In Pseudo-Defense of Lawrence Taylor

I should really start this with a disclaimer of some sort. I'm not exactly defending what LT allegedly did. One could make the argument that paying someone for sex is morally wrong. Especially when that somebody appears to be underage. And obviously, if this girl was forced into prostitution, or even if she wasn't I guess, it is a sad situation.

In order to make this pseudo-defense, I have to make some assumptions. First, we need to assume that LT paid to have sex with a prostitute, and that he did not know the prostitute was 16. Next, we need to assume that as far as he was concerned, the sex was consensual. As in, the woman didn't try to fight him off or say no, or whatever. These assumptions appear to be safe because of what he was charged with, and I had not heard any accusations of force.

Assuming those things, the media is treating LT unfairly. Every headline this week was "Lawrence Taylor charged with raping a 16 year old girl." 99.9% of America read that headline and had the same reaction I did: "Holy shit. LT was either a) hanging out at one of his kids post prom parties, got a girl drunk and forcibly raped her; or b) LT was hiding behind a dumpster at a high school and forcibly raped a girl against her will." To the average American, that is what you think when you hear the word RAPE.

In legal terms, he was charged with statutory rape, which is essentially having sex with someone that isn't legally old enough to consent. There is not an element of force, and there is not an element that you actually know how old the girl was. If he did what he is accused of, then technically he is a rapist.

To me, there is a HUGE difference between what LT allegedly did which was paying for a prostitute that he had no actual knowledge of her age, and forcing someone to have sex against her will.

Again, I'm not saying he didn't probably commit a crime, or that it was stupid, or in the case of the girl, probably tragic. I just wish the media would stop using the word RAPE, without explaining the details. Because people aren't generally very smart.

As a side note, LT was the best defensive player on Tecmo Bowl, and I once had 100 sacks and 80 INT in a season with him. And he once cut a SUV in half with a large saw on "Any Given Sunday".

Memories

From ESPN.com page 2: "Most overrated video game athletes"

11. Bob Nelson
Game: "Tecmo Super Bowl"
In real life: Defensive tackle. Played three NFL seasons. Recorded three sacks. Would have to quadruple that number to qualify as an afterthought. Would have to quintuple that number to be confused with former pro linebacker Bob Lee Nelson, who started in two Super Bowls for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders.
In the game: Bane of centers, eater of quarterbacks, destroyer of worlds. A blurry smudge of pixels that keeps offensive coordinators up at night. Better than Richard Dent. For reasons unknown, Nelson's speed rating is better suited to a defensive back; under user control, said speed can be used to slip past the opposing center and guard, untouched, on almost every snap. (As soon as the ball is hiked, press down and the dive button). Twenty-sack games and 200-sack seasons are not out of the realm of possibility.
Overrated archetype: Mr. Inexplicable. Digital athletes who are simply and mysteriously effective, sans rhyme or reason. Nelson is lucky to be in game. Yet in the game, he's a one-man natural disaster. Why ask why? Just try to duck.
Fellow travelers: Petr Klima in "NHLPA 93;" Mike Ridley in "NHL 95;" Brian Bosworth in "All-Pro Football 2K8," a Mike Singletary-like tackling machine. "I hate to pile on the Boz, but he's the very definition of overrated," Ekberg says. "He has no place in anything with the phrase 'All-Pro' in its title."
Expert opinion: Had Nelson been this ferocious in real life, Michael Lewis would be writing a book about the evolution of the center position. "The nose tackle dive play was called the 'Bob Nelson' in my area," says Glen Haag, co-author of the SportsGamerBlog.com. "You would set ground rules before the game began that no one could use the dive play with Nelson. I have no idea why the people at Tecmo loved that man like they did, but he was almost unstoppable."

Anyone remember the party we had at Hutch Apartments when we placed bets on CPU v. CPU Tecmo Super Bowl games? Anyone remember Packers v. Broncos? Anyone remember Bob Fucking Nelson having like 15 sacks??? I'm not sure there has ever been a more perfect passage from an article (the rest of the article is spot on too), that corresponded to something in real life. In closing, I wish I was 21 again.

Tennis Anyone?

I am actually mildly interested in watching Roger Federer v. Andy Roddick this morning. So interested that I've already watched like 5 minutes of it, and now I am sitting on my patio and I can almost hear it in the background. Eventually I might even go inside and watch the ending. I know Roddick was somehow up 1 set to nothing. I'm led to believe this would be a gigantic upset. I truthfully haven't watched any Wimbledon since I was in high school and it would be on during the day in the summer, and gave me something to do when I wasn't playing Tecmo Bowl. Tennis is actually not that bad. At least I can understand what is happening.

Brewers crushed yesterday because I didn't watch. When I watch today, they will lose.

I got sucked into "Crimson Tide" last night. What a great fucking movie.

Oh, and a NFL QB from Mississippi was found shot to death. And it wasn't who I had hoped. I'm not even going to begin to list how many things were wrong with that statement. Thoughts to the family.