Tom Coughlin: "Sieg Heil! . . . . Oh, Scheisse!"

I have no doubt this is a D_B, considering the sheer volume of NY SportsJournalists.com posters, but I couldn't find it anywhere here. If it is, please delete.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2007/03/29/2007-03-29_tom_my_plight_2nd_to_hitlers-2.html

"When he was asked at the NFC coaches breakfast by a football Web site reporter whether he paid attention to what was being said about him last season, Coughlin replied: "I hear some of it and I see it. You know (VP of communications Pat) Hanlon tells me about it, what's going on."

Then, he paused, and said, "Hitler and then me, in that order. Unfortunate, but it is."

Wow.

 

Coughlin was good at the beginning but he went too far.

This seems to me to be a pretty well-choreographed move to get the fuck out of Dodge and collect whatever it is he's owed for next season while not actually serving as the biggest lame-duck coach in sports. There hasn't been a dead man walking like this in years. The Giants are going to suck and Jerry Reese is either a.) a terrible GM; b.) greasing the skids for Coughlin's departure by doing nothing at all this winter or c.) all the above.

There are better ways to go about it, but what the hell. If you're going to force your way out you may as napalm the bridges while you're at it.

 

Thanks Piotr. I heard he said something, but hadn't been able to find it.

Personally, I find this much more offensive than what Michael Ray Richardson said. To diminish the horror that Adolf Hitler brought on the world that way. I understand what Coughlin was trying to say, but that's far over the top.

 

As the resident Kraut-speaker of the board ... I didn't take Coughlin's comments that badly.

Yeah, OK, he said Hitler was the most hated (which is arguably true), followed by him, hence the punchline.

But just because you utter the H-bomb in itself is not grounds for firing.

Now if he said Hitler was his leader, and all Jews were crafty (like lefthanders), and his secret desire was to start a bratwurst farm, then fair enough.

(BTW, it's Scheiße, to be proper.)

 

ß = ss, but you knew that, so it is alright.

Like Football_Bat, I'm not so offended by this. In fact, it doesn't get much of a blip. It was just a really shitty joke.

I'm no fan of Coughlin and certainly think he should have been fired. But it would have nothing to do with this comment.

As to the comparison to Richards... No way is this even close to being worse. The "Jew Lawyers" part was crappy stereotyping. The real problem was when he used f*ggot on a fan. For fucks sake, you have a guy this stupid representing your organization as its coach. Please.

 

I was addressing the comments in relation to Jewish people in both situations. The use of an actual slur against homosexuals is definitely the worst part of Richardson's comments.

But as a Jew, Coughlin's comments bothered me more. Yes, the stereotyping is stupid. But any comment that fails to take what Hitler did seriously is more offensive to me. There are just too many people who try to downplay the Holocaust and it is getting easier and easier with time passing.

 

Well, I guess "The Producers" is out of the question now.

 

OK, Coughlin is not downplaying the Holocaust. He's trying to point out how overboard he feels people are with his own situation, joking (although, agreed, not that well) that he's nearly as bad as Hitler.

I see NOTHING where he says Hitler wasn't awful. That's you reading something into it.

 

It's a tasteless joke and all I said is that bothers me more than what Richardson said. And I explained why that topic bothers me, that such comparisons are thrown around a bit too lightly. I never said Coughlin meant to say Hitler wasn't so bad or anything like that. Nor did I say he should be disciplined for what he said.

It was a thoughtless comment by Coughlin that bugs me. I'm allowed to be bugged, dammit.

 

I'm fine with you being bugged.

But this is what you wrote:

'There are just too many people who try to downplay the Holocaust and it is getting easier and easier with time passing."

He's not downplaying the Holocaust. He's joking (again, not so effectively), "Yep, that's me — the coach so horrible I deserve to be compared to the Holocaust."

There's a big difference.

 

Not being Jewish, I certainly can't speak for how that would resonate for someone who is. I certainly respect your own views and opinions. But I think we've all heard somebody use hyperbole to descibe how they're viewed by other. To me, this is how I took Coughlin's comments to mean.