(presumably, not on the Mushnick family fridge. image swiped from Loser With Socks)
The death of decorum! The slaughter of sportsmanship! The mockery of all that we hold dear!
Overuse of the exclaimation point, too. The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick interrupted his turkey dinner yesterday to take a firm stand against Snark Nation.
The day is coming when even older sports fans will be too young to recall when it was done any differently. They’ll be unable to leave word that once upon a time sports shows didn’t rely on talking smack, on being cruel, on taking cheap shots, on mocking the beaten and doing everything that hadn’t already been done to remove whatever sport remains in our sports.
Monday, Fox Sports Net’s “Final Score” evening wrap show reported on the resignation that day of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr, whose team had lost two days earlier to Ohio State.
As Carr was seen speaking at a news conference, the best FSN could do to capture his 13-year-career at Michigan was to cut to footage of Ohio State fans, two days earlier, mocking Carr, holding a huge, stretched-across-several-seats sign that sarcastically read, “So Long, Coach Carr, We’ll Miss You.”
Yeah, OSU was going to kick Michigan’s butt – again – and that was going to end his career. Yeah!
That was the best FSN could do – kick a man when was he down and moving out. FSN couldn’t have chosen anything better (perhaps footage from Michigan’s national championship season under Carr) on the day Carr announced he was done? It had to be a wise-guy put-down, nothing more, nothing better.
I have a sneaking suspicion on the day Isiah Thomas is finally removed from his presidency of the New York Knicks, Phil’s colleagues at the Post will find a way of summing up Zeke’s NY tenure without mentioning the drafting of David Lee first and foremost.
Likewise, the first time Billy Wagner blows a save next spring, we’ll see if the Post manages to include a disclaimer about Country Time being a 5-time NL All-Star.
Adam Carlson’s 48 yard FG with 18 seconds remaining gave Mississippi State a 17-14 win over Ole Miss, and will probably propel the Bulldogs (7-5) to their first bowl invite in 7 years. “What a job Sylvester Croom has done this year” gushed ABC’s Jesse Palmer, and I’ll have to concur. With a 4-4 mark in the SEC, Croom has been every bit as good at his job as Palmer at his.
Hey asshole,
You are about as mean a little prick as there is.
Who are you talking about- Isiah, Phil, or GC?
Isiah – not really mean. As long as you’re willing to watch “Love & Basketball” with him after work.
Phil – he looks kindly to me (ie. the beard)
me – admittedly, a mean guy. Not sure who told him about the little prick, but I have my suspicions. No worrries, though. I’m glad George and his mom can have frank conversations.
Gotta agree with Mushnick (but not George) on this one- Granted a balance is in order, but there’s a bit of a difference between Isiah’s Knick “accomplishments” and Carr’s national championship and multiple Big Ten titles. Plus, while I’m fairly certain we’ll be seeing more of Isiah (hey, there have been weirder retreads), Carr’s situation has the aura of an retirement/career obituary, which IMO warrants a bit more respect. And it’s not like Carr’s career lowlights involve newsworthy items like, oh, bankrupting an entire league or losing multi-million dollar court judgments.
G –
good points, particularly considering the likelihood this is Carr’s last stint as coach of a big time program. However, I do think if he was leaving a comparable gig in the NY market (Giants coach?) after a similar tenure (and run of futility against a regional rival) Phil’s paper would be equally quick to kick the guy when he was down.
also, just to clarify — it was the New York Knicks that lost the multi-million dollar court judgement. Isiah wasn’t found personally liable. But yeah, you’re right, his accomplishments as Knicks coach/prez are rather insignificant, though bankrupting the CBA happened before his arrival in New York. As did winning a pair of NBA championships in Detrot and a national championship with Indiana.
Should Lloyd Carr’s entire career be reduced to 7 years of being owned by Jim Tressel? Should Zeke’s entire career be summed up by trying to get smoochy with Anucha? Probably not. But the tendency to highlight the worst, most recent gaffes of a public figure aren’t limited to Fox Sports.