I even love heckling at a ball game. But when I do, I try to be funny not mean. I won't talk about players' families or other real, sensitive issues. I stick to their play on the field. But this week, I was reminded that not everyone knows this players are human. And in some cases, they are just kids. Kids that are about my own kids' ages.
This week, after the NBA draft, a ton of people jumped all over 18 year old kid Ace Bailey for daring to have a preference to where he would live for the next five years. You see, Bailey was probably the 3rd or 4th best player in this draft but he really wanted to play on the East coast, specifically Washington... for some unknown reason. This makes sense as he chose to go to Rutgers for his one year of college. In an effort to try to work and live where he preferred, he decided not to go and visit any of the top drafting teams including the team that drafted him, the Utah Jazz. Many people were up in arms that this "spoiled brat" would dare to try and decide his own future. He was "lucky just to be able to play in the NBA". First of all, I don't think there is a lot of luck involved. He has natural talent and worked hard to hone his skills. He did so well at this that at the age of 18 he is considered one of the best 384 people in the world at a VERY marketable skill. In fact, at least 25 billion dollar businesses wanted him to work for them. Imagine that. When you were 18, if 25 billion dollar businesses wanted you so badly they would give you millions of dollars, would you just throw their names in a hat and pick one? Would you just go to whichever one got to the phone first? Or would you weigh the pros and cons of each and make an informed decision on what was the best for you and your family? Well if it were my kid, I hope they would do the latter. In fact, my kids just did this. They CHOSE what college they wanted to attend. Why can't this kid choose as well? Well it is against the rules of the NBA. Ok fine. But that is only because professional sports is exempt from the law that protects this from happening in every business. Ace Bailey has a VERY scarce resource: basketball talent. He's not a spoiled brat for trying to control that resource. And in the end, he's going to report to Utah. He gave it his best shot to stay where he was comfortable and it didn't work. No harm no foul.
That was small potatoes compared to the next one. This week a Chicago White Sox fan (I didn't know those still exist... and I used to be one) decided to berate Arizona Diamondbacks player Ketel Marte. And he got very personal. In fact at one point this guy decided to yell, "I texted your mom last night". Funny right? Well one problem. Ketel Marte's mother died in a car accident in 2017. Do you know where he was when he found out? Chicago. So Marte did what anyone with a soul and a love for their mother would do... he cried. And I applaud him for that. Kids need to see that it is OK to show emotion. Don't bottle it up and then take it out on someone. Let it out in a healthy way.
Luckily this "fan" was immediately removed and banned from ever attending a home White Sox game again (although maybe a better punishment would be forcing him to go to every home White Sox game). He has also been banned by Major League Baseball in general. Good.
