Criticism of Smart Unwarranted and Ignorant

I had actually typed out about half a blog on Marcus Smart's actions last night only to delete it, thinking that I was being a bit too emotional. But now that the press conference is over and the headlines continue to blame Marcus Smart for the tough stretch Oklahoma State University is about to endure it's occurred to me that the criticism he is now facing is absolutely ridiculous.

Smart's shove occurred with less than 10 seconds left in the game

Let me start by saying this, I don't think Smart should have shoved Jeff Orr, the Texas Tech "super fan". I don't think that's right nor do I think a player should ever resort to that. However, Smart did not make up his mind to confront Orr just out of pure want. Now that we have more of the story of what truly went down between the middle-aged season ticket holder and future Lottery pick, it has been said that Orr referred to Smart as a "thug n****r".

Excuse me? We're letting clowns like Jeff Orr enter college basketball games as a grown man and speak this way to 19 year old kids, and yet all we can type stories about is how Smart's responsible for what will surely be the downfall of Oklahoma State's season? There was a racial slur used toward a defenseless African-American athlete and we care more about the Cowboys' chances of making the NCAA tournament? That's sad, America. That's really, really sad.

Again, Smart should not have reacted. But Orr has a history of bad-mouthing opposing players which I understand is part of the game and by playing athletics you, in a way, sign up to deal with that kind of trash talk and banter. Yet there is NEVER a place in sports to use a slur at a player regardless of what color, race, or ethnicity they are. I don't care how much you dislike a player or if you just think you're being funny, we have come too far as a nation and have seen countless leaders of multiple races take a stand against crap like this to see it all go to waste when some 50+ year old moron decides to mouth off to a 19 year old basketball player. That's a disgrace not only to fans of the game but to all the trials our world has gone through when it comes to dealing with racism.

Fans have freedom to say and do anything

And while Smart's situation is different than the one I'm about to mention, my feelings towards fans and what they are allowed to say and do without consequence remains the same. Remember in the NBA playoffs when Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls was ejected in a game against the Miami Heat? While exiting the floor, Noah was greeted by the middle finger of a female Heat fan. Noah didn't react and kept his head down, but was anything said to the lady who made the obscene gesture? No. I'm not saying this as a Bulls fan, I'm saying this as a human being: you don't treat somebody like that. I get Joakim Noah isn't exactly a popular guy in the NBA, but to show him up like that on national television? Give me a break. Just sit there and watch the game. That's what you paid money to do. It boggles my mind that fans think it's okay to act like that.

I understand that trash talk is part of the game and part of the athletic environment, but where's the punishment for stuff like this? Going back to the Marcus Smart shove, what's going to happen to Jeff Orr? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He was quoted by the media, obviously denying ever using the slur, and will surely be present at the next Texas Tech basketball game surely viewed as something of a hero because he got under Smart's skin. That's what disgusts me. Marcus Smart gets a three-game suspension, gets called immature and anything else you can think of by the media, is subject to the blame of what will now most likely be a negative outcome to OSU's season, and all the while Jeff Orr will have a smile on his face because he got away with giving the first blow in a fight that Smart was ultimately the victim in.

That doesn't sit well with me. I cannot believe that nothing's going to be done about Jeff Orr's comments and even more so that the media seems to care more about what Smart's suspension means to the team rather than what Orr's slur means to the racial barriers that are obviously still present. We celebrate Black History Month and recognize influential African-Americans like Martin Luther King, Jr., but can we really call ourselves authentic in our support of all those who have taken a stand against racism if we continue to let guys like Jeff Orr speak like that and not reprimand him? It's a crying shame that Marcus Smart, a 19 year old kid who reacted to a racial slur, is the one receiving the brunt of the punishment when nothing will be done about the man who made the comment. This is bigger than Oklahoma State's season and it's certainly bigger than basketball. No athletes should have to go through something like that and it's time to figure out a way to at least monitor such situations a bit more closely. Because if the media really cared about Marcus Smart other than for the entertainment he gives us on the basketball court, Jeff Orr would be receiving a punishment of his own.