As all Colorado Rockies fans on social media now know, soon after Ryan Rolison was made the 1st overall Rockies pick in the 2018 MLB draft, the story broke of a terrible tweet that Rolison made in November 2012, when he was 15 years old, wishing that someone who shoot then-President Barack Obama.
Once Rolison was made aware of the sports Twitter world's discovery of said Tweet, he immediately deleted it. But, by then, that was a bit like closing the barn door after the horse had escaped. To be honest, GFW believes that Rolison himself had forgotten that he ever tweeted such a comment; it probably was a stupid attempt to be funny or an immature attempt to curry favor with people who he felt held such abhorrent beliefs, and he likely forgot he ever even tweeted it until someone pointed it out to him AFTER he was drafted. However, it was a threat against the president of the United States, no matter how misguided or immature or the age of the person making the tweet.
And let's be blunt. A tweet that implies a threat to the life of the country's president - particularly the country's FIRST black president - is FAR worse than a tweet quoting rap lyrics, even if the rap lyrics use an unacceptable racial slur. It must also be noted that Rolison elected to play college baseball at the university most associated with flying the Confederate Battle flag, something largely irrelevant to every single other student-athlete at the University of Mississippi... until a tweet pops up where that student-athlete has threatened the life of the first black President.
By Tuesday, both Rolison and the Rockies organization had been asked about unfortunate Tweet and mainstream media were reporting Rolison's mea culpa, and the Rockies organization's full support of Rolison and defense of his character going forward.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ryan-rolison-colorado-rockies-mlb-draft-pick-shoot-barack-obama-tweet-2018-06-05/
Although the above (and other) media reports claim that the Rockies organization vets each potential draftee's social media history - which, frankly, EVERY organization in EVERY sport or business should do with all impactful and expensive new hires - GFW does not believe that the Rockies organization actually did this with Rolison. It is nonsensical for the Rockies organization to imply that they discovered Rolison's tweet from 2012, but did not ask him to delete it prior to drafting him, then allowed it to be "discovered" by other enterprising sports media folks. Either the organization is lying to its fans, or it is utterly incompetent in both social media AND public relations.
So... here is what SHOULD have happened.
Let's assume the Rockies are NOT competent enough to discover Rolison's tweet or are stupid enough not to ask him to delete it BEFORE he is drafted.
First, once the tweet is discovered, he is asked to delete it. Check.
Then, when the inevitable questions are asked, the Rockies have helped Rolison make a statement that takes accountability, admits a youthful indiscretion, shows remorse, and details a plan forward to address the heart of the issue. GFW would suggest that Rolison make THIS statement:
"When I was 15, I made a stupid tweet about President Obama that I had no idea what it really meant. It was immature, inappropriate, and most of all, stupid, and I regret that I did it. I have no idea why I did such a stupid thing, but I am thankful that the Colorado Rockies have enough belief in both my pitching and character to draft me in the 1st round. Not only will the Rockies help me with my pitching, but they also have promised to help me learn WHY I would ever have made such a stupid decision, and I have accepted their generous offer of counseling and look forward to learning about myself and why I would have made that decision, so that I will never make such a stupid decision again."
Further, the Colorado Rockies should have been proactive with their own response, rather than the typical and meaningless "we can just move on" that concluded Rockies GM Jeff Bridich's conference call comments about Rolison's tweet. Although the sycophantic local media, always carrying water for the Rockies organization in fear of having their access denied should they be overly critical, will accept "we can just move on" as the final word on the subject, they should not.
Here is what the Rockies SHOULD have said: "The Colorado Rockies organization became aware of 1st round pick Ryan Rolison's abhorrent tweet from 2012 in which he implied a threat on the life of President Barack Obama immediately after we selected Ryan. While Ryan was 15 years old when he made that tweet, in our careful vetting of Ryan as a potential Colorado Rockies team member, we discovered absolutely nothing in his character like that. Nonetheless, the Colorado Rockies organization has offered, and Ryan has accepted, counseling that will determine why he made such a foolish and immature decision in 2012. Clearly, both the Colorado Rockies and Ryan are confident that Ryan can learn, through introspective counseling, why he made such a statement, and are confident that he will never make a mistake of that magnitude again."
Instead, "we can just move on"... right? Nothing to see here...
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