I’ve heard rumors before that the national sports media sometimes takes quotes from athletes out of context if it helps make a story juicier than it actually is. I would never expect that kind of unethical behavior from the media, mind you, but people have said that it happens, and I think that this might be what ESPN is trying to do with the above image that was Tweeted from the SportsCenter Twitter account at 12:58 PM ET today.
Some back story before we all go crazy and throw rotten eggs at Curtis Granderson: The former New York Yankees outfielder finalized a 4-year, $60 million deal with the New York Mets today, and at a press conference he said the following…
“A lot of the people I’ve met in New York have always said that true New Yorkers are Mets fans,” Granderson said at the news conference. “So I’m excited to get a chance to see them all out there.” (Via CBS New York)
Now that is obviously a far cry from the idea that Granderson, donning his new Mets jersey, busted through a giant paper banner with fireworks blazing around him, as he shouted, “F*CK YOU, YANKEES FANS! YOU’RE NOT SH*T COMPARED TO METS FANS! YOU’RE THE HOUSTON ASTROS OF BASEBALL FANS!”
So should Granderson have known better than to say anything that could have been twisted around like this to piss off millions of Yankees fans on Twitter? Yes. But in his defense, even if he had said, “I’m very sad to be leaving the Yankees, perhaps the greatest organization in all of baseball,” SportsCenter probably would have just Tweeted this photo:
(Original image via Getty)
