I guess it's not all bad. I get to make a reference to the line that always cracks me up when I watch the movie Gladiator: "I'm terribly vexed."
This past weekend had the potential to be one of the all-time greats when it comes to sports.
There was the Kentucky Draft, NFL Draft, NASCAR at Talladega, some great hockey in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Red Sox and Yankees highlighting the Major League Baseball schedule (although we seem to see that all the time now), Premier League soccer, a terrific Game 7 between the Clippers and Spurs in the NBA Playoffs, PGA match play ...
... and then there was Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.
On the day of the fight news broke that reporters who had drawn attention into Mayweather's history with domestic violence were claiming they had been banned from attending.
Specifically, he's been involved in seven domestic abuse cases against five women that have resulted in arrests or citations. In 2011, he served two months of a three-month sentence after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges involving a former girlfriend.
Police have also been called in other times during which charges were not filed. Regardless, that's a disgusting trend. If your want to read about it check out Deadspin, it's claim Las Vegas essentially aided in a cover up, and the written testimony of a 10-year-old.
Two of the reporters involved were female and both highly regarded. What surprised me was that there wasn't more of an outcry or any apparent discussion of media outlets walking in protest (which speaks volumes about the declining state of journalism). The guess here is that they all considered the fight too big, which is really a shame.
Subsequently after the fight it was revealed that Pacquiao had entered the ring with a bad shoulder. When Bob Arum was asked about it in the post-fight press conference the reporter had the microphone taken away. The promoter dodged other inquiries as well as Mayweather has both in and out of the ring.
Let's call this what it was, a big-time money grab, leaving a lingering bad taste not only about the fight but really the whole weekend that began with Jameis Winston being the first player selected in the draft. It's really a shame, but in my mind the big winners turned out to be those who took the $100 pay-per-view fee and instead donated it to charities and organizations that deal with domestic abuse.
Subsequently after the fight it was revealed that Pacquiao had entered the ring with a bad shoulder. When Bob Arum was asked about it in the post-fight press conference the reporter had the microphone taken away. The promoter dodged other inquiries as well as Mayweather has both in and out of the ring.
Let's call this what it was, a big-time money grab, leaving a lingering bad taste not only about the fight but really the whole weekend that began with Jameis Winston being the first player selected in the draft. It's really a shame, but in my mind the big winners turned out to be those who took the $100 pay-per-view fee and instead donated it to charities and organizations that deal with domestic abuse.
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