Men on the Edge of Panic: Boomer Esiason, Mike Fancesa and Toxic Masculinity

[demmiblue]

Source: The Nation

<snip>

I spoke to my friend, Martha, who is a mid-wife – and a Mets fan - about their comments, She said simply, “I would ask if they knew how it sounded, talking about this woman like she is a human incubator to be cut open in a dangerous often unnecessary surgical procedure so Murphy can make it to Citi Field on time. I would ask that, but honestly if you can’t see why the asshole-levels on these comments are off the charts, then I can’t help you.”

I also spoke with Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL player and someone who has devoted his life to challenging the ways in which sports has the capacity to communicate a toxic, destructive brand of masculinity. Ehrmann said, “I think these comments pretty short sighted and reflect old school thinking of masculinity and fatherhood. Paternity leave is critical in helping dads create life long bonding and sharing in responsibilities of raising emotionally healthy children. To miss the life altering experience of ‘co-laboring’ in delivery room due to non essential work related responsibilities is to create false values.”

Ehrmann also pointed out the ways in which these statements create a culture that normalizes the alienation between fathers and children. He said, “Comments like these put every man in position to think about career and co workers opinions ahead of father/husband/partner roles. So even in companies with paternity leave, many new dads won't or feel can't take advantage of leave without a stigma being attached to them….This is one more arena sports/athletes could be metaphor for social change and elevate birth/nurture/fatherhood role and responsibilities over work or at least create better priorities-options.”

<snip>

But in the last two years, these archetypes have changed. We have seen players such as Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and Michael Sam break new ground as gay athletes. We have seen Royce White and Brandon Marshall speak out about their mental health challenges, and show that this kind of openness does not demonstrate weakness but courage. We have a new cultural consensus that does not see concussions as a bizarre badge of honor but a danger sign. We’ve had Jonathan Martin go public about being bullied by teammates, forcing the NFL to confront long-standing locker room behaviors. Poisonous, narrow definitions of masculinity are being challenged. A players missing opening day to be with his wife on the birth of their child clearly caused Boomer and Francesa’s brains to rupture. Their idealized sports world as a masculinist cocoon absent of progress and insulated from the real world, where every day is 1985 (or even 1955), is withering before their eyes. People are deciding that ruining your life and your relationship with family in the name of a code that impresses the Mike Francesas of the world isn’t worth it. This is progress, but as in any time when we see progressive healthy change, the hounds of reaction will still nip at its heels.

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/blog/179209/men-edge-panic-beyond-boomer-esiason-obgyn

[cyberswede]

1. I liked Chris Hayes' piece on this topic.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/railing-against-paternity-leave-215804483803

“Take some time with your frickin’ kid and take some time with the partner in your life who brought the kid into the world... that actually is part of being a man,” Chris Hayes said...

Also: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024779402

[demmiblue]

2. Thanks for the links!

I must be living under a rock... I didn't realize that he recently became a father for the second time.

[LibGranny]

10. Me too!

[HERVEPA]

3. By the way, Esiason has given a good, heartfelt, non-bullshit apology.

Francesa is just a blowhard, Esiason, not so much.

[SunSeeker]

16. Esiason just said he was sorry some people were offended.

To me, that is not an apology. Unless he says he was wrong, that is not an apology.

[HERVEPA]

18. That is incorrect. See below.

Former NFL quarterback and New York sports radio host Boomer Esiason apologized for comments he made about Mets infielder Daniel Murphy, who missed the first two games of his team’s season while on paternity leave. Esiason had suggested that Murphy and his wife should have scheduled a C-section to avoid Murphy missing time.

From CBS Local:


My deep apologies to both Daniel and Tori Murphy for creating an intrusion into a very sacred and personal moment in their lives, and that’s the birth of their son, Noah. Daniel is the Mets’ second baseman, whose brief paternity leave led to a flippant and insensitive remark that I sincerely regret. (In the) meantime, I’m very grateful to my many friends over at the March of Dimes who graciously reached out and re-educated me that if a pregnancy is healthy, it is medically beneficial to let the labor begin on its own rather than to schedule a C-section for convenience. In fact, babies born just a few weeks early have double the risk of death compared to babies born after 39 full weeks of pregnancy. As their promotional campaign says, ‘Healthy babies are worth the wait.’ And as a proud father, I couldn’t agree more.

