The Lefthander
So far, the email reaction to my column this morning about bringing Lefty Driesell back one more time to honor him (as Gary Williams passes him on the Maryland coaching wins list, possibly tonight when he faces North Carolina) has been mixed. Some fond memories, some bitter. So guess what: you get to do the blogger's work for him again. What do you think - do you want to see Lefty at Comcast Center, or not?
I'm interested in the replies for a reason besides the obvious one. Yesterday's questions - about interested in the Super Bowl and about Terrell Owens possibly becoming a Redskins - pushed no buttons at all. T.O., I get, since the Redskins talk faded away fast. But as for the first question, either no one is reading this, or no one truly cares about this game. Poor Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens are trying so hard to get you into it, too. It ain't working. The game itself had better be a classic, because the buildup has been DOA.
It's so bad, we're back to revisiting T.O. and Donovan McNabb. By the way, note to McNabb: a little late on the comeback, aren't 'cha, brotha? Maybe you should take some lessons from Joey Porter. Either that, or just maintain the high-road, non-engagement tactic you'd been using. You came off a lot better then. Now, at least three months after the fact, you come off as not a whole lot better than T.O.
I guess I'm obligated to react to what's so far being portrayed as the most inflammatory portion of McNabb's interview, the "black-on-black crime'' comment. Sorry you can't actually see my eyes rolling back. Yeah, tying some stupid contract squabble to images of actual crime is a pointless exaggeration. McNabb can't possibly be that thin-skinned to feel so hurt by what a character like T.O. says that he throws out a line like that. If you want to say that he wished his black teammate would support a black quarterback more, after what he'd gone through to be accepted by the NFL, the Eagles and the city of Philadelphia, go ahead. But get a grip, OK?
Still, a few things are worth pointing out. One, Owens has now backstabbed quarterbacks of nearly every racial and ethnic background, either directly (McNabb and Jeff Garcia) or indirectly (Kyle Boller). The next Asian or Native American quarterback he plays with is going to get buried, too. Two, Owens once compared himself, in his attempts to gain free agency, to Rosa Parks. Again, he tested the principles of nonviolence, because someone should have stuck a foot up his rear end for that one. Three, what did McNabb expect, after the way T.O. tried to throw Ozzie Newsome, the league's first black G.M., under the bus in his book? Who did McNabb think the Eagles were signing, Barack Obama?
The lesson: Just let it go. Terrell Owens isn't Donovan McNabb's problem anymore, and he needs to stop making him our problem now. It's starting to become more and more clear why McNabb's teammates weren't leaping to his defense all season long. He's coming off as mighty weak right now.
