Another head-scratcher

[Gomer]

Everybody's different, the point is that criticizing a choice like this is pretty heartless.

 

[Shaggy]

There's not a single thing in this world that would've made me miss the birth of my children. Anyone who chooses not to be there is a piece of ****.

"Don't have kids of my own..."

Obviously.

 

[mediaguy]

Even if you don't have kids, you're familiar with human emotion, right? Maybe you know someone who has kids and see there's this weird bond between parent and child? There's being childless, and then there's being mindless.

 

[Ace]

I went to work when my kids were born because they would have wanted me to.

 

[Shaggy]

It's not just about your child, either. This is your wife, going through sometimes 40 hours of a painful labor process to give birth to YOUR child. Is it really appropriate to say "Sorry honey, you're on your own, I need to pitch 5 solid innings against the Rangers."

Where's the perspective?

 

[Stitch]

Is Whitt divorced? Big shocker if so.

 

[MartinonMTV2]

Wonder what this bozo would have said about Derek Fisher missing the clinching game when the Spurs beat his Nuggets in the '07 Western Conference Finals? He was in New York with his daughter, who was about to lose an eye to a rare form of cancer. Made it back for the second hafl of that game, but c'mon ... I mean, she had ANOTHER eye, right (#sarcasm)

That was the Jazz, not the Nuggets. And some Utah fans are pissed at the guy for having the gall to ask for his release after the season. I would not be surprised if a column or two blasting his decision are floating around out there.

 

[NightHawk112005]

There's not a single thing in this world that would've made me miss the birth of my children. Anyone who chooses not to be there is a piece of ****.

"Don't have kids of my own..."

Obviously.

I don't really think that's fair, though. What's important to you might not be how someone else sees it. We can all agree that the writer is a douche, but I don't think you can really condemn someone because they felt they had an obligation to do their job.

 

[Shaggy]

There's not a single thing in this world that would've made me miss the birth of my children. Anyone who chooses not to be there is a piece of ****.

"Don't have kids of my own..."

Obviously.

I don't really think that's fair, though. What's important to you might not be how someone else sees it. We can all agree that the writer is a douche, but I don't think you can really condemn someone because they felt they had an obligation to do their job.

I can't think of one job that should take priority in a man's life over the birth of his child. To think otherwise is to have your priorities completely ass-backwards.

If that's the way you feel about your career, you shouldn't be getting married and having kids to begin with.

 

[dreunc1542]

There's not a single thing in this world that would've made me miss the birth of my children. Anyone who chooses not to be there is a piece of ****.

"Don't have kids of my own..."

Obviously.

I don't really think that's fair, though. What's important to you might not be how someone else sees it. We can all agree that the writer is a douche, but I don't think you can really condemn someone because they felt they had an obligation to do their job.

I can't think of one job that should take priority in a man's life over the birth of his child. To think otherwise is to have your priorities completely ass-backwards.

If that's the way you feel about your career, you shouldn't be getting married and having kids to begin with.

Since you said you couldn't think of one job:

What about a surgeon who is in the middle of a surgery to save someone's life, or keep them from becoming a vegetable, when his wife goes into labor?

 

[NightHawk112005]

Or how about a firefighter who is summoned to put out a blaze and save a family's life? Just because your job isn't more important than your child's birth doesn't mean that none are. It all depends on the person. For you, that was the right choice to make. For someone else, maybe it wouldn't be. All I'm saying is I don't think you can judge another person's decision there unless you're his wife.

 

[MartinonMTV2]

We've hit the sanctimony portion of the thread now.

 

[da man]

Is Whitt divorced? Big shocker if so.

Yes, and I think more than once (don't hold me to that last part).

 

[Stitch]

The what ifs are nice and all from the peanut gallery, but playing a sport doesn't come close. Those hypotheticals don't happen too often in real life. There is usually another surgeon available and another firefighter who can work a shift, as with any of our jobs.

 

[SF_Express]

Look, I'm going to stretch this and say this: If a pitcher and his wife have decided that, for whatever reason, he needs to pitch in a game instead off attend the birth of a child, so be it. Maybe he's squeamish. Maybe he's a nervous wreck, and she'll be more relaxed with him elsewhere. It's not for me to say.

The point, though, is RW isn't the one to be judging that call, one way or another.

 

[YGBFKM]

The what ifs are nice and all from the peanut gallery, but playing a sport doesn't come close. Those hypotheticals don't happen too often in real life. There is usually another surgeon available and another firefighter can work a shift, as with any of our jobs.

I know my father, a firefighter, rushed to the hospital during his shift for the birth of at least one of my siblings. You show up for your children; it starts at birth.

 

[mpcincal]

Well, this has turned into quite a philosophical discussion, which is fine, but my take really isn't too deep.

My point mainly is: Over the past few years, I've heard about several athletes who have left the team to be with his wife while she's in labor, and now I don't even bat an eye when a story like that comes up. I don't understand why a sportswriter would make a big deal of it other than "Oh, BTW, Mr. Pitcher was with his wife for the birth of his son. Congratulations to him."

I mean, really, "I swear I'm not making this up."? Why would I think you were making it up?

 

[kingcreole]

Witnessing the birth of a child is one of the coolest things a father can witness. Seconds after my son was born, the doctors held him for the queen and I to see him. I said, Dr. Evil style, "Hello son. I'm your father." Kid started crying immediately.

And being there for the birth of your kids doesn't even count possible unforeseen complications. Sure, most of the time it goes all right. But among other things, I wanted to damn well make sure my newborns and my wife were both OK.

 

[Shaggy]

Witnessing the birth of a child is one of the coolest things a father can witness. Seconds after my son was born, the doctors held him for the queen and I to see him. I said, Dr. Evil style, "Hello son. I'm your father." Kid started crying immediately.

And being there for the birth of your kids doesn't even count possible unforeseen complications. Sure, most of the time it goes all right. But among other things, I wanted to damn well make sure my newborns and my wife were both OK.

Yeah, I can't imagine telling my wife "Hey honey, you'll do great. If you don't hemorrhage and die, give me a call and let me know how everything went. I'll be in a meeting until 10 but after that I'm good."

 

[jr/shotglass]

And that's OK, Shaggy. But in just about everything involving one's personal lives, it's a personal decision. And that means it's not black-and-white. To you, it may be. To the guy next to you, it might not be.

Look, I'm going to stretch this and say this: If a pitcher and his wife have decided that, for whatever reason, he needs to pitch in a game instead off attend the birth of a child, so be it. Maybe he's squeamish. Maybe he's a nervous wreck, and she'll be more relaxed with him elsewhere. It's not for me to say.

The point, though, is RW isn't the one to be judging that call, one way or another.

There, as usual, is the hammer hitting the nail on the head.