Football Articles
Forgive And Forget?
Posted by Scipio Tex on February 3rd, 2009 under Football
Detroit isn’t quite ready to do that just yet.
I don’t blame them:
Every time Matt Millen showed up on camera during NBC’s Super Bowl pregame, Channel 4 ran a crawl at the bottom of the screen:
“Matt Millen was president of the Lions for the worst eight-year run in the history of the NFL. Knowing his history with the team, is there a credibility issue as he now serves as an analyst for NBC Sports?”
The state of Michigan should emulate the Quebecois and print We Remember! license plates – nobody deserves Matt Millen – not even a blighted industrial wasteland overrun by teamsters.
He was a Chaplinesque disgrace as a GM and the fact that he has been actively recycled into the NFL anaylst infrastructure makes perfect sense for a media that gives us the insightful analysis of Michael Irvin (exuberant, crucial vibrator/whore experience, do you know who I am?, coked up but now saved, dildo telestrator, once punched referee during celebrity basketball tournament, slit Everett Mckiver’s throat with scissors), Emmit Smith (notoriously selfish and egomaniacal, won’t acknowledge OL’s role in his prominence, serial sodomizer of the English language) and Keyshawn Johnson (delusional, bedwetter, angina, excellent dresser, thinks the word “subliminal” means sublime).
Athletes are learning what politicians have always known: an absence of shame is the crucial cornerstone of media power and success. Our collective memory has been shortened and our institutional knowledge so crippled by 24 hour news cycles and cultural idiocracy that people now confuse notoriety with acclaim.
Bravo, Channel 4.
Share This
27 Responses
Leave a Reply
Related Articles
-
14
Matt Millen: Elite Football Analyst
By Scipio Tex on May 7th, 2009 -
30
Rooting for the Cowboys – It Just Keeps Getting Harder, and Harder…
By EyesOfTX on April 27th, 2008 -
10
Forget it, Dan. It’s the SEC.
By HenryJames on October 26th, 2009 -
46
ESPN, SEC to reach into Big 12 Territory…
By srr50 on July 22nd, 2009 -
15
NFL Network, Comcast Reach an Agreement
By srr50 on May 19th, 2009
Activity
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post March Madness Brackets Rackets: Can Las Vegas Pick The Champion? 4 hours, 56 minutes ago
Those Syracuse odds are very interesting. Dude’s halt.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Ibas water bottle wrote a new blog post: Mike Holder is an evil genius 5 hours, 6 minutes ago
If economist ever needed extra evidence to prove inelastic demand, I’d point them to our athletic programs. When I saw this slide show from CNBC I can’t say I was shocked. We finished the year as the 12th most profitable basketball program in the NCAA tournament and third in the Big 12 behind KU and
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 5 hours, 20 minutes ago
Big Dave swinging the Grammar Hammer!
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 5 hours, 23 minutes ago
Steve –
Could you write a bit about the NCAA’s origins and how they evolved into a hugefuckingmongous commercial operation.
Do they have a P&L anyone can review?
I think non-profits generally get fucked up due to absence of the profit motive but for these guys to wield their power (or not) in
-
admin commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 5 hours, 23 minutes ago
Steve –
Could you write a bit about the NCAA’s origins and how they evolved into a hugefuckingmongous commercial operation.
Do they have a P&L anyone can review?
I think non-profits generally get fucked up due to absence of the profit motive but for these guys to wield their power (or not) in
-
admin commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 5 hours, 23 minutes ago
Steve –
Could you write a bit about the NCAA’s origins and how they evolved into a hugefuckingmongous commercial operation.
Do they have a P&L anyone can review?
I think non-profits generally get fucked up due to absence of the profit motive but for these guys to wield their power (or not) in
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Things To Do While Not Watching OU in the NCAA Tourney 5 hours, 28 minutes ago
Watch the tournament. Hell, we’re shite but I’m still fired up for this weekend.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
admin commented on the blog post Play A Real Spring Game 5 hours, 32 minutes ago
The chance to “play” some real teams you might not see otherwise would be very cool. Bit TV and ticket sales…
I guess the issues are injuries, wanting to work out lots of guys (inter-squad would be cutting their reps in half), and losing to face by getting skunked by somebody.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Play A Real Spring Game 5 hours, 32 minutes ago
The chance to “play” some real teams you might not see otherwise would be very cool. Bit TV and ticket sales…
I guess the issues are injuries, wanting to work out lots of guys (cutting their reps in half, and losing to face by getting skunked by somebody.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
whiskey wrote a new blog post: Play A Real Spring Game 5 hours, 49 minutes ago
I have been sitting here for the last few weeks looking forward to spring football in South Bend. With the regime change there should be plenty to talk about over the next few weeks as we get a first look at how Brian Kelly will run things.
