Jeff Garcia’s Arm Is Sore. Or Not.

This whole thing about Jeff Garcia's sore arm is really getting out of hand. Now Stephen Holder is defending the Times against what Garcia said about his arm not being sore. Ugh. How is this a story?

Look, Jon Gruden made a comment about Garcia's arm being sore just like any quarterback's arm would be if it has played in nine games. I think that's a pretty reasonable assumption, but one that Gruden probably didn't clear with Garcia first. Then Garcia gets to the podium the next day and is bombarded by questions about his arm. Of course if this is the first time he's hearing about it, he's going to be defensive. He doesn't know what he should or shouldn't say, so it's best to just say that everything is fine. I'm guessing after the conference, the two of them had a talk and decided that the less said, the better. End of story.

It's all about a miscommunication (or, more precisely, a lack of communication) between Gruden and Garcia. It doesn't reflect on the Times at all because they have the quotes. All they had to do was juxtaposition them together and let the readers take from it what they want. It's not like last time where the Times was diagnosing medical conditions based on loose descriptions and a WebMD search. That was irresponsible.

I think it's safe to say that none of this matters from a game perspective. Garcia had a week off to rest and I wouldn't anticipate any change in the gameplan due to some weakness in his arm.

I respect Holder, but I don't like this angle where we're all supposed to feel sorry for reporters.

So, what 's a reporter to do? Well, generally, you leave well enough alone. You pick your battles in this business. But the problem is that you, the reader, may be left wondering about our credibility after episodes like this.

Waaaaaaaahhhh!! I won't get into a whole rant about how the modern day American media is fucking the country because it would be political and depressing and this blog is supposed to be about football and tits. But don't expect a shred of pity or sympathy from me because a coach and a player got together and decided you needed less information and that your credibility may suffer as a result. No, I take that back. Not credibility, because the Times is established enough to where none of this will affect its credibility in any way. It's about ego. It's almost like Jeff Garcia personally called you a liar and instead of just falling back on the facts, you have to start flailing your arms in defense.

It can be tough not only for us but for a reader to decipher what's what. We'll just keep trying to give you as much information as possible. You're all smart enough to make sense of it all for yourselves.

You used ten paragraphs to tell me you're going to let me figure it out for myself? Come on. I don't think any reporter on the Times staff is brazen enough to just make up quotes from Gruden or Garcia out of thin air. I'm pretty sure you're reporting quotations accurately. And you're right! Look what I did above. I came to a conclusion all on my own just based on those quotes. But just the fact that you felt the need to spell it out for me in a blog entry lets me know that you don't really think I'm smart enough to connect the dots.

Hey, speaking of football and tits, let's lighten the mood with a cheerleader pic! Here's Tiffany. She's hot, and probably has other characteristics as well. The sexy pose says she's in the mood, but the serious stare and the bottle with the skull-and-crossbones says that she'll probably kill you when she's done.