New York Post - USA (2020-10-25)

New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020

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A

T THE top of Thursday

night’s Giants-Eagles game

on Fox, Joe Buck spoke a

pretty good idea. With a 1-5 team

at a 1-4-1 team, he said, “Let’s

throw out the records and watch a

good battle in the NFC East.”

Motion carried!

But Buck’s plan was almost im-

mediately abandoned by the ina-

bility of TV to allow the home au-

dience to enjoy any football game.

The Eagles scored on the

game’s first possession with a QB

keeper by Carson Wentz. Troy

Aikman then treated the obvious

with the obvious: “Well, that’s the

start they wanted.” Thanks.

That was quickly followed by a

Joe Buck recital of a stat. Buck

would sound so much more foot-

ball-enlightened if he ignored all

stats. But he would recite his social

security number if it were handed

to him to read aloud: “Wentz,” he

exclaimed, “is now second in the

NFL to [the Cardinals’] Kyler Mur-

ray for rushing touchdowns

among quarterbacks.”

So what? Buck just finished tell-

ing us the Eagles are 1-4-1!

But Buck could call another 300

games and still report all third-

and fourth-down attempts and

coaches’ replay-challenge records

as if they’re derived from exactly

the same situations — when that’s

never the case.

And during that opening drive,

Buck expressed his admiration for

Eagles wide receiver DeSean

Jackson, no mention of his hate-

ful, ignorant Jew-bashing a mere

three months ago. Then again,

Jackson wasn’t a victim of bigotry,

he was a perpetrator.

Later, Aikman seemed to nomi-

nate struggling second-year Gi-

ants QB Daniel Jones for early ad-

mission to the Hall of Fame: “If

you give Jones time and his re-

ceivers get open, he’s as good as

anyone in the league.” Hmmm.

Late in the first half, the Giants

were primed to receive a punt at

midfield. There was 1:06 left, the

Eagles fourth-and-6 from their 13.

The clock was running, so the Gi-

ants judiciously called a time out.

Aikman: “Well, the Giants just

burned a time out.”

Moments later he said, “The Gi-

ants will now get another chance at

this thing before the end of the half.”

So much for “burning” a timeout.

This is how it went. Pretty

much the way it always goes.

Fox even had Alex Rodriguez

on its NFL pregame show, as if

his appearances on Fox’s awful

World Series pregame show

would draw added thousands

rather than discourage them from

watching.

YOu THINK it was a mere

oversight that Fox promos

throughout the NLCS chose to

“star” the Braves’ Ronald

Acuna as opposed to Freddie

Freeman? Both played seven

games. Acuna hit .167, but

acted as if he had hit .360.

Freeman hit .360, but acted as

if he had hit .167.

Acuna is an all-about-me,

posing show-off while Free-

man plays hard, but modestly.

Thus Fox only thinks it chose

the star attraction.

➤So a “struggling” busi-

nessman left financially dev-

astated by the COVID crisis,

as seen and heard in a Joe

Biden campaign ad, is actu-

ally a wealthy man in no im-

mediate financial distress.

That reminds me of a PGA

Tour image ad, one in which

Craig Stadler, never known

for his cheery disposition, is

seen escorting two underpriv-

ileged children to the San Di-

ego zoo.

Turned out those kids be-

longed to a PGA executive —

as this column years ago re-

vealed.

➤Game 2 of the World Se-

ries, Rays 6, Dodgers 4: 12

pitchers, 22 strikeouts despite

the DH, five home runs, time

of game 3:40. With an 8:10 ET

start on a Wednesday night,

half the country knew before

it began that they’d never

make it to the end.

But it’s only the World Series.

➤Craig Carton returning

to WFAN? Very likely, very

soon. For better or worse, he’s

allowed to make a living, es-

pecially with nearly $5 million

due in restitution — and even

if the station is now overly re-

liant on gambling ad revenue

and gambling chatter.

If he’s hired, we’ll see how

Carton and WFAN work that

out, but he’s unlikely to repu-

diate what the station’s adver-

tisers sell.

And based on that HBO

“documentary,” Carton still

suffers from a dangerous

sense of excessive self-entitle-

ment. He still thinks he’s extra

special.

➤One more on Doc Em-

rick, from reader John Rat-

omski: When the tough guys

on the third and fourth lines

came on the ice, Emrick

would say, “Six Dobermans,

one tennis ball!”

TV shows

just the

show-offs

Why do some publicly react to Internet trolls?

EVEN when I was a kid,

I couldn’t figure why

small KKK demonstra-

tions drew protestors.

Totally ignoring the Klan

would have frustrated

and disarmed them, leav-

ing them to perform in an

empty arena. Bye!

And yet we now regu-

larly see and hear public

figures publicly sharing

their victimization by a

few lowlifes, or by a sin-

gular low life. No modern

society is free from those

given to cruelly but cow-

ardly hiding behind and

within “social” media.

Last week ESPN side-

line reporter Molly

McGrath, who is visibly

pregnant, went public

with a singular tweet

from a techno-vandal

who ridiculed her appear-

ance. Instead of ignoring

such a stupid missive, she

launched a long, soulful

self-defense and a solemn

treatise on expectant

motherhood on Insta-

gram, as if this one poster

represents thousands of

like-minded morons.

In other words, she

took the bait.

We now see and hear

this a lot, celebrities

posting tweets attacking

their race, religion, poli-

tics, family, appearance,

whatever a lowlife with

time on his or her hands

can do. They seem to rel-

ish such attention-grab-

bing victimization rather

than dismiss it.

Why share such gar-

bage with the public? I

don’t know.

I’ve received more than a

few anti-Semitic emails.

And I recognize that they’re

far easier to send than tra-

ditional letters, which take

effort and postage. But I’ve

never chosen to share

them, as I know they’ve

been sent by a creep. I de-

lete them. All gone!

➤At the turn of the last

century, as the story is

told, there were two au-

tomobiles in the entire

world. And they collided

with each other.

This past Sunday, the

Eagles and the NFL al-

lowed a very limited

number of “fans” to at-

tend the Ravens-Eagles

game, and thus it was

easy for supporters of

both teams to find one

another. There was a

drunken brawl in the

stands, with lots of

swinging room for those

eager to slug it out in de-

fense of their teams.

The Eagles were the

first NFL team to install a

police booking station

and jail within their sta-

dium. Drunk and disor-

derly arrests became that

numerous. And those

wearing the jerseys of vi-

siting teams were — and

likely still are — the tar-

gets for assault.

Other in-stadium drunk

tanks and booking depots

followed.

What has Roger

Goodell done about this?

At 10 bucks for a cheap

beer, nothing.

EQUALEQUEQUEQUEQUALALALALTIME

Phil Mushnick

[email protected]

motoring mouths: Between play-by-play man Joe Buck (left) and analyst Troy Aikman, the top Fox

NFL crew seem willing to read any stat handed them, no matter how irrelevant, and make the most mun-

dane commentary, no matter how obvious. AP