What is it about the Longhorns the New York Times Doesn’t Like?

By
Glenn W. Smith
– January 9, 2010Posted in: Culture, Media

I’ve noticed for some time that New York Times sportswriters miss few opportunities to mess with Texas, UT that is. Watch the Marcel Dareus’ game-changing tackle of Colt McCoy, then read the NYT writer William C. Rhoden’s description of the play.

Rhoden’s description:

On Texas’ fifth snap of the game, Dareus, a 6-foot-4, 296-pound sophomore lineman, made his first game-changing play, flattening quarterback Colt McCoy, who bounced off him as if he’d run full speed into the side of a mountain. It was McCoy’s last play of the evening.

Dareus did hit McCoy hard. But McCoy wasn’t flattened. He kinda sits down on some other players. It helped that McCoy wasn’t moving full speed, and he wasn’t moving toward Dareus, who just happened to hit a nerve, so to speak. Rhoden just makes stuff up to glorify Dareus and mock Colt. Want more evidence? Read on.

UPDATE:  One of the NYT hacks who is always belittling the Horns is Thayer Evans (see below). Charlie at NetVictories.com points out that Evans is an Oklahoman who was a freelance OU beat writer. That explains a lot.

Here’s is NYT reporter Lynn Zinser’s bit on Mack Brown’s salary:

Do pause and consider that Texas just gave its head football coach, Mack Brown, a raise to $5 million a year. The university carefully explains he is worth it because he is taking the Longhorns to the Bowl Championship $eries title game for the second time in five years, that the money will come out of athletic department revenues and is not crippling the budget of, say, the engineering school. But lost in that is the fact that under the pompoms is supposed to be a nonprofit educational institution, one that recently raised tuition and voted to freeze the pay of university presidents, but whose football coach is now envied by oil barons.

NYT’s Thayer Evans on UT’s supposed lack of toughness:

There has been plenty of questioning about the toughness of Texas in advance of Thursday’s Bowl Championship Series title game.

Pete Thamel on UT/Nebraska game:

But because the Longhorns needed two critical penalties to set up a field goal as time expired in their 13-12 victory over Nebraska, one big question is certain to be asked: could Texas Christian or Cincinnati leap past the Longhorns in the B.C.S. formula?

Back in November, Thamel based a critique of Texas on former rival A&M coach Dennis Franchione’s comments.

“Texas has got a good football team, but I don’t know if we know how good for sure,” Franchione said. “They’ve had no tests out of conference, really.”

These are just the recent ones. I began noticing the little slights some years ago. I don’t have the patience to search back through the NYT’s archives, but you get the point. There have been some favorable reviews and a few superlatives, of course. But by and large, UT is just not the NYT’s favorite school.

But, as I often say, one of the great things about sports is its meaninglessness. No sport caused the climate crisis, and no sport will solve it. Athletes are inspiring. Athletes can be disappointing. But civilization doesn’t rise and fall on game results, and despite the constant thanking of God by winning athletes, it’s very doubtful the Lord of the Universe gives a damn. But we can all shout and scream. We can yell at umpires and referees (I excel at this and am quite proud to say I was thrown out of my first baseball game as an 8-year-old batboy).

Spectator sports allow the meaningless spending of a little aggressive energy. Then it’s over. So, I see no need to ask the NYT’s for fairer coverage of UT. I was just feeling the need to spend a little more of that energy in the wake of the national championship game.

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About Glenn W. Smith

Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” “There’s no one like him,” says author George Lakoff. CNN commentator Paul Begala says, “He has unmatched experience, a graceful pen (or pixel nowadays) and deep insight into the best and worst of us.” Novelist Sarah Bird speaks of his “lucid and lyrical” prose. And, she says, he’s fun. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington says Glenn writes with “grace and abundant humor” and “uses his colorful experiences in Texas to enlighten us all.”

Smith led Ann Richards’ successful 1990 campaign for Governor of Texas. He worked for former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Earlier, Smith was a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. He’s coordinated national campaigns for groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2004, he authored the highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction. He also wrote Unfit Commander, a book that detailed George W. Bush’s mysterious disappearance from military service.

In 2004, Smith was featured in the film, Bush’s Brain, a documentary about Karl Rove. Smith provided commentary on Rove’s role as then-President Bush’s senior advisor. He has made numerous media appearances with Chris Mathews on Hardball, Joe Scarborough, Brit Hume, and many others. He writes a regularly for top national web sites, including FireDogLake and Huffington Post.

As a senior fellow at George Lakoff’s prestigious Rockridge Institute in Berkeley he studied, wrote and taught on the power of metaphor and narrative in political communications. He also lectured on religion and politics at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. As a sponsor and organizer, he has pulled together numerous national events with progressive religious leaders. He also organized a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at Riverside Church in New York City as well as “Freedom and Faith” bus tours, which was a nationwide campaign for social justice and progressive values.

Smith’s play, Double Play, which explored American Western myths and legends, was held over to sold-out audiences. He’s even written and performed songs in the Americana tradition, such as his best-known song, “Helping Marty Robbins,” a tribute to his hometown, Houston.

Most recently, Smith is the creator of DogCanyon, a political and cultural web site covering state, national and global issues from a Texas perspective. DogCanyon is an exhilarating and unique site that gets the connections between politics and culture and explores both the personal side of politics and the ups, down, craziness and beauty of “life its ownself,” as humorist Dan Jenkins would say. DogCanyon offers heartfelt personal essays, hard-hitting political analysis, and, most importantly, laughs.

As Paul Begala said, Smith writes in “the finest, firmest, fearless tradition of Texas essayists like Molly Ivins.”