OK, Vinnie Iyer is a sports writer. And the Sporting News is, well, a sports publication. But he’s still a journalist. And just because he writes about football doesn’t mean there’s less of a requirement that he get his facts right. In theory. If he were breaking the news that Tom Brady had tested positive for steroids, you can bet your last round of ammo he’d be sure to have his story straight. Darnell Dockett, the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive lineman and gun enthusiast, recently tweeted about almost making the mistake of bringing a bangstick to practice. Which would have been bad…
You probably remember l’affair Gilbert Arenas. He and fellow NBAer Jarvis Crittenden played High Noon with live ammo in the Washington Wizards’ locker room after a practice late in 2009. Which is generally frowned upon. All of the major sports leagues prohibit guns in locker rooms and team facilities. Which Dockett, of course, knows.
Tweeted Dockett: Damn I almost brung my ‘ROCKET’ into work this morning like gilbert arenas. But mine was by accident it was in my book bag. Kept sayin to myself why is my book bag so heavy, looked in side it was Big pookey’ nickel plated Glock 40′ trying to come to work w/me! Smh
Isn’t that more than 140 characters?
Anyway, the giggle-worthy part led off the explanatory paragraph that followed.
The Glock 40 is a reference to a pistol manufactured by Smith and Wesson. Arenas, an NBA player now with the Orlando Magic, had a (sic) incident drawing a pistol with former teammate Javaris Crittenton when the two were in the locker room for the Washington Wizards last year. Crittenton’s name has resurfaced in headlines this week as a FBI suspect in a murder investigation.
I wasn’t aware that the red, white and blue S&W had picked up a contract to make the Teutonic wonder-guns. It’s probably just me, though. I’ve been busy lately.
Big deal? Of course not. Pathetically nit-picky? Probably. But some readers here make quite a point of criticizing journalistic practice in these parts. Even when most TTAGers would rather be labeled as child molesters than journalists. And we all know that no one in the ‘real media’ has ever failed to do their homework. In the mean time, I’ll be waiting breathlessly for our review of the new Colt-made Taurus AR.
[Update: Sporting News has since corrected the article on its site.]