.
You are quick to prosecute us yet you are too blind to see the other headlines that the media conveinently hides from you. For what kind of a story is it that a Los Angeles Angels fan was killed while leaving the stadium earlier this year? Folks in Los Angeles are not like that. They are not hooligans, criminals, and thus like Philadelphians are. They are cool, laid back, surfer dudes. All of them. Hooliganism does not exist in Los Angeles. No, not at all.
And what about the 03 shooting of a Dodgers fan by a Giants fan? Surely, it must have been some sort of freak accident. There is no other logical explanation. I mean, after all, sports fans out west are all laid back surfer-dudes. You can't blame this on a sports euphoria that exists all over the world, including California. No, this kind of stuff can only happen in Philadelphia for sports hooliganism lives only there. No where else in the world. Just Philadelphia.
Okay, enough of the absurd sarcasm and more to the straight facts. I'm not trying to trivialize anything having to do with the deaths. They were very tragic indeed as. You can't trivialize a mother losing her son and a sister losing her brother for good. But a point needs to be made to shut up some people of the mainstream media (*cough*cough*Colin Cowherd*cough*cough, who even went as far as to essentially say our school system sucks; yeah, um, that explains why some of the nations finest universities are in the city of Philadelphia) who are as thick-headed as I depicted them to be with the above sarcasm about the 2 real deaths that occured. I don't take pleasure in doing this. I'd rather take John Gonzalez's advice and focus more on what really happened, as in an innocent kid died way too young, and not argue about this, but the mainstream douche bags have driven me to it.
Let's take a look at David Sale's murderers. Just to save time for me as I have a live blog to get to in 30 minutes, I'll quote the above linked Gonzalez column. You'll find the emphasis of the point is still there.
The answer is shockingly simple: it's our portrayal in the media. Whether we like it or not or we want to admit it or not, everything in the media is a continuance of some story and the media only covers what they see think will garner them the most ratings. Let's face facts, Philly fans do have a reputation. We did cheer when Michael Irving was wheeled off a football fan for the last time, and we did boo Santa Claus (I have a major gripe with this story as well and how it's been portrayed, but that's another rant for another time). But given the reputation of Philly fans, which makes a better, more interesting story for the media to cover? A bunch of thugs beating up a guy outside of a bar that just so happens to be outside of Citizens Bank Park? Or a San Francisco Giants fan killing a Los Angeles Dodgers fan in a stadium parking lot? The Philly thugs, of course. Even though the 03 Giants incident is to an infinite power more of a sports crime and a bigger example of sports hooliganism, hey, Philly has the more interesting media story because of our reputation, therefore, that's a bigger story. And while the Giants fan may have gotten his headlines back then, was everyone blaming that on the horrible obnoxious sports culture in San Francisco?
People frequently claim that sports hooliganism, if you will, only takes place in Philly. Now I assume that most of you have been around sports long enough to know what I am saying is more than true, but still, the point needs to be made. Every professional sports team is going to have their people! Yes, even Philadelphia. I'm not here claiming that Philly fans are angels of the sports world or something, but give me a break here. Drunkeness occurs at any and all sporting events. There are always guys who just can't limit themselves to a beer or 2 to enjoy the game with and go way overboard and in turn get nasty, obnoxious, and in some cases, violent. That can happen anywhere in the country. Scratch that, that does happen everywhere in the country. Because let's face it, it's human nature for that to happen. During sporting events people want to party and when people party they tend to drink alcohol, in some cases lots of it. And when the human body has too much alcohol, especially in a person obnoxious when he is sober, you know things are going to be taken to the next level. The level that was reached in that parking lot in 2003 and the level that was reached outside of Citizens Bank Park last Saturday. It does not matter if we're in Philadelphia, Los Angeles or Kalamazoo, THIS STUFF HAPPENS! GET USED TO IT AND STOP PIN-POINTING OUR CITY AS THE ASSHOLE SPORTS CITY OF THE COUNTRY WHEN MUCH WORSE HAS HAPPENED ELSEWHERE!!!!!!!!!! OH, AND COLIN, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DREXEL UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!? Sigh....why do I even waste my breath on someone who the best thing most people can say about him is that he is a skidmark on the underwear of life?
However, in the grand context of it all, none of this stuff even matters, now does it? Who cares about Colin Cowherd and what happened in what sports city? Someone way too young died a death that he did not deserve to die.
RIP David Sale.
Because of a reputation, based mostly on things that happened in the last century, the tragic death of David Sale is being blamed on Philly sports fans and the sports culture here in general. Yeah, hard to believe, I know. Something bad happens at one of our ballparks and it's because of the "hooliganism" in Philadelphia that caused this to happen.
Why can't you people wake up? Why are you such hypocrites? Do you honestly think this only happens in Philadelphia? If so, please, go back to Kindergarten for that is where your intelligence level is right about now.
You are quick to prosecute us yet you are too blind to see the other headlines that the media conveinently hides from you. For what kind of a story is it that a Los Angeles Angels fan was killed while leaving the stadium earlier this year? Folks in Los Angeles are not like that. They are not hooligans, criminals, and thus like Philadelphians are. They are cool, laid back, surfer dudes. All of them. Hooliganism does not exist in Los Angeles. No, not at all.
And what about the 03 shooting of a Dodgers fan by a Giants fan? Surely, it must have been some sort of freak accident. There is no other logical explanation. I mean, after all, sports fans out west are all laid back surfer-dudes. You can't blame this on a sports euphoria that exists all over the world, including California. No, this kind of stuff can only happen in Philadelphia for sports hooliganism lives only there. No where else in the world. Just Philadelphia.
Okay, enough of the absurd sarcasm and more to the straight facts. I'm not trying to trivialize anything having to do with the deaths. They were very tragic indeed as. You can't trivialize a mother losing her son and a sister losing her brother for good. But a point needs to be made to shut up some people of the mainstream media (*cough*cough*Colin Cowherd*cough*cough, who even went as far as to essentially say our school system sucks; yeah, um, that explains why some of the nations finest universities are in the city of Philadelphia) who are as thick-headed as I depicted them to be with the above sarcasm about the 2 real deaths that occured. I don't take pleasure in doing this. I'd rather take John Gonzalez's advice and focus more on what really happened, as in an innocent kid died way too young, and not argue about this, but the mainstream douche bags have driven me to it.
Let's take a look at David Sale's murderers. Just to save time for me as I have a live blog to get to in 30 minutes, I'll quote the above linked Gonzalez column. You'll find the emphasis of the point is still there.
Three men - 28-year-old Francis Kirchner, 35-year-old Charles Bowers, and 45-year-old James Groves - have been charged with murder. In 1995, Bowers was sentenced to six to 23 months for stabbing a man four times. In 2006, Kirchner had to undergo court-ordered anger-management counseling after he and some associates broke a man's cheekbone. If history is any indication, these are not nice people.Face it, these are not sports thugs. These are thugs thugs. These guys would be considered thugs in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, Anchorage, where have you. So why are we blaming this on a sports culture?
The answer is shockingly simple: it's our portrayal in the media. Whether we like it or not or we want to admit it or not, everything in the media is a continuance of some story and the media only covers what they see think will garner them the most ratings. Let's face facts, Philly fans do have a reputation. We did cheer when Michael Irving was wheeled off a football fan for the last time, and we did boo Santa Claus (I have a major gripe with this story as well and how it's been portrayed, but that's another rant for another time). But given the reputation of Philly fans, which makes a better, more interesting story for the media to cover? A bunch of thugs beating up a guy outside of a bar that just so happens to be outside of Citizens Bank Park? Or a San Francisco Giants fan killing a Los Angeles Dodgers fan in a stadium parking lot? The Philly thugs, of course. Even though the 03 Giants incident is to an infinite power more of a sports crime and a bigger example of sports hooliganism, hey, Philly has the more interesting media story because of our reputation, therefore, that's a bigger story. And while the Giants fan may have gotten his headlines back then, was everyone blaming that on the horrible obnoxious sports culture in San Francisco?
