Private Ryan, Sports, TV, the FCC and the ' F -' word

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Private Ryan, Sports, TV, the FCC and the ' F -' word

Postby mach1 » Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:15 pm

Too long to read? Scroll down to bottom to see pic gif instead.

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Where do you draw the line with profanity?
COMMENTARY

By BILL MOOR
Tribune Columnist


Imagine that Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko is still
so "bleeping" proud of his football team after the
Panthers' 41-38 victory at Notre Dame last Saturday.

But he undoubtedly would change his f-word
adjective (maybe to fervently?) after that heat-of-
the-moment comment on NBC-TV just minutes after
the emotional game.

Naughty word. Naughty boy.

And yet I have to wonder why NBC seems so bent
in getting that kind of on-the-field reaction, especially
without a five-second delay.

What do the Ffffighting Irish think of all this?

"We have let it be known that we don't want our players
to be interviewed (by TV stations) on the field after a game
-- win or lose," says Notre Dame sports information director
John Heisler.

That doesn't necessarily include NBC with its deep
pockets and long-term commitment to the Notre Dame
home schedule.

"If they said we wanted one of the players, we would
probably work something out," Heisler adds

But with their fingers crossed.

"We hope we have educated our players enough that
nothing is going to happen like what happened Saturday,"
he continues. "But at the end of the day, it is hard to say."

Palko said he was truly sorry for his f-word emission,
and I'm sure he was. Whether he said it due to a loss
of composure or a gain of bravado doesn't matter at
this point.

My biggest question is why NBC and other networks
stick microphones in front of faces right out of the fray.

Have you caught those coaches' interviews at the
end of the half or at game's end? The coaches look
as if they would rather be sitting on an ant hill in their
underwear rather than answering questions -- often
asked by female sideline reporters there more for their
good looks than their great insights.

Coaches usually keep it clean, at least.

But their young charges?

"We decided (years ago) not even to let our players
be interviewed in the locker room, partly because we
wanted them to have time to compose themselves and
be able to better represent themselves to the media,"
Heisler says.

You have to be careful these days.

After the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" by Janet
Jackson, millions of viewers have let the TV industry know
that it has hit their wall of tolerance.

The FCC is getting into the act, too. Two local stations
could be fined for recently violating FCC standards --
WNDU for Palko's potty mouth and ABC affiliate WBND
for airing "Saving Private Ryan" on Veterans Day with
all of its R-rated profanity.

And speaking of "Private Ryan" -- which may be my
all-time favorite movie -- I don't really think I needed
all the f-words in my living room to make it more
enjoyable last week. An agreement with director Steven
Spielberg would not allow the movie to be edited for TV.

What also bothers me a little is that I recently talked to
a couple of World War II vets, and they said that the
f-word really wasn't all that common in their cussing
sprees.

So are we forcing its usage on history, too?

Cussing probably has been around since Adam slipped
on that rotten apple core. And, yes, it is usually accepted
-- or at least condoned -- in such places as battlefields
and locker rooms. Or even among closely circled
friends.

Mishawaka native Jonathan Anderstrom, a soldier who
recently returned from Iraq, admits his girlfriend had to
point out to him that a movie they were watching was laced
with profanity.

"I don't use that kind of language," says Jon, a devout
Christian. "But I guess I became immune to it while around
other soldiers."

I'll let someone else be outraged about that kind
of cussing.

Yet the f-word and its ilk seem to be used more and
more in public places these days.

Where do we draw the line? Where do we make our stand?

Tyler Palko, in his defense, was sort of ambushed between
the sidelines and the locker room -- two places where he
could have said just about anything he wanted.

But if we give a pass to a 21-year-old college quarterback
after an emotional contest, what do we say to a 17-year-old
high school athlete under similar conditions? Or what about
a 6-year-old first-grader who cusses up a blue streak because
his recess has been taken away? Hey, it happens.

It can get ugly out there, and maybe we all need to work at
making it better.

I am usually no crusader, but at a game at Wrigley Field
during the summer, I finally had enough from three
20-something (probably inebriated) guys who were using
fiflthy language two rows behind us. I turned around and
told them to knock it off.

They started to sneer until the 280-pounder down the way
repeated my message.

They shut up. A few people in the area even clapped.
An inning later, they moved elsewhere.

"Those were some real moronic idiots," I mumbled to
my younger son and son-in-law.

Of course, I had a few other "bleeping" adjectives in
mind that I could have used.

--


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mach1
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