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?