ABC shouldn't have apologized. ABC should've called out the NFL, the FCC, and everyone who complained on their massive hypocrisy.
Here's more from Fox Sports: http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3171810 Don't throw in the towel on this week's episode This week's bandwagon-crisis quota was reached when Monday Night Football crossed the linen of scrimmage. Now in its 35th season, MNF also dragged us past the neutral zone and into the partisan box. This polarization of opinion was achieved when ABC's bedrock sporting vehicle presented images judged even more disturbing and potentially obscene than the Dallas Cowboys' defense. Our tour guide on this ride, of course, was the extremely busy Terrell Owens, who received quite an assist from Nicollette Sheridan. Desperate Housewives cast members Nicollette Sheridan and Eva Longoria figure to pick up a few viewers as a result of the Monday Night Football controversy. (Frank Micelotta / GettyImages) For the record, Owens is the seemingly unstoppable Philadelphia Eagles wide-mouth receiver. Sheridan, who also (I'm fairly certain) produces a weekly football odds listing for USA Today, stars in ABC's smash-mouth hit Desperate Housewives. T.O. and Nicollette teamed up as co-stars for a MNF lead-in that featured both Owens and Sheridan in respective uniform. T.O.'s work clothes included an Eagles jersey and champagne bucket, while Nicollette sported a classy towel that immediately shoved her into Housewives character. There's probably a Sharpie joke to be had in here, but the script's dialogue went something like this: Sheridan: T.O., this towel is chafing me... Owens: You had me at "T.O." While Americans were sniffling at home, Nicollette responded by dropping the towel. She was ruled down by contact, but still managed to sort of Lambeau Leap into T.O.'s arms. Owens, who's made several all-expenses-paid trips to Honolulu, held on. For a moment, the poor guy probably thought he was back looking through a peep hole in the visitors' locker room at The Vet in Philly. The embrace was followed by a two-shot appearance from Housewives stars Felicity Huffman and Teri Hatcher. Huffman's first big exposure arrived when she was cast as a producer on the well-received-but-rarely-watched Sports Night. Her character was the romantic interest of another character loosely based on former TV sports anchor Keith Olbermann, which hints that Felicity has had desperate roles before. Hatcher, who claimed very real and spectacular assets during a brief run on Seinfeld, had her stardom stamped as Lois "Night Train" Lane on Lois & Clark. Also for the record, Huffman and Hatcher were fully clothed for their MNF bit. Anyway, Dallas receiver Keyshawn Johnson had been interested in the part of naked-Sheridan-catcher, but was unable to get separation. It's just as well. Even though T.O. didn't throw Nicollette down and dance like Ray Lewis, the pre-taped event has caused great disturbance across the land. Let's start with discomfort in the NFL. According to league insiders, the yellow line on the floor of Paul Tagliabue's den was not representing first-down yardage. It seems that -- Playmakers denials be damned -- his league is on quite a roll. As commissioner of America's top sporting empire, Tags was reduced to inclusive muttering during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that co-starred Janet Jackson in a made-for-TV special called Desperate Pop Stars. Also on the bad-PR hook for MNF and its recent cheek are ABC and the show itself. At post time, everyone had apologized except the Swift Boat Veterans. The network's official statement of record was highlighted by a passage with an admission that, " …the placement was inappropriate." This was not a reference to the towel. Although the only visible boobs on this Monday night were dressed in Cowboy uniforms, the Owens-Sheridan encounter is considered bad form for an impressionable nation. It has been suggested that naked women are an insult to a football audience. That's why most of the league's "cheerleaders" are dressed only slightly more provocatively than lingerie models. If the cheerleaders were naked, NFL telecasts may not require advertising loot from erectile-dysfunction remedies. (After the Sheridan maneuver, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders did appear to be regrettably overdressed.) Another concern was the prime-time chronology that invited kids to see a naked actress instead of watching younger people lounging in their underwear and groping each other on MTV. All things considered, the dropped towel may have generated the biggest wince associated with MNF since Joe Theismann's leg was snapped by Lawrence Taylor. But that was fine, because Americans are more willing to accept violence than nudity. It's hard to imagine what outcry would be mustered if ABC aired an ultra-violent war movie that featured nude soldiers. Even with one towel on the ground, please note that the bitter reaction could have been worse if MNF's primary plan was broadcast. According to network sources with axes to grind, the first draft of the lead-in was buttressed by commentary from Al Michaels and John "All-Nude" Madden. Here's a portion of dialogue lifted from a purloined script: Madden: Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Where's my telestrator? Michaels: Do you believe in TiVo!? The obvious big winner in this controversy is Desperate Housewives, which means that despite its guilty plea, ABC couldn't be that sorry. Thanks to its aggressive and empty reach for humor, the Owens-Sheridan match has delivered even more chatter to a show that probably didn't need it. This presents a swell marketing opportunity for the network and its hit show that could begin with the snarling boys at Under Armour. How's this for a battle cry? "We must protect this Housewife!" We're not sure who's going to watch out for the NFL, which still pretends to be upset when a business partner throws into single or double un-coverage. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for the network to apologize for Dennis Miller and The Benefactor. We're also hoping that the outrage involving Terrell Owens prevents next week's proposed opening. That script offers New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady co-starring in a confrontation with a towel and Dennis Franz.
