Cowherd, Cromartie, and the ad hominem attack

Colin Cowherd responded to Antonio Cromartie's comments on the contract situation in the NFl by launching a personal attack on him. He called him the laughing stock of the NFL. He made reference to Cromartie's nine children by eight women in six states. He mentioned the comments Cromartie made about Tom Brady. He basically called him a waste of skin and bone. Rather than address the message, Cowherd attacked the messenger. This is a classic example of an ad hominem fallacy. Cromartie may not be a wonderful human being and he isn't particularly articulate, but that doesn't mean that his comments about the NFL Players Union and the labor negotiations with the League don't have some truth to them. It certainly doesn't mean that his comments shouldn't be refuted with the use of logic and reason. Colin Cowherd indulges in these sorts of arguments all the time. The people who agree with him are successful, smart, and hard working and the people who disagree with him are sloppy and slovenly failures who live at home with their mothers. It's an approach based on insults and put downs. In the world of sports radio it is just annoying. Unfortunately it isn't confined to sports radio. We, as listeners, need to do our part to make sure it's confined to middle school. We need to make it clear that we aren't swayed by these sorts of argument in any context. If we don't, we'll keep hearing them.