I am certain that I will watch even
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Kevin Berger commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 5 hours, 58 minutes ago
The unintended consequence of expansion is all the coaches that would be fired for failing to make the dance.
-
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: March Madness Brackets Rackets: Can Las Vegas Pick The Champion? 6 hours, 12 minutes ago
Capitalism is the ultimate arbiter of truth.
Want to see what people think of you or your product? Follow the money.
Want to figure out which teams in the Big Dance really have a shot to win it all? Glean some information from the folks that make predictions for a living.
Here are
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Why Wildcat fans should be supporting the Gators on Thursday 6 hours, 13 minutes ago
Awesome stuff. Really looking forward to seeing how you and the Baylor guys do. Big expectations, small pedigrees. Rooting for our Big 12 brethren.
And I have always felt the Olive Gardeb bottomless bowl of salad and bread sticks were very underrated fro a college student.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
admin commented on the blog post Why Wildcat fans should be supporting the Gators on Thursday 6 hours, 13 minutes ago
Awesome stuff. Really looking forward to seeing how you and the Baylor guys do. Big expectations, small pedigrees. Rooting for our Big 12 brethren.
And I have always felt the Olive Garden bottomless bowl of salad and bread sticks were very underrated for a college student.
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post New Recruiting Feature on March to March: Weekly Whispers 7 hours, 5 minutes ago
Cool. Whither Cory Joseph?
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Luke wrote a new blog post: Why Wildcat fans should be supporting the Gators on Thursday 7 hours, 39 minutes ago
I am still afraid of Syracuse and that zone, but that’s still just a potential matchup that seems a long way away.
We’ll have to deal with three days between games next week, so there will be plenty of time to analyze that matchup if both teams are still alive next week. For now, let’s focus
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: New Recruiting Feature on March to March: Weekly Whispers 7 hours, 42 minutes ago
March to March is excited to announce the addition of a new weekly feature called Weekly Whispers from a source with intimate knowledge of the college basketball recruiting landscape and specifically the AAU circuit. The information will be nationwide and not school specific.
In an effort to maintain anonymity, our source will go
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
jc25 commented on the blog post Bracket Anaylysis: Monsters of the Midwest 7 hours, 47 minutes ago
Good write-up. I almost had this one going chalk but went the following directions:
1. San Diego St over Tennessee. Granted, I’ve never seen SDSU play, but from what I hear, they’re pretty well coached and always manage to sneak into the tourney. Tennessee, without Tyler Smith, is simply not that talented. Oh sure, they can
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
-
SizzleChest commented on the blog post Beat the Barkers NCAA Tourney Bracket 8 hours, 14 minutes ago
Did someone say table dance?
-
dick commented on the blog post Beat the Barkers NCAA Tourney Bracket 8 hours, 14 minutes ago
Utah St is decent, ags had one impressive win at 10 seed Mizzou this year. That being said, Ags will cover that.
You can win a 2011 Infiniti M if your bracket is the best one in the galaxy. My BC tote bag would look sharp in that car.
-
Scipio Tex commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 8 hours, 43 minutes ago
Horrendous idea.
-
RRR wrote a new blog post: NIT Preview – Seton Hall 8 hours, 47 minutes ago
Sorry for the hiatus. It started with disgust as I watched us mail in the conference finale in Boulder. I didn’t have anything to say about that game. Then work got in the way and I missed the redemption game in the first round of the conference tournament. The Kansas game, too. I’m a rotten fan.
But
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”http://tortillaretort.fantake.com/1969/12/31/” });
-
dick commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 8 hours, 47 minutes ago
Our goal for next year will be to make it to the 2nd round of the tournament.
-
Texoz commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 9 hours, 5 minutes ago
Why stop at 96? Let’s bump it up to 192.
Bigger is not always better, says the midget hooker.
-
Art Vandelay commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 9 hours, 5 minutes ago
Traylon turns to Rick and says, Texas
Rick says what?
