Or more specifically, O'Leary was suspended because a camera captured the gesture, which you can watch here if the sight of a pixilated middle finger isn't too much for you to handle.
The players who were swearing at O'Leary weren't suspended -- that would be ridiculous! Because what's a football game without some ribaldry between opposing players?
And let's say the camera doesn't catch O'Leary's one-fingered salute. No way he gets suspended.
So doesn't ESPN deserve some share of the blame? After all, the network that shows pro and college football games is televising high school football games as if those athletes should be held to the same standards of sportsmanship and maturity. But they're high schoolers! If you don't like the gestures that high-schoolers make when they're angry at each other, then don't televise them, or don't watch them.
