Not all of the 70,000 were cheering for the injury

After reading this story and watching the video (http://www.kctv5.com/story/19761458/is-this-the-cheering-chiefs-winston-blamed-fans-for), I think Chiefs' Eric Winston  #ericwinston needs to apologize to all of the Chiefs fans who were NOT cheering for Matt Cassel getting hurt during the Chiefs' game against the Ravens on Sunday (October 7, 2012).

I agree with Winston that regardless of what one thinks about a player, one should not cheer when that person gets injured. In a postgame interview, however, Winston called out the 70,000 people who were in the stadium, and sparked a national media frenzy that, for the most part, is erroneously critical of Chiefs fans. I have friends who were at the game -- and a part of the 70,000 -- and I know they did not cheer when Cassel went down.

Winston later tweeted that "Obviously i know not all 70k were cheering. And please don't act like the cheering started when Quinn came in." That's as close to an apology as Chiefs fans who did not cheer Cassel's injury are likely to get from Winston, as he later tweeted that "I've said what I wanted to say and i won't be talking about it any further."

I'm sure there were some fans who exhibited less-than-human behavior and cheered when Cassel went down. That sort of behavior is despicable. And, I agree with Winston that the cheering didn't start when Brady Quinn entered the game. It is obvious from the raw game footage posted by Kansas City's KCTV5, however, that much of the cheering was for Cassel being able to get up and walk off the field. (He wasn't carted off as the boys on ESPN's Monday Night pregame show claimed, making it seem even more heinous and sensational. #espnnfl) Dewayne Bowe can even be seen encouraging the fans to cheer.

So, what can we take away from this? Several things:

1. Another human being was injured on the field of Arrowhead stadium. My thoughts and prayers are with Matt Cassel and his family.

2. One of Cassel's linemen cared enough to publicly call out those in the stadium who were cheering Cassel's injury. Unfortunately, he also called out thousands innocent fans who did nothing more than cheer for an injured player who was able to get up and walk off the field. In the process, Winston further irritated a Chiefs fan base that already is extremely disgruntled with the direction the team has taken in the last few years. Chiefs fans have put up with a lot of disappointment in the years since the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, yet each year, they come back full of hope, only to be disappointed once again. The dissatisfaction has built to such an extreme this year that KC Star sports folks are writing columns critical of Chiefs' management (rarely heard of in KC), Chiefs fans are becoming increasingly more vocal, and prior to Sunday's game, someone flew a plane with a banner over Arrowhead. The banner noted that Chiefs fans deserved better and called for GM Scott Pioli to be fired and Cassel to be benched. Now I doubt that Winston's emotional outburst after the game will cause Chiefs fans to boycott future games, but the Chiefs' relationship with their fans is reaching a tipping point, and if fans don't continue to support the Chiefs, from where will the revenue come to pay players' salaries?

3. Once again, national media jumped on a sensational story without bothering to check out or present all the facts.

Fine in my 50s

A couple of years ago, I wrote that I was enjoying my 40s much more than any other age, primarily because of experience and wisdom. Now that I am tackling my fifty-second year, I’d say the notions of experience and wisdom continue to play an important role in my enjoying my age/life.

I have, however, added a new tool to my age/life enjoyment collection: the realization that I don’t need to get all worked up about people or situations I cannot change. When I was younger and someone lied about me or portrayed me in an untrue, negative light, I would get angry and want to get even. In my mind, those who had wronged me had to pay for what they had done to me. (Sort of an Old Testament take on interactions with others.)  That kind of behavior was not healthy and continued to feed off itself, festering much like a boil in need of a good lancing.

I’m not quite sure when that realization sunk in. It wasn’t because of reading a self-help book. I abhor such wastes of trees and find annoying and pathetic people who continually pepper their conversations with self-help gobbledygook in an effort to appear more intelligent than they really are. (Just be yourself! … but that is a topic for another post.) It wasn’t as dramatic as God speaking to me from a burning bush.  I can’t pinpoint any particular “ah-ha moment.” The notion that I didn’t need to get all worked up just gradually became a part of my being.

I haven’t yet achieved the Mother Teresa level of loving and forgiving those who have behaved badly toward me. It still bothers me when someone lies about me or falsely accuses me, but once I have stated my side of it (if I am given the chance to do so), I am done with it. I find peace in the fact that all parties involved know the truth and God knows the truth and will take care of the wrong-doers in His own good time.

Some will say “what about those who believe the lies of others?” I have no control over them, either. I don’t hate them, but you can bet I will be cautious of them in the future. My only consolation is that someday, God will show them the truth.

As I was writing this, I realized that I was wearing my tie-dyed peace sign shirt. I bought it because it was colorful and I liked the way it looked. Ironic that I am wearing it while writing this post. Perhaps the shirt is an indication of how I should end this post. So for now, I will leave you with peace.