localyokel;1529812; said:
2) Few things in media burn me up more than hearing yet another antisocial punk mouthing yet another hollow, disingenuous apology. Seems like, for many people in this culture, as much value is placed on mumbling "my bad" as it is on making rational, productive choices to being with. One commentator went so far as to suggest a 1-game suspension would suffice, since Blount "apologized". Like that changes anything. If you choose to accept his mea culpa, knock yourself out. You can take it to the bank and stash it in your safe deposit box with your other treasures, right between that moldy wad of Confederate money and those I.O.U.'s from Bernie Madoff.
3) A number of people, in media and online, have alluded to Blount being "provoked" as a mitigating factor in this incident. And, yeah, the BSU player did tag him and say something to Blount first. We all know the variations of this excuse because we learned them on the kindergarten playground: "He started it." "He made me do it."
Accepting this excuse would be fine if there were not at the core of it an enormous, destructive lie. The lie is that anyone else, by word or by deed, can actually control what you feel. When Blount went ballistic last night, he did so because of what he felt. His insanely violent outburst was not a function of any other person's conduct. It was his response to the events around him.
It is true of Blount as it is true of every other person on the planet: the buttons other people can push in you are your buttons. The emotional energy you experience when those buttons are pushed is yours. It's not the other guy. It's never the other guy. It's you. You own it. Someone else's misdeed may have originally caused that trigger in you, but however unjust it seems, it's yours now. It is no one else's responsibility to deal with but yours. You can't wish, pray, or deed ownership of it away to others. If you have not chosen to develop control over your response to your triggers being pushed, that is no one's fault but your own. It doesn't matter that your reaction seems instantaneous. It's your reaction. You own that, too. If you don?t choose to cultivate control over your responses then you dang well better be ready to own the consequences.
The argument is solid, and the kindergarten analogy - in a vacuum - makes sense. The problem is that they (the administration) have bitten the hand that feeds them (the players that make the game what it is).
There are two ways to view this issue, really. One camp will claim that an athlete should never, under any circumstances in the field of play, raise his hand in anger against an official, coach, fan, or fellow player. These people are virtuous and steadfast in their beliefs because they live in [censored]ing fantasy world.
Then there's the other sect of the population that lives in the
real world and accounts for the natural instincts and reactions of the human animal. We allow that the people from whom we expect great things are also capable of the opposite. They are flawed, as we are. They get frustrated, and - when provoked - they lash out.
I get angry when I get cut off in traffic. It's a basic, puerile function--it's hardly worth mentioning. Yet I imagine that most people here can relate to the fury caused by losing such a 'battle' in everyday life.
Now imagine yourself in that scenario, needing to get someplace and being thoughtlessly impeded. More than that, the person who just ruined your whole [censored]ing day gives you a wry smile and - just for kicks - flips you the bird...
"[censored] you, guy. You just lost."
I'll be honest--I go ballistic. Perhaps I'm weak that way. I know people who don't experience that level of anger, and I understand them about as much as I understand organic chemistry.
My point is that I don't imagine LeGarrette Blount and I are much different in this respect. I sympathize with him in that if I were ever in his position, I would probably have reacted in much the same way. Frankly, I think my one regret - were I him - would be that I hadn't reacted
sooner--that I hadn't
swung more immediately.
I'm appalled that Blount is losing the rest of his season. As I said before, I thought a punishment was necessary, but this blows me away. It saddens me that the governing bodies feel the need to act so swiftly. Is it not conceivable that we learn more about this incident in the coming week? What if it's reported that Mr. Whitefolks (the BSU player) spat a racial epithet? Not only will all the self-righteous media sh!teaters calling for Blount's career have to eat their
own sh!t, we'll also have to seriously reflect on the fact that we vilified an amateur athlete for being just that...an amateur.
You want a schoolyard analogy? I've got another one for you. Who here ever got in trouble for being the last person to do something wrong? Johnny shot a rubber band at Billy, and Billy fired it at me. I grabbed it and shot it at Tommy, and
that's the shot the [censored]ty teacher sees. Here I am in the principal's office, while those other three assholes are off playing kickball and drinking Capri Sun. Only the teacher didn't really see it--he's operating on the evidence brought to him by the
[censored]ing camera team reporting my every goddamn move.
Just my opinion.