Rocker's Crass, But Others Are Criminals

I guess I wasn't all that surprised to see the public outcry over comments made by John Rocker.

He's the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher who, during a Sports Illustrated interview, said a bunch of dumb things.

Rocker is no dummy. He scored 1300 on his SATs. His parents are professionals - a teacher and a lawyer. I think he was probably trying to be clever or funny. He wasn't. He made disparaging remarks about homosexuals, single moms, Asian- Americans and others.

The comments came when he was asked about playing the New York Mets. Rocker was talking about what it must be like to live in New York.

He couldn't have been any more politically incorrect.

So when his comments came out, I was pretty confident he would be crucified in the media. And he was.

He was big news. All the networks, all the major daily newspapers and wire services, virtually every media outlet in the nation ran stories about Rocker the bigot.

Lots of stories. For weeks.

Big league baseball also had its pound of flesh.

Commissioner Bud Selig ordered psychological testing and suspended Rocker until May 1. (The season starts April 3 this year.) Rocker appealed and got the suspension reduced to two weeks.

That's pretty much what everybody figured would happen. Selig levied a suspension that he knew would be reduced. That gives him the opportunity to wash his hands of the whole mess and say, "Hey, I did what I could."

Before I go any further with this I want to state unequivocally I am not defending what Rocker said.

I don't agree with what he said.

He has a right to his opinion, to be sure, but he also has to take responsibility for his opinions.

I believe he has taken responsibility - with an apology, a suspension and hundreds of headlines and news stories.

Yes, John Rocker's stupid comments have made him a household word in America.

Anybody ever heard of Bobby Chouinard? How about Pedro Astacio? Steve Muhammad? Ray Lewis? Rae Carruth? Bobby Cox?

You may have heard some of those names, but are they household names in America like John Rocker?

No way.

All they did was commit - or allegedly commit - violent crimes.

Chouinard is the Arizona Diamondback middle relief pitcher who allegedly hit his wife and held a gun to her head.

Astacio is the Colorado Rockies starting pitcher who received a two-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to third-degree assault for hitting his pregnant estranged wife, Ana, last August.

Muhammad is the Indianapolis Colts cornerback whose wife accused him of beating her and her 6-year-old son. A few days later she died in an auto accident.

Lewis is the Baltimore Ravens linebacker who was arrested in a double-slaying outside an Atlanta nightclub.

Carruth is the Carolina Panther wide receiver who was charged with murder in the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend.

Cox is the manager of the Atlanta Braves. A few years back his wife accused him of punching her. She changed her story the next day and the cops dropped battery charges against him.

I am quite confident that if you added up the number of news stories about all those alleged offenders, it wouldn't add up to the coverage that Rocker got.

I think that's twisted.

Sure, those other guys - with the exception of Cox and Muhammad - got into hot water with the law.

But where was the public outcry? Where were all the editorials and op-ed pieces? Where were the political correctness police?

It's difficult for me to understand the level of national attention paid to Rocker and his dumb comments.

One thing is clear to me.

Strictly from a public perception point of view, Rocker would have been better off beating up his girlfriend.

It seems a few dumb comments warrant more public scrutiny than an assault on another human being.

I think that's a sad commentary on society.