Laughing in the face of a loss or why reporters get a bad rap

what is a lucky playoff run? seriously ... a lucky playoff run? lucky?

the 2008 cards beat an 11-5 falcons team in the playoffs, then they beat the 12-4 panthers at carolina, then they beat the 9-6-1 eagles in the NFC championship game to reach the Super Bowl

lucky? seriously? where do you morons come up with this garbage.

Anyway, Somers is terrific and the line of questioning was absolutely legit. If you're a beat guy and you don't address what most fans are talking about, you look really bad. And if none of the other writers there had the balls to ask Anderson why he was laughing, at least Kent did.

The guy's doing his job, not sure what your problem is with that.

 

Ugh. Happens all too often.

 

B-O-R-Y-L-A.

Boryla.

Mike Boryla.

 

Great point.

Some of the radio heads were saying this afternoon that Anderson wanted to do interviews in the locker room. I think so many people wanted to talk to him, this wasn't possible. Even with the cameras rolling, it's much easier to field questions sitting by your dirty jersey in a cramped area than on an empty podium with people seated, looking up at you.

 

It's a stupid controversy. I think the reporter was justified in asking the question, it gave Anderson a chance to explain that the lineman was just trying to buck him up or something. But anybody who watches a football or basketball game would have a hard time figuring out which team one based on the way players greet each other at the end. And yet nobody asks them why they took the loss so well.

 

Hey that's my line!!!

 

I've watched the tape of Anderson on the bench about five times. He never laughs, unless he can do so without moving a single muscle on his face. He does smile, probably in reaction to some sort of gallows humor.

 

Agreed. And two years removed from their lucky Super Bowl run, they can't even get to .500 to lead the worst division in the NFL. So is Ken Whisenhunt still a genius?

 

I think the problem with the team is more than just Kurt Warner. You can win in the NFL without a great QB. I don't know why the Cards didn't bring in someone like Mark Brunell or Leftwich. They had to know their Plan B (and C) at qb had little upside. All they needed was a QB who woudn't hurt them.

 

Just like we don't know what he and the lineman are talking about we don't know if he's laughing or not. To me, he looks like he's laughing.; to you he doesn't. But that's the problem with this. We saw an 8-second sideline shot, and John Gruden made a big deal out of it. He doesn't know what they're talking/laughing about.

Somers did the right thing, asking those questions. He had to. But if anyone thinks he was out of line, that person needs to go after MNF/Gruden first.

Way, way too much is made out of short snippets on the sidelines. Way too much is made out of trying to read body language during a 5-second reaction shot, whether it's Brett Favre and Darrell Bevell, McNabb and T.O., Wade Philips, etc.

What if Gruden would have said, "You know, it's good to see Derek Anderson laughing right now. As a quarterback in the National Football League, you have to be able to shake off a bad performance and move on to the next week. The Arizona Cardinals are down 18 points, and DA is having a rough night. But he's going to get past this and get back at practice this week and prepare for St. Louis Cardinals. I can guarantee you that this guy is going to bounce back. Good to see that he can laugh a little."?

If Gruden said that, no way would this get to the press conference. But Gruden said the opposite, and fans got riled up. Somers absolutely did the right thing and asked the question. But I'm sure he though it would be one small notebook item for the next day, not a national controversy.

 

Isn't the bigger story coming out of this that Jon Gruden actually criticized someone for once?

 

I thought of that too.
Gruden is a such a suck-up cheerleader for players. The one time he levels criticism and this is the fallout.