Sorry Charlie....You Shouldn't of Tweeted!
In competitive sports, trash talk is usually considered fair game. And although we live in a culture where being poltically correct is no longer the exception, but the damn rule, Kevin Garnett's alleged comments made on the court to Charlie Villanueva should never been "Twitter Fodder", or the topic of disscussion in all the sports media outlets. For the uninformed, after Tuesday's basketball game, Charile Villanueva of the Detroit Pistons tweeted that Kevin Garnett called him a "Cancer Patient" in a heated contest against the Boston Celtics.
Was this alleged statement crossing the line? It was inappropriate considering how Cancer is responsible for the deaths of half a million U.S. citizens a year. However, trash talking in the arena of sports---has no boundaries. And although I have no professional playing experience, I'm knowledgeable of the culture, and I do know that "What goes on in Vegas should damn well Stay in Vegas." In culture of sports today, the arena is now the the last sanctuary in my opinion. The lockeroom use to be a safe place, but that's now on the endangered species list and look for those velvet ropes to come down--any day now. Hell, players can barely get to the lockeroom during intermission without being poked by a micro-phone. That's the media of the day, timely immediate nuggets of information, regurgitated, recreated and resuscitated...until a fresh batch of news is available.
Twitter has taken news and information to another level. Often I am amazed how rapidly information is shared across a wide net of people that have a particular interest. I find it very informative, entertaining and wreckless. Charlie's actions the other night fall in the last category. He violated the KOBE CODE...section 101Rat. Thus his transgression became "Twitter Fodder" for the past 48 hours. What goes down on the court should stay there. If Charlie was offended by Kevin Garnett's rhetoric, he should asked for a sit down. Beyond that....there's plenty of room...air and opportunity. Handle your business brother. It wouldn't have been the first time that combatants settled their differences off the court, nor the last.
Several years ago New York Post writer Peter Vescey chronicled such a disagreement. He stated Armond Gilliam, aka the "Hammer", and Pearl Washington had an NBA on the court disagreement. The "Hammer" took exception to a well placed elbow from the Pearl. After the game, he paid the Pearl a visit in the opposing team shower room. Pearl, not pleased with the tune up he received from the Hammer, emerged from the locker room, butt naked with a baseball bat in his hand...looking for some payback. Now please know that I am not promoting violence. But you get my point. There is a code amongst players. Why would you go to Twitter to handle ya business son?
