Who's the douchebag here?

[Dick Whitman]

I don't want this to turn into an MMA fight, but if you've have earned the right for a Heisman vote, you've earned the right to vote for whoever you want for whatever reason. I think there is enough scandal around many players, not just Newton - to justify not voting for them.

As I said on another thread, if I had a vote, I wouldn't use it on Newton who stole a laptop, or LaMichael James who also spent time in jail.

Guys can't change their ways?

Isn't that part of what college and team sports are all about? Turning boys into men?

 

[JackReacher]

I agree, mustang. If you have a vote, you've somehow earned the right to vote for whoever you want. No one's saying you CAN'T vote for someone other the Newton this year, for whatever reason. Just that some of those reasons could be viewed as dumb and irresponsible.

 

[Azrael]

His tiny fists a blur, Gregg Doyel fights the conventional wisdom to a draw.

 

[mediaguy]

Awkward pause mid-first round as Doyel stops to tweet about annoying fan in third row, challenging him to fight.

 

[mustangj17]

I don't want this to turn into an MMA fight, but if you've have earned the right for a Heisman vote, you've earned the right to vote for whoever you want for whatever reason. I think there is enough scandal around many players, not just Newton - to justify not voting for them.

As I said on another thread, if I had a vote, I wouldn't use it on Newton who stole a laptop, or LaMichael James who also spent time in jail.

Guys can't change their ways?

Isn't that part of what college and team sports are all about? Turning boys into men?

They can change their ways, but this isn't a heart-warming after school special here.

Athletes are held to a higher standard because they are representing a university and a team. That's why when they land in trouble with the law, I wouldn't find it fit to present them with the highest honor in college football. Now, I'm sure many of you will disagree with that, but that's just my opinion. And I don't have a vote and never will.

 

[Ace]

I could agree to a well-reasoned argument either way on handing the award to Cam Newton now or leaving him off your ballot.

I am not sure that calling fellow journalists feminine hygiene dispensers is the most effective way of stating your case.

Perhaps Gregg's pheremones were jangling.

 

[hondo]

http://gregg-doyel.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/5881996/26308499

Question, Doyel: Why can't you make a case FOR Cam Newton without calling anyone daring to take the opposite stance a "douchebag?" You insulted two guys by name (Bianchi and Whitley) who are widely respected and well-liked in the industry because you have a difference of opinion with them. Why does everything have to be slash and burn among internet writers and on blogs? Isn't it possible to take a stance, make your case and get your message across without resorting to insults?

Asks the guy who starts a thread titled "Who's the douchebag here?" and calls people here "assholes," among other things.

Thank you for the unintentional laughs, R.A. The day you figure out the meaning of irony will be a sad day for all of us.

Actually, you're the only one I call an asshole, and it's justified.

The difference is that I didn't write a column seen by thousands of people and call someone an asshole, or, in this case, a douchebag. Doyel should be good enough to make his cases without calling colleagues names, simply because they have taken the opposite stance.

 

[Alma]

Doyel is a moralist <i>and</i> a contrarian, and how that works is like this: He's outraged at the lack of outrage on one topic, and outraged by the outrage on another topic. And at the end of the day, all his colleagues are in on the joke, and he knows that, and smart readers know that, and it's a big reason why people don't trust writers. Some of them spend way too much time, shall we say, jacking off into their own bellybuttons.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

And here I thought Gregg was more likely to respond if you called him Greg than if you called him a douchebag. Or an asshole.

 

[greggdoyel]

Alma, I think I love your post, unless you're saying that I'm the writer who, you know ... does things into my belly button. In which case I take it back. We duel at sunset. So I can wear my Affliction shirt and my sunglasses at night and pull off the douchebag perfecta.

 

[Ace]

Alma, I think I love your post, unless you're saying that I'm the writer who, you know ... does things into my belly button. In which case I take it back. We duel at sunset. So I can wear my Affliction shirt and my sunglasses at night and pull off the douchebag perfecta.

I'm pretty sure Alma was lumping you in with the onanists, Gregg.

 

[Azrael]

Get Doyel to stop by that Conlin thread for a minute and we'd have a harmonic convergence of, um, rubberbaggery.

 

[mediaguy]

That whole bellybutton thing was a metaphor, right?

 

[middleman]

Some have Heisman votes and rarely watch major college football. A former sports writer I know had a Heisman vote but spent every Saturday covering the FCS team in town. Rarely saw the Auburns of the world play. Caught the highlights, I suppose, but that was about it. He felt completely uninformed but yet voted for the Heisman every year.

 

[Double Down]

I'm going to weigh in on behalf of the nihilists and argue that everyone in college football is corrupt, or playing with someone who is corrupt, or playing for someone who is corrupt, so pretending that Cam Newton is dirty while others are clean is only another way to further perpetuate the fantasy that amateur athletics in this country are pure in any form. For God's sake, give the kid his Heisman. He's earned it with all the soulless assholes he helped make rich this season, and that should probably include people who go on television in $1,500 suits and wag their finger at him and his dad for soiling the virgin sheets of major college football.

 

[OnTheRiver]

I'm going to weigh in on behalf of the nihilists and argue that everyone in college football is corrupt, or playing with someone who is corrupt, or playing for someone who is corrupt, so pretending that Cam Newton is dirty while others are clean is only another way to further perpetuate the fantasy that amateur athletics in this country are pure in any form. For God's sake, give the kid his Heisman. He's earned it with all the soulless assholes he helped make rich this season, and that should probably include people who go on television in $1,500 suits and wag their finger at him and his dad for soiling the virgin sheets of major college football.

This.

 

[Twoback]

If you have a Heisman vote and vote for anyone other than the best football player, your vote is fraudulent.
There is no arguing with this.

 

[Mystery Meat II]

That whole bellybutton thing was a metaphor, right?

Only if you have an outie, but if you do, God hates you anyway.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I'm going to weigh in on behalf of the nihilists and argue that everyone in college football is corrupt, or playing with someone who is corrupt, or playing for someone who is corrupt, so pretending that Cam Newton is dirty while others are clean is only another way to further perpetuate the fantasy that amateur athletics in this country are pure in any form. For God's sake, give the kid his Heisman. He's earned it with all the soulless assholes he helped make rich this season, and that should probably include people who go on television in $1,500 suits and wag their finger at him and his dad for soiling the virgin sheets of major college football.

What about the bellybuttons of major college football.

 

[jlee]

If you have a Heisman vote and vote for anyone other than the best football player, your vote is fraudulent.
There is no arguing with this.

Actually, there may be some arguing with that.

Via www.heisman.com:

The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.

The best football player might not "best exhibit the pursuit of excellence with integrity." Unless voting instructions are different, there's a little room to wiggle.