04/25/24
August 07, 2002
Keith Olbermann won't shut up.: First he insisted Reds manager Jim Bowden be fired for his Sept. 11 comments--and admittedly, they were far from appropriate. But now he's excoriating another Bowden--Bobby of FSU--for adopting "Let's Roll" as the slogan of his football team. I think this time Olbermann is out of line--or maybe he just has a thing against men named Bowden.
I generally like the post-ESPN, post-Monica Olbermann; he has written entertaining letters occasionally to Romanesko's MediaNews site and replied to something I sent him in response. However, by hammering people so hard on sensitivity issues you would think they killed somebody, he's getting off to a terrible start on Salon. He's a funny, original, contrarian personality who isn't afraid of getting fired for something that he says or writes. These two columns don't reflect that very well. I would expect this more-patriotic-than-thou stuff from a hack trying to coattail on 9/11.
posted by rcade at 11:22 PM on August 07, 2002
I think the Bowden "Let's Roll" thing is in poor taste. But Olbermann is on his last methinks (I liked him when he did The Big Show on MSNBC).
posted by owillis at 11:44 PM on August 07, 2002
Honestly, I don't think Bowden knows what he's talking about. I mean, take a look at this passage from Olbermann's Salon article:
Here's how he explained it at Florida State's media day last Sunday: "That guy, on that plane, knowing they were fixin' to die and they were going to try to keep it, save the, save the White House or whatever they were gonna hit and I heard that guy, they said he said, 'Let's Roll,' I could really relate to that, and you know that's exactly the motto we're trying to get to our players, is, hey, the season has started, we got bad year last year, let's roll. And then, of course, in honor of those people who died on that plane."Bowden may be inarticulate, but is his appropriation any worse, any more self-serving, than Bush's of the same phrase? What with the brouhaha regarding it then--attempts at trademark, for instance--I think that Bowden's move is hardly worth mentioning.
posted by kjh at 11:55 PM on August 07, 2002
Maybe Bowden needs a speechwriter.
posted by JawaKing at 12:02 AM on August 08, 2002
I agree with Olbermann that Bowden is misusing the term 'Lets Roll', but I only agree because I think its a horribly tacky thing to do, as he points out. Keith could have saved us a lot of time by summarizing the whole article in one or two snappy, incisive lines commenting on Bowden's tackiness and the misuse of 9/11 symbolism. I don't think there is a real moral component though, Bowden is just trying to motivate his players. Of course, I always thought Lets Roll was a light hearted pot reference. Maybe it would be more profitable if he stopped psychoanalyzing people and deconstructing their words (something better left to a social criticism pundit, which KO is not), and actually provided some interesting commentary on the sports world.
posted by insomnyuk at 09:00 AM on August 08, 2002
I really have no problems with "Let's Roll". I mean, it's not like it didn't exisit before 9/11, and it does have a very generic meaning. Bowden should just keep his mouth closed.
posted by corpse at 09:46 AM on August 08, 2002
Or maybe (gasp) he's just washed up and stirring up a little controversy so people will read his shtick. I won't dignify his trolling with a hit- he doesn't deserve it.