Monday, July 13, 2009
Guns And Purse Straps Kill People
Football player Steve McNair -- killed by his younger girlfriend while he slept -- is, according to the Daily News' Mike Lupica, another victim of America's "gun" culture.
By this logic, boxer Arturo Gatti -- allegedly killed by his younger wife as he slept -- is, apparently a victim of Brazil's "purse strap" culture.
Rather than going for the easy, ahem, "target" of guns, the biggest lesson from the circumstances of these two incidents might be to tell male athletes not to cavort with women a whole lot younger.
Or at least not fall asleep on them.
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By this logic, boxer Arturo Gatti -- allegedly killed by his younger wife as he slept -- is, apparently a victim of Brazil's "purse strap" culture.
Rather than going for the easy, ahem, "target" of guns, the biggest lesson from the circumstances of these two incidents might be to tell male athletes not to cavort with women a whole lot younger.
Or at least not fall asleep on them.
Labels: Arturo Gatti, Steve McNair
Monday, July 06, 2009
Fall of A Titan
Over a holiday weekend that produced the Sarah Palin shocker, sports and reality intruded in an awful way with news about the murder of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. All the cliches about McNair's playing days were mentioned during the coverage on sports outlets -- "toughest guy that ever played quarterback," "created new paradigm for black QBs," "role model," etc.
McNair's wife evidently hadn't seen him for "two days." Sound familiar?
Many men -- especially men in powerful, public, positions -- are dogs, without respect to race.
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Alas, dancing around these statements (all true, in their own way) was the fact that this 36 year old supposedly married father of four was discovered dead with a woman (a rather young one at that) not his wife. Early evidence suggests a murder-suicide. The two were pulled over a few days ago in the Cadillac Escalade that McNair evidently bought for her.
Over at Booker Rising, the black moderate/conservative site, owner-editor Shay makes this a parable about a black man straying with a white woman (the dead woman found with McNair is Iranian-born) -- with predictable tragic results.
Alas, as the Mark Sanford psycho-drama shows, there is no racial monopoly on guys needing to get a little on the side.
McNair's wife evidently hadn't seen him for "two days." Sound familiar?
Many men -- especially men in powerful, public, positions -- are dogs, without respect to race.
In the classic words of Chris Rock, "Men are only as faithful as their options." Men of certain status -- whether athletes, politicians or entertainers -- have more options.
In both cases, four children have to face the consequences of a father's betrayal. Sanford has destroyed his career -- and probably his marriage. McNair's poor judgment caused him the loss of his life. I think what this says about the human condition is more interesting than the race of the people involved.
Labels: Mark Sanford, Steve McNair
