Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Here's a Column From a Corn-Fed Dumbass

This is Don Cunningham. He's not very bright. And he's yet another shining example of the fact that traditional media is dying not because of irresponsible bloggers, but because of lazy, pathetic writing.

Let's give Don the treatment, shall we?

His article is entitled "Huskers in the Big Ten: Count me out, please."

First of all....who cares if you approve, Don? I mean, seriously... who effing cares? Beyond that, Don starts by mocking the Big Ten in numerous ways.

No. I won't go.

Sorry. I am a traditionalist of sorts and others who are similarly burdened know my pain.

Yes, a traditionalist. A Big 12 traditionalist, if you will. The Big 12 does indeed have a storied past, going all the way back to 1996. The Big Ten's tradition? A mere 100 years more.

A road trip to Madison just isn't the same as one to Columbia.

Really? You're actually comparing Columbia, Missouri (which I had to look up) to Madison? Have you been to Madison, Wisconsin? I hate the Badgers with a fury, but it's repeatedly listed as one of the best places to road trip and among the best college towns in the country. But okay. Solid.

Where's the pizzazz in "Illini." (Besides what self-respecting school would stoop so low as to restructure their official name to get their nickname?)

Yes, "Cornhusker" is much better.

As it now stands, we are the only "NU" in our league. This new grouping doubles that number. And the other one plays football in a city. In the shadows of skyscrapers. Worse yet, Northwestern's website announces their intent to play a game at Wrigley Field.

Yes, that's right. The Wildcats at Wrigley. Somewhere Papa Bear George Halas has got to be sick.

Wait, what? I don't get it. What's wrong with Chicago? What's wrong with playing a game at Wrigley? Oh, right, Don Cunningham doesn't like cities, with all of their bustlin'. He prefers down-home football played in cornfields like in Field of Dreams, small-town people, and his wife's biscuits and gravy. That's all he needs. He's a simple man and doesn't need your horn-honking big cityfolk.

By the way, Don, do you know where Papa Bear George Halas went to school? Illinois.

Wait. The best is yet to come. Ever notice how all of the games between those northern universities have a "trophy" at stake? Minnesota-Wisconsin: Paul Bunyan's Axe. Michigan-Michigan State: Paul Bunyan's Trophy. Illinois- Purdue: The Old Oaken Bucket. Minnesota-Michigan: The Little Brown Jug.

Yeah, I don't feel like looking them all up to see how many he got wrong, but Purdue and Illinois don't play for the Old Oaken Bucket. Nice try, though. See, when you're insulting a large group, it's best to have your basic facts right since so much else of what you're saying is so very stupid.

Evidently these folks spend their time drinking or chopping.

As opposed to the Big 12, where in places like Austin, Texas and Norman, Oklahoma the lasses are pure and the townspeople are sober and hard-working. And not "chopping," kind of work, either!

Not only am I not showing up, I might not ever leave my house again.

Promise?

You want to talk academic excellence? Why join a group of esteemed institutions who refuse to correctly reflect their membership in their title?

Do you REALLY want to go there, Don? Do you REALLY want to compare the Big Ten and Big 12 academically? Let me answer my rhetorical question for you: No, you do not.

Might pay to divide the conference membership in half - calling the Eastern bloc The Pick Six and the Western front The Deep Six.

Wow, this is just utter nonsense. Don had a higher word count required -- like with a 6th-grader's paper -- and so he threw together some words. I also suspect he felt he was being clever by using "bloc" to insinuate the Big Ten are a bunch of commies.

Volleyball competition will be limited to one game, Penn State/Nebraska. To be played at Wrigley Field on Thanksgiving.

Don, what the hell is wrong with you? Is this supposed to be funny...I guess?

Men's basketball? Well there will be new gyms in which to embarrass ourselves. That's a plus. No. Not really.

Ah, so there's part of the truth. You're just afraid. Afraid of change. You're an old man, I should have known.

I suppose the yet-to-be-created divisional football championship game will have a catchy crown title too.

The Ox Tail Trophy. Blue. It'll be blue, no doubt.

You, sir, are a flaming moron and you should never again be allowed near a keyboard. And if I were Nebraska or the Big 12, I'd say, "Thanks, but please don't be on our side, Don."

(Thanks to Joey for the heads-up.)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Fisky, fisky. Nicely done.

Anonymous said...

