"WHOAAAA, NOW YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!!"
That's the hypocrite shit that comedians, iconoclastic writers, and "shock jock" radio personalities deal with. It's a fine line between love and HATE. One minute everybody's nodding and snickering, and the next they're scowling and walking away.
The latest guy to misjudge an easy pop fly and have it land on his head, is Michael Felger.
A well-liked, superstar pitcher, Roy Halladay, killed himself by joy-riding in his toy plane. This isn't similar to Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash while on a mission of mercy. This isn't Thurman Munson, who was a responsible pilot but perished in smoke and wreckage. This as a joy-rider. Thus, "fair game" for a loudmouth shock jock.
In another time and place, a Howard Stern may have reached over to get some jokes from Jackie Martling, or have Fred hit the sound-effects switch for some ironic noises. You might recall that when a Latina singer got killed, Stern's hilarious bit was to run the sound of bullets. This was not unlike the "novelty" record years earlier, where Gunga Din is hilariously shot to pieces while giving out with fart-like bugle noises (because, ha ha, he no longer has enough air in his lungs...)
All Felger did was be a typical opinionated radio guy, and express his honest feelings. Which were that this incident was not a joking matter, but a damn shame. A tragedy? Maybe not. The guy was joy-riding and being a daredevil, an irresponsible thing to do to himself and to his family. YouTube footage reveals some of this, as a guy with a camcorder keeps cursing illiterately while watching the reckless behavior...before piloting his boat to the crash scene, once again loading up on his "Holy Shit" gasps.
You can find Felger's broadcast online easily. You can hear for yourself, that he was frustrated, surprised, dismayed, and calling Halladay a "moron" not to get a laugh, or because his audience would expect insults, but because its the truth. Lenny Bruce was interested in the truth, even more than laughs.
Years after the event, Paul McCartney characterized Mark David Chapman as "the jerk of all jerks." Should the media have been outraged? "Oh that McCartney, you don't use a word like JERK."
In the anger of the moment, Felger gave a coherent, kneejerk response that most any casual sports fan would understand and even agree with. He probably didn't think Halladay's family was listening to the broadcast. Otherwise, he may have used some restraint. Should he have used that restraint anyway? Ask the comedian who tells a fat joke when there's a fat person in the audience. You can't be mindful of hurting everyone's feelings, when your job is to be a truth-teller or an iconoclast.
The print media, which always hates the flashier, better-paid radio and TV personalities, was quick to headline what an awful-awful person this Michael Felger is. For telling the truth. Calling a moron a moron. He did it with apologies and he explained his point of view and why he believed what he believed. The situation was news involving a senseless loss of life. It wasn't the familiar "risk-taking sportsman perishes in an unsafe small plane" complaint. It was that this guy was tripling the odds of catastrophe by deliberately dipping his plane only feet away from the water.
The print media, in his case, a finger-pointing reporter named Evan Grossman headlined: "Apology not accepted: Boston sports radio host is Jerk of the Week for vile Roy Halladay rant." One might make a case that he simply wrote about a "vile...rant" to get people to read him, and encourage more banner ads for the Daily News. What was he doing that was any different from what Felger did? Express an outrageous opinion to get attention for yourself and make a living.
Felger's "apology not accepted" by some other media stooge with an opinion.
If everyone worried about offending someone, newspapers would be blank sheets of paper, and there would be nothing but the sound of crickets on the radio. Felger and Grossman are just a pair of guys seeking out like-minded readers, and sometimes trying to change a point of view. So THIS piece doesn't end with "Grossman, your article NOT ACCEPTED" as valid journalism. It was accepted and paid for by the Daily News, and some people agree with it. But a lot of people also agree with what Felger had to say. Should he have said it at all? That's what he was being paid for.
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