Bad sports, good sports: Dad costs his football-star son his life

Posted on July 4th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

I was going to start this week’s column by saying that I have as much testosterone as the next guy, but that may not be true. I probably have an average amount, which means that roughly half the population of men has a higher reading than I do, if someone were measuring. Today, my wife and I went to see Miss Saigon, a musical that I have seen before and for which I have a great fondness. Now there are some that would say that the previous sentence proves that any reading of my manliness that showed a level above minimal was invalid, but that’s a discussion for another time. I bring this up because sitting behind me was a gentleman, a term I use loosely, that not only did not understand that the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia was not his own living room, but that also took offense to my request, made quite respectfully, I might add, that he please be quiet. Had I been one of those guys who felt threats to my virility at every turn, I might have reacted poorly to his attempts to antagonize me, calling me “tough guy” as if that was going to get a rise out of me. I am not saying that I didn’t lose focus on the show for a bit, as I thought about the various ways that I might humiliate this creep, but reason prevailed, and I ignored him for the remainder of the afternoon. He also stayed fairly quiet after that, which helped.

My purpose for imparting this tale is because there are many men out there that regularly find the need to prove their toughness at every opportunity. Far more often than I would hope, these situations turn into a much bigger deal than they would have otherwise, and occasionally there are tragic results. One such occurrence happened on Tuesday night in the Bronx, and the altercation resulted in the ending of a high school football star’s life. Isayah Muller, a running back for Harry S. Truman High School, had just graduated that afternoon. His parents had attended the graduation, and intended to present Isayah with a fancy bottle of cologne as a present for his accomplishments. When they returned to their car, which was parked in a nearby parking lot, they found that the gift was gone. Andre Muller, the kid’s father, accused the parking lot attendants of having stolen the cologne. I guess the exchange became quite heated, as Mr. Muller, testosterone flowing, ended up attacking the two men with a shovel that he found nearby. Isayah jumped in to either assist or defend his father, and during the altercation, he was stabbed by one of the workers. His wounds were severe, and he ended up dying from them. The parking lot attendants were questioned by police, but the initial investigation found that they were acting in self-defense, and they were not charged. Andre Muller, on the other hand, was charged with assault.

There are many aspects of this story which are baffling. First, even if you felt that parking lot workers had stolen something out of your car, is it a reasonable response to attack them with a shovel? What kind of macho crap is that? Second, once your teenage son jumps in to the melee, wouldn’t you back off and stop the whole thing? Would you really risk the lives of your family for a bottle of cologne? And for that matter, what the heck is up with buying a bottle of cologne for a hundred dollars? Even if you are so inclined, that’s a graduation present? I realize that this should not be the focus of the story, and I probably sound kind of petty talking about it, but it seems a bit excessive and silly. To attack another human being because of it seems far worse than silly. That is just an absolute shame and a crime, in particular because it cost his son his life.

There may well be other aspects to this story of which I am not familiar. Even so, there can’t be any part of the unknown details which would make the shovel attack acceptable. Men are idiots. The very same chemicals that make them able to astonish us with feats on the football field can make them into complete idiots when it comes to normal life. Isayah Muller, who was headed to community college with an eye on playing college football, will never get to show us the things of which he was capable. That’s a real shame.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Lorenzo Charles, a basketball player best know for the dunk that won North Carolina State the national championship back in 1983, died on Monday when the bus he was driving crashed while stopping to pick up passengers.

3) Always controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, currently a free agent after spending last season with the Cincinnati Bengals, tore his anterior cruciate ligament at some point during this offseason, it was revealed this week. He had surgery in April, and apparently hopes to play this season, if this season occurs. That would be an amazingly quick recovery, as ACL injuries go. The best part of this story, aside from the fact that Owens will likely miss the 2011 season, is the big pile of garbage that his agent, slimeball Drew Rosenhaus, has tried to feed to the press. My favorite part is the comment that Owens “is many months into recovery” from the surgery. Considering the operation was in April and the comments were made in June, Rosenhaus’ definition of “many” certainly requires some clarification.

4) There was an absurd scene at the end of the Phillies-Blue Jays game on Saturday night. Pitcher Jon Rauch, the tallest pitcher in Major League history at 6’11”, had just given up a run in the top of the ninth that gave the visiting Phillies a two run lead. Before the hit that knocked in that run, Phillies slugger Ryan Howard had walked. Rauch had disagreed with a pitch called a ball that had completed the walk for Howard. After the run scored on a hit by Shane Victorino, Rauch let umpire Alfonzo Marquez have it, screaming at him and acting as if he was going to physically attack the ump. It was a ridiculous display, especially if you noticed the way Rauch intentionally slid himself behind manager John Farrell before putting on his big manly act.

5) Right on the heels of the big mess at Ohio State, the University of Oregon looks to be joining the ranks of major colleges headed for some very serious penalties from the NCAA. Will Lyles, a man who runs a college football scouting service, has gone on the record with details of illegal payments made to him by Oregon’s athletic department, all with the alleged knowledge of head coach Chip Kelly.

6) Jeremy Fuller, a crewman for Kasey Kahne’s number 4 Red Bull car in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series, was fired this week after some anti-gay tweets of his were discovered. Following the pattern of previous sports figures who erred on Twitter, Fuller pulled out not only the “my account was hacked” excuse, but also dug up the “I have gay friends” tripe. Beautiful.

Good sports:

1) Wimbledon ended with two first time winners this weekend. Novak Djokovic, who has had such a tremendous year in 2011, won the men’s final, while Petra Kvitova, a far less heralded player, won the women’s title.

2) The University of South Carolina won its second consecutive College World Series on Tuesday, defeating the Florida Gators in the final.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02