So I was talking with my boy Danny about some ideas for the blog and he started asking me about my thoughts on the fallout from Kobe's commercial for Call of Duty. If you haven't seen the TV spot, check the video below.
This post isn't really about Kobe Bryant, but the reaction of the public about a basketball player advertising for a "mature" video game. Specifically, people are up in arms about the tag line, "There's a soldier in all of us". First, I feel it necessary to tell you a little bit about myself to explain where I'm coming from. I was born into an Army family, my Dad was in the Army and two brothers served in the Army as well. I never served in the Armed Forces so my opinion is somewhat limited, but sufficient to say I've spent a lot of time around soldiers. With that being said let me get into the crux of this subject.
Bomani Jones on the show 1st and 10 equated Kobe's commercial to essentially the same thing as Kellen Winslow saying, "I'm a soldier"; I think he's reading too seriously into commercial. Don't get me wrong, I hate when players say we're going to war out there. Clearly, it isn't war, and to equate playing a game for millions of dollars to the same thing as the average American risking his life in service is disrespectful. Several players have gone to the Middle East and visited soldiers and have had their paradigm changed. I can't remember which NFL player it was, but upon returning from the Middle East and visiting soldiers he said he'd never refer to a game as war again. I feel like it was Ray Lewis or Osi Umenyiora, but for the life of me I can't find the quote. If you remember who it was let me know. Whether you agree with the war or not, everyone cares for the soldiers safety and respects their service. So in my opinion, to say you're going to war or that you're a soldier is wrong and shouldn't be done. This makes me a hypocrite, but I might give a pass to the Miami Hurricanes' 1987 Football team, but only because they made me laugh so hard with this stunt.
Alright, it wasn't the coolest thing in the world, but you gotta give them credit for committing!
With that being said, I don't think Kobe Bryant crossed that line in his commercial. The commercial was mostly light hearted as you can see people smiling, getting phone calls, or laughing. I think the advertisement is very humorous, it represents the diversity of people who play the game. I believe that's what the tagline was referring to, that a wide variety of people enjoy playing the game. There isn't a soldier in the commercial, they don't show average people fighting against soldiers. That's why I don't think there is an inference in the commercial to being a real soldier. So if the commercial itself doesn't diminish the role of a soldier then the video game must right? Not in my experience, like I said I've spent a lot of time around soldiers and I know many who enjoy playing the game. Furthermore, I haven't heard one person disparage the game. So who's banging the drum up on this? The only people I've heard say anything about it are largely the equivalent of shock jocks in the sports entertainment industry like Skip Bayless. In that same segment of 1st and 10 Skip starts talking about "Kobe smiling while holding an assault rifle when we have soldiers overseas doing this for real". I don't know Skip Bayless' personal life or if he has loved ones overseas, but he seems to be trying to take a moral high ground that I don't see people directly effected by the situation take. If he has family over there I'll cut him some slack, because from personal experience you're probably more sensitive about war than the actual soldiers are. My Brother told me he loved being over there "where the rubber meets the road looking for bad guys". My Dad would tell you it was one of the more difficult things for him to deal with. So if Skip has loved ones in the "Sandbox" (Middle East), I'll let his response slide because I've been there. Some of my buddies from HS might remember me almost swinging on a kid in the middle of class for making disparaging remarks about soldiers when my brother was in the Sandbox. So I can't throw stones since I was oversensitive myself.
What I take away from this commercial is that Kobe Bryant enjoys playing a video game, he enjoys it enough to put his face behind it. There is nothing wrong with that, Kobe isn't out there degrading what soldiers do on a day to day basis. We need to stop holding professional athletes to a standard that is unattainable. They are imperfect people and are not a substitution for the people who should be socializing the youth. From a young age I was exposed to real guns and violent video games, but I also had people there to explain the reality of things to me. I was fortunate, I know that everyone doesn't have responsible parents or siblings to socialize them appropriately. Kobe Bryant is a fantastic basketball player, but for those who don't have responsible people in the home, I hope they can find someone better than Kobe for a role model. There are teachers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, religious leaders, and any number of other sources. So take it easy on Professional athletes about this trivial stuff, they do enough dumb stuff for us to get on them about without wasting time on things like this.
That's all for this week, thanks for the idea Danny. If anyone else has something they want to talk about, hit me up in the comments or any other way you can.
Breezy
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Burnt
This week has been ridiculous for me and ESPN. Not one thing has gotten me angry enough to devote an entire post to it, so instead you're going to get a series of rants about what's been burning me up this week.
