Before I begin, I’d like to offer our readers a quick disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, nor have I ever studied the ins-and-outs of real estate legalese. That being said,
it’s my professional opinion that New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is clearly guilty of being a knucklehead in the first degree.
For those that haven’t been paying attention, the Mets’ hurler has recently become embroiled in another public spat—this time with a New York City landlord who is claiming Syndergaard stiffed him on the rent for a $27,000 dollar-a-month Tribeca penthouse into which Thor never moved, after Tommy John surgery and the subsequent coronavirus shutdown scuttled the start of the MLB season. Syndergaard is being sued for $250,000, the remainder of the lease agreement. But whether or not he was justified in breaking the agreement is secondary to sports fans. Because Syndergaard, no stranger to Twitter beefs, took to social
media to slam the landlord’s suit and demonstrate a complete lack of awareness as to how badly us “civilians” are struggling in this pandemic.
Syndergaard tore into the landlord over the weekend, telling him he’d “See him in court.” Then, on Monday, lashed out at fans who criticized him for fighting this battle publicly, drawing some ill-informed comparisons between his lease situation and the ongoing battle between MLB players and owners
over prorated contracts that threatens to hold up the resumption of baseball. Surprisingly, Syndergaard doesn’t seem to appreciate the irony that, in his
own scenario, he is arguing on the side of baseball owners.
Ultimately, this isn’t about Syndergaard being right or wrong. It’s about his tone-deaf approach to the situation. With more than 30 million Americans out of work, many struggling to pay the rent and relying on government assistance, the last thing sports fans want to hear about is a multi-million-dollar athlete
feuding with his landlord over a six-month rental that is worth a couple of years salary for the average American. I don’t know if Syndergaard’s rants on Twitter
were meant to portray him as the hero of the people in this situation, but if that was his intent, he failed miserably. He simply came across as yet another
out-of-touch, whiny athlete who seems convinced that the injustices against him—be they real or imagined—are clearlyof the utmost importance to the
American public.
Here’s a news flash for you, Noah; they’re not. It’s just another instance in which a superstar athlete proves just how little he has in common with the people who root for him. There are a lot of people in this country with more pressing problems than you at the moment, so maybe you can give the Twitter rants a rest for a bit.
On the other hand, I do have to admire you for bringing the sports world together in a time of uncertainty. After all, if you can get the common man to root
for a landlord, you might just be a special talent after all.
Follow Mike on Twitter
@LiveMike_Sports
