Would You Like Your Skull Raped?
It's no secret that I hate being a Packers blogger.
It's no secret that I hate being a Packers blogger. Perhaps not hate, but truth be told there isn't a day that goes by where I don't consider walking away from it all. Inevitably, when this happens, Corey Behnke calls me a quitter and eventually talks me off the ledge, but within a few days I always find myself right in the same place I was before. It's a daunting task to be tied to something that really does little more than fuel an ego. It certainly doesn't pay any bills, something that people still don't seem to quite understand yet. What's even more taxing is dealing with some of the fans that inevitably come with the territory. The fans make the place run, but that doesn't necessarily mean I enjoy answering an endless streak of repetitive questions that could simply be answered by looking at the nine posts I made previously. Now I know Bill Johnson called Packer fans, "a bunch of whiny bitches" and although I would have used passionate instead of whiny, he does make a semi-valid point. I'm still ok with all of that though. What I simply just can't handle anymore is the vitriol. Or, more importantly, the elimination and abuse rhetoric being tossed around by some Packer fans like it's candy. It's completely out of line, and more importantly shows the true degradation of society and fans in general. So please let me clear up the confusion for you.
There is a big difference between calling Mike Vick a loser, and saying Mike Vick should get hung like his dogs.
There is a big difference between calling Bill Johnson a hypocrite, and saying that Bill Johnson should be skull raped.
There is a big difference between saying Mike McCarthy should be fired for his play calling and Mike McCarthy should be shot for his play calling.
In case you missed it, some insane freak walked out of grocery store this weekend and shot a bunch of people in the head fueled by the rhetoric that is floating around all over the internet nowadays. It's not okay for those using it in politics, and it's not okay for Packer fans. Quite frankly I am embarrassed for many of you, and I simply am not going to stand for it anymore in my Twitter stream, around here, or anywhere else it might show up. I think it's perfectly okay for Packer fans to argue, tell one another to get effed, and generally disagree on about everything. I don't think it's okay to start using hate and violence based words as verbs in those conversations. It's goes way beyond even my little angry riddled shticks, and has no place in these walls. I'm headed to the woods this week to spend some time with old friends. I look forward to nothing more than getting back to my roots and listening to the game with Larry and some Packer buddies. That's Packer football to me. What it isn't right now is all of this. In search of some Mojo.
Comments (19)
January 10, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Alas, there isn't a day I don't lament what passes for acceptable behavior in our society and what dominates our news stories...
January 10, 2011 at 01:06 pm
Word. Nicely stated.
January 10, 2011 at 01:22 pm
Alex,
Even when you are pissed, you are good. Nice article, nice points. I don't agree with all of them, (connection of shooting with internet rhetoric) but then I don't suggest someone hang you either.
You might however, reword the fact that you are heading to the woods with some friends... (is that a banjo I hear?)
It's Good Day to be a Packer fan
January 10, 2011 at 01:27 pm
I don't always agree with your demeanor, logic, reasoning, etc...But this is spot on. Praise from non-paying fans is a small consolation, but nice work man.
January 10, 2011 at 02:03 pm
Great post. I think you should retweet the stupidest comments and let all of us know who is doing the bashing. Your writing BTW is spot on and usually very funny, very very funny. Tell Behnke you want a raise
January 10, 2011 at 02:21 pm
Get fucked, Alex.
I'm kidding, great post. Gone are the days of real discourse and respect ... substituted instead with abusive and irresponsible rhetoric, perpetrated in anonymity. It's effing silly.
January 10, 2011 at 02:34 pm
Thumbs Alex! Don't know when, a scowl, anger and hate became fashionable. Have fun this week.
January 10, 2011 at 03:45 pm
It really says something about our society when people begin to take such hyperbolic rhetoric this seriously.
While I understand the frustration, perhaps its a little unfair and premature to correlate a tragedy in the political arena with the very passionate and at times star-crossed Packers fan base.
And I do agree that making obscene comments like the ones you mentioned (even in jest, something I know I'm guilty of) can be degrading to Packers fans as a whole. Its a good point that is often overlooked. A little respect can go a long way.
I think you should check out the movie "Big Fan" if you haven't already seen it. Its a great social commentary/dark comedy about the overweening fanaticism of a particular Giants fan, played by Patton Oswalt.
January 10, 2011 at 08:08 pm
I don't agree with this.
I believe sane people won't be influenced by that kind of talk. The same way sane people don't go into a killing spree by playing Call of Duty or start robbing banks by playing Grand Theft Auto (don't get me started on sociological studies correlating videogame and violence).
Insane people will get riled up and commit insane acts by virtually anything.
Jayme Snowden
January 11, 2011 at 07:27 am
I didn't get the message from this piece that Alex was arguing that some crazed fan is going to take someone literally and harm an opponent or coach, etc. The message that I got is that these comments are over-the-top, distasteful and really unnecessary. The violent types of phrases are jokes about things that, especially in light of what has happened, are not all that funny.