People frequently claim that sports hooliganism, if you will, only takes place in Philly. Now I assume that most of you have been around sports long enough to know what I am saying is more than true, but still, the point needs to be made. Every professional sports team is going to have their people! Yes, even Philadelphia. I'm not here claiming that Philly fans are angels of the sports world or something, but give me a break here. Drunkeness occurs at any and all sporting events. There are always guys who just can't limit themselves to a beer or 2 to enjoy the game with and go way overboard and in turn get nasty, obnoxious, and in some cases, violent. That can happen anywhere in the country. Scratch that, that does happen everywhere in the country. Because let's face it, it's human nature for that to happen. During sporting events people want to party and when people party they tend to drink alcohol, in some cases lots of it. And when the human body has too much alcohol, especially in a person obnoxious when he is sober, you know things are going to be taken to the next level. The level that was reached in that parking lot in 2003 and the level that was reached outside of Citizens Bank Park last Saturday. It does not matter if we're in Philadelphia, Los Angeles or Kalamazoo, THIS STUFF HAPPENS! GET USED TO IT AND STOP PIN-POINTING OUR CITY AS THE ASSHOLE SPORTS CITY OF THE COUNTRY WHEN MUCH WORSE HAS HAPPENED ELSEWHERE!!!!!!!!!! OH, AND COLIN, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DREXEL UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!? Sigh....why do I even waste my breath on someone who the best thing most people can say about him is that he is a skidmark on the underwear of life?
However, in the grand context of it all, none of this stuff even matters, now does it? Who cares about Colin Cowherd and what happened in what sports city? Someone way too young died a death that he did not deserve to die.
RIP David Sale.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Keith Olbermann's Cowardice Has Reached An All Time Low
Before you call me out for hypocrisy, in my RIP post, I was discussing how everyday people will remember Michael Jackson years down the road, not how a cable news network should go about with their tribute show. And last night, Keith Olbermann and Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth completely disgraced the legacy of the King of Pop.
Unfortunately and much to my chagrin, I can't find you any video, but here are some quotes from last night's clusterfuck of an interview courtesy of a transcript of provided by MSNBC.
Count the number of distortions and bashings of hte late-great Jackson as possibe in Orth's answer.
We continue on and while I ended the blockquote with some commentary, we are resuming the interview right where I left off.
And the only thing I can say about this next question is tell me this did nut just happen.....
I think that occult777 summed this whole thing up best in a Daily Kos entry:
I'll admit that when I first started watching Countdown, I was blind as a bat. I had never seen O'Reilly before and I thought Olbermann was the greatest thing ever. But I can see now. My only disagreement with the aforementioned is that the poster called Keith Olbermann a journalist. That, he is not. He is a liberal commentator. And whether he'll ever admit it or not, that's exactly what he is. Just like Sean Hannity is a neo-conservative commentator, just like Glenn Beck is a liberterian commentator, and just like Bill O'Reilly is an independent commentator. I've been watching The O'Reilly Factor and he is not a far-right Republican has Keith Olbermann portrays him as. He just does not have a hard-on for Obama as Keith Olbermann frequently seems to do, especially on domestic issues (Olbermann's a little better at criticizing him on foreign policy). For those that believe Olbermann and consider O'Reilly right-wing, I challenge you to watch him for a week, whether it be live at 8 PM ET or the replay at 11 PM ET. And for those into ratings, not only is O'Reilly's overall numbers tripled that of Keith's, but more often than not, the Factor re-air has more viewers than the live 8 PM edition of Countdown!
This is not a far-right opinion that I am presenting here. It is the facts of the situation. For those that don't know and/or forget, I am a liberal democrat (especially on social issues) and I campaigned hard and voted for Obama. But you have to be able to criticize even those that you agree with it and even if their opinions are the same as yours, that does not make them perfect angel who do no harm.
Let's go back to O'Reilly for a second here and Keith's cowardice. I've been watching the O'Reilly Factor more and more as I have stated and I don't always agree with him, but there is always one common denominator, and that is that O'Reilly always has guests who disagree with him on his show and there is always a lively, fun to listen to discussion, whereas Keith NEVER challenges his guests to an argument, and most of the time they just agree with each other. And while Hannity can be a bit too much on the right for me to tolerate on a daily basis, he too has guests who disagree with him and a lively discussion. Again, everything in that paragraph is a fact. Tell me a time when Keith had a verbal disagreement with a guest. Go ahead.....find one. I dare you. You can't do it, now can you?
Now let's go back to what I started this post with: the Maureen Orth interview. All this was not a rant about Olbermann for nothing. The point of this whole post is to demonstrate to you that Keith Olbermann is too much of a high-horse riding coward to have anyone disagree with him. We can't let a verbal squabble bruise the ol' ego, now can we? The more I watch, the more I become disgusted with it. And forget the fact that Olbermann mocked Michael Jackson beyond belief during Jackson's 2005 trial, I think everyone at somepoint or another took their shots at Jackson for that whole saga, but when you are anchoring coverage that is more or less supposed to be a tribute and you are either sincere or just portraying someone sympathetic, and someone completely trashes and skewers him like Orth did, SAY SOMETHING, YOU GUTLESS COWARD!!!!!!!! STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!!!!! STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN!!!!! GROW A SACK AND DEFEND YOURSELF AND THE LEGACY OF MICHAEL JACKSON!!!! DEFEND YOURSELF AND YOUR SHOW WHEN SOMEONE CALLS TENS-OF-THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS RACISTS JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T AGREE WITH OBAMA'S TAX PLANS!!!!!!!!!
It's people who are too scared to stand up for themselves and have a disagreement that are the worst persons in the world. And Keith Olbermann falls into that category. It's easy to criticize others who say something stupid in the heat of a moment, when all you do is read from a teleprompter and have guests who agree with you. It's easy to just agree with everything your guests say and go about life and make an undeserving $8 million per year for it. This way, Keith's ego is perfectly intact and he does not have to worry about taking a few shots on the air. People like Keith don't deserve that kind of money. Say what you will about O'Reilly, but at least he is man enough to get in disagreements and arguments. He'll take his shots and move on, unlike Keith "I Avoid Arguments AT All Costs Because My Ego Can't Take Such A Low Blow" Olbermann.
I end with a statement that until I can get over this, I'm pretty much done with Countdown. Keith has crossed the line too many times for my liking. I just hope that one day Keith Olbermann will leave the political news business for good and stick to becoming a sportscaster full-time. At least there is something he is good at.
Unfortunately and much to my chagrin, I can't find you any video, but here are some quotes from last night's clusterfuck of an interview courtesy of a transcript of provided by MSNBC.
Count the number of distortions and bashings of hte late-great Jackson as possibe in Orth's answer.
OLBERMANN: Did he? Did he ever find the life he wanted?No objection ever came from Keith. And even if there was some veracity to those distortions, this is not the kind of things you say about a man 3 HOURS AFTER HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD!
ORTH: I don‘t think so. Michael Jackson gave a lecture at Oxford in 2001, in which he said childhood was supposed to be the wondrous time in your life. I never had that childhood. He grew up on the stage. He was a superstar at a very young age. His family whipped him into being the money-maker for them. He resented it terribly.
He really did become very much addicted to fame. It became grotesque at a certain point. He was so extremely talented that nobody ever told him no. And he was surrounded by enablers. And the charges that I followed from 1994 until 2005, the allegations of pedophilia against him, I believe were very much probably more true than not.
And he had—he battled drugs. He had alcohol problems. He gave—it came out in the trial testimony that he called white wine Jesus Juice and red wine Jesus blood, and he gave it to teenagers. He really was a very, very sad person, who had been given great, great, extreme talent.
But in the end, the life he led was grotesque.
We continue on and while I ended the blockquote with some commentary, we are resuming the interview right where I left off.
OLBERMANN: I‘ve often heard this used about athletes, about politicians, about anyone who has excelled in any field that requires a part of you to become permanently public. People say, if only they could have somehow separated out these bad parts of the personality, these compulsive or addictive or abusive parts of the personality that has eventually come up to end or dismantle part of the public career; is that possible? With your experience of people like Michael Jackson, not that there was crowds and crowds of them—but there are many people that who fall under this broad category of enormous talent and enormous mistakes, and enormous controversy, everything writ large. Is there any separating or are all these things so interweaved that you might not be able to say which is cause and which is affect, but it‘s all part of one bundle?She called the man a narcissist. 3 hours after he died she calls him a narcissist. And once again, no objection from Keith Olbermann. He is perfectly fine with everything Maureen has said. And just as an aside, Maureen is a known critic and basher of Jackson. Why is she even on this show anyway? Shouldn't this discussion be saved for later?
ORTH: What happens, I think, is at a certain point, you‘ve been told you‘re a genius so many time, and you are a genius musically, and you are not really allowed to grow up and mature in a normal way. Narcissism takes over. I remember one time in Neverland, there was a black velvet painting and Michael Jackson, I think he had commissioned it. And it was Michael Jackson, Mohamed Ali, Martin Luther King, and Jesus Christ. That‘s kind of how he viewed himself, in that pantheon.
