2008 August | Bread and Circuses

If You Go Carryin’ Piictures of Chairman Mao….

August 26, 2008 at 6:36 pm · Filed under 1

But, you know, it’s gonna be alright.

If you’re NBC.

The National Broadcasting Company is a subsidiary of General Electric. And GE has a goal of doubling revenue from sales to China to $10 billion by 2010.

So NBC’s Olympic coverage had lots of on air shots of beautiful vistas, clean streets, and a picture of Chairman Mao looking over the shoulder of Bob Costas.

Imagine you’re Keith Olberman.

At one point in your career you proclaimed yourself the next Howard Cosell. You were the conscience of America, defender of the Constitution, lecturer of the evil Bush, master of sports and politics.

The Olympics, staged in a country where "Don’t even think about it." has the force of law?

Talk about ducks on the pond. And it’s own your own network.

How to play it.

Or…you could make a few snide remarks about President Bush attending the games, and otherwise ignore the greatest show since Leni Riefenstahl and Goebbels rolled film at Nuremberg.

I was only following orders!

A plausible excuse. Besides, Olbermann wasn’t even part of NBC’s official Olympic coverage. And it isn’t like he was alone.

Costas swallowed the Kool Aid. Jim Lampley displayed depth to his coverage which could have been splashed dry with a tossed coin. Melissa Stark? Not the worrying kind.

Anyway, so what. A good time was had by all.

In 1936 a 243 foot tower rose from the midpoint of another Olympic venue. On it was the inscription "I summon the youth of the world." It overlooked the Reichssportsfield, the 16,000 venue which was the focal point of the games. There were children, and songs, and everything at the opening ceremony was wonderfully organized.

The historian Richard Mandell called those ceremonies, "an obscuring layer of shimmering froth on a noxious wave of destiny."

Too bad NBC wasn’t there to cover the games, or GE to sell generators to the Germans. But if Keith Olbermann had been there, or Bob Costas, I’m sure they would have spoken up.

Then again, maybe not.

There’s No Instant Replay In Baseball

August 21, 2008 at 10:05 pm · Filed under 1

Well, there shouldn’t be.

When you find an answer, doesn’t there have to be a question? Who exactly was demanding instant replay on home run calls in baseball? If not managers, players, owners, or umpires, then who? When was the big fiasco that prompted replay as a fix? What key game was decided by a fair or foul call?

Wasn’t the problem with baseball that the games lasted too long?

This will help.

The way I understand it, the Big Giant Head will be in New York looking down every foul line in major league baseball, waiting for the disputed call that probably won’t come. Over the course of a season there will likely be less than a dozen which should be reviewed.

But that isn’t what will happen.

Because the technology is there it will be used. And we’ll have fifty or sixty calls a year looked at, and forty or five calls upheld.

It gets worse.

Currently if the call by the umpire on a long drive is foul, the runner stops running and goes back to the plate. What happens now? You run out every long drive near the line because it MIGHT be ruled fair?

What if you accept the umpires argument and head back to the plate. The the BGH turns on the magic light and the umpires disappear off the field to meditate under the golden hood. The ball is ruled fair and you have to run back around a base you already passed. What if there are already three men on base?

I’m getting a headache, and its name is Selig.

What happens to the pitcher while all this is going on? How many warm up pitches do you allow, given that you just interrupted the game?

And who says a video review won’t be distorted by bad camera angles and no more likely to be right than an umpire on the field making the call?

Baseball is alright. It isn’t broken, and if the powers that be will just stop trying to fix it everything will be fine.

As Casey Stengel used to say, you can look it up.

Offense went down, so baseball’s rulers lowered the mound. Now they can’t figure out why starting pitchers can’t go 200 innings in a season without a risk of arm injury.

They thought the DH was a grand idea, but only implemented it in one league. Now the World Series is dominated by the AL because they win a match up between real DH’s and pinch hitters.

Baseball couldn’t reign incompetent umpires, so they tinkered with the strike zone to accomodate them. Now the high strike is gone, three ball counts are on the rise, and the game takes forever.

Now this.

Memo to Bud Selig. Just go away.

You don’t have to quit as Commissioner. You can go to all the games you want free, hang out in New York. Take in a Broadway show. Eat at the Carnegie Deli. Walk through Central Park. Go all the way to the top of the Empire State Building.

Just leave baseball alone.

1 Comment

Properly Dispose of Grease

August 20, 2008 at 10:02 pm · Filed under 1

The difference between major league baseball and A ball?

The signs on the outfield walls. In Greensboro you get grease disposal tips from the city water department (in case you’re wondering, you should take care to clean out your pans before washing them out in the sink).