Esiason apologized on both his radio show and a taped CBS Sports Minute, and said he reached out to the Mets in an effort to apologize to Murphy directly.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. +1.

[SunSeeker]

23. The one I heard was the "sorry you were offended" variety.

What you offer looks like a release from his PR folks. Nice to hear he got "re-educated."

When he first got back on the mic Friday, his apology was for putting Murphy's family's life "under the spotlight" and "I truly feel terrible about what I put them through, so for that I certainly apologize."

http://thebiglead.com/2014/04/04/boomer-esiason-apologizes-for-dumb-c-section-comments-about-daniel-murphy-and-paternity-leave

As the comments to the above link show, people did not see his initial "apology" as an apology. Glad his PR folks and the March of Dimes folks straightened him out.

[HERVEPA]

31. Wrong again. I heard it spoken by him on air.

He is totally capable of writing and speaking what is in the above post without PR help.
Although his original statement was incredibly stupid, he is not a typical dumb jock at all. I have listened to him enough to know that. Perhaps you can now admit that you were wrong, but understably so if you only heard the statement you originally mentioned,

[SunSeeker]

54. I'm not wrong. His initial on-air "apology" was a non apology.

The link I provided gives the transcript. It does not read like the carefully worded paragraph you provided. Yes, he finally came to Jesus. But that certainly was not his initial response to the blow back on his ridiculous c-section statement.

[Logical]

63. LOL, admit they were wrong about what? The initial apology? You drunk bro? nt

[calimary]

48. The one I heard was basically "sorry I said the 'C-section' thing. 'Cause it may have offended some

people." Which left me kinda cold, I must say. This goes WAAAAAAAY deeper than even the depth of the cut of a C-section, pal. One would hope an expression of true contrition would carry with it an understanding of WHY this was such loutish, Bronze-Age opinionating. And that I did not get. One would hope that an apology in a case like this would also carry with it an acknowledgement of opened eyes and a newly opened mind.

[NickB79]

4. This whole issue really pissed me off when I read of it

It's like that a-hole radio sports host thinks the ideal father is some 1950's stereotype who smokes a cigar with his buddies while his wife is back in the delivery room screaming and crying, and simply smiles and nods when the nurse shows him his new baby through a window in the nursery. Think Mad Men circa 1955.

Fuck. Him. He is a worthless excuse for a father, and thankfully now everyone knows it.

When my wife became pregnant, she needed abdominal surgery at 4 mo. to prevent either her or our baby from dying.

After she gave birth, she fell into a deep post-partum depression that lasted almost a year.

Our daughter had colic AND acid reflux that wasn't diagnosed for the first 4 months after she was born.

I worked 8 hr shifts OVERNIGHT, came home to get 2-3 hours of sleep, and then was up with our baby while my wife worked days. Most days, she'd come home from work and crawl into bed due to her depression, leaving me with no respite from the crying, dirty diapers, bottle duty, housework, etc. In short, it was a living hell, and I literally almost had a nervous breakdown on multiple dates.

That said, I wouldn't give it up for anything. Those early days and months with my daughter bonded us in a way I never thought possible, and I will be forever thankful for the experience. It made me realize just how far a father should go, how much he must be willing to sacrifice, to care for his children.

A REAL man gives everything he has, body and soul, to care for the baby he helped give life to.

[demmiblue]

6. Thank you for sharing your story, Nick.

Postpartum depression can be deadly. I know of a woman who killed herself and her child due to depression. Apparently, her complaints/cries for help weren't taken as seriously as they should have been.

Another thing that strikes me about your story is that it emphasizes the need for rational and healthy parental leave policies. As a country, we are ass backwards in that regard.

You sound like a wonderful husband/father!

[cyberswede]

11. Right on!

A REAL man gives everything he has, body and soul, to care for the baby he helped give life to.

[riqster]

15. Sounds familiar.

I was in a similar situation, and did have a breakdown. And a stroke.

And I wouldn't change a thing: even if it almost (literally) killed me, that time with my son was precious, and can never be taken away. Had I not taken the time with him then, I'd have far more to regret than I already do.

[seabeyond]

30. listen to you men. and then i watch those that drop to their knees and cry uncle

at the drop of the hat.

[riqster]

38. Awwww.

[seabeyond]

29. what does not break us, makes us stronger. i hear your story nick. in all the hard....

i hear the truth, the sincerity of it. only someone who lived it...

wow.

that was hard. you did amazing. and i would equally say it to any mom that did that too.

thank you for the story.

