My Thoughts On The Death Of Charlie Kirk

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Good afternoon everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show coming at you courtesy of SiriusXM channel 82 Mad Dog Sports Radio. Number to call up as always is 8 Madog6. That’s8 Mad Dog6. That’s it86233646. And also if you want to send in your voicemail messages because uh you can’t get me on the line, you can always go to SiriusXM.com/getserious. That’s sirxm.com/getserious to send in your voicemail messages. I’ll even grade them and if you attach your phone number to you, I I might even call you back and put you on the air to hear what you have to say. Normally, as you well know, um I’m somebody that comes out like a bat out of hell. I love doing radio. I love being back at Mad Dog Sports Radio. I like to lead with my passion and my fervor um to really start the day, start the afternoon, so to speak. But if I sound a little bit if not a lot uh different, you can use the word melancholy. You can use the word sad or whatever. It’s because I’m not I’m not in that kind of mood today. I’m going to be real. I’m going to be authentic. I’m going to be my true Stephen A self. Whoever the hell I am is who I am. That’s the way it goes. And I’m sitting up here this afternoon wanting to then afternoon on the east coast, the morning on the west coast. And I want to thank the world of sports. We got a Thursday night game coming up tonight. Watch the commanders against the Green Bay Packers. And I know that and I’m getting ready to talk about that. We’ve got news emanating out of the NBA involving Kawhi Lyn. I’m going to talk about that. The WNBA season is coming to an end. how much that means to you, if anything at all, without the services of Caitlyn Clark. I’m gonna talk about that along with, of course, I’m in Vegas as we speak in our Vegas SiriusXM Vegas studios because I’m here for the big fight between Saul Canelo Alvarez uh defending his 168-lb super middleweight championship uh against Terrence Crawford undefeated at 41-0 with 31 KOs, which may be the fight of the decade. So, we’re all looking forward to talking about those things, but that’s not what’s on my mind. What’s on my mind was the shooting that happened yesterday in Utah. And we could slice it any way we want to, but what a horrific thing to see. It’s all over the news. It’s all over YouTube. It’s everywhere. And I challenge anybody to take a look at that and and and and and tell me that you didn’t cringe. I’m happy about sports today because it’s supposed to be a reprieve, something that pulls you away from life’s travails and what truly truly ails us all. And I’m not going to get into any politics or anything like that. SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio ain’t the place for that. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to be honest with the listeners out there everywhere to let you know that sports isn’t the only thing on my mind. But I’m ecstatic that I’m still entrenched in the world of sports and I get to talk about games and marvelous professional and collegiate athletes and storylines that ultimately make you say come hella high water, at the end of the day, it’s just a game. There’s real life stuff going on in this world. And we saw a right-wing conservative host because that’s what they that’s what he was and that’s what they labeled Charlie Kirk. And we saw this man speaking in Utah at Utah Valley University and we saw him struck by a bullet in his neck. We saw blood gushing out immediately. And it didn’t take long before he was pronounced dead at the age of 31, courtesy of an assassin’s bullet. A rifle. A bullet from a rifle that was lodged against him from 200 yards away. The part that really resonates with me outside of the obvious is that he had two children five younger than five years of age. Both were in attendance and saw their father get gunned down. He had a wife, their mother who was in attendance, who saw her husband get gunned down. In the world that we’re living in today, I don’t care who you are. You’re white, you’re black, you’re Hispanic, you’re Asian, you’re Native American, you’re Jewish, you’re Catholic, you’re Christian, I don’t care at some point in time, the one thing that sports needs to remind us about the importance, the appreciation that we should all embrace is how it brings all of us together. No matter no matter your color or creed, no matter your ethnicity, no matter your upbringing, your background, etc., etc., when you wear the same uniform as somebody else, when you play in the same league as another contemporary, when the sacrifices that you make to elevate yourself to a certain level is something that’s mirrored by hundreds, if not thousands of other individuals out there reminds us all that we’re all God’s children. And that universally when we see something like that transpired, we got to collectively come together and understand that the world that we’re witnessing in the world that we’re living is pretty damn messed up. And there’s a lot more love and a lot more brotherhood and sisterhood and humanity that goes on in this world that does it than doesn’t. Yet the few who are evil amongst us are the ones that screech and make the most noise. And it’s affecting us in a way where it’s getting to a point where you’re going to get scared to walk out in the streets. You’re going to get scared to show love and affection and even to say hello to your fellow man and woman, your neighbor. And sports are so important now more than ever before because you know something when you look at Lambeau Field tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin when the Green Bay Packers host the Washington Commanders, you had better believe 60,000 plus are going to be at that stadium. You had better believe that millions are going to be watching. You had better believe that whether it’s on radio or television or anywhere else, you’re going to see people talking about the game. And it’s important because it shows this common ground. There’s a common denominator. There’s a common love and affection. Sports is worth a multibillion dollar industry. Whether it’s football, whether it’s basketball, whether it’s baseball, for a reason because it brings us joy and it reminds us all how we can truly get along. and that the vitriol and the evil and the viciousness that