During today’s 6-1 Greensboro Grasshoppers win over the Greenville Drive I also noticed a sign for "Our Congressman Howard Coble" and one for "Our Other Congressman Brad Miller". We have three congressional districts in Guilford County. I guess the third congressman (Mel Watt) didn’t want to put up a sign billing himself as "Our Other, Other Congressman".

Minor league baseball doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is a good thing. But it’s still baseball played with a high level of skill. And today at least, it was day baseball. In a better world all baseball would be day baseball, and Al Gore would be trapped in his home by massive snow drifts.

You can’t have everything.

Started the day sitting behind four corporate types (two male, two female) half listening to their conversations. One of the men felt compelled to explain the game to the women (I don’t know, but I’m guessing you get tired of us doing that). Most of what he explained was wrong (I suspect you know that), but he meant well (which we count on you knowing).

They left after two innings when one of the women deduced that front row seats just down the line from third base might be prime line drive foul ball territory. Little did she know that with me sitting behind them there was little chance of a foul ball coming anywhere near them. I am foul ball proof.

The game itself was a contest of minor Marlins and Class A RedSox. Lots of high draft picks in Greensboro, a number of undrafted free agents for Greenville.

Part of the fun in a minor league game is picking out guys who’ll make it to the big leagues. There are a few more, but here’s some who caught my attention:

Matt Dominguez. A 2007 first draft pick who put the ball completely out of NewBridge Bank Park. It’s not as impressive as it sounds, because like many newly minted ballparks the power alleys are too close. But Dominguez is the real thing. As he matures he’ll gain even more power and he has a strong arm at third base. (Message to Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins-rent, don’t buy.)

Jose Ceballos. The Grasshoppers 18 year old catcher already he has good power. Better still, he’s got a good arm and instincts. I was very surprised to find out his age, because he handles his catching duties like a much more experienced receiver. One more plus, he appears to enjoy the game.

Mike Rozier. A left handed reliever for Greenville. You don’t normally get excited by middle relievers, but here’s one who can get ahead early in the count with an off speed pitch and then go twenty miles per hour up the speed gun on the next pitch. If the RedSox put some time into his development he could be an asset in a major league bullpen. You wonder why he’s still in low A ball at 23.

Some guys don’t impress you. The Greensboro shortstop who didn’t run through the base on ground ball outs, for one. Give up on plays in low A ball and soon organizations give up on you.

Greenville had a guy who was the exact opposite. Oscar Tejeda, a shortstop, hit a grounder with two men on and went down the line hard on a routine play. As he crossed the bag he was chewing himself out in Spanish. He’s Rafael Soriano big for a middle infielder, and shows good bat speed. But it’s that hustle and attitude that might make the difference.

Some guys you pull for just because. Matt Cooney, the Greenville catcher, came up to bat with the scoreboard showing .156-0-0. Oh for four today with two strikeouts doesn’t help. Called a good game, though. He’s from Massachusetts. Hope he makes it to Fenway.

Fun to watch the two man crew working the game. The home plate guy was smooth and managed to go an entire game without anyone, even the fans, commenting on a single ball/strike call. The first base umpire hustled, but missed a phantom double play at second that was as bad as any I’ve ever seen.

Then you have the managers and coaches. Every time they visited the mound today, something bad happened. The Greenville started walked a batter and went to 3-1, which brought the resident expert to the mound no doubt to say something along the lines of "Just put it over the plate". He did, and Ceballos put it out of the park for a 2-0 lead.

In the minors you also get the toilet seat lid horse shoe toss, the summo wrestling contest, and the mascot racing some little kid around the bases (just once I want to see the mascot make some grade schooler eat dust).

In Greensboro all the in game entertainment is presided over by a young guy wearing a jester’s hat, wearing a jersey with "Spaz" on the back. The best you can say for the name is that it’s bad manners. The best you can say for the act is that it’s old.

The game ended 6-1 Greensboro. Four thousand nine hundred and two fans (announced), at least a thousand disguised as empty seats, headed home.

A good time was had by all.

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A Blog of Olympian Proportions

August 19, 2008 at 7:22 am · Filed under 1

Well, maybe not.

Here I am watching women’s Olympic basket soccer on TV. I think it’s called team handball, but I like basket soccer better. You have dribbling, and just like the NBA you get to take up to three steps with the ball and nobody calls it. Then the ball carrier throws the ball at the net and tries to get it past a goal keeper.

Basket soccer.

It’s fast paced, fun, and competitive. Who knew? And when can we replace arena football with it?

I might as well admit it. I’m enjoying the Olympics. I would prefer not to. When I watched the opening ceremonies from Beijing I kept thinking Leni Riefenstahl would have loved it. Every trace of individual identity ground under the heel of an authoritarian state. All of it carefully managed by a government whose biggest worry is stopping Bible smugglers.

