Nepotism still has a strong hold on today’s society.
As Metro pointed out a few weeks ago, all of the main characters on HBO’s “Girls” have a huge family hook-up in the entertainment business.
Now, the jury is still out on whether or not “Girls” is a show that men, sports-watching men, can support. We know of a few guys that used to watch “Sex and the City” religiously, but not so surprisingly, they’re all dead now.
We have already seen Lena Dunham’s baps on the show, which we’re still not sure is a pro or a con. But if “Girls” does want to maintain it’s guy audience, then it should rush Brian Williams’ daughter into a sex scene with the douchy guy from those Andy Samberg skits immediately.
It’s already hard enough to support a show which features people who got their jobs just because they are related to successful people.
It’s equally hard to support figures in sports who simply caught their big break because they are related to a playing legend or, even worse, a coach. You remember that kid from high school who started over you in left field just because his dad was an assistant coach? He was a turd, right?
A look at those in the sports world, who fall on the negative side of the nepotism scale:
Brian Shottenheimer
Nepotism scale:
“Shotty” as Mark Sanchez annoyingly called him, ultimately failed with the Jets. As a player, Shottenheimer’s biggest claim to fame was that he backed up Danny Wuerffel at Florida. Thanks Marty!
Wade Phillips
Nepotism scale
Made the list just so I could write: SON OF BUM.
John Henry Williams
Nepotism scale:
You hate to speak ill of the dead, but John Henry took sports nepotism to whole new level. The son of the great Ted Williams, John Henry tried every conceivable way to make a buck off of his rapidly deteriorating dad in the late ’90s and early 2000s. He would make his father sign everything in sight and forced Ted to wear a “Hitter.net” (John Henry’s witty brainchild during the dot-com, or in this case, dot-net bubble) baseball cap during his final and emotional appearance at Fenway Park in 1999.
Oh, and he also tried to play baseball. The Red Sox even signed him to a very low minor league deal for no apparent reason other than he was Ted Williams’ kid.
Robby Tebow
Nepotism scale:
No, Robby Tebow has no aspirations of playing in the NFL. But he does have the greatest nepotism/little brother/lackey name of all-time. “Robby Tebow” just rolls of the tongue.
Of course, life ain’t horrible for young Robby Tebow (have to say the whole name to make it work).
Jordan Palmer
Nepotism scale:
Would Jordan Palmer have received a shot in the NFL if his last name was “Jones?” Maybe, because Jordan Jones is a pretty cool football name.
The fact of the matter, however, is that Jordan played at UTEP, while his brother played at USC. How far back to we want to go with this stuff?
Do you think Jordan would have gotten a scholarship to UTEP had he not been Carson’s little brother?
Donnie Nelson
Nepotism scale:
Sure, he’s done a fine job as General Manager of the Mavericks. But we’re not interested in how he’s done since he got the job. We want to know how he caught his big break?
Could it be that his father just hired him for no particular reason and that it was some big coincidence? I mean, these guys didn’t even try to hide this one. Donnie and Don. NBA lifers.
Old media vs. New media
First things first: WFAN’s “Mike and the Mad Dog” was the greatest sports radio show in the history of the universe.
This coming from a Boston guy, that statement shouldn’t be taken lightly.
But since Dog left in 2008 for Sirius/XM, Mike Francesa on WFAN has been nearly un-listenable. When you do listen, you find yourself doing lame Dog impressions under your breath. You do this just to combat the out-of-touch, monotone drivel that spews from Mike’s mouth on a daily basis.
Tuesday, Francesa unleashed a world-class rant regarding Twitter and how it should be illegal.
Now, we understand that social media isn’t for everyone. But you have to imagine Dog would have at least offered some defense of today’s society while still managing to kiss Mike’s ass in the process. It would have been a win-win and would have sounded something like this:
Mike: “…Whether I’m on the road, whether I’m here or there. Whether it’s ballplayers, whether it’s politicians, there’s just this – there’s way too much of it.”
Dog: Boy, spot on with that Mikey, spot on. But be fair now, be fair … Don’t you think, that the world is changing? Don’t you think, that maybe the facebooking and the Myspacing and the AOL and the Pwodigy, is actually a good thing? Don’t you think it will give a voice to the voiceless?
Mike: Dawg. No. No I do not.
Dog: Hold on n-n-now Mike. Would Floyd Meriweather be as entertaining, without Twitter? Would LeBwon be as in suffingble without Twitter? Would A-Wod be as entertaining without the facebook?
Mike: Dawg. Dawg. It does not matter. It does not matter.
Dog: Now, that’s a good job outta you Michael. A good job. But if we
didn’t have Twitter, we didn’t have MyFace, we would never be able to
hear from R.A. DICKEY!!!!!!!
