“Oh ho ho it’s magic…you know. Never believe it’s not so. It’s magic; you know.” (Apologies to 1975 one-hit wonder “Pilot”).
Seriously, show some respect to Magic Johnson. Think about all that Earvin Magic Johnson has done to grow the game of college basketball, and the NBA for that matter.
More importantly, think about how much Magic Johnson has enlightened our society regarding those with HIV. None of that matters to the Michigan Wolverines fan(s) who defaced Johnson’s statue outside the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan however.
Take a look:
Michigan State statue of Magic Johnson vandalized with words "BEAT STATE" painted on it. (via @AEllisIII) pic.twitter.com/zI4EJV4FxP
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 15, 2015
The vandalization of a monument outside the home of Spartan basketball preludes Saturday’s huge football clash between #7 Michigan State and #12 Michigan. (Here’s our game preview and prediction) Emotions are running especially high for this one as ESPN College Gameday will be on site for the in-state rivalry tilt.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo was asked about the Magic Johnson statue defacing at Big Ten basketball media day in Chicago. Izzo denounced the “idiots” in the Michigan fan base, while also acknowledging that some idiots reside within the MSU community too.
“There’s a lot of great Michigan kids. There’s some idiots. And there’s some idiots on our side, too, that do crazy things. But messing with Sparty is a bad thing, like messing with their ‘M’ is a bad thing. But messing with Magic, that’s a worse thing. And we’ll make sure that from now on maybe the basketball team will sleep out. I know the band does and different people.
But we’ll have him covered from now on. But I don’t look at that as the university, I look at that as a couple people defacing something that, the only problem I have with Magic’s thing, even more than Sparty for me, is Magic gave so much to the game of basketball and sports and people and our state of Michigan.
Michigan fans, Michigan State fans, he’s one of the few guys who transcended all those things. And I know it’s a gimmick and it’s something but like I said, it’ll give me a good reason to keep our guys intact next year, because they’ll all be sleeping around that statue next year.”
Izzo makes a great point there- vandalizing the homage to a mascot, an idealized version of a human being (Sparty) is a completely different ballpark from sullying a monument that honors an actual living human being.
According to the Detroit Free Press: “Cleaning the bronze statue was expected to take most of the day and cost thousands of dollars.” DFP’s report also quoted an MSU spokesperson who said the vandals, if identified, could face criminal charges.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
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