Ray Rice Saga…Social Media…Athletes Need To Shut Up!
By Ronald Agers
Dec 16, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
I’m going to be honest with everyone. I was going to stay out of this sports story and let due process play itself out. Do I have an opinion? Umm…have we met? But sometimes things are better left unsaid. Pippen Ain’t Easy is one of the more opinionated websites on FanSided and will stay that way until someone takes over as editor. But the one thing that I am very proud of is that the Pippen Peoples have embraced debate and not argument. The one thing that I am honored by is that the comments for the most part are very classy and informative. It might be something that some of these athletes might need to learn. I totally understand that this is the hot topic going on right now until the next one shows up. I understand that social media is an easy way of getting people’s opinion out to the masses. But sometimes people can say the dumbest things and they end up getting in so much trouble because of it. What makes it worse is that the people who run their mouths have their own skeleton bones falling out of their respective closets. I would call this a case for D.U.M. as MUD Backwards but it’s not a laughing matter here. It’s that serious. Let’s get something out-of-the-way right here, right now. Pippen Ain’t Easy does not believe in domestic violence in any form of fashion. This goes both ways, men AND women. If you are angry walk away, have a Coke and a smile, do something besides acting out physically in anger. It is wrong…DEAD WRONG! No excuses! The Ray Rice situation is sad and I feel bad for all parties involved. Remember there is a child involved here. Children are going to be affected the most out of all of this. There are families that will forever be affected by the consequences of two people. This is why some people need to take my advice and stay off of social media and mind their own business. Let’s take a look at the worst of examples up to this point, Paul George. Paul George had to have set social media back 10 years! Like this dude doesn’t have enough to worry about these days. The Indiana Pacers superstar, fresh off of breaking his leg playing for Team USA in the Blue-White scrimmage in Las Vegas decided to speak out on social media. He had some interesting thoughts on the Ray Rice saga and domestic violence. It started innocently enough connecting the Ray Rice situation (wrongly) to police violence. Check out Paul George first statement on Twitter…
"Keep it 100 lets act on this police violence like we actin on this Ray Rice case! Stay strong homie! 8:20 11 Sep 2014"
I can understand this. Maybe George doesn’t want the world to forget the situation going on in Ferguson. Plus he is trying to send his support to a friend. He could do all of this in a telephone call. But I can roll with this up to a point. But then it went all wrong…
"I don’t condone hittin women or think it’s cool BUT if SHE ain’t trippin then I ain’t trippin…Let’s keep it movin lol let that man play! September 11, 2014"
Come on man! Really!!! First off, if you use the word “but” in a statement, you contradict any point that you had in the first place. If you don’t condone hitting women…THAT’S IT! There is no but. No one knows what is going on in Janay Rice’s head or why she married the dude in the first place but that is HER BUSINESS! Not yours. Why women stay in abusive relationships has been a course of study that has gone on for years. There have been articles on this subject that try to educate and study the psychological damage of women that are caught in these egregious situations. Either way, Paul George was better served to stay off social media and shut up! But he didn’t…
"If you in a relationship and a woman hit you first and attacking you…Then you obviously ain’t beating HER. Homie made A bad choice! #StayUp September 11,2014"
You know what they say…Idle hands is the Devil’s playground. George tried to backpedal on his comments in a text message to ESPN.com’s Mike Wells.
"“It’s not cool to hit women I KNOW THAT,” George wrote. “And that’s not what I’m sayin I would never condone that. I was originally just trying to say if we gone come down hard on Ray Rice come down on all crime.”"
I know one thing, the NBA and especially Indiana Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird will come down hard on George. Check out Larry Bird’s strongly worded statement about Paul George and his remarks.
"” We have talked to Paul to strongly express our displeasure and made it clear that the NBA and the Pacers organization will not condone or tolerate remarks of this nature.”"
You see Larry Bird is old school. He’s probably thinking that if Paul George had enough time to put out stupid tweets that have nothing to do with him, he should have time to work on things that could help himself when he gets back on the court. Sure he has a broken leg, but he can watch game footage. Work on the mental aspect of his game. I’m sure he has a rehab assignment that he could be doing besides being in someone else’s Kool-Aid without knowing the flavor. I know Paul George probably felt worse dealing with Larry Bird in that meeting than he did when he broke his leg. Can’t you tell in the apology Paul George issued through the Pacers?
"“I want to apologize to all victims of domestic abuse for my insensitive tweets,” he said. “They were obviously without proper understanding of the seriousness of the situation, and I sincerely regret my poor choice of words.”"
This is an ongoing example of how not to use social media. Your first amendment rights has a huge asterisk next to it. Paul George can say anything he wants. Cool. But he needs to slow down and think about what he says and how it affects other people and the organization that he happens to play for, the Indiana Pacers. This needs to be a learning experience to all of us. Sure I have opinions on this subject and I could just as easily write them down in an article like this one. It’s my thoughts. But I have a responsibility to Pippen Ain’t Easy. I have a responsibility to FanSided. Even more important, I have a responsibility to the human race to do what I can to help and not cause controversy just to get someone to read an article. Paul George hopefully will get it. Hopefully we all will.
May 28, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George answers questions during a press conference following game five against the Miami Heat of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Miami 93-90. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports