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Post by Solar Stud on Jan 15, 2009 20:55:00 GMT -6
Also Seth, while I can appreciate your "old school" approach and your comparison to the Navy...I don't find that completely applicable either. When you're in the Navy, that's a full time gig. That's what you live, breathe, and do. For EP, this was 4 months out of the year, on the weekends. My parallel to EP and KF was both are the 'face' of Iowa FB. Granted, EP to a lesser extent, but both represent the U and Iowa fB. And there's a certain way to act when you hold that position. EP chose booze over the Hawkeyes. |
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Post by NOTTHOR on Jan 15, 2009 23:18:12 GMT -6
Oh why not....guess I'll weigh in.... #1--EP, while a private citizen, really isn't when it comes to Iowa. He represents the Univ and FB program. He is the program to many of us. Like it or not. Right or wrong, it's the truth. #2--He made good money "off the FB program" through broadcasting, etc.. He was allowed to do what he loves...being close to the FB program. It's a privilige, not an entitlement. #3--As such, EP shoulders responsibility to not cast the Univ or FB program in a negative light. If the administration has said the leaders/representatives of the FB program (which he is) won't get stupid in public with alcohol, EP should have manned up and accepted that fact. You can disagree with the stance of the powers-to-be, but I think it was pretty clear what they expected. #4--To continually and habitually get hammered at FB-related events and on the Iowa campus is violating #3. What if KF or KOK did the same thing? #5--He's 61 years old for crying out loud and should have figured out #1 - #4 a long time ago. I'm decidely old school with a pretty black/white view on this....If I were to go out in a Navy uniform and continually get into brawls, cast the Navy in a negative light, and pass out while representing the Navy, I'd be counseled once. If I continally went against what I was told not to do, I would be drummed out in a matter of days. So, no, sorry, I don't find Univ-leadership hyprocisy or liberalism to be the issue here. I find the issue to be a 61 year-old man who should know that leaders/representatives need to 'act' in a certain way, and more sadly, has apparently chosen alcohol over Hawkeye football. I'm a young man, and in my life I have thought of two guys as the voices of the Hawks: Jim Zabel and Eddie Podolak. Dolph is kind of a douche. He's the Hawk Harrelson of Iowa announcers. I'm no Cubs fan, but bar fucking none, the greatest announcer of my lifetime in any sport has been Harry fucking Carey. No doubt. Eddie Podolak was the Hawks version of Harry Carey. The guy everybody knew enjoyed a refreshing Budweiser and was living life to the fullest. A real American hero. Eddie wasn't a state employee nor was he representing the Hawks in any official capacity whilst out drinking that night. He was just getting effed up and partying like most of us do. Contrary to your authoritarian beliefs, one need not choose boozing or the Hawkeyes, as if they were mutually exclusive, the vast majority of us choose boozing AND the Hawkeyes, which are complimentary. Newsflash - the Hawks don't represent Mormon repressionville Utah, they represent Iowa, a place where people like to drink. And there is a big god damned difference between Navy sailors and Ed Podolak acting the fool. You go to Yokosuka wearing a US Navy outfit and do something stupid and there is a chance that half the god damn free world will find out about it. You go to a hotel bar in Tampa, Florida and do something stupid when the Hawks are in town and there is a chance up to 5,000 rabid Iowa and Iowa State football fans will find out about it. There is a big fucking difference between a guy whose PART TIME job is holding a microphone getting drunk in front of a camera and a guy whose FULL TIME job is operating a nuclear sub that could wipe out half of a third world country getting drunk in front of a camera. |
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Post by twinegarden on Jan 15, 2009 23:21:52 GMT -6