Traylon says, Texas
Rick says what?Perry says “I’ve got to get out of here”
-
admin commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 9 hours, 10 minutes ago
When asked to comment, Rick Barnes said “Phew”.
-
Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 9 hours, 10 minutes ago
When asked for to comment, Rick Barnes said “Phew”.
-
dick commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 9 hours, 10 minutes ago
i hate this idea
-
srr50 wrote a new blog post: All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 9 hours, 38 minutes ago
Perhaps as soon as next year. The NCAA has an “opt out” clause in its $6 Billion contract with CBS this summer and they have already asked for a Request For Proposal from any and all networks interested.
The current contract with CBS is backloaded — the network owes the NCAA $2.3 Billion over the next
-
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 9 hours, 38 minutes ago
Big Booty Ho’s!
BigDuke,
You, as usual, are correct about the ACT score. However, that he decided to continue with his commitment to USC this late in the process and this close to an anticipated NCAA ruling is probably the bigger story. He had an out and still decided on USC. Just wondering aloud
kevwun said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I don’t know. Matt Millen as part of ESPN’s draft coverage could have been great. Who would Matt Millen Pick? would have been excellent segment right before each draft choice. Fans would wait in terror hoping that their teams’ choice wouldn’t be the same as Millen’s.
bgood2texas said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Millen’s mock draft might be the first in history of exclusively wide recievers.
Mike Williams said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hai guiz!!!
PatronSaint said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Key is good people. The WithLeather folks called him Irvin-lite, which is true in every way. He seems to have legit knowledge though.
Emmitt I hate because of your enumerated reasons, though.
Scipio Tex said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Key is a substantial cut above Irvin and Smith. I concede this. However, his fervent belief that he was an elite NFL WR is grating.
HornsHornsHorns said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
It’s like a trip down memory lane. Or through a haunted house.
HornsHornsHorns said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
^^^^^^^
The Emmitt Smith Anthology
It works better with the website.
Remember this about Michael Irvin said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Quoted from a website I am sure you have seen
“….Following the lead of their star wide receiver, Cowboy players and coaches out-practiced, out-hustled, out-everythinged every other team in the National Football League. Sure, the Cowboys of the 1990s were bursting with talent—from quarterback Troy Aikman and running back Emmitt Smith to defensive backs Deion Sanders and Darren Woodson—but it was an unrivaled intensity that made Dallas special. During drills, Irvin would see a teammate slack during a play and angrily lecture, “Don’t be a fuckin’ pussy! Be a fuckin’ soldier! Be my soldier!” He would challenge defensive backs to rise to the highest level. “Bitch, cover me!” he’d taunt Sanders or Kevin Smith. “C’mon bitch! C’mon bitch! C’mon!” When the play ended he’d offer a quick pat on the rear. “Nice job, brother. Now do it again.” Irvin was the No. 1 reason the Cowboys won Super Bowls in 1992, ‘93 and ‘95, and everybody on the team knew it. “The man just never stopped,” says Hubbard Alexander, the Dallas wide receivers coach. “He was only about winning…….”
dedfischer said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I’m hoping Deshon Sanders plays the Irvin role for Tech next year. He goes hard.
Remember this about Michael Irvin said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Here is the website – (great site)
Jeff Pearlman
Scipio Tex said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
No question that Irvin was a key driving force for the on-field success of the Cowboys. Never has been a harder worker in the history of the league. But he also established the off-the-field culture that eventually took the team down.
As for my original point: he’s still a shit analyst.
dedfischer said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Who? Irvin or Deshon Sanders? Are you trying to tell me Sanders got to Brandon Williams as well?
CloseToJumping said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Why in the fuck does what anyone did on the field validate the garbage they spew off of it on tv? The moron posting stuff about Irvin during the Cowboys’ halcyon days is dumber than any whore Irvin ever snorted coke off of. Learn to understand context and have a dialogue within it you troglodytic threadbuster.
People seem to default to the easiest answers by default at this point. It is a bastardization of Occam and his razor.
Want to make a lot of money? Screw producing something that the consumer wants or needs. Go ahead and create a financial vehicle that creates “wealth” through debt.
Want to rebuild your local economy? Don’t diversify away from the automobile industry, for 30 years. Just stick your head in the sand and ask the government to save you.
