It's a shame that the Charlie V and KG saga couldn't be settled on the court.
If you're a hoops fan, I know you have been following the ongoing he-said, he-said saga between Kevin Garnett and Charlie Villanueva. (As a quick recap, according to Charlie V, KG went a little too far in his trash-talking in Tuesday night's Celtics win and called Villanueva a "cancer patient.")
So let's start to peel back the onion here, boy, I feel right at home as this kind of stuff happened all the time on schoolyards and probably will continue.
And yes, reputations do come into play. Garnett is an intense competitor and it's not implausible to see him going over the line with his trash-talk in an attempt to put Villanueva off his game. Villanueva on the other hand has the rep for being a guy that doesn't always give you all he has and needs prodding to turn the motor up. With that, the 'soft' tag occasionally comes up and you have to ask, could he be looking for a way out.
Garnett did issue a statement to clarify his remarks while his head coach Doc Rivers believes it should have just stayed on the floor and gone nowhere else. If Garnett did indeed call him a "cancer patient", he crossed the line and it is unacceptable, but the other side is probably saying, "Charlie, shut up and play ball."
In fairness to Villanueva, he has been a champion for his condition, Alopecia Universalis, and when he was here in Toronto, he regularly met with young children to inspire them to persevere through the hardships and teasing associated with the disease. He did this at home and on the road in front of hoards of people and for those who suffer from it, particularly young children, Villanueva was exactly what they needed. Having witnessed firsthand the sincere interactions between Villanueva and these folks, the support he gave them was invaluable.
In truth, this kind of stuff used to happen all the time back in the day but we probably never heard about it. But with social media these days, what you do, (or think you do,) in the dark somehow seems to come out into the light. Sadly the NBA rules permit Villanueva from "settling the score" the way it used to be done back in the old days. You know what I mean, at some point when the teams play again, Charlie V would have evened the score and KG would have known what it's about and it's done. But that is not going to happen.
The Dougie
So how do you feel about where the line for entertainment should be drawn in pro sports? It's kind of a sliding scale for me and depends on timing. Some folks thought Wizards rookie point guard John Wall went too far at the home opener in Washington when he was introduced. The old school guy in me says just go and play the game and forget the Dancing with the Stars routine, but I have also been a staunch supporter of the idea that it's sports and you can't legislate emotion out of sports, (are you listening NFL, No Fun League?), so you have to let some things go.
It was Wizards assistant coach Sam Cassell, who talks incessantly and probably trashed-talked the doctor who slapped him when he was born, that encouraged Wall to dance for the home crowd at the opener. Everyone has their own opinion but the bottom line is, it wasn't immoral, it wasn't illegal and nobody got hurt. He's an enthusiastic kid so go ahead John, do your thing, Dougie all you want…..but you better back it by playing well. So far he has and is in elite company after three games.