Also Seth, while I can appreciate your "old school" approach and your comparison to the Navy...I don't find that completely applicable either. When you're in the Navy, that's a full time gig. That's what you live, breathe, and do. For EP, this was 4 months out of the year, on the weekends. My parallel to EP and KF was both are the 'face' of Iowa FB. Granted, EP to a lesser extent, but both represent the U and Iowa fB. And there's a certain way to act when you hold that position. EP chose booze over the Hawkeyes. Unless there was an ultimatum placed behind the scenes that we don't know about, I don't think he made the choice between his job as color commentary or booze. What I think happened is that Ed is living a good life and has been thinking about retiring from giving up 13 of his Saturdays for a couple of years. This story happened to come up and he decided that rather than making it a huge deal he thought it would be a good time to pass the hat to another young buck. There is a pretty good chance he may have been about ready to do that anyway. I'm sure Ed will continue to live it up and I wouldn't be overly suprised to see him in IC next year enjoying the fesivities like the rest of us do. It is kind of a win win situation, the U of I/Learfield can move on to a new color commentary guy during what should be a good year for the Hawks and Ed can move into retirement. I don't think this really tarnishes his legacy too much since he didn't do anything terribly wrong. If anything he will go down as the old school Hawkeye great who liked to party (I have seen him shitfaced many times and it is kind of annoying, for the record). It will be interesting to see who replaces him. I hope it isn't Jon Miller (he's probably hoping to get Dolphin's job eventually) and the way it sounds they want a former player anyway. |
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Post by Solar Stud on Jan 16, 2009 3:08:21 GMT -6
Oh why not....guess I'll weigh in.... #1--EP, while a private citizen, really isn't when it comes to Iowa. He represents the Univ and FB program. He is the program to many of us. Like it or not. Right or wrong, it's the truth. #2--He made good money "off the FB program" through broadcasting, etc.. He was allowed to do what he loves...being close to the FB program. It's a privilige, not an entitlement. #3--As such, EP shoulders responsibility to not cast the Univ or FB program in a negative light. If the administration has said the leaders/representatives of the FB program (which he is) won't get stupid in public with alcohol, EP should have manned up and accepted that fact. You can disagree with the stance of the powers-to-be, but I think it was pretty clear what they expected. #4--To continually and habitually get hammered at FB-related events and on the Iowa campus is violating #3. What if KF or KOK did the same thing? #5--He's 61 years old for crying out loud and should have figured out #1 - #4 a long time ago. I'm decidely old school with a pretty black/white view on this....If I were to go out in a Navy uniform and continually get into brawls, cast the Navy in a negative light, and pass out while representing the Navy, I'd be counseled once. If I continally went against what I was told not to do, I would be drummed out in a matter of days. So, no, sorry, I don't find Univ-leadership hyprocisy or liberalism to be the issue here. I find the issue to be a 61 year-old man who should know that leaders/representatives need to 'act' in a certain way, and more sadly, has apparently chosen alcohol over Hawkeye football. I'm a young man, and in my life I have thought of two guys as the voices of the Hawks: Jim Zabel and Eddie Podolak. Dolph is kind of a douche. He's the Hawk Harrelson of Iowa announcers. I'm no Cubs fan, but bar fucking none, the greatest announcer of my lifetime in any sport has been Harry fucking Carey. No doubt. Eddie Podolak was the Hawks version of Harry Carey. The guy everybody knew enjoyed a refreshing Budweiser and was living life to the fullest. A real American hero. Eddie wasn't a state employee nor was he representing the Hawks in any official capacity whilst out drinking that night. He was just getting effed up and partying like most of us do. Contrary to your authoritarian beliefs, one need not choose boozing or the Hawkeyes, as if they were mutually exclusive, the vast majority of us choose boozing AND the Hawkeyes, which are complimentary. Newsflash - the Hawks don't represent Mormon repressionville Utah, they represent Iowa, a place where people like to drink. And there is a big god damned difference between Navy sailors and Ed Podolak acting the fool. You go to Yokosuka wearing a US Navy outfit and do something stupid and there is a chance that half the god damn free world will find out about it. You go to a hotel bar in Tampa, Florida and do something stupid when the Hawks are in town and there is a chance up to 5,000 rabid Iowa and Iowa State football fans will find out about it. There is a big fucking difference between a guy whose PART TIME job is holding a microphone getting drunk in front of a camera and a guy whose FULL TIME job is operating a nuclear sub that could wipe out half of a third world country getting drunk in front of a camera. The 'part time' argument is lame. And I wasn't talking about working on a sub while drunk...I was talking about representing the Navy community in public in such a manner where you bring continued disrespect to the Navy. (or any other