Monday, February 10, 2014

Monday: Marcus Smart isn't the only one to fault

It’s Monday! We had the Olympics, upsets in college basketball and the first football player to come out.
But lets talk about Marcus Smart’s situation first.

-If you didn’t see what happened Saturday night, Oklahoma State lost another basketball game. Texas Tech’s big win though, was far away from the biggest headline.
Chasing after a loose ball, Smart dove into the crowd late into Saturday’s game. As he was leaving, a Texas Tech fan yelled something that provoked Smart to turn around and shove him.
The stunt cost Smart a three-game suspension and probably his already struggling team some more losses. However, Smart isn’t the person who should be in the biggest trouble.
That belongs to the fan.
I’m not saying Smart doesn’t deserve to be punished. As a college star and a future NBA lottery pick, he has to control himself and be the bigger man in that situation. Yes, the emotions of the game get the better of you sometimes. But he is too big of a celebrity in this sport to react the way he did.
But the fan in this instance? Come on man!
This guy, who has been identified as “super fan” Jeff Orr, is around 50 years old. Yet, he’s calling the 19-year-old Smart names from his seat. And whatever those names were, they were enough to make Smart turn around and do something. So you know they had to have been pretty insulting.
Players are usually used to trash talk in games. And it takes a lot to provoke them. 
What Orr did is a disgrace to the game of college basketball. It takes away from the beauty of it. It takes away from the enjoyment of watching the sport. Orr should be ashamed of himself.
Smart won’t be able to play three games now in what’s most likely his final season in college. What about Orr?
He’ll likely be back on the Texas Tech baseline doing the same thing he always does. Most likely, he’ll be yelling at other players.
Smart is the biggest loser in this situation, but Orr, he’s a loser too.
A loser at life.

-Michael Sam, a projected mid-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, proclaimed he was gay Sunday night, becoming the first football player to do so. This is big. I’m sure there have been other gay players in the locker room, but none of them have made it public before.
Here is some reaction from the social media world. Most of it is positive.


Hot Reads
-Joe Posnanski compares Michael Sam to Jackie Robinson.
-Will this effect Sam's draft stock?
-Q&A with Michael Sam. 
-Olympics were in full swing this weekend. So far, 15-year-old Russian has stolen the show.

Thanks for reading and please send me your reactions to Michael Sam and Marcus Smart. Some of them might get posted on Wednesday’s blog.

Reach me at: award6344@gmai.com

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @_andrewward

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