I woke up yesterday morning, walked to class and along the way picked up the latest issue of The State News. I opened up to the opinion page to read through the articles when I noticed that day’s editorial cartoon drawn by Ian Brown (SN 11/11). His drawing was of an MSU football player and two girls, while another male in the background is talking about how the MSU football team now has “an excuse to act like jerks.” Perhaps Mr. Brown has some sort of personal vendetta against one individual in particular or against the team as a whole, but I found this to be in very poor taste.
I have on occasion passed by and exchanged pleasantries with various members of MSU’s football team from this year and years past and never once found a reason to think of them as anything less than genuinely nice people. Again, maybe Mr. Brown has been mistreated in the past, but to lump the entire team together as a group of “jerks” is uncalled for.
Also, Mr. Brown has apparently failed to ever watch a postgame press conference or interview, in which members of the football team seem to not only be gracious but also humble.
Finally, Mr. Brown’s cartoon contradicts all of the MSU football team’s extensive history of community service outreach to the East Lansing area.
How can this editorial cartoonist go about his duty of trying to make people think about the world around them when the only thing he is succeeding at is ignoring facts and putting down a team that has brought about excitement and anticipation on a week to week basis that has not been seen around Michigan State’s campus in a while?
I propose that before Ian Brown goes on to demean any more of the sports teams here at MSU, maybe he should open his eyes, look around and realize that his half-formulated opinions are not fact or based in anything that resembles a fact.
Jordan Blekking
environmental studies and applications senior
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