When a prodigious talent comes along and starts dominating their sport from a very young age, it is inevitable that they will have to grow up in public.
They will make mistakes. They will do and say things they will probably regret in years to come. These moments will be lived out in front of the world.
They do not enjoy the same level of anonymity as the rest of us. If any mere mortals make a mistake at 18 years old, you do your best to learn from it. Park it and move on, it’s no big deal.
But these superstars will be judged by people, and often abused on social media, at a time in their lives when their emotional maturity is not at the same level as their sporting talents.
If they make a mistake, it blows up and becomes headline news. And that’s exactly what happened with darts sensation Luke Littler the other night.
After beating Rob Cross to reach the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship, Littler was copping some stick from the crowd.
Luke Littler caused some controversy after his victory over Rob Cross earlier this week
Littler had been booed by the crowd and took exception to his treatment after the match
The same crowd who cheered him on a couple of years ago when he made his debut as a 16-year-old now jeered him and positioned him as the villain.
Given that Littler has been celebrated as the most exciting player on the planet since bursting on to the scene, it was quite the heel turn.
Littler’s response to the booing was to bite back and say: ‘It doesn’t bother me. You guys pay for tickets and pay for my prize money. Thanks for the money.’
Hmm. Probably not the cleverest thing he will ever say, but was it really that bad? Does it really warrant such an outrage?
Put yourself in Littler’s shoes. You are 18 years old, you are emotionally charged after a big match in a world championship, and you’ve just had the crowd turn on you for the first time in your career.
Given the clientele at the Ally Pally and the nature of the event, you’ve also probably just had some bloke 10 pints deep shouting abuse at you in the front row.
How would you react to that?
Littler will probably look back and regret his comments. But why do so many people take it upon themselves to be offended and outraged at this stuff?
Especially in this day and age, where the majority of sports stars are media-trained to be monosyllabic, let’s not crucify someone for actually speaking their mind and showing some personality.