Week-in-Review: Fox News Still a Joke, Sixers Looking Better, Eagles-Dallas Rivalry Smothered Again, more
The week after Christmas has never really stood out for me as a terribly slow sports week, but this year it just feels incredibly slow. I guess that’s what happens when the Eagles don’t play until Tuesday and the college bowl match-ups so far have been, well, boring.
But it’s Friday, and New Year’s Eve, so I’ll try to eke out one last Week-in-Review for 2010:
• I’m sure everyone who cares to has already seen the video of some guy named Tucker Carlson on, what else, Fox “News” saying that he thinks Mike Vick should have been executed for killing dogs. Carlson is apparently an unemployed guy who fills in at that sham of a news channel. His actions are more heinous than what Vick did. The fact that this jackass apparently wasn’t ripped off the air and banned from Fox immediately is pathetic and inexcusable. It was an absurd attempt – among countless absurd attempts by the network – to criticize President Barack Obama, who called Eagles owner Jeff Lurie to congratulate the organization for giving Vick an opportunity after his incarceration. I hesitated to even name Carlson because by doing so I’m only helping the lowlife get the notoriety he wants. He was a nobody who wanted to be known, and now he is. Hopefully, even Fox will just leave him on the side of the journalistic road, known as the idiot who called for the death of a human being due to a feigned and completely distorted sense of Christianity and love of dogs.
• It’s impossible to smoothly transition back to actual sports, but . . . The Sixers are out of sight, out of mind for most people as they make their annual west coast trek. But entering tonight’s game versus the Lakers, they are 3-3 on the road trip and 10-6 since losing to Miami the night after Thanksgiving. What a difference having a professional (and much higher) caliber coach makes in Doug Collins as opposed to the likes of Eddie Jordan.
• Kudos to the NFL for their brilliant plan to have division rivals play in the last week of the season. Once again the second Eagles-Cowboys game is rendered meaningless.
• Nice job by workers at the Linc for covering tough guy Governor Ed Rendell’s seat with snow and a sign reading, “Reserved for non-wussies.” I’m a little surprised the politically correct Jeff Lurie didn’t fire anyone for the prank. Did the also ultra-sensitive owner of the Eagles order it after the “guv” criticized the postponement of the game originally scheduled for Sunday?
• ProFootballTalk.com reported that NBC got big ratings for the Tuesday night Eagles-Vikings game. We all know where this is going, and I think it’s a mistake to add more nights of football during the week. Whatever happened to Saturday games in December? Tuesday had a horrendous feel to it.
• Now that Brett Favre is apparently finally done playing football, the NFL wrapped up its investigation into sexual harassment claims from an ex-Jet employee stemming from the time the quarterback played in New York. Favre was fined $50k for not cooperating with the investigation, but the league could not conclude that he violated their personal conduct policy. The punishment was almost as dumb as the accusation. The allegations of harassment came out well after Favre left New York, giving every indication that his accuser, Jenn Sterger, was after money and notoriety. She was so upset by Favre sending her lewd text messages and a picture of his “junk” – allegedly – that she pursued it two years later . . . and presumably still had the evidence from 2008. Women who deal with actual harassment should be the ones who are outraged.
• The Jets were fined $100k for strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi sticking his knee out to further impede a Miami special teams player as part of a “wall” of inactive players along the sideline that he ordered. Alosi was suspended after the incident for the rest of the season and fined. Other Jets coaches deny knowing anything about the tactic, which I still don’t buy.
• The Tweet of the Week (and, if I had been doing this sooner, maybe the Tweet of the Year) comes from Eric Stangel, head writer for The Late Show with David Letterman: “BREAKING NFL- Sal Alosi's leg = 2 Brett Favre Penises.” There’s simply nothing to add.
• Brian Dawkins hasn’t won much in Denver, but this week he sounded like a guy looking to get one more “win” for all NFL fans. Described as a NFLPA union executive committee member, Dawkins said, “I would think common sense would say at the end of the day, after all the fighting and after all the words are said, we understand who butters our bread.” Let’s hope.
