Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Shower Thoughts - Mooning the Cheesers

I've decided to break my column up into a few different parts: A section called "Dear Mr. Celebrity," where I write letters to famous people, and a section titled "Shower Thoughts," because who hasn't had a great thought in the shower?
What is the appropriate response to seeing a full moon?
I'm not talking about the full moon that comes around once a month, I'm talking about the Randy Moss treatment. You may know what incident I am referring to, January 10, 2005, Vikings at Packers, NFC Playoffs. Daunte Culpepper (people forget just how good he was) hooks up with stud receiver Randy Moss for a touchdown in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach. Moss celebrates by faking pulling down his pants to the Green Bay crowd in retaliation for the fans treatment of a Viking team bus.
This isn't the topic of conversation, really. I want to focus on what happened after Moss' stunt in the end zone. As you heard, announcer Joe Buck lost his mind (with class) on the air.
(When it happened, I wanted to say something as my awkward-in-serious-conversation-areas family and I sat in silence like nothing happened, but I was waiting for someone to let the air back into the room by slyly chuckling as the rest of us followed with hysterical laughter. Nothing happened. We sat there, ate chips, and changed the subject. Coincidentally, that wasn't the first time I found myself in that situation. See: Wardrobe Malfunction)
So, the first questions I'd like to pose are: did Joe actually feel disgusted by the act? Or did he feel compelled to react in that way because he is a professional sportscaster? I'll let you make your own decision.
Meanwhile, I thought it was hilarious.
I thought Moss was hilarious, I thought color commentator Cris Collinsworth was hilarious, and, most importantly, I thought Buck's call was hilarious. I do think Buck was truly incensed by Moss' actions, but I want to know how the public would have treated him if he had laughed and played along with Randy while doing the no-pants-dance to his crew in the booth. Would talk shows be on his case for not handling the situation properly?
I don't know, but I'd like to, mostly because I don't think I would have been able to hold in my laughter. True, I would have kept my pants on but I would have reacted much differently. I mean, come on, that doesn't happen every day, and I'm sure even the fans thought it was kinda funny (except, of course, that they were now looking at another long offseason of layering jackets and eating wheels of cheese into slices so they could stick them on hats…wait, that’s not how they make them?)
Is there an unwritten rule stating how a professional should react to that?

No comments:

Post a Comment