On Thursday, Kyle Juszczyk of the San Francisco 49ers was fined 15 large for his celebration in last week’s game. Juszczyk’s unthinkable offense was for simulating chugging beer which the NFL determined to be “engaging in offensive demonstrations.”
“I don’t even drink beer,” Juszczyk said.
He didn’t like it – nor should he – but I won’t be a surprised if he issues a quarter-hearted apology.
Earlier in the week, Colorado’s Ben Finneseth apologized for his remarks about the temporary stadium and/or crowd at the Buffaloes game against Northwestern. He remarked that the facility felt like a library (among a few other things).
“It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said,” Finneseth said. “It won’t happen again, and the way I handled it was horrible.”
It should be pointed out that his original comment was caught on a sideline mic, not in an actual interview setting. Makes no difference in Apology World.
Of course, it didn’t help that the Buffalos lost by five touchdowns in the “library,” perhaps because they had a hard time figuring out the Dewey Decimal System.
Ryan Grubb, Alabama’s offensive coordinator, fired off an apology for the horrendous offense of criticizing the Crimson Tide’s fans for booing after the team fell behind. “I told the guys, ‘I said, shoot, guys, if you’d have quit as fast as some of your fans, we wouldn’t have won that game. So I was proud of them. For a bunch of 19-year-olds to go out there and just 21-6 and not flinch, I was fired up.”
Uh, Ryan … Bama Nation would like to see you in the office immediately. Bring your apology.
Arch Manning apologized
Steve Sarkesian apologized.
Others are becoming famous for apologizing.
If you’ve ever heard of American sprinter Sam Blaskowski, it’s only because he issued an apology not because anything he’s done on the track. But a social media post he shared seven years ago was discovered. He didn’t post it, but he shared it. When he was in his mid-teens.
Dropped by his track club.
But there is no better combination of senseless apologies and unknown athletes than Australian Joanna Wietrzyk.
Who?
Glad you asked.
She’s the current women’s solo professional champion in Hyrox.
What’s Hyrox?
Wish you hadn’t asked.
Forced to look that up, I discovered that it’s some kind of uber-fitness competition that trace its roots all the way back to 2017. In a race earlier this month in China, Wietrzyk suffered a bout of fecal incontinence (two words I’d never thought I’d write) but went on to win the race.
If you ask me, good for her.
But the crazy world of Hyrox exploded (perhaps a bad choice of words) over the incident and she retroactively withdrew from the race, forfeited her win, and – wait for it — apologized to competitors and organizers.
After that, the inventor of Hyrox also apologized and immediately implemented some rule changes.
These days, we are never at a loss for an apology in the sports world. There’s always another one on the way, so just keep your seat.
I would say it’s getting out of hand, but it’s been out of hand for a long time and there are two words to explain it – social media.
There’s always somebody out there just waiting to be outraged and feels the need to let the world know it, even though the world doesn’t care.
My apologies if you don’t agree.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com