Though they’ve yet to get into a full-blown Twitter catfight (or an in-studio wrestling match), a feud is brewing between Jim Rome and Bills receiver Terrell Owens.
Rome ripped Owens’ unreality show in legendary fashion during Tuesday’s Jim Rome Is Burning on ESPN, based on the recent report from John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal that the much-hyped debut of The T.O. Show landed at No. 798 in the cable television ratings for the week, tied with a 5:00 a.m. showing of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Rome concluded his take by saying to Owens, “Smell ya later.”
Owens took to Twitter to respond, in a three-part attack.
Part 1: “FYI: jim rome talks bad about me b/c i wn’t do his show!! lmpo!! let him keep talkin, still wn’t do it, we’ll c whn i hv season 2!!”
(Translation: “Jim Rome talks bad about me because I won’t do his show! Let him keep talking, I still won’t do it. We’ll see when I have season two!”)
Part 2: “hey jimmy romeo! sorry u cn’t discouraged me or my show, i’m 2 strong 4 u & plus grandmama told me there r people n the world like u! ;-)”
(Translation: “Hey, Jimmy Romeo! Sorry you can’t discourage me or my show. I’m too strong for you and plus grandmama told me there are people in the world like you!”)
Part 3: “so jimmy romeo! yo homes, smell u ltr!! keep the hatorade coming! ;-)”
(Translation: “So Jimmy Romeo! Yo holmes, smell you later! Keep the Haterade coming!”)
Meanwhile, Ourand has reported via Twitter that the second episode of The T.O. Show tied for 862nd in the weekly cable ratings, placing it just behind a 3:30 a.m. showing of Brandy and Mr. Whiskers on The Disney Channel.
Owens has offered up a self-serving explanation for the situation, also via Twitter: “those ratings r misleading, it’s based on a special box tht calculates those ratings n which every household doesn’t have.”
Right, not every household has the “special box” used by the Nielsen folks to determine the ratings numbers. But the Nielsen “special box” is placed in enough houses so that statistically reliable projections can be made about who’s watching a given show.
And who isn’t.
Regardless of whether and to what extent the numbers are accurate, they are universally accepted in the television industry as the tool for determining which shows are successful.
And which ones aren’t.
But in the inherently delusional world that is T.O. Land, the player apparently has been able to convince himself that he has sufficiently saturated the homes that don’t have the “special box.”
Perhaps because people with “special boxes” are “haters.”