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02/2 2011

Call of the Day: Former PA Governor Ed Rendell’s First Daily News Column(!)

Posted by Dan Levy.

Excited to read former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s first official column as a member of the Philadelphia Daily News? He sure seemed excited to write it, using seven exclamation points in the story including six in the first three paragraphs(!)

Eagles touchdown in less than 35 seconds! We’re going to win the Super Bowl! I just know it, I feel it, we can’t be stopped!

You see, Rendell’s first column was just a dream, or at least he was just writing about a dream in his first column. It’s worded better that way, I suppose. And look, I like Ed Rendell. I really like the guy. I had the chance to interview him a week before the Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the NFC title game and asked him about the chances of an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl. He was excited about the idea back then, and using that concept as his first official newspaper column since leaving office, he’s still excited about the idea; even if it totally skews history, reality and common sense. Let’s review:

Rendell starts his column with three imaginary paragraphs about the Eagles recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl — he credits Moise Fokou with the hit and Colt Anderson with the recovery. A Colt Anderson reference in the first paragraph? Yes, the Governor is trying that hard to get readers to understand just how well he knows the roster.

His three-paragraph dream of the Eagles beating the Steelers in the Super Bowl ends when his dog, Ginger, wakes him up by licking his face.

Oh, no! It’s a dream. The Birds aren’t in the Super Bowl – we lost to the Packers, 21-16. Goddamnit. No Super Bowl again for the Birds. No Eagles-Steelers game – again.

It’s the paragraph before he wakes up that seems most disconcerting for a column in a newspaper. Perhaps it’s not as disconcerting as it is telling; Rendell references Michael Vick as “Michael” and Brent Celek as “Brent” but Steelers linebacker James Farrio as “Farrior,” a clear indication that he’s rooting for the Eagles in this All-PA Super Bowl pipe dream. Then, of course, he uses the “royal we” many sports fans use when trying to feel more a part of the team. “We’re going to win the Super Bowl! I just know it, I feel it, we can’t be stopped!”

Despite consistently trying to convince readers otherwise, Rendell isn’t writing this as just a fan. He’s now an official member of the media, or at least a celebrity columnist at-large (no pun) who is getting paid to write about Philly sports. Clearly he’s making the point be known three graphs into his writing tenure at the Daily News — and three more times later in the column — that he’s still more fan than media; he’ll always be more “we” than “they.”

Plus, he’s so much of a homer that he’ll revise history. He references the fact that the Eagles fans almost destroyed Jacksonville during Super Bowl week — that might actually be true — but throws in this ridiculous graph full of dillusion:

Birds followers dominated Jacksonville. You couldn’t see even one Patriots fan. But Eagles-Steelers? The two most rabid fan bases in one city? War! Dallas would have been left in ruins . . . Hmm, maybe not so bad.

You couldn’t see even one Patriots fan? Look, he was down there and I wasn’t, but the Patriots were the defending Super Bowl champions and one of the biggest draws in the league. Everyone was on the Pats bandwagon and Boston-area fans were everywhere, still riding high from that Red Sox victory a few months before. If Rendell didn’t see any Pats fans, maybe he was too busy hanging out in Eagles-festooned RVs.

Then, of course, Rendell got his obligatory Eagles fan shot at Dallas. I’ll even excuse the fact a former head of state flippantly used the term “war” to describe two in-state fan bases converging on a city for a football game. Two fan bases, by the way, who don’t really even seem to dislike each other all that much. I could be wrong, but if you asked any Eagles fan to list his or her least favorite teams in the NFL, I’m not sure the Steelers would be in the top five and certainly not high enough to call it a “war.”

Rendell ends the column by telling readers he’s going to have fun with it and warning those who come after him that after 33 years in politics, he’s heard every insult possible. Again, he’s Philly through and through and he’s a heart-on-his-sleeve type of guy, whether he’s legislating policy or sitting in the stands for a game. He’s extremely opinionated and entirely likable. Let’s just hope his column is less senseless fan having a delusional dream and more sharp political mind using that knowledge in a sports context.

Take this part of his Daily News Q&A:

Question: What are some of your goals for the column?

Answer: “First of all, I want the column to be as fun and readable as I can. I don’t think it has to be earthshaking or overly dramatic . . . I want to reflect what the average fan thinks or cares about. That is the most important of all the goals. The second goal is to try to take on some of the things in the sports world that seem to make no sense, like, I may or may not write about the potential lockout in the NFL. It seems to me this is a fairly easy thing to resolve if the owners and players think about what’s right for the game, for each other and the retired players . . . It seems that the BCS makes absolutely no bloody sense . . . I want for it to be fun for me to write and fun for the readers to read. I want to respond to things that the public would like to hear about, whether it’s a good idea to spend public money for stadiums. I’ll be happy to answer everything that the public wants a response to as long as they are reasonable questions.”

Let’s hope we read more of that and less about getting licked by his dog while he dreams about Colt Anderson.

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Posted on February 2, 2011 at 6:45AM

 

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  1. Kevin McGuire
    02/2 2011

    And it only costs a buck (in paper form)!