Who are you calling a wuss?

"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything. If this was in China, do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."

- Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell on the postponement of a football game.

Short-timer Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell had some harsh words for the NFL, who saw fit to postpone the Eagles' scheduled Sunday night game against the homeless Vikings. Mayor Nutter, after all, declared a State of Emergency, and one would assume that football fans driving to a game during a snowstorm ... er, blizzard ... constitutes needless travel to at least a few people with whom they may collide. But I digress.

The Gov said that "we have become a nation of wusses" by not playing a game in the snow, wind and cold. I guess he said wusses because he couldn't say we were a bunch of pussies.

Football is seen by football fans as some sort of manly enterprise where you play in all sorts of conditions. Football games aren't cancelled merely because the fans may not be able to safely get to and from the game or they risk hypothermia if they do manage to attend.

It's easy for the Governor to say they should have played. He doesn't drive himself to the games, and he sits in a luxury box with food service and a big TV. It sounds like he ought to sit in the stands with the rest of the wusses. Never mind that SEPTA's Regional Rail system shut down and people were ordered to stay off the roads so that the plow crews could work, and the forecast was for 20 inches of snow. There's a football game to play.

His stupid proclamation was the lead story on ESPN's web site for a while, so now America thinks we have a dopey governor who cares more about some antiquated notion of masculinity instead of the safety of his constituents.

It's funny how some people see discomfort as a sign of toughness, as though sitting in the elements like a moron somehow makes you tougher. Tell that to your boss when you miss a day of work because you can't feel the ends of your fingers. You're entitled to spend $85 for a ticket and $25 to park your car, but if you decide to stay home because you might see $110 as a bad return on your investment, you're a wuss.

I wonder if that philosophy extends to taking an aspirin if you have a headache, wearing a jacket if you're cold, turning the air conditioner on if you're hot or wearing comfortable shoes so your feet don't hurt? Or does it only apply to something as important as football?

You wuss.