Bad sports, good sports: In defense of Gisele
The Super Bowl is the biggest game in the country every year. I was going to say the world, but I don’t know if that is actually true. Soccer is awfully big everywhere else in the world, and it seems like the World Cup final, which doesn’t happen every year, of course, might be a bigger deal worldwide. Anyway, here in the U.S., it’s all about football. There is more press at that game than at any other, and after a close game like the one we saw on February 5th, there must have been a million story lines for writers to pursue. The thrilling last few minutes, the great throw and catch from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham that was the game’s key play, or even the myriad expensive commercials that were broadcast throughout the game would have made for interesting reading. Instead, though, the one story that seemed to be absolutely everywhere early this week was about Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady’s supermodel wife, and the comments she made after her husband’s team lost the game.
When Falls the Coliseum’s own Sean Cunningham gave his amusing take on this story on Friday. With no disrespect to Sean, I have a different perspective on the subject. Gisele has been skewered for complaining that the New England receivers dropped numerous passes thrown by Brady, seemingly costing the Patriots the game. Most of the feedback I read and heard involved the suggestion that Bundchen shut her mouth and stay out of things she doesn’t understand. People railed at the nerve of this woman, speaking where it was not her place to speak, and blaming players who played valiantly, even if they did not come through when it counted the most. It’s almost as if she insulted all football fans by daring to speak at all. Here’s the thing, though. Gisele did not hold a press conference. She was not standing behind a podium speaking to reporters. She was talking to her friends after the game, immediately after some Giants fans taunted her, and someone happened to be recording the scene. If she even had a microphone in front of her, I would likely agree that it probably was not the best time to make the comments she made. Considering what actually happened, though, did she really do anything wrong? Is there a football fan out there who would not have made the same comments if his or her football team had just lost the Super Bowl in such painful fashion? Which New England fan was not yelling the exact same thing at that particular point in time?
I see a lot of sexism in the backlash against Gisele. Most men, many of whom would take a lot of enjoyment out of looking at Gisele Bundchen at almost any time, seem downright offended at the thought that she would have an opinion on a football game. Brandon Jacobs, of the winning New York Giants, said as much. I just don’t understand it. Not only are plenty of women big football fans (my wife being an excellent example), but is it really reasonable to expect that the wife of the losing team’s quarterback would have anything less than a very strong opinion here? I would expect her to have an even bigger reaction to the game than virtually anyone else, actually, as she would have the added factor of her own personal feelings for her husband to magnify the normal inclinations of a fan of a team. Instead, I suppose she should have no interest at all. After all, she is a beautiful model who has made more money over the last seven years than any model in the world, according to Forbes. She should stick to being pretty and keep her opinions to herself, right Brandon? Ridiculous. Being a football fan (or football player) should not automatically mean you are a neanderthal.
Bad sports, continued:
2) Brandon Jacobs wasn’t the only running back from the Giants who spoke out this week. Ahmad Bradshaw, while being interviewed on the NFL Network, stated that the rival Dallas Cowboys would never win a Super Bowl with Tony Romo as their quarterback. He also said that the team and its fans don’t believe in Romo either. I actually agree with him, but I am not sure why he would actually say it publicly, particularly right after his own team’s big victory, when it couldn’t do anything but cause controversy.
3) Knowshon Moreno, running back for the Denver Broncos and owner of one of the more fascinating first names in sports, was arrested this week and charged with DUI. The best part of this story is that the license plate on the car Moreno was driving was a personalized plate reading “SAUCED.”
4) Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2010 Tour de France, was stripped of that title this week after he was found guilty of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has the last word on all things cycling.
5) Jordan Burgason, a guard for Lipscomb University’s basketball team, was kicked off the team and out of the school for unspecified rules violations. Burgason was leading the country in three-point shooting percentage when he was expelled.
6) The magical ride on which the Murray State basketball team was flying all season hit a bump this week, as their undefeated season was disrupted by the Tennessee State Tigers, who beat Murray by a score of 72-68 on Thursday night. The Racers were the last undefeated team in Division I basketball.
7) It’s possible that Tiger Woods will win an official tournament sometime soon. His last few times out have produced some very good golf and some high finishes. For him to win, though, he is going to need to solve his final round problems. They manifested again on Sunday, when he finished the Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a 75 after having shot under 70 for the first three rounds, which had him in contention for the win. Instead, he finished nine shots back of winner Phil Mickelson, who closed with an eight-under 64.
Good sports:
1) The sports world was abuzz this week, and the name on everyone’s lips, aside from Gisele, was Lin. Jeremy Lin, of the New York Knicks, that is. The little-used point guard out of Harvard was forced into the starting lineup by injuries to other members of the team, including star Carmelo Anthony. All Lin did was average almost 27 points per game over the last five after having averaged only 3.5 points per game up to that point. The Knicks won all five games, and “Linsanity” is in full swing.
2) Duke-North Carolina basketball is one of the greatest rivalries in sports. They met again on Wednesday, and the matchup did not disappoint. The tenth-ranked Blue Devils beat the fifth-ranked Tarheels on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Austin Rivers, capping off an amazing comeback that started with Duke down ten with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
3) It will be another week before my Philadelphia Phillies start showing up for training camp in Clearwater, Florida, but baseball season started on Sunday, as the Seattle Mariners held their first workout of the year in Peoria, Arizona.
Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday
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Personally, I think everybody needs to leave Wes Walker alone: he failed to convert an iffy throw for a first down on second down; nothing was stopping the Patriots from getting it on third (witness Manningham of the Giants screwing up a play early in the fourth quarter before redeeming himself later). Down the stretch, the Giants simply played better than the Pats (with Manning in particular sharper than Brady)–it’s bizarre how many scapegoats and excuses have emerged for New England (If only Welker held on! If only Gronkowski were healthier and then didn’t go dancing after! If only we could still illegally tape opponents like we did back when we won all those Super Bowls by a field goal!).
I admittedly hate the New England Patriots with the intensity of a million white hot suns, but I still can’t remember such a sour grapes reaction to a Super Bowl defeat (that said, I do think it’s unfair Gisele somehow came to personify this, possibly because it’s more fun to look at footage of her than some random Boston sportswriter with a complexion like Ted Kennedy post-1985).
Thanks for commenting, Sean. Wes Welker is a great receiver and had a great season. That was a tough pass to catch, and even if he makes that catch most of the time, it’s tough to rip him for that one. And yes, other things could have happened to change the outcome. I have no hate for the Patriots, although most of the reason I was rooting for them was because of my hatred for the Giants (Bill O’Brien was the other reason).