Who Should We Be Angry with?

I am a big sports fan. Two pieces of sports news in recent days caused quite a reaction inside of me, and the reaction is not sports in nature:

News #1: On Monday, Vancouver Canucks general manager Dave Nonis was fired by the team for missing the playoffs two of the last three years.

News #2: Also on Monday, Denver Nugget forward Carmelo Anthony was arrested for driving under influence (DUI) at around 4 a.m. in the morning.

The reactions fans had for these two pieces of news are very different, but the difference is... interesting, to say the least.

First is the angry reaction that some Vancouver fans are showing towards Nonis. Some were using some pretty strong words; some were celebrating the firing as if justice was served. While you are at it, fire the coach, fire the scouts, fire everyone in the front office too… it is as if people are playing fantasy hockey, where the entire team can be dumped with no harm done.

Meanwhile, in Denver, some fans were making excuses for Anthony, saying that he just had the worst game of his career and had to "let out some steam" in a night club. Sure, he should not be driving when he was drunk, but it was 4 in the morning... he could do no harm at that time of the day… Let's cut him some slack...

Welcome to a world that has its priorities all messed up. Nonis may not have done his job well and may deserve to pay for the team's poor performance by losing his job, but he has done no crime and has wronged nobody. He just did not compete well against the other managers in assembling a more competitive team. And people have to fire curses at him. Anthony, on the other hand, has probably committed a crime, could have killed someone or himself, but was given a mercy pass because he is a sporting hero.

I don’t know if the fans who are celebrating Nonis’ firing have ever been fired, or ever known someone who has been laid off, before. The guy has lost his job! His family may have to re-locate now. His life is suddenly turned upside down. As an observer, we can say his firing is justified, but why the celebration? On the other hand, why should Anthony be cut some slack? Would those people feel the same if his car actually hit someone, and that someone is someone you love? Should we cut him some slack then?

We live in a world that judges people based on sets of numbers: his salary, his points scored, the number of championship rings he wears... I sure hope that there is a higher standard that looks beyond these things…