OK, Vinnie Iyer is a sports writer. And the Sporting News is, well, a sports publication. But he’s still a journalist. And just because he writes about football doesn’t mean there’s less of a requirement that he get his facts right. In theory. If he were breaking the news that Tom Brady had tested positive for steroids, you can bet your last round of ammo he’d be sure to have his story straight. Darnell Dockett, the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive lineman and gun enthusiast, recently tweeted about almost making the mistake of bringing a bangstick to practice. Which would have been bad…

You probably remember l’affair Gilbert Arenas. He and fellow NBAer Jarvis Crittenden played High Noon with live ammo in the Washington Wizards’ locker room after a practice late in 2009. Which is generally frowned upon. All of the major sports leagues prohibit guns in locker rooms and team facilities. Which Dockett, of course, knows.

Tweeted DockettDamn I almost brung my ‘ROCKET’ into work this morning like gilbert arenas. But mine was by accident it was in my book bag. Kept sayin to myself why is my book bag so heavy, looked in side it was Big pookey’ nickel plated Glock 40′ trying to come to work w/me! Smh

Isn’t that more than 140 characters?

Anyway, the giggle-worthy part led off the explanatory paragraph that followed.

The Glock 40 is a reference to a pistol manufactured by Smith and Wesson. Arenas, an NBA player now with the Orlando Magic, had a (sic) incident drawing a pistol with former teammate Javaris Crittenton when the two were in the locker room for the Washington Wizards last year. Crittenton’s name has resurfaced in headlines this week as a FBI suspect in a murder investigation.

I wasn’t aware that the red, white and blue S&W had picked up a contract to make the Teutonic wonder-guns. It’s probably just me, though. I’ve been busy lately.

Big deal? Of course not. Pathetically nit-picky? Probably. But some readers here make quite a point of criticizing journalistic practice in these parts. Even when most TTAGers would rather be labeled as child molesters than journalists. And we all know that no one in the ‘real media’ has ever failed to do their homework. In the mean time, I’ll be waiting breathlessly for our review of the new Colt-made Taurus AR.

[Update: Sporting News has since corrected the article on its site.]

29 COMMENTS

  1. Does the G40 have the little thingy that flips up and rests on your shoulder? Or is it the one that comes with assault clips?

  2. What, Iyer can’t use Google? A six year old knows Google’ll give you the answer if you don’t know…

  3. Colt-made Taurus AR…. YOU do YOUR homework. It’s a Colt-made Taurus AK. Gold plated. Ivory folding stock. Chambered in high powered, armor piercing .22 lr

  4. Is that reporter’s last name Iyer or Lyer? With some fonts it’s hard to tell. Also with some reporters.

  5. … I’ll be waiting breathlessly for our review of the new Colt-made Taurus AR.

    … with Teflon-coated cop-killer bullets.

  6. Isn’t the Smith & Wesson Glock 40 pistol an assault rifle? Cuz everything that shoots is an assault rifle, isn’t it?

  7. Skip Bayless was on ESPN demanding Dockett get suspended for tweeting about a gun. Peter King has said some pretty dumb stuff too. Sports journalists are just as dumb and liberal as journalists of other stripes.

  8. I think I know what caused the confusion here–the name of the caliber is .40 S&W. When I googled “40 s & w” one of the “shopping” results the came up was a Glock.

    You and I know that a .45 Colt may be made by Ruger, Taurus, or even Smith and Wesson, but I can see where a guy like that could be confused.

  9. G40? That’s a colt made full auto revolver, with an ought-to-be-banned hi-capacity clip isn’t it? I read about those in the New York Times. It’s a damn shame that they let people buy those at gun shows.
    MSM “journalists”, morons, but I am repeating myself….

  10. Lazy. If you google Glock 40 one of the links has the …Glock 40 S&W, which is referring to the ammo often called .40S&W. The genius probably skimmed that and wrote it up. Also if you google Iyer, you get a list of people that may or may not be his parents. Who knows?

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