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Since word broke a few days ago that Brian Cushing was suspended four (4) games due to testing for an unknown (non-steroidal, according to Cushing) banned substance back in September 2009, you've been swamped with coverage and opinions that have been all over the map. Cushing's a cheater. Cushing's human. Cushing's just an athlete trying to succeed at the highest level. Cushing's everything that's wrong with professional sports. And so on. I mean, everything we've posted on the front page of BRB since Friday evening has been related to Brian Cushing, and the comments have been far from uniform. I, like you, am suffering from a severe case of Cushlash.
What's the cure for Cushlash, you ask? Why, another Brian Cushing-centric post, of course! At this rate, I will forget the names of all other Houston Texans by the end of the week.
As you probably gathered when you read the title of this post, however, this entry is a bit different. And you people thought I hated Brian Cushing. Little did you know I am now incapable of writing about anything else. Kill me now, please. Or click on the jump...
As more details filter out, I'm noticing that there's a significant portion of the fan base that seems more intent on defending/backing Brian Cushing than expressing disappointment over the failed test. Are those people simply contrarians? Or has the deafening drugs-are-against-the-rules-and-those-that-break-the-rules-are-unethical-cheaters mantra, for all its simplicity, managed to somehow paint Brian Cushing as a victim?
You hear all the time that we live in a world of gray, not black and white; has that mentality made Cushing more sympathetic in our eyes? Especially when information like Cushing purportedly passing a lie detector test gets out, even though polygraph results are generally not admissible in a court of law? Or is it simply a case of Texans fans backing one of our own, knowing full well we'd feel differently about Cushing if he wasn't a Texan?
Is it possible that people are bigger fans of Brian Cushing now than they were before he was suspended? Let us know your thoughts, first in the Poll below and then in the Comments.
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