How about the actual intro video? http://www.wfaa.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wfaa.com/041115_2000mnfopen_wz.wmv
now im just confused on this one http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...YwN0aA--?slug=ap-mnffallout&prov=ap&type=lgns Dungy: 'MNF' intro racially offensive November 17, 2004 If ABC hoped to generate a little bit more buzz for ``Monday Night Football'' and ``Desperate Housewives,'' its steamy intro to the Dallas-Philadelphia game sure did the trick. Two days after the network aired the segment featuring Eagles star receiver Terrell Owens and actress Nicollette Sheridan, coaches and players were still talking about it. Reaction ranged from amusement to anger. Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy found it racially offensive. ``To me that's the first thing I thought of as an African-American,'' Dungy said Wednesday. ``I think it's stereotypical in looking at the players, and on the heels of the Kobe Bryant incident I think it's very insensitive. I don't think that they would have had Bill Parcells or Andy Reid or one of the owners involved in that,'' he added, a reference to the coaches in the game. ABC's intro showed Sheridan wearing only a towel and provocatively asking Owens to skip the game for her as the two stood alone in a locker room. She drops the towel and jumps into Owens' arms. Owens is black and Sheridan is white. ``If that's what we have to do to get ratings, I'd rather not get them,'' Dungy said. ``I realize that ratings pays us in this league, but if that's what we have to do, I'm willing to take a pay cut.'' Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb wasn't quite as vocal, saying he didn't find the segment offensive and believed people were overreacting. (Owens wasn't at practice Wednesday, excused for what the team said were personal reasons.) ``Some people do different things,'' McNabb said. ``Not saying that my wife would allow me to do that, but it's just something that was done, and you move on.'' Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, had a different view, questioning ABC's judgment in airing the scene. ``I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud,'' he said. ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. The FCC will review complaints and decide whether or not to open an investigation that could result in a fine against the network. ``It would seem to me that while we get a lot of broadcasting companies complaining about indecency enforcement, they seem to be continuing to be willing to keep the issue at the forefront, keep it hot and steamy in order to get financial gains and the free advertising it provides,'' Powell told CNBC. The segment drew complaints from viewers and the NFL. ABC Sports apologized for using the introduction to promote its show, ``Desperate Housewives.'' Dungy's comment, however, was the first that mentioned race. He also said the segment played off stereotypes of athletes. ``That athletes are sexual predators and that that stuff is more important than what's going on on the field. That a guy was more concerned with that than the game, that's a terrible message to send,'' Dungy said. ``I'm particularly sensitive to that. It could have been any player and I would have been outraged, but being an African-American, it particularly hurt me.'' A decade ago Dungy was outspoken about the lack of black coaches in the NFL. There are currently five, including Dungy and Lovie Smith, whose Bears will face Dungy's Colts on Sunday. ``It shouldn't have happened, and I couldn't believe it did happen,'' Smith said. Dungy said ABC had asked the Colts, who played on Monday night last week, ``to do some things I thought would make our players look a little bit silly (although) nothing like that.'' ``We kind of declined,'' he said. Some players were also shocked. ``My mouth dropped when I saw that,'' said Washington tight end Mike Sellers, who was watching the game with his wife. ``I said, 'Did they actually plan this on TV?''' But at least one of his teammates wasn't bothered. ``I thought it was kind of cool, myself,'' linebacker Marcus Washington said. ``I enjoyed the skit.''
A quote comes to mind: At the offices of the (Miami University student newspaper), the editors described an agonized debate among themselves as to whether to publish an advertisement from an organization that claims the Holocaust didn't happen. First the editors thought they should run the ad because this group had a right to be heard. Then the editors decided they shouldn't run the ad because other groups had the right not to be defamed. It never seemed to occur to the editors to just throw the thing away because it was a piece of ****. -- P.J. O'Rourke, All The Trouble In The World The ad was trash. It was the combination of a sleazy, intellectually bankrupt network television program and a self-aggrandizing clown of a professional athlete. The people on both sides of the "issue" come across as absolute twits hyperventilating over marginally important concerns. The whole thing has so little relevance that I'm amazed people can get worked up about any single facet of it, whether it's the NFL's hypocrisy or network broadcast standards or Tony Dungy's latent obsession with sexual and racial stereotypes. Say what you want about nihilism, but were it applied here, it would save a lot of pointless bloviating.
any man . . can marry any woman and any woman . . can marry any man if these laws pass. . .. . Rocket River
He saying a man has the ame rights as any other man and a woman has the same rights as any other woman. It's BS though. I think so. What I want to know is how is this racist or how does it promote racist stereotypes? Tony Dungy said that on SportsCenter, that's what I don't get.
Another thing, when did this become a black/white issue. That's all I've been hearing from TV reports to radio personalities. I've heard things like, well since the Kobe fiasco things have changed or since what went down with O.J. this is a big deal. So what, black and white people can't date, marry, or even mess around anymore just become some athletes/celebrities made bad mistakes. Sheesh, whoever was talking about moving out of this country take me with you.
I thought the ad was funny, and effective. Judging by all the hyperbole, ABC must be laughing all the way to the bank. We apologize...(wink wink) ROFLMAO DD
Damn, I didn't expect this thread to go to D&D. It's about football and hot girls. Why does it always have to be about debating and politics??!?
