Sports world continues to hide monsters.
Running off at the typewriter …
Larry Nassar, the sick, twisted, grotesque, demented doctor who sexually assaulted dozens of young female gymnasts under his care, isn’t just going to prison, he’s going to hell. One of his victims, Kyle
Stephens, told the court this week that her family regularly visited Nassar’s home for Sunday dinner and Nassar first assaulted her when she was just 6 years old.
“Let me remind you of the interests of a 6-year-old girl,” Stephens said. “My favorite TV show was ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog.’ My favorite book was ‘Junie B. Jones.’ I could not do a multiplication problem and still had not lost all my baby teeth.”
Tragically, Nassar is just the latest example of a deranged sports world that continually turns a blind eye to some of the most despicable crimes imaginable. How is it that coaches and school administrators at Baylor could look the other way when football players were sexu-
ally assaulting female students? How is it that officials at Penn State could bury their heads in their gridiron glory while Jerry Sandusky was raping little boys? How is it that USA Gymnastics and Michigan State could ignore warning signs and allow a depraved doctor to sexually assault countless little girls under the guise of providing them medical treatment?
On the week we celebrated Martin Luther King Day, perhaps the sports world should remind itself what Dr. King once said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. … The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”
SHORT STUFF: Some Florida lawmakers are backing a bill to create a specialty license plate for UCF’s self-proclaimed 2017 college football national championship. I can just see the rivalry T-shirts now: “UCF players earn license plates; USF players make them!” Hey, we kid because we love. … As I wrote last week, UCF AD Danny White’s national championship campaign is the greatest marketing idea in Orlando since Lil’ Penny. Because of the narrative White created, the unbeaten Knights have been showered with national championship trophies, national championship license plates, national championship rings, a national championship parade and a national championship block party. And, believe it or not, even Wikipedia editors are arguing about whether to include a national championship notation in the Knights’ wiki description. Isn’t it only a matter of time before the announcement comes that President
Trump will be honoring the national championship Knights at the White House? … Question: What exactly is Tom Brady’s hand injury — a bruised pinkie or a strained cuticle?
MIKEY LIKES: Patriots over Jaguars by 4, Vikings over Eagles by 14, Arron Afflalo over Floyd
Mayweather by TKO. … But, seriously, can you believe the Magic’s Afflalo got suspended for two games for throwing a punch at Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica earlier this week? I mean, come on, that was Affalo’s best shot of the year! … By the way, let’s hear it for Magic rookie
Jonathan Isaac, who preached his very first sermon at a local church last weekend. Who says this team doesn’t have a prayer?
Did you see where a bunch of first-graders sent Jags coach Doug Marrone some written suggestions on how to beat the Patriots on Sunday? That’s right, a bunch of nonsensical scribblings drawn up by people who really don’t know what they’re doing. Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like Doug Nussmeier’s Gators offense. … The Orlando Pride selected Nádia Gomes in the third round in the 2018 National Women’s Soccer League Draft earlier this week. I had her going much higher on my big board. … Meanwhile, Orlando City took Wisconsin’s Chris Mueller with the sixth overall pick in Friday’s MLS SuperDraft. Mueller told me earlier this week he credits much of his collegiate success to some concepts he learned from motivational books such as “Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable” by Tim S. Grover. Mueller’s mindset will be a welcome change in an Orlando City locker room that last year could have inspired a book of its own: “Relenting: From Good to Bad to Worse.”