So he was always surrounded by enablers, people who wanted to get close to him, close to his talent, close to his money. I don‘t think it is at all surprising that we‘re not hearing this statement come out. I‘m sure there is amazing behind the scenes craziness going on right now, because I think chaos followed Michael wherever he went. And I‘m sure that this is one of those chaotic moments.
What is going to happen to the children? Everybody, all the creditors are going to be in line for the money. I‘m sure this story is going to go on with a lot of craziness.
OLBERMANN: Yes, if there is money, or if it hasn‘t already disappeared—
ORTH: There is still—I think he still owned about 25 percent of his catalog. Sony was taking it little by little, piece by piece. But there is potential problems in the future because of his extraordinary music for many years to come. There‘s plenty to fight over.
And the only thing I can say about this next question is tell me this did nut just happen.....
OLBERMANN: [...] What was this comeback tour all about? What do you think it meant to him?Unbelieveable.
ORTH: Well, the comeback tour first has to be about money, because he was always having terrible, terrible problems with money and debt. And he would attach himself to various sheikhs and billionaires in different parts of the world, where he still had a measure of a claim. He was very big in Poland, for example, or in parts of the Middle East. So he would find very rich people in these more out of the way places, and sort of live off of them for a while, until they got tired of it, or until the concerts didn‘t materialize or whatever. And then he would be thrown out and they would go on and there would be more lawsuits.
This is a person who lived in constant chaos, and probably kept a whole retinue of lawyers all the time working. So the amount of money that came in, the amount of money that came out was extraordinary.
Having said that, of course Michael wanted to be revered. He wanted to be considered a god. At one point, he had some man going around the world trying to find places where he could get lifetime achievement awards. That was one of his favorite things, was to appear in different parts of the world with a lifetime achievement award.
So he needed—he had an ego that need to be fed. But he really didn‘t like entertaining anymore. And, of course, his family for years—his brothers begged him, please, please come out with us. Do another concert tour with us. And they would constantly announce that this was about to happen, which, of course, it never happened. He didn‘t really want anything to do with his family.
I remember that his parents were very loyally sitting in the front row of the trial in 2005 most days. And different various relatives would come in and come out. As soon as that not guilty verdict came down, boy, he disappeared. He went in one direction. They went in another. And I don‘t think they could get him on the phone.
I think that occult777 summed this whole thing up best in a Daily Kos entry:
On the day the world mourns the shocking, sudden death of Michael Jackson, Keith Olbermann decided to reflect on his memory by bringing Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth into the studio to trash Michael's image with lies and innuendos most of which were without merit.Suffice to say, Keith Olbermann has disappointed me greatly. There is only one fallacy in that quote and I'll get to that later. There is one thing that Keith Olbermann cannot and will never be able to overcome: The man is a coward!!!!! He is utterly afraid to disagree with any guest he ever has and I think I can count on one finger the number of times he has had more than one guest on his program. There is no debate, no interesting discussions. The studio is and always has been an echo-chamber. And Keith makes it that way. For he never, NEVER disagrees with anything his guests say. Case and point, take the Jeanine Garofalo incident from a couple months ago. Listen as she calls EVERY PERSON who joined in in the tea party protests (or as Keith Olbermann and others called them, "teabaggers") a racist and listen closer as KEITH ACTUALLY EXPRESSES AGREEMENT WITH THAT RIDICULOUS, ABSURD, OFFENSIVE, AND DOWNRIGHT FALSE STATEMENT!!!!!!!!
I have always held Mr. Olbermann in high regard as a journalist. Common decency dictates that on the day a person dies, we all owe the deceased and their family a certain amount of respect. As the saying goes, if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. For crying out loud, Keith! You had Maureen Orth sit there and spew hateful rhetoric and unsubstantiated stories as facts, while you sat there and egged her on to give you more dirt. How dare you?
This is a shocking occurrence and most of us are saddened by the tragic nature of such an untimely passing. The man may not have been an angel but give us all a break and allow us to mourn in peace. I would stand up for you in your memory if on the day of your passing, some hater and twisted buffoon made statements, however controversial about the life you lived. I hope when you get the opportunity to review tonight's segment with Maureen Orth, who by the way, has and always will be a hater and an innuendo pedlar, that sensationalizes for the sake of magazine sales, you will make a decent commentary and address the inappropriate nature of what transpired on your show tonight.
You heard it in Mr. Oxman's voice as he spoke between tears of losing a friend. Today, a fellow human being died. He was a brother, a son, a cousin and an uncle. More than just a pop icon who's dirty laundry was aired in public for all to see. You Keith, ought to be above the fray.
You have really disappointed a whole lot of your fans tonight.
Update!! - This is NOT about Keith bashing. I am a true fan of Olbermann's. I Have been since his sportscaster days. The man isn't perfect all the time, but most of the time. He should be called out, when he makes a mistake.
I'll admit that when I first started watching Countdown, I was blind as a bat. I had never seen O'Reilly before and I thought Olbermann was the greatest thing ever. But I can see now. My only disagreement with the aforementioned is that the poster called Keith Olbermann a journalist. That, he is not. He is a liberal commentator. And whether he'll ever admit it or not, that's exactly what he is. Just like Sean Hannity is a neo-conservative commentator, just like Glenn Beck is a liberterian commentator, and just like Bill O'Reilly is an independent commentator. I've been watching The O'Reilly Factor and he is not a far-right Republican has Keith Olbermann portrays him as. He just does not have a hard-on for Obama as Keith Olbermann frequently seems to do, especially on domestic issues (Olbermann's a little better at criticizing him on foreign policy). For those that believe Olbermann and consider O'Reilly right-wing, I challenge you to watch him for a week, whether it be live at 8 PM ET or the replay at 11 PM ET. And for those into ratings, not only is O'Reilly's overall numbers tripled that of Keith's, but more often than not, the Factor re-air has more viewers than the live 8 PM edition of Countdown!
This is not a far-right opinion that I am presenting here. It is the facts of the situation. For those that don't know and/or forget, I am a liberal democrat (especially on social issues) and I campaigned hard and voted for Obama. But you have to be able to criticize even those that you agree with it and even if their opinions are the same as yours, that does not make them perfect angel who do no harm.
Let's go back to O'Reilly for a second here and Keith's cowardice. I've been watching the O'Reilly Factor more and more as I have stated and I don't always agree with him, but there is always one common denominator, and that is that O'Reilly always has guests who disagree with him on his show and there is always a lively, fun to listen to discussion, whereas Keith NEVER challenges his guests to an argument, and most of the time they just agree with each other. And while Hannity can be a bit too much on the right for me to tolerate on a daily basis, he too has guests who disagree with him and a lively discussion. Again, everything in that paragraph is a fact. Tell me a time when Keith had a verbal disagreement with a guest. Go ahead.....find one. I dare you. You can't do it, now can you?
Now let's go back to what I started this post with: the Maureen Orth interview. All this was not a rant about Olbermann for nothing. The point of this whole post is to demonstrate to you that Keith Olbermann is too much of a high-horse riding coward to have anyone disagree with him. We can't let a verbal squabble bruise the ol' ego, now can we? The more I watch, the more I become disgusted with it. And forget the fact that Olbermann mocked Michael Jackson beyond belief during Jackson's 2005 trial, I think everyone at somepoint or another took their shots at Jackson for that whole saga, but when you are anchoring coverage that is more or less supposed to be a tribute and you are either sincere or just portraying someone sympathetic, and someone completely trashes and skewers him like Orth did, SAY SOMETHING, YOU GUTLESS COWARD!!!!!!!! STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!!!!! STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN!!!!! GROW A SACK AND DEFEND YOURSELF AND THE LEGACY OF MICHAEL JACKSON!!!! DEFEND YOURSELF AND YOUR SHOW WHEN SOMEONE CALLS TENS-OF-THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS RACISTS JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T AGREE WITH OBAMA'S TAX PLANS!!!!!!!!!
It's people who are too scared to stand up for themselves and have a disagreement that are the worst persons in the world. And Keith Olbermann falls into that category. It's easy to criticize others who say something stupid in the heat of a moment, when all you do is read from a teleprompter and have guests who agree with you. It's easy to just agree with everything your guests say and go about life and make an undeserving $8 million per year for it. This way, Keith's ego is perfectly intact and he does not have to worry about taking a few shots on the air. People like Keith don't deserve that kind of money. Say what you will about O'Reilly, but at least he is man enough to get in disagreements and arguments. He'll take his shots and move on, unlike Keith "I Avoid Arguments AT All Costs Because My Ego Can't Take Such A Low Blow" Olbermann.