[riqster]

40. I have to salute parents like him.

[seabeyond]

42. you know how i kinda look at it? it just should be. no, it is not always as it should be.

but, this is what parenting is. we should not get a pat, for doing what our job is.

so ya... and no. more a yea, you pulled thru, did the job at great expense to health in different ways and got the rewards.

i had the colic, reflux issue with first son. not into sleep then. not into sleep today at 18.

i told my niece, that had her first very young. i never say anything about different parenting. we are all gonna do it differently. it is when not parenting, i will say something.

[riqster]

43. This^^^

"it is when not parenting, i will say something."

A-men. Our kids are very active and dedicated parents to our grand babies. I shut up about my view of the details, because the kids are loved and prioritized in their homes.

[seabeyond]

44. excellent. and ya... right on. i agree. nt

[calimary]

49. You sound like you could give the pathetic "boomer" a few lessons in what it is to be a REAL man.

Excellent post, NickB79! You're the kind of husband every woman would want, especially as she's about to struggle through the birthing of his baby. Hey, does anyone recall, or even remember reading about, how women DIED during childbirth? Women DIED. Childbirth was something that might well KILL you - that you would NOT survive!!! And even in this day and age, it can still happen. In THIS country it can still happen, especially with the Neanderthal mindset that afflicts much of Red-State America, particularly as it applies to the attitudes about ACA and affordable AND accessible healthcare! Neither of my pregnancies went all the way to full term because I was so toxemic after eight months that I, too, could have DIED. Labor had to be induced early to get the baby out of me, ASAP. It was becoming a serious and very real danger to my very LIFE!!! And I'm incredibly and fortunately average-healthy. Didn't even have morning sickness - it was later on in each pregnancy that my body started to rebel as it did and threaten to quit on me!

Maybe they're used to the "Mad Men" world where dad hung out in the waiting room drinking coffee and smoking and counting the cigars he brought with him to give out, while his wife was in the delivery room going through hours of excruciating agony that he never even had to see. But that was back in the last century, and this is now and this is NOT the era of "Mad Men." Maybe "Completely Bloomin' Daft Men" would be more accurate.

[hfojvt]

5. toxic masculinity? Really?

You know who never took time off from his job for the birth of his five kids - my dad. Maybe he was pacing around in a hospital waiting room for all five births, but there was no such thing as "To miss the life altering experience of ‘co-laboring’ in delivery room due to non essential work related responsibilities is to create false values.”

Every father alive missed that "life altering experience of co-laboring in the delivery room" back in the day when it was simply not done.

Oh, the horror, the horror.

My baby sister had two C-sections, so I hope the operation was not THAT "unnecessary and dangerous". At least her doctor seemed to think she needed them.

"a$$hole-levels of these comments are off the charts".

Whatever.

Seems to me that one characteristic of an a$$hole is that they are quick to crank their outrage level to eleven and start villifying other people.

Is it possible to disagree without demonizing? Ever? On anything?

[Lex]

7. 1. Your father did what fathers did THEN but that was then, not NOW. Difference.

2. If your sister had to have C-sections, then they weren't unnecessary. Difference.

[hfojvt]

25. viva la differance

Is it the end of the world, then to suggest that a father of today do the same thing as was done back in the dark ages?

It wasn't really the dark ages.

Yet, many women have c-sections, and thus it would seem that having a c-section is not the end of the world either.

[seabeyond]

32. i was older when i had kids. security, financial, emotional. i was pretty set up well,

to start a family.

my mom watched for a couple years. she was so damn impressed with me as a parent. she said... she wished she was this type of a parent.

hmmm.

she was 18, had three babies one year apart.... newborn, 1 yr old and 2 yr old.

like she can compare.

BUT.... if she started a family today, you better damn well believe she would choose more the route i went in life choices and raising kids.

that would be evolving.

end of the world if father is not around birth? no. so much better if he is and meaningful? ya. so why not.

[hfojvt]

37. Why not indeed?

See, you made an argument for one way of doing things.

You think your way is better, and I am not saying that I disagree.

The question is moot for me anyway.

What I am saying is, why can't we have a tolerant society? Why can't there be more than ONE way of doing things?

