This is me, circa 1990.
I was a member of the University of Delaware’s cross country team, and the above image was my media guide photo. During our first party as a unit, I vomited from a single beer. Another time, I ran around campus and—between the hours of midnight and 1 am—stole university signs. In my dorm, a guy named Lumpy and his roommate, Scott, stole a parking meter from in front of the library, acquired some sort of steel-cutting saw and sliced it open. I collected some of the change.
The point is, college students do stupid shit because, well, they’re college students. And if, when you get older, you forget that eternal truth, you’ve probably lost some of the spirit that once made you young and vigorous and alive.
I digress. Earlier today, in defense of Brandon Bostick, I wrote a blog post slamming a Wisconsin-based college student for Tweeting some really cruel, uncalled-for trash against a guy (Bostick) facing the lowest of lows. I’ve developed plenty of friendships through the years with professional athletes, and those relationships have opened my eyes to the callousness of so-called fans who fail to think of such public performers as human. In other words, the nonsense tossed toward Bostick REALLY infuriated me.
That being said, the kid was in college. And, again, college kids do stupid shit. And, after I wrote it, his friends from high school and college started to come to his defense, and speak on his behalf. And while the words were flavored with a “Who the fuck do you think you are?” tone, they also carried love and compassion. The general message: Kid probably shouldn’t have Tweeted what he Tweeted. But did you never make a mistake at age 20?
I made plenty.
