As I was flipping around channels last night, and went past HBO2, I actually stopped and left on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel for the first time ever. And the only reason was because they were interviewing Kermit Washington (who I only recognized because it said "Kermit Washington" on the screen). Steve and I have had discussions before about the infamous Kermit vs. Rudy T. (sorry, I'm not looking up how to spell Tomjonovich) incident before, but I'd never seen the actual footage. Until last night…
Yes, it was a brutal punch. Yes, it really was uncalled for. As Rudy T. ran over to break up the fight, it didn't seem like he was an immediate threat. But there was also a degree of bad luck and flukey circumstances. I mean, the way his fist caught him pretty much full on, with Kermit's weight fully behind the punch, and then Rudy running RIGHT into it. And then the way he collapsed and hit the ground, the jarring as he hit the floor added additional damage, no doubt. Surprisingly, he got right back up. Even though he was then taken to the hospital in a life-threatening situation, as his skull had been displaced from his spine and spinal fluid was leaking into his brain and mouth. Or something gross like that, I forget the gory details.
So, as the show goes on, they have interviews with Jerry West (who was coaching Kermit at the time) and a couple other types who say that Kermit was a great guy, and it was unfortunate the stigma of that incident followed him forever after. The guy never played for the Lakers again, and that incident is still to this day the first thing people think about when they hear his name. And, in a way, I kind of understood and sympathized with this point. The guy didn't MEAN to almost kill Rudy T. He didn't really expect to do that sort of damage. There have been dozens of incidents in sports since then that have been just as ugly, but have been mostly forgiven and forgotten because nobody was seriously hurt. It was just bad luck, really, that in this one case, it was the 1 in a 1000 perfect punch that landed in such a way to do so much damage.
Just as I was beginning to feel bad for ol' Kermit, they cut back to the interview with him. And my sympathy quickly faded. First, he kind of recapped what led up to that point, how he was being elbowed by one of Rudy's teammates as they ran down the court, behind the action. He talked about how the player kept elbowing him, and when Kermit elbowed him back, the guy punched him. But, Kermit pointed out, back in those days there were not 20 cameras showing all the different angles, so the incidents leading up to the fight were not caught on film. He said that maybe if people saw what happened before The Punch, people would have understood his reaction. To his credit, Bryant Gumbel was skeptical, and pushed Kermit a bit, asking, "Do you REALLY think people would have understood you crushing this innocent man's face with your fist if they saw you being hit by one of his teammates first?" And Kermit actually said he did.
Then, the clincher was when Kermit started throwing around the word "stereotype" when talking about his dealings with the league officials regarding his suspension. At first I thought he meant the stereotype of the "NBA Enforcer" role. (Which HBO had opened the segment with by explaining…Apparently, back in that day, the NBA had enforcers just like the NHL, who beat up on people who were a little too rough with their team superstars.) But then it seemed like he meant more of a racial stereotype.. And, again, Gumbel asked him, "So, are you saying your suspension was so harsh because it was a racial thing?" Kermit seemed jussssssst about to agree with him, before he caught himself and said, "Let's just say there was a stereotype, and leave it at that." In the end, it seemed to me like he was not so much sorry about it because he almost killed Rudy T., but because of the repercussions he himself suffered.
It's Fantasy Baseball update time! The team I have more interest in, let's call it the "Traditional Scoring Team" from now on, is in second place. I'm pretty happy with the production as a whole, and I still think I have the starting pitching to stay near the top all season long, especially if Randy Johnson catches fire. My "Head to Head Scoring Team" is like tied for 5th, but it's real close between the 2nd-6th place teams. That team is doing better than I expected, and I had a very enjoyable 7-3 week win over one of the jackasses who rotated in like 5 scrub pitchers each week. He still won strikeouts, but I killed him in wins, ERA, and WHIP.
In the Traditional league, I was offered Beltran for Ichiro, straight up. As I was about to pull the trigger on this, I stopped myself for a moment to look a bit deeper… Right now, here are my rankings in offensive categories:
4th in runs, 1st in home runs, 3rd in RBIs, 5th in SBs, and 7th in average.
Here are the current stats for the two players:
Ichiro: 38 R, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 15 SB, .321 AVG
Beltran: 24 R, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 1 SB, .294 AVG
So, basically, I'd be trading a bit of Runs, Steals, and Average for some HR and RBI. HR and RBI are my two strongest categories.
In the end, I declined the trade simply based on need, and not who is actually a better player. Beltran also has a nagging leg injury, so that lowers his value a bit too. We'll revisit this at the end of the year, and see what kind of difference this trade would have made had I pulled the trigger.
Social attitudes swing like a pendulum through time. I’ve known of Kermit Washington the player, the unconscionable criminal, the victim of misunderstanding, and now the man who sounds like he’s playing the race card. All of these personas have for one reason or another seemed perfectly reasonable.
ReplyDeleteI always believed that Kermit Washington was first a victim of his name. In racist America in the 1970’s, the name Kermit Washington sounded like it belonged in a police lineup. When he damn nearly killed Rudy T (I’ve already spelled Mientkiewicz in a previous post so BACK OFF) it sounded like a prophecy was fulfilled. Except that Kermit Washington was a well educated, well spoken young man who had graduated with honors from American University.
But no one seemed to care about that.
And so began their journey, Rudy T for so many years the man who got his face opened up and Kermit Washington, the man whose name was never spoken as if a mere mention was a violation of the 11th commandment.
Washington has always maintained an “I’m sorry, but…” attitude and Tomjanovich (are you happy now??? BE SILENT you voices in my head!!) says he forgave Washington years ago. We get tired of people who play the race card. At least I know I do, but sometimes more often than not race plays a major role in attitudes and perceptions. Put it this way: If in 1978 Rudy Tomjanovich had busted Kermit Washington’s face wide open, do you think he would have been suspended for 60 days and fined 10 large?