Letters to the Editor
Buckethead Wendy
Published Letters: 43 Editor's Choice: 14
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If it makes you feel any better...
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was so very very ready to break up with "Lost" after they killed Eko off in that stupid, ridiculous way. There was much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth. However, it seems the delicious actor who plays him was ready to leave the show, so they pretty much had to off him. (Which helps, because I was really annoyed by the fact that three actors got DUIs during filming, and those three actors happened to have their characters killed off for no discernable reason.) So I'm still along for the ride, even though it's not as gripping as it once was, and I think they've wasted a few great opportunities. Cause yeah, if you're going to set up a really fascinating character only to kill him off, I think he deserves better than death by Giant Smoke Fist followed by the Worst. Eulogy. Ever.
However, I don't really understand all the vitriol. I'm one of those people who can't stop reading a book in the middle, so I guess that sort of OCD compulsion carries over into this kind of episodic television. I don't make up my mind all the way until the very end. But mostly, I don't feel entitled to anything. The fact that there's a show on ABC of all places that (usually) doesn't assume I'm borderline retarded, why, that's downright remarkable. If I ever get bored enough to stop watching, I'll just stop. I don't think I'll make a big announcement about it, or feel slighted or anything.
That doesn't mean I don't get emotionally invested in these shows. (See above re: Eko, gnashing, rending, etc.) I just mean that television, especially network television, doesn't owe me anything. I don't take it personally when a good show gets crappy and fizzles out after way too many cooks and way too many focus groups. That's pretty much how I've grown to expect all great shows to end. (See: Twin Peaks, Buffy, X Files, etc.) It's 42 minutes out of my week, and it's free entertainment, so I take what I can get.
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IT and hockey
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let's say it wasn't a threat, just "Hey, don't be a jerk, you've won the game, what the hell are you even still doing on the court." Which, you know. It probably wasn't. But even if it was, isn't that enough for at least a fine? Can coaches just coach the other team's players? If you can fine people for complaining about refs after a game is already over, you should be fining jackasses with a long history of jackassery for coaching players that aren't his while there's a damn game going on. Either way it was a total asshat move and he shouldn't have been spared.
I do get why they'd foul there, and I don't think that's even the hardest foul I've seen this season. What I don't is get why JR Smith got it worse than Collins, or why you'd have your All-Stars in that game at that point anyway unless you just wanted to be annoying. No, it's not against the rules, it's just pointless and kind of tacky. And also stupid, because if your big scorer gets hurt when you're up 19 in the 4th quarter, in December even, against the freaking Knicks, you're going to feel kind of dumb.
But in hockey and football you're wearing gear specifically designed for being punched and thrown around. NBA players aren't, unless they already have a broken nose. So I don't think it's quite fair to compare them. And I say that as someone who would rather eat glass than watch an entire hockey game. Not to mention the whole "white people sport/black people sport" double standard everyone always brings up in these situations, which probably does have some truth to it.
But by the same token, I don't think fouling is as much an intrinsic part of the game in the NFL or the NHL. In the NBA it's probably 25% of your point total. So yeah, sometimes a bunch of sweaty zillionaires who've been in each other's faces exchanging fouls and shit-talking for two hours are going to act like thugs every couple hundred games. I'm not reaching for my smelling salts or anything.
But I agree about the hair-trigger Ts possibly backfiring. Nobody can even be visibly annoyed at a call or even talk to the ref for fear of being kicked out of the damn game - maybe you need all those little petulant crybaby outbursts in order to prevent gigantic clusterfucks like this one.