Wednesday, September 27, 2006

T.O.: The Aftermath

Update (3:50 p.m.): I'm not saying T.O. isn't full of it, but it's looking more and more like today's OHSWEETJEEBUS coverage was a weeeeeee bit overblown. Not to argue that Michael Irvin is the voice of reason in all this, but I actually believe T.O. that he didn't try to commit suicide.

Why? For precisely the same reason I usually don't buy anything he says:

If he DID try to commit suicide, don't you think he would TOTALLY 'fess up -- what could get him more attention than that? It would absolutely shift his entire image...certainly make him more sympathetic. For a conniving media whore, it's all upside to admitting to trying to kill himself.

(Don't you think if he could admit to it, he would? Frankly, even if he didn't, I wonder why he didn't SAY he did, even if THAT was the manufactured story? Again: If he's the media whore I think he is, there's very little downside to him admitting to trying to kill himself, whether he actually did or not.)

So I'll take him at face value and move on. I'm not expecting sports media to do the same thing -- not with all the time and energy invested in rapt attention -- but it's in everyone's best interests.

If he doesn't want to admit to it -- or, hell, even if he's telling the truth -- can we all just move on? (No? Ah well. It was worth a try...)

-- D.S.

13 comments:

Christian Thoma said...

The best part of the denial is that we can now make as many jokes as we want. The Philly fans should be in fine form in a couple of weeks.

whocares said...

Who's T.O?

Christian Thoma said...

Well, it's not over. The police have essentially been called liars. You don't think they're going to have an official response to the conference?

The fun part will be when the medical records are leaked.

Badass Of The Year said...

In Quickie style:
Let.It.Die.

mattie said...

What chrth said. And there's still the 911 call. Gotta love that it took all day for him to essentially say, "I didn't kill myself, I was crazy and might have said anything, and apparently, the cops were just making stuff up about what my friend said to them. Thanks."

And I can't wait to see what the Philly fans come up with for this one.

tem said...

Did Simmons rip on you in his chat?

Your take? I know you read it, so I don't need to post the transcript.

The Rev said...

Speaking for Philly fans everywhere...

if he didn't try to kill himself this week, in about two weeks he's gonna wish he was dead rather than deal with the aftermath of 60,000 Eagles fans pointing and laughing at him while hurling insults.

I didn't think it was possible for him to make the hype for that game any bigger. I underestimated him.

Aitch said...

Come on Dan, I think this is the first time I can honestly say I disagree with you 100% (usually its just 90-95%, lol j/k). He may be a media whore, but in the game of football, where you have to be a tough guy all the time, nothing would be worse for him than admitting he tried to commit suicide. It may soften his image for media, but fans in places like philly and fellow players on the field would be merciless. Just imagine a trash talking CB stepping up to the line opposite T.O. He'd never live it down.

I honestly think he did try to kill himself and no he and his people are trying to spin it and make it like the story was a complete fabrication. I was not convinced by his publicist in the least, and even T.O. himself was less than believeable in that press conference.

We will probably never know for sure, but I think even T.O. wouldn't go as far as to orchestrate a fake suicide attempt and then deny it. I just don't see any publicity upside at all.

Christian Thoma said...

I agree with h. It's not the fans he lines up against on the field.

Matt Berg said...

Is T.O. just screwing with the media at this point? I mean, it's gotten to where the guy can simply sneeze and there will be a line of reporters there to cover it. Maybe he thinks it's funny to watch them blow things out of proportion. I certainly do.

Christian Thoma said...

@bryan: I should've added 'without a hint of guilt'. Even the jokes I made earlier I still felt slightly guilty about when making them.

Unknown said...

I believe the TO story as much as I believe that Barry Bonds never took steroids.

Dan Bilicki said...

If any of you idiots knew anything true about Terrell Owens, you would shut up. T.O. is deeply religious and suicide happens to be one the worst sins you can possibly commit. it would insure him a place in hell which no devout christian would want. With no doubt, he would retire sooner than he would legitimately let any pressure or depression drive him to that point. Also, anyone who wants to argue the numbers he puts up when he's on the field, there aren't many receivers better than him in today's NFL.