Letters to the Editor
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I have to agree with domini
When she said:
Her (Paglia's) characterization of Philly fans really was very strange. TO didn't poison race relations in Philly. That's giving this far more power than it really had. Camille Paglia is projecting her own pet ideas into something she really does not know about.
The TO saga has been extensively discussed by many of my friends in the whitebread suburbs of Chester County, and the imagined issue of race has never come up.
Owens is spoilt. He was given plenty of opportunities to do the right thing and he kept flinging poo into the ceiling fan. It was only a matter of time until everyone ended up coverded in poo, staring at each other, asking "Why do we smell like poo? How did this happen?"
The Eagles have handled this goofball as well as they could. Some guys just aren't worth the headache.
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Professor Paglia is the BEST
I am thrilled to the core that Professor Paglia is writing in Salon againt. Her logic and insight are superb. Even when I don't agree with her, she always amazes me and makes me think. Thank you.
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Race, Philly, Sports
Race wasn't brought up by Philadelphians in regards too their sports teams before T.O.? Ever heard of Allen Iverson? What about Randall Cunningham vs. Jim McMahon? Camille, how out of touch can one writer be? You need to poke your head of the ivory tower and take a trip down to a south philly bar before you write total inaccuracies like this and expect to be taken seriously on anything. By the way, Lehigh isn't in the Poconos, it's just outside of Allentown, PA, which, the last time I checked, is not in the Poconos.
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Revisionist History
Look, I'm not sure where some of this is coming from. I was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia (think Staten Island or Middle Village Queens for you out of towners). There was NEVER any Cunningham-McMahon controversey. Randall was out for the year with a blown out knee, and while we all loved the spunk of McMahon he was a wreck by the end of the season. No one ever thought that he was a long-term solution, not Brad Goebel either.
As for Allen Iverson, I never felt that in this market - that was a national thing. Iverson survivied the "practice" rant, the "wife incident" and many others without ever having race brought in by 95% of people. He remains one of the city's most beloved athletes. His passion for the game is going to get him a statue in this city when his playing days are over.
Like I said, I grew up in a neighborhood that was all Irish / Italian Catholics, full of cops and firemen. It was, unfortunately, not a very racially tolerant neighborhood. But it seemed like everyone had a Cunningham or Reggie White jersey. Eagles fandom was above race issues. And, years ago, WIP would never have taken and aired some of the calls that they did during the saga.
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Race Schmace
Let's talk about what really stands out about this article: what a better writer Paglia is than King Kauffman. Salon, please make this a full time assignment.
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1941 American League MVP
Uhh.... Joe Dimaggio? You're right, nobody remembers that. Something about a long hitting streak?
Seriously, Jack Mitchell, never claim to have sports knowledge again. You're embarrassing yourself.
Terrell Owens did not get the Eagles to the Super Bowl, that is true. But that is only because for the first time in the last four years, the Eagles were the only halfway decent team in the entire NFC. They beat the Vikings and the Falcons to get to the Super Bowl, remember?
And... it was somehow Owens's fault that the Eagles didn't win that game? He was the one who couldn't get them over the hump? He had 9 catches for 122 yards. He was the only player the Eagles had on offense who looked like he was ready for the game.
The Eagles got the ball back with over 4 minutes remaining and about 95 yards to go, down by 10 points. They huddled after every play and took the full play clock each time. Because McNabb was too tired to go any faster, it was later revealed. If they had scored faster, there might have been enough time left for them to get the last 3 points they needed to win. That loss was almost entirely McNabb's fault. He connected on under 60% of his passes (in a West Coast Offense!!!) and threw 3 picks. Horrible.
Gah, enough. Anybody who is stupid enough to think people wouldn't remember the MVP in 1941 and who thinks a Wide Receiver (especially someone like Owens) is just as important as a punter is not worth the time or effort to respond to.
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Hey, moron
1. The only reason you remember Joe Dimaggio as the 1941 MVP is the fact that he hit in 56 games. You remember the stats, not the award--then you recall the award. And, if you recall anything about sports, most sportswriters always point out the fallacy of giving it to Dimaggio over Williams that year, just like when Williams later won it, DiMaggio had the better season.
By your logic, Robin Yount was better than George Brett. After all, he won more MVP awards. But who came closer to hitting .400? Who was the top 2 American league hitters of the 80's (you could argue Boggs here)? Exactly. No one gives a flying Rush Limbaugh about MVP awards except the people who dole them out. They're like Heismann's. They don't mean anything--some Heismann's are stupendous, others are jokes. Thye're voted on a subjective basis by people with agendas--like the writer here.
2. Great Wide receivers don't block any better than good ones. So the cost-benefit is minimal. And if you ran a different system, they wouldn't be there all. And if they are blocking, they do so because they were sent out as decoys, i.e. the DB's covering them thought they might run a route.
3. As the tone of the WR supporters is that they're game changers, yes, it IS T.O.'s fault they didn't win. He made 9 catchers for yardage the Patriot's didn't care about because they knew he was an overrated joke. And who threw T.O. all those balls, butting them in his hands? WR supporters always claim they make teams better--so where's the proof? How did T.O., the 2nd best WR in the game, improve the Eagles? The Eagles management got hoodwinked. They should have saved money and payed for a good-but-not-great receiver. And then used it to improve the line/defense/running situation so McNabb wouldn't be getting run over by the Pat's come Superbowl time.
4. I apologize for the screw up on the Deon Branch/David Patten screw up, but that highlights my point---as WR, they're completely interchangeable and forgettable. I don't forget men who make key interceptions--like Harrison. I don't forget Vinitari's kicks, Brady's passes, or Dillon's runs. What I do forget is the guy who basically runs a route and waits for a pass to hit him square in the numbers--like T.O.