Chicken Wings Anyone?

Oh how easily we forget. At least most of us that is. It was just two short years ago that Larry Wayne (a.k.a. Chipper) Jones was booed mercilessly everywhere he went for a character flaw. Not just any character flaw though. This was a biggy. Even the fans in Atlanta questioned their soon-to-be superstar. Larry Wayne fessed up to having an 18-month affair with a woman from Michigan. An affair that destroyed his 6 1/2 year marriage with his wife, and an affair that brought an illegimate child into this world while he was still married. Of course it only gets better in the fact that this woman was a waitress at Hooters - home of the world's best chicken wings ("Chipper like, Chipper want wingy" - that's from Tommy Boy if you didn't pick that up). It was one of what Jones admitted to as several affairs he had following the 1996 World Series. In an article written soon after Jones made the announcement, he was quoted as saying, "The most important thing to me is getting my priorities straight again," and "I'm throwing myself back into my relationship trying to make things work." He also added, "I want to be a better role model" and "It's time to start practicing what I'm preaching." Well Larry Wayne, we're still waiting. Just 5 months after the apologies were posted in newspapers everywhere, Jones filed for divorce and guess who he married? You got it - the Hooters waitress. Since then, little Larry Wayne Jones III has been born and everyone seems to have forgotten what Jones did. We're sure the lad will have his fill of chicken wings in his lifetime. Do they even remember what this man did? Is it that easy to just move on and fall in love with him all over again? If he were hitting .205 would they love him or would he be an outcast in baseball? If all of those fans wearing the Larry Jones jerseys in the stands knew what this man was all about, would they still love him? As Jeff Pearlman from Sports Illustrated wrote, "Each year thousands of men cheat on their wives. They are caught. They are thrown out. Their lives are - 99% of the time - ruined." So explain why Chipper Jones was caught, booed for about one week, and then almost overnight turned into Atlanta's All-American Wonderboy? It just doesn't add up. Does anybody else remember this even happened or was it all just a bad dream? Ask Karin Fulford (Larry's first wife) if this is real life. How sickening does it have to be for her to watch her lying, cheating, self-centered ex-husband being adored by millions of fans who have no clue (or have very selective memory) what he did? We can't imagine. He hasn't changed a bit, but nobody cares. Hey, as long as he is hitting .315, banging out homeruns, and getting 25% off his chicken wings all must be okay, right?

Tale of the Tape for Larry Wayne Jones

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