Sports Writer to Coma Patient - Grow Up!

A couple years ago I ran across a link (and by that I mean I stole it from Hot Clicks) to a column by sports reporter Mark Whicker who wrote the most insensitive piece of all time that served to teach 1980s kidnap victim Jaycee Duggard about all the sports moments she missed while being held hostage.

Whicker seemed oblivious to the idea that someone who just endured almost two decades of rape, abuse and mind control would not feel just as deprived by not getting to experience the ascendency of Tiger Woods as she did by not getting to see her family for 18 years.

It ultimately led to Whicker being chased out of journalism forever. Actually he works for a paper in Ogden, Utah but what’s the difference? If I had to cover the Jazz I think I’d just retire.

Anyway, I thought no writer would ever come close to writing anything as insensitive as the “Congratulations Jaycee, You Just Left the Yard” column as it’s come to be known but Sunday John Steigerwald of the Observer-Reporter in Washington, PA may have gotten into the race.

Stiegerwald’s Sunday column didn’t have the most controversial topic – it was basically a criticism of grown men who wear jerseys to games, which while I have no problem with this act, it is something I’ve had a few jokes about over the years. It was how this mustachioed journalist made his point that led to the controversy.

You may remember I linked yesterday to a story about a Giants fan that had to be put in a medically induced coma after a beating he received opening day from two Dodgers fans. While Stiegerwald was quick to call the Dodger fans sick juveniles he also insinuates that maybe it wouldn’t have happened if the Giant fan Bryan Stow had manned up and not wore a jersey to the game like a kid.

Here are some good excerpts:

"Maybe someone can ask Stow, if he ever comes out of his coma, why he thought it was a good idea to wear Giants' gear to a Dodgers' home opener when there was a history of out-of-control drunkenness and arrests at that event going back several years."

"Are there really 40-something men who think that wearing the jersey makes them part of the team? It was cute when a 10-year-old kid got that feeling by showing up at Three Rivers Stadium in a Pirates jersey, but when did little boys stop growing out of that?"

"Obviously, not every fan who wears his team's jersey to a game is looking for someone from "the enemy" to beat up. But maybe somebody should do a psychological study to find out if all those game jerseys have contributed to the new mob mentality that seems to exist in the stands these days."

Yeah, there you go Stiegy. Game jerseys make you into a bloodthirsty lunatic who will attack anyone who challenges his sports world view. I think the ingridient you're looking for is dumbass mixed with alcohol. I can only hope this column gets you fired.

P.S. - In the interest of playing Devil's Advocate on Stiegy's evil jersey theory here's a scene from 'The Fan.'