Let’s sink the showboats
AS TV continues to defund class and substance in favor of shallow, worthless style, this past weekend was a biggie for excessive showboating under the tutelage of adult coaches.
So what if Indiana blew a 13-point lead to lose to Kansas on CBS, IU had its elaborate and flamboyant pregame introduction handshakes rehearsed and performed to perfection.
Against the Jets on CBS, Sunday, Dolphins’ DT Christian Wilkins cosacked Zach Wilson, causing him to fumble near the Jets’ goal line. Wilkins might’ve recovered the ball then scored from 3 yards out, but he no longer was paying attention. He was busy performing a silly but expected all-about-me dance.
Naturally, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo said nothing. Just throw it on the pile of players me-dancing away from free balls.
Florida A&M’s defense, following an interception, gathered on the field to do a mimed group machinegunning of the crowd, which included vice president Kamala Harris. This charming scene apparently was enacted with the approval of the head coach.
Chargers RB Austin Ekeler, after running for a first down, gave that obligatorily foolish look-what-Idid first-down gesture. At the time, his club was losing to the Raiders, 63-7.
➤ Of course the uncouth, just-got-off-the-boat Italian stereotype attached to Tommy DeVito & Associates was reliant on the absence of class, thus why wouldn’t Saints DE Tanoh Kpassagnon follow a sack of DeVito with a paisan fingers gesture?
But such is now rationalized as a case of “no worse than fill-in-the-blank,” as opposed to what it’s better than.
➤ Best graphic of the week (seriously) came from Fox during Sunday’s Chiefs-Pats. It showed the QBs KC presumably will face in their remaining games: Bailey
Zappe (Pats), Aidan O’Connell (Raiders), Jake Browning (Bengals), Easton Stick (Chargers), since replaced by new signee Will Grier.
But injuries have again badly depleted the ranks, but not enough to prevent Roger Goodell and bottom-line team owners from this season adding a 17th game while continuing to express deep concern for disabled players.
➤ Reader Gary Lustig has a good one for TV-money slobberer Goodell and his buddies at CBS and Fox:
Now that the Giants and Jets, when both are on the TV Diminished Value list, play 1 p.m. games head-tohead to make room for more TV-valued 4:25 games, such planning badly undercuts the buy-in value of advertisers into the NY market.
Lusting wonders how many New York-region viewers do as he does: Use commercials as prompts to switch back and forth from Jets and Giants, never to watch a single commercial.