Monday, July 19, 2010

Wade Issues Statement (Absurdity Ensues)

In a statement on July 18th, 2010 Dwyane Wade acknowledged the bulls-eye that he and his newly arrived Miami Heat teammates (Lebron James and Chris Bosh) would certainly have on their backs in the first season since the Heat found a way to unite three of the NBA's top free agents.  Wade discussed the possibility of a losing streak and the sure to follow media up-roar that such a streak will cause.  Speaking of the media, he predicted: "You all are going to make it seem like the World Trade has just went down again."  


12 minutes ago, the New York Daily News posted an article (link below) indicating that Wade has now apologized for his WTC statement.  Indeed, Wade did issue an apology pointing out that he was "simply trying to say that losing a few basketball games should not be compared to a real catastrophe."  


My question is this: to whom does Dwyane Wade owe an apology? 

It seems to me that Wade's initial statement was quite insightful and in no way directed towards the families whose lives were torn apart by the horrific tragedy of 9/11.  Rather, Wade seems to have struck a nerve with the media and those of us who place far too great a value on sports and entertainment. 

Wade's WTC comments are just the latest in a string of sports related events that both media and fans have clamored to cover and discuss ad-nauseam only to turn around and publicly blast the athletes who have (however misguidedly) provided both media and fans with their material.  From Wade's teammate Lebron James' ESPN special "the Decision" to Dan Gilbert's curious and inexplicable public letter addressing freshly scarred Cleveland fans and now to Wade's insensitive??? comments, I believe we, the public, have become far too sensitive.  Either that or we are sheep, blindly following the lead of the media. After all, Wade's statement was not directed towards (and may not be offensive to) those who were directly affected by 9/11; rather, it was a sort of admonishment of the media and fanatics who fuel the fire and hang on every word and action of the super-star athletes and actors of our time.  An admonishment that I, for one, believe is well-deserved and does not call for an apology.

-- swm


1 comment:

  1. Totally agree. Wade might have simply issued a clarification, not to explain his statement but to explain hyperbole. And basic logic, he probably needs to teach them that as well.

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