Jeff Van Gundy Just Made A Valid Point About DeAndre Jordan And Greg Hardy And Did A Disservice To All Sports Fans

JVG just did irrational sports fans no favors. For the record I completely disagree with his point. pic.twitter.com/kxYCk5cTLQ

— Unsportsmanlike (@Misconduct_22) November 12, 2015

You know what this is? This is a comparison that a group of feminists would make in an effort to disparage professional sports and make them look detrimental to society. Therein lies the problem, because sports are supposed to be viewed separately from society. They are a reprieve from society. They are something that we use to forget about all the problems plaguing society. It's not about the character or the moral fiber of the people playing the sport. To put it simply, it's about rooting for your team to win, and the other team to lose. It's about rooting against the indecisive, athletic center that backed out on a handshake deal to come play for your team. It's about rooting for the wife beating, pass rushing specialist that got signed, amidst controversy, to play for your team. Does it make sense? No, of course it doesn't. On the surface it is absolute lunacy that people in Dallas, or anywhere else for that matter, are booing DeAndre Jordan and cheering for Greg Hardy. However, thats what being a sports fan is about. It's about being irrationally and illogically loyal to an ever changing group of individuals that happen to wear the same jersey every year. Doesn't matter if those individuals are good people or bad people. While the game clock is running that gets judged by what colors they are wearing, not what they have or haven't done in their past.

Yeah, that line of thinking is a product of sheer lunacy. A sheer lunacy that Jeff Van Gundy should respect, because without doing much research I can guarantee that he coached an ethically challenged player or two in his day. That's not a reason to disparage him just as it's not a reason to disparage Dallas fans, because they are doing what they are supposed to do, and that is root for their team come hell or high water. I don't doubt that Jeff Van Gundy, while finding it absurd, also completely understands it. The point remains, his quote does a disservice to the people that just want to watch the game without acknowledging the criminal record of the people playing it. There are 24 hours in a day. Can we just take three of them to forget that sports aren't the most important thing in the world? Greg Hardy helps the Dallas Cowboys win football games (hypothetically, they haven't actually won with him on the team), and DeAndre Jordan doesn't help the Dallas Mavericks win basketball games. That's why the better person is deserving of the worse reaction, and as a sports fan, I wouldn't have it any other way.