Think ... then Speak

I'm a big John Mayer fan. His song "My Stupid Mouth" contains some great advice to professional athletes (and people in general):

"How could I forget?
Mama said 'think before speaking'
No filter in my head
Oh, what's a boy to do
I guess he better find one soon"

It seems like people think that saying what they think and then offering up cheesy retractions makes everything copacetic. In particular, Clinton Portis defended Michael Vick saying that if he wants to fight dogs on his property he should. There are laws that everyone is supposed to live by, including professional athletes. Does Portis also think Vick should be allowed to grow marijuana on his property, use it on his property, and allow others to use it on his property? If Portis thinks that ... fine, I guess. That's his perspective on the way things work. But, why reverse fields and issue retractions, apologies and the like? Did his perspective shift overnight?

Another example was Curt Schilling ripping Barry Bonds and then backing off it. And, there was Marvin Lewis talking about Cincy police targeting his Bengals players. I'm sure I'm overlooking a few (or a bunch) of other examples.

I have nothing against professional athletes speaking their minds, although I'm not really sure why people care so much about what they have to say. Does Gary Sheffield really know why there aren't a lot of African-Americans in MLB? It would be nice if players, coaches, etc. would put a little more thought into what they are saying because people, including kids, are listening. And, if you say what you really believe, why do you need to shy away from it at a later date? You shouldn't. You could admit to being wrong or ignorant, but that's not what happens. It's usually just a face-saving ploy and I don't understand why people are buying it.