It seems everyone on ESPN has been celebrating Manu Ginobli’s killing of a bat during his game earlier this week. If you haven’t seen it, he swatted a flying bat out of the air (video after the jump).
But every time I see it I can’t help but get angry. I understand humans think they can trample over any living thing whenever they want, but to kill a harmless animal because it’s bothering your fun little game is disturbing to me. Yes, I know countless animals’ habitats are destroyed when a stadium is built. I know. But I can’t help but agree with PETA on this one:
Here’s our take on it: To bludgeon a 4-ounce animal to death, it takes either a small man or a totally unthinking one-with no respect or consideration for lives humbler than his own. This is a time when athletes in particular need to be on their best behavior around any animal and show that they have brains and a heart, not just reactionary brawn.
The celebration of this on ESPN and in other outlets has been even more disturbing to me. It brings front-and-center the lack of respect we have for other living things. Including each other, I guess. How crappy is it? The Spurs are saying the bat lived and flew away and they can’t find the body! And I have a bridge in New York to sell you….
Now, let the “Cyd is a whiny liberal” attacks start anew.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Lets hurl that fuckwit into a brick wall hard enough to break his neck and see how much he likes it. And how much he survives. Thanks for showing us this, Cyd.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
who gives a shit about a dirty ass bat?! why is there always this guilt that are at the top of the food chain? you know why we should swat down a bat when we get a chance? because we can!
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
*that we are at the top of the food chain* i should say.
and if you love bats so much cyd why don’t you adopt some and let them fly around your house? go adopt some rats too while you are at it!
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Yeah, I wonder how many cute baby animals were crushed by the humongous telecom towers that allowed Cyd to share this post with us.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I was there, and I actually don’t think he killed the bat. Besides, wasn’t he protecting all the people in the stands by removing a possible threat of rabies?
I also wonder if a rat got in your apartment, would you be so understanding? Would you seriously not kill a bat, mouse, or rat threatening to spread disease and excrement throughout your home? And that’s just your home.
Your mouse wouldn’t even stop play in a game thousands had bought tickets for and more were watching on TV. So, I hope you and the rodents are all happy living in peace and harmony. And don’t you dare call an exterminator to do your dirty work!
We had watched millions of bats take flight from under the Congress Ave. bridge in Austin the night before. I doubt that locals have any kind of delusion that these bats are endangered in anyway.
I can tell you that the audience found the whole incident hilarious, however politically incorrect you may find that.
Sorry, I can’t fret about a bat. Now what I find repulsive is the fight shows and wrestling garbage where humans injure each other for “entertainment.” Bats are off limits, but beat another human, and PETA sees no foul?
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
“Cyd the whiny ass liberal” - you said it dude, I didn’t. Regarding your disbelief in it flying away, because it did fly away Manu is stuck taking rabies shots for a month. Yea, I bet he’s covering up the killing of the bat by taking the shots. Dig a little deeper next time you make a statement like that.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Pretty sure the bat lived, and if so, this pretty much makes this the dumbest thing I have ever read.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
So Obama killed a fly, which are even more defenseless. Let’s impeach Ginobili.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
its not like he went bat hunting, a bat kept stopping play so he did what he had to, plus it didn’t die so lets not blow this anymore out of proportion, its just getting petty
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
The PETA line is laughable. He didn’t “bludgeon” it. He swatted at it, knocking it down, then picked it up and handed it over to be removed.
I still wonder if it was staged. The mascot with a net trying to catch the bat…was dressed as Batman for Halloween. I’m sure the bat was brought into the building on purpose.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Call me a conservative but I think we should value human life or other animals. Like this whole health care thing…
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I don’t kill any animal that comes in my house. I would NOT kill a rate, mouse, bat, spider, etc…. When I find spiders (which I do every day), I either leave it be or catch it and let it go outside.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
It might be the first I’ve ever said or thought this, but I agree with Cyd. I never kill things I find in my house; I trap them and put them back outside. And I live in Texas… there are lot of crawly and/or poisonous, disease-carrying things here all year round.
I really don’t understand Jay Original’s comment though. How does caring enough about the bat to capture it and relocate it humanely mean that we don’t care about health care reform for humans???
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Cyd, you are the best and I agree with you completely on this one.
First, does it seem odd that the mascot just happened to have a Batman shirt on? Makes me wonder if the bat was released on purpose.
Second, they had a net so they could have caught it and caused no harm, but this craptastic individual was impatient and decided to dispatch with it so he could get back to his precious game.
What an ASS!
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
oh gimme a break cyd. i thought this was a sports blog. just because it caters to gay sports fans doesn’t mean you have to pansy it up with your save the bats speech. you bout to get your gay jock card revoked for that one lol. i’m glad some other readers brought your attention to the double standards inherent in this post…lol. let it go dude
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
If you guys don’t like Cyd’s reporting or Cyd himself, why do you keep reading his stories?
