I was watching the NBA Finals Sunday night and I was taken aback with something that I witnessed.
After the Lakers easily handled the Orlando Magic, 99-86, to win the championship in five games, the celebration began.
In the midst of all the hoopla, ABC went to a commercial. The segment featured various Lakers players, along with Coach Phil Jackson, encouraging Los Angeles fans not to riot. The spot asked individuals to “celebrate with dignity” and to respect the city.
That commercial reminded me of some things in sports that shouldn’t have to happen.
It is just a shame that as a society we haven’t developed sufficiently that there has to be commercials following sporting events telling people not to burn their city down.
The sad thing is the spot didn’t even work. A group of idiots caused some trouble near Staples Center, setting fires, looting businesses and causing mayhem that resulted in nearly two dozen arrests.
Hey, at least they didn’t torch police cars like they did during the last Lakers title celebration in 2000.
Most of the individuals whom the commercial was targeted probably didn’t even see it. If they did, I’m sure rowdy Lakers fan would have momentarily stopped drinking his 16th beer and come to a stunning revelation: “I was gonna start rioting, but Kobe told me to chill out, so that’s what I’ll do.”
It reminded me of the television spots that always run close to New Years reminding people not to discharge firearms into the air at midnight.
It just floors me that we need commercials to tell us not to do bad things. What’s next?; commercials telling us not to put our cats in the microwave, or not to stick our heads in the oven when the pilot light is off — or on, for that matter — or not to jump off a high-rise building.
Society, please protect us from ourselves.
In the sports genre there are a great deal of things that we shouldn’t have to be subjected to. There are sights, sounds and ideas that are often shameful, a distraction or just plain stupid.
The way some athletes speak can be a combination of the three. Granted, not every athlete has the benefit of a Harvard education, but just to be able to speak in a manner we can understand should be a basic requirement.
