Incognito Reaction: I Don't Get It
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It's not that I don't understand why the media coverage has been the way that is has with the Incognito case, it's that I don't think that reasoning is justified. I know that it was covered more because open discussion of and criticism of the issue was fairly "new". What I am saying is that if we want to right wrongs, we should prioritize how we react to things based on their severity, not based on their "newness" or "freshness". And when we recognize we are not doing that, we should correct it.
One of my undergraduate degrees is in "Speech/Language Pathology and Audiology", so I've spent some clinical time with children with speech impediments, even though I don't have one myself. Obviously, if I chose that area of study even though it's not what I do for a profession, there's a decent chance I have some compassion for people who live with speech impediments. My family was poor and also moved 10 times before I graduated from high school. When you move that many times, you're going to be the target of some people who don't like the new kid. So was I ever targeted or picked on? For brief periods of time, sure. Did anyone ever make fun of me or say mean things to me? Yep. I don't consider myself as ever having been bullied, though. However, I've seen and worked with (clinically) some kids who have. I'm not saying that it is not an issue to be addressed on some level. I'm saying, let's maintain a sense of perspective and scale about it.
Is bullying a bad/unfortunate thing? Sure. Does it deserve the death penalty? I suppose we'd have to hear the specifics of the case (torture, rape, etc.), but in the vast majority of cases, no. What about in the Richie Incognito case? Did those guys do anything serious enough to warrant severe legal punishment? Think about what they actually did, now. You can't heap all of the punishment for all of the bullying in all of the world on these guys' shoulders. Is what they actually did as serious as raping a woman or beating a woman to the point that you have to drag her out of an elevator? Come on, now. There are serious cases of harassment and bullying out there, but this isn't one of them. If you really think that what these guys did in their locker room was as serious as physically assaulting or raping a woman, then you may have to consider the fact that your own personal experience has left you too biased to consider the situation rationally.
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I was watching an interview with Scott Pioli - when he was with the Chiefs...
back when Colt McCoy and Suh were at the combine...
and Pioli said that it wasn't just athletic ability, but also who the person the player was,
and how they could be a good fit in the locker room and community.
That avoids, surely, the incognito jerks who for sick reasons, harrass other people
by crossing way past the limit of teasing, joking around.
Nobody is perfect, but allowing extreme harrassment as easily as allowing just teasing somebody,
or giving them some non-personal harmless crap, is dangerous.
Most folks would consider that there are lines of teasing that should not be crossed. Some others
cross it to get attention, I guess. That's screwed up in a bad way.
There was kid in hs.. had disabilities. Walked extremely awkwardly, and had limited use
of one arm, and slurred speech. I remember going back to my locker for something just before class started, and on the way back to class, there this kid was, trying to get to class less late that usual. And there was two football players, Laughing.
Mocking his very awkward movements, and calling him "Retarded" and a bunch of other taunts.
Even to the point of bumping him off gait when he kept trying to ignore them and move away.
All I remember is, I flew off the handle, and told them to knock it off now, and they said they'd
kick my teeth in instead. I yelled that at least I'd be able to fight back.
But before they had time to kick my ass, a male teacher bolted out of his classroom
and instructed me escort this kid to his class, and there was a lot of one sided yelling and those two idiots
were suspended. He had heard what they'd been saying, and was on his way to his door when
I yelled at them. He was a very tough assistant football coach, but he still knew bullying when he heard it.
Now, Logic would think that kid should kill himself ?
Not so one-sided with two pro football players. But crossing the line is still bullying. And can be just as destructive to the one who gets bullied.
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*sighs, rubs his eyes, and murmurs wearily* No one (with the exception of a few trolls) is saying that bullying isn't wrong or shouldn't be discouraged....
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Now, without the media going berserk, this should have been handled by
the fo quickly and decisively before it ever went that far.
Failing that, as usual, the media loves a good story, especially about a conflict.
Counseling for incognito, if that doesn't work, suspension.
When that line is belligerently crossed again and again,
it all too often just keeps getting worse.
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There you go! THAT is a rational response. Thank you, calf.
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And I wrote it before you posted about sighing and rubbing your eyes.
Pretty good, eh?
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This has been going on in football locker rooms forever. Then Jonathan Martin came along. He's from the coddled millennium generation and he was the first one to squeal.
Personally, I wouldn't want to be around a guy like Incognito in a work environment .... Unless my work environment was the effing NFL. Then I would embrace it ... Because I was in the NFL! It belongs there. It's tough guys being idiots. Martin should take his Stanford degree and start a nice career as a CPA ... Because doesn't fit in the NFL.
Not a fan of RI, but we all know the NFL is full of guys like that, and they are accepted and embraced ... It is Martin that is out of place.
Go find another place.
Z
Zombo said:
This has been going on in football locker rooms forever. Then Jonathan Martin came along. He's from the coddled millennium generation and he was the first one to squeal.
Personally, I wouldn't want to be around a guy like Incognito in a work environment .... Unless my work environment was the effing NFL. Then I would embrace it ... Because I was in the NFL! It belongs there. It's tough guys being idiots. Martin should take his Stanford degree and start a nice career as a CPA ... Because doesn't fit in the NFL.
Not a fan of RI, but we all know the NFL is full of guys like that, and they are accepted and embraced ... It is Martin that is out of place.
Go find another place.
Z
Pussy retired.
Zombo
--Ya ... Jimmy just quoted Jimmy.
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martin seems to me like someone that is perfectly suited to play a victim.
needs to be on suicide watch.
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martin seems to me like someone that is perfectly suited to play a victim.
needs to be on suicide watch.
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The "NFL" means Not For Long. In his case it was true.
Sayonara.
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