Once an ape, always an ape

From Michael Smerconish’s Duke Rape Case: Revenge of the Nerds on HuffPo today:

I say, it's the revenge of the nerds. Most journalists would never be chosen for a pickup game of hoops, let alone a varsity sport. As a group, they take perverse pleasure in bringing down the BMOC, however undeserved. What went on in Kobe Bryant's case and at LaSalle last year and now at Duke? Those who were never selected for sports are getting their chance to vent at those who did. And they crucify these young men with gleeful speed. While the "victims" are allowed to remain anonymous and are not prosecuted for their tales, the athletes they accuse are not afforded the same treatment. These young men are the real victims, no quotation marks necessary.

Did he really use the Big Man On Campus acronym? Oy. Anyhow, one musn’t forget that Smerconish is a Bill O’Reilly radio and Scarborough Country fill-in host. On the subject of women and higher education, he said "they're not going to be around to instill [moral] lessons in their kids." He also suggested “gathering up” all illegal immigrants at the recent large-scale demonstrations around the country, and he thinks the “war on terror” has been compromised by the “sissification” of America. (All references can be found HERE) I understand Arianna wants the blog portion of HuffPo to be adequately represented by people on all sides of the political spectrum, but Michael Smerconish?! Seriously? In addition to their high-priced lawyers, the Duke lacrosse team now has a grade A wingnut defending their honor. He’s one of many privledged white guys that has written a book on how “political correctness” is destroying America just because he can’t openly be a bigot anymore. His self-serving book will just be another forgettable invective that will end up on the bargain carts of bookstores everywhere. As opposed to celebrating the advances in science/education/literature, a lot of people celebrate athleticism and raise sports heroes up on a false pedestal of adulation, adoration and admiration. Who cares? As a society, we’ve evolved into critically-thinking creatures whose amazing feats of the mind are mentioned in teeny-tiny “factoid” boxes printed on the bottom corners of the local paper. There’s an entire section in virtually all newspapers devoted to play-by-play accounts of local, high school football, basketball and baseball games. It’s time we started demanding there be special sections of our local papers dedicated to all of the nerds actually making a difference in the world, not the untouchable jocks that move balls around a field. And in the NO SHIT department, an editorial in Field & Stream magazine blasts Bush for failing to protect outdoor sports on the nation's public lands.