Of the Giants, Body Language, and Dead Girls
Yesterday I promised to say something nice about Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Here it is: He's not the worst coach in the history of football.
Okay, I feel better.
Today, on page one below the fold, the Times runs one of the stupidest articles ever written, called "Language of a Losing Team? Read Their Bodies."
In the article, the Times showed a videotape of the Giants' ghastly loss on Sunday to two "experts" on body language, two women who admittedly know next to nothing about football.
Among the expert conclusions:
—When wide receiver Plaxico Burress stopped running for a pass that was subsequently intercepted, “It was an indication he had given up."
When Jeremy Schockey curses and screams, "It makes me blush." Also, he looks "mean and very tough."
When it's apparent that the Giants are completely choking, coach Tom Coughlin looks upset. "The guy is suffering."
Whereas winning quarterback Vince Young is "so joyous, so joyful. You can feel his joy just watching him."
One suspects that body language expert Maxinne Fiel would indeed like to feel his joy.
The article attempts to imitate Malcolm Gladwell's pop sociology, but shows only that Gladwell's techniques are harder than they look, and that executed poorly, they are inane. (Or, perhaps, that Gladwell's skill as a writer ably masks their inanity.)
But here's another reason why this may be the stupidest article ever printed on the Times' front page. It replaces far more important news.
In Iraq yesterday, U.S. troops inadvertently killed five girls, including a baby.
How can we win a war in which we are killing girls and infants?
That news appears in the Times on page A16....