I end with a statement that until I can get over this, I'm pretty much done with Countdown. Keith has crossed the line too many times for my liking. I just hope that one day Keith Olbermann will leave the political news business for good and stick to becoming a sportscaster full-time. At least there is something he is good at.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Surprise Of The Century: Officer Powell Was A Douche Bag To Another NFL Player's Wife
I think we learned a whole heck about America's new least favorite police officer, Robert Powell over the Ryan Moats incident. Well, it looks like those suspicions are becoming confirmed! Why is that you ask? Well, this is not the first time he was a douche bag. And this was not the first time that he affected the life of an NFL player. It just so happened that this is the same police officer who pulled over Zach Thomas' wife a year ago.......OVER A U-TURN! Seriously. Via Dallasnews.com
I do hope, sir, that you are reading what has been written about you everywhere. And I do hope, sir (if indeed you are a man), that you have listened to what these people have said. Because everyone of them that has called you a douche bag and asked for your job are absoulutely right. The law enforcement business has no business for an incompetent, selfish, egotistical, sanctimounious, non-feeling, ruthless, manical, psychotic son of a bitch such as yourself. And I am not a religious man, but, sir, I hope that you truly understand the pain that you caused the Moats family. I hope sir, that you understand what you did. I hope sir that you understand that because of you Ryan Moats never got to be with his mother-in-law for her last seconds. I hope sir, that you truly understand that it was single-handedly your fault that Jonetta Collinsworth's father was never there to watch her die. How could you truly look at yourself in the mirror? Don't you bloody well realize that that was somebody's daughter in that hospital room? And don't you realize that that somebody was in the car? The car that you pulled over? The car that you prevented from entering that hospital over the ticket that could not wait 15 damn minutes. Are you proud of yourself, Officer Powell?
Jonetta Collinsworth died in the hospital that night. She died during those 15 minutes that you pulled over the car containing her family. She died while you refused to listen to Ryan Moats' claim that she was dying. She died as you ignored his pleas. She died as you meaninglessly sought after Ryan Moats' insurance. She died as you threatened to arrest Ryan Moats over running a red light.
Sir, on all accounts, I have stopped short of calling you a racist. Maybe it's naiveness at it's best, but there's a part of me that refuses to believe that this was racially motivated. But the more I look at what happened, the more I see that it was. The more that I learn about you, the more that I understand what kind of man you truly are. And let's not forget that Zach Thomas' wife is hispanic. Coincidence? Perhaps. But the evidence is all there. This is twice, sir, that you have dished out excessive punishments to minorities.
And then there is the more that I watch the video. Why didn't you believe Mr. Moats when he told you that his mother-in-law was in the hospital dying? Why was it only until hospital staff came out that you listened? Why couldn't you understand what Ryan Moats was saying? Why could not you connect the obvious dots? Ryan Moats' wife ran into the hospital before the altercation began. Did you think it was a sham? A sham to get out of a mere ticket for running a red light? Could you not hear in the tone of Ryan Moats' voice that he was being serious?
Of course you couldn't. Because Ryan Moats is a black man. And what he did does not mean a damn thing to a white racist such as yourself. Your actions have left me no choice, sir.
What kind of man are you, Robert Powell? What kind of heart do you have? For is it common sense to you that when a man who is claiming that his mother-in-law is dying at this very moment to detain him and to refuse to let her see her family for one last time? Is that what your conscious tells you to do? Is that what the police code tells you to do? Is that what your heart tells you to do? And if indeed it is what it told you to do, then heed these words, karma has a way of rearing it's head in cases like this. And when it does show, I hope you realize the pain that you caused this family. But then again, that's assuming that you are human and you do have a family. For after what you did, I do not know how any one can look you in the eyes and seriously tell you, "I love you".
Good night and good luck.
Maritza Thomas, the wife of NFL linebacker Zach Thomas, saw a familiar face as she watched the video of Officer Robert Powell detaining Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he and his family rushed to a hospital to see a dying loved one. That face was Powell's.Sorry for the excessive blockquote, but it was needed so you could see just how much of a douche bag this police officer is. Unbelieveable. Talk about excessive, good lord, this guy is on a one-man power trip. And I'm not being sarcastic one damn bit!
On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.
Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.
"This in no way compares to what happened to Ryan Moats and his family," said Zach Thomas, who played for the Cowboys last season and is now a free agent. "But we wanted to tell our story, not knowing how many others have been affected by Officer Powell. We know the vast majority of the Dallas police force are good and professional people, but this guy just seems excessive."
The charges that were dropped were failure to show proof of insurance, running a red light, having an improper address on a driver's license and not having a registration sticker on the windshield. She accepted deferred adjudication for the illegal U-turn charge, and her record will be cleared next month.
In total, Maritza Thomas, who is Hispanic, was detained roughly five hours.
"This situation never should've happened," said Maritza Thomas' attorney, Brody Shanklin. "Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, no person should be arrested for a Class C citation. In this case, it was an example of Officer Powell being overzealous and exerting his authority in a manner that he never should have
I do hope, sir, that you are reading what has been written about you everywhere. And I do hope, sir (if indeed you are a man), that you have listened to what these people have said. Because everyone of them that has called you a douche bag and asked for your job are absoulutely right. The law enforcement business has no business for an incompetent, selfish, egotistical, sanctimounious, non-feeling, ruthless, manical, psychotic son of a bitch such as yourself. And I am not a religious man, but, sir, I hope that you truly understand the pain that you caused the Moats family. I hope sir, that you understand what you did. I hope sir that you understand that because of you Ryan Moats never got to be with his mother-in-law for her last seconds. I hope sir, that you truly understand that it was single-handedly your fault that Jonetta Collinsworth's father was never there to watch her die. How could you truly look at yourself in the mirror? Don't you bloody well realize that that was somebody's daughter in that hospital room? And don't you realize that that somebody was in the car? The car that you pulled over? The car that you prevented from entering that hospital over the ticket that could not wait 15 damn minutes. Are you proud of yourself, Officer Powell?
Jonetta Collinsworth died in the hospital that night. She died during those 15 minutes that you pulled over the car containing her family. She died while you refused to listen to Ryan Moats' claim that she was dying. She died as you ignored his pleas. She died as you meaninglessly sought after Ryan Moats' insurance. She died as you threatened to arrest Ryan Moats over running a red light.
Sir, on all accounts, I have stopped short of calling you a racist. Maybe it's naiveness at it's best, but there's a part of me that refuses to believe that this was racially motivated. But the more I look at what happened, the more I see that it was. The more that I learn about you, the more that I understand what kind of man you truly are. And let's not forget that Zach Thomas' wife is hispanic. Coincidence? Perhaps. But the evidence is all there. This is twice, sir, that you have dished out excessive punishments to minorities.
And then there is the more that I watch the video. Why didn't you believe Mr. Moats when he told you that his mother-in-law was in the hospital dying? Why was it only until hospital staff came out that you listened? Why couldn't you understand what Ryan Moats was saying? Why could not you connect the obvious dots? Ryan Moats' wife ran into the hospital before the altercation began. Did you think it was a sham? A sham to get out of a mere ticket for running a red light? Could you not hear in the tone of Ryan Moats' voice that he was being serious?
Of course you couldn't. Because Ryan Moats is a black man. And what he did does not mean a damn thing to a white racist such as yourself. Your actions have left me no choice, sir.
What kind of man are you, Robert Powell? What kind of heart do you have? For is it common sense to you that when a man who is claiming that his mother-in-law is dying at this very moment to detain him and to refuse to let her see her family for one last time? Is that what your conscious tells you to do? Is that what the police code tells you to do? Is that what your heart tells you to do? And if indeed it is what it told you to do, then heed these words, karma has a way of rearing it's head in cases like this. And when it does show, I hope you realize the pain that you caused this family. But then again, that's assuming that you are human and you do have a family. For after what you did, I do not know how any one can look you in the eyes and seriously tell you, "I love you".
Good night and good luck.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
On The Super Bowl XLIII Officiating
48-hours ago I did not think there would be any need for me to type this. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
What happened 2-nights ago in Tampa at the Super Bowl was a travesty. Yes, it was a great game. Yes, Big Ben had a drive for the ages capping with a touchdown that will be replayed over and over and over again for years to come. The Pittsburgh Steelers are deserving of the Super Bowl that they won. That can't be taken away from them. But the Arizona Cardinals were deserving of a chance at the end. And they were denied that. Not by the Steelers, but by Terry McAulay and the rest of the officiating crew at Super Bowl XLIII.
