
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The Cooler, where typically I'm also right and wrong in the same paragraphs. It's a single subject day. Let's get to it:
*By now you've probably heard about Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader, who had a series of racist, homophobic and sexist tweets from several years back revealed during his MLB All Star Game appearance.
Stories like this always elicit BIG OPINIONS, but I've come to the conclusion that in messy, complicated stories like this — an in this one in particular — the best thing to remember is this: pretty much everybody is sort of right, which means everyone is also wrong.
Those giving Hader a pass because the tweets are from when he was 17 and 18 years old: Sure, there's something to latch onto with that. Imagine yourself at the end of high school (for some of us, that's a lot longer ago than for others) and then imagine yourself a couple years out of college. Hader is 24, and it's very possible that there is plenty of truth when Hader says, "It doesn't reflect any of my beliefs going on now."
But at age 17 or 18, a person also knows the basics of right and wrong. They aren't fully formed, but they're formed enough that if they write — and believe — things that are homophobic, racist and sexist they should be held accountable.
Those giving Hader credit for talking about this after the game: We want those who err to take responsibility, and Hader used the first opportunity available to at least field questions and try to explain his behavior. That's better than hiding, and it's really the only way any sort of healing or understanding can begin.
But too often media members judge athletes in these cases by whether or not they talk, and I suspect it has as much to do with right or wrong as it does with how it impacts their jobs. And at the end of the day, Hader answering questions doesn't change what he did. It adds context, but it doesn't erase the thing.
Those blaming Hader's representatives for not finding and deleting these tweets years ago: Yeah, agents or other reps have probably found things like this and erased them before their client became famous, and we're none the wiser. That would have helped Hader's career.