I'm sure you've all seen the replay by now. If not, feel free to exit to You Tube and then come back to weigh in on this situation. Brittney Griner made headlines across the nation recently after punching Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle in the head.
This was no little push or shove, this was an all out haymaker. What punishment did Brittney Griner, a 6'8" freshman basketball player for Baylor, receive? A two-game suspension
Seems fair to me.
Media across North America are up in arms right now about this situation. Just as we saw with the backlash following the on ice celebration of Team Canada's gold medal winning womens hockey team, there seem to be a double standard at play here.
If this were to occur in the NBA or Mens NCAA, it would make a few highlight shows, SportsCenter would put it in their plays of the day category, and we would move on. The fact that a woman got so angry she felt the need to punch another human being seems to be the fact most are struggling with.
Griner apologized publicly to fans, media, her teammates, and coaches saying, "I let my emotions get the best of me and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I am committed to doing a better job of maintaining my composure in the future."
Sounds fair to me. Let's remember something people, Brittney Griner is a freshman. She is only 19 years old and playing a dominant role in a pressure packed league. Not only this, but Griner is consistently targeted by opposing teams and frequently has to deal with overly physical play from opposing defenders.
Why is she picked on? It's simple, Griner has become an extremely high profile player for her ability to dunk and her amazing athleticism.
Get over it people. She made a mistake, she's apologized, she has been punished, and now, we all need to let Brittney Griner get back to school and basketball without ridiculous criticism. Sports are physical, yes, even womens sports, and Brittney Griner is a strong and competitive athlete.
When men do this, we celebrate their antics. So either we need to start celebrating Brittney Griner for her punch, or we need to drop it and move on. You decide.
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Theyre replaying the hit all the time.. well people should check out more carefully about what was going on before that.. is that fair play? Damn.. I would have lost my nerves also...
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