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College Pitcher Makes Tweet About Young Mo'ne Davis, Gets Dismissed from Team

Last posted Mar 23, 2015 at 02:44PM EDT. Added Mar 22, 2015 at 08:00PM EDT
6 posts from 5 users

Quick and dirty on the story:

  • A college pitcher said it was ridiculous that Mo'ne Davis, a young black, girl who pitched (and very well) in the Little League World Series, was getting a Disney movie made after her. His actual tweet included the word "slut," but not in regards to her sexual activity. He was dismissed from the team. What are your thoughts?


 
Now this has a lot of facets to it that are obvious and ones that are subtle.

Obvious:

  • Female-based slurs (if he called her a "girl," would he have been dismissed?)
  • Social media and responsibility when associated with entities with PR concerns (People say worse things on social media all of the time, but they aren't openly affiliated with institutions.)

Subtle:

  • Race (would a white girl have gotten him dismissed?)
  • Davis' great performances (if she wasn't as popular, would he have gotten dismissed?)
  • Gender in general (would a black boy and calling him "thug" (I'm not sure if "slut" is as bad as "nigger," but I may be wrong) gotten him dismissed?)

If you removed one of these aspects and added another, the guy may not have even made news and/or have been removed from his team.
 
That's where I was interested in focusing. Don't get me wrong: he should have known better. You can't say anything on Twitter when you have some level of popularity without it being subject to criticism, right or wrong. And I think the team should have punished him in some public way in order to save face as an institution. You may turn off some black 18 and 19-year old recruits who saw Mo'ne as a black American story of pride if you didn't.

It's been said that the pitcher was a very good high school player, but I wonder if he had problems with the team beforehand. You don't just kick good talent from any organization without great cause.

I would have imagined the appropriate punishment would be to send Mo'ne a phone call/letter/email saying he's sorry and explaining himself, have the team run him ragged, and have him deactivate his Twitter and other social media accounts.

Kicking him from the team may very well prevent him from a career in baseball, because he'll have to transfer (which is sometimes difficult) in order to be seen and scouted. And it's going to potentially cost him scholarship money if he stayed (In their D-II division, he could have gotten a full ride, and some get a partial scholarship).
 
Overall, I think a punishment was warranted simply for the university's sake, similar to Oklahoma and the SAE fraternity. But I think a public apology (when I don't see how he was talking about her sexual activity here) and running him stupid would have sufficed. They just booted a very talented pitcher from their team, and in Division II, you're lucky to get any decent baseball talent that doesn't go to a D-I team or straight into pro ball. He meant a "rude" term for a female (because he's a crude, baseball player) more to say that she didn't do enough to get a whole movie made about her (and to be honest, I agree with that part. But Disney's not going to turn down a chance at cashing in on money.)
 
 
Long made short, is what folks in MRA groups complain about actually coming true on some fronts? Are we becoming too politically correct in an effort to appease very sensitive people? Or is this the proper course of action here? Is it borderline OK and not OK?

Literally just looks like a simple case of someone said something mean and got punished for doing so and nothing more. The word "slut" will always carry a negative connotation even if it's not used to describe someone and their sex life. Joel is apart of a college baseball team, and most sports teams have some very strict rules of what you can and cannot do, he should've known better.

As for the subtle parts:
Race – Yes, still would've been dismissed
Performance – Still would've been dismissed even if she wasn't that good
Gender – Still would've been dismissed

Colleges take a very good look at social media accounts and what people post and will very often deny people entry if that person has said or done anything in the past. The same goes for when you're in college.

You know, to the people who say that this is a violation of free speech… the First Amendment only protects you from being arrested and jailed for expressing your opinions, no matter how dumb or assholish they are. THERE ARE STILL CONSEQUENCES IN THE REAL WORLD. He got kicked off the team because he sets a bad example for the rest of the clubhouse. You don't fucking say those things to teenagers unless they really, truly fucking DESERVE IT.

On another note, congratulations to Mo'ne for getting a biopic. She's a fantastic role model, and one helluva pitcher.

Jersey Jimmy wrote:

You know, to the people who say that this is a violation of free speech… the First Amendment only protects you from being arrested and jailed for expressing your opinions, no matter how dumb or assholish they are. THERE ARE STILL CONSEQUENCES IN THE REAL WORLD. He got kicked off the team because he sets a bad example for the rest of the clubhouse. You don't fucking say those things to teenagers unless they really, truly fucking DESERVE IT.

On another note, congratulations to Mo'ne for getting a biopic. She's a fantastic role model, and one helluva pitcher.

That's just not true- by current case law, the First Amendment goes well beyond that. For example, if, in a publicly organized parade on a public land, a group with this or that "controversial" stance requested to be a part of it, not only could they not be arrested if they did so, but the organizing committee would have to let them and the government would be obliged to protect the individuals from backlash.
Indeed, because the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania is a public institution, there would be a legitimate argument for unconstitutionality if it had kicked Casselberry out wholesale expressly for sending out that Tweet. But… they didn't. We're instead talking about a college sports team, which in my opinion is a semi-independent club and thus does not have to abide by the same standard. I use "semi-" because it does receive direct funding and overall support from the university. However, a charity may receive direct federal funding and overall support as well, but from what I understand that doesn't restrict the ability of those who run said charity to drop people out of their organization for saying horrible things at their discretion. The only exception would be if the government mandated that an individual be dropped on those grounds, which at the moment doesn't seem to be the case here.

P.S. This guy is probably a despicable imbecile. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Thanks, chowz. Good on her. It only helps to further bolster her in the eyes of the US. That tweet helps keep her relevant, and her reaction to it makes that relevancy positive.
 
I don't think he meant that as some statement of jealousy, racism combined with sexism, or anything like that. I think he just said "slut" in the same sense that any ignorant young male would. He probably goes out of his way to hold doors open for women but only in the hopes of getting some. He's as despicable as a large chunk of men in the US, but that's probably just somewhat more despicable than average.

Edit for quote:

"Everyone makes mistakes," Davis said. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I know he didn't mean it in that type of way. I know people get tired of seeing me on TV. But sometimes you got to think about what you're doing before you do it.

"It hurt on my part, but he hurt even more. If it was me, I would want to take that back. I know how hard he's worked. Why not give him a second chance?"

Last edited Mar 23, 2015 at 02:49PM EDT
Skeletor-sm

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