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
“I don’t kill any animal that comes in my house.”
I draw the line at ants!
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
A bat is a health risk to everyone around it. I have NO qualms about killing a bat.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I’m not going to say Cyd is a whiney liberal. Cyd is a whiney queen, or a “fag” in the South Park sense. I am sick of pretty much every post about football that Cyd writes constantly mentioning how hot or not hot some player is. I don’t really care. I am more interested in how well someone plays. And don’t start in on me about why I read this site. I read it for Jim’s posts.
I don’t know if the whole bat thing was a stunt by the promotions department, but if it was, I doubt Ginobli was in on it. Bats are the leading carriers of rabies, and even the Humane Society recommends that a bat in one’s house be exterminated. Cyd, I hope you are a vegetarian, because otherwise you are one huge hypocrite.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 12:06 am
I will kill any varmit in my home expect, EXCEPT spiders because they are awesome. I catch them and let them go free. But having a mouse in your house, from growing up in the country, is not sanitary. It leads to illness and disease. Flies grow out of horse and dog shit. You can’t have them in your house.
Meanwhile,
Don when are you going to start writing posts for Outsports? I’d like to read your unbiased and awesome opinions. You seem to have a knack for critique.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Isn’t the first time a player killed a bat during a game. Back in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals, Buffalo’s Jim Lorentz swatted a bat out of the air with his stick during play.
Much ado ’bout nothing….
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am
When I was reading this i thought saying he bludgened the bat was a little extreme and he didn’t kill it. I agree I dont kill insects that are i my house even though they disgust me I still respect them. The comment above saying we should swat a bat anytime we want just because we can was really messed up. That person who posted that is seriously a horrible person. I love animals its not right to kill any unless they are actually HARMING you.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 1:20 am
fuck man typical fucken american cumbubbles jumping up and down. go save a fucken goat cock u seamen drinking americans. youve probly done more worse to this world with ur war shit and iraq then hurting a bat
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Respecting insects? WTF are you on?
He did not kill the bat. He knocked it down and handed it over, why is this such a big damn deal? We care more about the rights of the disease ridden bat then we do about people.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Well Manu IS hot!
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 2:16 am
Did someone really write an article about killing a bat? Wussification is what I call it.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am
If I had time I would gladly write some highly opinionated and biased posts.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 11:53 am
ROFL. I love what cyd likes cock said. It’s totally going to be my Facebook status! I think cumbubbles is my new favorite word…lol.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I have no qualms about getting rid of insects or rodents that get in the house. For the most part they can present health risks. I don’t know if what Manu did was planned or just reactionary but I would guess his intention was just to stop the bat not necessarily to kill it. How many people here have not swatted at an insect or a bat that was flying around them.
Anyway as someone mentioned it is much ado about nothing. The real story here is that Cyd sucks cock, who knew? I am shocked I tell you.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
cyd sucks cock!?!?!?
has anyone told his partner??!?!
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
and yeah Manu is hot I’d totally suck his
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Not sure why you did the post since he didn’t kill the bat. That point is pretty much established so I’m still waiting to hear your retraction on that point. PETA jumps at so many things they are starting to dilute their message. With all the other animal cruelties in the world they seem more focused on publicity points than actually making a difference. So I would think twice about lining up with them on some issues.
Anyway, back to sports. Great day of college football with Navy and Northwestern pulling some big upsets.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
What is a cum bubble? Can someone please explain?
on Nov 9th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I don’t like the fact that he may have killed the bat but I don’t think its a big deal. I do agree with Cyd that ESPN should not have lauded Ginobili for this act. Because (1) It was dumb, he could have gotten rabies, (2) It was senseless violence, somebody could have just found a net to caputre the bat and (3) he added to the distraction.
Although I don’t think it was abig deal, I do generally think that it is wrong to kill animals (unless its very important-food or in self defense). We are all similar, that we strive for survival and live in peace. To make a better life for ourselves and our children. Because of these stupid attitudes prevalent in our country, the world is a mess with wars and unecessary violence.
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Some of you guys clearly did not watch the entire situation. The bat had been flying around for quite awhile before Manu hit it. Some of the refs were trying to swat it away with a towel. They did have a net and none of them could catch it. It flew up into the crowd and close enough to the rafters that they were able to resume play for a while. It wasn’t till it came back that Manu did what he did.
The Coyote has props like all good mascots. There was a matter of several minutes between when the bat was first spotted and when the Coyote came out in the costume.
I doubt the Spurs organization would bring a bat in for a stunt. Last year an approved and routine fire stunt caused a long delay at one of their games in New Orleans. I think they know a thing or two about stupid stunts, they wouldn’t have endangered the bat and 19,000 other peoples well-being.
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Yeah I can’t imagine the Spurs knowingly releasing a bat into the arena. Imagine the lawsuits if a fan was bitten or so scared that it caused a heart attack (yes far fetched but I’ve heard of odder things).