You know what sticks in my craw? Have you ever been ragging on somebody for a perfectly legitimate reason, and then someone (not to stereotype, but this someone will always be a woman) has to comment on said loser's friendliness?
Let's say your friend Sam says something remarkably dumb. Doesn't matter what; he should have known better. Later you're with a friend, and you're like, "Geez, I can't believe he thought Hitler was French, what a moron." And some girl's there, and you get the worried-sounding, "Well, I think Sam's nice."
Wait, what does that have to do with anything?
I only bring this up because pretty much that exact scenario played out during last night's Monday Night Countdown on ESPN. Emmitt Smith said that spending all that money on running back Thomas Jones wouldn't help the Jets much, because Chad Pennington has such a weak arm. Smith added that if he were a defensive coordinator, he'd play nine in the box against the Jets and always have the corners play tight.
I loved it. I mean, I don't really have strong feelings about the Jets, but it's always fun to see someone bury a New York team on national TV before the season even starts. Plus it was cool that Emmitt had such a sharp opinion.
Chris Berman, though, just couldn't let the dig at Pennington slide. He had to jump in with a, "He's smart." Emmitt says, "yeah, but he's weak." And then I think they had a little back-and-forth on it. It was just funny to see how quickly Berman pounced.
Chad Pennington has, in my humble estimation, always received way too much slack from national media figures. I don't know what that is. Every time I see him he's stretching the defense with a three-yard pass to his fullback, and someone's talking about how well he read the defense on the designed screen.
But my bigger point is, why can't we just tell the truth about all players? Chad Pennington really does have a weak arm. Can he throw a football farther than I can? Sure. But he's not on the level of most other NFL quarterbacks. And it turns out you can't just think a pass over the Cover-2. Smith didn't say Pennington was a failure at his profession or anything; just that he has a pretty glaring weakness, which anyone watching the Jets for more than five minutes could have picked up on by themselves.
There are some exceptions, like Shaq at the foul line, but more often than not you hear about the great defense of a Derek Jeter, who's not even the best shortstop on that side of his own starting infield. By and large, if you're pretty good, and you're pretty popular, you're going to get a free pass.
Let's say your friend Sam says something remarkably dumb. Doesn't matter what; he should have known better. Later you're with a friend, and you're like, "Geez, I can't believe he thought Hitler was French, what a moron." And some girl's there, and you get the worried-sounding, "Well, I think Sam's nice."
Wait, what does that have to do with anything?
I only bring this up because pretty much that exact scenario played out during last night's Monday Night Countdown on ESPN. Emmitt Smith said that spending all that money on running back Thomas Jones wouldn't help the Jets much, because Chad Pennington has such a weak arm. Smith added that if he were a defensive coordinator, he'd play nine in the box against the Jets and always have the corners play tight.
I loved it. I mean, I don't really have strong feelings about the Jets, but it's always fun to see someone bury a New York team on national TV before the season even starts. Plus it was cool that Emmitt had such a sharp opinion.
Chris Berman, though, just couldn't let the dig at Pennington slide. He had to jump in with a, "He's smart." Emmitt says, "yeah, but he's weak." And then I think they had a little back-and-forth on it. It was just funny to see how quickly Berman pounced.
Chad Pennington has, in my humble estimation, always received way too much slack from national media figures. I don't know what that is. Every time I see him he's stretching the defense with a three-yard pass to his fullback, and someone's talking about how well he read the defense on the designed screen.
But my bigger point is, why can't we just tell the truth about all players? Chad Pennington really does have a weak arm. Can he throw a football farther than I can? Sure. But he's not on the level of most other NFL quarterbacks. And it turns out you can't just think a pass over the Cover-2. Smith didn't say Pennington was a failure at his profession or anything; just that he has a pretty glaring weakness, which anyone watching the Jets for more than five minutes could have picked up on by themselves.
There are some exceptions, like Shaq at the foul line, but more often than not you hear about the great defense of a Derek Jeter, who's not even the best shortstop on that side of his own starting infield. By and large, if you're pretty good, and you're pretty popular, you're going to get a free pass.
Comments
I'm thankful the Steelers have been relatively low-profile ever since the "Jerome Bettis is from Detroit" angle somehow morphed into the "Hines Ward is from Korea" story. (It bugs me because Bettis and Ward are both the kinds of player I actually like, but whose inflated reputations force me to call foul.)