tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post7820896513290954743..comments2024-02-16T02:12:08.305-08:00Comments on Fire Jay Mariotti: The Future of the NFL Will Be Built On The Backs of StrawmenLarry Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141943214237719821noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-31782224439047445702011-03-21T15:06:53.859-07:002011-03-21T15:06:53.859-07:00Ivn,you are giving the players too much credit. Y...Ivn,you are giving the players too much credit. You think they know shit about the Industrial Revolution, the rise of unions, and dudes like Samuel Gompers? I vote no.<br /><br />It should be pretty obvious, but there are two comparisons that should never be made publically because people will freak the fuck out, even if they are semi-valid: Slavery and Nazism/The Holocaust.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05117565553215414852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-71069140670344275152011-03-20T13:19:29.865-07:002011-03-20T13:19:29.865-07:00We'll get to it as soon as Larry is found, dea...We'll get to it as soon as Larry is found, dead or aliveChris Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12152452626681072765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-84152232115221426802011-03-20T10:46:41.914-07:002011-03-20T10:46:41.914-07:00I hope you guys will comment on Jemele Hill and th...I hope you guys will comment on Jemele Hill and the clowns on Duke, Michigan, and the race card on Sports Reporters this am.Bill Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16230613559896591748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-34019071929751885332011-03-18T09:41:24.919-07:002011-03-18T09:41:24.919-07:00I don't think you're wrong necessarily--it...I don't think you're wrong necessarily--it certainly was a terrible choice on Peterson's part and I think you're 100% right that that's what Evans and Grant's motivation was. However, it's, as I said before a strawman. By expressing outrage at either<br /><br />a.) his choice of wording<br /><br />or<br /><br />b.) The implication that he's "not grateful to be in the NFL"<br /><br />they're playing right into the owners' hands. "See," the owners are saying, "Most of the players get what we're trying to do, it's only these greedy bastards like Peterson who think they're slaves when they're making 10.5mm next year, unlike all you poor working stiffs who pay their salary."<br /><br />Meanwhile, Peterson's main point in that interview--a point that is 100% right, and a point that he is making not on his own behalf but for the benefit of his teammates making 500,000 a year who have no guarantees to even make that if they suffer a career ending injury in week 1, guys who will receive very poor post-career benefits from the NFL--that point goes overlooked because Evans and Grant are so eager to be "good guys" that they forget that Peterson is trying to make things better for THEM (Grant not so much as Evans.)<br /><br />Look Evans: you are lucky to be playing in the NFL. You might not be playing next year. That's why Peterson wants you to be taken care of by these fucking owners who are crying poor despite grossing several billion dollars last year.Chris Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12152452626681072765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-30401541729106515282011-03-17T22:51:03.363-07:002011-03-17T22:51:03.363-07:00The main issue I have with the whole "slavery...The main issue I have with the whole "slavery" theory beyond what ivn pointed out is that these players can walk away whenever they want, it's completely voluntary. <br /><br />Back during the rise and apex of the steel/oil/coal industries, workers risked their lives to fight for their rights. If I'm not mistaken, the US army got involved once or twice to help quell some of these issues, typically siding with the big businesses (big shocker there I suppose).<br /><br />So in a way, while I can certainly understand the point you're making Chris in that the NFL makes billions of dollars a year and can manage to remain solvent even without functioning for a year, so why can't they meet the players at some point where everyone is happy?<br /><br />The fact that they're being paid millions of dollars to work at a job that they can leave at any time inherently makes the "slavery" comparison epically retarded. Even if the NFL completely changes its revenue sharing with players, then it's still completely up to the players whether they want to play or not. <br /><br />On the flip side, the reason that Evans and Grant solely focused on the "slavery" aspect is probably because they actually agree with AP on the other stuff. Grant's and Evans' comments distance themselves from the controversial (and incredibly stupid) "slavery" comment, while not connecting the thought of "slavery" with their position of the owner's being assholes.<br /><br />Think about if you were at work with a handful of other people and one of the guys was making really good points. You're agreeing with him on everything until he suddenly blurts out that Obama wants to rape George W. Bush and take him to Pluto to live forever. What would your reaction be?<br /><br />You can't exactly say "Hey guys, that last part was pure insanity, but the rest of the stuff was great" because you've now got the stench of insanity all over your solid points. You now have to distance yourself from the insanity, while keeping your main argument intact. The only way to do that is to admonish the insanity and ignore the rest until people no longer associate it with the Obama rape conspiracy guy.<br /><br />That's primarily the situation that Evans and Grant are in. First, the fact that all of this happened on Twitter makes any sort of reasoned response impossible because of the limitation on characters, but also because they don't want to associate the points that the public actually empathizes with to this overarching idea of "slavery."<br /><br />So, in my opinion, the responses were so curt mainly because they felt a need to protect the arguments that AP made that they actually agreed with. They effectively distanced themselves from the concept of slavery while also preventing the slavery issue to pervade into the arguments for why the players situation is unfair.Richnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-57556912569502102352011-03-16T23:08:51.773-07:002011-03-16T23:08:51.773-07:00I'm going to post the above in this post, beca...I'm going to post the above in this post, because I think it bears mentioning.Chris Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12152452626681072765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-26548235524820407592011-03-16T18:51:32.896-07:002011-03-16T18:51:32.896-07:00why are they comparing this shit to slavery? would...why are they comparing this shit to slavery? wouldn't it make more sense to compare it to the steel/coal/oil industries from the turn of the 20th century? bazillion dollar industries run owned by comically greedy men who treat labor as interchangeable cogs in their machine...hell, you could argue some of the locations of NFL stadiums (Foxborough and Arlington come to mind) are de facto "company towns" the way places like Homestead were. maybe I'm overthinking this.ivnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300012139741038635.post-11598421914227183532011-03-16T15:16:27.975-07:002011-03-16T15:16:27.975-07:00I keed! I keed! I love me some hockey. Readers of ...I keed! I keed! I love me some hockey. Readers of this blog may have noticed (to the extent that they care) that I worship at the feet of Eric "Styrofoam Head" LindrosChris Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12152452626681072765noreply@blogger.com