THE STRIKE ZONE
Sometimes Sports, Sometimes Sportsmanship
During the postseason of 2016, Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs was caught on tape apologizing to umpire Angel Hernandez for an act he thought was disrespectful to the ump. The conversation that followed went down as one of the best moments of the postseason, let alone one of the defining moments of sportsmanship we've seen in a generation.
What made that act so special? Was it because Rizzo is a superstar and he took the time to be a good guy? Is he the next Derek Jeter? Or perhaps it was because Hernandez was known by many as a poor official, only to watch him improve so much over the past few years that he would receive such an important postseason assignment. Or how about the fact that we simply don't get to see many of these moments that often, so the fact that we did get such a moment was purely joyous and worthy of recognizing as an emblem of the beauty of humanity? Well, Rizzo was at it again. When middle school student Henry Sembdner was beaten up in school for no good reason over the winter, Rizzo took to Twitter to show his support. As everyone in the school wore their Cubs gear to show support for a huge Cubs fan like Sembdner, Rizzo retweeted every picture he saw for the cause. Further, Rizzo offered Sembdner the chance to come to a game at Wrigley and come down to the field during Cubs' batting practice during the summer. I don't want to put Rizzo (or anyone, for that matter) on a pedestal, but jeez...is there anything he doesn't do well?
2 Comments
4/27/2017 02:08:20 am
I think that most people just want to go against him. They don't like rooting for someone who's as talented as him. There are just people like those who doesn't want to belong in fan base. They like to go against the talented people within the league. A similar comparison would be the ones hating on Lebron James in the NBA, because he is considered as one of the best players in the league.
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4/27/2017 11:17:29 am
To play devil's advocate about James, however, consider the fact that he did the whole production about leaving to go to Miami before eventually returning to Cleveland. That may have turned people into haters even though it had nothing to do with his on-court ability.
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