What is going on with the Atlanta Braves these days?
This Roger McDowell incident is truly disturbing. Homophobic insults, crude gestures in front of children who have more right to enjoy a ballgame than us adults, no matter what McDowell may have said. One incident could be written off, but two separate despicable acts call for serious punishment, which I hope the Braves quickly hand out. The situation is made even worse by McDowell’s refusal to take full responsibility for his reaction, blaming fans for instigating the fight. Even if that’s true, and I don’t have any problem believing that obnoxious fans could have been the instigators, McDowell has absolutely no right resorting to such a vulgar, threatening response.
Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised to hear about Derek Lowe's DUI arrest. I'm starting to believe that baseball has a serious drinking problem on its hands and that Bud Selig has to insist on a stringent punishment and treatment program during the upcoming negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The Braves of old were pretty classy guys. I still vividly remember the gracious interview John Smoltz gave even though he had just lost Game 4 of the 1999 World Series to the New York Yankees, completing the sweep by the Bronx Bombers. I hope that these incidents don't portend a trend of them losing that class, but it looks like the Braves have to quickly get their house back in order.
Thanks to Chrisjnelson via Wikipedia for the McDowell photo.
No comments:
Post a Comment