My recent blather on the whole T.O. "apology";
Despite the vast Internet, I can't find a word-for-word transcript of the Terrell Owens "apology".
But I just watched the entire speech on ESPN, and I didn't hear an apology. I heard the WORD "apology". But no ACTUAL apology.
Here are some quotes from the "apology":
"The mentality that I have, my greatest strength can also be my greatest weakness. I'm a fighter. I've always been and I'll always be. I fight for what I think is right. In doing so, I alienated a lot of my fans and my teammates."
"This is very painful for me to be in this position. I know in my heart that I can help the team win the Super Bowl and not only be a dominant player, but also be a team player. I can bring that."
"I would like to reiterate my respect for Donovan McNabb as a quarterback and as a teammate. I apologize to him for any comments that may have been negative."
"It really hurts me not to be part of the team anymore. I came here to help the Eagles get to the Super Bowl and win the big game."
This isn't an apology. It's more excuses. He's apologizes "for any comments that may have been negative". I'm getting really sick of all these fake apologies. It started with executives and politicians apologizing for "anything that may have offended anyone".
It's not that hard for T.O. to look back at what he said, identify what offended people, and give an outright apology.
Something like this:
"I recently said that the Eagles would be better off with Brett Favre at quarterback instead of Donovan McNabb. I'm sorry I made this statement. I retract this statement, and I apologize for making it. I made it out of frustration and it simply isn't true. Donovan is an extremely talented quarterback in the prime of his career. I'm proud to have him as a teammate, and I acknowledge that he helps give our team an excellent chance to win."
Of course, if he doesn't AGREE with the above statement, then he shouldn't bother trying to apologize. After the Eagles release him, he'll go on waivers and the Packers CAN pick him up. With a 1-7 record, they have nothing to lose. Then he can line up next to Favre and see if he can magically teleport Green Bay into the playoffs.
Rob Maaddi of the AP writes: "For once, Terrell Owens put aside his pride, admitted he was wrong and pleaded for a second chance with the Philadelphia Eagles. The team appeared unmoved."
Again, T.O. didn't admit he was wrong. The press is jumping on the bandwagon that T.O. is "contrite", but he sure didn't show it in the press conference.
I don't blame T.O. He wasn't trained as a public speaker. He has spent his working life becoming a superlative wide receiver. One of the best of all time.
Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is the idiot here. He's been paid very good money to represent T.O. in the court of public opinion and he's doing a horrible job. When a guy who writes computer games for a living (that's me) could write a more effective apology than the cadre that surrounds T.O., it's time for him to find some better advisers.
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FYI, this is all in my Live Journal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/invisiblemouth/ -- a collection of my various thoughts from sports to sociology, politics to metaphysics. (Wouldn't want to clog up the VB boards with my randomness).
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Originally Posted by SFSteveG
I'm so fricken tired. Why can't the hollidays be staggered or something? I say put thanksgiving like 3 weeks before the 4th of July, that way this busy sh!t will be nice and spread out between the easy ones.
