WHAT, IS IT BLASPHEMY? :

Bowden apologizes for 9/11 remark (Associated Press, 8/01/02)

[Reds general manager Jim] Bowden said before Cincinnati's 6-4, 13-inning victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday that he doesn't expect a strike by major league players. Union head Donald Fehr has been meeting with players to brief them about the status of talks.

"If players want to strike, they ought to just pick Sept. 11, because that's what it's going to do to the game,'' Bowden said. ``I don't think there's going to be a work stoppage. I don't think anybody's that dumb.

"If they do walk out, make sure it's Sept. 11. Be symbolic. Let Donald Fehr drive the plane right into the building, if that's what they want to do."

After the game, the Reds released a statement by Bowden apologizing for the analogy.

While it might be better not to compare a mere sports strike to the events of 9-11, this hardly seems to qualify as a major offense. We joke about people going postal or say someone got nuked; is 9-11 such a singular event in mankind's history that it must remain forever sacrosanct? That seems an immature and emotionally indulgent notion. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 1, 2002 9:23 PM