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July 26, 2005
Why is Michael Waltrip Wearing Shorts On INC So Offensive to Some?
Just a random thought that occured to me and this is the space for it. Michael Waltrip wore shorts last night on Inside Nextel Cup because he had been at a charity golf outting out of state prior to the show's taping and didn't have time to change into long pants. The last time Michael wore shorts on INC they were ridiculously short and it looked like he was sitting there in his underwear so I can understand why it caused an uproar back then and led the producers to say that the panel always had to wear long pants. But on yesterday's show the length of the shorts was appropriate and given that Michael has nice muscular legs he looked fine. So I don't understand why some are freaking out that he wore shorts again.
If Leeann Tweeden can be on Nascar Nation with her boobs half hanging out and she and the other female host wear clothes that are as tight as possible, what's the problem with Michael showing a little leg? Seriously, both men and women wear shorts all the time in hot weather. There's nothing offensive about a bare male leg. And it's a complete double-standard for Leeann to be able to show, and probably be encouraged to show, as much bare flesh as possible, but it's not okay for Michael. The worst part is that Leeann and her co-host are deliberately being dressed in a way to attract viewers on the basis of the way that they look while Michael is simply showing up to film the show in what he was wearing earlier in the day.
Yes, I get the point that INC is a different kind of show than NN. But INC is still a fairly casual show. Some are saying that Michael is deliberately showing a lack of respect for the show and everyone else on it. Huh? Yeah, maybe at some point he could have grabbed pants to change into. But I'm guessing at 6 a.m. he and whoever went with him wasn't exactly giving too much thought about what he needed to do for INC.
The problem is that there are some people who dislike Michael so strongly that they are going to look for anything they can find to criticize him about. Every driver and player has anti-fans like that. Things that other fans give no thought to become a huge offense to these fans because it somehow "proves" what they percieve to be the worst about the athlete they can't stand. Meanwhile, often what they make into a huge issue is really nothing at all. I suppose that's true to a degree for everyone that some things are pet peeves that irk one person but go unnoticed to the next person. But when it comes to athletes it appears that some things are magnified even more.
Posted by silverdsl at July 26, 2005 04:26 PM