The ZOOperstars were onto something...
Apparently, the ZOOperstars knew a little something about the angelic Derek Jeter, inspiring them to create this punnish character.
Last night, Jeter dramatically reacted to an inside pitch, feigning injury after the ball knocked off the knob of his bat. Home plate umpire Lance Barksdale bought the act and gave him first base.
Included in the linked article is the following excerpted comment:
"...I really think people are making too much of this. Most importantly 1- It had no effect on the game, 2- Players fake injuries all the time in soccer, the most popular sport in the world, and players fake fouls in another sport played worldwide in basketball."
This person is utterly incorrect on the first point -- after all, Curtis Granderson followed with a home run and Jeter scored the game-tying run. Really, no effect on the game? You sure about that one?
As far as the second point is concerned, does the commenter really believe that faking injuries -- flopping in order to draw bogus calls from the referees -- is the reason that soccer and basketball are so globally popular? Soccer and basketball succeed in spite of flopping. Flopping stinks. It stinks when Duke's men's basketball team does it. It stinks when the Italian soccer team does it, it stinks in general.
On the bright side, good triumphed over evil and the Rays beat the Yankees. Well...
I'm not naive. I have no doubt that a random Rays player would have reacted in the exact same way as Jeter. The exact same way. Baseball, like basketball, like soccer, like a great deal of other sports and livelihoods, is highly approving of "taking liberties." Baseball loves its cheaters all the way up until the very moment they get caught, at which point everyone either buries the cheater in question or rushes to their defense with the ol' "Everybody does it."
Politics features much of the same. Same with college football and college basketball recruiting. Cheat, cheat, cheat... and then scapegoat or declare "Everybody does it." It's the American way.
And it's darn globally popular, too, just like soccer.
Last night, Jeter dramatically reacted to an inside pitch, feigning injury after the ball knocked off the knob of his bat. Home plate umpire Lance Barksdale bought the act and gave him first base.
Included in the linked article is the following excerpted comment:
"...I really think people are making too much of this. Most importantly 1- It had no effect on the game, 2- Players fake injuries all the time in soccer, the most popular sport in the world, and players fake fouls in another sport played worldwide in basketball."
This person is utterly incorrect on the first point -- after all, Curtis Granderson followed with a home run and Jeter scored the game-tying run. Really, no effect on the game? You sure about that one?
As far as the second point is concerned, does the commenter really believe that faking injuries -- flopping in order to draw bogus calls from the referees -- is the reason that soccer and basketball are so globally popular? Soccer and basketball succeed in spite of flopping. Flopping stinks. It stinks when Duke's men's basketball team does it. It stinks when the Italian soccer team does it, it stinks in general.
On the bright side, good triumphed over evil and the Rays beat the Yankees. Well...
I'm not naive. I have no doubt that a random Rays player would have reacted in the exact same way as Jeter. The exact same way. Baseball, like basketball, like soccer, like a great deal of other sports and livelihoods, is highly approving of "taking liberties." Baseball loves its cheaters all the way up until the very moment they get caught, at which point everyone either buries the cheater in question or rushes to their defense with the ol' "Everybody does it."
Politics features much of the same. Same with college football and college basketball recruiting. Cheat, cheat, cheat... and then scapegoat or declare "Everybody does it." It's the American way.
And it's darn globally popular, too, just like soccer.
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