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Remember when everyone jumped on Richard Sherman for his bizarre post game interview in the aftermath of the NFC championship? What seemed at the time to be a mentally disturbed Sherman went off on Michael Crabtree for no real reason.
Well it turned out that Sherman had his hand slapped away while trying to say "good game" to Crabtree. Through that lens his rant seems perfectly understandable. It's recent enough to remember and a lot of people who were ready to jump all over Richard Sherman got egg on their face.
Fast forward to this.
And the stage is set...
A young, frustrated, competitive athlete tumbles out of bounds and has some mouthy, doughy, middle age man verbally abuse him. Of course the ESPN announcers begin to rail against Smart without any context or knowledge of the exchange.
Several News outlets are reporting that his lips read "go back to Africa" and Marcus Smart could be heard telling people that the fan also called him a N*****. If that is the case then the fact this fan is still walking is a testament to the patience of Marcus Smart.
I'm not saying shoving the guy is OK but when some obnoxious moron thinks the price of a ticket to a College game gives him the right to verbally abuse student athletes?
If this is indeed what the fan said I would hope, at the very least, Tech bans him for the rest of the season, if not longer. There is a reasonable line for fans to stay away from and any kind of racial comment aimed at a 20 year old kid playing hoops is clearly over that line.
I hope any action against Smart by the NCAA or Oklahoma State is measured against the terrible comment slung at him. Everyone involved in any disciplinary hearings should ask themselves "What would I do if someone said that to my wife? my husband? my kid?"
And to anyone looking to wag your finger at Smart, Ask yourselves the same Questions...
