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Requiem for Roger Clemens
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Roger Clemens, the latest victim of the Inquisition of Public Opinion.Roger Clemens, the latest victim of the mass-murderer known as mass-media.
Roger Clemens, the latest victim of an athlete's hubris gone horribly awry.
Let me say first that I have hated and will in the future hate Roger Clemens simply because I don't like the guy, and when I was a kid he threw a piece of a bat at my favorite player and then said he thought it was the ball. But I digress.
Roger Clemens probably made a few mistakes in the past. As someone who really does not give a damn if an athlete wants to destroy their body in the name of records, stats, athletic greatness, it's hard for me to condemn him for what he may have done in the past. I do think it is interesting that the best hitter of all-time and arguably the best pitcher of all-time were both roided out of their gourds; take that lesson to heart, kids.
But the mistakes Roger may or may not have made in the past will be judged, at the appropriate time at the appropriate place. Which gets me to my first point: the so-called "court" of public opinion.
Now, I understand that people simply are going to form opinions about what goes on in the public around them, be it opinions about politics, sports, entertainment, religion, etc. Look at what I'm doing right here. The problem is that public opinion has gone too far. Our collective opinions no longer form a court but an inquisition. Go on any sports blog or message board and look at all the messages written by people about these athletes. The mass condemns them; the few say hold judgement. It's funny; the mass, throughout history, has always been the quickest to condemn, and then in turn the quickest to make bad choices.
Once again, I'm not saying I think that these men are innocent. The simple physical changes in their bodies and freak productino during years that are normally declines for most players would point at some illicit help from steroids. But I don't know for sure. So I withhold my opinion.
The inquisition of public opinion was probably originally a court, where Joe and Bob and Ray and Martin and Jane and Julio came to shoot the shit and discuss the a-doin's that were a -goin' on in this here spaceship earth. But then came a power so great and terrible, it transformed us all. In particular, it gave us, the audience, a power and a voice we never had before. Our musings became blasted through the world over blogs, cell phones, streaming video, and so on. As the technology grew, this dark power grew more and more out of control, as we grew drunker and lazier within its warm embrace....yes, I speak of the media.
Mass-media! Isn't it sweet? I know I always wanted to know what songs Allen Iverson sang while taking a shower! Now, thanks to 24/7 media coverage, video blogs, and all that other crap, I can find out. YAYYYY! Hey, I wonder what no-name 12th man Paul Shirley thinks about the war in Iraq*? Ooops, no I don't!
(*Paul Shirley's blog is actually quite fascinating, extremely well written, very witty, and controversial. A sitcom is also being produced about his life.)
Where was I? Oh year, the media. Paul Shirley and his great blog notwithstanding, the constant coverage of everything is out of control. Just like at that poor little skank who used to be married to Kevin Federline. Think she'd benefit from a little less exposure? I think so.
Everything is an issue now, because of this format. When you constantly have to report, well, you need to constantly find shit to report on. That's why adultery was a non-starter in the sixties but stops the presses now. The media made it an issue. The morals and values crowd was around in the sixties. The media (namely Falwell) just hadn't made them a force yet.
Which of course, brings us to the key point in all this; the public, the media, they are both out of control. But they have been feeding, for years now, the most ravenous, greedy monster of them all: the ego of the average star athlete. For those of you who think "average star athlete" is an oxymoron, what I mean to convey is if Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Barry Sanders, LT (the linebacker), LT (the running back), LeBron, Pele, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Wayne Gretsky, and 100 other star athletes were all in the same room talking, that would be the average star athlete, okay? Anyways, most of these guys have giant egos. Michael Strahan? Giant ego. Tiki Barber? Giant ego. Want some real superstarts? Terrell Owens. Randy Moss. Shaquille O'Neil. There isn't even a word to describe Shaq's ego, except maybe Shaq-tastic!
The point is, these guys have been brought up to think they're special, and physically speaking, they are. But they get to be arrogant, and start to thining that they can't be touched. They start thinking they are above the law, that the rules don't apply to them. And that is when you find yourself in front of Tom Davis, having to forcefully deny all the accusations against you, hoping that your stats and numbers, your precious reputation, will save you in the inquisition of public opinion.
8:52 AM
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