Papelbon a bit off base as he gets political

Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon is the latest athlete to speak out about the events in Boston earlier this week. Papelbon was the beloved closer in Boston for years, so the tragedy at the marathon strikes a cord for him, especially considering that he used to live near the bomb site.

While Papelbon may play for the Phillies now, a part of his heart is still in Boston as the shock of the attack still has him shaken. The tragedy struck so close to home for Papelbon that he was at a loss for words, which many Sox fans know is not a common occurrence.

“It’s sad, man,” he said. “Patriot’s Day is a big thing in Boston. Sox play at 11 o’clock. It’s all ruined. Families are ruined, lives are ruined. For what? It’s just sad. I’m looking at it right now and I’m like, damn, I used to live right there.”

Papelbon also spoke about his safety concerns. The Boston Marathon has always been a safe and free event for all to watch. Considering all that has happened, should there be a cause for concern at other sporting events? Papelbon seems to think so.

“We walked through the crowd here on opening day and in Boston, we came down through the bleachers one opening day. I don’t feel comfortable doing that.” Papelbon said.

Papelbon then got a little controversial as he brought up the issue of gun control, which has been a red-hot topic of late.

“Today’s day and age, has gotten so crazy,” Papelbon added. “Shoot man, Obama wants to take our guns from us and everything. You got all this stuff going on, it’s just a little bit insane for me, man. I’m not sure how to take it.”

But while it is nice to see Papelbon keeping up with everything going on in Boston, he might want to read a bit more about President Barack Obama and gun control. Obama has not actually tried to take guns away from citizens as Papelbon seems to claim. Obama did try to pass a bill that would increase the background checks on those buying guns in order to stop people who don’t belong having guns from getting their hands on them. The bill failed though, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass despite 90 percent of polled Americans supporting the bill.

“All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington,” Obama said.

Barack ObamaJonathan Papelbon