Mike Tyson is PO'd at Toronto reporter (live TV)

[Daradon]

It was a dumb question to ask. Purposefully controversial with no expectation of getting a real or enlightening answer.

However, calling Mike Tyson awesome is something I personally find very distasteful. Obviously all won't agree with me, and that's fine. But there is no real reason why Mike Tyson is awesome.

You could call him a great fighter. You could call him a funny man. But awesome? There are multitudes of people in front of him for that that never get the benefit of celebrity status.

It's just that people like rebellious people. And sometimes we have a hard time figuring out a necessary rebel, from someone who is just behaving badly.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Well the one key difference being that MJ was never convicted (and no I that doesn't mean I don't think he did it). Really, if this was an interview with OJ, would you be like "Man, he's awesome. Great football player and Naked Gun was amazing?"

Well that's not really the best comparison since OJ was never convicted either (at least criminally). Sure like the rest of them Simpson probably did it, but he wasn't convicted. So what's the difference in saying Simpson is awesome versus saying Jackson is? I suppose the type of crime is different, but child molestation is still one of the worst crimes one can commit.

[Kjesse]

There was nothing resembling journalism in that question. The idiot interviewer was just going for the jugular. There were many ways to raise the issue of Tyson's controversial past, and making comparisons to Ford's controversial past, where interesting responses could have come from Tyson, along with interesting follow up questions probing a salient issue.

This fool picked the drive-by-shooting, scorched earth approach. I'm glad Tyson didn't clock him on live TV only for Tyson's own sake.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

You think? I dunno, essentially asking "Do you think an embattled mayoral candidate who's been videotaped smoking crack should be publicly associating with a convicted rapist" seems pretty reasonable to me.

Maybe a pretty reasonable question if you are asking it to a 3rd party about the situation but asking that to Tyson face is just pure ignorant and disrespectful. If you ask a convicted rapist to his face that if a mayoral candidate running for public office chance would be damaged because he shook hands with you.... do you really think that is going to go well. He made Tyson the scum of the question and asked it to his face like he wasn't insaulting him.

[SHOGUN]

Originally Posted by Daradon

It was a dumb question to ask. Purposefully controversial with no expectation of getting a real or enlightening answer.

However, calling Mike Tyson awesome is something I personally find very distasteful. Obviously all won't agree with me, and that's fine. But there is no real reason why Mike Tyson is awesome.

You could call him a great fighter. You could call him a funny man. But awesome? There are multitudes of people in front of him for that that never get the benefit of celebrity status.

It's just that people like rebellious people. And sometimes we have a hard time figuring out a necessary rebel, from someone who is just behaving badly.

There are many legitimate reasons why he is awesome. Go read his book and watch his documentary... instead of being judgmental and taking his interviews at face value. He has character and passion that inspires me to better myself every day.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

On the other hand, fabulously famous and wealthy people usually do get screwed by the justice system, so maybe that is what happened.

I sense your sarcasm, and you're right. Plus the fact that black men never get screwed by the justice system.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Well that's not really the best comparison since OJ was never convicted either (at least criminally). Sure like the rest of them Simpson probably did it, but he wasn't convicted. So what's the difference in saying Simpson is awesome versus saying Jackson is? I suppose the type of crime is different, but child molestation is still one of the worst crimes one can commit.

Well, but that's my point. Everyone is quite happy to say OJ and MJ were monsters, etc., etc., but Tyson seems to skate by despite the only one of the three who actually was convicted. The reason I brought up Graham James is because he's someone who has been convicted but still maintains his innocence. By puckluck's (and others) standards, that means we should maybe cast some doubt on whether the allegations were true. We all know if I wanted to be a dick about it, I could trot out the tired argument about why Fleury waited until he needed to sell his book before he went to police, but it's a pretty awful argument to make.

Originally Posted by gargamel

I sense your sarcasm, and you're right. Plus the fact that black men never get screwed by the justice system.

We can add on that rape has an incredibly low conviction and false accusations rate but somehow, Mike Tyson, who has shown some pretty horrible attitudes towards women, LGBTs, etc., is one of those low percentages. I mean it's possible I suppose. Again, I just think those kinds of attitudes are distasteful and contribute to the under reporting of sexual assault on a wider scale.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by rubecube

We can add on that rape has an incredibly low conviction and false accusations rate but somehow, Mike Tyson, who has shown some pretty horrible attitudes towards women, LGBTs, etc., is one of those low percentages. I mean it's possible I suppose. Again, I just think those kinds of attitudes are distasteful and contribute to the under reporting of sexual assault on a wider scale.

I'm not defending Tyson in any way. Just pointing out the error in logic of implying that he's definitely guilty because celebrities seem to get away with crimes more often than the rest of us. I would guess that he's guilty, but there's a chance that he's not. Either way, I agree with you that there's a lot more about him to dislike than to like.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by SHOGUN

There are many legitimate reasons why he is awesome. Go read his book and watch his documentary... instead of being judgmental and taking his interviews at face value. He has character and passion that inspires me to better myself every day.

You don't think those things are written by someone else to make Tyson look better? The guy is a psychopath through and through. It is a good thing it inspires you to be a better person everyday but Mike Tyson is not a good person in any way.

[Erick Estrada]

Mike Tyson has done some bad things in his life but if anyone cares to read about his upbringing and where he came from would know that he's more an incredibly flawed man than outright bad man. He never really had a chance at living a normal life or being a normal person.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Mike Tyson has done some bad things in his life but if anyone cares to read about his upbringing and where he came from would know that he's more an incredibly flawed man than outright bad man. He never really had a chance at living a normal life or being a normal person.

So do you then hold the same sentiment towards Mike Vick and Michael Jackson?

[SportsJunky]

...and Theo Fleury?

[Shnabdabber]

I guess I missed the part where he got off scot free, and didn't serve three years in prison.

If you have followed Tyson at all over the years you will see how hes made a huge effort to change his life and how he carries himself. If this dude baited him with a low life question like that 10 years ago, he wouldn't be sitting there smirking about it.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

So do you then hold the same sentiment towards Mike Vick and Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson for sure as it's pretty obvious he had some lose screws likely due to his upbringing. He was a damaged person much like Tyson.

Vick for the most part didn't have an upbringing that was out of the ordinary although his fascination with dog fighting dates back to when he was young. Vick should have known better and I don't have sympathy for him.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

...and Theo Fleury?

Maybe I missed something but what illegal crimes against other people did Fleury ever commit or alleged?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Vick for the most part didn't have an upbringing that was out of the ordinary although his fascination with dog fighting dates back to when he was young. Vick should have known better and I don't have sympathy for him.

Vick was born to unwed teen parents, grew up in severe poverty, and lived in housing projects in a notoriously poverty-stricken and crime-ridden part of Virginia, where dogfighting has a huge cultural influence. He was taken to his first dogfight when he was 8 years old . What part of that sounds ordinary to you exactly?

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Maybe I missed something but what illegal crimes against other people did Fleury ever commit or alleged?

I was trying to back up your argument. I did a poor job I see

I definitely think Tyson should get at least a partial pass for his behaviour. He had a terrible childhood. It would have changed any one of us.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Vick was born to unwed teen parents, grew up in severe poverty, and lived in housing projects in a notoriously poverty-stricken and crime-ridden part of Virginia, where dogfighting has a huge cultural influence. He was taken to his first dogfight when he was 8 years old . What part of that sounds ordinary to you exactly?

You could list hundreds of NFL players that grew up in severe poverty so IMO that's not an excuse for Vick. I did stupid things when I was a kid that I don't do now because I know better. So should Vick.

Tyson was constantly bullied as a youth for his high pitched voice, love of pigeons, was doing B&E's in his early teens, spend time in jouvenile detention centers. Fighting was out of necessity to survive in his surroundings. If it wasn't for boxing he would either be dead or spending life in prison before he hit his mid-20's.

Read up on Tyson's life as a child. It's actually pretty interesting and while I don't make excuses for any of his actions as an adult I don't believe deep down inside he's a bad person as his savage upbringing has turned him into a very conflicted person who was naturally good natured but tortured to the point where violence has always been part of his life whether it was on the streets or in the ring. It's the one thing he was good at and unfortunately that doesn't make for a good quality when it comes to living a clean and uneventful life.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

You could list hundreds of NFL players that grew up in severe poverty so IMO that's not an excuse for Vick. I did stupid things when I was a kid that I don't do now because I know better. So should Vick.

Yeah, and of many of those 100s a good chunk of them have issues with the law at some point in their lives. I can turn that argument around and point to the numerous boxers who grew up in bad situations and never raped anyone. The whole "Well because the exceptions occasionally rise above severe obstacles, then those obstacles shouldn't affect anyone" argument is such a tired and privileged take.

Tyson was constantly bullied as a youth for his high pitched voice, love of pigeons, was doing B&E's in his early teens, spend time in jouvenile detention centers. Fighting was out of necessity to survive in his surroundings. If it wasn't for boxing he would either be dead or spending life in prison before he hit his mid-20's.

Okay, so explain what that has to do with him raping someone? If you're going to argue that Vick should've known better, despite being constantly surrounded by people who reinforced the idea that dogfighting was okay, then surely you can't turnaround and excuse Tyson for not not knowing that rape was wrong.

Let's also not forget the fact that Vick has shown a tremendous amount of remorse, has gone on to do work for the SPCA, and consistently goes back to his hometown to advocate against dogfighting. Meanwhile, after his release, Tyson continued to act violently towards men and women, continued to use sexist, misogynistic, and homophobic language at almost every turn, and has never even attempted to get involved with any organizations that dedicate themselves to preventing domestic and sexual violence.

I'm not saying Vick is a great guy. I liked him as a QB when he played for my team, but I would never have bought his jersey and I'm glad he's gone. But if you're not seeing the parallels here then that's your own personal bias more than anything else.

[TSXCman]

I almost thought I read that Tyson KO'd a reporter.