Need a football analyst? Forget scouting someone out that can complete sentences with knowledge about the sport. Find someone that can talk really loudly with a lot of hand motions and can half-speak concussion-riddled anecdotes about how it was when they played.
Typical, modern America. And I am an optimist. We’ve got to be nearing a tipping point with the persistent mediocrity. It can’t be sustainable.
Remember this about Michael Irvin said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I agree but what does what they do off the field have to do with their lack of ability in the studio? Scipio’s attack on their lack character certainly does not have much to do with their skill (or lack thereof in this case)
Although Michael is not the brightest guy I do like this enthusiasm – he is better than Emmett in the studio
dedfischer said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Broadening the audience appeal. There are more people in this country that utilize the English language in Emmitt’s format than not. Like my dad always said about people, “I always like a guy like Emmitt because you don’t have to worry about him out-thinking you.” Except insert Daryl, who spent his life changing flats at the Texaco.
Soldier of Orange said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
RMI,
I think Scipio’s point was that Irvin was given his job, in part, on account of his off field notoriety which attracts viewers, rather than employed for his ability to evaluate and explain what transpires on the field.
Remember this about Michael Irvin said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Could be but I kind of thought ESPN ditched him because of the lack incident while he was on the air.
Remember this about Michael Irvin said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I think that Millens lack of success at a GM should preclude him from being an analyst. I want guys who did it on the field unless they are really smart or really entertaining – he is neither.
Nero said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Michael Irvin needs to understand that being visually expressive with your face and talking with your hands does not help on the radio, where the absolute only tool is the voice. Mumbling and dead air are not ways to keep listeners, who at any given time are usually only an arm’s reach away from another pre-set.
In short, his show sucks harder than jessica simpson squeezing into her skinny-jeans.
Justaguy said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Did anyone else love it on Sunday when the two guys who actually won rings for leading teams would have to defer to Millen and that chucklehead Collingsworth speak?
One is regarded as a defensive genius, another one known for developing quarterbacks, and instead we get a guy who was the NFL equivalent of the Steadman Mutual Funds and a guy who I wish would have been detained in a Chinese prison.
Bob in Houston said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Steadman mutual funds!?!? I bow in your presence…
TheTruth said:
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Millen kills me, dude knows he fell down in a pile of shit (his own making) and gets up smelling like a rose.
Shame on NBC !!!
Vasherized said:
February 4th, 2009 at 9:08 am
CTJ an optimist!
I’m curious to see what his pessimistic view would look like.
Occam’s razor has had a dull blade for quite a while now.
Chooky said:
February 4th, 2009 at 11:25 am
“I’m curious to see what his pessimistic view would look like.”
You obviously missed his essay about flowers.
CloseToJumping said:
February 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
There is a difference between being optimistic and blindly hopeful. Hope, as is so often overstated and rarely understood, is not a strategy. Be real, find the upside, and make a move. My issues usually revolve around the flagrantly stupid and lazy and/or the spinelessly, fecklessly ignorant. There is no upside in dealing with those types, so its best to dethroat them. The Internet lends itself well to both sides of that.
I certainly agree that, at this point, it appears as though we’ve collectively left Ol’Occam wielding something akin to a butterknife or a plastic spork. More often than not, it now appears that the simplest answer is often basically the dumbest, fastest one.
Chooky said:
February 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
The real horror is that guys like Skip Bayless and Tony Kornheiser will be held up as examples why anyone but an ex-athlete for commentary is a recipe for disaster.
More Tim Brown and Jason Sehorn, please. “Whoever can avoid turnovers in this game will have a huge advantage.”
“Stick around and don’t touch that dial. When we come back we’re going to go the sidelines so some other cretin can slobber and piss all over the most basic laws of parsimony.”
If Chris Collingsworth and Joe Theisman can’t provide us with hope, then who? Who?
Merril Hoge: “The Falcons made a huge mistake by wasting a pick on a soft-armed quarterback like Matt Ryan.” Exactly, Merril. To hell with personal limitations, just toss it all out there, man. Nobody’s going to notice. What I mean, Merril, is … whoa! Check out those graphics. Heh! Robots don’t play football.
Facebook User said:
February 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
It wasn’t just flowers but Flowers For Algernon.
I’d actually like to see Merril in a Simpsons episode. He’d make some statement like that and then get up from the desk and run headlong into a wall, causing his 34th concussion.