Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Much Ado About Nothing

Much has been said and written about Terrell Eldorado Owens…so why should this week be any different? It shouldn’t! Mr. Owens had some comments that he made after the Cowboys lost to the Redskins. He wants the ball more…gee, that’s a surprise? He wants the offense to go through him…again, I was shocked? He wants to be involved early and often…okay, now I am just down right astonished?

If you look at the stat sheet (no need, I’ll do it for you), Owens had 7 receptions for 71 yards and scored a TD. He also contributed 11 yards to the ground attack on 2 carries. Not spectacular…nothing amazing…but a good days work…but not for Terrell. You see, Eldog (short for his middle name) needs to be the center of attention. He needs to be the focal point. He needs the drama. He needs the world to see his accomplishments. Mediocrity is not his M.O., perfection is! He trains harder than any other WR (maybe all players) in the NFL. He attributes his work ethic to Jerry Rice and to his grandmother who raised him as a child.

Terrell has this “me against the world” mentality. Why shouldn’t he? His father abandoned him as a child and his mother wasn’t capable of raising him…so his grandmother did. From his perspective…he was alone…nobody wanted him. Football was his salvation…his way to prove people wrong! So, to Terrell, winning is everything. Being a shining star for everyone to see is the ultimate prize. Losing is unacceptable…he wants to win…and be the reason for it!

Is he disturbed? Hardly! He knows exactly what he is doing. He wants, needs, and demands our attention…and we all give it to him! The boy who grew up in poverty is worth millions playing a game…and playing it on his terms. Many people took offense to his comments…I admire him for it. He says what’s on his mind…how many of us can say that? Terrell takes his “Freedom Of Expression” rights literally…good for him!

All Terrell wants is to win, be a star, and be loved…is that all that terrible? I think not! Owens does a lot of charity work that goes unnoticed…but he doesn’t mind. His grandmother suffers from Alzheimer’s. Mr. Owens has spent much time (and money) for the cause…but nobody talks about that! No, they would rather tear him down, than to boast his good deeds. Let’s face it…it makes better copy…better ratings! In the end, his comments are much ado about nothing…maybe we should just leave the man alone!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Have to give him some attention. That would drive him nuts. He craves the media. Just like Portis the man needs to be heard. I think he's a great player abd wants the world to know his name.


The Commish

Anonymous said...

I think you're right, people should leave T.O. alone. While I don't claim to be a long time T.O. fan, I do think he is a better person than what is portrayed on ESPN, etc. He has certainly had his share of unsportsmanlike episodes, but they are so far in the past. It's funny, people boast on Oprah all the time for how much she does to help other people, yet the only reason we know about what she does is because she talks about it on her show and in her magazine (for which she serves as cover model each month). The thing I do admire about T.O. is that he does do a lot of charity work and has never thrown that in the face of the media - even when they egged him on. You're right about the ratings though - T.O. (and many other controversial athletes) doing charity work is not good for the ratings - what a sad, but true, reflection of the state of things in this country.