Oscar’s Memorial Patch Controversy Now A Thing

MiniMaskFarnam2010

Candidly, I’ve been trying to avoid it.

But now it’s on ESPN and we’re going to have to deal with it.

The ‘it’ I speak of is Oscar Taveras and the memorial patch that the Cardinals have planned to wear in his memory during the 2015 season.

https://twitter.com/BBTN/status/565977318347522049

It’s not scientific, by any measure, but the majority of Cardinals fans that I see active on social media seem to be in support of the patch. They say that the memorial honors a life lived as opposed to glorifying the bad behavior that ultimately ended his and his girlfriend’s lives.

This is classic internet.

No one is standing up and taking a stance against the patch. They’re just throwing it out there as ‘hey, maybe this patch isn’t a good idea’ and then letting Twitter devour itself. In fact, the author, Paul Lukas, finishes his section on OT with this:

Still, the feeling here is that it’s hard to second-guess the Cardinals on this one. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Taveras’ death, many people throughout the Cardinals organization knew him, liked him and miss him. The fact that he died due to an irresponsible act — an act that also killed his girlfriend — doesn’t make those people’s sense of loss and grief any less real or legitimate. That’s the real point of a memorial patch: It’s not for the deceased — it’s for those who are left behind.

So what was the point of starting the conversation again?

Hey, you think that your girlfriend could be cheating on you? I mean, not that she would, of course, just wanted to ‘start a dialogue’ about it.

Here’s the best solution to this particular “controversy” – realize that it isn’t one and ignore it when people try to bait you into a debate.

The Cardinals will move forward with the patch and we can remember a kid that made a terrible and fateful decision that hopefully will teach some others not to make the same one.

Photo: Grantland

 

Arrow to top