Sports Media - the public's message boards

There are two main "general" sports sites - CBSSportsline.com and ESPN. com. Each one posts news articles (as well as gossip articles posing as news) and allow people to comment.

And I often read these comments - some of the threads can get pretty long - more in sorrow than in anger.

It's interesting how people can see the exact same event and interpret it entirely differently, depending on their own prejudices and life experiences. For example a couple of years ago a football player named LaGarrette Blount had boasted that his team would win an upcoming game. Well, they lost the game and Blount didn't play very well. As BLount's team was walking off the field, a white player on the other team said something to him - not racially tinged, just laughing at him for having such a lousy game after he'd boasted his team would win.

The white player then looks away, and so never saw the punch that Blount threw at him - which knocked him unconscious. That is the definition of "cold-cocking" - hitting someone when they aren't looking. I've always thought that was a pretty cowardly thing to do.

But if you read the message board appended to the article reporting the incident, there were some who thought Blount was a thug who should never play football again, and indeed should be thrown in jail for assault, and you had others, equally serious, who said it the victim's fault because he had "asked for it." Trash talking goes on before, during and after games, with no violent reactions, but in this instance the guy had "asked for it" by trash talking and deserved what he got.

In the event, Blount was only suspended for six games and then returned to play with the team. This was because he was a good football player. If he'd been a bad player, you can bet he never would have set foot on the field again.

I'm reminded of a case many, many, many years ago. Some college baseball game. A batter, in the on-deck circle, was timing the pitcher, swinging the bat to try to match how soon the ball was getting to the plate and the current batter. For some reason, this irked the pitcher, who turned and threw a fastball at the guy in the ondeck circle - hitting him in the face, and blinding him in one eye. And thus ruining his baseball career - at least, the one he'd hoped to have.

Now, you would have thought that pitcher would have been thrown in jail for assault and attempted murder (it's one thing to accidently hit a batter whom you are trying to brush back, and who is looking at you and can see the ball coming and try to get out of the way, it's another to throw the ball at someone who isn't expecting the ball to be comng at him at all, and throw it at his head, as hard as you can, and with a fast ball pitcher that's pretty hard.)

This pitcher (Ben Christiansen) did not make it to the major leagues....but not because a major league team wouldn't sign him. He actually was given a minor league contract by the Chicago Cubs. But he injured his arm, and once he was no good, they let him go. But the fact that they'd even let him step onto a baseball field after what he'd done...

Sad.