Rough 24 Hours for Hot Takes

It's been a rough 24 hours for social media hot takes from members of the MSM who oughta know better. Two incidents sparked this barrage of tweets:

Cheers in Scotiabank Arena when Kevin Durant went down with his injury during Monday night's Raptors game
The USA women's soccer team celebrating with much flair en route to a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand

The most common take on the KD injury was that Toronto is classless. What a bunch of idiots Raptors fans are that they would openly cheer a player going down with an injury! Often tinged with a "holier than thou" tone, we've been told we should feel shame and karma (something I don't believe in) is coming for us.

I don't have all the answers, but I know in my living room I experienced a moment of joy when the camera showed Durant on the court. I certainly wasn't happy the man was injured, but I was glad one of the best players was coming out of the game, increasing the chances of my Raptors winning the NBA championship. In a moment of heated competition, it was very instinctual. Here's my thoughts as tweeted yesterday.

I think there was an initial immediate "oh! KD's going to have to leave the game! This is good for us!" moment that resulted in some cheers.... it was a guttural response that lasted all of 10 seconds.

I don't believe 3000 people were happy KD suffered such an injury. https://t.co/jwZruXGqZC— Toronto Mike (@torontomike) June 11, 2019

Again, I'm not condoning the boorish behaviour from some ignorant fans, but don't pretend this is a uniquely Toronto thing (those people exist within all fanbases) and don't paint an entire city with such broad strokes. Within seconds the cheers stopped and there was audible support for Durant.

As for the US women's soccer team, I watched every one of the celebrations, and it was the ninth goal celly that really bothered me. My first thoughts were of our Canadian junior men and the very public criticism levied against them when they beat Denmark 14-0 in December 2018. I went to bat for our juniors for two very good reasons:

The celebration Don Cherry kept showing was Morgan Frost celebrating the third goal of the game. At 3-0 in best-on-best competition, I'm A-OK with over-the-top celebrations. Had that been the 9-0 goal, I'd have agreed with Cherry. By 9-0, Canada had toned it all the way down to a subtle glove tap sans smile.
Goals scored was a tie-breaker, so Canada couldn't / shouldn't let up. You have to keep scoring.

With the US Women, I feel the same way about running up the score. It's a tie-breaker, so they should keep scoring. What irked me was the celebrations when they were annihilating Thailand. It was pretty gross, and I'd feel the exact same way if that were our Canadian men. This isn't about gender or nationality. This is about good sportsmanship.

The bizarre thing I witnessed on social media was the number of MSM members who defended the US Women by defending their right to run up the score. Again, that wasn't the main criticism. Anyone who understands the rules is okay with the Americans continuing to score. It's almost as if members of the media moved the goalposts because the celebrations were far more difficult to defend. Check out these tweets.

I don't think anyone has an issue with the US Women running up the score.

All the criticism I've seen is the theatrical celebrations when up 10-0. https://t.co/E6M6Kjbjik— Toronto Mike (@torontomike) June 11, 2019

Why the U.S. Women’s National Team is bad for UConn women’s basketball is bad for the 1970s Russian hockey team is bad for Rafa Nadal at the French Open my column:— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) June 11, 2019

Just me: I believe Secretariat should have slowed up in the 1973 Belmont Stakes so as not to beat Twice a Prince by 31 lengths.— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) June 12, 2019

Those analogies simply don't work. Here's the celebration after the USA made it 9-0.