Put Down That Infernal Device!

Doug Williams | May 20, 2008, 10:51 PM

I’m sitting here in my office, listening to game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs between my Celtics and the dreaded Pistons on the radio, and catching up on some trade press. And that reminded me that I didn’t post about a very disturbing event that happened a couple of days ago.

You may have seen it too, if you were watching the epic, instant-classic, Paul Pierce/LeBron James showdown, Celtics-Cavaliers Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. It was a fantastic game, entertaining from tip to buzzer. Great plays, great players, clutch shots, hustle D – three hours of excitement! I cannot overemphasize this.

I was watching at home on my HD set (Comcast, in case you are wondering). HD, as you probably know, offers incredible clarity – you can see details of the players and the fans alike, as if you were at the game yourself. On a number of occasions, the camera would settle on Cleveland coach Mike Brown, and sitting about 3 rows behind him, in seats that probably had a face value of $750 and a street value in the thousands of dollars, were a couple of teenage girls. That itself was not shocking – parents buy all kinds of unnecessary stuff for their kids. What was shocking – if not revolting – was that every time ESPN caught one of these girls on camera, she wasn’t cheering, yelling, clapping or even smiling. She was texting.

Kids these days. Sigh. But I really shouldn’t be surprised.