It's been 11 days since Sean Taylor was shot in his home in Florida. First and foremost this situation is sad because a person lost his life, and the family lost someone they love. That is true even when a person isn't a famous athlete, but just as the good things in the life of a celebrity are celebrated so to are the bad.
What this situation has brought to light again, is that the established news media has shit for brains. In their rush for a scoop or an exclusive they are guilty of making tremendous reaches and stumbling into huge lapses in judgment. This is true when it comes to the War or regular news as well, but the sports media world tends to be more daring when they make broad proclamations. This is best summed up in one turn of phrase "Gut Feeling." While watching Comcast Sports Net DC on Monday the 26th of November we were amazed to hear a reporter say that Sean Taylor was past the worst, and he was going to be OK. When the anchor in the studio asked what this report was based on the man in the field (who was a Washington Post writer who was reporting for CSN) said "It's just my gut feeling."
I was watching with a friend of mine who just so happens to be a news reporter, and we were aghast. How could someone be so gallant as to report that a person was going to survive a gun shot based on a gut feeling from 1000 miles away? Sadly, it wasn't the last time the phrase "gut feeling" was used in the Taylor discussion. Afternoon radio douche nozzle Colin Cowherd was sure that Taylor was gunned down due to his tainted past. What did he base that decision on? Apparently his "gut feeling" and some of his black friends, namely Stephen A-Hole Smith, Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock. Wow, that's some real hard hitting journalism. You called up a bunch of other overpaid sports reporters who just happen to be darker than you.
Then when Taylor's childhood friend Antrel Rolle guessed that Taylor was gunned down by someone from his past (also without any material evidence or firsthand knowledge) Cowherd gloated that his gut feeling had been proven correct.
All this does is reinforce the ages old stereotype that some people are just asking for it. It is a value judgment on a person based solely on general knowledge, when what is called for is specific investigation. Basically what Rolle and Cowherd were doing was saying that Taylor was shot by thugs and he was asking for it, just look at how he was dressed, a la the notion that a slutty woman can not be raped because she deserves it. A man who has chequered past can not be the victim of a random murder.
It's bush league plain and simple, and it needs to stop.
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