There were 3 related stories over the past weeks concerning Ray Rice . First, the NFL's 2 game suspension. Then the outrage by almost everybody; That the penalty was too light and how the NFL and society as a whole have no agenda for addressing and dealing with widespread domestic violence . I do believe though that a ton of good , on a larger scale , will come out of this horrific incident. Zero tolerance.
Lastly, commentators like Steven A. Smith, spent the better part of a week pulling their collective feet out of their mouths, and apologizing to the world. Remember, everything today is heard and seen by the masses. Smith's totally inaccurate and inappropriate comments caused him embarrassment, humiliation, damage to his reputation and a measly 2 wk suspension(like Rice). But the real lesson to be learned is, when discussing a sensitive topic with a wide-scale critique of each and every word, your comments must be pre-screened by your network or publisher and carefully planned and thought out. You just can't have a popular commentator like Smith, with zero expertise in domestic violence, "shooting from the hip" ,and making up sh_t as he goes along. Totally irresponsible. In my opinion, this is the precise way that broadcasters and commentators get in the most trouble, when they are discussing hot button topics like race, sexual preference, bullying, sexual harassment and now domestic violence.
Hey, they may mean well. May get good ratings and may sound good. But remember your every word is being followed on social media . Therefore, you only have one crack at getting it right. And ESPN. If you want to get it right, bring in "real experts' " on domestic violence. Don't leave it in the hands of amateurs !!!
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