While I’m on the rare-for-me topic of sports, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this video while working at ESPN…
…but every time I see it, I’m disgusted. Ginóbili’s actions have been more or less celebrated, laughed at, and joked about as if what happened really didn’t matter. I’m unable to confirm whether or not he actually killed the bat (he says in the video and in a Facebook note the bat flew away), but given the force at which he slammed the bat into the floor, the bat possibly died or was seriously injured.
In the last few years, more than one million bats in the northeast U.S. have died from White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Bats with WNS have white fungus growing around their nose (image from wildwildweather.com):
Thus far, the cause of the fungus is unknown—as is the ecological effects of the enormous number of bats lost to WNS. A map of the affected area from caves.org:
At a time when the bat population is suffering enough, Ginobili’s and the sports world’s ignorance to the big-picture situation is disgusting. Instead of any real understanding of the situation, people think it’s funny or cool that Ginóbili “caught” a bat from the air. Ginóbili can show some understanding and some compassion and donate to a fund like Bat Conservation International for research of and response to WNS.
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