Thursday, October 26, 2006

Tiki Barber Hates Michael Irvin

I'll simply quote Tiki from his Sirius radio show here:

"I will call them 'idiots' because they have neither spoken to me nor any one of my teammates or any of my coaches, yet all they do is criticize me for being a distraction with this retirement thing."

And, awesomely, he names names, which is ALWAYS so much better:

"That includes [Daily News columnist] Gary Myers, that includes Tom Jackson on ESPN, that includes the ultimate character guy, facetiously speaking, of course, Michael Irvin [of ESPN], please get a clue how to be a journalist. Don't make blanket assumptions about it."

The biggest mistake Tiki makes is that he thinks that Irvin or Jackson (or even the columnist) are actually "journalists." They're not. They're analysts and commentators. And there's a HUGE difference.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course it's a distraction. Is it a negative one? I don't know.

However, if his teammates start pressing so they can 'win one for Tiki', it could be counterproductive.
It may have worked for the Steelers and Bettis, but this doesn't mean it would work for the Giants. (Actually, it won't work. Eli won't win a SB this year)

Jake C said...

I like it. It is about time someone speaks what he feels about "idiotic" comments on situations they are not a part of.

What everyone is forgetting/dismissing is that the Giants already knew. They have acknowledged that fact already. It was and will not be a distraction to the team. Tiki did not want it out in the media because of this reason here...people assume and make those blanket statements with little to no knowledge of the real situation.

Honestly, they're all just worried cause they know he will take one of their jobs next year.

Mega said...

Tiki made a huge mistake by announcing to the world that he is retiring after this season. How many great players announced during the season that they were retiring at years end? Elway didn't annouce anything till after he won the superbowl.

As much as I hate Irvin, I feel Barber has pulled another "hey look at me, I play for a NY team, pay attention to me" stunt.

Dr. Zoom said...

Tiki didn't announce it, the stupid NY Times leaked it. Then Tiki confirmed it, so as not to have a "Will he or won't he?" circus (see Brett Favre).

I have nothing but love for Tiki, and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

Anonymous said...

I bet Ronde secretly hates him.

Steve said...

Super Bowl victories:
Ronde: 1
Tiki:0

Kurt said...

Dan Mega, did the state of New York abuse you when you were a little kid? Is that why you hate it so much? What did it ever do to you?

The Bizza said...

I thought that Tiki was having an attention-whore moment when he announced his retirement. I thought that he just wanted the accolades of a season-long farewell tour... but then again, I didn't know that his retirement news was "leaked" by the N.Y. Times.
Now I have a greater respect for Tiki for sacking-up and confirming the rumors, rather than doing the media-circus thing. I especially appreciate the fact that he sacked-up and told the analysts at ESPN to step-off.

I know they're paid to project their opinions and dissect and shred the athlete's every decision, but come-on... if Tiki has kept his mouth shut, we'd be hearing about how the retirement rumors were distracting the team, and everyone with a mic on their lapel and a smug expression on their overpaid faces would be demanding that Tiki sack-up and announce his intentions. But since Tiki beat them to the punch, they went the other way with it.

Well done, Tiki.