Here are some of your Grrrs written in from cyberspace.
Wylierr on AB: Mike, I highly agree that the Anheuser-Busch commercial was, by far, the best during the Super Bowl. As a military wife, it is so nice to see such a major corporation dedicate time and money to our troops. I wish more would do it. FYI, Anheuser-Busch is also offering free passes to our military and their families to their amusement parks for 2005. Heaven knows the military supports Anheuser-Busch products :), and thank you to AB for supporting our military!
April K in Bentonville, Ark.: My Grrr! right now goes out to all the folks who wrote to you in the name of Christianity and condemned you for your opinion. I read it to mean that some even told you about hell. May I say that as a Christian myself, it is disturbing to see so many people worried about whether or not others condemn the movie "The Passion." Christ himself is not worried about whether or not the Academy thinks his life story or any portion of it is good enough for a little gold statue, which if I'm not mistaken just might be considered an idol in his mind. Nor is he be proud to hear so many people angry over that fact telling others they will be going to hell because they found the movie violent, gory or anything else. That is not/was not Christ's purpose. Grrrr! to all those people who are more concerned with being right and condemning others than simply being moved and reminded of what all Christ went through on our behalf. Thank you, Mike, for keeping your head on straight and seeing the movie, in my opinion, in very good sense and voicing your opinion and reminding us that Christ certainly would not care about that little idol, er, statue.
KC in JAX Beach writes: What a bunch of over-grown babies. Complaining about the hotel rooms and the traffic. HEY! You get paid to cover the biggest sporting event of the year! Furthermore, maybe you should actually cover the sporting event and not be so concerned with how long it took you to get a taxi to the Maxim Party. No, we're not Miami, and we're not New Orleans, but we don't want to be. Kudos to Paul Tagliabue for wanting there to be a broader market to the smaller, big cities for such events. And finally, to "The Sports Guy" from ESPN — you're not a celebrity so don't act like one.
Rita from Cyberspace: After reading your column of February 1st I could hardly wait for this week's column. I knew that the readers would heartily share their opinion concerning your article about "The Passion". I was not disappointed. A few of the readers actually showed intelligence in their commentary. Whether they mentioned if they were Christian or not, they responded to your opinion of "The Passion" and the content of your article and gave their reasons why they either agreed or disagreed with your opinion but they did not preach. But the rest ... well, they exhibited exactly the kind of response I expected. They accused you of not having a proper belief or enough faith, and above all, for not having exactly the same faith and beliefs as they (the readers) did. Maybe they didn't notice your comment, "to remind us of what Jesus went through to save our souls. Well maybe. But I already knew that. My whole life is based around that fact." It was unfortunate that they had to stoop to bashing a fellow Christian. But even a few of those readers that spent their time bashing you still got to the point and gave their opinion of your article. Bashing your fellow Christians was exactly the kind of action that drove me away from Christianity and I am not surprised to see that repeated over and over. What does surprise me is the use of much more force and accusation than when I was a target. An intelligent person would think to remember that honey draws many more flies than vinegar. As I remember it, Jesus taught love, patience and kindness for your fellow human being. Many of these letters did not show Christian thinking, let alone a real belief. Anyway Mike, I would like to agree with your opinion of "The Passion" and the Oscars. As you said, "Grrr! on making Jesus sport for finger-pointing and petty gold statues."
Marisa Joy in Cloverdale, CA: I completely agree with you that the best commercial of the Super Bowl was the Anheuser-Busch commercial applauding our troops. My eyes teared up watching it as my heart swelled with pride. My twin sister Jessamyn has been in Baghdad, Iraq for a year with the California National Guard. You better believe that on this upcoming Saturday morning, I will be applauding her and her fellow military members as they exit their plane at San Francisco International Airport. Welcome home twinny, and thank you to all of you who proudly and selflessly serve this great nation.
D Tilley in Cyber-Space: I agree with your assessment of the salute to the troops commercial. My only regret is that something like that wasn't done when our troops were coming home from Vietnam. They were just like troops today, trying their best to do their duty and make it home alive. God Bless 'em all.
Brian in Houston, TX: A GRRRR to all of those who decided to lambaste you for your opinion about "The Passion" not getting an Oscar nod. It's fine and dandy to disagree with Mike's opinion, but to read his article and then decide that he's not a Christian and then attack him as such and tell him how he needs to find Jesus and how it's so obvious that he is angry because he hasn't found him. Did you REALLY read his article??? Everything he said in that article told me that he is a person of faith and that he has a belief in Jesus Christ as his Lord. Thanks to all the Christian Oblivions for proving once again why it's so hard to get people to come to church — because they're afraid of people like you. As my pastor says when he talks about people who won't come to church because those church people are hypocrites: "Come on in, we can use a couple more," 'cause we're all hypocrites. I'm a Christian myself, and I agree with Mike that the goal of "The Passion" is not to get an Oscar. As the Bible tells us, "Do not lay up treasures for yourself here on earth, but lay up treasures in Heaven," because that's what it's all about, our heavenly rewards. Mel Gibson couldn't care less what the Academy thinks about his film, but I'll bet he cares much more if that film leads one more person to Christ. I know that's how Jesus sees it.
Gretchen in New Hampshire: I have to agree with your assessment of the halftime show this year. Last year's show was a fiasco, and not just because of the "wardrobe malfunction" (grrrr on that term). Not every spectator is a teeny boppin' boy-band follower, and for the past several years, I have found the halftime show offensive. This year, it was simple, understated and therefore much more enjoyable to watch. And for the first time in many years, I actually watched the whole thing instead of making snacks!
Bob V in Hampton, VA: Grrrrr to the directors of the Super Bowl. I don't know about you, but in the old days of Howard and Dandy Don, I could mute the sound and I didn't have to put up with the verbal ping-pong and "can you top this?" color commentary. Now, I envision a director in a control room somewhere near the stadium snapping his fingers every 4 to 5 seconds, cueing another picture-in-picture "background story" or crawling banner or "zooming" NASCAR racers at the bottom and sides of the picture ... something I call visual BLING. How about just letting us watch the game? And what about the background music and crowd noise? The commentators were screaming in their mikes to be heard. Another good thing taken way too far. Grrr!
Keith in Norfolk, VA: OK, the game is history and it was decent enough, but my Grrrrr is the Roman numerals they use. How can I have a cold one with a buddy and argue about who should have been MVP in game XXXIII (It was Elway)? What's wrong with using our normal numbering system? In NASCAR it isn't the VIII car (Earnhardt Jr.) passing the XXIV car (Gordon). It's the 8 passing the 24 car. And they will call it the 2005 Daytona 500, not the MMV Daytona D. OK, if that's all I have to Grrr about today, maybe it will be a good day ... of course I haven't hit traffic yet. Have a good one!
L Bennett, Burlington, IA: I could never understand how the movie people ("stars") became such snobs — I mean, they put their pants on just like everyone else ... but now I get it! My 15-year-old niece was chosen to be in a commercial, (which she was very excited about) — but during a break, she went to stand by the "extras" and was quickly escorted away. She was told she didn't have to be by "them." Then she was given a special seat and food/drink/whatever she wanted, while the extras were treated like unwanted step-children. Are they trying to make my sweet niece into a diva? Without extras could there be a commercial? She is just a regular girl who loves to act — she's not out there protecting our country from terrorists or going to work everyday teaching kids to read and write ... it's a commercial for heaven's sake ... get a grip! Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.
Mike Straka is the director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and contributes as a features reporter on "FOX Magazine," and as a news cut-ins anchor on FOX News Channel. Mike also appeared in Analyze This. Read Mike's Bio.
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