To play or not to play...
Shawn Green has been all over the news this week. His decision to observe Yom Kippur has baseball fans all abuzz.
The end of this article makes a great point. If he was missing for the birth of a child or an injury, no one would think anything about it. Players have missed with jammed fingers and ingrown toenails, but missing for a religious reason has people freaking out.
Green has been accused of letting down the fans. I think the fans are letting him down.
The end of this article makes a great point. If he was missing for the birth of a child or an injury, no one would think anything about it. Players have missed with jammed fingers and ingrown toenails, but missing for a religious reason has people freaking out.
Green has been accused of letting down the fans. I think the fans are letting him down.
2 Comments:
Jen, I agree, totally, and I'd like to take this one step further.
As I can see it, it's not the fans' place to judge or decide when a player should or should not be absent from a game - it's the coach, the manager, and the owner who have that right. If they're ok with it - then it's ok. Period.
I grew up as a golf pro's daughter - my family has had to put off Thanksgiving dinners and trips to Grandma's house on CHRISTMAS EVE because of some insensitive bastards who didn't care about being with their own families and sure as hell didn't give two figs about a little girl standing there, excitedly saying to them "When my Daddy gets off work, we're going to my Grandma's house for Christmas!" as they were signing up to play another 18 holes. (Not to mention family vacations, birthdays, and any other important day that might fall in a day where the weather is good enough to play golf.)
But I digress. I do know that Mr. Green chose a profession he KNEW in advance would have important "work days" scheduled on his religion's holidays, and that on a sports team, EVERY player is important - it's not like having the guy who's usually off that day cover for you while you're gone - it could make or break that day's game.
What I am really wondering is what would happen if this were a Christian holiday? What if this was a Christmas day football game (are there Christmas day football games?) Or a baseball game on Easter Sunday? Could a Christian player who is a devout follower of his or her faith have the same option - to spend the day in religious observance and closeness with their families?
What do you guys think? I'm not trying to stir up the pot of one religion vs another, but I wonder if Mr. Green would be allowed to miss a game in observance of a religious holiday if it were not a Jewish one?
I for one am happy that Mr. Green has chosen his faith over his job; I think all of us should. Do we have the right? the religious conviction? the courage? If more of us did, then this wouldn't be such a phenomenon, and no one would have a reason to be all riled up - it would be the rule, rather than the exception. And I think our world would be a whole lot better place, to boot!
How can I add anything after ONESINGLEMOM?
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