INSIDE EDITION talks to sports writer John Steigerwald who hit a nerve with many people for his comments that seemed to blame the victim for being beaten into a coma outside of Dodgers Stadium last month.
A sports writer is in the hot seat for the shocking things he had to say about the tragedy that put a baseball fan in a coma.
Bryan Stow was savagely beaten by two men because he was wearing a San Francisco Giants shirt to the Dodgers Opening Day game in Los Angeles.
Members of both teams held a solemn tribute for Stow in San Francisco earlier this week.
But now, in a stunning column, sports writer John Steigerwald says: "Maybe someone can ask Stow, if he ever comes out of his coma, why he thought it was a good idea to wear Giants gear to a Dodgers home opener when there was a history of out-of-control drunkenness and arrests at that event going back several years."
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd said to Steigerwald, "Writing the words 'If he ever comes out of a coma,' that just sounds insensitive."
"When I said, 'If he ever comes out of a coma' that was my way, maybe inartfully done, but my way of trying to show how badly he was hurt. It was not a flippant remark," said Steingerwald.
Reactions to the column are overwhelmingly negative.
"Since when does respectfully supporting your team make you deserving of a beating? That's absolutely ridiculous," writes one blogger.
"What a complete moron this guy is. Show some respect to a man that is still fighting for his life," says another.
Steigerwald, author of the sports book Just Watch The Game, is being widely criticized for the column.
"I did not suggest that he almost had it coming to him. I didn't suggest that he had it coming to him at all," said Steigerwald.
Bryan Stow, a paramedic and father of two, remains in a medically-induced coma two weeks after the senseless attack.
Boyd asked, "On some level, don't you owe Bryan's family an apology?"
"I owe them an apology if this has caused them any more pain. But I'm not apologizing for what I wrote," said Steigerwald.
