Osama been Tweetin'

I would be remiss if I spent three sick days at home without blogging about the biggest news story of this year.  This weekend, the United States successfully raided a compound in Pakistan, found, and killed the #1 fugitive in American history – Osama bin Laden. As this is a sports blog, I can only speak of this from an athletic standpoint.

We all remember where we were on September 11, 2001. We all remember the feeling of national insecurity, the uncertain well-being of loved ones, and the week that followed – in which time stood still. The world sought answers, healing, and closure. Activities of recreation and pleasure seemed of little importance.

Post-9/11 patriotism at sporting events was the norm in the months immediately following the attacks.

However, it needs to be stated that sports were a part of the healing process for the nation. That may sound as if it minimizes the importance of the healing process, but where else was there an opportunity for 10’s of thousands of Americans to come together? Sporting events resumed with fans having a heavy heart, but drawn together and united behind the red, white, and blue. We remember flag-covered NFL fields and chants of U-S-A…U-S-A…U-S-A! Fans in New York remember the home run by Mike Piazza that shook Shea Stadium, and the World Series heroics of Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius a month and a half later.



Mets fan or not...It's pretty hard to forget how Piazza energized Shea with his September 21st home run against the Atlanta Braves. Sporting event or not, there was arguably no more unifying moment for the city in the days after the terrorist attacks.

The connection between sports and 9/11 is one that cannot be ignored, and came to the forefront this week with the death of bin Laden. With the popularity of social media being at an apex, fans were immediately able to gain access into athletes’ opinions on anything and everything. This can be good at times, and bad at times. As illustrated below…

The Tasteful:

“USA USA USA!!” – Lance Armstrong

“So they have bin Laden's body. Never thought we'd see the day. Figured he would be like Hitler and commit suicide or just disappear.” – Drew Brees

“God Bless ... all the Troops and Civilians that serve our country at home and overseas!!” – Michael Strahan

Strahan might not have much sense when it comes to dental hygiene, but he showed a lot of tact in reacting to the news of bin Laden's death.

The Head-Scratchers:

“Since we caught Osama do I still have to take my laptop out at security?” – Steve Nash

“You can't tell me they just now finding bin Laden. We prolly found him years ago and he wasn't giving us no info and we got tired of it.” – Grant Hill

Now would be an appropriate time to remind everyone that Grant Hill has a Duke education.

The Mendenhall Take:

And of course, the most controversial athlete tweet of the weekend – Rashard Mendenhall.
 

"What kind of person celebrates death?" Mendenhall wrote. "It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side..."

And later…

“We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style," he tweeted.

OK. Let’s dissect this for a minute. I’m actually with him on the first point that he makes. I had a hard time feeling the need to celebrate (hootin’ and hollerin’) about somebody dying. I embrace what happened as closure for many people, and the end of a long mission for the U.S. Armed Forces. And I must say, I did not lose a loved one on 9/11, but if I had, I couldn’t imagine the death of bin Laden making me want to celebrate. It would make me feel very satisfied that justice was served, and would likely result in my quiet reflection on everything. Hell, this is basically what I did anyway. I sure didn’t feel like jumping around as if the Yankees won the World Series. I will say, it was a nice moment at the Mets-Phillies game when the crowd (mix of both fans) began a “U-S-A…U-S-A….U-S-A!!!” chant.

Fans at the Mets-Phillies game showed unity as Americans with a goosebump-inducing "USA" chant after hearing the news.

As for Mendenhall, he should have STOPPED after that first sentence....but he continued:

 “It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak.”

Are you kidding me? What profound thing would Osama have been able to say to justify the killing of thousands of Americans. Mendenhall writes this as if Osama could have given a speech to the American people and afterwards have people say “Gee, I never saw it that way before.”

Maybe Mendenhall was using the South Park depiction of bin Laden to drive his opinion. I mean, maybe if we just LISTENED to the guy . . .

But, instead of stopping with one dumb statement, Mendenhall continued to dig himself in deeper:

“I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

Well, are you blind, or were you just not watching TV that day? I mean, I know that you were only 14 years old. And that you lived in Illinois. But show some sense, dude.

We can't even be sure they have TV where Rashard grew up in Illinois.

He has since issued a well-written “apology” that seems to reinforce his support for the USA and to express his sorrow for offending anyone. In order to keep this blog short and manageable, I will not post the apology blog that was written. However, I will post the unsolicited comments made by his agent after the apology, which are slightly more entertaining:

 "This was truly, word for word, Rashard's thoughts," Rob Lefko told ESPN.com’s James Walker. "It was not written by anyone else and not crafted by anyone else."

So, without even being questioned about the authenticity of Mendenhall's apology, his agent releases that statement.

HEY….EVERYONE……LOOK WHAT RASHARD WROTE…..ALL BY HIMSELF!!!

Sometimes I guess it is nice to hear some recognition for doing something "all by yourself"....

*This blog was intended to lighten the mood around a very important and serious situation. It was in no way intended to minimize any loss or devastation. There was no offense intended to anyone (except Grant Hill and Rashard Mendenhall).

God Bless America!