Overboard

Ok I lied. Well not so much lied as I felt compelled to return to the fold. Addiction is a terrible thing I tell ya.

Anyway some things you have to post timely or they don't make any sense assuming they made sense in the first place so hence today I blog.

I don't know how many of you are football fans, and I mean what Americans call football not what we Caribbean folk and the rest of the world call football, but the NFL has reached it playoff stage. Go Philli! Go Atlanta! Go anyone but the Patriots!

Anyway during Sunday's playoff game Minnesota vs Green Bay, wide receiver Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings scored a touchdown after which he pretended to moon the Green Bay fans. For this action he has received not only the required criticism for the childish act that he performed but is likely to be fined by the league. (not that a 5 or 10 thousand dollar fine affects someone making millions of dollars a year to play sports but thats another blog)

In all fairness to Moss, other players and coaches around the league seem to know why he performed this action. Apparently Green Bay fans are notorious for actually mooning the opposing teams on their way out of the ground after a loss. This was simply Moss returning the favor and I'm sure those teams who have had to bear that indignity must have cheered on his action and wished that perhaps he did pull down his pants and given the Green Bay fans the full effect.

However the criticism from the media and some parts of the American public has been extremely intense in reaction to this simple act. All he did was pretend to moon the crowd. He did not commit murder, treason or an act of terrorism. No fans were killed or injured by his action. It is not an unpardonable sin.

Some of the media's response has been amazing. Fox Broadcasting and ESPN refused to show replays of the incident. Wait a minute! Isn't Fox the leader in reality TV? Surely a pretend mooning cannot be as offensive as some of its regularly scheduled offerings? They've been showing some gross stuff on reality TV lately. Isn't Fox the home of the Simpsons where Bart Simpson has been known to tell others to 'Eat my shorts' and has mooned Principal Skinner and others numerous times. Wait a minute! Holdup! Why is it suddenly such a disgrace and shame to the American viewing public to see a pretend mooning?

Hmmmmm. I'll leave you all to come to your own conclusions. However lets look at some of last years TV faux paux's; Janet's breast incident (they are all around us people, you cant escape them, at some point (hopefully) one is bound to be exposed near you), Nicollette Sheridan nude escapades with Terrell Owens in a Monday night football add which from the outrage would have made one think that Al Quada had struck again and the Indiana - Detroit brawl.

Of these incidents the only one that was probably worthy of the coverage it received was the Indiana - Detroit brawl. Why is it that America with all its issues suddenly decides to take a moral highground on certain specific seemingly trivial incidents like the pretend mooning, janet's exposure or the sexual innuendo of the Terrell Owens/Nicollette Sheridan ad while letting other more important issues slide? Why?