Mike Griggs

Okay……I’m going to vent, so thank you in advance for sticking around. This is why I feel so strongly about the A’ja Wilson/fan incident. In sports, there’s always been this unspoken agreement between away players and home fans. It’s a huge part of what has made sports great!! I think back to Magic Johnson laughing while telling a story about a fan in the 1980s at the Boston airport. He snarled as he recalled him saying, “Larry Bird is gonna kill you.” I remember smiling when I heard this because we all can relate. Even if we weren’t the type to say this, maybe we’ve had a family member who might’ve done this. After all, fan is short for “fanatic”. Then in the NFL, you had the Dawg Pound, or even the famous wall in Green Bay. There are legendary stories we’ve heard from Hall of Fame players about how intimidating it was to play in these venues. I’m not talking about slurs or abusive behavior, either. There have always been outliers among fans who cross that line, but we (the other 99% of fans) have always condemned that. The agreement was: “If you come here to play, we are going to make it extremely hard for you to win.” The player knew this, so they prepared accordingly and brought their A-game. The pretenders choked, while the others became legends. Fans might boo, or yes, even point while saying, “That foul is on you.” That isn’t hate or disrespect…… it’s competition! Despite our differences, this was ALWAYS what brought us together in sports. So somehow we went from the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” generation into a time where former WNBA players, now in the media, are saying things like “she won’t tolerate the disrespect” or “don’t play with A’ja, she is tough.” Maybe that’s it — we need to redefine what toughness is. Because losing control of your emotions and getting in the face of a fan (who was one of the hundreds pointing and saying “that’s on you”) isn’t tough. That makes you soft, thin-skinned, easily rattled, etc. Cussing out a fan when you know there’s a 0% chance of anything physical happening isn’t bold, courageous, or tough. It’s a waste of time. Toughness is letting your game do the talking. Let those fans motivate you to reach levels in your game you didn’t know were possible. Besides, what’s tough about saying words? Maybe you hurt someone’s feelings? Oh no, not that……. — so for me, “A’ja don’t play” simply means she threw a hissy fit. That’s no different than a toddler who has not yet learned to cope with minor inconveniences. We don’t label them tough, nor should we do the same with A’ja. So finally, if you enjoy the personal attacks or being offended, great, it’s a free country. Just know that if you continue down this path, you will ruin sports — one of the last things that brought us all together. Thanks for reading my book.