Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Jim Boeheim's 900th Victory Postgame Speech
Jim Boeheim gets his 900th career victory in Syracuse's win over Detroit. And he uses the postgame press conference as a chance to share his views on gun control.
"If we in this country as Americans cannot get the people that represent us to do something about firearms, we are a sad, sad society," the Hall of Fame coach said as applause can be heard in the background.
"If one person in this world; the NRA president, anybody, can tell me why we need assault weapons with 30 shots in the thing. This is our fault. This is my fault and your fault. All of your faults if we don't get out and do something about this."
"If we can't get this thing done, I'm with (Mayor Bloomberg), if we can't get this thing done, I don't know what kind of country we have. This is about us. This isn't about the President or those other people down there. We have to make them understand somehow that this needs to get figured out. Real quick. Not six months from now."
I am not saying I disagree with Boeheim, and I hope to have my own thoughts on this issue written up shortly, but I don't think this was the appropriate place for these comments. This was supposed to be a celebration of his career, not a downer about 20 murdered children. But it was his night and he can do with his forum as he pleases.
Yeah I obviously agree with Boeheim's comments re: assault weapons and I'm a big gun control guy, but it's kind of weird to address that in this forum. But like you said, he had the country's attention and used it to focus on something he considered important, so I respect that.
ReplyDeleteI remember in October '04 Curt Schilling was using his bloody sock fame to explicitly encourage Americans to re-elect President Bush. It rubbed me the wrong way and maybe Boeheim's comments are analogous but it's hard for me to judge because I generally agree with Boeheim substantively and disagreed with Schilling.
I was going to say the same thing as Damino and Poop except for the inappropriateness part. It's his night. He had the microphone. He chose to address an issue of public importance, instead of himself.
ReplyDeleteIn a similar vein, you guys should check out, if you haven't already, the comments made by the Winthrop coach last night after his team lost to Ohio State. He practically moved me to tears. But also, he makes a big point of saying that this is the only time this year, maybe ever, that he will have a national audience, so he wanted to take advantage of that opportunity. Can't fault him for that.
Here is the link to view Winthrop Coach Pat Kelsey's comments:
ReplyDeletehttp://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2012-12-19/watch-pat-kelsey-talks-sandy-hook-elementary-school-shooting-winthrop-coach
Thanks for sharing that Reissberg, it was a great speech and very moving.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I don't think I'm saying anything much different than you are - I respect that both men took advantage of the national stage to make a point about this important issue.
But I'm just trying to be honest about the substance. If Boeheim had spewed the usual NRA bullshit about needing MORE guns in society to offset the bad guys, I'd definitely be telling him to shut up on Twitter. And I don't want to give Boeheim too much of a pass just because I happen to agree with him.