Last week, the NFL
fined Seahawks’ running back Marshawn Lynch a total of $100,000 for refusing to
talk with the media. Apparently, it’s
not enough to earn your keep in the NFL by playing. Now you have to talk about it, too.
But
not in the NBA, where players, coaches and owners are fined on a regular basis
for saying the wrong thing (see Shaquille O’Neal, Phil Jackson and Mark Cuban,
among others). In pro sports, the policy
is to see no evil, speak no evil, offer up plenty of platitudes: As a team we really worked hard this week to…
Battery,
the threat of bodily harm, is not free speech; in that regard, let the fines
unfold. Otherwise, why do I and the
folks at ESPN get to say the refs stink, but not the people affected directly
by their calls? Why do I have First and
Fifth Amendment rights but Marshawn Lynch doesn’t? Because he’s an athlete rather than a
suspect?
Just for fun, Mark
Cuban ought to challenge his next fine as a violation of his First Amendment
rights. That would be an interesting case
to follow.
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