Why does it always seem to be

"there are two types of people in the world, there are those who agree with me, and there are 'a$$holes'"

Not that you are saying that, but one person in the article seemed to be saying that. Somebody said something I strongly disagree with, can't I just explain why I think they are wrong, do I have to call them an "off the charts a$$hole" too?

[seabeyond]

39. there is of course different ways. and telling a woman to have a surgery at the expense of herself

and possibly the baby is a way many have chosen. not all are optimal ways though. and do not expect people to cheer when it is not. that would be education. lack of education would put a stop to education.

you haev a problem cause people say.... hey dude. think before you speak.

ok, whatever. but the thing. one persons freedom of speech encourages the next guy.

[alarimer]

56. It is the end of the world because we are better now than we were then, as a species.

What you are talking about is sexist bullshit that was the norm at one time, but no longer is, for damn good reason.

[demmiblue]

8. " one characteristic of an a$$hole is that they are quick to crank their outrage level to eleven..."

Hmmm, seems about right.

[hfojvt]

27. close

but I only made it to 9.98.

I didn't even use a focking expletive.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. I'd ask that of Boomer Esiason and Mike Fancesa who ranted at a player for

not being their image of how a manly man should be 'you're not breastfeeding the kid'. Demonizing, attempted shaming using macho bullshit sports culture bluster, the culture that defended Sandusky but attacks good fathers. They love Mike Vick the puppy slayer, hate a guy who wants to be a decent person.

[hfojvt]

33. I am not seeing a rant from Esiason

further, the one guy, who brought up the subject, specified that "we all understand, he is there for the birth" or maybe another day afterwards, and then mom and baby are presumably home and fine.

And what is a "good father"? That means my dad wasn't a good father, because he went back to work? (actually I am not sure he did, he might have taken some vacation time).

Where is the demonizing from them? http://crooksandliars.com/2014/04/boomer-esiason-ballplayer-should-have

[radicalliberal]

41. As Dave Zirin has also pointed out, --

-- the macho sports culture has given birth to a rape culture. Witness Steubenville, Maryville, Glen Ridge, Notre Dame, etc. Also notice that the victim in the Steubenville case continues to be persecuted to this very day, despite the fact that there was a "guilty" verdict.

Pity any rape victim who "gets in the way" of a high-school or college football program.

I wonder how many death threats Zirin has received for daring to speak the truth, as unpopular as it is.

[mercuryblues]

13. bet you

didn't even read the article. What they said was did gusting to a woman who has had C-sections herself. They were advocating having a C-section for no reason other than being able to play a game. The flippant attitude the used made it seem that c sections were nothing more invasive than having a wart removed.

here is the quote about toxic....

I also spoke with Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL player and someone who has devoted his life to challenging the ways in which sports have the capacity to communicate a toxic, destructive brand of masculinity. Ehrmann said, “I think these comments are pretty short sighted and reflect old school thinking about masculinity and fatherhood. Paternity leave is critical in helping dads create life long bonding and sharing in the responsibilities of raising emotionally healthy children. To miss the life altering experience of ‘co-laboring’ in a delivery room due to non essential work related responsibilities is to create false values.”

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Countries with better natal outcomes have lower rates of C-sections.

Those countries have doctors too. Good doctors. Every bit as good as US doctors and on average perhaps better.

The high rates of US C-sections are very much unnecessary and some of them can be traced to the doctors' convenience. Just because a doctor orders something doesn't mean that they do not have a stake in it.

C-sections are the tip of the iceberg or only one of many thorns on the rose US masculinity offers with a cunning smile.

[Initech]

61. I think Toxic Masculinity are playing the Warped Tour this year.

[LanternWaste]

68. No more, nor no less possible than disagreeing with someone without trivializing or minimizing their

"Is it possible to disagree without demonizing?"

No more, nor no less possible than disagreeing with someone without trivializing or minimizing their positions (e.g., "Oh, the horror, the horror...", "crank their outrage level to eleven..." etc.).