exists in this world, it ain’t the many, it’s the few. But it also needs to remind us that we got to come together and speak up and speak out against those evil people, against those with evil tendencies, against one against those who are insidious and iniquitous and looking to do anything they can to harm us and the fabric of our society. I’m a black man born in America. I know what problems that exist in this country. But I also know there’s far more good people than there are bad people in this country. Regardless of who you are, what your ethnic background is. White, black, Hispanic, and beyond. I’m in a studio here in Las Vegas, and I’m looking outside and I see people looking at me and smiling and saying, “What’s up, Stephen?” and they they don’t look anything like me and I don’t care cuz they’re showing me love and I’m showing love right back to them at some point in time. We got to recognize can’t just speak about it can’t just give lip service to when such a vile act takes place and we going to give lip service to the tragedy of the moment and then within 24 hours we move on with our lives like nothing happened. something did happen. I don’t care what his political beliefs were. I don’t care what he felt. I care about the fact that a man was gunned down in front of two of his children who are 5 years of age or less. That he’s dead at the age of 31. That his wife is a widow. That his children are fatherless. because his ideas and his beliefs differed from somebody else apparently. And then I’m going online and I’m seeing people celebrating it. Shame. Shame on you. I have a job to do when I’m on Mad Dog Sports Radio to talk sports, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. But make no mistake about it when I say that I’m a conscientious observer, that I’m an American citizen, that I’m just somebody who cares, and I’m somebody who believes in and tries to promote the importance of having a core decency attached to every one of us as human beings. I mean it. I mean it. Props to the New York Yankees organization last night for having a moment of silence. If you’re a left winger instead of a right-winger, you might not have allow you might not have liked that. You’re missing the point. This man was shot and killed from 200 yards away in front of his wife and children and thousands of onlookers who had come to see him, Mr. Charlie Kirk, who had been going from campus to campus simply debating his ideas against those who might differ from him. That’s all. and his life was taken. He’s gone at 31 just because he expressed thoughts that differed from somebody else apparently. And some might blame it because oh my god, he’s friends with the president and they may not be a Donald Trump supporter. I’m saying bump all that. He’s a human being living in the United States of America. This is America. We’re not supposed to condone stuff like this. We’re not supposed to say it’s okay. I don’t give a damn who you are. Black, white, or anything in between. You’re a human being. That’s your fellow man and fellow woman out there. That’s your fellow brother and fellow sister out there. You got no business thinking like that and you damn sure have no business doing something as heinous as that shooter who’s still on a loose by the way. So I applaud the New York Yankees for having a moment of silence. I hope the FBI and law enforcement catch this individual and do what needs to be done with him. whatever that may be. We will go on with our lives because that’s the way things go. We will discuss sports on this channel, on this show, because it’s what we do. It’s what the listener is looking for, as it as they should. But it doesn’t mean that along the way you strip yourself of your own humanity and you negate recalling and remembering who you are and what you stand for and what’s most important. And that’s caring enough about yourself and your fellow man and your fellow woman never to inflict violence upon anybody, never to do something like this. and certainly never to celebrate it. Sports does so much for us. It doesn’t just give us something to cheer about. It’s the fact that it allows us to cheer together. You’re going to see Green Bay fans at Lambeau Field tonight in all color, shapes, and sizes. You’re going to see the same thing when the Commanders host a game or one of the other 32 NFL teams do the same. And the NBA season comes, you’re going to see that, too. And as the Major League Baseball playoffs are are forthcoming, you’re going to see that, too. And right here on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio, my background is entirely different than Mad Dog Russo. I I imagine if we probed one another and we spoke about such things, our politics might be a little bit different. The same applies to Adam Shawn. The same applies to Katie Nolan. The same applies to Steve Tory and a bunch of other folks and Eric Spitzer and everybody else associated with SiriusXM. Mad Dog Sports Radio and all of SiriusXM, Howard Stern included, and everybody else, including Mega Kelly. I don’t care. They’re good people. I’m proud to know them. I’m proud to be on Mad Dog Sports Radio. I’m proud to call that man my brother from another mother. At some point in time, we got to remember that and remember to remind one another that there’s far more love in this world than hate. and not allow evil and hate to dominate us and to strip us of what truly makes us the greatest nation in the world. It’s that mosaic that we live under, a willingness to embrace any and all and find a way to agree without being disagreeable. Not even because we may want to all the time, but because we know it’s what’s best for a society to be civilized and positioned to prosper. Someone forgot about that yesterday and murdering Charlie Kirk. Others forgot about it by parading online and celebrating an evil vile occurrence. Most of us are better than that. Let’s show that and let’s begin by doing that and using sports to do it because sports usually does come to the rescue after all and we certainly needed sports to do that for us today. AAA Mad Dog 6 is the number to call up. That’s 8886233646. You’re listening live to the Stephen A. show SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Back with your calls, plus some voicemails at SiriusXM.com/getserious. More of the Stephen A. Smith Show coming your way in just a minute.