Floyd Mayweather unleashed a barrage of verbal body blows at Jeremy Lin earlier this week, claiming via Twitter that Linsanity is only a thing because Lin is Asian. (Buzzer! Wrong.). But as usual, Money is punching at the wrong target (his fight with Manny Pacquiao now scheduled for 2025 on the moon).
A more logical opponent for Mouthyweather would have been Josh Hamilton. Why, Floyd might have tweeted, is Hamilton getting all of this understanding and sympathy after yet another substance abuse-related relapse? If Hamilton were black, would he be getting the same kid glove treatment?
Hamilton is a four-time All-Star and 2010 AL MVP who is also noted for having the longest Wikipedia ?Drug and Alcohol Addiction? section in the majors ? 19.2 inches. This beats even Darryl Strawberry (17 inches), the inactive record holder. Hams passed The Straw just last week when he was spotted drinking at a bar in Dallas: Sherlock?s Pub (home of the Snake Bite!). This was such a well-kept secret drinking spot that teammate Ian Kinsler quickly showed up and tried to drag him out of there. I?m seeing Matt Damon and Edward Norton in the movie version of this, by the way.
Now Hamilton has offered a round of mea culpas on the house, even appearing on Glenn Beck?s ultra-secret pay-per-view internet TV clubhouse, GBTV, to explain himself in a one-on-one interview (sans actual Glenn Beck). CBS News:
In an exclusive interview Wednesday with Pastor James Robinson on Glenn Beck?s live streaming video network, Hamilton said he knows his addiction is a serious issue and said he was undergoing a ?Josh Hamilton makeover.?
Clear Eye for the Drunk Guy?
I digress. This is of course a serious issue, and I have no problem with offering Mr. Hamilton another life mulligan. He deserves every bit of compassion and assistance that people are willing to offer. And so far that has been a lot.
But what if Josh Hamilton were black?
That would be a good subject for Eddie Murphy to tackle, if he were to remake his classic Saturday Night Live ?White Like Me? sketch. In case you haven?t seen it, the satirical piece has Murphy dressed in a business suit, with ?whiteface? makeup, in which he interacts with Caucasian people who assume he?s white. He discovers that white people secretly get all kinds of perks when they?re with their own (the bus is free, for instance). When a black person shows up, normal rates apply.
Is this what?s happening with Josh Hamilton now? What if this were, say, Justin Upton? How about all the black NBA and NFL players people tend to write off as thugs and addicts when they have problems with substance abuse?
And would Glenn Beck welcome a black or Latino athlete to his show to discuss yet another of his relapses? Is Beck the Nancy Grace of political commentators? (Grace seems only concerned with Caucasian, preferably blonde, missing children. Missing black kids need not apply).
Beck may have been drawn to Hamilton because of the player?s Christian faith (he says his 2009 relapse was due to ?me taking my focus off the most important thing in my recovery, which is my relationship with Christ?), his staunch conservative politics, or simple geography: both are based in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
But still, I have a hard time seeing Strawberry sitting in the Beck studio, talking of God and redemption.
Hamilton, during his interview on GBTV: ?Satan doesn?t have any more authority over me.?
Ah, Satan?s fault. We?ll arrest him then.
To the Rangers? credit, they?re approaching Hamilton?s latest travails pretty much the same as they approached Ron Washington?s. The Texas manager tested positive for cocaine in 2009, and the club said they wouldn?t fire him if he underwent treatment and counseling.
But I can?t really imagine the rest of the world showing this much understanding toward Hamilton if his skin was a few shades darker. Where are your opinions on race when we really need them, Floyd? Man, you duck all the big fights.
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Rick?s Cafe Americain appears on Thursday. Contact: Rickchand@gmail.com.
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