Dane Cook: Hate him or love him? New York Times can't decide
Monday, October 22, 2007
The crack We Rite Goode staff is up at the crack of
No, not the Indians' collapse (nor the hubris of Pedro Cerrano, licking his wounds today).
Not Paul Byrd's chiseled physique. Not allegations that LeBron's hat nor Chief Wahoo's red-faced racism may have cost the Indians a World Series trip.
Nope. We're drawn--despite all logic, all common sense--to one man.
Mr. Good Luck Chuck--Mr. D to the C.--Dane freakin' Cook.
We know, we know. This isn't news; as early as July, the sports blogs already issued a collective "WTF?" to Cook as postseason spokesperson (Special notice for PostmanE of FanHouse/We Are the Postmen, who has been all over this story like Woodstein on Watergate...and even SNL mocked the commercials, which is saying something.)
Yet.
It's one thing when the blogs and an aging, unfunny TV show are poking holes. It's another when the New York Times starts paying attention. Which one of the authors of "Freakonomics" did last week. True, Stephen Dubner doesn't say what prompts him to plumb the mystery of Dane Cook's ubiquitous success. But given the timing, and Dubner's status as a self-confessed sports fan, we're guessing he and PostmanE have similar stimulus-reflex patterns.But just as we're about to write Cook off...no, that's not true--we wrote him off a long time ago.
But just as we're beyond sick of Dane Cook's postseason presence, the Times--putting actual sports writer Murray Chass on the case, sticking the story above-the-fold in yesterday's Sports section--now tells us that the commercials are all about love. Love of a team (the Red Sox), love of a game. Love of a father, who lost any hopes of a baseball career to serve in Korea.
(Or in Cook's words, there's only one team, one game, and one father. Read the one nice article about him here).
Even if the article flatters as much as it reports, it doesn't turn Cook into some free-commercial-making saint, at least in this corner. But it's not his fault the commercials are being shoved down our throats. (It is his fault they're not funny.)
However. The Times convinces us of one thing: Cook really is a fan, the kind of guy who rushes through work to watch his favorite team in a crucial game, or wants nothing more than to get box seats during a playoff push. And who can despise a guy for that?
Yes, we now like Dane Cook a little bit. It's a sad day for the blog.
Labels: Cleveland Indians, Dane Cook, New York Times, Pedro Cerrano
posted by Crucifictorious @ 04:56,
3 Comments:
-
At October 22, 2007 at 10:03 AM,
Jarrett said...
-
Well, there goes any shot you all had of getting a shout out from Bill Simmons...
And there goes any shot I had for opening my big mouth. -
At October 22, 2007 at 12:20 PM,
said...
-
It's not a secret that Dane Cook is a big sports fan...He writes on his website all kinds of messages about the BoSox.
-
At October 22, 2007 at 4:26 PM,
Crucifictorious said...
-
Jarrett, if Simmons doesn't give us the love when we rise to his defense, something tells me he'll overlook this post too. Glad we're dragging you down, too.
nym77, knowing that would require visiting Dane Cook's website--and that's not a step we're prepared to take.
