1) He wrote “graveyard”; not grave. I’m sure he’d avoid all graves. Out of respect.
2) Carter can be a &@$!. But he’s our &@$!. Do you expect us to boo our own guy?
Yes: we’re homers. So is every other fanbase.
That's not entirely how it works for me. When a PSU athlete or fan says something boorish or stupid, I'm more than happy to call him/her/them out on my own and I don't mind when someone else does it (within context and acknowledging that by and large, the PSU wrestlers and coaches are a bunch of choir boys compared to some of what we see out there). Not sure if I always live by these rules, but I try to be consistent and fair for all sides.
And, for the purposes of THIS discussion, I really see nothing wrong with anything Mesenbrink did yesterday (as someone else said, if he hangs on an ankle for an extra second while smiling and slapping his opponent on the back, I can certainly live with that) and I DO have a problem with some of the stuff that Burroughs and Manning did. Nobody can believe that Mesenbrink is anything other than a happy go lucky kid that really loves being out there and loves competing against EVERYONE. I've never seen him do anything questionable or unsportsmanlike and he's always apologetic if he accidentally pokes someone, hangs on for a second too long out of bounds, etc.. And, just as surely, nobody can believe that Burroughs didn't act a bit like a chump yesterday (not to mention Manning's schtick). And, all of that said, I agree with Smalls and many others who say that it's much ado about nothing and not worth pages of discussion or argument.
I felt largely the same way about what Burroughs said at NCAAs and the ongoing battle with Bo and Carter. I thought it was a dumb/questionable thing to say, but it wasn't off the charts ridiculous or mean-spirited and I don't think it was worth all of the attention that everyone in the wrestling world placed upon it. I was willing to give Burroughs a pass for saying something off the cuff and people absolutely should give PSU fans a pass given that ONE PERSON said something that was dumb, but not really hateful or threatening in any way (not to mention that Manning and Burroughs were giving it back to the crowd and that we don't positively know that the person even was a PSU fan). I don't go to every home dual, but I've been to many dozens of them over the years and other than stupid stuff, I haven't seen any hateful, racist or threatening stuff at Rec Hall or Bryce Jordan and if I did, I'd positively call out the person doing so.