Now had the last 40 seconds of the game been officiated properly, there's no telling what would have happened. Would the Cardinals have been able to punch it in the endzone in the last 5 seconds, no one knows. But what we really should have seen will surprise you. And that will be pointed out here.
You can debate calls all throughout the game. There were debatable calls on both sides. You can argue that the refs were against the Cardinals all game, as evidenced by the fact that the Cardinals had to use both of their challenges and they won them both. I'm not going to argue that. This is not Tim Donaghy big. But this is big.
It started on the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch. It was a great play and a clean play. However, it was after the play that we have some controversy. Actually, there is no controversy. After the touchdown, Santonio Holmes treated the ball as a prop by using it almost as a salt-and-pepper shaker (the motions mimicked that in a way) and then threw the ball up in the air while spreading his arms out, clearly mimicking LeBron James. And there was no penalty! This was something that was clear as day and yet, the refs clearly missed that call. That's 15-yards! This is the Super Bowl and while you can use the argument that it's the Super Bowl and he should be allowed to do what he wants after catching one of the greatest touchdowns of all time, the fact remains it's still a penalty. And a clear penalty in a game that was littered with ticky-tacky calls. No one's going to say anything if you call that 15-yards, it was clear as day. And yet, it went ignored and uncalled. 15-yards. Remember that.
Now we get to the Warner fumble. I have seen that play over and over and over again from every possible angle and I have come to one conclusion. Warner's arm was going forward. Based on the sheer physics of the play, there's no other possible explanation. We'll get to back the the physics later, but first let's disect the video. Here's a great close-up.
What happened when he threw is he put his arm back, put it back even more to heave it down the field, moved his arm forward, got hit as he was doing so and the ball came out. And if the video does not prove it (which I think he does) then let's talk science. There is no way this is not an incomplete pass. By the sheer physics of it. The ball ends up 4-yards down the field. How is that possible? Especially seeing as Lamaar Woodley came from Warner's side! He was not popped from behind. We've seen empty hands before. A good sign of an empty hand fumble is the ball popping up in the air because the only momentum is the defender hitting him and the QB going down. How does the ball end up 4-yards down the field if Warner is hit from the side with his arm all the way back? The only possible explanation is that he must have had possession of the ball while moving his arm/shoulder forward. How else does the ball get all that forward momentum? It certainly would not have been provided by Woodley who hit him from the side. Momentum cannot be created or destroyed and Raymond James Stadium is not a place where the laws of physics are destroyed. And not only did it end up 4-yards down the field, but it ends up 4-yards down the field on a line, not popped up in the air. If it were popped up in the air, that would lend credence to the empty hand, but the fact that the ball was 4-yards down the field on an albeit somewhat wobbly line proves even more that the pass was incomplete and the arm was going forward. There's no other scientifically plausible explanation. And if there is, I'd like to see it.
And what's an even bigger crime here is that this play WAS NOT EVEN REVIEWED! It is impossible in one-minute of looking at the play to make a judgment on it. You think that I spent only a minute or two looking at it? NO! I must have seen the play now 50-100 times. I've studied it. And while you certainly can't completely disect the film in 3-minutes for a booth review, you can definitley look at it, apply high school physics, and make a judgment that the arm must have been going forward. And even if McAulay and his crew don't remember anything about physics. Isn't that play close enough just by looking at it to warrant that it needs to be looked at for more than a minute.
And we're not done here. There was another 15-yard excessive celebration penalty on the Steelers. That would have been tacked on. Remember the 15-yard excessive celebration penalty after the Holmes touchdown? Assuming everything stayed the same, and the pass was rightly overturned, the Arizona Cardinals should have had the ball at the 19-yard line with 5 seconds to go. Now whether or not the Cardinals would have converted is anyone's guess, but there chances were very good with Larry Fitzgerald on their team.
The fact that this game came down to this though, is unforgiveable. I'm not here to come up with a crazy conspiracy that the refs were employed by the Steelers or something, but the circumstances certainly are dubious around the whole thing. Terry McAulay was the only referee to have a major controversy in the playoffs and he is the referee for the Super Bowl, having been named days after the Delay of Game controversy in Nashville. And here we are in the Super Bowl, with one of the most controversial finishes in Super Bowl history.
Again, I say, I'm not glad that I'm talking about this. I have no problem with Pittsburgh winning. But thanks to McAulay and the officiating crew, there will always be a cloud of "what if" surrounding the game? Does Warner connect with Fitzgerald for the game-winning TD? Does Polamalu pick it off and seal the deal? Is the pass caught at the 1 by Boldin and tackled immediately, leaving him and the Cardinals inches short of a touchdown? It was a great game, a historic drive by Big Ben ending with what may very well be considered the greatest touchdown in Super Bowl history. However, the cloud of controversy will forever lurk over this game. And that, my friends, is a damn shame.
What happened 2-nights ago in Tampa at the Super Bowl was a travesty. Yes, it was a great game. Yes, Big Ben had a drive for the ages capping with a touchdown that will be replayed over and over and over again for years to come. The Pittsburgh Steelers are deserving of the Super Bowl that they won. That can't be taken away from them. But the Arizona Cardinals were deserving of a chance at the end. And they were denied that. Not by the Steelers, but by Terry McAulay and the rest of the officiating crew at Super Bowl XLIII.
Now had the last 40 seconds of the game been officiated properly, there's no telling what would have happened. Would the Cardinals have been able to punch it in the endzone in the last 5 seconds, no one knows. But what we really should have seen will surprise you. And that will be pointed out here.
You can debate calls all throughout the game. There were debatable calls on both sides. You can argue that the refs were against the Cardinals all game, as evidenced by the fact that the Cardinals had to use both of their challenges and they won them both. I'm not going to argue that. This is not Tim Donaghy big. But this is big.
It started on the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch. It was a great play and a clean play. However, it was after the play that we have some controversy. Actually, there is no controversy. After the touchdown, Santonio Holmes treated the ball as a prop by using it almost as a salt-and-pepper shaker (the motions mimicked that in a way) and then threw the ball up in the air while spreading his arms out, clearly mimicking LeBron James. And there was no penalty! This was something that was clear as day and yet, the refs clearly missed that call. That's 15-yards! This is the Super Bowl and while you can use the argument that it's the Super Bowl and he should be allowed to do what he wants after catching one of the greatest touchdowns of all time, the fact remains it's still a penalty. And a clear penalty in a game that was littered with ticky-tacky calls. No one's going to say anything if you call that 15-yards, it was clear as day. And yet, it went ignored and uncalled. 15-yards. Remember that.
Now we get to the Warner fumble. I have seen that play over and over and over again from every possible angle and I have come to one conclusion. Warner's arm was going forward. Based on the sheer physics of the play, there's no other possible explanation. We'll get to back the the physics later, but first let's disect the video. Here's a great close-up.
What happened when he threw is he put his arm back, put it back even more to heave it down the field, moved his arm forward, got hit as he was doing so and the ball came out. And if the video does not prove it (which I think he does) then let's talk science. There is no way this is not an incomplete pass. By the sheer physics of it. The ball ends up 4-yards down the field. How is that possible? Especially seeing as Lamaar Woodley came from Warner's side! He was not popped from behind. We've seen empty hands before. A good sign of an empty hand fumble is the ball popping up in the air because the only momentum is the defender hitting him and the QB going down. How does the ball end up 4-yards down the field if Warner is hit from the side with his arm all the way back? The only possible explanation is that he must have had possession of the ball while moving his arm/shoulder forward. How else does the ball get all that forward momentum? It certainly would not have been provided by Woodley who hit him from the side. Momentum cannot be created or destroyed and Raymond James Stadium is not a place where the laws of physics are destroyed. And not only did it end up 4-yards down the field, but it ends up 4-yards down the field on a line, not popped up in the air. If it were popped up in the air, that would lend credence to the empty hand, but the fact that the ball was 4-yards down the field on an albeit somewhat wobbly line proves even more that the pass was incomplete and the arm was going forward. There's no other scientifically plausible explanation. And if there is, I'd like to see it.
And what's an even bigger crime here is that this play WAS NOT EVEN REVIEWED! It is impossible in one-minute of looking at the play to make a judgment on it. You think that I spent only a minute or two looking at it? NO! I must have seen the play now 50-100 times. I've studied it. And while you certainly can't completely disect the film in 3-minutes for a booth review, you can definitley look at it, apply high school physics, and make a judgment that the arm must have been going forward. And even if McAulay and his crew don't remember anything about physics. Isn't that play close enough just by looking at it to warrant that it needs to be looked at for more than a minute.