• In case anyone doubted that NBA players laugh at the fines they get from the league, check out Shaquille O’Neal’s reaction upon learning that he was fined for criticizing officials. David Stern’s backside no doubt got even tighter after seeing this video.
Happy New Year!
But it’s Friday, and New Year’s Eve, so I’ll try to eke out one last Week-in-Review for 2010:
• I’m sure everyone who cares to has already seen the video of some guy named Tucker Carlson on, what else, Fox “News” saying that he thinks Mike Vick should have been executed for killing dogs. Carlson is apparently an unemployed guy who fills in at that sham of a news channel. His actions are more heinous than what Vick did. The fact that this jackass apparently wasn’t ripped off the air and banned from Fox immediately is pathetic and inexcusable. It was an absurd attempt – among countless absurd attempts by the network – to criticize President Barack Obama, who called Eagles owner Jeff Lurie to congratulate the organization for giving Vick an opportunity after his incarceration. I hesitated to even name Carlson because by doing so I’m only helping the lowlife get the notoriety he wants. He was a nobody who wanted to be known, and now he is. Hopefully, even Fox will just leave him on the side of the journalistic road, known as the idiot who called for the death of a human being due to a feigned and completely distorted sense of Christianity and love of dogs.
• It’s impossible to smoothly transition back to actual sports, but . . . The Sixers are out of sight, out of mind for most people as they make their annual west coast trek. But entering tonight’s game versus the Lakers, they are 3-3 on the road trip and 10-6 since losing to Miami the night after Thanksgiving. What a difference having a professional (and much higher) caliber coach makes in Doug Collins as opposed to the likes of Eddie Jordan.
• Kudos to the NFL for their brilliant plan to have division rivals play in the last week of the season. Once again the second Eagles-Cowboys game is rendered meaningless.
• Nice job by workers at the Linc for covering tough guy Governor Ed Rendell’s seat with snow and a sign reading, “Reserved for non-wussies.” I’m a little surprised the politically correct Jeff Lurie didn’t fire anyone for the prank. Did the also ultra-sensitive owner of the Eagles order it after the “guv” criticized the postponement of the game originally scheduled for Sunday?
• ProFootballTalk.com reported that NBC got big ratings for the Tuesday night Eagles-Vikings game. We all know where this is going, and I think it’s a mistake to add more nights of football during the week. Whatever happened to Saturday games in December? Tuesday had a horrendous feel to it.
• Now that Brett Favre is apparently finally done playing football, the NFL wrapped up its investigation into sexual harassment claims from an ex-Jet employee stemming from the time the quarterback played in New York. Favre was fined $50k for not cooperating with the investigation, but the league could not conclude that he violated their personal conduct policy. The punishment was almost as dumb as the accusation. The allegations of harassment came out well after Favre left New York, giving every indication that his accuser, Jenn Sterger, was after money and notoriety. She was so upset by Favre sending her lewd text messages and a picture of his “junk” – allegedly – that she pursued it two years later . . . and presumably still had the evidence from 2008. Women who deal with actual harassment should be the ones who are outraged.
• The Jets were fined $100k for strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi sticking his knee out to further impede a Miami special teams player as part of a “wall” of inactive players along the sideline that he ordered. Alosi was suspended after the incident for the rest of the season and fined. Other Jets coaches deny knowing anything about the tactic, which I still don’t buy.
• The Tweet of the Week (and, if I had been doing this sooner, maybe the Tweet of the Year) comes from Eric Stangel, head writer for The Late Show with David Letterman: “BREAKING NFL- Sal Alosi's leg = 2 Brett Favre Penises.” There’s simply nothing to add.
• Brian Dawkins hasn’t won much in Denver, but this week he sounded like a guy looking to get one more “win” for all NFL fans. Described as a NFLPA union executive committee member, Dawkins said, “I would think common sense would say at the end of the day, after all the fighting and after all the words are said, we understand who butters our bread.” Let’s hope.
• In case anyone doubted that NBA players laugh at the fines they get from the league, check out Shaquille O’Neal’s reaction upon learning that he was fined for criticizing officials. David Stern’s backside no doubt got even tighter after seeing this video.
Happy New Year!
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