An interesting situation occurred this past week when stars of two Sunday afternoon sports were suspended for the rest of their respective seasons.
The Philadelphia Eagles sat wide receiver Terrell Owens, suspending him for four games without pay and deactivating him for the remainder of the season. This was in response to Owens' remarks during an interview in which he complained about the Eagles' management and the ability of the team's quarterback, Donovan McNabb.
Roush Racing suspended driver Kurt Busch for the two races remaining in the NASCAR season. That came after Busch was stopped by a Sheriff's deputy for a traffic violation in Arizona while the circus was in Phoenix for last Sunday's race. His behavior after the stop was less than appropriate and the deputy's report indicated there was the presence of alcohol.
Owens' got some blocking this past week from no less than football expert and quadrennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and then from bandwagon jumper Rev. Jesse Jackson.
T.O. had said in the interview that the Eagles should have made a bigger deal of recognizing his 100th touchdown reception and that the team would do better if Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre was at the helm in Phillie.
Defending NASCAR champion Busch, like Owens, also had developed a reputation for being in the "does not play well with others" group.
He was stopped by the deputy last Friday after running a stop sign and nearly hitting another vehicle. According to reports, Busch was uncooperative and belligerent and the deputy called a supervisor to the scene. The deputy said that a test with a handheld machine showed that there was alcohol in his system. However, when they tried to take a more accurate test "at the station" that machine didn't work.
The department ended up just charging him with reckless operation.
Interestingly enough, word came later in the week that the test done with the field machine showed Busch's blood alcohol content to be .017, well below the .08 considered to represent intoxication in Arizona (Ohio too).
At first the Roush team wasn't too concerned. Owner Jack Roush said that, since Busch was leaving his team to join Penske Racing next season, it was someone else's problem. However, some major sponsors of the No. 97, including Crown Royal Distilleries, pressured the team to react.
They did so by suspending him for the final two races of 2005 … the one at Phoenix last weekend and this weekend's finale at Homestead, Florida. He remains under contract to Roush and so cannot drive for anyone else this season.
Nader and Jackson have yet to issue statements defending Busch. Both had claimed that the penalties imposed on Owens by the Eagles were too severe for the offense and Jackson said the Eagles should release him so he can play for another team.
The two incidents have so many similarities.
Both athletes are very, very good at what they do. But both seem to have attitude problems. They seem to think that their success in their respective sports should lead everyone to treat them differently, to stay out of their way and constantly celebrate their existence.
Everyone would like to believe that. The problems occur when one reacts inappropriately to the realization that it's not true.
Jackson's remarks in defense of T.O. are interesting when he notes that the WR's remarks are "free speech." The Rev., like many people, forgets that that constitutionally guaranteed right only prevents (supposedly) the government from stifling or penalizing people who share their opinions with others.
It does not protect anyone from suffering the inevitable consequences of their statements.