Looking good at halftime of the NFC game.
Tag: sports
An Elegy for SI
Peter King, the longtime Sports Illustrated football writer, pens a tribute to the once-beloved magazine:
Nothing describes how the sports media business has changed better than the precipitous decline of Sports Illustrated. More than a bit of melancholy washed over me Friday, processing the news of the battered place. Because even if SI survives 2024, it will do so as a skeleton of what it was.
I have only good memories of my 29 years with the franchise. In the midst of the sadness and bitterness over SI’s demise, I want to share a few of the reasons why I will always consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth because I got to work for the greatest sports journalism franchise for the guts of my career.
I remember the phone call—absolutely, totally out of the blue—from managing editor Mark Mulvoy in spring 1989. I was 31, covering the Giants for Newsday. Mulvoy asked if I was interested in interviewing for a job at the magazine. It’s still one of those things to this day that I can’t quite believe happened. I went into the mag’s Rockefeller Center offices, across from Radio City, and Mulvoy got to the point pretty fast. He wanted me to write the “Inside the NFL” column and, in fact, there wasn’t much of an interview. He asked me if I wanted the job.
Outer voice: “That’s fantastic. I’ll talk to my wife today and get back to you tomorrow. That okay?”
Inner voice: Are you bleeping kidding me? WHERE DO I SIGN BEFORE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?
Much excitement when I got home. My wife, Ann, asked me: “What will they pay you?” I told her I had no idea. I never asked.
FMAI Divisional, Peter King, 22 January 2024
SI was the victim of changing technology as much as it was of its own convergence and corporate financialization. But it remains the great historical record of American sports, covering the period from 1954 to 2024, which in those 70 years included Peak America. It was also evidence of how excellence leads to success, as it brought together talented and truly-dedicated writers with first-rate photographers.
Unfortunately, it also serves as a cautionary example of what lies ahead for America.
Speaking of favorite Sports Illustrated covers, this one from November 10, 1975 was definitely mine.
A Strange Hill to Die
At some point, even these reality-challenged sportswriters have got to find themselves thinking, “you know, maybe Novak Djokovic knew what he was doing when he gave up his chance at two Majors in order to avoid taking the vaxx.” The irony, of course, is that Djokovic didn’t even metaphorically die, as he is now widely recognized as the greatest tennis player of all time, whereas the journalist Dixon is now, quite literally, dead.
I’ve followed sports my entire life, and I don’t ever recall seeing coaches, journalists, and players collapsing and dying the way they have been since the vaxx was pushed them.
Brutal
Demolition in Dallas
Green Bay is up 41-16 and it’s not even the fourth quarter yet. There is no way Mike McCarthy is back in Dallas next season after this debacle.
Also, it is looking disturbingly like Green Bay has a third-straight generational talent at quarterback. This is irksome in the extreme.
UPDATE: Quote of the night from Ahmed Fareed, who grew up in Michigan, when asked to pick the Rams-Lions game.
“I’m a journalist. I have to pick with my mind, not my heart. Lions 56-10.”
Three Legends Depart
Saban. Belichick. Carroll. All out in one single 24-hour period.
I doubt Belichick is done, but I expect the other two are. Great coaches, but also ruthless men; we’re not talking Bud Grant and Tom Landry here.
But regardless, it’s the end of a football era.
Like Father, Like Son
This is why you should listen to your father. Especially when he knows very well what he’s talking about:
Antoine Winfield Jr. was named NFC defensive player of the week for Week 18.
One of the best defensive plays of the year was made by Winfield Sunday against the Panthers: With Carolina receiver D.J. Chark seemingly set for an easy touchdown, Winfield ran him down just before he got to the goal line and knocked the ball out of Chark’s hands. The ball went into the end zone and out of bounds to give it back to the Buccaneers, a huge turnover and touchdown-saving play.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Winfield was 23 yards away from Chark at the time the pass was thrown. For Winfield to make up that much distance and force a fumble before Chark got to the end zone was an extraordinary effort.
Extraordinary effort runs in the family. His father was my favorite Viking since Fran Tarkenton. Despite being exactly my size – 5’9″, 180 pounds – he was one of the hardest hitters in the NFL. He wasn’t a shutdown corner, but there has never been anyone you would rather have defend the first down marker in the open field. It didn’t matter if it was a slot receiver, a tight end, or a fullback coming out of the backfield with the ball, the ballcarrier would absolutely be cut down hard, with all momentum extinguished, before he could make it past the invisible line. And despite being a starter, Winfield wasn’t too proud to play special teams; look at how he laid the smack down on a Packer’s punt returner.
