Rant #3,956: King Nothing

I never talk about football in this Rant.

I don't like the sport, don't like what it has become, and it means nothing to me.

Then this latest controversy came up, and it has nothing to do with athletics ...

More about politics than anything else.

Jaxson Dart, the young and talented New York Giants quarterback, made an appearance with President Donald Trump at a rally, introducing him to a crowd the other day--

And one of Dart's teammates became just so horrified at what Dart had done, and let him know about it through social media, where the story spiraled into a national headline.

A teammate of Dart's, Abdul Carter, took great horror at Dart doing this, and posted his feelings on social media, stating that he "thought it was AI," and used some other filthy words to describe what he felt.

They subsequently met, and I believe it was all ironed out, but that really isn't the story here.

The story is that this is not what sports is all about.

Sports brings together people from all different backgrounds, all different ethnic groups and all different beliefs, and puts them together, where nothing else is supposed to matter but what goes on on the field.

Dart is allowed to have whatever political leanings he wants to have, as does Carter, but Carter's inappropriate reaction to what Dart did really was bewildering.

Is Carter saying that he can't play with Dart anymore because he is a Trump supporter?

What does that have to do with what the Giants do on the field ...

And yes, the Giants are one of the NFL's worst teams, so don't you think Carter should be on the same sports page as Dart, as Dart is the team's starting quarterback?

What does politics have to do with anything?

Well, this story, of course, spiraled into a major firestorm of controversy, and yes, it wound up on Facebook.

I recently was friended by someone from my old neighborhood in Rochdale Village, someone I kind of knew way back when.

Well, he jumped into this controversy, and as a liberal, of course, he took the side of Carter in this mess--

To which I pretty much replied in the way I did here, where sports should have nothing to do with politics.

He then put up a message that is probably the most heinous, most racist thing I have ever read on Facebook ... and I have read plenty.

He replied to the extent that since the NFL is a predominately black league, with most players being African-American, for Dart to do what he did was a slap in the face to most of the players in the league.

I could not believe that he said that, and let him know how racist what he said actually was.

I said that with that thinking, why should any Jew bother to criticize anti-Semites here, there and everywhere, since we make up such a small percentage of the population both here and worldwide.

Just go with it because we aren't the majority ... just go with the flow.

I guess I took this "friend" by surprise with my response, and he eventually said that maybe now was the time to unfriend me due to having the audacity to disagree with him--

Which, of course, led me to tell him that he could do what he wanted, but evidently, he shields himself from any opinion other than his own by having "friends" that agree with him on hating Trump, who he called some vicious names on Facebook, none of which, in my estimation, are true, and I told him so.

I am no MAGA supporter of the president, did not vote for him in the last election, but he attacked Trump viciously and unnecessarily, in my estimation.

I also told him that I welcome views from all sides of the ledger, which as you know, I do.

You are probably wondering why I am not putting up the exact quotes from him and me, but he has since either blocked me or taken down the post, which is fine with me--

But then his bluster came to Facebook messenger, and here is where you are going to read some exact quotes.

"You are a bit of a coward, aren't you you?" I wrote. 

I had sent him my story in Newsday as an example of what sports is really all about.

"Did you read my story? Can't take that someone has the audacity to disagree with you? And by the way, I did not vote for Trump. [By blocking me] you are one less fool for me to deal with, and put in their place."

His reply:

"No, life is too short to deal with a-holes."

He used the full term, but since this is a family blog, I won't use it, and it gets worse.

I replied, "Oh, because I had the nerve to disagree with you, you call me that word? Demonstrates that you cannot take the heat, and act infantile when someone disagrees with you. 

"Funny, I have friends of all backgrounds, ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative and everything in between. We agree to disagree on some things, but we remain friends ... and I don't mean Facebook friends, I mean real friends.

"Your behavior is ridiculous. Did you bother to read my story [which I posted to him]. That is the true essence of sports, and politics has nothing to do with it.

"And you speak about being a racist; re-read what you said about Dart not doing what he did because the NFL is a predominately black league. That is a racist thought, my friend. And you call Trump racist? Takes one to know one, I guess.

"You can't come up with something better than I am absolutely an a-hole? God gave you a brain; it is time you used it."

My 'friend" then put up two memes--both the exact same thing, stating, "You are nuts."

I replied, "That is the best you can do, using a meme twice to speak for you? You can do better than that. Like you tried to say, if I am nuts, at least I am not a racist and not delusional. I fear that you are both.

His next volley: F-off! [Yes, he used the full F word.]

My reply, "I expected so much more of you. Notice, I used no filthy language to address you, but you did in addressing me. How sad you are."

"Stop bothering me," he replied, and evidently, he turned on something called "disappearing messages," which allows messages to vanish 24 hours "after everyone has seen them."

My reply: "Don't make me laugh! You asked to be bothered by your idiotic responses here, rather than talking it out like an adult. Speak to you later, friend."

I guess he went to sleep, but I heard from him bright and early Sunday morning.

"You're not my friend, and I definitely won't speak to [sic] crazy person here."

My retort was, "No loss on my end, friend. So I am "crazy" because I disagree with you, and you simply are unable to have an adult conversation about it. See you, friend."

And that was that.

Yes, I could have dropped it early on, but this guy just went on and on, he knew I painted him into a corner, and he comes back with vulgarity.

Typical phony political imbecile, and I would say that if he was on the other side too.

To attack me because I had the absolute nerve to disagree with him ...

Goodness, how did we grow up in the same place at the same time?

Maybe I am able to process differing viewpoints a little better because I am a writer, but I am not that smarter than anyone else--

Or maybe I am.