1. Alright Boise State lost, I watched the entire second half of that game and had a hard time changing the channel during Nevada's celebration because I was so shocked. Nevada is a good team, and there is no shame in losing to them at their house if you are just another good team, but most people had hopes that Boise State was special. The kind of team that could go to the National Championship against one of the elite teams and win. Sadly, Boise State wasn't that team and we have to hope that things fall into place for TCU to fill in for them. The only thing that bothered me about this loss was how quickly analysts jumped on Boise State and seemingly rubbed BSU's nose in the loss in a way I haven't seen with other teams. With all that was at stake I suppose that kind of response is to be expected to a small extent, but what bothers me is the lack of shame being distributed. I saw three different articles disrespecting BSU on ESPN the day after the loss, and no articles about how terrible the Big East is. The only criticism the Big East gets is an aside from commentators on ESPN who say that it's clearly the worst BCS conference. That's it, it's as if everyone knows the Big East is a joke, but it's not a big deal. That a conference who doesn't have one team ranked in the Top 25 is contractually obligated to have a team in a BCS game. If ESPN took a general stance that they were OK with the Big East making it into a BCS game because the present system is such that all regions must be represented I would be OK with that. But it isn't their general stance, because at the exact same time we are hearing the opposite argument about how no team from the NFC West should be able to make it into the playoffs because they're so bad. The double standard is what is bothering me and I think it's unfair.
2. This whole Cam Newton situation is unbelievable. Whether you think College players should get paid or not we are unfortunately seeing a ridiculous double standard. It appears as if there is sufficient evidence to show that Cam Newton's Father looked for "Pay for Play". It's still under investigation if Cam knew or not, but we are seeing another gross double standard. There are countless examples of seemingly innocuous actions leading to players and coaches being suspended. AJ Green sold a game jersey and missed four games because of it. Dillon Baxter accepted a ride on a golf cart from someone he didn't know was an agent and he still missed a game.(Source) And a throwback to show how ridiculous the NCAA is, give this story about Rick Majerus a read. The article discusses Majerus having too many meals with his students, one which Rick had breakfast with Keith Van Horn to tell Keith that his Father had just died. This is why people hate the NCAA, because they claim to take a high road when it comes ethical issues and then they show they are hypocrites. These are just a few of the ridiculous things the NCAA has come down on schools and players for. I'm not going to come up with conspiracy theories even if some of the ones I've heard seem plausible. I'm just pointing out that there is a flaw in the system and it's disappointing to me. Say what you do, and do what you say. I think what we're seeing here is a bad precedence, that if you want to get around the NCAA rules simply enlist the help of your parents. Clearly that's a good enough excuse to avoid suspending Cam Newton even though there is evidence to support that Cam did know what was going on. (i.e. the alleged conversation where he told someone, "...the money is too much at Auburn") If Cecil Newton took the 180 K, does that mean that anything he's purchased for Cam since receiving the money constitutes a violation for Cam? After all, the money is coming from someone who paid for Cam to play at Auburn. Are they going to investigate what Cam get's for Christmas from his parents? The entire situation is frustrating and confusing and I'm sick of it. They either need to start paying college athletes or come out with fair, clear, and steadfast rules that don't get bent because he's the best player on a National Championship contending team.
3. Lastly, ESPN needs to back off the NFC West. I know I referenced this earlier and how I believe there is a double standard. But I am so tired of hearing about how bad the NFC West is. Alright, we're having a down year, and frankly it's a really bad year. But tell me why the NFC West has been represented in 2 out of the last 5 Super Bowls and 3 out of the last 8. And the most recent trip to the Super Bowl from the division was nearly identical to the current situation we find the NFC West in. Look, I'm not delusional, I know things are really bad right now. All I'm saying is you need to lay off a little bit, it's unprecedented how much coverage this division is getting for being bad. We have some of the best fans in football who support our teams even when they've been disappointing. We're an up and coming division as well, with nearly every team having something to be excited about. A great QB in St. Louis, a great defense in San Francisco as well as a great RB in Frank Gore. Additionally the Seahawks have reason to be optimistic because despite an inordinate amount of changes to their roster in the offseason they have won some big games. Including beating both the Chargers and the Bears who are considered to be very good teams. Lastly, Arizona has Larry Fitzgerald which should excite any football fan. Give us some time, we'll be back, and if you continue to ride us into the ground with segments like "Westbound and Down" on NFL Live, you better talk about us like the 85' Bears when these developing teams come to fruition. I for one won't forget the disrespect we've seen over the past 5 years.
That's it for now, have a good weekend! Feel free to voice your opinions in the comments section, I'd like to hear your ideas as well.