I can admit that, as I'm a relatively over emotional fan, in the past I have probably erupted into, "I'm going to stab you in the eye!" yell in the middle of a game. And while I never actually meant harm, and was speaking with straight emotion and no logic, it's just not a cool thing to say. That's on me. And that's not the type of fan or person that I want to be. Since this realization, I've tried really hard to stop being a pitchfork type hater. Not because I worry that I will influence someone who doesn't know better. But because I know better. To me, that was the point of this article. And it's one that I fully agree with.
January 11, 2011 at 10:44 am
I just don't see it.
Sane, mentally sound people can make childish, juvenile and PI jokes without taking any harm in it.
Just my opinion, but the people who get offended by them have issues by themselves.
Now, the internet is a public place, a poster doesn't know the past of the readers. If people have issues with this behavior, I won't make them out of respect.
But the internet is a casual environment. It's a place to vent the frustrations you wouldn't normally do in the real life, because it is the appropriate vehicle to do so.
I really wouldn't like to frequent a place where I have to watch each and every word I post, the same way I wouldn't like to wear a tuxedo 24-7.
I just think people make too big a deal out of the language used.
(like I said about people and issues, I think I have issues with autorithy and PI, so that may or may not have something to do with what I believe, but that's another issue)
Alex Tallitsch
January 11, 2011 at 05:26 pm
It's a fine line, and you of all people should know I push that line. However, when people start using words like rape as everyday verbs, we really diminish the power of the word and I think that hurts certain people. In fact, I know it does.
January 11, 2011 at 07:32 pm
Yeah, me personally, few things shock me, so perhaps I expect others to feel the same way.
It depends so much on the context, rather than the words themselves, I can say a brutal thing in a mockery tone, while I can politely talk about performing a hideous act.
But I do realize not all people think like me, and that the limit for this should be diminished rather than augmented.
Of course, if you go to a site like KSK, since the majority of the posters behave like that, and the ambient is real casual and light, despite the use of such terms, one cannot expect and demand sensibility.
But you're right. It is a very touchy subject for some people, and they should be respected. It escapes me sometimes.
January 11, 2011 at 09:42 am
I agree with you in that violent and just nasty rhetoric should have no place here, the media or anywhere.
But as for the shooting, it's too early to call the media's rhetoric the reason.
In times like this the mob overheats and looks to blame something, ANYTHING. Populist politicians can shamelessly cash in on that.
There was a serious high school shooting here in Finland 3 years ago. A crazy guy had gotten a gun by joining a shooting club, and killed 9 kids, including himself.
The media blamed everything, from the gun ownership (very high in rural Finland) to videogames and violence on media itself.
In the end, once the mob mentality had died down, the government looked at the reasons it happened rationally, and made quite significant changes: Now, for a gun permit, you have to undergo a psychological evaluation. Certain types of handguns (those not used for competitive shooting or hunting) were banned.
It has worked so far. The main point is, that you don't make decicions NOW, when there's a hysteria. You wait, analyze and act upon it.
Abuse and elimination rhetoric should be, well, eliminated, but not because of this shooting. But because it's plain wrong anywhere, anytime.
January 11, 2011 at 08:22 pm
I was seriously scared when I read the title of this entry and then, I was relieved. Thank you for making a point of the need for control and responsibility of our words. It makes me sick when people toss around violent ideas to "prove a point." You CANNOT stop writing! The conscientious Packer fans of the world will have no where to go! We love you!
January 13, 2011 at 05:07 pm
I shed no tears for this official. Politicians will continually lie and bear falsehoods in the pursuit of more power. I only rage against the innocents felled by a monster.
January 14, 2011 at 08:17 am
Josh, you sound like you're a gunman in waiting.
That "Official" you shed no tears for is a HUMAN BEING, a regular person, just like you, or your friend, your mother or your grandfather. Just a regular person with a job.
Half our problem as people when it comes to horrible acts of violence stem from a lack of empathy- more precisely, some people somehow tend to not get that we're all just people, just like everyone else...
Figure it out.
January 14, 2011 at 08:27 am
Alex,
totally feel you on this.
I've always been rough around the edges, particularly when I was younger, and I'm often not at all concerned with whom I offend when it comes to expressing my thoughts.
I started to feel like I was getting old, or perhaps even turning into a hypocrite (due to getting older, lol) because I was becoming irritated with the tone and language of younger people today. Strange, I thought, that I felt this way because I was (and still am to an extent) not one to get ruffled about people saying what's on their mind, and obscenity in language has never bothered me in the least.
Then it really hit me- it's that the kids now a-days (and, unfortunately, the adults they end up becoming) have no problem using powerful words which speak to horrible acts of aggressive violence like "Rape" without a second thought. You won a game of marbles on the playground by a significant margin? Little tommy didn't beat little Nancy, he "Raped" her.
Funny thing is, I just realized while typing this that violence is so entwined in our culture, I can see why we've moved on to unsavory terms like "Rape" being used to express victory.. What words do we use regularly without a second though? The Packers "BEAT" Philly. Baltimore "WHOOPED" KC.
We're a doomed race.
January 18, 2011 at 07:50 am
If you insist on blaming the shootings in Tucson Az on " rhetoric that is floating around all over the internet", the least you can do is provide the factual basis.
The reality is the guy was mentally deranged.
As to your central point, I agree but you do yourself and your arguement a disservice to bring up the Tucson Az event as if it is even relevant.