David Ortiz, a star of the Boston Red Sox, gave an impassioned speech to the 35,000 plus fans at Fenway Park last Saturday. It was before the first game in front of the home-town Boston crowd after the bombings and lock-down of the city during the final day of the manhunt.
For the sake of completeness, here's what he said (as reported by the Boston Globe):
“This past week, I don’t think there was one human being who wasn’t affected by what we got going on down here. This past week for me, myself, I was very emotional and angry about whole situation and got to get that out of my chest and make sure our fans and everyone in the nation knows that this is a great nation and part of it was supporting each other when everything went down.”
He ended... “This is our [expletive] city, and nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”
I am not sure how I would have reacted to the “F” expletive if I were in the crowd, especially if I were there with a child. My initial reaction when I heard this on the news was that the use of the expletive was inappropriate. Shouldn’t sports stars set an example? Reflecting upon it, I am not so sure. I empathize with the emotions and passions of the moment (and I have certainly emphasized my own speech from time to time --- but never in front of 35,000 people and media cameras and microphones).
By the way, the FCC has decided not to fine Ortiz or the television station. Perhaps there’s some new exception for Passionate Profanity in the National Interest.