corporation...take your pick) Part time or not, he is a very visible, very well-known, nationally recognized face of the Iowa FB program. The very fact so many Hawkeye people are upset supports that notion. It doesn't matter that he's not recognized in Mongolia....it matters he is recognized by the hundreds of thousands which constitutes the Iowa fan base.And as such (repeating myself)....there's a responsibility to act a certain way when you're around the program. Being a drunken sot is not one of these, flying in the face of what the powers-to-be have dictated is not. You don't think Bobby Hanson wasn't given the same guidelines after his latest drunken adventure with a taxi cab driver in Burlington? If he was in Costa Rica imbibing, that's one thing. The fact of the matter is he was acting like a fool during a Hawkeye bowl week, around Hawkeye fans...so yes, he was once again acting childish while in the Iowa environment. We can debate for hours the holiness of the PC issue or whatever. Again, it is what it is and either you accept it or move on. But blaming everybody else for one's actions is the true mark of liberalism. (I for one was pissed when I heard the Iowa liberals blaming the university for the actions of some of the inner-city FB players because the Univ didn't have a "life counselor" to mentor these poor babies and that's why they went astray...give me a fucking break) Bottom line is....the corporate view from Iowa was he needed to tone it down. Like it or not, it is what it is. Either follow the corporate line or leave the corporation. The pictures simply encapsulated the continued actions the Univ was no longer going to tolerate from a person with his influence....part time or not. EP chose to not follow the corporate line and was asked to leave as a representative of the Iowa FB corporation. |
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Post by NOTTHOR on Jan 16, 2009 7:48:50 GMT -6
The 'part time' argument is lame. And I wasn't talking about working on a sub while drunk...I was talking about representing the Navy community in public in such a manner where you bring continued disrespect to the Navy. (or any other corporation...take your pick) Part time or not, he is a very visible, very well-known, nationally recognized face of the Iowa FB program. The very fact so many Hawkeye people are upset supports that notion. It doesn't matter that he's not recognized in Mongolia....it matters he is recognized by the hundreds of thousands which constitutes the Iowa fan base.And as such (repeating myself)....there's a responsibility to act a certain way when you're around the program. Being a drunken sot is not one of these, flying in the face of what the powers-to-be have dictated is not. You don't think Bobby Hanson wasn't given the same guidelines after his latest drunken adventure with a taxi cab driver in Burlington? If he was in Costa Rica imbibing, that's one thing. The fact of the matter is he was acting like a fool during a Hawkeye bowl week, around Hawkeye fans...so yes, he was once again acting childish while in the Iowa environment. We can debate for hours the holiness of the PC issue or whatever. Again, it is what it is and either you accept it or move on. But blaming everybody else for one's actions is the true mark of liberalism. (I for one was pissed when I heard the Iowa liberals blaming the university for the actions of some of the inner-city FB players because the Univ didn't have a "life counselor" to mentor these poor babies and that's why they went astray...give me a fucking break) Bottom line is....the corporate view from Iowa was he needed to tone it down. Like it or not, it is what it is. Either follow the corporate line or leave the corporation. The pictures simply encapsulated the continued actions the Univ was no longer going to tolerate from a person with his influence....part time or not. EP chose to not follow the corporate line and was asked to leave as a representative of the Iowa FB corporation. Yeah, I was talking about walking around Yokosuka and acting the fool, not on the sub. I'm glad you choose to imprede Eddie's freedom using an approach other than liberalism. The result is equally loathsome. Did Harry Carey offend you when he was around? People would see Harry Carey and maybe associate him with the Cubs. If Harry was drunk, they didn't say "Oh gee Mortimer, did you see Lord Carey, he was quite inebriated and his inebriation made me think twice about the Chicago Cubs. What kind of program would hire a person who drinks beer to announce baseball games? I do not believe I will procure season tickets next season." Then Randolph chimes in, while fainting "Oh, the outrage, a drinker announing a baseball game." The only people guys like this offend are ultra liberals who hate sports (they are easily