(a commentator so universally disliked, there’s almost no point in a major newspaper columnist criticizing him. And on the left, Michael Irvin)
In addition to taking a poke at Max Kellerman Friday morning (“is he looking to draw attention through misogynistic put-downs, or is he in need of real-deal social sensitivity training? For Kellerman to riff that Eddy Curry plays “like a girl” and “like a woman” speaks less of Kellerman than of Curry. That’s not hip “guy talk,” that’s antiquated low talk,”), the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has a unconvincing excuse for blowing off a story that was soooo right up his alley.
Readers have asked why we didn’t write about the recent knuckle-headed racial remarks Michael Irvin made about Tony Romo on Dan Patrick’s radio show. It’s like this: If Irvin were going to be sacked for rotten behavior, ESPN would’ve done it a long time ago. Heck, ESPN wouldn’t have hired him.
Perhaps not, but if Phil was going to limit his Post contributions to a list of first time offenders, he’d run out of material pretty fast.
Again, I think it is worth acknowledging that this goofy story, if not broken by Pro Football Talk and The Big Lead, pretty much came to the attention of the rest of the mainstream media because of those sites’ efforts. Whether this is down to the dilligence of the online guys or because no one else bothers to listen closely to Dan Patrick’s radio show, is something you can argue all day. What cannot be denied is that when and if scandal errupts in the sports media biz, a twice a week columnist like Phil is up shit creek. Unless he has the good fortune of leading with a Monday item about someone’s weekend misstep, his ability to be the third or fourth ambulance chaser on the scene, never mind first, is greatly compromised in the bold new world.