Now to be fair, I hate Ralph Wiley.
This is nothing personal, I wouldn't get into a verbal altercation with him or anything, and he seems like a friendly guy. I think I just do not like anything he has an opinion on in his writings.
I first discovered him when I was reading the Page 2 columns on ESPN.com where creating false hyperbole filled headlines is their claim to fame ( “The WNBA: Best sport in America” or “Barry Bonds, father of the year”) Their mission is to create a headline that someone like me says, “Those SOBs, I will show them, I will read their whole column…and then I will click on their e-mail and write them back, then I will click on all their sponsors…” Boy, I showed them…Nice work by me…
So back to the story, I am meandering across the page and read a headline in spring 2003, and read about that girl basketball player that was turning her back on the flag. Being a former cavalryman, and having friends fighting at the “forward edge of freedom” (website title giveaway…uh-oh this site might have jumped the shark…), I was not pleased at her lack of respect for their sacrifices. I can tell you that when I served in the Armed Forces, we did not sit around and think while we were on deployment, “Boy, I am glad that we are here defending democracy, so people at home can hate the military, spit and burn the flag. Makes it all worth it to have someone belittle our sacrifices…”
So enter Ralph Wiley, and his article smacking of anti-Americanism to the highest degree, talking about his respect for her courage to make a stand against the war, even with some people being upset with her actions. Courage? Courage is doing this in the Soviet Union. What was she doing? Exercising her 1st amendment right. Do I get credit for courage when I go buy a shotgun and exercise my 2nd Amendment right? Or how about choosing when I drink a beer (Hooray, for the 21st amendment!) Give me a break. We are not going to throw her in the gulag. Why? Well, of course because many braver and stronger people thought the nation of the flag that she despises was worth fighting and dying for. And they were not showing the devotion on the basketball courts. Because, unless we are Grand Master Flash circa 1982, we do not break dance our way out of conflicts…We have to fight.
So why does Ralph Wiley make it a point to defend her? I realize he is advancing his agenda. He was against the war in Iraq, he hates Republicans etc. Fine, that is his right, but do not sit and write sports and try and slip political points under the radar of the mainstream. Sports are the one thing we have in common. I have friends that I wonder how they breathe with all the blood that spews from their misguided hearts, but when we talk sports we still have something in common to chat about. And some div III 20 year old girl who read one too many New York Times editorials is not worth spending 5 minutes on in a sports article.
After this article, with my blood boiling, I read his archive. A tough task, since the man cannot write the English language. Must be a real drawback in his career as a writer…Run-ons, poor verb construction, was the man sick the day they taught English in English class? (To paraphrase LT Kaffee). Well, as I finished reading his articles, they all ran around how some show boating hot head is good, establishment is bad etc. So imagine my lack of surprise when he wrote about the events of the NFL draft week and said the three big events were Clarett, Eli Manning and the death of Pat Tillman. He then proceeds to talk about Manning and Clarett, only. So let me get this straight, Ralph: This girl turns her back on the flag, and her “courage” gets an article, Pat Tillman dies for his country, and he barely gets a footnote. Perfect.
Well, perhaps that is for the best. Pat Tillman deserves a tribute from a writer far more talented than Mr. Wiley.
