Bad sports, good sports: Mo’Ne Davis is the Twitter target of idiot Bloomsburg baseball player

Posted on March 25th, 2015 by Alan Spoll

Mo’ne Davis, a baseball player from Philadelphia, became a national sensation last year when she led her team to the Little League World Series and nearly won it all. As the only girl on her team, and as the team’s primary pitcher, she became a role model for girls everywhere. Naturally, some ignorant guy has now had to try to knock her down a few pegs. He is paying for his mistake.

Last week, Disney announced that it would be making a television movie about Davis and her accomplishments. Shortly after, Joey Casselberry, a baseball player at Bloomsburg University, put out this gem of a tweet:

“Disney is making a movie about Mo’ne Davis? WHAT A JOKE. That slut got rocked by Nevada.”

Wow, really, kid? How thoroughly offensive and wrong. First of all, Davis was thirteen years old at the of the LLWS. Not only did Casselberry feel the need to insult her, but he did it with a word that clearly sexualizes this child. What could have been his motivation here? Sure, sports fans are used to going over the top when commenting on games and players. I do it myself right here in this column on a regular basis. I find it hard to believe that he was so completely oblivious to the possible ramifications of this particular take, though, when considering his target.

As a college athlete, Casselberry had to know that use of social media could be dangerous and possibly hazardous to his future. The school kicked him off the baseball team after finding out about his tweet. I know I wouldn’t want him representing my university if I were the people making that decision, so it makes sense to me. As you could likely guess, he deactivated his Twitter account and apologized for his comment.

Demonstrating what a cool kid she is, Davis actually contacted the school and asked the administration to reconsider the punishment, saying she was hurt by the insult but that Casselberry deserved another chance. The decision has not been reversed at this time, though. Still, it was big of her to make the attempt. She showed why she is a class act and much more deserving of the attention paid to her than someone like Casselberry would be.

Bad sports, continued:

2) I know you will have a hard time believing this, but yet another NFL player was arrested for DUI this week. Bernard Pierce, running back for the Baltimore Ravens, became the newest member of this shameful club after he was arrested early Wednesday morning in Baltimore County. The team released him later that day.

3) Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers was hit in the face with a line drive on Friday in Arizona during a spring training game. Andy Parrino of the Oakland Athletics hit the ball that knocked part of one of Kershaw’s teeth out. He actually stayed in the game after being hit.

4) Mixed in to the wonderful start to the NCAA Basketball Tournament this past weekend was a game that ended on an atrocious call that essentially changed the outcome of the contest. UCLA was down two with thirteen seconds left in the game when Bryce Alford, the son of UCLA head coach Steve Alford, put up a shot he hoped would be his ninth made three-pointer of the game. The shot was clearly offline, and might have even been an airball. SMU center Yanick Moreira jumped and tapped the ball on its way down, even though it had no shot to go in. This was a huge mistake, as he was called for goaltending, which makes the basket count despite the ball not going in. Should he have left the ball alone? Absolutely. Did this ball have any chance of going in? No. The call should not have been made, and SMU should probably have moved on to the second round instead of UCLA.

5) Greg Hardy, who missed all of last season after being suspended by the NFL for beating up his girlfriend, was signed by the Dallas Cowboys this week. Hardy was convicted, although the conviction was set aside on appeal after the victim failed to show up. The Cowboys clearly care a lot more about sacks than about domestic abuse, I guess.

6) Notre Dame beat Butler on Saturday to move on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey announced shortly after the game that his mother had died that morning. He dedicated the game to her.

7) Sour grapes are never an attractive thing. The Philadelphia Eagles recently traded running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills. Over the weekend, McCoy stated on a radio show that he thinks the Eagles signing DeMarco Murray was a “panic move,” motivated by criticism from fans. I think maybe McCoy is not considering the fact that maybe the Eagles simply wanted a running back who wasn’t him.

8) NASCAR driver Brian Vickers, who has had a number of serious health problems over the last five years, is out indefinitely after more blood clots were found in his lungs.

Good sports:

1) The opening weekend of the NCAA Basketball Tournament had its share of controversies and ugly games, but it had a lot more of what makes this time of year so great: excitement. It’s really a great event. It’s a shame that it has to benefit an organization as thoroughly undeserving as the NCAA.

Bad sports, good sports appears early each week

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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