zoogs

Wow. 

I'm confused, Excel. I didn't say anything about the US interfering in Polish business. This is a straightforward is-it-good or is-it-f'n-alarming that this is happening kind of deal. I'm honestly astonished that there is any debate about where that falls. Thousands marching because they want to make their country more ethnically "pure", and remove Jews, is far past the point where one should care. I guess we have some very different stances on these topics.

Hang on. What?

"Tens of thousands of Poles marched across downtown Warsaw on Saturday, in an independence-day procession organized by a nationalist youth movement that seeks an ethnically pure Poland with fewer Jews or Muslims."

"The Radical Camp presents itself as the heir to a 1930s fascist movement of the same name, which fought to rid Poland of Jews in the years just before the Holocaust. A second group, All Polish Youth, also named after an anti-Jewish interwar movement, co-organized it."

This is what happens after a populace has faced Nazi/Communist occupation? 

Oh, yeah. I don't envy what his life is like right now.

I see what you mean -- just to be clear, though, a case like this is a lot harder on the victim and their family. Getting fired by Nebraska was a tough thing to have happen to you. Choosing to commit sexual assault is not at all a thing that "happens to you", on the other hand.

Parlay it into money?

Jesus, guys. This is why victims struggle to come out. The reason this is coming out now is probably because the floodgates have opened in the wake of Weinstein, et al. The illusion of too-big-to-fail power is being shattered and it's encouraging more people to speak up. There will be more stories.

Kevin Spacey is vile for what he did. He compounds that by turning this into a coming out moment for himself to avoid facing the music to the full extent that he should. 

Spacey JUST came out.

He did it so as to bury the actual story -- which is that he sexually assaulted a minor. That just came out, too, and it's the only public allegation. 

And timing. Lots of good coaches get fired because they came in at the wrong time and the admin and fans got sick of them. Best be lucky enough to hit it big before the grace period expires.

@ladyhawke It does seem a bit early, yeah, but his tenure also hasn't been resounding. More of a cautionary tale to not go ga-ga over the hotshot prospect. For every Franklin there's a Muschamp or Strong or Hoke or McElwain.

That's brutal. McElwain had two decent seasons and this one was far from over. Sounds like they're trying to pull some real BS to wiggle out of the buyout, too.

Transitive property where convenient.

That Harbaugh/Callahan analogy seems silly.

I didn't see the play, so I can't comment on whether it was the correct call or not. Many calls are wrong.

I'm responding only to the tone and content of your comments. You expressed surprise that "they" "allow" the sport to continue to be played, and ED made a comment about "flag football" and the NFL "all being over". So I think I interpreted it correctly.

And, gosh, that trite old refrain about "pussifying America". Try to be original, at least.

Football's biggest problem is clearly that it's not vicious enough.

The Harbaugh era wouldn't even be a smashing success by Nebraska standards. There's good reason for caution (re: Frost expectations). Frost is a hot prospect, but Harbaugh was top of the world -- made Stanford elite, sent Andrew Luck to the pros as a #1 pick, took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. 

Have there been 'far greater controversies' than this? It seems like the dominant sports controversy of the day. That's kind of the issue. It's not that this is some giant, targeted conspiracy. NFL teams avoiding controversy is par for the course. It's that this marked him with a huge red flag -- wearing a Che Guevara shirt and all that, in a world where "he deserves a second chance" gets applied to what (IMO, at least) should be far less forgivable.

I mean, the NFL is right now going all out to stop players from protesting during the anthem. 

You can enjoy watching the game without needing to defend the ways of the league. Or at least recognize your contribution to and endorsement of "Don't Speak Too Out of Turn". Maybe you feel that NFL players shouldn't be using their stardom as such a platform, and they should all just be more modest about their views and focus on giving us entertainment product. Fine. Just don't pretend the NFL doesn't put the clamps on controversy.

He was an NFL player when he chose to step outside of line, and now he's no longer. The message is clear: obey.

You're not on an NFL roster anymore, and you didn't have a 90.7 QBR last year either. That comparison doesn't fly, sorry to say  

Numerous other NFL players have spoken out, but none of them like Colin. None are the face of the movement, the standard bearer, in the way he is. All of them have found ways to express safely within the system. I'd be hopeful to see them become more vocal, but really none of them can ever be what Colin was, which was the guy who started the fire.

This is about what are antics and what are not. Colin has been judged to be full of antics. And now we're rewriting the story of his football ability to justify the outcome. Yeah, if he were Tom Brady, he would probably still be employed. But also if he hadn't decided to "antic" it up, he'd still be employed. Colin made a choice. That choice should not have cost him in the way that it did, and we should not be defending all the structures that made it this way.