(Insert distinction without a difference here-- so it appears less like you hold others to a higher standard than you hold yourself)

[Dawson Leery]

12. Jonathan Chait's article discusses the issue

of race and the reaction to the first black President.
This plays into this article about masculinity.
The old order of the world is dying, the tea party can't stand.

http://nymag.com/news/features/obama-presidency-race-2014-4/?mid=twitter_nymag

[AgingAmerican]

14. Hormones make stupid

nt

[seabeyond]

35. really? you are blaming this on mens hormone? this allows them an excuse to stupid? did you say

Last edited Mon Apr 7, 2014, 03:24 PM - Edit history (1)

that out loud?????

then. they should never be around babies and children cause their hormones make them stupid. nor run a business. drive a car. or any other responsibility of an adult, of that old hormone makes them so damn stupid.

not that i buy into the crap. i am calling out the insult to al men and boys, standing beside you in support as you call bullshit.

[AgingAmerican]

57. Only partially

Hormones make guys have urges to do stupid things, testosterone in particular, but we also have the option of not acting upon them. Liberals tend to be more thoughtful in these circumstances, and conservatives less so. Liberals have more tolerance to uncertainty (bigger anterior cingulate cortex), and conservatives have more sensitivity to fear (bigger right amygdala). Conservatives are also more prone to say stupid things, and act stupidly.

I believe that men who act this way tend to be conservative (bigger right amygdala) and thus more prone to stupid.

http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004818

[seabeyond]

58. So women do not have the urge to do stupid? And the women that do stupid do not get to use hormones

As an excuse. So they do stupid cause????

I love when men use hormones as reasons for ordinary human behavior leaving the women to doing it just cause.... Since they do not have the same excuse

[AgingAmerican]

59. Women do plenty of stupid too

...but I do not understand estrogen quite as well as I do testosterone. I do know that conservatives celebrate acting this way, so the enlarged amygdala probably has a lot to do with it.

[seabeyond]

60. You readily miss the obvious point. No, it is not your testosterone that urges you to stupid.

All people are capable of stupid. One by hormones, one just cause would be way too stupid of reasoning.

[AgingAmerican]

62. True that

But you completely ignored my second point about conservatives engaging in and encouraging this sort of behavior.

[closeupready]

17. Priests, college sports coaches, refugee film directors - all these have

contributed, in their own ways, to the disrepute of individuals who, traditionally, are supposed to be guardians of moral values and masculinity. K&R

[radicalliberal]

47. It's ridiculous.

We live in a society that often marginalizes boys who have no interest in sports, as if that were a crime against nature. There have been men of great courage, such as Andrei Sakharov and Raoul Wallenberg, who never had any interest in sports when they were boys; yet when are any of them ever cited as examples of masculinity? I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a disproportionately high percentage of the men who participated in the civil rights marches in the Deep South during the early 1960s were nonathletes who had no interest in sports (you know, supposed "sissies" ).

I'm not knocking anyone's enjoyment of sports; I'm simply critical of the negative aspects of the culture of the most popular school sports. Joe Ehrmann is actually a hero of mine, but I don't believe he's typical. He's an innovator, a reformer who deserves to be commended for that reason. Unfortunately, IMHO he does not represent the norm, which is what he himself calls the "jock culture."

[closeupready]

50. +1000. Completely agree.

[radicalliberal]

52. Thank you! :)

I expected to be flamed by angry sports fans.

Look, I'm not a sedentary guy. I've been pumping iron at a local health club for about five years, spending a small fortune on personal trainers. I've benefited greatly in terms of my health (compared to the mandatory sports-centric P.E. of my youth, which was an "exercise" in incompetence and hypocrisy).

The incredible pressure to which Sakharov and Wallenberg were subjected would have crushed most of us (myself included). In this country the pioneers of the civil rights movement were cut from the same cloth.

[Dawson Leery]

64. I was not athletically inclined either.

I too am disgusted by the emphasis on sports (especially dangerous sports such as Football) as a means to prove strength.

[radicalliberal]

65. There are different kinds of strength.

In my middle age, I've finally come to terms with the fact that I, as an individual guy, am more physically inclined than I was willing to admit when I was young. I continue to be amazed by the stark contrast between my ongoing health club experience and the daily misery that was the mandatory P.E. of my youth. I'm in my early sixties now, and I'm more muscular today than I ever was in my youth! I feel like I belong at my health club.

The traditional approach to mandatory P.E. simply does not promote physical fitness for nonathletic kids. Different kids have different physical fitness needs. In other words, the "one size fits all" approach fails. Also, I don't see any evidence that the phys ed establishment (with the exception of a few innovators and reformers) has any problem with bullying, especially the bullying of nonathletic kids.

