To Whom It May Concern:
John Steigerwald, a Observer-Reporter.com journalist, recently wrote an article about the tragic incident at Dodger Stadium where Bryan Stow was unmercifully beaten by several men at a game. The results of this beating have left Stow in a coma with portions of his skull missing. Steigerwald, with all the class and dignity a human being could muster, has decided to place the onus of the beating on Stow himself. In Steigerwald's Sunday "contribution," and I use that term VERY loosely, to Observer-Reporter.com, he opined the the following:
"It's probably safe to say that the two "Dodgers" were high on something or things, but somewhere in their sick, juvenile minds, they probably also thought they were doing their duty as Dodger fans.
They were protecting Dodger turf.
Just before he was beaten to within an inch of his life, Stow texted some friends and said that he was "scared inside the stadium."
Maybe someone can ask Snow, if he ever comes out of his coma, why he thought it was a good idea to wear Giants' gear to a Dodgers' home opener when there was a history of out-of-control drunkenness and arrests at that event going back several years.
Remember when it was the kids who were wearing the team jerseys to games? It was a common sight to see an adult male coming through the turnstile dressed as a regular human being with a kid dressed in a "real" jersey holding his hand.
Cute.
Are the 42-year-olds who find it necessary to wear their replica jerseys to a road game, those kids who are now fathers who haven't grown up?
Are there really 40-something men who think that wearing the jersey makes them part of the team? It was cute when a 10-year-old kid got that feeling by showing up at Three Rivers Stadium in a Pirates jersey, but when did little boys stop growing out of that?
Here's tip for you if you actually think that wearing your team's jersey makes you a part of the team:
It doesn't."
You have got to be kidding me? Aside from the fact that you misspelled Stow’s name, you have, somehow, decided that Bryan was responsible for the actions that befell him. Here is a man who has dedicated his life to saving other individuals, but you’re blaming him for wearing a Giants jersey to a Dodger game simply because of his age? Ageism aside, Stow is in no way, shape, or form responsible for the brutal assault he endured at the hands of some savages simply because he chose to support his team.
I find it absurd, John that, in this economy, you find yourself receiving a paycheck for disseminating this sort of bile. Bryan Stow is a hard working citizen who decided to attend a baseball game as a form of leisure. I am sure that several things crossed his mind as he adorned his Giants jersey before the game. Being beaten within an inch of his life was, probably, not one of them.
John, I hate to break it to you, but people shouldn’t have to worry about fear of reprisal for wearing the opposing team’s jersey to an away game. That’s not how a civil society operates. Human beings are complex creature and one of the complexities that makes us unique is our ability to reason and process situations.
Deontology, something with which I’m sure you’re unfamiliar, is a branch of ethics dealing with moral obligation and duty. You know those basic tenants most journalists subscribe to? Those other citizens at Dodger stadium have a moral duty to conduct themselves with a modicum of dignity and civility toward their fellow man. I hate (actually I don’t, I relish it) to tell you this, but wearing an opposing team’s jersey does not infringe upon the basic human rights that are afforded us. The savage beating that Stow received, however, most certainly violated his basic human rights.
You seemed to have glossed over these facts with the sort of bravado that allowed Don Imus to refer to the valiant women of Rutgers University as “nappy headed ho’s.” Never in the history of our society has it been acceptable to beat and maim human beings for what they wear. If this had been a gay man, in a straight community, that was wearing a gay pride shirt and had been beaten for doing so, would you be so quick to blame the victim for his assault?
Call it what you want to call it, but these sorts of actions border on the “hate crime” territory. While I realize that sporting affiliation is not a protected category under the current statute, being savagely beaten for the open support of something ought to be sufficient enough to qualify as hatred. Someone that would intentionally harm another human being because of their intense dislike for something they support is, in fact, hatred.
I’m going to bring your attention to a similar case. Brian Thomas, a Longhorns fan, was nearly castrated at a bar in Norman, Oklahoma for wearing a Texas shirt in “Sooner territory.” Do you know what an attorney had to say about the very same ignorant argument you’re making? Here, I’ll tell you.
"I've actually heard callers on talk radio say that this guy deserved what he got for wearing a Texas T-shirt into a bar in the middle of Sooner country," said Irven Box, an attorney in this city 20 miles from Oklahoma's campus in Norman.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296466,00.html#ixzz1JLbonv8T
There’s an implied ignorance with this line of thinking. Many Sooners fans I know, as well as Dodger fans, found these actions grotesque and unwarranted. People do not “deserve” to be beaten and mauled because they support their team. It doesn’t matter how old they are.
Bryan Stow has two children. They may never have their dad back in the capacity they knew him before this assault. That does not seem to matter to you. All you’ve chosen to focus on is that he wore the “wrong jersey” at the “wrong game.” I sincerely hope that this man’s family insists upon you saying this garbage in person with your supervisor present.
I cannot fathom how you find work, John Steigerwald. While I respect the freedom of the press, I think it’s a bit absurd that any self-respecting journalistic outlet would employ an insensitive half-wit such as yourself. Please do the journalistic world a favor and quit publishing this garbage.
Sincerely,
Josh Webb.
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