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Incredibly Novel Concepts, Vol. I

11
Vote

by user J Cunningham

Given my **NOVEL CONCEPT ALERT** comment in one of the umpteen thousand Terrell Owens pieces on this site, I figured the concept would make an interesting semi-regular column here on AGM. So without further ado, I bring to you the first batch of Incredibly Novel Concepts (henceforth referred to as INCs):

-INC #1: For those people complaining about all the media attention T.O. gets: turn off the television, turn off the radio, stop reading the online stories, and put down the sports section. The reason ESPN and all their cronies keep feeding us T.O. is because we keep telling them we want it.

How do we do that, you ask? Why, it's very simple, young padawan: we watch the stories on TV, we listen and call in to radio shows, we read the front-page newspaper stories and we eat up the eleventy billion blogs out there in cyberspace. Our eyeballs and eardrums tell the mainstream media we want as much T.O. as we can get, and they happily oblige.

The minute they stop reporting on him is the minute we stop listening.

INC #2: Memo to NASCAR...you're never going to be more popular than the National Football League. I don't care if you revamp the points formula or replace all the drivers with Sports Illustrated swimsuit models; no sport--certainly not stock car racing--is ever going to trump the NFL's popularity or bank account.

Be happy you're the second most-popular spectator sport in America, and that every weekend you get hunderds of thousands of people filling up the race tracks and millions more tuning in to the TV. You, and your advertisers, are raking in a boatload of cash over the drive-fast-turn-left spectacle, and I would argue you've replaced the NHL as one of this country's Big Four.

INC #3: Hey, Odell Thurman...maybe it's not a good idea to get sauced and get behind the wheel when you're already under suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. You were already sitting out four games for your act, so what made you think driving drunk would be a good idea?

You know what, it wasn't. Never mind the fact that your suspension is now for a full year (say hi to Ricky Williams for us), but how about you endangering others? Not just the teammates who were in the vehicle with you, but everyone else on the road that night. Driving drunk has got to be one of the dumbest and most dangerous things a person can do, and I'd like to think someone already in trouble for liking the al-kee-hol would know better than to go all stupid again.

INC #4: I realize this one happened a while back, but it still bugs the crap out of me. Let me get this straight, ESPN: Harold Reynolds supposedly tries to get his freak on with a female employee, and you let him go, despite the fact that he's one of your best baseball analysts. Meanwhile, Michael Irvin got busted for drugs--again--and he keeps his job, despite being the ultimate T.O. lover and Cowboys homer.

If you're gonna fire Reynolds for being horny, why not fire Irvin for being a cokehead? What, sex is worse than drugs? Boy, have I had it wrong all these years...

INC #5: It would seem to me if I had a baseball team that before the season started was forecast to lose 100 games and yet battles for much of the year in the Wild Card race, I'd want to keep my manager around. And yet, talk in southern Florida is that manager Joe Girardi is out at the end of the season...and all because he doesn't get along with owner Jeffrey Loria.

Pardon me while I smack Loria upside the head and do my best Carlos Mencia impression.

Girardi, a viable candidate for National League Manager of the Year, has more than shown his abilities as a manager this season. The Marlins only recently fell out of playoff contention, and this was a team many expected to battle with Kansas City and Tampa Bay for the worst record in the majors before the season started.

Sounds like someone I'd want to keep around.

INC #6: While we're on the subject of the Marlins...the team wins two World Series titles in six years, battles for another playoff berth this year, and nobody down there wants to support the team? I realize the Dolphins are king in Miami, and the NBA title Dwyane and Shaq brought to South Beach brought with it a ton of excitement.

But to ignore a competitive and successful baseball team? Forgive me if that makes little, if any, sense.

INC #7: By Kim Etheredge's logic, I have just under 50 reasons to be alive. Owens seriously needs to fire her. Either that, or hire her a publicist.


Date

Thu 09/28/06, 6:02 pm EST


Enable Comment Auto-Refresher
Davis21wylieMVP
1158 days ago
Score 0+-
Gee, there were some people who didn't think the Marlins would lose 100 games...
Permalink | Reply
Davis21wylieMVP
1158 days ago
Score 1+-
Of course, those same people thought the Cubs would win the Central...
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J CunninghamVarsity Captain
1158 days ago
Score 1+-
It's okay...last season I was under the delusion the Orioles would hang on to win the AL East....
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JoebookRed-Shirting
1158 days ago
Score 0+-
Well written, but I'm not ready to call the Marlins a successful franchise yet. They've only had 4 winning seasons out of 13 and most of them have been ugly... the 2 World Series wins are nice, but that doesn't make them a complete success.
Permalink | Reply
Davis21wylieMVP
1158 days ago
Score 2+-
I don't know about anybody else, but I'd take it.
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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer
1158 days ago
Score 0+-
I'd be happy if the Tribe had just one of those series wins (say, the '97 one for instance...)
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ASwaffAll-American
1157 days ago
Score 0+-
I agree with Joe, although I think I'm willing to give a little more credit for the two WS wins than he is. I wouldn't call a team a success until they're able to actually win a World Series without unloading every good player they have within the next two years.
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ASwaffAll-American
1157 days ago
Score 0+-
By the way, they probably fired Harold Reynolds because the crime he committed was a workplace infraction. Any time you break the law, it's bad. But for the company, it's a lot worse when you break the law on company property, or with a co-worker. When an employee is sexually harassed, you have to fire the harasser or face legal difficulty yourself. ESPN's only other choice was the square off against the woman in court, and you know they didn't want that.
Permalink | Reply
FranklinNobleSoccer Kid
1157 days ago
Score 0+-
I have a $360,000 mortgage. So, does that mean I have 360,000 reasons to not want to live? We need clarification on this...
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Anonymous Fanatic #1
1157 days ago
Score 0+-
T.O. just doesn't make any sense!!
Permalink | Reply
Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
1157 days ago
Score -1+-
As for the NASCAR thing, there is a reason it is second to F1. People around the world care about F1. Not even many Americans care about NASCAR. In F1, you don't need to change formulae to make it interesting either.
Permalink | Reply
J CunninghamVarsity Captain
1157 days ago
Score 0+-
Not many Americans care about NASCAR? You mean to tell me those 160,000 people I have to swim through when I go to Charlotte in May are cardboard cutouts? Animated ones, at that? What about the 200,000 I fought through when I went to Daytona? Were those figments of my imagination?

I'll grant you NASCAR isn't as revered worldwide as F1, but in America, there is no form of racing more popular than NASCAR Nextel Cup (notice I said more popular, not better...though I personally prefer NASCAR to F1). Nearly every race in the series sells out weeks, if not months, in advance, and though TV ratings are down, the races still pull in millions of TV viewers each week. Sponsors eat the stuff up, and it's no wonder ABC/ESPN clamored so much to get back in on the new TV deal that takes effect next year.

To me, F1 is like soccer; widely respected and loved worldwide, but not that big a hit here in the States. NASCAR, meanwhile, is like the NFL; limited worldwide appeal, but *TONS* of dollars and support here in the U.S. of A.
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