As a proud member of Red Sox nation and a fair-weather fan of OUR New England Celtics, I've become very disappointed of the regional media. Last week our former MVP 2nd baseman was spiked by a Baltimore runner ,which appeared to me to be accidental. The talking heads
began to talk
:
" We need a 'payback' who are WE going to hit
?" was said over, and over, and over
Two days later the 'payback' came. The 'spiker' was nearly beaned by a head-hunting pitcher. The pitcher was quickly
tossed, but the talking heads again began to talk. On Monday night's rematch, the following was discussed :
" 'We' should have only gone after his (the 'spiker') hip or knee as payback
"
....then our MVP-runnerup was hit (on the hip) and the discussion deteriorated into :
"Now we need to 'payback', who should we go after to hit and where should we hit him
"
On the hardwood, the Celt's star who had just lost his sister, lost a tooth in Sunday's game. Basketball is much more of a contact sport than baseball and sometimes that happens. The talking heads joined in on that one, too :
"In game two, who should 'we' go after, who should 'we' make pay
"
The non-dentist dental extraction appeared to be accidental to me, too.
IMHO, professional athletes are supposed to set a good example for the youth of America.
IMHO, media coverage should encourage that good example, not paint retaliation as accepted protocol.
IMHO, from Little League, Pop Warner, through high school many kids try to emulate their heroes. Looking for revenge over victory should NEVER be accepted protocol.
The late Shawn Walsh coached the U-Maine ice hockey team to two NCAA championships. In his first year here, his star player was ejected for fighting -NCAA requires a one game suspension. When asked by the media how he'll be missed for one game, his response was ;
"No, he'll be missed for TWO games. I have a team rule that when you put your values (retaliation) above the values of our team, you'll sit for another game." The message was heard and national championships did follow.
IMHO, that's the message to send to our youth, not that it is your duty to retaliate if a teammate is hurt. Victories and championships will be remembered long after 'paybacks' are forgotten. I realize that in today's 24/7 news/weather/sports coverage, sometimes the media runs out of new things to talk about, but making a mountain out of a molehill (ole' Mainer saying) on this issue only sends bad messages to today's youngsters. Let's "accent the positive and remove the negative" (I believe that's an ole' Frank Sinatra song).
IMHO, our beloved game of football represents the ultimate of contact sports of youngsters. Keeping 'paybacks' and the like needs to be totally absent on the gridiron and it needs to be
reflected in other youth sports ,too.
DISCLAIMER : These are NOT opinions of the NFHS, NCAA, MLB. NBA, NFL, MPA, ASPCA, AFL/CIO and such; but merely the mutterings of a grumpy ole' umpire who just learned another game was rained out.
PLAY TO WIN, NOT TO SIN
