Seconds After Sinking Winning Shot, Mich. Player Reveals Who He Really Is
Joy Behar and Stephanie Ruhle had to be cringing.
Both celebrity women have embarrassed themselves on national television lately by mocking the religious faith of millions of Americans when they publicly jeered public figures who talked about their personal belief in God.
But when an 18-year-old Jordan Poole, a college freshman from Milwaukee sank a miracle 28-foot three-pointer with seconds left on the clock to advance the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA tournament this weekend, he left no doubt about where he stood.
“By the grace of God, I made the shot,” Poole said in on-court interview with TBS, amid the chaos of celebration after the buzzer sounded. “By the grace of God, it went in.”
Talking about the play in a locker room interview later, Poole was even more explicit.
When asked what word he would use to describe the moment, he at first responded “memorable.”
But he then followed it up with a sentence that the vast majority of Americans can relate to immediately, since we aren’t all on-camera talent for ABC or MSNBC.
“But if I had to pick a second word, it would be, ‘gracious,'” ” he told a University of Michigan interviewer. “Because by the grace of God, I was able to make this shot. If it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t even be in that situation. So, all the credit to Him.'”
Check out the interview here:
[jwplayer yAsCs1Fd]
Hearing athletes talk about their faith in God is nothing new, of course.
But it takes on a new light in an era when the very idea of religious belief is routinely mocked in the mass media. “The View’s” Behar infamously did it back in February when she implicitly compared Christian belief to “mental illness.”
Just last week, MSNBC’s Ruhle sneered at President Donald Trump’s incoming director of the National Economic Council, longtime CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow.
Both women were forced to apologize – Behar actually did it twice. Once by phone to Vice President Mike Pence, who was the target of her attack, and again on ABC’s “The View,” where she apologized to viewers, according to CBS.
On Saturday, Ruhle took to Twitter to apologize for mocking Kudlow, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
As a reporter, a mom & a Catholic, I know words matter & I want to clear something up.
I meant no offense when discussing @larry_kudlow’s WH appointment. I apologize if my comments came off as dismissive of his faith.
I would never question another person’s believe in God.— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) March 17, 2018
That was Saturday morning.
By Saturday night, a charismatic shooting guard for the Michigan Wolverines was announcing his belief in the Almighty before a national television audience who had just what looked like a miracle (unless those viewers were rooting for the Houston Cougars.)
Americans everywhere could understand that even in a moment of victory, a young man was thanking the Creator for his own abilities, his own opportunities – heck, for his own existence.
And somewhere, Joy Behar and Stephanie Ruhle were cringing.
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