I could go on and on about this issue, but I'll end with a single observation: One form of strength (mental, not muscular) -- namely, moral courage -- IMHO is not appreciated by our society. The father of a childhood friend of mine was a white Southerner who was a WW2 veteran. He became a civil rights attorney after the war. He and members of his family repeatedly received death threats. As far as I know, he didn't participate in any sport when he was in high school. But he was one of the most fearless guys I've ever known. He was tough as nails.

[Dawson Leery]

66. I agree with you. I go to the YMCA and play tennis.

All True --> "The traditional approach to mandatory P.E. simply does not promote physical fitness for nonathletic kids. Different kids have different physical fitness needs. In other words, the "one size fits all" approach fails. Also, I don't see any evidence that the phys ed establishment (with the exception of a few innovators and reformers) has any problem with bullying, especially the bullying of nonathletic kids."

:kick:

[Dawson Leery]

51. +1,000,000,000,000

[radicalliberal]

53. Thank you! :)

(See above.)

[blackspade]

19. Awesome quote

“I would ask if they knew how it sounded, talking about this woman like she is a human incubator to be cut open in a dangerous often unnecessary surgical procedure so Murphy can make it to Citi Field on time. I would ask that, but honestly if you can’t see why the asshole-levels on these comments are off the charts, then I can’t help you.”

[radicalliberal]

46. Women are just baby-makin' machines, doncha know?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. American hypocrisy: Say children come first, but really put them last (far behind career). nt

[Dustlawyer]

22. I am glad that Boomer apologized, but really confused that he would say something so insensitive.

He has a son, Gunner, who has Cystic Fibrosis. Boomer learned how to do the chest PT, diet and enzymes for his son and has been one of the biggest fundraisers for this terrible disease. I know him to be a nice man who made a stupid comment that he obviously regrets.

[HERVEPA]

34. True. See quote of his apology im my post above.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. Those guys sounded SO stupid.

[Ilsa]

28. C-sections, especially first c-sections, are painful

surgeries that can also interfere with breastfeeding if things go poorly. C-sections can also interfere with the mom's postpartum attitudes about her mothering abilities, meaning that she may need even more emotional support.

The idea of pushing for an early, elective c-sections reflects how abominable these men's priorities are. They place their athletic skill and salaries about the health of their wives and children.

[TygrBright]

36. That last paragraph does give me a little hope.

The first thing I thought of when I heard about this was, "WTF?!? Waitaminnit... Baseball is WHAT, again? Remind me? Why, yes, it's a GAME. A wonderful game, a fascinating game, a complex, lovable game. It's STILL A FUCKING GAME."

Which is true of ALL professional AND college sports.

These are GAMES, people.

They're supposed to be fun, entertaining, exciting, engaging, etc. They're supposed to be recreation and enjoyment to help us de-stress, experience vicarious thrills and excitement, build a sense of community with other fans, etc. They are GAMES.

For all the weird, over-wrought, commercial, profitable, disproportionate importance they've taken on in our sick, twisted culture, they remain GAMES.

No matter how "professional" they may be (whether they *should* be is a moot point, by now, but a worthy discussion elsewhere, IMHO) if they want to serve the healthy functions of human development, rather than the sick, distorted functions of capitalism and economic development, they should be modeling the role of a GAME in our communities and in our culture.

And thus, while they should be demanding professionalism from players, coaches, etc. involved in the professional version thereof, they should certainly NOT be treating this "profession" as anything beyond a job that demands the careful and conscientious engagement of any employee.

And employees should be putting the values of family and community first, because if we don't we perpetuate a sick system.

That last paragraph tells me that some people in fact recognize the role sports COULD be playing in our culture, as opposed to the toxic, collusive role they DO play.

appreciatively,
Bright

[Warren DeMontague]

45. People still watch professional baseball?

Jesus, who knew. I thought everyone figured out what a bloated professional fest it was, back around 1988.

Anyway, fuck those people. Good for the player who was there for the birth of his child.

[alarimer]

55. Sports talk radio is almost as bad as right-wing talk radio when it comes to assholes.

I swear only the worst of the worst get on the air.

[chrisa]

67. Insecure man-children in their little boys' clubs

Seriously, show me one man who bemoans the "feminization" of society who isn't a loud-mouthed man-child? These are the bullies you went to High School with who turned into bitter, middle-aged failures. It doesn't matter how much money they have or what their job is - they've failed in every other way.