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Joe Hawk on 9/11: "I did not shed a tear. Not one."

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by oj762, Aug 23, 2007.

  1. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    I did. Because usually it's the GOP that tosses out the 9/11 garbage.
     
  2. pallister

    pallister Guest

    Guess there's a new garbageman in town.
     
  3. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I cried when I had to put my greyhound up for re-adoption after my first child arrived. Not my style to write about it, though. Well, uh, except here.
     
  4. blondebomber

    blondebomber Member

    I liked the column because I read Joe every day and this wasn't his usual tripe. I thought he laid himself out there, and I applaud that.

    However, he made two serious errors.

    One, he could have totally done away with the 9-11 reference and been just as passionate about his love for dogs. I know he was trying to give the reader a sense of how important dogs are to him. We would have gotten that based on the rest of the piece. But by saying Vick's transgressions hit him harder than the greatest tragedy in U.S. history he taints what I think the true meaning of his column was: the dogs, not 9-11.

    Two, he states right up front that he's a dog freak and demonstrates (with the help of his 9-11 reference) he's probably irrational about it. That totally subverts the objective of his column because, by the time you get to the end, you're thinking "This dude's clearly a nut."

    Not for nothing, but I actually liked his last line. If he takes out the highly distracting 9-11 reference and makes the whole column about his dogs and Vick, then the last line would really resonate.
     
  5. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Yeah, I've heard that one before...
     
  6. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    W.T.F.

    Hawk never said 9/11 wasn't a tragedy. And he damn sure doesn't have "hatred for a black athlete."

    I can watch documentaries on 9/11 and not weep. But when I watched the dogfighting story on Real Sports and they put down that dog on camera, I teared up. Not because it was a greater tragedy, but because I've got an old dog who I know will die in the next few years. It doesn't mean I'm not sympathetic to 9/11 and it damn sure doesn't make me a racist.
     
  7. blondebomber

    blondebomber Member

    That's what I'm getting at.

    There's no way to compare putting down a dog and 9-11. The type of grief is totally different. One is intensely personal, while most of watched 9-11 from hundreds of miles away. That's why Hawk's premise was so misguided. If he wanted to say he was more emotional when his dog died than when his mother died, then that would mean something.
     
  8. blondebomber

    blondebomber Member

    Love it!
     
  9. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Heard a guy on the radio pose this question to listeners: "If you were standing by a lake and both your dog and a stranger began to drown, and you could be assured of saving only one, which would you save?"

    He said that a scary number of people choose their dog over a person.

    I'm a dog lover and admit it would be an awful spot to be in, but there is only one right answer. Unless the stranger was Michael Vick.
     
  10. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Agreed.

    But these people saying he values dogs over humans or trying to accuse Hawk of racism are being idiotic.
     
  11. blondebomber

    blondebomber Member

    These people = one post from one guy.
     
  12. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    There were a couple of references to Hawk valuing dogs more than humans. But there's no need for us to quibble over it.
     
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