This points out that he has no idea what he is talking about:

Illinois is the geographic area in which the Illini indians live. By his definition, Texans are stupid since that have a nickname that is a rearrangement of Texas.

Great job ripping him apart.

The Brilliant Moron said...

I don't understand his line about the Illini. Does he not know that their mascot is named after the Illini Indians?

zlionsfan said...

This just shows what a great fit for the Big Ten Nebraska will be. They've even got stupid columnists to match our stupid columnists.

Hutchens, Sharp, meet Don Cunningham. You all have a lot in common.

Damacles said...

I hope ND joins the B10 so they and Nebraska can have a trophy matchup for whose team was better 40 years ago.

Bloomington.Boiler said...

This guy is joking, right? Thanks for tearing him apart.

acacia1602 said...

The pictures were awesome. You guys are great - thanks for that easter egg. ;-)

Relative to content - nice job of shredding, not that it was all that hard. This guy is 100% moron. Someone should let him know that the Chicago Bears used to play at *gasp* Wrigley Field. Way back before Soldier Field was built. Homespun Nebraskan's beware, those Chicago slicksters have a history of doing unnatural things on baseball fields!

Michael R. said...

Does this count as the first rant against Nebraska fans or just stupid small-town columnist.

J Money said...

Michael -- I wouldn't pin that on NU fans. I can't imagine they would think a middle-aged fool like that represents them in any way.

At least I hope not.

Plang said...

I have a friend here who is an NU grad and a big college football fan. He thinks the move is good for their program. He said he would miss the old rivalries, but the Big 12 was screwed up and favored the southern schools too much. I don't think this "reporter" is typical of the average Cornhusker.

Unknown said...

He takes issue with the Illini name? He clearly doesn't know where the name came from. Football in Wrigley was pretty common back in the day and you would have though this "traditionalist" would have known that. This is an awesome piece. That writer's a complete idiot.

MattDSM said...

Seriously, that guy was upset when they took away his smith-corona and gave him a "new fangled" computer. His 1934 Encyclopedia Britannica set seems to be showing its age.

On other fronts, can we get the longhorn cheerleader squad to join the big ten by themselves, leaving the rest of the school behind, like ND does with the big east? Please!

Brad said...

Oh, try to be a little bit nicer.

I mean, you can't really tar and feather him as an example of all that is wrong with "journalism". Sure, he's a journalist, but I think it likely that Boiled Sports has a higher circulation than Fremont, Nebraska's local paper.

Purdue Matt said...

Wow, that is embarrassing.

How about more than doubling your TV revenue?!

J Money said...

Here's the thing, Brad -- this guy doesn't deserve our patience. Especially not with how egregiously stupid his column is. It's endlessly dumb and misinformed, not to mention LAZY. There are thousands of struggling writers who would kill for that guy's job, even in Nebraska. He HAS that job and he writes dreck like THAT? No, sir, I will not let up on horribly stupid crap.

You'll note most of the time when we dissect an article in this fashion it's because it was horribly stupid. If it posed cogent thinking, analysis or opinions, we'd simply link it here or on Facebook or Twitter and let the readers have at it. But when someone offends one of us by just being an idiot (when they should know better), we won't be nice at all.

It's also more fun to be mean.

Cuyler said...

I'm a little confused... is the abbreviation for the University of Nebraska "NU"? Shouldn't it be "UN" or "UNL"? (as in http://unl.edu)

Patrick said...

No, he definitely does not represent most Nebraska fans. I didn't even know Fremont had a paper.

Pretty much this whole state loves the Huskers, but also note that many of our fans are "blue hairs". They tell younger fans standing in the seats cheering to sit down. And in this case, very resistant to change. But believe me, at least 98% of the rest of the fans are happy to be members of the Big 10, and are appreciative of the warm welcome we've received so far.

As for the initials, NU may come from the initials DONU (shortened from a phrase in the fight song, Dear Old Nebraska U). But the official name is the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I think the only reason they're not commonly called UNL outside of Nebraska, is because UNO and UNK (Omaha and Kearney campuses) aren't nationally known.

zlionsfan said...

That makes sense. Of course some Big Ten fans will know about Nebraska-Omaha from CCHA play, but I'd imagine quite a few don't follow hockey (less than half the conference fields a varsity team, I think).

Nebraska-Kearney is DII? I remember the name from the Whatifsports college football sim, but not much else about it.