Tuesday, December 28, 2010

NFL Causes Pennsylvania Governor's Head To Hurt

There's jingoism, and then there's Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who used a weak attempt at a Red Scare to protest the NFL's decision to reschedule a football game to Tuesday night:

The city of Philadelphia is set to host the NFL's first Tuesday night game in 64 years, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) couldn't be more upset about it.

"It goes against everything that football is all about," Rendell said Monday on radio station 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia.

Rendell was rankled by the league's decision to move the Philadelphia Eagles' home game against the Minnesota Vikings from Sunday night to Tuesday evening.

The NFL cited the winter storm that wound up slamming most of the East Coast as the reason for the change, but elected to postpone the game before any snow had even accumulated. About a foot of snow fell on Philadelphia, though less than 5 inches was on the ground before the scheduled kickoff at 8:20 p.m. EST Sunday night.

Rendell viewed the NFL's decision as a referendum on the toughness, or lack thereof, of the United States.

"My biggest beef is that this is part of what's happened in this country," Rendell said. "I think we've become wussies."

"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything," Rendell added. "If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."

As most of you know, I'm not a big pro football fan. But I have to assume that even if NFL fans aren't doing integrals at their pre-game tailgate parties, I'm guessing that they are still working on their verbal skills and even practicing some SAT-prep analogy questions.

I also think that if this game were to be held in Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, or Ghana, they probably would have also shifted the game out as well due to weather concerns. So you see, we're not alone.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have more calculus to which I need to attend.

9 comments:

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

I think if a blizzard hit Beijing, they'd have bigger concerns than a football game.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

For one thing, it would mean the pollution had decreased to the point where it was no longer visible.

spank said...

Is there going to be a dog killer thread tonight?

Nostradamus said...

So math nerds are mensches, now?

This is an unexpected turn of events.

Jason said...

Remember, Ed Rendell is from Philly (he was Philly's mayor) and is a Eagles season ticket holder in the upper deck (I presume for the improved flight line on his battery tosses). As such, he may be mistaking "calculus" for "eating a cheese steak" or perhaps "being oppressed by a corrupt regime."

Steve Sax said...

@Spanky 11:19a: Good idea. What the hell, let's Scooby Doo the hell out of things tonight and see how things go.

Steve Sax said...

Done. We've got three dueling Game Threads on tap tonight. Enjoy the madness.

Steve Sax said...

BTW, drinks at the SoSG Bar are half-price for those who can keep up commenting in all three threads...

karen said...

Can I just say right now that I HATE Michael Vick??

@Jason--lol