And we're not done here. There was another 15-yard excessive celebration penalty on the Steelers. That would have been tacked on. Remember the 15-yard excessive celebration penalty after the Holmes touchdown? Assuming everything stayed the same, and the pass was rightly overturned, the Arizona Cardinals should have had the ball at the 19-yard line with 5 seconds to go. Now whether or not the Cardinals would have converted is anyone's guess, but there chances were very good with Larry Fitzgerald on their team.
The fact that this game came down to this though, is unforgiveable. I'm not here to come up with a crazy conspiracy that the refs were employed by the Steelers or something, but the circumstances certainly are dubious around the whole thing. Terry McAulay was the only referee to have a major controversy in the playoffs and he is the referee for the Super Bowl, having been named days after the Delay of Game controversy in Nashville. And here we are in the Super Bowl, with one of the most controversial finishes in Super Bowl history.
Again, I say, I'm not glad that I'm talking about this. I have no problem with Pittsburgh winning. But thanks to McAulay and the officiating crew, there will always be a cloud of "what if" surrounding the game? Does Warner connect with Fitzgerald for the game-winning TD? Does Polamalu pick it off and seal the deal? Is the pass caught at the 1 by Boldin and tackled immediately, leaving him and the Cardinals inches short of a touchdown? It was a great game, a historic drive by Big Ben ending with what may very well be considered the greatest touchdown in Super Bowl history. However, the cloud of controversy will forever lurk over this game. And that, my friends, is a damn shame.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The People at PETA Are Officially Insane
Let me preface this post by saying that I am completely against unnecessary cruelty to animals. With that being said though, the people at The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are completely and utterly nuts. This has nothing to do with the cause, but merely the people behind the cause.
As I'm sure many of you know by now, the people at PETA are all upset because their Super Bowl ad got rejected by NBC. Here's the ad and I'll have rejection reasons and commentary.
PETA posted on their website a copy of NBC's rejection email, citing it as NSFW.
No, it does not drive home the fact that vegetarians make better lovers! Do you have anything to prove this? Any quotes? Sources? Any hint of a quote from a source? As far as I see it, the only thing this proves is that PETA is a group that will do anything to draw attention themselves. Even if it means faking outrage over having your ad ban that features a bunch of cheapmodels prostitutes rubbing vegetables against their "pelvic region" while another sticks some vegetable down her underwear while touching her breasts. That does not tell me that vegetarians make better lovers, all it tells me is that PETA is willing to have women degrade themselves on national television just to promote their cause, whatever it may be! It does not direct me to the acutal cause.
And what are you trying to accomplish, PETA? Don't you think you would be better off creating a family friendly ad that promotes vegetarianism that will be seen by over 80 million people than an ad that will obviously be banned by NBC and subsequently will be seen by only thousands of people on the internet. And then there's the hypocrisy part of it. On the PETA blog, they call NBC's letter NSFW (Not Safe For Work) while posting the explicit video without such a warning. Gee, I wonder what's not safer for work. A few words critiquing the video, or, I don't know, THE ACTUAL VIDEO ITSELF!
Now you know why I wrote what I wrote under the "Fire Andy Reid Now!" banner at the top of my blog. Idiocy truly does have no limits.
Read PETA's Hypocrisy For Yourself (The PETA Files)
As I'm sure many of you know by now, the people at PETA are all upset because their Super Bowl ad got rejected by NBC. Here's the ad and I'll have rejection reasons and commentary.
PETA posted on their website a copy of NBC's rejection email, citing it as NSFW.
The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards. Listed below are the edits that need to be made. Before finalizing the spot, we would like to view a Quicktime file as well as a DVD with high resolution.And well it just seems like ridiculousness, there is a serious aspect to this. I understand the want to stand out, but come on, this is ridiculous. From the PETA Files, a blog directly linked from PETA's website, read what they have to say about this letter. You can read the whole response by clicking on the link at the end of the post, but here's the quote that I want to focus on: "it's not the Jonas Brothers eating apple pie, but it sure does drive home the fact that vegetarians make better lovers."
:12- :13- licking pumpkin
:13- :14- touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli
:19- pumpkin from behind between legs
:21- rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin
:22- screwing herself with broccoli (fuzzy)
:23- asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina
:26- licking eggplant
:26- rubbing asparagus on breast
No, it does not drive home the fact that vegetarians make better lovers! Do you have anything to prove this? Any quotes? Sources? Any hint of a quote from a source? As far as I see it, the only thing this proves is that PETA is a group that will do anything to draw attention themselves. Even if it means faking outrage over having your ad ban that features a bunch of cheap
And what are you trying to accomplish, PETA? Don't you think you would be better off creating a family friendly ad that promotes vegetarianism that will be seen by over 80 million people than an ad that will obviously be banned by NBC and subsequently will be seen by only thousands of people on the internet. And then there's the hypocrisy part of it. On the PETA blog, they call NBC's letter NSFW (Not Safe For Work) while posting the explicit video without such a warning. Gee, I wonder what's not safer for work. A few words critiquing the video, or, I don't know, THE ACTUAL VIDEO ITSELF!
Now you know why I wrote what I wrote under the "Fire Andy Reid Now!" banner at the top of my blog. Idiocy truly does have no limits.
Read PETA's Hypocrisy For Yourself (The PETA Files)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
On the BCS (To Be Read Like A Keith Olbermann Special Comment)
This is nothing NFL related, yet I yearn for a place to express my feelings on the BCS. And this is the place. And now is the time.
Look at the situation. Look at what happened on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Look at what happened in the Fiesta Bowl. Look at what happened in the Sugar Bowl. Look at what happened in the Rose Bowl. Look at what's happening in college football.
In what may be the biggest controversy in college football since the exclusion of Auburn in 2004, there are currently 5 teams with a legitimate case that they should be national champions. And while that number will become 4 after the "National Championship Game" when either Florida or Oklahoma lose, you still have one huge can of worms. And this can of worms, regardless of tomorrow's outcome, whether it be a 45-10 blowout or a 38-35 thriller decided in triple overtime, this can of worms will not go away.
Just look at who has a legitimate case. We'll start out with the team that should be playing in the national championship in the first place, Texas! We all remember what happened in Dallas, that one fateful afternoon when Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 and yet somehow, someway, by running up the score on Texas Tech and Mizzou, Oklahoma is in the national championship. What kind of message is this sending? That if you run up the score and be poor sports that you can get your way? There is a difference between blowing a team out and sending a message, which is fine, but when it becomes a 40-point game in the 4th quarter and you're still trying to score, isn't that a little bit much? Hasn't the point already been made? But yet, it seems like the more I think about it, the more those garbage touchdowns have mattered more and more.
The BCS prides itself in a regular season where every game matters. I disagree. I disagree vehemently. It's not if you lose, it's when you lose that matters. It's rare these days that a team from a "major BCS conference" goes unbeaten through the regular season. It is possible that a team can lay an absolute turd week 1, get blown out 45-o and go undefeated the rest of the way and make the national championship. And yet, if a team goes undefeated for their first 11 games, lose their final game by a score 45-0 that team has absolutely no chance of making it to the national championship. How fair is that? Despite everyone in the BCS claiming that they look at the whole body of work, it's not. It's a "what have you done for me lately" system. And by "what have you done for me lately" it's what did you do in the last 2 weeks. And just to slam the point home, look at the final BCS standings.
1. Oklahoma (lost October 11)
3. Texas (lost November 1)
7. Texas Tech (lost November 22)
Notice a pattern here? Now imagine this. What if the Texas-OU game was later on in the season? What if that was the last Big 12 south game of the season? What if the score remained the same? Texas is playing Florida in the national championship game. Colt McCoy is the Heisman Tropny winner. In other words, the entire landscape of college football would be different.
And that's just the argument for one team! Let's move on to USC. The Trojans have one of the best defenses in the history of college football. They beat PSU in the Rose Bowl by a deceptively close score of 38-24. They bashed the Nittany Lions, the Big 10 champions and say what you will about the Big 10, Penn State under JoePa is a damn good football team and USC mopped the floor with them. And look at who they lost to, Oregon State. At the time it was "haha, USC lost to weak Oregon State", but look at Oregon State now! They are a ranked team and they beat Pitt in an, albeit unentertaining, Sun Bowl. USC is more than capable of putting a beat down on Florida and Oklahoma. USC is more than deserving of a national championship.
