The Way I See It

I should make something clear: when I throw together my Way I See It articles, I have little regard for the feelings of others. Nothing personal, it’s just that I have no interest in appeasing your feelings. So if you’re an Aaron Donald apologist or want to see Matt Araiza burned at the stake… I don’t care. I’m putting my opinions out in the world; love ’em or hate ’em, that’s your prerogative; but if your main beef with me is that I offended you, keep it to yourself. I just don’t care.

Black and White

Aaron Donald was involved in a brawl that led to the cancellation of a joint practice between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday in Ohio.

Ordinarily, this isn’t a big news story; fights break out in joint practices all the time. This fight, however, is newsworthy for two reasons:

– Donald did his best Myles Garrett impersonation, using a helmet as a weapon. Actually, he was swinging two helmets as weapons. I guess that what makes him an All-Pro, he always gives maximum effort. It’s said the NFL has traditionally let teams handle the discipline of players who brawl during joint practice sessions, and for now, it seems as if it’ll be up to the Rams to handle any “punishment’ for their star lineman. I’m sure he’ll receive a stern lecture and finger wag.

– ESPN’s talking heads offered their views following the incident. According to Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Clark, the main concern was that Adam Schefter had called Donald’s actions “assault”. What’s wrong with calling a pro athlete who swings deadly weapons at his victims “assault”? The word was less important than the speaker… Aaron Donald is black, Schefter is white. Smith and Clark claim that Schefter cannot comment on anything related to black people because he lacks melanin. As a result, only black commentators can comment on black athletes; whites should talk about white athletes. 

Love this positioning by Smith and Clark! Alas, they seem to be anachronisms; two men who belong in 1950s America. Ah, those were the days… when the government was doing its job and made sure that blacks and whites never interacted with each other in public. Even made sure there were two sets of bathrooms for the different races!

The damn Republicans probably blew up that Utopia.

Kicked to the Curb

The Bills released punter Matt Araiza (aka “The Punt God”) after allegations that he participated in the gang rape of an underage girl while at San Diego State University. There is a lawsuit pending in the matter.

The lawsuit accuses Araiza (21 at the time) of having sex with a high school senior who was under the age of consent in California, outside an off-campus party held at his residence in the early morning of Oct. 17, 2021. The suit states that Araiza then took her inside the home, where at least three other men, including the other two defendants named in the suit — Zavier Leonard, a redshirt freshman with the Aztecs, and Nowlin Ewaliko, who is no longer on the team’s roster — were located and that she was repeatedly raped for about an hour and a half. The lawsuit states that nose, belly button and ear piercings were pulled out during the acts and that she was bleeding from her vagina. (source: ESPN)

As far as we libertarians are concerned, the Bills have every right to release a player for any reason they fit. It’s a damn shame if the mere allegation of misconduct got Araiza cut; of course, if the Bills got inside info that he’s likely culpable, good riddance. Extended jail time should be the result.

Dashed Hopes

Filed under the “That Really Sucks” category, Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-23 season because of a Lisfranc injury to his right foot.

The second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Holmgren, who is a legit 7-footer that flashes skills at both ends of the court. His injury is tragic enough, but what might be more tragic is that the Thunder GM Sam Presti felt the need to say that Holmgren’s injury wouldn’t cause the Thunder to tank the upcoming season to acquire another lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

That’s correct: the state of the Thunder and NBA is such that less than a week after their top pick disappears for the season, the GM felt the need to publicly state that the team will not tank the season. Which of course means that the Thunder will tank the season.