It happens a handful of times a year during baseball season. Some dimwit decides to run onto the field, hoping to draw the attention of the television cameras. Never mind the fact that teams and their television partners have long gotten wise to the intentions of these usually besotted clowns, keeping the cameras away from the trespassers.
On Monday night, however, this was a wee bit different. In Philadelphia, with the 2-time defending National League champs opening a series against St. Louis, a 17 year old boy runs onto the field, but instead of field security collaring this kid, a local police officer opts to bring him down by shooting him with a taser.
This strategy has been micro-analyzed in the 24 hours since. Was the use of a taser excessive force? Was it even necessary? What was the kid thinking?
Let's address the last question first. According to all accounts, this kid called his father for permission. Should've known what the answer was going to be, junior! NO! He goes and does it anyway, because it's supposedly "once in a lifetime". Apparently, he's never paid attention to the dozens of potato-headed jerks who've tried it before him. The father said his son doesn't drink or use drugs, so you figure, this was a case of peers daring this fellow into making that fool's run onto the playing field. Less than a minute after he'd been tasered, the kid was up and walked off the field under his own power, but the most glaring question remains. Was it necessary to drop him with a taser?
The Phillies and Philadelphia police are looking into the incident. Oh, by the way, the Phillies, on an emotional high after winning 2 of 3 from the Mets over the weekend, lost the game.
So, who was the worst idiot? The police officer made a judgment call. Less than 48 hours after a car bomb scare in New York, he makes a decision to taser an unarmed 17 year old fan. He's lucky there isn't a lawsuit coming. The fan? He'll be fine, and fined. But neither one is the worst idiot.
That brings us to a 20-something WWE fan who flooded the corporate offices in Stamford with phone calls and voice messages over the weekend to protest the company's decision to dismiss popular "diva" Mickie James after 5 1/2 years with the company. He threatened to bomb WWE HQ, among other things, but after being arrested, of course he said he didn't plan on following up on those threats. He was just upset because Mickie, presumably his absolute favorite wrestler, lost her job. Now, the guy can't attend any more WWE events. Period. It's harsh, but it sends a clear-cut message that any threat, even if it's not going to be followed through on, will be taken very seriously. He wasn't the only one upset, of course.
When WWE held their annual "draft lottery" last week, it was in Mickie James' hometown of Richmond, Va., and the irony is that when she was notified of her release, James was busy doing promotional work to hype the show. A group of fans were ejected from the arena for bringing signs protesting the firing of the hometown starlet. Can you imagine what would happen if an even bigger star, say for example, Rey Mysterio, were to lose his job right before an important show in his home city of San Diego? Or if it was John Cena? Fans would be on the verge of rioting. The problem here is that most of these folks may not have internet access and have any idea of exactly why Mickie was let go (repeated tardiness on the European tour was a big reason). All they know is that their heroine is gone. All I can say is that maybe she'll return one day, and all will be forgiven. To these fans, I will give you this. I refer to an inscription on a bracelet my ex-girlfriend used to wear. "Have hope".
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