No, this is not a follow up to my last musing about cooking and a chicken dish that didn’t work out. Nor is about football, per se, as the above photo might suggest. Confused? Well, so am I, but more on that to follow.
The other night (New Year’s Day) I happened to be watching college football, more specifically the “Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic” (there will be a future rant on college bowl games, so stay tuned!), between the Washington Huskies (Washington State), or the “blue” football team, versus the Texas Longhorns (Texas), or the “red” football team. I am not a huge college football fan and do not normally watch games during the regular season, but I am a bit of a sports junkie, so I do follow what’s going on in many sports that I don’t normally watch in the papers or sports apps on my phone. But the “bowl” games, at least the ones that count, in this case one of two games with teams vying for a spot in the National Championship game to be played on Monday, January 8th, are a different story, with all the hype difficult to ignore, especially for a junkie!
It was an exciting game that came down to the last play to determine the winner – the “blue” team prevailed, and I will try not to read too much into that! I am still in denial that the last three minutes and forty-five seconds of the game took almost 45 minutes in real time before it ended; once you are sucked in, it’s not game over until the game is over, period. The game was being played in New Orleans which, among other things, is the “party” city of the United States. It was during one of the far-too-many stoppages in play during those final minutes, when the cameras took us to infamous Bourbon Street and the post New Year’s Eve revelers in the street, and at that very moment, the camera caught a young woman flashing her breast to someone on a balcony above the street. There is a not-so-long ago tradition during Mardi Gras for women on the streets to flash their breasts to people on the balconies above the street in order to obtain the much-coveted beads that are a part of Mardi Gras tradition. But why be limited to a specific date and tradition? After all, it is 2024 and anything goes these days…or so I thought.
The next day, I was perusing the headlines and the following large font, bolded headline from AP News caught my eye: “ESPN apologizes for showing video of woman flashing breast during Sugar Bowl Broadcast.” A little perspective is necessary for those of you who missed this terrible visual transgression. This woman’s breast was on camera for no more than 1.5 seconds, and I couldn’t help thinking to myself at the time: “Well, this is a perfect example of being in the right place at the right time, or vice versa, depending on your point of “view,” of course. It was a short article, four sentences with the last one a quote from an ESPN representative: “We regret that this happened and apologize that the video aired in the telecast,” ESPN’s Bill Hofheimer said in a statement to The Associated Press.” If this reminds you of the whole Janet Jackson 2004 Super Bowl halftime show “debacle,” which is now commonly referred to as a “wardrobe malfunction” (if you find yourself chuckling right about now, good, because I am laughing my ass off writing this), you’re not alone. Following that “disturbing” event, both MTV and CBS apologized for the incident and “asserted that they had no prior knowledge that Jackson and Timberlake’s duet would involve partial nudity.” Trust me, I wish I was making this shit up. I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that Jackson and Timberlake didn’t break out into a rendition of his contribution to “Lonely Island’s” yet to be released “Dick in a Box,” accompanied by yet another “wardrobe malfunction,” you know, just to even the score – breast for dick.
Does anyone need any more proof that even after four centuries this country’s mores are still tied to Puritanism, at least when it comes, it would appear, to “accidental” displays of human anatomy or sexual inuendo.? As far as “scripted” incidents, well it has taken awhile, but the gloves appear to be off. I mean, how else would one explain the soft-core porn pouring into our homes during the eight seasons of “Game of Thrones?” Stay tuned for more of this silliness, because as you may or may not know, I like keeping abreast of what’s going on. Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
Los Angeles 2024
I thought for sure I’d come up with something to zing back to you here but you cornered the wit on this one my friend!
America has always been a very sick and twisted society, with its priorities completely ass-backwards. I’m increasingly embarrassed by my country.
I know that this my adopted home, so to speak, but it’s still home.
OMG. Just a body part. Almost all of which we see on any beach anywhere in the world. Another good reason (among many) not to follow televised sports.