Letters to the Editor
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Easterbrook Sucks
TMQ is the corniest football writer in the world. If you crossed Mitch Albom with one of those freaks who dresses up at Star Trek conventions and speak Klingon, and made him an obnoxious, pro-war, Hillary-bashing Republican, you'd get Easterbrook. Here's a guy who was enthusiastic in his support to invade Iraq, but whose head nearly exploded over Kill Bill, causing him to Jew-bash the Weinsteins and Michael Eisner. So, let me get this straight: Actual war, in which real life innocent people are bombed and shot and burned alive, is okay, in fact it's actually desirable. But stylized FAKE violence in the form of a Quentin Tarrantino movie is an abomination, that people who survived Holocaust should know better than to promote? Not to mention that his football column is boring, and nobody cares about 8,000 word screeds comparing Kurt Warner's quarterback rating with the warp drive on the Starship Enterprise.
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Easterman is an idiot
I stopped reading his column when I realized that any time he wrote about anything but football he showed himself completely incapable of creative thought or understanding. He's a moron who can't seem to follow the simplest concepts in the SF shows he claims to like. Evidently you can be a Brookings "Scholar" simply by parroting whatever imbecilic Right Wing ploy is hot at the moment. His being a Brookings scholar devalues the title as much as Bush has devalued a Yale degree or a Harvard business degree. Who the hell cares if you've got one if they can be simply purchased?
He tells the same jokes over and over and they all seem designed to show you how clever he is. What's the point of giving a team a nickname if you're going to explain it every time you use it? Hey, look, he knows what the symbols on the Steeler's helmets are called. Ooh, someone once told him what Chineese for "bear" is. What a clever guy.
Pat him on the head, give him a cookie and send him off to bed. He is exactly the reason I wish King would write about football more. Easterbrook is so bad he nullifys several other writers, leaving a gaping void in the world of NFL commentary.
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I second that emotion
Easterbrook is also at the head of the "global warming is a myth" crowd.
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Where's the Playoffs?
So the NBA playoffs start, there are plenty of interesting stories to follow throughout the weekend, and come Monday, noon, you headline with info about a football blog moving websites. What gives? When you do get around to mentioning them, it's just a tad o' Kobe, no more. No mention even of the fact that the Lakers' plan was to get the other players involved. Jackson and Kobe decided to de-emphasize his scoring, for the first three quarters at least. Not that I necessarily want to read more about Kobe, but your NBA analysis has been slight all season; to come out on the Monday after LBJ's triple-double talking blogs doesn't seem right. How low on the complicated calculus of sports you follow is NBA basketball? Below luge? Below the sniping of figureskating commentators?
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Charlie
I second that emotion as well. Easterbrook isn't worth the time it takes to type his name and then write about what a douche he is.
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On the other hand...
I like some of TMQ's insights. While his stuff on cold coaches and nearly naked cheerleaders and football gods really is just too corny, it does touch on the ritualistic aspects of football. Why hasn't anyone written something really good on football ritual, or football's metaphorical musings on war and sex?
Anyways, as far as the game itself goes, I've learned a few juicy tidbits from his column: Punting from the opponents' side of the field is weak, it doesn't make sense to go for two unless it's the fourth quarter, and... hmmm... well, that's something... I guess...
Go Lions!
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ESPN premium content
I've been reading Easterbrook's TMQ column for a handful of years now, and he's pretty much worn me out. He has had some interesting ideas, but after reading him for a season, you pretty much know his main points, then it's just example after example of how those points are correct. After a few seasons, you'll be watching a game, see one of his pet peeves happen, and be able recite how it'll appear in next week's column.
I may keep reading out of habit, but if I'm lucky ESPN will help me break this habit by putting his column behind in their ESPN Insider section. They've been moving more and more columnists there over the last few years, and while I enjoy reading them, I just can't bring myself to pay for them. There are about 4 columnists there that I no longer read for just this reason.
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Using Race/Religion as an Adjective = Death to a Writer
I've never read Easterbrook's TMQ column but after reading his apology, I've come to the conclusion that using a persons race or religion as an adjective inevitably spells doom for any writer, commentator, or anyone for that matter.
Which group of professionals would most likely come off as offensive?
The Jewish executive, the Chinese cook, the Black athlete, the Irish drunk, the Italian hitman, the Mexican Immigrant, the Christian President.
Or
The executive, the cook, the athlete, the drunk, the hitman, the immigrant, the President.
Occasionally one can use race/religion to describe another, but most of the time it just sounds ignorant. Maybe Easterbrook, the Christian sportswriter, didn't see into the context of his words until it was too late.
Peace out,
Official G; the Chinese letter writer.
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TMQ good, Easterbrook bad
Seriously, I like what he writes about football, mostly, but any other topic and seems like a parody of New Republic-style rightwingery in liberalish clothing.
On anything entertainment related, he's seems almost willfully ignorant, even when he's not rubbing up against anti-semitism. But the bigger point with the "jewish-movie executives" thing was the groaning illogic of the point he was trying to make.
His comments on "Battlestar Galactica" and its supposed unrelenting grimness lead me to believe he's tempermentally unsuited to being amused by anything but "Ms. Pollyanna Sunshine and Her Nice Friends Have a Nice Tea Party with Nice Cookies and Nicer Scones." Of course, that's not much different than a lot of "Star Trek" episodes, so that explains a lot.
Also, taking the column to ESPN.com will necessitate me visiting that ass-ugly, impossible to use site.
Oh, and the more King ignores the NBA playoffs, the happy I am. However, you might want to check in on the Red Wings-Oilers series and case of non-trap that's suddenly giving Detroit fits.