Winfield made two of the greatest defensive plays I’ve ever seen, in the same game, against the Packers. The first play, facing a big halfback running behind a pulling guard, he dropped to his knees, let the guard fall over him, then popped up and dropped the ballcarrier. The second play, there were two blockers between him and the running back who’d just caught a screen pass. He twisted sideways between the two lineman, then dropped the ballcarrier.
Anyhow, it’s a lot of fun to see Winfield’s son not only following in his footsteps, but even exceeding his NFL accomplishments by winning a Super Bowl. Their relationship is an object lesson in excellence in fatherhood, and they’re obviously close to this day.
Also, his dad is 100-percent correct. Budda Baker making the Pro Bowl over Winfield Jr. this season is a ludicrously bad joke.
Connected Somehow
NFL players are hammering Jimmy Kimmel over the Epstein Client List. He may not be on the actual list, but he’s almost certainly a ticket taker who is connected to some truly awful people.
Jimmy Kimmel claims Aaron Rodgers is a “tin foil hatter” for wanting to know the names on the Jeffrey Epstein client list.
DAVID BAKHTIARI: Tell me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, without telling me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list….
AARON RODGERS: “That’s supposed to be coming out soon. A lot of people — including Jimmy Kimmel — are really hoping that doesn’t come out.”
JIMMY KIMMEL: Dear Aasshole: for the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any “list” other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court. @AaronRodgers12
JIMMY KIMMEL THREATENS LEGAL ACTION, Outkick the Coverage, 2 January 2024
Well, that’s not at all suspicious, is it? Spoken like a truly innocent man, is it not? I don’t know that I’ve ever read a flat-out denial that raised so many more questions than it answered.
Longtime NFL players at the level of Bakhtiari and Rodgers, and well-connected former players who are now in the media like Pat McAfee, are all well-acquainted with celebrities like Kimmel. They also know a lot about who is, and who is not, a ticket taker. It should not be a surprise that many of them, perhaps most of them, whose success is derived from intrinsic talent and hard work, should openly despise those whose “success” is handed to them by nothing more than their willingness to do terrible things and serve Satan.
Kimmel has long been a mystery to NFL fans. His career was hugely elevated through the NFL pregame shows as some sort of “comedian” despite the fact that he was nothing more than Adam Carolla’s sidekick, he wasn’t funny, and he didn’t know anything about football. It was really jarring at the time, as if some twenty-something loser was selected at random and inflicted upon NFL fans for no reason that anyone could understand. And since then, he’s become one of the richest and most famous talking heads in Hollywood.
His hypersensitive public reaction to Rodgers tends to suggest that he is not at all happy about the Epstein Client List coming out, perhaps because a large number of his personal connections are going to be on it even though he himself is not. It’s pretty clear that a lot of NFL players know something about Kimmel, and it is something that they consider to be despicable.
They Fear the C-word
It’s fascinating to see the NFL attempt to erase the C-word from its broadcasts during the Steelers-Bengals game. Everything is “holiday” and there was even a little “Mike Tomlin has Festivus grievances” vignette that was even lamer than it sounds. There were a handful of references in the ads, but even there, they were few and far between despite the fact that nearly every ad was Christmas-themed.
Only the broadcasters actually said “Christmas”, for which they were presumably disciplined later.
Corporate America sold its soul to the Devil and it observably hates and fears Jesus Christ, as well as Christians and the spirit of Christmas.
This shouldn’t outrage us, rather, it should encourage us beyond all measure. The wicked fear even the merest mention of the child in the manger. How much more must they fear the full majesty of the King of Kings!
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
The Jags Celebrate Diversity
I suspect we’re going to be witnessing some fascinating financial shenanigans as more and more of Western tech and politics fall under the influence of individuals from the subcontinent.
How could this happen? That question swept through the offices of NFL teams last week after The Athletic broke the news that Amit Patel, 31, a former employee in the finance department of the Jacksonville Jaguars, allegedly stole more than $22 million from the team over a four-year period.
Patel was a mid-level employee who worked for the Jaguars from 2018-23. He allegedly created fraudulent charges on the club’s virtual credit card and then covered his tracks by sending falsified files to the team’s accounting department. According to a charging document, he used that money to buy vehicles, a condominium and a designer watch worth over $95,000. He also purchased cryptocurrency, splurged on luxury travel for himself and others and used the funds to keep a criminal defense lawyer on retainer. Patel’s attorney said that the vast majority of the $22 million he stole were gambling losses; Patel allegedly placed bets on football and daily fantasy sports with online gambling sites.
Patel is expected to plead guilty to multiple charges — wire fraud and an illegal monetary transaction — in a court appearance Thursday, his attorney, Alex King, said.
And what we’re already witnessing is the rapid transition from a high-trust society to a low-trust one. Western equalitarians are far more culturally solipsistic than they can possibly understand; they literally cannot imagine that other people with other cultures genuinely prefer their own way of doing things.