NFL
By: Greg Rector
Last week well-known sportswriter Grant Wahl passed away in Qatar while covering the World Cup of Soccer. He was just 49 years old. In the immediate aftermath of his passing, there was one very disturbing trend as per usual on social media. Folks were talking about “foul play,” almost immediately. That included Wahl’s brother Eric. This is far from the only instance where people make assumptions. There’s an old saying about the word “Assume,” it goes like this, when you assume incorrectly it makes an ASS of U, not ME. This habit is the same with all kinds of criminal cases. Today the actual cause of death was revealed to be an aortic aneurysm that ruptured. This was confirmed by New York City Medical Examiner.
Grant Wahl’s wife, Dr. @celinegounder, reveals that the renowned journalist died due to an aortic aneurysm that ruptured at the World Cup.
Gounder says she hopes he is remembered as a “kind, generous person who was really dedicated to social justice.” pic.twitter.com/aaVkb2dhrb
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 14, 2022
Trust the Process
I understand after the incident over the “Rainbow,” t-shirt earlier in the World Cup where Wahl was briefly detained ( For 25 minutes) by Qatari authorities how people may want to conclude that something nefarious happened. The problem is WE have a standard that everyone needs to remember. Facts matter. At the time of his passing, there was no evidence whatsoever that anything remotely close to “foul play,” was involved. Even an hour or so after the news broke when details emerged from those who were on the scene in the press box area of his collapse, and the medical treatment Wahl received, it was still the foul play suspicions “trending,” on Twitter that bothered me. I am not a saint when incidents occur whether it’s here or in a Middle Eastern country. The difference is I wait for FACTS to emerge before saying or tweeting anything. Far too often the “conspiracy theorists,” jump the gun and start their nonsense. Have we all forgotten Richard Jewell being falsely implicated in the Centennial Olympic Bombing at the 1996 Games? Turns out the real bomber was Eric Rudolph. Wahl wasn’t beaten by the Qatari officials he had not been kicked out of the country even though in Qatar the state has what we consider to be a completely wrong attitude and laws toward the entire LGBTQ community. There were no protests from anyone in Qatar about what Wahl had worn, nor his reasoning for wearing the shirt as part of his lifelong advocacy. To conclude without any proof that something criminal occurred was a knee-jerk response by far too many. Of course, so many of the people tweeting out their suspicions at the time are now silent and they can’t bring themselves to say they were wrong. Now that the real cause of death has been revealed by reliable sources, I hope those who immediately thought the worst is feeling just a bit guilty. It’s something that in a nation where we have a justice system based upon “innocent until PROVEN guilty,” is entrenched in the system and is far too easily not applied especially in the social media world.
Mis and Disimformation
We have witnessed this occur far too much for both in this world of instant reactions and sadly far too many run with that false information and treat it as gospel. We still have far too many people overreact as soon as they hear “Middle East,” or Muslim, in other cases its Latinos ( Mexico isn’t sending us their best people, but rapists and murderers), remember how so many then and now believe that lie from a certain well-known liar of epic proportions? I’m sure there’s a good percentage of folks still who will refuse to believe that Mr. Wahl passed away from something that was an internal ticking time bomb in his own body. That’s truly sad because so many just couldn’t wait to express themselves and show their deepest fears instead of waiting to find out the TRUTH. That’s what was missing from so many of the reactions, wanting to learn the truth wasn’t the goal for these folks, nope they instead went to their base instinct and whether intended or not amplified their “assumptions,” because it was just so easy to do so. I was wrong as well about the cause, I felt after learning that Wahl had sought treatment for bronchitis that he possibly suffered an acute respiratory collapse, something that can happen. I kept my assumption though, on the medical side, I didn’t think anything other than that. I have known far too many people who have died suddenly including my own mother who had a cerebral hemorrhage, and friends who have had massive heart attacks, or were asthmatic and had an attack they could not recover from. All of them were between the ages of 24 to 55. The problem we had again this time is far too common and has been for a long time.
Don’t Be First Be Right
If anyone follows me on Twitter I don’t make assumptions about any mass shootings, I always simply say there’s been an incident but never talk about the casualty count because as so often happens the first reports are erroneous. The same has applied to acts of terror, as the Department of Justice has said often there are far more acts of domestic terrorism than acts committed by any acts of terror by “Muslim,” extremists. That’s why thinking and tweeting the worst is a terrible thing. Instead of waiting to know the truth people reacted erroneously. I would rather be right than be the first. That applies to reacting to any story as well. None of us would appreciate being falsely accused and nor should anyone in Qatar. I use this as my guide and hope many others would follow “Think before you tweet.” It’s pretty simple before making the ASS of U, not ME mistake just wait until the real facts come to light folks. Don’t allow your “Suspicious Minds,” to cloud better judgment.
Grant Wahl Dec 2nd 1973- Dec 10th 2022
Grant Wahl should always be remembered for the life he lived. The advocacy for others and social justice. His steadfast fight against things he felt was wrong with FIFA, the fact he had the courage to even go far as to try to get a successful bid to become the President of FIFA in 2011. His love for the “beautiful game,” was so evident in all his writings and appearances on television. He should be remembered as Dr, Celine Gounder’s husband of 21 years. His name should not be associated with the false accusations that so many made. I understand his brother’s grief and what he said “at the moment,” but that’s where it should have been left because we did not know the full story. I would hope that those who were quick to be so suspicious take a few moments out and DELETE their tweets. Sadly I know many won’t. May you rest in peace Grant Wahl.
