Giants vs. 49ers: NY Post Stars General Coughlin as G-Men Prep Bay Area Battle

The New York Post went too far with their portrayal of New York Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin.

The NFC championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Giants is going to be quite a fight, but the Post took that a bit too literally—featuring Coughlin as a war general on the cover.

I'm all for fun with pictures and photoshopping different heads onto other peoples' bodies and all that jazz, but to be frank, I'm feeling a little bit strange about this picture.

Football is often times compared to war as far as the battles on the field are concerned and the strategies that the coaches implement before and during a game, but this is taking it too far.

What is the popular phrase coined by the boys over at ESPN again?

Oh, that's right.

C'Mon man!

Maybe I'm taking this a little bit too seriously, but, if anything, this picture brings up a point that is worth discussing.

Isn't it about time we stopped taking war references in sports so lightly?

War is serious business, and there are far too many people that are impacted by it on a daily basis. How many people you know have loved ones off fighting overseas, or how many of your loved ones are putting their lives on the line right now to keep us safe?

I have a feeling those people take their jobs very seriously, as do their loved ones. We shouldn't be comparing something as trivial as a football game, or a coach, to the seriousness of war.

To make it even worse, they boldly print the words "blood and guts" right alongside of him.

I shouldn't have to even explain why this can be offensive.

I know and understand that the Post wasn't doing this to offend anyone, so this isn't an attack against them. I'm more so just trying to put the feelers out on this topic to see where everybody is at with it.

In war, life and freedom is on the line. In football, a trophy, tons of money and a point spread is on the line. But ultimately, it's just entertainment.

You could say that our troops are fighting so that we can have journalistic freedom to do stuff like this—and to a certain extent, I agree—but I also can't help feeling that we are almost taking everything that they do for us extremely lightly when we start comparing a game to war and a football coach to a general.

Yes, it's just an illustration, and yes, it does accurately describe the general theme of football, but I'd rather err on the side of respect in this case.

We're living in a day and age that is so focused on being politically correct, so I have to imagine that comparing a sport to war must ruffle some feathers.

To be frank, I think it should.