A great Michael Wilbon column that DUers should read. It's as much about politics as sports

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/14/AR2009051402741.html

Perhaps by now you've heard of Ernie Provetti and his 12-year-old son, Nick, the young man who got jostled courtside in Orlando the other night when the Celtics' Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who goes about 275 pounds, hit a game-winning shot then bolted all that massiveness up the court to celebrate.

Young Nick never complained, but Ernie objected rather loudly, at one point saying that Davis charged up the sideline like a "raging animal." The bloggers took exception and called Ernie an idiot and CryDaddy. And I, in a less-than-exceptional moment, went on television and called Ernie Provetti a terrible father. I said I'd be embarrassed to have such a wimpy daddy and suggested it would be okay if somebody gave Ernie a good hard smack. Judging from national reaction, of which there was plenty, a lot of folks agreed.

He conducted a little introspection and got a grip. He sent an e-mail to my producer at ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," which said in part: "What I said about Davis is inexcusable and disgusting and I feel horrible about it.

...

Suddenly, Ernie didn't seem like a bad father at all. I called him at home in Orlando, to apologize but also just to listen. "That game was so intense. You're sitting so close. I think, of course, the calls are all going in Boston's favor. Then, I'm in a rage. I can't believe I said what I did. The first day the blogs said some pretty terrible things. Nick was crying. I'm thinking: 'I inflicted this. I brought this on.' Davis didn't deserve to have those things said about him. It was reprehensible, what I did."

...

Thing is, both episodes have been case studies in how impassioned people are about sports, whether they own the team or just pay thousands of dollars to sit in the front row where they could get run over.

reading that piece, Michael Wilbon should be ashamed of himself, and the parties involved all owe the father an apology.

His kid got shaken up by a bigger man, and the father got vocal about it.

Guess what?

It's a father's job to protect his kid.

These "apologies" and "reconsiderations" are bullshit. Michael Wilbon is an asshole for characterizing a man he didn't know as "a terrible father."

Wilbon's a dick. Always has been. How dare he write that about a man defending his child?

Assholes, all of them, and I think it's regrettable that the father apologized. Talk about wrong priorities.

Shameful, all of it ..............

If an Orlando player had done that, and a Boston fan was the dad, the writer would have sided with the dad. This is an example of the arrogance of the main stream media.

And no, I am not an Orlando fan or from Florida.

Here, folks believe the first - and often inaccurate - shit they read.

which is my local newspaper. He was really impressive in the beginning, but, as his celebrity grew, as he hitched his wagon to Tony Kornheiser's star, his columns got worse and worse.

Admitting you did something wrong, after the fact, doesn't make what you did - calling the father names - any less shameful. Wilbon had a whole lot of nerve.

And he had plenty of time to contemplate what had happened before declaring that the man was "a terrible father."

Imagine the boy reading that - about his father.

What Wilbon did was beyond the pale.....................

and neither Rich nor Herbert have apologized.

Wilbon's 'I was a jerk and jumped on this too quickly' is refreshing, to me.

I started reading him in the mid-90s, so your knowledge of early Wilbon is vastly superior to my own.

There is a DUer who has a cousin that works with Wilbon and Kornheiser who says they're actually nice to work with. I could easily imagine otherwise.

yes, I definitely agree.

But people like Rich and Herbert, and let's not forget Richard Cohen, another Post winner, have NEVER acknowledged the error of their ways. I now skip Cohen and Herbert, but I read Rich because he often has a good point.

But, trust them? No, not ever.

I'm sure Wilbon and Kornheiser are nice guys in real life, but Kornheiser, in print, has always been a self-obsessed jerk (he once wrote a column about - I am series!!!111 - picking his nose. It was so repugnant, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Post. (This was in the days before the Internet(s) Tubes), and got back, in response, a hand-written letter from one of the editor's associates, agreeing with me and wondering why on earth anything so disgusting ever found its way into print.

Wilbon's work went into a noticeable decline after he hooked up with Kornheiser, and this column - his apology notwithstanding - suggest that he's devolved into a high, very high, impression of his gifts and his power.

I still feel bad for that father.........................

defending your:

child
spouse
quarterback
goalie

This guy falls into the first category. I DO think the NBA's selling seats at courtside is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. I've been to college basketball games where fights broke out between players and fans. It's NOT pretty. Basketball is the one sport there is no separation between the players and fans, so there is more potential for things to escalate quickly. I took strong exception to a Wilbon article that the suspensions, etc. after the Pistons fight with fans that this was about race. It's about proximity. Players and fans have to know they must control themselves all the more as there is no barrier.

when I watched players slide into our cheerleaders, who were right on the court, I thought there was trouble waiting to happen. Those guys, big as they are, run FAST, and that old formula about mass multiplied by velocity scares me.

Still, there was no excuse for any of this. The father was right. End of discussion.

That Pistons fight wasn't about race. How absurd. It was about proximity and accessibility. You never see a football player going over the wall to get to a spectator. The Pistons ran into the stands simply because they could.

The pro set-up should be a bit different from the high school, don't you think?

he's big and tall.

I know his mommy would be proud to know that his shoes matched his man-purse when I saw him.

as opposed to the 6-inch barrier in most places, especially in a league where the action frequently comes into the first couple of rows...some of these NBA courts are worse than many of the old-style high schools i played in...

yes, wilbon is a major tit and yes he did come down on the father too hard, but the father was a shit from the start, with his 'raging animal' quote (and its potential racial connotations) and his demanding (LOL) an apology from the NBA, the Celts and Davis for what was little more than a gentle shove...in the future i suggest he stick to the skybox