EDITORIAL: Reggie and Craig and Jimmy, Oh My! (3/27/98)
Have I mentioned that I love this whole Reggie White thing? If you don't know what I mean, go read the NewsBreak before this one to get the gist. Go ahead. I'll wait. Done? Great. I love this whole Reggie White thing.I love it whenever a moron reveals himself to the world by saying incredibly stupid things while the cameras are rolling, while they're "on the record", the whole nine yards. It's just a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Seen "Roger and Me"? Know what my favorite part of Roger and Me is? The scene where Bob "Newlywed Game" Eubanks is caught, on camera, telling really stupid and offensive dirty jokes. I love that scene. Camera's rolling, Bob!
And even in my youth, I loved it when Jimmy the Greek got in trouble for being a moron on national television. What were you thinking, Jimmy? Answer: he wasn't. And for once in this world, someone paid the price for not thinking.
'Cause too often, moron behavior goes unpunished. People get away with it. Craig Kilborn got away with it. He told a magazine reporter, on the record, that Lizz Winstead would "blow him", and that the female writers on the Daily Show staff were "bitches". Sure, he was suspended for a week, but three months later, Kilborn's still in the anchor chair and Winstead's no longer with the show. See what I mean?
It's too early to say whether White's going to get away with his moron behavior. Sure, people are plenty outraged now. It's the off-season. They can afford to be. But come fall, when the sacks start rolling in, what are the odds that rabid sports fans are going to remember that, for an hour, their star defensive guy insulted every ethnic group his paltry, limited mind could think of in that time?
I'm guessing slim to none. But I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, and wait for the next one to come along. 'Cause given the population of morons, and the population of cameras trained on them, it's only a matter of time.
