Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Column 397
Give Bromberg a Break – we ALL do Dumb Shit!
There’s an unforgettable scene in the comedy Hangover when the bachelor party guys are seated, not of their own will, in Mike Tyson’s living room. They’ve been “invited” by a couple of the champ’s bodyguards to return the fighter’s pet tiger, which they stole the night before. Tyson also has surveillance video of one of them peeing in his pool. It’s an awkward but hilarious moment…
One of the guys, Phil, apologizes for stealing the tiger. Tyson, who could have crushed him – all of them – with his eyebrow, breaks the tension when he responds, “Don’t worry about it man, like you said, we all do dumb shit…”
And there you have it. The truth, the simple unassailable truth: we all do dumb shit sometimes. I certainly have.
As a kid I once hit a golf ball through a neighbor’s picture window. In high school a friend and I blew up a cherry bomb in our vice principal’s porch light. In college some friends and I accidentally set a dorm room on fire. With my sister I once tried to outrace a police car to avoid getting a ticket for running a red light. All dumb shit.
I got caught each time.
Some people (most recently Steve Brown) tell me I have even written some dumb shit. Go figure.
So… last weekend at the San Francisco Open, Stacy Bromberg did some dumb shit: she made a small mark on some Puma Shot! dartboards, changing the word Shot to Snot.
Holy frickin’ CRAP!
She shouldn’t have done it. She was just fooling around.
But some people freaked.
Surely this has nothing to do with jealously of her accomplishments. She’s been US #1 for something like 39 of the past 16 years, has raised something like $40 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and is currently the PDC women’s world champion, having knocked out Phil Taylor a month ago in straight sets.
Possibly this has something to do with misinformation. So let’s set the record straight. It is NOT true that Bromberg vandalized boards by blowing them to bits with an AK-47. It is NOT true that when confronted she released a real live puma into the dart hall which then chased down David Hoag and bit him on the arse.
What IS true is that she apologized, purchased the boards and pledged funds raised from their sale to charity. It IS true that she left the tournament of her own free will. It IS true that she immediately snot off (oops, sorry) – shot off – a letter of apology to Puma.
Here’s Bromberg’s letter:
This past weekend while I was attending the San Francisco Open, many of you have heard that I altered the word ‘Shot!’ on some tournament dartboards that were donated by Puma. While I intended this as a simple joke at the time, it was still the wrong thing to do. In accepting full responsibility for my actions, I want to make it clear that my actions were, in no way, induced by the quality of the boards. The boards performed outstandingly throughout the weekend. Puma gave long and serious consideration when naming this board a term used often by dart players and altering the letters was wrong. I cannot change what I did but I can offer my sincerest apologies to Puma for having done it. I hope this clears up any ‘inquiries’ anyone may have regarding this matter.
But still, some people can’t let go of a joke gone wrong.
They should take a lesson from Mike Tyson.
Bromberg goofed. She made a mistake. She apologized.
Give her a break – we all do dumb shit sometimes.
From the Field,
Dartoid
