August 18th, 2009
Galley Reader and Vandy Super Fan J.O. writes in about Cronkite-mania and NPR’s dissing of the great David Brinkley:
I’ve had a love/hate with this blog since ’07 and Jeff Green’s colossal walk against my beloved Commodores. However, PBS shitting on David Brinkley (who was incidentally a Vandy alumnus) went too far and I need to vent.
The Cronkite worship reached into the depths of hell during the recent 2 hour PBS docu-celebration of WC’s life. In effect, they minimized Huntley/Brinkley’s successful entry into the evening news wars against Cronkite in very condescending fashion: Huntley/Brinkley were dismissed as “cutesy” and “unserious” and not very journalistic vs. the greatest journalist that we unclean serfs ever had the privilege to witness, i.e., Cronkite.
Those were serious fighting words: I’m 36 and “This Week with David Brinkley” was my introduction to the Sunday talking head chat show genre in middle school/high school. It remains the best ever, IMO.
I’m with J.O. on Brinkley.
0 commentsMichael Vick
August 18th, 2009
I spent about six hours on Saturday night listening to Philly sportstalk. The only topic of discussion was Vick. If the callers are indicative of general opinion (not a given), then there seems to be a pretty big divide on the subject in Philly. The divide seems (though may not actually be) largely drawn along racial lines, with blacks largely in favor of the move and whites more split on it.
Without getting into the moral dimensions of the debate, I’m struck by a question which is, oddly, getting little attention: From football perspective, why would the Eagles want Vick? The Four Letter’s Matt Mosely has looked at this some. My thoughts follow his to a large degree.
From the Eagles’ POV, what could they think they’re adding with Vick?
* A back-up quarterback who could, with luck, become their franchise QB in two years after McNabb’s contract is up.
* A gimmick player who could wreak havoc on defenses once or twice a game with the kind of trick plays that Andy Reid has long been fond of.
* A star player at a bargain price, positional value TBD. (This is the equivalent of the argument that you take the best available player in a draft, even if you already have strength at that position.)
I’m not sure that any of those up-sides outweigh the potential down-sides:
* Unsettling McNabb.
* Splitting the focus of the offense as they try to manage both West Coast and Wildcat schemes.
* The attendant locker-room headaches of having a special-case player around. See Owens, Terrell.
Plus, doesn’t this all negate the reasoning behind using the 2007 first-round pick on Kevin Kolb instead of the wide-out help that they desperately needed?
I’m not against taking a flyer on a troubled player if that player might be your missing piece. I’d argue that the Owens experiment was probably a mistake, but that’s debatable. And even if it was, it was certainly a reasonable mistake to make and one that a smart GM should probably be open to making again.
But is Vick that missing piece? Not obviously. If anything, Plaxico might have been a smarter gamble. We’ll see.
0 commentsThe Ballad of G.I. Joe
August 17th, 2009
Galley Bro S.D. sends us this bit of amazing, off-the-charts hotness:
The level of detail here is staggering.
0 commentsMore on Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
August 17th, 2009
Galley Friend M.E. Russell did a fantastic interview with Shane Black around the time of the movie’s release. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
0 commentsDon't Forget to Follow Me on Twitter!
August 17th, 2009
You can sign up here.
0 commentsIt Must Be Safe to Stop Sucking Up?
August 17th, 2009
PS: Never has a Washington careerist owed so much to an obscure English poet.
0 commentsThe Death of Kayfabe
August 17th, 2009
The WWE as late-night talk show.
In retrospect, it should have been clear that this is where the company was headed after Freddie Prinze Jr. was hired as a writer.
0 commentsRyan O'Neal Is Some Kind of Scientist
August 4th, 2009
I wonder what Ryan O’Neal got on his MCATs. Talking about his “mistakes” with Farrah Fawcett:
I would have been much kinder, more understanding, more mature. I’d lose some of the savagery. I don’t know how she got cancer; maybe some of it was me.
Amazingly enough, that’s not the worst part of the interview . . .
0 comments
