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Matt Shaw did what any man of faith and conviction would do: he showed up to honor a friend and a fellow believer. The rookie left one game with his organization’s permission to attend Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Arizona after being personally invited by Kirk’s widow, and that human, honorable choice has since been painted by some as “weird.”
Shaw has been open about the personal bond he shared with Kirk — they lived near each other in Arizona, texted after games, and connected over faith — and he told reporters he felt compelled to answer the widow’s request. The team acknowledged his absence and veterans in the clubhouse expressed support, so this was not a secret defection but a deliberate, heartfelt decision by a young man standing by his convictions.
Instead of commending loyalty and religious solidarity, several mainstream broadcasters chose to shame him live on the air, with Mets announcer Gary Cohen saying it “strikes me as weird” to leave a pennant race for anything other than a family emergency. That sanctimonious take ignored the obvious: grieving families and faith communities deserve respect, not a televised lecture from the comfort of a TV booth.
Worse, the criticism came even as the Cubs suffered a 1-0 loss in the game Shaw missed — a scoreline pundits immediately tied to his absence — and the media rushed to treat his attendance like a dereliction rather than an act of conscience. The postseason math was real, but the team had granted him leave and the human cost of burying a murdered friend is not something to be reduced to a talking-point.
Patriotic Americans ought to notice the double standard. When left-leaning causes drew mass sympathy, the media celebration was immediate and forgiving; when a conservative commentator is gunned down and friends gather to mourn him, suddenly the mourners are the ones under a microscope. Fans, pundits, and members of the public have rightly called for better decorum from broadcasters and for an apology to a kid who chose faith and loyalty over optics.
Matt Shaw didn’t need permission from pundits to do the right thing; he answered a call to honor a life and stand with a grieving family. If you’re a patriot who values faith, loyalty, and courage, you stand with Matt Shaw — not with the smug commentators who think their job is to police grief. Hardworking Americans know where the brave heart is, and they won’t let the media shame that loyalty into silence.
