Monday, September 17, 2007

Picking apart my favorite sports curmudgeon...Phil Mushnick

So today we get this article from the master of media misery, Mr. Mushick. Love the gratuitous shots he takes at Madison Square Garden. When it comes to absolutely skewering the Dolan Debacle, nobody does it better than my boy Phil. So where are today's problems with Phil? Well he almost ruined his opening salvo by taking a pretty unnecessary shot at WFAN's Craig Carton. Carton noted that the Isiah Thomas sex-scandal was all over the papers and that Anucha Browne Sanders (the woman who brought the suit) might have to answer questions from her kids. Phil takes a dig at Carton, noting that its on the radio too. But just look at the front-page play it got in the Post last week, and tell me Phil that papers aren't running with this thing. Carton had a point, admit it and move on.

Another nit-picky note with today's column. Mushnick lashes Mike Golic for telling kids to hustle like Arnaz Battle. He says what kids is up 12:28 a.m.? Well Phil there are these things called time zones, and on the West Coast, 12:28 a.m. is actually 9:28 p.m. And I'm willing to bet that there were quite a Niners fans in the far west time zone, who happen to children. They were certainly up and watching the game. That's just a little unfair.

Overall, we say hell of a column to Phil Mushnick. Make sure you read his take on Fox NFL Sunday and the "spygate" footage. Fox missed the boat on that one.

What's this all about?

First off, you should know that I am an avid reader of the New York Post. And I have been for years. That being said, sometimes the paper can just drive you crazy. I think it fights an internal battle between being a complete rag and a conservative crusader. I think that's what bothers me the most, how can you print Page Six then get on a high horse and editorialize about Iraq? That's just the start of my problems with the news section, but as you will hopefully learn by reading this blog there are so many more.

And what about the sports section, which I must admit is always my first read. Well there are unfounded rumors and well written game recaps. There are good columnists (i.e. Joel Sherman) and not-so-good columnists (Larry Brooks, he should stick to hockey). But the one guy you'll see the most often is Phil Mushnick, yes the man who very rarely finds anything positive. His writing is thoroughly enjoyable but his holier than thou approach is a bit of a put off sometimes.

So I think you get the gist of what we're talking about here. And just for the record I read the hardcopy version of the paper. Online is great but you don't really get the same satisfaction. With all that being said, welcome to my blog, and we start with Monday September 17, 2007.