Kalli posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I love how he tries to make this sound like a bad thing

quote:

He is praised for taking a principled stand, and there's little doubt about that. He was opposing the war, not trying to avoid going to battle: What he avoided was a cushy two-year hitch of publicity appearances and exhibition matches; no way was Muhammad Ali ever going to be handed an M-16 and sent into the Vietnam jungle.

But I'll let others applaud him for sacrificing those years of his career in an antiwar protest.

I'll save my admiration for people like baseball great Ted Williams, who lost almost five full seasons as a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, and Cleveland's Bob Feller, who enlisted in the Navy right after Pearl Harbor and spent three of his prime years on the battleship USS Alabama in both oceans. And of course Pat Tillman, who lost his life in Afghanistan after walking away from a pro football career and enlisting in the Army after 9/11.

"I ain't got nothing against them Vietcong," Ali famously said at the time.

"Them Vietcong" killed 58,000 of his fellow Americans -- black and white, young and old, rich and poor -- while Ali was helping give them a reason to fight on.

swickles posted:

Tillman is an absurdist symbol for the whole thing. People are arguing about whether or not to put him in the Hall of Fame. Whether he gets in or not has zero bearing on the actual world. If he gets in, it doesn't devalue anything, it doesn't make the Hall some sham thing and even if it did, who the gently caress cares. We treat the HoF like some kind of loving temple that is so important and sacred, when it's literally the football equivalent of the high score screen in an arcade machine. The only people who argue about his inclusion are so far up their own asses that they think football is somehow more important than it should be.

Pat Tillman left a lucrative, high paying job to defend his country. Service of others should be the thing that we value most, and he was an embodiment of that notion. I honestly don't care if he gets in the HoF or not, but I think arguing about it in the same way as arguing whether or not Hines Ward belongs in the hall (he does) is the stupidest loving thing and anyone who actively engages in that debate is a loving idiot who lacks all perspective.

v2vian man posted:

Given that writing about fantasy literally means you cannot be influential...

Pron on VHS posted:

What was so bad about what he tweeted, clowning on Boston (whether the natives or the sports teams) for being anti-black is pretty spot on and good

hifi posted:

I LIKE the McConaughey Lincoln commercials. (1) There are a lot of different versions. (2) They add a new one to the rotation regularly. (3) They don't SHOUT AT YOU. It's an oasis of quiet in a series of loud, insulting commercials.

—John N., Belleview, Fla.

When I was young, we had a small home, and when I played records on my turntable, I played a lot of Elton John. A lot. Once (maybe 51 times, actually), my father asked me if I like any other music than that crap. Not sure I did. Anyway, that story occurred to me when when I read your email.

(peter king)

Grittybeard posted:

I'd go with this for bolding: I’m what people call “an influencer.” It’s a new term that I’m not really comfortable with, but it is what it is. I don’t intend to be, but it’s the cross I carry

quote:

However, I need to ask you a favor. Don’t mention my name to Little Johnny because I’d prefer to avoid that moment that happens annually at training camp when a player hears my name so much from his mother, childhood coach or fiancee that he’ll ask a veteran to point me out. Then the veteran points me out as they walk off the field.

sean10mm posted:

Or it was even more self important to start with.

Somehow.