Disturbed Arizona Cardinals fans used gasoline to burn pro-Cardinals slogans into the lawn at the suburban Phoenix home of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb prior to the NFC Championship Game. Michael Silver of Yahoo reports that one of the vandals left behind information that identified him.
What was going through the mind of the misguided juveniles who used gasoline to desecrate the front lawn of the house in Chandler, Ariz., where McNabb and his wife, Roxie, live with their children over the offseason. According to a friend of Mrs. McNabb’s, “Go Cards” and other similar messages were burned into the front lawn one night last week.
This had to be especially scary to the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Alexis, who was staying in the house with Roxie and the couple’s six-week-old twins. Apparently one of the culprits was identified after leaving a box at the scene with a mailing label affixed bearing his name and address, so we’re obviously not talking about criminal masterminds here. But it’s tough to imagine that anyone over the age of eight doesn’t understand that burning something on the lawn of a house occupied by African-Americans carries deeper social overtones that are highly disturbing. I’m told Donovan took a photo of the damaged lawn and used it as a motivating force for Sunday’s game. I hope it’s the last time he or any other professional athlete ever has that opportunity.
This is disturbing and shows how easy it is for fans to lose all sense of perspective and engage in acts against those they perceive as the “enemy.” I hope whoever does this is caught and gets the book thrown at them.
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Why are some people so stupid?
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Many of us take sports very seriously, but there’s a line and this is far passed it, it’s not even funny.
What happens on the field, stays on the field… it’s that simple.
It’s almost like after Paul McCallum – a kicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL (he’s now with the BC Lions) – missed an 18 yard Field Goal in Overtime of the West Final (winner would advance to the Grey Cup)… some Rider fans – and I use that term loosely – dumped a whole bunch of manure on his driveway. It was awful.
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Mitch Williams. Bill Buckner. Andres Escobar. Look up what happened to those three. That’s what happens when people take things too seriously. This was nothing compared to what happened to those three.
Not to say that the dumb kid that did this doesn’t deserve jail time, but things could be a lot worse.
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Kelvin:
Have you ever had a cross burned on your lawn?
No things cannot get worse.
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Well, this makes it a lot easier to cheer for the Steelers.
on Jan 20th, 2009 at 1:38 PM
I’m not sure how anyone could think “it could be a lot worse”. The vandals could have left placards or used red paint, but they burned a slogan into the lawn of an African-American. If that isn’t disgusting, nothing is. And no, I’m not black.
on Jan 21st, 2009 at 2:52 PM
They caught them.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2009/01/20/20090120cr-mcnabbvandal0121.html
Everything points to these being two drunk idiots who will watch the Super Bowl from inside a jail. Yes, it’s disgusting. Yes, it’s a monumentally stupid act that needs to be dealt with harshly. But it does not appear that this was a direct attempt on McNabb or his family’s lives. Thus, yeah, it could’ve been worse. Thankfully it wasn’t.
on Jan 21st, 2009 at 6:24 PM
Kelvin,
You have no idea what an act like this does to one pschycologically, especially a black person have anything burned on their lawn. It feels like as much of a violation as rape
or having someone invade your privacy, it stays with you a long time whether you put on the front of being unaffected or not. I know how it feels and I am black and no nobody’s dead but it
doesn’t feel good to be demeaned in that manner. Unless it’s happened to you, you can’t relate.