With that formality out of the way, even I'll admit I was a little thrown off (no pun intended) when I flipped to Sunday Night Football and instead saw the President speaking from Newtown.[1] Not because I had an issue with the President pre-empting football, but because I assumed he was speaking earlier (like, at 7pm).
In any event, I can sorta understand why fans might be a slightly peeved if they wanted to see their team play, only to flip on the TV and see someone they really don't like speaking. The key word here is sorta. Reality is, in the wake of the worst school shooting in US history, pro sports should take a backseat, even if only for 20 minutes.
For some people, however, that 20 minutes was far too long. Lots of "fans" took to Twitter to voice their dislike. Some less tastefully than others. Sports blog DeadSpin collected some of the worst ones, their story went viral, and now a football player in Alabama finds himself booted from the team. Pun intended.
North Alabama football player posted a racist tweet about President Barack Obama tonight in response to NBC pre-empting the 49ers-Patriots game on Sunday Night Football to show Obama's speech at the Newtown memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook shooting.The school apparently said "Take that idiot off the football team." Good for them. No so much for Mr. Patterson, who was dumb enough to use his name and face on a racist tweet. Do people realize that while you're entitled to your opinion, that opinion can have repercussions? If you really needed to say something so ignorant, so hateful, why not have a dummy account, you dummy?
Bradley Patterson, an uninvited walk-on long snapper, joined the team in the fourth week of the season, according to a UNA official.
He is no longer a member of the team, according to a tweet tonight by UNA Athletic Director Mark Linder. The tweet was confirmed to Al.com by a university official.
Patterson, who goes by the handle 2A_HogOfTheYear, tweeted; "Take that (N-word) off the tv, we wanna watch football!" The accounts has since been closed.
Patterson wasn't the only one to use his actual name and face on a racist tweet, DeadSpin has lots of em'. I mean, lots.
I wonder what these people are thinking. Actually, I know what they're thinking.
They love watching a n*gger run the football. Running the country? Not so much.
Question: Should this fine, upstanding young man have been booted off the team for merely expressing his desire to watch football instead of a memorial speech? Do people think before they tweet? Has social media emboldened people to say dumb crap or has this always been the case?
[1] Some think this speech was over politicized by the President's mention that he'll "do something" to prevent this from happening again (ie: gun control). I didn't think so. I think he used the moment, in front of a worldwide audience, to speak to a larger audience than just those in that auditorium. I can understand why some might find this a bit uncomfortable. But I think it needed to be said, and he did so in a way that didn't overshadow the event itself. I couldn't be prouder of our POTUS than I was last night. Imagine Mitt Romney doing the same speech. Actually, don't. Please don't.
