Did you ever meet someone who is so desperate to be successful, and try very, very hard to mimic other successful people, but at every step along the journey he ends up falling flat on his face? Well that person is no one other than Alex Reimer.
Reimer really shouldn't be this high up on the 13 Reasons Why list and wasn't until last Friday. He was a relatively tame, but when he decided, against better judgement, to call Tom Brady's young five-year-old daughter "an annoying pissant," Reimer took the express elevator straight to jerk-status.
What he said was indefensible. Rule number one of being a talk-show personality is, not only do you not go after family members of public people - especially children, but you also don't go after those who can't defend themselves. Brady's young daughter, Vivian, is five years old. All she wants is daddy's attention, and play soccer with her babysitter. You don't go after that innocence.
It doesn't matter how talented Reimer is as a writer, and sports radio personality, according to Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley, he killed all that, and possibly his career, with a foolish choice of words late last week.
Reimer sees the success Kirk Minihane has attained with his eccentric, outlandish outbursts, that have gotten him into trouble occastionally, on WEEI's morning show Kirk & Callahan, and Reimer wants that. He wants to be Kirk, so he acts like him.
When you take a step back and really realize that's what Reimer wants, it's incredibly sad. He's a 24-year-old kid, fresh out of Boston University, who already experience a good chunk of success and was on the right path, but he was not there yet. He is not at Kirk's level yet. He doesn't have the experience Kirk or Gerry Callahan have to have that acerbic wit. But yet he desperately wants it.
In Reimer's case, you have to feel sorry for him. He's not really a jerk, he's just doesn't have the self-awareness yet. He's a 24-year-old kid.
Good commentary
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