œWhen you can’t dunk anymore you’ve got to find some way to make it to the news,” said Spurs G Manu Ginobili after nearly killing an AT&T Center bat with his bare hands this past Saturday night. As you might’ve guessed, PETA’s Amanda Schinke found the incident a tad less hilarious than most of the sporting blogosphere.
To bludgeon a 4-ounce animal to death, it takes either a small man or a totally unthinking one”with no respect or consideration for lives humbler than his own. This is a time when athletes in particular need to be on their best behavior around any animal and show that they have brains and a heart, not just reactionary brawn.
Bats always try to avoid contact with humans, and there are plenty of easy ways to keep bats out of a basketball arena (or your home). We hope that the next time someone’s life is on the line, Manu Ginobili will take just a few seconds to think before he acts.