Huffs Puffs Hits Scrutiny Down

Fans wonder at the skills of Major League Baseball players while they are on the field. Once these players step off the diamond, something happens. Their skills vanish and they lose whatever luster they had on the field.

In an interview on Sirius Radio's Bubba the Love Sponge, Aubrey Huff provided another example of a player verbally vomiting. After spending one year of his three year contract with the Orioles, Huff proclaimed Baltimore to be a “horse[expletive] town.”

Even his athletic prowess would not allow him to avoid the horse pie he just laid. Before stepping into the batter’s box and after every unproductive at bat, the sell out crowd of Opening Day and the 10,505 fans at the following game expressed their displeasure.

Despite attempting to receive absolution by wearing an “I Love Baltimore” shirt and saying that his remarks were uttered jokingly, more boos than precipitation rained down on him during the soggy first two games of the 2008 season.

To his credit, Huff has not backed down from the malice. The Baltimore Sun quotes Huff as saying, “If I’m in their situation, I would boo me, too.”

After insulting the 2.6 million people living in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area, the Orioles’ designated hitter has done the only thing a ballplayer can do to win back fans, perform.

Huff has recorded a hit in each of the Orioles first, three games and was the major catalyst in the team nabbing their first win of the season. While a small crowd braved the chilly follow-up to Opening Day, Huff showed the weather and the controversy was no bother by using his hot bat to stroke a tw-run homer. He added two more RBI by hammering a go-ahead double in the eighth inning transforming boos to cheers. Now forgiveness is only a few home runs away.

While Huff made an insensitive and idiotic statement, fans in this country revere those athletes who speak without saying anything. Derek Jeter, the golden boy of New York, has never caused a stir in the media because he, like other popular athletes, hides himself behind clichés.

When an athlete speaks his mind, people criticize. While many of these relatively young and wealthy men shove their Nikes in their mouths, why do people care? Will Aubrey Huff’s comments have any affect on the amount of tourists cruising the Inner Harbor? His is one person’s opinion and can be easily dismissed as worthless and uninformed.

Because the media and its readers/viewers turn these faux pas into a universal pissing contest, players resort to clichés. It’s a natural reaction. They are protecting their investment, namely their image, but when that protection prevents positive action, are these iron-men of the field or court running scared of their obligations?

LeBron James refused to sign an open letter to the Chinese government condemning them for their role in the genocide in Darfur. While all but one of his teammates signed the letter, James cited a lack of information as his reason for not signing.

Perhaps, LeBron is being truthful. Or it could be that Nike, a company that pays James $90 million to hock their products, is looking to expand its empire to China. Perhaps, it is because James’ one desire is to be a “global icon.” It is tough to be an icon of that magnitude when roughly 1/6 of the world’s population might come to resent you.

While it is unlikely that James’ autograph on that letter would have brought much more media attention to Sudan, his missing signature reflects public opinion. While some individuals saw his inaction as a version of cowardice, most fans ignored the stories asking, “How did LeBron do last night?” James is not alone, and he should not be singled out. It’s the nature of the game, or maybe the fan.

People will criticize the active actions and worthless comments of athletes, but do not care when they hide behind clichés or refuse to better the world through inactivity.

The people who are lucky enough to play sports for a living have been blessed with athletic abilities and cursed with having their comments dissected by millions each day. Unfortunately, public speaking and politics are things most of these athletes have not explored in tremendous depth.

Because of this, to avoid being hypocrites, fans should dismiss ridiculous and harmless comments like the ones made by Huff or choose to criticize athletes like James for not using their star to make a better world. 

Unfortunately, the gifts of fans don’t often come in any form other than boos and cheers.