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| Image via Wikipedia On Sunday, freelancer Mark Greenbaum focused on the ages of Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., above, and Steve Rothman, but said the latter is 7 years younger than he is. The Opinion editors completely missed the error. |
You've heard of movies that go straight to video. In my house, The Record's Sports section goes straight to recycling, though I can't avoid all the sports blather that lands on Page 1.
Glancing at today's Sports front, I noticed the missing comma after "Victor" in the main headline, "To Victor go the spoils."
The headline runs over one of those relentlessly sunny columns about Victor Cruz of the Giants, a Paterson native who has become a role model for children trying to escape poverty.
Cruz caught the only Giants touchdown pass at the Super Bowl on Sunday, and showed with his celebratory salsa moves that he had more rhythm than anyone else on the field.
On Cruz control
But at the gym this morning, a friend complained that today's column by Staff Writer Art Stapleton never explains why Cruz isn't married to the mother of his infant daughter.
My friend believes the editors deliberately glossed over that issue.
The majority of readers don't know Cruz from beans, but with today's front page, Editor Martin Gottlieb keeps shoving Giants coverage down their throats, as he likely will do on Wednesday with stories on the parade in Manhattan.
Age discrimination
On A-2, an embarrassing correction shows the editor of a piece on Sunday's Opinion front missed catching a major error by freelance writer Mark Greenbaum on the age of Rep. Steve Rothman, who is 59 years old, not 52. Rothman was born in 1952.
The error also undermines one of Greenbaum's arguments for why Rothman has a political edge over his fellow Democrat in the 9th Congressional District race, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr.:
"Rothman's age bestows on him time to rise, while Pascrell has no shot of chairing a full committee."
Hot-air editor
The paper's intense focus on the Super Bowl has been evident in the past couple of weeks, and readers haven't even had a good Local section to turn to.
The major element on the Local front today is a non-fatal car fire on Route 17 in Rochelle Park.
After publishing a non-story on possible solar-panel regulation in Hackensack on Monday, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes returns to journalism as usual: no Hackensack news, and no news from many other towns.
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Victor,
ReplyDeleteYou know how much I respect you, but I have to challenge you on this.
I have a beautiful, amazing son who's about to turn 6. I'm not married to his mother, for what she and I both believe are extremely sound reasons. From all indications, he's thriving. No reason to think that won't continue.
Shame on you and your moral judgment.
Also: You can never underrate the power of sports in our society -- especially in the New York metro area, a place many of us consider the center of the universe.
In a topsy-turvy world, made more frightening by an awful economy, increasing victimization of children by predators, natural disasters that seem to occur regularly, and nuclear threats that appear seemingly from nowhere, at a time when bad news threatens to consume us, it's great to have a reason to cheer.
Sports is a great equalizer. It's one of the most democratic of pursuits. This Super Bowl run, in particular, has united people across every demographic. It has forged an enormous audience -- full of followers who can't get enough information about their teams (especially among those who don't ordinarily pay much attention to it).
This is true in the Midwest and in the Southeast, where college football is king. Middle America faithfully follows baseball, the same as our friends north of the border follow hockey.
Queens has long been a hotbed for Jet fandom. But you go just about anywhere in Bergen -- even when the Giants are having a bad season -- and you'll see Big Blue gear. It's been that way going back to their Yankee Stadium days.
You'll find the same in Fairfield County and, especially, in Westchester (where the Giants once trained).
Sports has any number of inspiring and uplifting stories, object lessons and just-plain-fun catch-all songs, phrases and dances.
Deeper than that, a team such as the Giants demonstrates, on an extremely elementary level, the benefits derived from focus, commitment, faith, unity and mental toughness. We're not talking a few players and/or coaches. These are themes of the organization itself.
I don't know what your particular interests are. But for argument's sake, let's say one of them is sculpture. Or opera. We may find beauty and meaning in each.
We may also find this in sports. Otherwise, how do you explain so many 24-hour sports radio and TV programs?
When ill children are granted a wish, what do many of them ask for?
People root for any number of individuals and groups in society -- and, psychologically, it's a good thing. It simply feels good.
That's why we had so many 5-and-10 sports fans jumping on for the ride in these final weeks.
What do you want people to do? Walk around with dark clouds over our heads?
When you look at the history not only of organized football but of professional sports itself, this isn't just another season. It goes down as one for the ages. It was a roller-coaster ride over the last two months that had people riveted, with one heart-stopping game after another. It featured the first 9-7 team in the history of the game winning the championship -- a team that was bought for $500 when the NFL was created nearly a century ago.
In the end, this Super Bowl got the highest rating of any telecast -- ever.
I had my boy on Saturday. We could have gone to the museum, to the zoo -- any number of places. We went out to the stadium, made some videos, and played a bit of tackle on the synth turf field outside the building. The first game he ever watched was against the Jets in December -- inarguably THE turning point of the season.
He and I have that memory forever.
I have more than a fair share of contempt for what my competitor does. But one thing I can't knock is its sports coverage.
As a small businessman myself, I can tell you: You'd have to be a knucklehead not to be all in.
Respectfully,
Jerry
The Sports section and the rest of the paper are read by people of all ages and values. I was reflecting the views of a male friend who is in his 80s who wondered why the marriage question concerning Victor Cruz had not been addressed.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the larger question is why stories in all sections of The Record raise questions that are never answered -- and for that, we can blame the lazy assignment desk run by Deirdre Sykes and her incompetent minions, and the handcuffs put on the news copy editors.
You don't think Deirdre is into handcuffs now, do you? At least not at the paper. What ever gave you that idea? And don't you think you're beating this word "minions" to death?
DeleteSeconded.
ReplyDeleteJerryD's "seconded" comment was in response to my comment about stories raising questions.
ReplyDeleteAs for Deirdre and handcuffs, why not? If you don't like "minions," please suggest another word to describe her dysfunctional subeditors -- Dan Szforza, Christina Josephs, Rich Whitby et. al.
You got lackeys, toadies, flunkies, gofers, apple polishers, boot lickers, etc.
ReplyDeleteSock puppets is kinda funny (as the joke goes: they enjoy getting fisted).
I prefer stooges.
The extra "z" I put in Dan Sforza's name above represents the snoring you hear when he is asleep at the computer.
ReplyDeleteLa Sforza del distain
ReplyDeleteDefinition of DISTAIN. transitive verb. 1. archaic: stain. 2. archaic: dishonor. Examples of DISTAIN Origin of DISTAIN
ReplyDeletewww.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distain