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Tim Lincecum: social pioneer

At least to the San Jose Mercury News, he is:

Though it won’t be on the same epic scale as a Jackie Robinson or a Muhammad Ali, who sacrificed considerable parts of themselves to bear necessary torches, Lincecum’s contribution will stand as part of another movement.

When marijuana is fully decriminalized and legalized sometime in the next 20 years, sports figures will be among the many whose exceptional accomplishments will have given testimony on its behalf.

Among the greats cited alongside Linceucm in the pot Hall of Fame: Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parish, Randy Moss, one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history, and Michael Phelps. The editorial goes so far as to say that between his slacker looks and his apparent love of weed, Lincecum is poised to be a marketing piece for Major League Baseball as it attempts to court younger fans.

Whatever. I don’t judge Lincecum at all. I’m a live and let live kind of guy when it comes to such things. Glass houses and stones and all of that. But I know one thing: no matter how forward thinking and cutting edge the people who write these kind of editorials think themselves to be, we won’t truly be in the brave new world to which they aspire until the day comes when an athlete finds himself in Lincecum’s situation . . .and no one cares at all. Because in the grand scheme of things -- even the scheme having to do with the decriminalization of weed -- this is pretty meaningless.