War Of Words

Political correctness continues to hamper the evolution of our society. There is no doubt about that, consider this more of a statement of fact than a value judgment. Public opinion does not allow us to say skinny or fat, carnivores with opposable thumbs may be the real endangered species. For a nation that prides itself on the value of free speech, we make people pay dearly for simply speaking their mind. Three years ago, the mainstream didn’t give George W. a break, now many think B-O stinks. We should look in the mirror, but be fearful of what we may see.


Consider how we judge athletes and coaches for using war references. This fall, University of Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley was raked over the electronic coals for his “faux pas,” a reference to allied forces landing at Normandy. He compared his team’s lack of preparedness to the Germans on D-Day. It would have been one thing if he compared his team to genocidal marauders that were swallowing weaker nations earlier in World War II. But, that was not where he was going. To paraphrase Dooley, he said, “Basically we stand around (on the football field) waiting to get our butts kicked.”

Some of the instant-judge-and-jury-crowd found this his unacceptable. Oddly, and hypocritically enough, most of that group wouldn’t think twice about this conversation.

“Did you seethe bowl game over the weekend? It was a shoot-out.”

“Which one?”

“I’m not sure. With all the bowl games out there, I get the names confused now-a-days. I think it was the Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman or the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Anyway, it was Michigan State versus Hawaii.

“Is that coach still at Hawaii with the crazy offense.”

“You’re thinking of June Jones the old Falcons coach and his Red Gun passing attack.”

“Exactly. So, it was Spartans versus Warriors. I bet Michigan State annihilated them. That’s almost like when the Harlem Globetrotters play their mythical opponent, the Generals. Those guys are battle tested from playing in the Big Ten Conference. Their big offensive linemen really help their rushing game.”

“Well, your part right. They did win in the trenches, they really pushed Hawaii around.”

“So Hawaii won?”

“Yeah, in the second half, they went to the shot-gun formation. That really neutralized the Spartans blitz. Then, the quarterback got really hot; one pass would be a quick strike over the middle. Then, he would launch a bomb on the next play. Still, it came down to the final minutes.”

“It wasn’t decided by a kicker was it?’

“Yep, a weird couple of plays at the end. I thought it might go into one of those sudden death overtime situations, but Hawaii got excellent field position when they were returning a punt. One of Michigan State’s gunners got called for a personal foul, and it put Hawaii in field goal range, barely. They ran out the clock with a couple of sneaks. Then, the kicker made a last second field goal. Dude has some long range.”

“Oh, I remember hearing about that guy, he’s from Europe right? His dad was a famous soccer player?”

“That’s right he played striker for Arsenal in the English Premier League…”

“Well, those bowl games don’t really matter to us, we’re Auburn fans.”

“True that. War Eagle.”


The defense rests. Lighten up. Don’t be the judge and the jury, just enjoy the games. That’s what they are, games.