You know, it's really hard for an American sports hero like Landon Donovan to find a way to fall out of favor in any part of the country, but he nearly did Wednesday night when he let his emotions get the better of them. Donovan, a native LA resident and a diehard Laker fan, had this to say on his Twitter account after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings in what could be their final game in the state capital.
It's so cute to see the Queen fans get all excited and think they're going to win, only to lose to the Champs once again. #seeyouinAnaheim
I'm not one to chastise athletes, but this seems like an exceptionally poor decision on his part. I get a little trash talking from a fan of one team to the other, but seriously, the "Queens" reference again? That sort of talk is cute coming from a 15 year old sporting fresh Kobe Zooms, but from a dude who was responsible for the most dramatic event in US soccer history? Plus the cold "Anaheim" reference at the end? Wow.
Donovan did try and find a way to make things right. He would later delete the tweet in an act of contrition, then profusely apologized for what he had done. I wouldn't say the man has come around full-circle and is totally forgiven for his original comment, but it's nice to see that he did feel remorse for his actions. Kobe Bryant could learn a thing or two from him.
I wonder if the city of Sacramento will end up rooting for whoever the US is facing in the 2014 World Cup.