National Honesty Day

Where were you on Sunday 30 April and what were you doing?  Be honest; it is important.  Sunday 30 April 2017 was National Honesty Day; if you don’t trust me, a simple Google search will confirm that statement.  So, the important question we all need to reflect upon is this:

• What did we all do to encourage, preserve and promote “HONESTY” last Sunday?

The Congress of the United States did their part to honor this day; they were not in session on Sunday meaning that honesty was not abused on Capitol Hill on that day.  As we all learned in Algebra II, the absence of a negative is a positive…

Groucho Marx had the perfect observation for National Honesty Day – – even if it did not exist while he was still alive:

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

All 535 members of the US Congress know exactly how to do just that…

With that Public Service Announcement out of the way, let me publish a Correction/Erratum.  Yesterday, in speaking of the potential purchasers of the Miami Marlins, I said that Jared Kushner – – the “First Son-in-Law” of the US – – had been rumored to be a buyer of the team in times past.  Oftentimes here, I have cited the “reader from Houston” who sets me straight on matters related to sports stats and history.  Well, the “reader from Houston” expanded his purview yesterday and pointed out to me that I was incorrect in my statement.  Here is the correct statement:

“It’s his younger brother, Josh, that was interested in the Marlins, not Jared.”

Mea culpa …

According to reports yesterday, Adam Jones – – the CF for the Baltimore Orioles – – was the recipient of racial epithets from at least one fan and perhaps more in Fenway Park and was the target of a bag of peanuts from a fan during the game.  Some folks have chosen to be “VS-ers” – – Virtue Signalers – – by loudly decrying the history of difficulties in Boston during the Civil Rights struggles and citing the Red Sox as “late adapters” of Black players in the modern era.

If this statement puts me on the wrong side of history with regard to these Virtue Signalers then so be it:

• That was then; this is now.  What happened in Fenway Park was despicable and the perpetrators need to be named and shamed.  Then, they need to be banned from Fenway Park in perpetuity.
• Having said all the above, nothing that happened in Fenway Park earlier this week is an indictment of the citizenry of Boston or of the majority of Red Sox fans.  The person(s) who did this is/are a cretin/multiple cretins; that is not true of the citizenry of Boston or of Red Sox fandom.
• In matters such as this, there is no real need to exhibit one’s righteousness by demonizing the improper behavior of others.  When someone has staked out a position on the side of “right” and “good”, there is no real need to wag a finger at others who are not similarly positioned.  If one is indeed where righteousness and good reside, that fact will become abundantly apparent soon enough.

When a fan buys a ticket to see a sporting event, he/she has every right to cheer for his/her team and to try to disrupt the actions of the opposing team.  That right – like just about every other right – is not limitless but it does extend a good long way.  As soon as a projectile is thrown in the direction of a player on the “other team”, the “right to express oneself” has gone around the bend.  The same goes for fans of one team choosing to beat down/attack fans of the opposing team.  Don’t try to tell me that does not happen; there are too many incidents of serious injuries related to that scenario and even a death or two.  That kind of stuff is not “fandom”; that kind of stuff is sub-human.

At the NFL Draft earlier this week, Philly fans booed Roger Goodell and anything associated with the Dallas Cowboys because that is what Philly fans do.  That is perfectly OK because booing is harmless.  Flinging racial epithets at people wearing Cowboys’ gear or ganging up to beat down someone wearing Cowboys’ gear goes WAAAY over the line.  Fortunately, that did not happen but the analogy to what did happen in Boston with regard to Adam Jones is a good one.

I have a very good friend – who is also a long-term reader here – who is an avid Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan.  He has nothing good to say about any of the other teams in the AFC North and takes great pleasure in the futility of the Cleveland Browns.  He probably has at least a half-dozen – – and probably closer to two dozen – – Terrible Towels in his home.  Members of the Rooney family itself would not question his devotion to the Steelers’ franchise.

Nevertheless, I will go out on limb here and say with no fear of contradiction that my good friend would never engage in “fan behavior” similar to what was reported in Boston earlier this week nor would he try to shield others who did engage in such “fan behavior”.

Buying a ticket to a pro sports game in the US confers a wide latitude of “acceptable” behaviors on such fans – – far wider than what would be acceptable while walking down the street or while sitting in the living room of your fiancé’s family.  However, that latitude is not infinite and we are getting to the point where too many fans seem not to recognize the boundaries of “acceptable fandom”.

I am just trying to be honest here as an homage to National Honesty Day just three days past…

Finally, I need to get out of here on a lighter note and so I will leave you with this item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times.  Professor Perry found this item elsewhere – – but that really does not matter here:

“At SportsPickle.com: ‘Middle East promises sustained peace after U.S. threatens to send Skip Bayless.’”

[That ought to scare the s[p]it out of them.]

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………