Idiots Write About Sports

Working at home today, and as there’s no food in the house, I had to go out to get lunch. On my way out, I made the mistake of turning on sports talk radio — only briefly, before slapping the CD button on my car stereo system.

I called sports talk radio the other month, coming back from the class I teach in the spring at UC Berkeley. The topic was Pete Rose, and since I had an opinion that diverged from that of Sports RadioBot 2.5, I was basically shouted off the air.

But this is (half) my site, so I’m going to force you to listen to me. I’ll be brief.

My argument is a simple one. Some idiots point to the all-time great “Shoeless” Joe Jackson as an example why Pete Rose shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. Now, I am no Pete Rose apologist, but this is a bad argument.

Why? I’m glad I asked myself. The answer, friends, is this: let’s assume both parties are guilty. Joe Jackson was complicit in throwing a World Series in return for a cash payment. Pete Rose bet on some baseball games, including some involving his own team, although I don’t believe anyone has strongly accused him of betting on the Reds.

That’s a big difference, in my mind. A guy betting on baseball is a serious offense, but is it in the same league as conspiring with gamblers to lose World Series games? Not where I come from. Rose is guilty of many things, but I haven’t heard anyone accuse him of laying down in order to win a bet.

Consider Jackson in a much deeper circle of baseball hell than Rose, at the very least.