Rob Oller's Second Thoughts: Assaulted umpires and racist taunts? What is world coming to?
Welcome to Second Thoughts, my semi-regular staple of snark, stream-of-consciousness opinion and random musings that can be consumed in a "second" – Get it?
The Aztecs had a way with people. They ate them. After they cut out their still-beating hearts. Lovely.
Attila the Hun tied enemies’ limbs to horses and had the beasts ride in opposite directions, severing the victims’ limbs. Torture amused ol’ Atty, which is why he was called the Scourge of God.
Shall I go on? Back in the day there was nasty stuff going on. At times like this, when high school athletes are targets of racist remarks and softball umpires are being assaulted, I try to remember that things used to be much worse in our world.
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We still have a long way to go
On the other hand, and this is my real point, despite supposedly being a more civilized people we still have a long way to go. We may not be decapitating enemy kings as a ritual sacrifice to the gods, as the Mayans did, but we’re sacrificing our goodness on the altar of poor sportsmanship.
In recent weeks, two events happened in the Columbus area that make you shake your head. First, Pickerington Central boys lacrosse player Dominic Shaw revealed he had been the subject of a racial slur during a game against Olentangy Berlin.
Shaw, whose father is Black and mother is white, told The Dispatch, “It caught me really off guard. It was just uncalled for.”
Shaw posted on Twitter that what began as acceptable trash talk crossed the line when an opposing player used a racial epithet.
The Olentangy district does not comment on disciplinary matters, and, anyway, the aim here is not to call out Berlin specifically but instead to remind each other we are not barbarians.
Unfortunately, too often we act like it. On April 18, within days of Shaw revealing what happened, things got physical at a Columbus Recreation and Parks Department adult softball game at Berliner Park.
Video showed a men’s softball player attacking an umpire before the game, after a verbal altercation resulted in the umpire ejecting the player.
Dominique Shank, the community relations chief for Columbus Recreation and Parks, told nbc4i.com the department has heard about arguments over bad calls, but never anything that escalated to this degree.
Mentioning these two incidents is not “cancel culture” at work – unnamed antagonists cannot be canceled – but simply to say we are better than this. Or should be.
Speaking of athlete-officiating blowups …
NBA not exactly modeling choir boy behavior
Moving up the ladder from amateur to professional sports, maybe the misbehavior happening at the high school and rec league levels comes from seeing it modeled by the pros?
According to ESPN, the NBA is investigating Atlanta guard Dejounte Murray’s actions toward officials at the end of the Hawks’ 129-121 Sunday home loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Not good pic.twitter.com/T3c5NvPoAg
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) April 24, 2023
Murray, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss, appeared to make contact with referee Gediminas Petraitis as the player left the floor.
Playing for San Antonio last season, Murray was fined $20,000 for throwing a ball off the legs of a referee after being ejected from a game at Memphis.
Prime Time draws fans to Colorado football
We’ll see how long it lasts if the Buffaloes finish 1-11 like last year, but at least for now new Colorado coach Deion Sanders has energized the fan base. Wearing a white cowboy hat, Sanders made his entrance onto freezing Folsom Field and bowed to the 47,277 fans attending Saturday’s spring game played in 32 degrees and snow.
Last year’s attendance? 1,950.
Sanders combined style and substance as a player. Can he do the same in Boulder? I sure hope so, because college football benefits from Deion being Neon.
Listening in:
“Top 2 and he ain’t 2.”
– Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, tweeting about the draft prospects of C.J. Stroud.
Off-topic
I like dogs. Grew up with them. But I don’t own one now, in part because my wife and I are empty nesters and enjoy the freedom of travel without worrying about what to do with a furry friend. Easier for us. Better for the pet.
If that sounds selfish, consider one alternative, which too many dog lovers unfortunately are more than just considering. After dog ownership swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelters are now filling up as people return to working outside the home and no longer can or want to take care of a pet, fortune.com reports.
Dog "fatigue" is real. Anecdotally, my mother-in-law breeds Border collies, and the demand for puppies has dropped through the floor in the past year as the pandemic continues to subside.
If you want a dog, get one. But pet ownership comes with commitment. Animals are not kitchen gadgets you stuff in the bottom cabinet and forget about.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Oller: Sports violence ruins children, parents, coaches and officials
