Great moments in Enabling

Two non-baseball posts in one day? Must be a slow day around the diamonds...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The "working title" of this posting was "Great Moments In Missing The Point" but that became too wordy.... but the point's the same....

Maybe you saw this, maybe not. When I first read the headlines, I simply thought "Yawn, another ballplayer arrested for marijuana use and an open can of beer in public..." Which is pretty much my standard answer for when pro athletes get nailed for such things. I've become numb to guys flaunting their fame to do whatever they want, whenever they want. NBAers happen to be among the most public of potheads though I have no doubt each sport has their fair share.

As it turns out the player, Joakim Noah, is the son of Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open winner. Yes, the same Yannick Noah who "created a sensation a few years before when he told a magazine writer he smoked marijuana." The elder Noah does the best (er, worst) job of defending his son by offering these ultra-enabling words:

Yannick Noah is perplexed by "all that fuss" surrounding the arrest of his basketball player son, who was charged with marijuana possession and having an open container of alcohol.
......
"I don't understand all that fuss for just drinking a beer on the street," Yannick Noah said Tuesday at the French Open.

Sure, why act like a concerned parent when you can act like one of his buddies, enabling bad (and illegal) behavior? Especially when you've admitted being a frequent user in the past... It's so much easier to be his friend than his parent.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So just in case Yannick wanders over to this mini-slice of the blogosphere, here's a quick read for ya (here's another):

Examples of enabling behaviors include:

• Making rationalizations for their irresponsible behaviors
• Ignoring the problems caused by the addict's use
• Accepting their excuses or believing their lies
• Not getting help for yourself