A piece written by a long-time sports columnist in southern California has sparked controversy and criticism from local readers and around the Internet.
Mark Whicker (
www.ocregister.com / Special to FOXSports.com)
The column, written by the Orange Country Register's Mark Whicker, tells Jaycee Dugard — a California woman who was kidnapped at age 11 and held in captivity for the last 18 years — about the sports milestones she missed during that time.
"She was not allowed to spike a volleyball," Whicker writes, referring to Dugard's time in captivity. "Or pitch a softball. Or smack a forehand down the line. Or run in a 5-footer for double bogey. Now, that's deprivation."
Whicker — who has since apologized for the column — then goes into a 28-point bullet list of notable sports occurrences that happened in the past 18 years.
Dugard was abducted in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. in June 1991 and was recovered in Antioch, Calif. on Aug. 26 of this year. She gave birth to two children during her captivity, both apparently fathered by the kidnapper, 58-year-old Phillip Garrido.
Police believe Dugard was living in her kidnapper's backyard for at least some of that time, a fact Whicker aludes to in his closing line: "Congratulations, Jaycee. You left the yard."
Jaycee Dugard as a young girl. (Dugard family / Associated Press)
The piece, which appeared online Monday and in Tuesday's paper, was met with heaps of criticism in the online comments section along with calls and complaints to the paper.
Whicker's apology was issued in Wednesday's edition, saying in part, "It's obvious that I miscalculated the effect the column (would have)."
In an interview with PoynterOnline, Whicker defended himself.
"I vehemently believe I wasn't insensitive about the fact that she was kidnapped," he said. "I never made light about the fact that this woman was abducted. I don't think anyone can cite anything in the column that says I did."
Whicker also blames the Internet culture for blowing the situation out of proportion, saying that he'd only received one critical e-mail by Tuesday night, but that after it had been posted all over Twitter and Facebook, that number increased to 100 the next day.
Whicker says a similar piece he wrote in 1991 following the release of hostage Terry Anderson after seven years in Lebanon failed to generate any outrage. He has been a columnist at the paper for over 22 years.
