Letters to the Editor
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Inproper Use of "Throwback"
"But what really infuriated Philadelphia fans was when, after an embarrassing 33-10 loss to the hated Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium on Oct. 9, Owens insolently donned a No. 88 Michael Irvin throwback Cowboys jersey for the flight home."
It's not a "throwback jersey," if the team still exists.
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Oh. My. God.
Just when I thought Salon had lost that nutty-on-the-edge leftyism that I so enjoyed reading, out comes Paglia to show me the utter hilarity that is the kneejerk reaction of lefty-journalists-defending-asinine/sociopathic-black-men.
I believe Owens was compared to Achilles at one point, and his whole Super Bowl "look at me" appearance was once again recounted as an action of mythic proportions.Wow. Talk about giving way too much shine on a wide receiver. A WIDE RECEIVER. Aside from the whole apologetic tone for Owens acting like an ass, Paglia obviously doesn't know much about football, or else the article would never have given such a spare part a headline. For anyone who pays attention to the game, it is known that wide receivers are on par with punters in terms of value. There are, 16-22 other players more important to a football team than a wide receiver, who should bow down and thank the running back for carrying the team while he whines for being hit once by two CBs.
But my god. Pulling out the house negro/field negro comparison? The man's an ass, while McNabb projects a healthy image, and McNabb is the bad guy? McNabb stops thinking with his feet, starts making plays, brings the team to the superbowl, and you link to an idiotic letter by the NAACP, claiming that, instead of the success he's enjoying as a quarterback for the defending NFC champs, he should act black (like the erratic and unreliable Michael Vick) and start throwing more interceptions, incompletions, and getting his valuable body whacked?
I'm glad you imply that all black people should act like asshoes, otherwise they're not "real" and don't have "street cred." I mean, why be a millionaire upstanding citizen who listens to his mother when you can be a selfish, swearing, R-rated media sycophant? I mean, nothing says "black" like acting like a turd, right?
ASS.
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So Lakeritis is contagious?
Macho pro football had turned into high-school sorority cattiness with snubs, backbiting and hurt feelings.
If only she lived in LA and covered basketball.
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It's really about us.
The argument that wide receiver is not an important position betrays a poor knowledge of football. Jerry Rice is a Super Bowl MVP.
I have watched T.O. run through people, lots of people, on the way to the goal line-take a quick screen pass in the flat, juke the corner, and run say 80 yards for a touchdown, and many more astounding feats of athleticism and can only say he is a force of nature. Maybe you have to see it in person to fully appreciate it.
Owens' problems, in my opinion, say a lot more about the quality and expertise of NFL style management than about T.O. The Eagle management, in particular, has a reputation for being vindictive.
Paglia correctly describes T.O. transgressions as high school sorority stuff (one listed sin was parking in a handicap space.) In fact, his biggest sin was asking for more money.
I think the insults heaped on him by the fans and the sports world's talking heads say more about the needs of the insultors than about T.O. Paglia didn't provide the smallest shred of evidence that T.O. instigated what she says is an unusual racial reaction to the uproar. I'd like to hear her talk about the braying fans and talking heads, and what's behind their behaviour. Do we need a public anger target like 'T.O.' as an outlet for our personal and social frustrations? And if so, do we invent them as needed?
OtterBill
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I like it, I love it, I want some more of it...
I don't see this column as defending or apologizing for TO at all. Paglia points out correctly that Owens, despite everything, is a an unbelievable player and the person who wrote to say that a star WR is little more valuable than a punter needs their head examined. She also correctly points out that his flaws are so gigantic in a team sport that he may be unusable to anyone now.
Interestingly enough, right here in Indianapolis, Naptown USA, we have a similar case with Ron Artest, who is amazingly talented but completely unable to function within the context of a team environment without making every personal drama everyone elses. I, like Paglia and WIP, listen frequently to talk radio here, and have yet to hear any overt or even insinutating comments that suggest Artest is bad or wrong because he is black. It's because Ron is completely self-obsessed, complaining that he cannot function playing for a coach who structures the offense, and where he is not 'The Man' who takes every big shot. Like Owens and many superstars in and out of sports, he has no ability to picture himself as part of something that succeeds when he is not the primary reason for that success. I don't see this as a racial issue at all, there are people like this running our country, and most of them are white.
Btw, Our NAACP chapter here must be too busy advancing legal and educational issues to claim that Reggie Miller is(was) denigrating the black man in basketball by making 3 pointers and not dunking.
The real question Paglia needs to answer is whether TO's Solid Gold Dance Mix would include ABBA or Madonna.
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My take
First, a couple of gems from some of the responses:
For anyone who pays attention to the game, it is known that wide receivers are on par with punters in terms of value.
It's official; the guy who wrote this (he calls himself Jack Mitchel) might be the stupidest football fan on the face of the earth. He probably has never put on a helmet.
It's not a "throwback jersey," if the team still exists.
It is if the design is old, you dumb ass!
Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I noticed that more than one person said that the link between TO and any race problems are tenuous. I can see that argument, but one doesn't have to be an active conspirator to be the catalyst for a result. No TO saga, no ill-advised comments on race.
I was also looking for a little more analysis and commentary. It's my opinion that too many black leaders (at least the vocal ones like that dope from the Phila NAACP) have the racist assumption that a black man siding with a white bureaucracy is inherently discrediting and "turning his back on" his race. If black leaders are still in the habit of promoting defiance at all costs, how can the black race in America hope to advance?