Monday, December 3, 2012

While everyone seems to be busy...

castigating the sports pundits. We should also pause and read this from Jen Engel...

I watch a fair bit of football, particularly collegiate. I tend to read the sports blurbs on MSN, especially Jason Whitlock's. This because he frequently has something to say that makes me stop and think a little bit. Is he something of a tool? Possibly.

His viewpoint about how the availability of a firearm is why two bodies have prematurely attained ambient temperature is ... in a word... premature. Blaming the object for the deed is, in another word... asinine.

Perhaps these two wouldn't be dead right now without a gun, but I would be willing to bet at least one of them would be just as dead if the only weapon in the room was a pair of fists.

So, result of disarmament... maybe... maybe one less fatality. Considering that the one (in this case, likely the aggressor) whose body temperature still exceeds ambient is going to have to explain themselves, and more importantly, live with themselves. This is a win how?

Anyone who is so disconnected with reality as to think that a gun is how you settle a dispute, is... succinctly put... disconnected with reality. This, of course, presumes that the dispute is not already elevated to deadly force for you.

While the opinions may run the gamut about the "tool-worthiness" of Mr. Whitlock, Costas has, near as I can remember, always come off as a sanctimonious ass for whom the word "tool" isn't near strong enough.

Bravo, Jen Engel, for saying pretty much exactly what crossed my mind when I first read Jason Whitlock's words a day or two ago... albeit much more kindly than I could have mustered at the time.

Edited to add...

Now that I have turned on the television I see that Michael Wilbon is cheering on Mr. Costas... people blaming tools rather than people for the misdeeds of the world... no big surprise here.

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