All's fair in war and football

pakowitz · 11-11-2003, 08:59 PM

you guys have to read this, it is awesome.

By Jim Caple
Page 2 columnist

Kellen Winslow created a stir Saturday during an angry postgame interview, when, among other things, he said, "It's war. They're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. ... I'm a soldier."

While Winslow clearly needs to lighten up, it's hardly surprising that a 20-year-old who has heard football coaches repeatedly use inappropriate war metaphors might voice one himself after a tough loss.

He certainly isn't alone, either. Although we all placed an unofficial embargo on war metaphors after Sept. 11, we've slid right back to describing big games as "wars" and calling players "courageous" for doing nothing more than performing well in the clutch.

While such descriptions are gross hyperbole, obviously inappropriate and just plain silly, they also aren't worth getting too worked up about. People have been saying silly things in sports for a long time, and we will continue to say silly things for a lot longer.

The worrisome thing isn't all the inappropriate war metaphors. The real worry is the inappropriate football metaphors ...

For the rest of this article, click here:

http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/031111.html

11-11-2003, 08:59 PM	#1
pakowitz The Dark Overlord Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: dirty south Posts: 3,450	All's fair in war and football you guys have to read this, it is awesome. By Jim Caple Page 2 columnist Kellen Winslow created a stir Saturday during an angry postgame interview, when, among other things, he said, "It's war. They're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. ... I'm a soldier." While Winslow clearly needs to lighten up, it's hardly surprising that a 20-year-old who has heard football coaches repeatedly use inappropriate war metaphors might voice one himself after a tough loss. He certainly isn't alone, either. Although we all placed an unofficial embargo on war metaphors after Sept. 11, we've slid right back to describing big games as "wars" and calling players "courageous" for doing nothing more than performing well in the clutch. While such descriptions are gross hyperbole, obviously inappropriate and just plain silly, they also aren't worth getting too worked up about. People have been saying silly things in sports for a long time, and we will continue to say silly things for a lot longer. The worrisome thing isn't all the inappropriate war metaphors. The real worry is the inappropriate football metaphors ... For the rest of this article, click here: http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/031111.html