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2014 NFL Conference Championship Sunday

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Slate's Seth Stevenson on the Sherman fracas:

Perhaps we’ve reached the point where defending sportsmanship is a #slatepitch. In that case, call me a contrarian
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I will gladly allow that the sight of middle-aged, white sportswriters evincing disgust at the brash behavior of a young, black athlete is depressingly familiar. I also shudder to align myself with the smarmy snobs who use a loaded term like “classless” in talking about a guy who grew up the son of a garbage man in Compton, Calif. But can I draw a line here?
Since we’ll be dealing with this for the next two weeks, as sports media fills up space during the wait for Sherman’s Seahawks to square off against the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, I’d like to request that we stipulate a few basic notions.
  1. When, after winning the game, Sherman made the choke sign in his losing opponent’s face, then called another losing opponent “sorry” and “mediocre,” he was being a dick.
  2. Even though Sherman grew up underprivileged and beat the odds and now gives back with worthy charitable endeavors, he was still being a dick.
  3. The fact that Sherman is very smart and attended Stanford and approaches his job in a scholarly manner doesn’t mean he wasn’t being a dick.
  4. Whether or not Sherman’s behavior was calculated and self-aware and media-savvy and akin to the monologue of a pro wrestling heel, it was still dickish.
  5. Many athletes play violent, hard-fought, emotional games and still manage to refrain from taunting their vanquished foes and giving dickish interviews.
  6. It is possible to be an entertaining, eccentric, and even boastful interviewee without being a dick.
  7. It turns out that Sherman and Crabtree have history—Sherman’s brother alleges that Crabtree tried to fight the Seahawks player at a charity event. Most of Sherman’s defenders haven’t bothered to mention the existing personal feud. But to be clear: While the prior beef adds some context, those two wrongs don’t make what Sherman did right—or, more precisely, not dickish.
  8. Talking smack in the lead-up to a contest, or in the middle of it, is permissible. It falls into the hallowed tradition of gamesmanship. Dancing on graves after the battle has been won is dickish.
  9. And this is the most delicate of these notions but needs to be addressed: Whatever archetypes may be conjured by the specter of white people tsk-tsking a black man who loudly brags alongside a blond woman, those uncomfortable overtones don’t change the fact that, in this case, in that moment, the man was being a dick.
I will certainly not judge Richard Sherman as a person based on his behavior in this one instance. He seems like a sharp, charismatic, fascinating guy with an extremely admirable backstory. A guy who does some great stuff for inner-city schools, to boot. Cheers to that guy.
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richard-sherman-choke.jpg


I suppose Kaepernick is a bitch too?

Given their history, there is zero chance Sherman intended that ass-pat and comment (and let's please hear the rest of the day's tape) genuinely, or expected it to be taken as such. But feel free to continue defending him against the forces of racial injustice.
 
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OMG a throat slash?!! That changes everything. Omg. I know six years ago every single fucking athlete in every level of sports did that gesture and it was banned because it upset people's delicate sensibilities, but it doesn't actually mean they want to murder you. Jesus fucking Christ.
 
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BUCKYLE said:
It was pretty clear he was being genuine.
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Yes, he never wavered from his very direct approach, though your gymnastics are impressive. His style of genuine is mockery, bravado and taunting. He followed up his on-field taunts with a hilarious post-game interview screaming incoherently about how he exposed the [overrated chump].

Here I thought Sherman was a prototypical arrogant, brash, mouthy corner but
Yeah tell me again how Sherman was being a dick.
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it turns out I was wrong. My bad.
 
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jwinslow said:
Yes, he never wavered from his very direct approach, though your gymnastics are impressive. His style of genuine is mockery, bravado and taunting. He followed up his on-field taunts with a hilarious post-game interview screaming incoherently about how he exposed the [overrated chump].

Here I thought Sherman was a prototypical arrogant, brash, mouthy corner but
it turns out I was wrong. My bad.
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Blah blah blah. It looked clear to me. He said hell of a game. Crabtree acted like a bitch so Sherman went off. Big fucking deal.
 
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BUCKYLE said:
http://m.bleacherreport.com/article...um=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national

Yeah tell me again how Sherman was being a dick.

Crabtree is a bitch.
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Gives the choke sign and you believe his running halfway down the endzone for a "handshake" was genuine and not to be a sarcastic asshole?!

Granted the victors always have no problem saying what a great game it was - but that wasn't Sherman trying to be sportsmanlike.

I'll admit, it wasn't what I expected to hear, but I know the guys real intent. I've done the same.

Fact remains, this is the same guy that trashed Revis for no apparent reason and had only begun to do so after his near career ending ACL injury. Then proceeds to follow that up by talking massive amounts of shit to Roddy White. Who in turn burns him a couple times in last years NFC title then doesn't have the cajones to man up and take it - instead golf claps and continues to shit talk.


Yeah, crickets indeed.
 
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BUCKYLE said:
Blah blah blah. It looked clear to me. He said hell of a game.
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:lol: So, to review, the facts according to buckyle:

1) Sherman & co hold Crabtree to a pedestrian showing of 4 rec 52 yd 0 td

2) Sherman genuinely tells him good game

3) Crabtree takes offense and shoves him away

4) Sherman, taken aback by this shocking turn events, trades in his genuine sportsmanship for unbridled taunting and trashing

5) Sherman launches into a wild tirade about all the reasons Crabtree didn't have a good game and how no one should have expected differently against him especially given how overrated Crabtree is.
 
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BayBuck said:
Slate's Seth Stevenson on the Sherman fracas:





+1
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I agree 100% that Sherman is a dick.
But I can't help thinking of my first comment on the whole thing... usually good defenses are unapologetic assholes. And I've always loved good defense.
I wonder how many people here would criticize Gradishar and claim he made them fans of scUM for his behavior in the BTN special Tiebreaker.
He was ever so much the dick; and it was fabulous as far as I'm concerned. There wasn't a sliver of "sportsmanship" even 40 years later. He went in there with the intent to stick it to them, gloat, and be an all around dick as much as he could. Wearing the Rose Bowl jacket, several 1-liners (and I expect they left a few out), the souvenirs, etc. His behavior stood in stark contrast to Cornelius Greene and Archie trying to be diplomatic and conciliatory. I have a mental image of Archie, at the head of the table, chuckling and shaking his head... I don't remember enough of the show to say that actually happened; but it's the mental image I have of the dynamic at that table.
I wasn't alive for the 10year war... so that was my first exposure to Gradishar as more than just a legendary name... and I love him for it.

If there's something I find off-putting about Sherman, it's the obnoxious manner in which he did it. It seemed "uncultured" to me -- Winston's post-game interview also comes to mind. Winston wasn't showing poor sportsmanship, just a kind of annoying and embarrassing ignorance. Perhaps there is a racial element there? Or perhaps it's a cultural divide... I can't really put my thumb on it.
 
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