Breezy
1. Alright Boise State lost, I watched the entire second half of that game and had a hard time changing the channel during Nevada's celebration because I was so shocked. Nevada is a good team, and there is no shame in losing to them at their house if you are just another good team, but most people had hopes that Boise State was special. The kind of team that could go to the National Championship against one of the elite teams and win. Sadly, Boise State wasn't that team and we have to hope that things fall into place for TCU to fill in for them. The only thing that bothered me about this loss was how quickly analysts jumped on Boise State and seemingly rubbed BSU's nose in the loss in a way I haven't seen with other teams. With all that was at stake I suppose that kind of response is to be expected to a small extent, but what bothers me is the lack of shame being distributed. I saw three different articles disrespecting BSU on ESPN the day after the loss, and no articles about how terrible the Big East is. The only criticism the Big East gets is an aside from commentators on ESPN who say that it's clearly the worst BCS conference. That's it, it's as if everyone knows the Big East is a joke, but it's not a big deal. That a conference who doesn't have one team ranked in the Top 25 is contractually obligated to have a team in a BCS game. If ESPN took a general stance that they were OK with the Big East making it into a BCS game because the present system is such that all regions must be represented I would be OK with that. But it isn't their general stance, because at the exact same time we are hearing the opposite argument about how no team from the NFC West should be able to make it into the playoffs because they're so bad. The double standard is what is bothering me and I think it's unfair.
2. This whole Cam Newton situation is unbelievable. Whether you think College players should get paid or not we are unfortunately seeing a ridiculous double standard. It appears as if there is sufficient evidence to show that Cam Newton's Father looked for "Pay for Play". It's still under investigation if Cam knew or not, but we are seeing another gross double standard. There are countless examples of seemingly innocuous actions leading to players and coaches being suspended. AJ Green sold a game jersey and missed four games because of it. Dillon Baxter accepted a ride on a golf cart from someone he didn't know was an agent and he still missed a game.(Source) And a throwback to show how ridiculous the NCAA is, give this story about Rick Majerus a read. The article discusses Majerus having too many meals with his students, one which Rick had breakfast with Keith Van Horn to tell Keith that his Father had just died. This is why people hate the NCAA, because they claim to take a high road when it comes ethical issues and then they show they are hypocrites. These are just a few of the ridiculous things the NCAA has come down on schools and players for. I'm not going to come up with conspiracy theories even if some of the ones I've heard seem plausible. I'm just pointing out that there is a flaw in the system and it's disappointing to me. Say what you do, and do what you say. I think what we're seeing here is a bad precedence, that if you want to get around the NCAA rules simply enlist the help of your parents. Clearly that's a good enough excuse to avoid suspending Cam Newton even though there is evidence to support that Cam did know what was going on. (i.e. the alleged conversation where he told someone, "...the money is too much at Auburn") If Cecil Newton took the 180 K, does that mean that anything he's purchased for Cam since receiving the money constitutes a violation for Cam? After all, the money is coming from someone who paid for Cam to play at Auburn. Are they going to investigate what Cam get's for Christmas from his parents? The entire situation is frustrating and confusing and I'm sick of it. They either need to start paying college athletes or come out with fair, clear, and steadfast rules that don't get bent because he's the best player on a National Championship contending team.
3. Lastly, ESPN needs to back off the NFC West. I know I referenced this earlier and how I believe there is a double standard. But I am so tired of hearing about how bad the NFC West is. Alright, we're having a down year, and frankly it's a really bad year. But tell me why the NFC West has been represented in 2 out of the last 5 Super Bowls and 3 out of the last 8. And the most recent trip to the Super Bowl from the division was nearly identical to the current situation we find the NFC West in. Look, I'm not delusional, I know things are really bad right now. All I'm saying is you need to lay off a little bit, it's unprecedented how much coverage this division is getting for being bad. We have some of the best fans in football who support our teams even when they've been disappointing. We're an up and coming division as well, with nearly every team having something to be excited about. A great QB in St. Louis, a great defense in San Francisco as well as a great RB in Frank Gore. Additionally the Seahawks have reason to be optimistic because despite an inordinate amount of changes to their roster in the offseason they have won some big games. Including beating both the Chargers and the Bears who are considered to be very good teams. Lastly, Arizona has Larry Fitzgerald which should excite any football fan. Give us some time, we'll be back, and if you continue to ride us into the ground with segments like "Westbound and Down" on NFL Live, you better talk about us like the 85' Bears when these developing teams come to fruition. I for one won't forget the disrespect we've seen over the past 5 years.
That's it for now, have a good weekend! Feel free to voice your opinions in the comments section, I'd like to hear your ideas as well.
Breezy
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