So yesterday it was brought to my attention that Sun TV critic David Zurawik took a few swings at Ray Lewis earlier this week after the GOAT* vehemently defended the 49ers’ Ahmad Brooks and his efforts to sack Drew Brees last Sunday. Brooks was flagged on the play, unwinding a forced fumble and turnover, paving the way to the Saints victory.
Adding insult to injury Brooks was fined.
During the most recent Monday NFL Countdown, Lewis pulled out his Platinum AMEX card and offered to pay half of Brooks’ fine.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/p6D5CCrrBms[/youtube]
The gesture apparently ruffled the Wisconsin native Zurawik’s feathers who had a few choice words for Ray:
Let me say this in the nicest possible way: Maybe it’s time for Ray Lewis to start thinking before he runs his mouth and acts like a hotdog on ESPN.
*****
But his Monday night rant on ESPN about San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks being fined for a hit on New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees crossed the line when he took out his American Express card, waved it in front of the camera and offered to pay half of any fine that the NFL might impose on Brooks.
*****
With that act, he interjected himself into the story as a participant. An analyst is not a participant. Look it up, Ray. Look it up, ESPN.
I don’t know if Ray or ESPN looked it up but I did.
- Analyst, noun: A person whose job involves examining facts or materials in order to give an opinion on them.
I think that’s exactly what Ray did, right?
Zurawik continues his off base rant…
Beyond the impropriety of an analyst becoming a participant in a ruling between the league and a player, there’s the loudmouth style in which Lewis is doing it.
So if an analyst examines and gives an informed opinion based on 17 years playing in the league, what’s wrong with being a participant? Don’t you have to participate to deliver the opinion? Oh and God forbid if Ray delivers his opinion with passion.
This is what blowhards in a bar do when they have had too much to drink — wave around their credit cards, act like big shots and say crazy, bluster-butt stuff.
“Bluster-butt”?
How about a kick in yours Zurawik?
Zurawik’s drivel concludes with this…
This is just a crazy babble rant — the kind of stuff Lewis said all the time in Baltimore — and we acted like he was some Old Testament prophet who just came in from the desert after getting the sacred word from a burning bush.
No more burning bush, Ray.
You’re just another ex-jock, hotdog analyst running your mouth and grandstanding with your credit card on cable TV.
Just like the time Zurawik accused the sports fans of Baltimore of being female-phobic when it comes to sports talkers (his rationale for why Anita Marks and Jenn Royle didn’t work in Charm City), once again he has demonstrated his cluelessness.
The last time I checked ESPN stands for Entertainment & Sports Programming Network. Ray’s passionate defense of Brooks was clearly entertaining, unless of course you are a TV critic who is better suited for reviews of The Kardashians or Real Housewives. Stick to your wheelhouse there Z!
You clearly don’t get sports.
You clearly don’t get Baltimore.
And your criticisms of Ray, someone who has done more for this city and whose faith which you mock – faith that has inspired more people in a sentence than you will in your lifetime, is insulting to anyone who ever cheered for No. 52.
Maybe the real grandstander here is you Zurawik. I’m sure this contrarian platform you’ve embraced didn’t hurt your page views.
“Z on TV”…that’s funny.
We should be so lucky.
The mute button would then come in handy.
*GOAT ~ Greatest of All Time
