The Dum-Dums Are Out Again

When Derrick Rose went out for this season, my biggest fear that the Bulls' championship window would be closed was confirmed.  I should have known more that another fear would be realized, which is some people would take whatever swipes at Rose they could.  That was definitely realized thanks to a New York Daily News report that he's worried for his team's potential rebuilding plans.

This has caused a few personalities, notably Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score, to say much of the similar stuff that was blurted when Rose was rehabbing his torn ACL.  Among the accusations thrown his way includes his reputation as a humble kid from his hometown being nothing but a fake.  Others call him a coward for hiding behind B.J. Armstrong, his brother Reggie and others in his camp who have admittedly done a poor job in doing damage control whenever stories like this have leaked out.

Never mind that nothing in this report contained a direct quote from Rose.  If it merely implies that Rose is feeling these things, you'll hear every wild proposition possible, including dumping every prominent member of the organization to Rose going back to college to be a more intelligent human than what he's apparently been showing.

I'm not saying Rose is completely clean of this public relations disaster.  If you're going to just let these things happen, especially with the wrong people speaking for you, then you have your share of responsibility for others turning their backs on you.  Instead, people need to stop being so reliant on speculative reports and proposing moves that could only be fueled by gut reactions.

Only Rose can speak for himself.  If he keeps his mouth shut, the words of his family and his associates should be taken very gingerly.  They may or may not reflect how that actual person is feeling.  Sadly, that doesn't stop some from getting on their soapboxes and declaring they'll pay for Rose's ticket out of town or making some other dumb statement.

Pardon me for getting political here, but this is exactly the kind of thing that caused others to think poorly of Barack Obama before he disassociated himself from Rev. Jeremiah Wright during his 2008 presidential run.  The quick, easy solution would be for Rose to say his brother and others on his side don't speak for his personal feelings.  For all we know however, they could actually be encouraging him to tough out the rebuilding stage the Bulls are likely to take on, so everyone gets lumped in together instead.  It's sad, but this is who we are as a society.

I advise you all to choose your words wisely when talking about this issue.  It's a touchy one and ill-informed folks can quickly be swayed to one extreme or the other.  Good luck and may the sanity in sports be with you.