Monday Night Football Skit (someone had to write about it)

Okay, obviously it's a topic that's blown up everywhere this week. I can't even turn on regular non-sports talk radio without hearing about it. So I don't want to beat the dead horse. However, there's a prevailing logic among sportscasters and analysts that I find really disturbing. That attitude is best summed up by this article on USAToday's website this morning by analyst Jeff Zillgitt.

I for one wish there wasn't crap like that skit on tv, but was much more offended by Mr. Zillgitt's shameless stereotyping of offended viewers. Here, for your reading enjoyment, is a letter I e-mailed to him as feedback to his article. For full understanding, you might want to read his article first, and then my letter.

"Dear Jeff,

In regards to your article published on the UsaToday website on November 19th, 2004:

I have two major beefs with your overall thoughts on the Monday Night Football skit. The first is the assertion that the skit wasn�t that bad because there�s plenty worse on television, including the twins or the NFL�s own cheerleaders. Now I�ve heard this from several analysts, from national writers to local sports talk anchors, and it just happened to bubble over for me today when reading your article.

You said, �Was it the worst thing I've seen on TV? No. (Has anyone ever watched an episode of one of those pathetic reality shows on network TV with a guy or woman getting in a hot tub with several members of the opposite sex?)� You also implied the same thing when you said, �The scene itself isn't the reason people were offended because that kind of clip plays out on TV day and night. It has to be something more. Like I said, I understand the anger. To a point. Kids see and hear far worse when parents aren't around.� Lastly, you mentioned, �I don't buy the answer about not expecting to see that on Monday Night Football because I expect to see cheerleaders every time I watch an NFL game. Those barely dressed cheerleaders show more cleavage, more leg and more skin than Nicollette Sheridan did in the MNF intro. Their moves are far more suggestive than anything Sheridan did. I don't hear the outcry when the camera pans to a cheerleader several times a game. Are we moralists some of the time or all of the time? When it's convenient? Or when it's P.C.?�

You�re using very specious reasoning there, and I think you know it on some level. Saying that the MNF skit isn�t offensive because there�s worse stuff out there is like the guy who gets pulled over for speeding saying he doesn�t deserve a ticket since other drivers on the same road were speeding too. You�re like the thief who justifies stealing other�s possessions by saying, �Hey, at least I didn�t murder anyone. At least I left them alive, right?� Furthermore, you remind me of Clinton, justifying his fling with Monica by saying, �At least I never lied about my job,� (which he technically didn�t, though he did lie under oath to the grand jury).

The second objection I will make is to your characterization of anyone who was offended. I for one was offended by the skit, much more for the timing of its airing and its ties to the NFL than for the actual specific skin content. It might surprise you to learn that I am also offended by all the twins references, the beer commercials with two women wrestling in a fountain, and yes�even the cheerleader�s outfits. I for one think the game has enough to offer without all the titillation. But you seem to go out of your way to put people like me down, and you used a thin veil to do so: �I guess the ones who didn't mind the scene are loose with their morals and headed straight for the devil's house.� You called those offended by the skit �sanctimonious� and you mocked them by playfully referring to your own �den of iniquity, my house of ill repute.�

Don�t get me wrong. I don�t care if you simply weren�t offended (I can totally see where this skit wouldn�t bother some people). But why are you going so far out of your way to mock those who were offended? Is it that inconceivable to you that there are people out there who have been bothered by the over-sexualization of the media and sports, who maybe just started out with a love of football? Is it not possible to you that this incident simply pushed a few of us over the edge to feeling �enough is enough?� Instead of asking these questions, honest and intelligent ones, you resort quickly to polarizing and insulting questions, at once bashing us for being religious zealots (which we aren�t) and assuming we all voted for Bush (which we didn�t). And you also hold fast to the assumption that anyone offended by the skit must also be offended by those who weren�t, which simply isn�t true. You make us sound like crusaders, out to convert you, when really all we want is to be able to turn on the tv at 8pm (central) to watch football with our kids without having to see it implied that Owens is skipping the game to have sex with a naked chick. And you justify your labeling of offended viewers by claiming, �Just asking questions.� That�s weak Jeff, and you ought to know better.

You almost sound offended by our being offended, which is the best illustration of your faulty logic. You seem more bothered by the fact that some of us didn�t like the skit than you do by the fact that sex and sexuality are everywhere on tv. That�s too bad. We can�t ever have an intelligent conversation about sexuality and the NFL as long as writers like you insist on implying that we�re only offended as an excuse to Bible-thump.

I�m not judging you for thinking the skit was fine. Don�t judge me for thinking it was just another example of entertainment crossing the line. And certainly don�t tell me that it�s okay to show a naked woman from behind to my 10-year-old son just because he could log on to the Eagle�s website and see lingerie girls. I can monitor and control what my kid looks at online. I can keep my kid from watching those hot tub reality shows you mention. I cannot, however, control what ABC decides to air in the opening minutes of a football game whose ratings are only as high as they are because families are watching.

Thanks. Regularly enjoy your columns and predictions (tell those readers who say you can�t make good picks to get off your back), this one just rubbed me the wrong way.

Sincerely,
Jeremy from Nashville
Huge NFL fan"

Thought you guys might enjoy the read.

PS-Chris, some great reviews lately. Boy how I hate paying for movies instead of watching them all for free with you.