That seems to be the case this past weekend, where a man managed to get himself arrested twice by police on Saturday – with arguments that began over who was the greatest professional basketball player of all-time.
THE KID FROM Ohio, LeBron
James? Or "His Airness" himself, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan!
The
Chicago Tribune reported that Daniel Mondelice was arrested early Saturday at
an apartment building in State College, Pa., after his quarrel with someone
else on that very subject got out of hand.
He
was able to get himself released by police after charges were filed. Yet he
returned to a nearby apartment building and then managed to get into another
quarrel when he refused to leave when asked, according to the State Collegian
newspaper at Penn State University.
That
caused his Saturday night arrest that resulted in him spending the rest of the weekend
in jail. Associated Press reports indicate he was still there as of Monday
morning. He is scheduled to be in court again on Wednesday.
THE
NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS didn’t indicate whether Mondelice was a Jordan backer, or
was delusional enough to think that James reigns supreme! Although considering his
age (22), he might be in the latter category.
For
it usually turns out in these sports-themed arguments that people desperately
want to believe that their own generation’s athletic heroes reign supreme. Just as I'm sure my own remembrances of one-time (and now deceased) Chicago Bear Doug Buffone are elevated because he played when I was a kid.
This
guy would have been a bit young to have seen Jordan at his peak – and might
want easily to dismiss what some claim is Jordan’s ultimate piece of evidence
as to his superiority.
As
in those six NBA championships in an eight-year period (two strings of three
straight titles apiece) that gave Chicago its only taste of what it’s like to
be a New York Yankees fan with perpetual strings of championship teams to root
for.
THEN
AGAIN, THE Yankees of the past two seasons didn’t even make the playoffs –
thereby giving Yankees fans a taste of what it’s like to root for a Chicago
ball club.
So
what should we think of Mondelice – who may well have got the moment of infamy
that now will perpetually crop up on search engines any time anyone does an Internet
search of his name (and may wind up producing the bulk of the people who will
ever read this particular commentary)?
I
was amused to read the typical anonymous reader commentary that turned up on
the Tribune website for the people who recalled the film “Bad Teacher.”
Because
those of us whose minds have a knack of collecting clutter and trivia will
remember the scene where actor Jason Segal’s gym teacher character argues about
Jordan versus James with a student – ultimately saying the six titles is “the
only argument I need” in Jordan’s favor!
EVEN
THOUGH I’M sure there are those who want to think of Jordan as the aging (at
52, he’s only a couple years older than I am) owner of a mediocre basketball
team in Charlotte, N.C.
Although
I’m sure those James fans will get their comeuppance a couple of decades from
now when some smart mouth will argue that some kid ballplayer yet to be born
shows LeBron for the foolish old man he truly is.
These
kind of sports arguments go on and on for generations, and we only hope that
people have enough sense to keep their behavior in check so the police don’t
have to get involved.
Because
if you do wind up getting arrested, you might not be able to watch “Bad Teacher”
for its classic scene – the one where Cameron Diaz in her short shorts shows
off her physical attributes and gets soaking wet while washing cars!!!
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment