Saturday, April 19, 2008

Cut His Mic

Tim McCarver is rapidly coming unhinged. During today's Mets/Phillies game, he was attempting to make the point that Virginian Charlie Manuel is underestimated as a manager, because of his Southern drawl. I'm not really buying it, as simple, slow talking, tobacco spitting baseball lifers are almost deified in the baseball world. But whatever. Tim's entitled to his opinion.

Then Tim goes on to draw a cringe-worthy analogy. I'll paraphrase to the best of my recollection. "Manuel is like two other famous Virginians, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. They were also underestimated by Americans, because they were from Virginia. (snickers whimsically)". Congratulations Timmy. You broke your own world record for "Least charming aside on baseball broadcast".

Two problems. Firstly if early Americans had such a low opinion of the intelligence of Virginians, why were 6 of our first 16 presidents from the state?

Secondly, and far more importantly, why are you celebrating traitors, who are so flagrantly on the wrong side of history? These were not uneducated Southern farmers, confused in the fog of war, uncertain for what they were fighting. One could give those folks the benefit of the doubt. Jackson and Lee were West Point grads, who knew full well that they were turning on their nation to preserve the institution of slavery. This should not be portrayed as a cutesy underdog story anymore than the Third Reich.

Good thing McCarver isn't announcing the Mavs/Hornets series. We would be treated to something like this. "Everybody is underestimating Dirk because he lost to the Warriors in the playoffs last year. But people also underestimated another famous German, Adolf Hitler, after his nation lost World War I." (snickers whimsically)

2 comments:

Tremont said...

No you fuck off, Jimer. When you were offended at my Anne Frank joke (which I clearly did not mean), I could chalk it up to a different sense of humor. I assumed that fundamentally we were both very much against the bondage/extermination of ANY group because of their race. You apparently felt that the Holocaust should not be played for laughs and I have a gallowd humor. Agree to disagree.

But now I realize that you think it's cool to make light of and even revere traitorous men who fought primarily for the maintenance of slavery.

You have lost all moral high ground. Perhaps being an 8th generation Floridian makes you blind to your own hypocrisy on this issue. Maybe if an adorable little black girl from the antebellum South left us a diary you wouldn't think the Confederate cause was so noble. (Oh that's right, slaves were forbidden from reading and writing).

At worst, I can be accused of making a bad joke. The Third Reich was one of the great abominations in human history. Until you denounce the Confederacy and its leadership, I'll take no more lessons on decency from you. Eat it.

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