duke1861
Well-Known Member
Excellent points.Nah, Deion deserves criticism. Dumping four ice buckets on an old man wearing a suit was pretty childish.
Tim was entitled to his opinion but he was coming across as an old "back in MY day" and "get off my lawn" crank. Tim played in an era when baseball players didn't make much, travel was very different, and there were no such things as two-sport stars. Deion also had a contract with the Falcons; should he have dishonored that one?
There was no disloyalty, IMO, on Deion's part for wanting to play in both a football and baseball game on the same day. I'm not even sure if his absence would have impacted the Braves that much, he was a platoon outfielder on a loaded Braves team. I would say his presence on the football team was more critical, despite the Braves being in a playoff series. He was much more impactful in football games than baseball ones.
Deion was the "speed guy" on the Braves who were loaded as you pointed out.
McCarver was old school clearly and would defend his unwritten rules of baseball over any sport. It didn't matter if deion was in the NHL or NBA...the response would have been the same. Baseball first because it's the most important was his mentality obviously. I am sure he felt the same about bo jackson.
Should mccarver have kept his opinion to himself, probably. I dont think he personally went after or attacked deions family or took out an opinion piece on deion. The only time he attacked sanders is when he said "you're a real man deion" after the 3rd ice bucket. I doubt most of the posters on this thread even remember the incident. Deion dumped 4 buckets on him..not one.
I doubt anyone whom defend Zack Wilson if he dumped 4 buckets of ice water on Stephen A. if the jets win the division. Stephen A. Is much more harsh on players than mccarver was.
Bottom line, drama follows deion wherever he goes.