Comments on: My god, Earl, they got football! They got football!

by: louise

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:51:16 +0000

I know what you mean, Mold; watching ANY national news channel in the morning is painful. Fluff pieces, bad pronounciations, giggly idiots, sappy manufactured pseudo-concern when interviewing “survivors” or relatives- FEH, indeed. That’s before you get to Murdoch’s physical requirements and dress codes for the Fox ninnies…

Katie had me boggling when she started crooning Tony Bennett, guest-hosting Leno, and popping up in the occasional movie (Austin Powers/ SharkTales). Gave her the benefit of the doubt the first 2 nights, then back to NBC. And with Meredith, found Today to be too insipid to tolerate further.

Thanks be to the Internet…

by: Mold

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:00:12 +0000

Rush was not hired for ‘Merican football chops but because the bosses in the suites knew his show. The current crop (crap?) of conservative TelePrompter readers have Qs in the toilet. Only the continuing support of el Jefe keeps them on the air. In the old bad days, the ratings would have dumped them. Now, we get the sheer deeelite of Captain Couric and her Colonic Crewe. Feh, I like C. Amanpour. Or Helen T.

by: Kylroy

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:19:11 +0000

For extra subtext, consider the conditions Favre retired under.

THe previous two seasons, his team had gone 4-12, then 8-8, and there was serious debate both times about his return. This past year, the Packers went 13-3, nearly made the Super Bowl, and everyone just assumed he’d return - you want to come back when you have a real shot at a champoinship, right?

But then Favre retired. Why? Because the pressure had sapped all the fun from the game for him. Because spending all his time off the practice field glued to game film was draining him. Because the prospect of another year of doing that, a year that would be wasted without at least an NFC championship, was frightening.

If you want to get into the idea of having to constantly re-prove your masculinity, you can go a lot deeper on Favre’s retirement than him having the same press-conference breakdown lots of pro athletes do. You can tie it into the pressure to be absolutely committed to being top dog no matter what the cost. Favre decided that the chance (far from a certainty) to win (another) championship wasn’t worth what it would cost him and his family - and no athlete is supposed to say something like that before he’s in a state to check into Betty Ford.

by: winstongator

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:23:04 +0000

I doubt Favre cares what Ingraham thinks of him, and I doubt few sports, let alone just football, fans care what Ingraham thinks about anything. That said, Favre is about as ‘man’s man’ as there is at the QB position. He NEVER missed a game as starter for the Packers. I’d bet every player in the NFL would follow him to sub-zero conditions, and give every last ounce of effort. His tears do not make him less of a leader, but MORE. He cried because he cared about his teammates, the Packers, his fans, and most importantly, the game he grew up loving to play.

by: may

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:53:08 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, during her senior year while Laura Ingraham typed loathsome articles for the Dartmouth Review, Dartmouth won only one football game and that was against the almost equally pathetic Columbia team.

That must explain something…………………….

by: louise

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:10:52 +0000

Lou Gehrig:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig

I’m also a lifelong Yankees fan, but until either the Steinbrenners sell the team/ step back and stop making it all about THEM, I’m routing (this year at least)- gulp… for the Red Sox.

May Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent have mercy on my soul…

by: louise

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:06:29 +0000

Garrik= Gehrig, but yeah. It was.

Real people know that it’s “okay” to cry; cartoon characters with nothing better to do than to belittle others as ‘part of their job/create any sort of controversy’ don’t. That these buffoons have this sort of thing as a paying JOB shows in part what a fucked-up world we have.

Anyone else remember the 1970’s Indian crying commercial? The single tear?

by: EM

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:01:13 +0000

During the last rugby world cup, some teams had little routines that they went through before each match. The most well-known one, obviously, is the All Blacks’ haka, but it was quite endearing to watch the entire Argentinian team bawl all the way through their national anthem at the start of each match, particularly since they were hugely outperforming what was expected of them.

by: flashheart

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:26:40 +0000

Every American man I have ever spoken to (not many) seems confused that sportsmen of other nations cry, and infers some kind of lack of commitment or grit from the tears (which is pretty funny considering how piss-weak American sports are compared to the rest of the world).

Maybe this columnist is simply appealing to a demographic you guys aren’t talking to?

by: ithaqua

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:39:37 +0000

“Did any right-wing sissy-phobes call TO out on this? Or were they just relieved to see a big, scary black man taken down a notch? ”

Check the comments on that video - plenty of comparisons to female anatomy being thrown at TO…