offended anyway, by things like pink locker rooms and the mere thought of resources that could be given to victims of gender non-equalization policies in Bolivia being spent on football in the first place), holier than thou Christian ultra right wingers and player fucking haters. And this actually is about PC to some degree. Part of the PC liberal mentality isn't to stifle freedom through all kinds of laws that make it illegal to do things, it's to scare institutions into worrying about "oh God, what will people think?" See, e.g., Don Imus. Yes, the liberals really wanted to grant him freedom to express himself. This is the same - instead of looking at the facts and analyzing "the crime" here, which involved no illegal activity and no one being harmed, GarBar just looked at the pictures and said "Holy shit, Mabel the 92 year old from Oelwein who listens to the Hawks twice a year MIGHT be offended if she one day gets access to the internet and sees those pictures." How many people really were offended? How many people would have stopped listening to Iowa broadcasts? How many people would have stopped going to games? Did any of those same people demand that Lois Feldman be barred for life from entering Iowa sports venues? The University of Iowa is the State. If the University pressured Learfield to fire Eddie for drinking antics, I shudder to think how long until the feminists who run the University decide that alcohol has no place near Hawkeye football and confiscate your Crown. Guys like me and the other Wastelanders will fight that. You'll embrace it with open arms so as to not bring a negative light on to the Program and make us more like BYU and Utah, right comrade? |
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Jan 16, 2009 9:32:15 GMT -6
It would be interesting to see a large scale poll to see what Iowans think about the Podolak situation. I haven't heard from anybody (aside from the boards) that thinks he should be gone...of course the company you keep usually tends to be like-minded on social issues.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Jan 16, 2009 12:09:06 GMT -6
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. This past fall I did something very stupid and got a public intox. I am friends with my supervisor and co-workers on both Facebook and Myspace...so they eventually found out. They know I like to get down and dirty on the weekends...but they also know I'll be there Monday to kick ass. Hell, I didn't even object when you guys razzed me on HN with thousands of people reading. ;D If my supervisor wanted to get his panties up in a bunch and raise hell about my hijinks, I'm sure he could have...but why?  I do a hell of a job and put pride into my work. Now obviously, it's not completely apples to apples as I am no public figure. But one could say I certainly am a representative of my company when not at work. |
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Post by NotMyKid on Jan 16, 2009 12:10:17 GMT -6
It would be interesting to see a large scale poll to see what Iowans think about the Podolak situation. I haven't heard from anybody (aside from the boards) that thinks he should be gone...of course the company you keep usually tends to be like-minded on social issues. 60% of Iowans' would say Ed who? and I would guess the great majority of them wouldn't be offended or bothered with those 3 pictures. |
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Post by roxxstar on Jan 16, 2009 12:10:31 GMT -6
I don't think EP acted "childish". He was just getting drunk and some doucher snapped a picture with his cell phone and sold ol' Eddie out. Shitty luck, plain and simple. Same thing could have happened to anyone. The man did nothing wrong.
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Post by Solar Stud on Jan 18, 2009 8:45:04 GMT -6
I don't think EP acted "childish". He was just getting drunk and some doucher snapped a picture with his cell phone and sold ol' Eddie out. Shitty luck, plain and simple. Same thing could have happened to anyone. The man did nothing wrong. It's been my observation in my 50 years on this earth for the most part people make their own luck. |
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Post by Iowafan1 on Jan 18, 2009 12:14:52 GMT -6
I don't think EP acted "childish". He was just getting drunk and some doucher snapped a picture with his cell phone and sold ol' Eddie out. Shitty luck, plain and simple. Same thing could have happened to anyone. The man did nothing wrong. It's been my observation in my 50 years on this earth for the most part people make their own luck. Seth, as much as I agree 100% with that observation, I'm not sure if you're allowed to make that statement on this website without getting banned. |
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