And lastly, Utah. Whatever happened to going undefeated? Apparently you only get in the national championship game in the FBS if you're undefeated and you play in a major conference. Of course the BCS absolutely ignores the Mountain West Conference. Who cares? Even if they are a BCS conference. They are not a major money maker for them. Therefore, they are shunned away. Forgotten about. Oh, they have an undefeated team? Ah, put them in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and they'll get blown out. Oh, that Sugar Bowl was a blowout all right. 31-17. Utah beat Alabama. They have more than proven their worth. They beat 4 ranked teams this year. What more can you ask for? What more can they do? How fair is it that a team goes undefeated and is not credited with being a national champion? No matter the outcome of tomorrow night's championship game, one fact will remain the same, Utah is the best damn team in the nation and there's not a damn thing Florida and Oklahoma can do to change it! Oh, what about the rest of their schedule? Can you seriously consider a team that plays Weber State to be a national champion? To which, I quite ask the person who asks that question....what drugs are you taking? YES! You can! Why? It's simple. Look at Florida's schedule. Look at who they played? Notice anything. Wait, what's that? They played The Citadel? Yeah, that's right. Florida played The Citadel! The Goddamn Mother Fucking Citadel of The FCS! (pardon my French, s'il vous plait). So, according to you ignorant people who feels Utah should not be a national championship because they had Weber State on their schedule, surely you must feel the same way about Florida....
The bottom line is everybody has weak teams on their schedule. UT-Chattanooga, Baylor played Oklahoma. Should they be discredited then for playing such weak teams? The answer is a simple no. Utah is the best team in the nation. They beat a damn fine TCU team who more than proved there worth in the Poinsettia Bowl. They beat another solid BYU team. And then there was the Sugar Bowl. 31-17. That's the new rallying cry. 31-17! 31-17! 31-17! 31-17!.....
But alas, the BCS does not care. They don't care about the kids. They care about money. Florida and Oklahoma would make more money than a national championship involving Utah. It would be more appealing to a casual fan. There's no doubt about it. But what satisfies those qualities is not always right. In fact, it hardly ever is.
And maybe it's a blessing in disguise that Fox is covering the BCS. They're crappy production has in part helped to drive the BCS ratings into the ground. And maybe once driven completely into the ground. The ashes that rise up will be that of a new system. One where every FBS team gets treated fairly, regardless of conference. And I'm not totally against having bowl games. I would not get rid of the Bowl system, I'd keep the bowls, as they are a good and fun reward for teams not in the Top 8 to play one more game, show off some hidden talent to the country, and entertain us in the process. And then the top 8 teams in the country, regardless of conference, would use the BCS bowl game sites as a site for the quarterfinals of a playoffs (i.e. the Orange Bowl would be a quarterfinal game, the Rose Bowl another, etc.). Wouldn't that make everyone happy?
But then does that not diminish the importance of the regular season? No! It does not. Every game is still important. But there will still be snubs? Yes, there will be. But isn't it easier to snub a 2-loss team or a 1-loss team that got beaten badly by a sub-.500 team than it is undefeated Utah, Texas, and dominant USC?
But as long as the people in the BCS have any say, that will never happen. They are too blinded with greed to see their own greed. They are too obnoxious to realize their own obnoxiousness. Maybe this will finally snap them out of it. Chances are, they will most likely look at Texas, Utah, and USC and just put there nose in the air and say "hmph! I don't care about you". That would not be any different than what they have been doing all year and to teams like Boise State two-years ago and Auburn in 2004.
I, like most college football fans will watch the national title game. Not because I like laughing at Fox's band shots, not because I want to listen to Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis (and his Mangina), not because I want to see who the best team in America is (that honor for this year belongs to the Utes of Utah), but because of two reasons. A). I want to see two good teams play what should be an entertaining game. And B). I want to say I witnessed history when the shit hits the fan with the BCS.
And all the while, in my head, one thing sticks out in my mind above all else. 31-17......31-17.......31-17.....There it is, BCS. Your true national champions. Utah Utes.
Good night and good luck.
Look at the situation. Look at what happened on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Look at what happened in the Fiesta Bowl. Look at what happened in the Sugar Bowl. Look at what happened in the Rose Bowl. Look at what's happening in college football.
In what may be the biggest controversy in college football since the exclusion of Auburn in 2004, there are currently 5 teams with a legitimate case that they should be national champions. And while that number will become 4 after the "National Championship Game" when either Florida or Oklahoma lose, you still have one huge can of worms. And this can of worms, regardless of tomorrow's outcome, whether it be a 45-10 blowout or a 38-35 thriller decided in triple overtime, this can of worms will not go away.
Just look at who has a legitimate case. We'll start out with the team that should be playing in the national championship in the first place, Texas! We all remember what happened in Dallas, that one fateful afternoon when Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 and yet somehow, someway, by running up the score on Texas Tech and Mizzou, Oklahoma is in the national championship. What kind of message is this sending? That if you run up the score and be poor sports that you can get your way? There is a difference between blowing a team out and sending a message, which is fine, but when it becomes a 40-point game in the 4th quarter and you're still trying to score, isn't that a little bit much? Hasn't the point already been made? But yet, it seems like the more I think about it, the more those garbage touchdowns have mattered more and more.
The BCS prides itself in a regular season where every game matters. I disagree. I disagree vehemently. It's not if you lose, it's when you lose that matters. It's rare these days that a team from a "major BCS conference" goes unbeaten through the regular season. It is possible that a team can lay an absolute turd week 1, get blown out 45-o and go undefeated the rest of the way and make the national championship. And yet, if a team goes undefeated for their first 11 games, lose their final game by a score 45-0 that team has absolutely no chance of making it to the national championship. How fair is that? Despite everyone in the BCS claiming that they look at the whole body of work, it's not. It's a "what have you done for me lately" system. And by "what have you done for me lately" it's what did you do in the last 2 weeks. And just to slam the point home, look at the final BCS standings.
1. Oklahoma (lost October 11)
3. Texas (lost November 1)
7. Texas Tech (lost November 22)
Notice a pattern here? Now imagine this. What if the Texas-OU game was later on in the season? What if that was the last Big 12 south game of the season? What if the score remained the same? Texas is playing Florida in the national championship game. Colt McCoy is the Heisman Tropny winner. In other words, the entire landscape of college football would be different.
And that's just the argument for one team! Let's move on to USC. The Trojans have one of the best defenses in the history of college football. They beat PSU in the Rose Bowl by a deceptively close score of 38-24. They bashed the Nittany Lions, the Big 10 champions and say what you will about the Big 10, Penn State under JoePa is a damn good football team and USC mopped the floor with them. And look at who they lost to, Oregon State. At the time it was "haha, USC lost to weak Oregon State", but look at Oregon State now! They are a ranked team and they beat Pitt in an, albeit unentertaining, Sun Bowl. USC is more than capable of putting a beat down on Florida and Oklahoma. USC is more than deserving of a national championship.
And lastly, Utah. Whatever happened to going undefeated? Apparently you only get in the national championship game in the FBS if you're undefeated and you play in a major conference. Of course the BCS absolutely ignores the Mountain West Conference. Who cares? Even if they are a BCS conference. They are not a major money maker for them. Therefore, they are shunned away. Forgotten about. Oh, they have an undefeated team? Ah, put them in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and they'll get blown out. Oh, that Sugar Bowl was a blowout all right. 31-17. Utah beat Alabama. They have more than proven their worth. They beat 4 ranked teams this year. What more can you ask for? What more can they do? How fair is it that a team goes undefeated and is not credited with being a national champion? No matter the outcome of tomorrow night's championship game, one fact will remain the same, Utah is the best damn team in the nation and there's not a damn thing Florida and Oklahoma can do to change it! Oh, what about the rest of their schedule? Can you seriously consider a team that plays Weber State to be a national champion? To which, I quite ask the person who asks that question....what drugs are you taking? YES! You can! Why? It's simple. Look at Florida's schedule. Look at who they played? Notice anything. Wait, what's that? They played The Citadel? Yeah, that's right. Florida played The Citadel! The Goddamn Mother Fucking Citadel of The FCS! (pardon my French, s'il vous plait). So, according to you ignorant people who feels Utah should not be a national championship because they had Weber State on their schedule, surely you must feel the same way about Florida....
The bottom line is everybody has weak teams on their schedule. UT-Chattanooga, Baylor played Oklahoma. Should they be discredited then for playing such weak teams? The answer is a simple no. Utah is the best team in the nation. They beat a damn fine TCU team who more than proved there worth in the Poinsettia Bowl. They beat another solid BYU team. And then there was the Sugar Bowl. 31-17. That's the new rallying cry. 31-17! 31-17! 31-17! 31-17!.....
