My boss Tom Waseleski has beat me to the punch in his "A Fine Point" blog today ("A Parade of Egos"). It seems that he and I were moved by the same thought concerning the Steelers. While he sees discourteous and self-absorbed players - and he may be right - I see them more as wasting a grand occasion.
A caution: This blog is about a modern trend. In my view, it is not really about the Steelers - I'll pause for a moment now as dozens of disappointed readers rush for the exits - but this was inspired by the behavior of several Steelers players.
These were the Steelers who were photographed getting off the plane in Tampa and using their little video cameras to capture the scene. They were back at it during Tuesday's victory parade, filming everything in sight.
They are free to film whatever the heck they like, but I wonder whether years hence they will regret standing at one remove from the scene. Instead of seeing the spectacle with their own eyes, they put the camera between themselves and reality.
Santonia Holmes had his own way of distancing himself through technology - the front page picture in the PG this morning shows him holding up his Super Bowl MVP trophy with his ears plugged in to what is presumably an i-pod, maybe playing tunes. I can only suppose that the music of the crowd on this rare and wonderful occasion was not enough for him.
In the case of the video filmers, they at least will have a record of the moment - they just won't have lived it enough, busy as they were filming. Worse yet, filming something doesn't mean you will ever watch it more than once.
When my daughter Allison and my son Jim played lacrosse, I took endless videos of them running around the field. These I would watch once and hardly ever watch again. I'd love to have that time back, so I could see their games again without the little rectangle of the view finder framing my vision and my memories.
This is just a tip for any of you out there who are thinking of being in a Super Bowl.
Posted
Feb 04 2009, 05:14 PM
by
Reg Henry