Rant #2,752: The Ballad of Irving

It is finally Friday.
 
Not that Friday is that great, as it is really Saturday that we are looking forward to.
 
So we have another day to get there.
 
And I see that Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, who refuses to get his COVID-19 shot and has been barred by a combination of New York City and the New York State governments and his own team from competing this season until he gets his shots, has finally made a statement about why he has taken his stance, and as usual, it is as empty headed as he is.
 
He said that he chose to not get the shots because we only have one body, and we have the right to choose what we are going to do with it, and he chose not to get the shots.
 
He also said that he supports those in other areas who refuse to get the shots and have lost their jobs.
 
That is nice and fine with Kyrie, but let’s remember, that yes, he is losing millions of dollars by not playing because of his stance, but he is also not fully docked, as he is getting paid for road games that the Nets play because he is not playing these games based on the team’s own edict, not because of any government regulations like there are on the road games.

And he will get his job back in the future, something that these others who have taken the non-shot stance will probably never be able to do.
 
So Irving is as far removed from what these people are doing to themselves as he can possibly be.
 
Yes, he made the same decision that they have made, but since he still will be making millions of dollars this season, based on his pay for the road games.

And again, his job is there waiting for him when the situation is different.
 
These others making the same choice are losing EVERYTHING. They are losing their jobs, they are losing their pay, and they are irreparably fouling up their retirement.
 
Irving is basically collecting multi-millions of unemployment insurance and will never get their jobs back. And there has been a precedent: remember the air traffic controllers who went on strike when Ronald Reagan was president? They did what they did, the the president stuck to his guns, and those people lost their jobs for good. The same is going to happen here.
 
So for him to compare himself to these people reeks of a total misunderstanding of both his own situation and theirs as well.
 
I don’t believe in edicts and mandates for the shots as much as he does, but I do believe in what being employed means, both now and in the future.
 
I also believe in being a team player, and management and teammates can talk around the subject all that they want, but Kyrie is for Kyrie and has let his team down big time by his stance.
 
He is making so much money that it blinds him from the reality of the situation for everyone who refuses to get the shots and have lost their livelihoods because of their shortsighted stance.
 
Talking about the pot calling the kettle black; he has made his own “plight” laughable, and has shown how senseless the others’ real plights actually are.
 
And he has proven once and for all that having money doesn’t necessarily make you smart.
 
No, he is not the sharpest tool in the shed for sure, but at least he can fall back and count his money while he leaves his team in a lurch.
 
After all, it is—and has always been—all about Kyrie, and that is being amplified now by his current stance.
 
The NBA also has a COVIO-19 shot mandate itself, and the league is currently at a 96 percent rate of its players having gotten the shots.
 
I am sure that a good percentage of those players who got the shots didn’t really want them, but they felt that there would be trouble if they didn’t get them, so they just decided to do what they felt was right.
 
And few of those who got the shots have the talent of Irving, so they probably felt that if they didn’t get the shots, they might be let go.
 
And I am sure they wouldn’t get the luxury of being paid for some of their games like Irving has.
 
Look, I am sure that some short-sighted people are looking at Irving as some type of hero, or anti-hero, for his stance.
 
But again, the fact of the matter is that him not getting the shots is so far different from the hospital worker not getting the shots that it is so ridiculous to even put them in the same over-stewed pot.
 
And again, the only way to voice your opinion on these edicts and mandates is to take care of  it at the election booth when you vote this year and into the foreseeable future.
 
I, for one, will vote out every incumbent that I can, because they are the real cause of this mess that we are in, but how many people are going to follow my lead?
 
I doubt that too many will, and we will see the same old, same old people in office after this Election Day and the Election Days afterward.
 
And I am not speaking up by not getting my shots, but I have a leg to stand on by getting the shots and then voting these idiots out who think that these mandates are wonderful.
 
That is the only real way to do it.
 
Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.