But alas, the BCS does not care. They don't care about the kids. They care about money. Florida and Oklahoma would make more money than a national championship involving Utah. It would be more appealing to a casual fan. There's no doubt about it. But what satisfies those qualities is not always right. In fact, it hardly ever is.
And maybe it's a blessing in disguise that Fox is covering the BCS. They're crappy production has in part helped to drive the BCS ratings into the ground. And maybe once driven completely into the ground. The ashes that rise up will be that of a new system. One where every FBS team gets treated fairly, regardless of conference. And I'm not totally against having bowl games. I would not get rid of the Bowl system, I'd keep the bowls, as they are a good and fun reward for teams not in the Top 8 to play one more game, show off some hidden talent to the country, and entertain us in the process. And then the top 8 teams in the country, regardless of conference, would use the BCS bowl game sites as a site for the quarterfinals of a playoffs (i.e. the Orange Bowl would be a quarterfinal game, the Rose Bowl another, etc.). Wouldn't that make everyone happy?
But then does that not diminish the importance of the regular season? No! It does not. Every game is still important. But there will still be snubs? Yes, there will be. But isn't it easier to snub a 2-loss team or a 1-loss team that got beaten badly by a sub-.500 team than it is undefeated Utah, Texas, and dominant USC?
But as long as the people in the BCS have any say, that will never happen. They are too blinded with greed to see their own greed. They are too obnoxious to realize their own obnoxiousness. Maybe this will finally snap them out of it. Chances are, they will most likely look at Texas, Utah, and USC and just put there nose in the air and say "hmph! I don't care about you". That would not be any different than what they have been doing all year and to teams like Boise State two-years ago and Auburn in 2004.
I, like most college football fans will watch the national title game. Not because I like laughing at Fox's band shots, not because I want to listen to Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis (and his Mangina), not because I want to see who the best team in America is (that honor for this year belongs to the Utes of Utah), but because of two reasons. A). I want to see two good teams play what should be an entertaining game. And B). I want to say I witnessed history when the shit hits the fan with the BCS.
And all the while, in my head, one thing sticks out in my mind above all else. 31-17......31-17.......31-17.....There it is, BCS. Your true national champions. Utah Utes.
Good night and good luck.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Eagles Week 16 Recap (To be read like a Keith Olbermann Special Comment)
I didn't initially plan on doing it like this, I was more planning on combining this with the playoff scenario, but the more I think about it, the more it must be done like this. The playoffs will come either tonight or tomorrow. So even though it wasn't planned, a special comment on the play of the Eagles last night.
This weekend was the absolute perfect weekend. Perfect. Everything went beautifully. Beautifully. This was gonna be it. The week where Philadelphia magic once again happened. Everything was so beautifully laid out.
Too beautifully laid out. It was too easy. Everything was there and now it's come and gone. Dallas got humiliated the last game at Texas Stadium, Tampa Bay lost. Yeah, the Bucs lost! That's what the Eagles needed. This was going to be the greatest day in Philadelphia sports since Wednesday, October 29, 2008! All the Eagles needed to do was beat the Redskins. The measly Redskins who have been laying a turds in their last 6 games.........
The Eagles were the ones who laid the turd. It was all nice and polished as well. When the Eagles knew that they could win out and get in the playoffs with a Tampa loss, what happened? I, I'm speechless. HOW IN THE BLUE HELL DO YOU PLAY LIKE THAT WHEN YOU KNOW THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WIN OUT?!?!?!
The Detroit Lions, despite being 0-15 and getting blown out by New Orleans, looked like a more competent football team. No wait, I take that back. The Detroit Lions' offense was more competent than the Eagles' offense.
Eagles fan couldn't have been happier with the play of the defense. Time after time the Redskins would get the ball at midfield and time and time again the Skins went 3-and out. At least half of the team showed up. At least half of the team wanted to win. At least half of the team cared.
Cared. That's the keyword. Where was the passion from the offense? Where? What happened? There was no life. Balls were dropped left and right and right and left. McNabb constantly threw behind his receivers. It's as if they were going through the motions. Like they didn't want to be there.
And they couldn't have been happier with where they ended up playing! Look, not everyone can end up in sunny, 70 degree, Tampa Bay, but did they not realize how lucky they were! Teams ended up playing in snow. The weather in Kansas City was 10 degrees. The kickoff temperature tonight in Chicago is 5 degrees! 5 DEGREES! FAHRENHEIT! Comparitively speaking, the weather last night in Landover, MD was 41 degrees at kickoff.
So what was the problem then? Why? Why play like garbage in the game you need most? Why throw away everything you got back after tying the Bengals and getting creamed by the Redskins? Why? Somebody please tell me why.
As much as I want to start the "FIRE ANDY REID!" chant for abandoning the run in the second half, the offense was just as futile in the 1st half when they were running the ball. But alas, we all know Andy Reid. That being said, though, he's not off the hook. I don't even need to watch his press conferences to know what he said. I'm sure it was something along the lines of, "It was my fault." or "I have to do a better job at getting our team prepared." or "We got outplayed by a better team" or "I was really craving a cheesesteak at the time and couldn't concentrate."
Okay, that last one was meant as a joke. But what happened last night was not a joke? Do you really expect, Coach Reid, that you can please Philadelphians with that kind of performance. Do can you, sir, honestly be proud of yourself? Can you be proud of the Eagles? Do you honestly feel, sir, that the Eagles gave it 100% last night. And lastly, and maybe most important of all, can you, Coach Andrew Walter Reid, look yourself in the mirror and not be ashamed of yourself? If you can, then you should never coach another game in the NFL again.
Good night and good luck.
This weekend was the absolute perfect weekend. Perfect. Everything went beautifully. Beautifully. This was gonna be it. The week where Philadelphia magic once again happened. Everything was so beautifully laid out.
Too beautifully laid out. It was too easy. Everything was there and now it's come and gone. Dallas got humiliated the last game at Texas Stadium, Tampa Bay lost. Yeah, the Bucs lost! That's what the Eagles needed. This was going to be the greatest day in Philadelphia sports since Wednesday, October 29, 2008! All the Eagles needed to do was beat the Redskins. The measly Redskins who have been laying a turds in their last 6 games.........
The Eagles were the ones who laid the turd. It was all nice and polished as well. When the Eagles knew that they could win out and get in the playoffs with a Tampa loss, what happened? I, I'm speechless. HOW IN THE BLUE HELL DO YOU PLAY LIKE THAT WHEN YOU KNOW THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WIN OUT?!?!?!
The Detroit Lions, despite being 0-15 and getting blown out by New Orleans, looked like a more competent football team. No wait, I take that back. The Detroit Lions' offense was more competent than the Eagles' offense.
Eagles fan couldn't have been happier with the play of the defense. Time after time the Redskins would get the ball at midfield and time and time again the Skins went 3-and out. At least half of the team showed up. At least half of the team wanted to win. At least half of the team cared.
Cared. That's the keyword. Where was the passion from the offense? Where? What happened? There was no life. Balls were dropped left and right and right and left. McNabb constantly threw behind his receivers. It's as if they were going through the motions. Like they didn't want to be there.
And they couldn't have been happier with where they ended up playing! Look, not everyone can end up in sunny, 70 degree, Tampa Bay, but did they not realize how lucky they were! Teams ended up playing in snow. The weather in Kansas City was 10 degrees. The kickoff temperature tonight in Chicago is 5 degrees! 5 DEGREES! FAHRENHEIT! Comparitively speaking, the weather last night in Landover, MD was 41 degrees at kickoff.
So what was the problem then? Why? Why play like garbage in the game you need most? Why throw away everything you got back after tying the Bengals and getting creamed by the Redskins? Why? Somebody please tell me why.
As much as I want to start the "FIRE ANDY REID!" chant for abandoning the run in the second half, the offense was just as futile in the 1st half when they were running the ball. But alas, we all know Andy Reid. That being said, though, he's not off the hook. I don't even need to watch his press conferences to know what he said. I'm sure it was something along the lines of, "It was my fault." or "I have to do a better job at getting our team prepared." or "We got outplayed by a better team" or "I was really craving a cheesesteak at the time and couldn't concentrate."
Okay, that last one was meant as a joke. But what happened last night was not a joke? Do you really expect, Coach Reid, that you can please Philadelphians with that kind of performance. Do can you, sir, honestly be proud of yourself? Can you be proud of the Eagles? Do you honestly feel, sir, that the Eagles gave it 100% last night. And lastly, and maybe most important of all, can you, Coach Andrew Walter Reid, look yourself in the mirror and not be ashamed of yourself? If you can, then you should never coach another game in the NFL again.
Good night and good luck.
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