Monday, September 11, 2006
Happy 9/11, Everybody!
Even though it's the first Monday Night Football of the season, a joyous occasion which warrants celebration, the halftime show of the Redskins-Vikings game has yet another damn 9/11 montage. I'm fucking SICK of the pictures of the planes flying into the tower followed by a voiceover of a radio announcer saying something "Reports are coming in that Flight 93 has crash landed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania." I know it's the fifth anniversary of 9/11, but COME ON! I've been seeing "9/11: Five Years Later" headlines all day. I woke up this morning to a delightful three hours worth of WTC victims' names being read, then saw CNN devote its entire home page to 9/11 memorial coverage. THAT SUCKS!
Like most Americans, I was appalled and upset by the events of September 11th, 2001. However, living in New York City, I hear about 9/11 ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Not a day goes by that it's not part of the news, whether it be rich people (Bloomberg vs. Silverstein, WTC lease holder) arguing about who is going to pay for the memorial/Freedom Tower being built at Ground Zero or a report on the myriad diseases that responders and residents of lower Manhattan are now suffering from breathing deadly asbestos-laden particulate Twin Tower dust. I see 9/11 memorial donation solicitation ads on the subway, and read the papers' constant speculation about when the next imminent terrorist attack on New York City will occur. For the past three months, I've seen nothing but shows analyzing 9/11 on everything from "Dateline" to the Discovery Channel. I get a daily dose of 9/11, and whether it's depressing news, scary predictions, or elected officials exploiting it for political leverage, I'm frankly sick of hearing it all the time.
I know that the five year anniversary seems like an important milestone, and I have no problem with reflecting in grief. I understand that our entire nation reeled from the shock, horror, and tragedy of that terrible day, and mourning is important for all Americans in terms of coping. However, there is just NO reason to see a bunch of NFL players giving their two cents about it. It's touching that Brad Johnson and Antwaan Randle El were profoundly affected, but that's not what all my rowdy friends here on Monday night want to hear about. I never thought I'd fondly reminisce about the interview with Jamie Foxx about whether or not Tom Cruise was crazy and how great he was in Any Given Sunday conducted by eager sycophant Joe Theismann during the second quarter. Monday Night Football is about the crazy costumes that Clinton Portis wears to press conferences, funny beer commercials, and Hank Williams, Jr., NOT 9/11. There is no place for overly sentimental and sad 9/11 clips on ESPN during Monday Night fucking Football. ESPN is for sports, not memorials that were already done with a much higher budget by virtually every other network trying to capitalize on the prevalent "Let's remember 9/11" theme in the media. The Cartoon Network understands this. They know that people watch their channel to catch "X-Men" reruns and Adult Swim, not hear about anything that's not a cartoon. ESPN needs to take a lesson from the Cartoon Network and get back to uninformative Michelle Tafoya sideline interviews.
That aside, Santana Moss needs to catch at least one touchdown in the second half if I can even vaguely hope that I might beat my fantasy opponent this week. Even if Moss tears it up a little, I still need LaMont Jordan to have an impossibly monster performance in the Chargers-Raiders game after this. Since the Chargers have one of the best rushing defenses in the NFL, I'm concerned that Jordan is not going to get the 150 yards and three TDs I need in order to make up a 45-point deficit in this week's game versus the Tight Ends. Fuck. He needs to have the best 9/11 of his life.
This entry has also been posted to my regular RazzyBlog.
Like most Americans, I was appalled and upset by the events of September 11th, 2001. However, living in New York City, I hear about 9/11 ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Not a day goes by that it's not part of the news, whether it be rich people (Bloomberg vs. Silverstein, WTC lease holder) arguing about who is going to pay for the memorial/Freedom Tower being built at Ground Zero or a report on the myriad diseases that responders and residents of lower Manhattan are now suffering from breathing deadly asbestos-laden particulate Twin Tower dust. I see 9/11 memorial donation solicitation ads on the subway, and read the papers' constant speculation about when the next imminent terrorist attack on New York City will occur. For the past three months, I've seen nothing but shows analyzing 9/11 on everything from "Dateline" to the Discovery Channel. I get a daily dose of 9/11, and whether it's depressing news, scary predictions, or elected officials exploiting it for political leverage, I'm frankly sick of hearing it all the time.
I know that the five year anniversary seems like an important milestone, and I have no problem with reflecting in grief. I understand that our entire nation reeled from the shock, horror, and tragedy of that terrible day, and mourning is important for all Americans in terms of coping. However, there is just NO reason to see a bunch of NFL players giving their two cents about it. It's touching that Brad Johnson and Antwaan Randle El were profoundly affected, but that's not what all my rowdy friends here on Monday night want to hear about. I never thought I'd fondly reminisce about the interview with Jamie Foxx about whether or not Tom Cruise was crazy and how great he was in Any Given Sunday conducted by eager sycophant Joe Theismann during the second quarter. Monday Night Football is about the crazy costumes that Clinton Portis wears to press conferences, funny beer commercials, and Hank Williams, Jr., NOT 9/11. There is no place for overly sentimental and sad 9/11 clips on ESPN during Monday Night fucking Football. ESPN is for sports, not memorials that were already done with a much higher budget by virtually every other network trying to capitalize on the prevalent "Let's remember 9/11" theme in the media. The Cartoon Network understands this. They know that people watch their channel to catch "X-Men" reruns and Adult Swim, not hear about anything that's not a cartoon. ESPN needs to take a lesson from the Cartoon Network and get back to uninformative Michelle Tafoya sideline interviews.
That aside, Santana Moss needs to catch at least one touchdown in the second half if I can even vaguely hope that I might beat my fantasy opponent this week. Even if Moss tears it up a little, I still need LaMont Jordan to have an impossibly monster performance in the Chargers-Raiders game after this. Since the Chargers have one of the best rushing defenses in the NFL, I'm concerned that Jordan is not going to get the 150 yards and three TDs I need in order to make up a 45-point deficit in this week's game versus the Tight Ends. Fuck. He needs to have the best 9/11 of his life.
This entry has also been posted to my regular RazzyBlog.
