Papelbon Guns And Pompous Pretensions Of Sports Writers— Phillies reliever Jonathan Papelbon, who was once a star for the Red Sox, was asked by Boston media people for some comments about safety at sporting events in light of the Boston Marathon attack.
“The Phillies did this thing the other day where we came down
through the bleachers for one opening game, and I don’t feel comfortable
doing that,” he said. “I really, truly don’t. Today’s day and age
has gotten so crazy, everything. You know, all this stuff going on.
Shoot, man, Obama wants to take our guns from us and everything, you’ve got this kind of stuff going on. It’s a little bit insane for me. I
really don’t know how to take it.”
Well, golly did that provide an opportunity for the pompous pundit wannabees stuck with covering sports a chance to wax wise about a political issue.
“The man clearly did not major in classical philosophy when he was
at Mississippi State, so we probably should not be surprised if there is
anything two-dimensional or self-centered about his processing of the
events of the last 48 hours,” said David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. “He gets paid money (a lot) to pitch (one
inning). This is an example of why we are better off letting him
concentrate on that.”
So Murphy, you major in classical philosophy? How about just an occasional reading of Western political philosophy? You ever come across William Blackstone’s quote: Free men have arms; slaves do not. You ever hear of William Blackstone? Stupid question. Of course not. You are a sports writer.
How about Thomas “No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms” Jefferson?
By the way, at least Papelbon attended college unlike high school drop out Jim Carrey, who has actually made a crusade about the issue rather than merely provide a from-the-heart answer to a question.
Oh, and here is some classical philosophy for you: μολὼν λαβέ