Image the 1936 Olympics with Jim Lampley and Bob Costas doing commentary.

Jim Lampley? I remember when he was hired out of college because of his youthful look. Now his on-air presence is so unmemorable that you couldn’t trace a chalk outline around his dead career.

It could be worse. At least Bryant Gumbel and Jim Rome aren’t there. Together with Lampley and Costas, they form the Four Horsemen of the Inane. Picture them together in one room.

(Gumbel) "Enough of about you, let’s talk about me."

(Costas) "I remember Mickey Mantle. It was October of 1956."

(Rome) "Dude,do not concur. He wasn’t all that. Now the dude could rake. But he’s no ARod. Get 1956 out of your head, clone, and have a take."

(Costas) "Forty four years old, and you can’t talk in complete sentences without pausing for a ten count? You need to see my Emmy collection."

(Lampley) "Emmy? Which was one Emmy? I promise you I’ve never met the woman and I did not, repeat did not, violate that restraining order."

(Gumbel) "The inability of white American sportswriters to own their collective guilt continues to astound this reporter."

(Lampley, Costas, Rome) "Shut up! Just, for once in your life, shut up!"

I’m enjoying the Olympics despite the announcers. Especially the sports I wouldn’t normally get to see. Rowing is fun and seems to be on constantly. I like hearing what sounds like a car horn going off each time a team crosses the finish line. You hear that horn and have images of someone jumping out of their boat, grabbing their medal, and running across a parking lot to a waiting truck. "Thanks, guys, but mom’s waiting. If she has to honk that horn a second time she’ll leave me here."

Basketball hasn’t been much to watch. Team Nike is crushing every thing in it’s path. Poor guys. When they lose they are a national disgrace, and when they win we’ll complain that it was all too easy. Not to worry, the important thing is how it all looks in the next Swoosh commercial.

Speaking of which, Liu Xiang, the poster athlete for Nike this Olympics went down with an injury. The statement out of Beaverton read, "Nike is proud of being able to cooperate with Liu Xiang closely. At
this time, we fully understand his feelings,and expect him to return to
the field after he is fully recovered."

Unless he and his family disappear in the middle of night, but that just goes without saying.

Michael Phelps? I’ve heard the name, but can’t quite place it. Seriously, though, where does he rank among the all-time great Olympic athletes? I always give the track and field guys an edge over swimmers, whose events are more similar and can accumulate medals more easily.

Finally, would someone tell the US baseball team there is no crying in Olympic baseball? The Cubans threw high and tight at a US batter in a bunt situation and Davey Johnson acted as if it was a bad thing. Say what you will about Cuba, when you watch the Cuban team you are watching baseball played right and well.

Soon the Olympics will be over. I’m going to miss it.

Now, where do I go to watch basket soccer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FwxeemzzYc

Mercy, Mercy Me…The Marvin Gaye Nike Ad

August 16, 2008 at 8:28 am · Filed under 1

Nike’s got soul. Not a soul, just soul.

Nike, the Malaysian contagion which pushes three digit shoes to the inner cities, has taken Marvin Gaye’s classic rendition of the national anthem and turned it into an advertisement.

Just do it.

What’s Going On?

I remember Marvin Gaye’s classic album about real life in real cities. When he sang that "Inner City Blues Make Me Wanna Holler" it was because they did. Those blues still should make us all want to holler, because life is little better there now than in 1971.

Which brings us to Nike and 2008.

I’m no liberal, and I don’t think corporate and profit are dirty words. But there’s something wrong with Nike wrapping itself in the flag when its product has as much to do with America as fish do with trees.

Look in Marvin Gaye’s Detroit. Do you see Nike making shoes there?

Watch the video. LeBron James is from Akron. How many people in Akron make shoes for Nike? Kobe is from just outside of Philly. See any Nike jobs flowing into the inner city in Philadelphia? Maybe in HotLanta where Dwight Howard is from? No. What about Brooklyn? Ask Carmelo Anthony for directions to the Nike plant in his old neighborhood.

Scratch that. Don’t ask any of the players who wear Nike about Nike. They take the money and look away. We wear the shoes and look away, then complain how the gasoline companies are making obscene profits.

The deal is this. Nike puts shoes on the best basketball players in the world, and America’s inner cities love those players. Nike takes that love and turns it to gold. But nobody who wears Nike on the toughest streets and basketball courts in this country has a snow ball’s chance in the summer Olympics of ever drawing a paycheck from Nike.

Don’t tell me it’s because the cost advantages of subcontracting are essential to stay in business. The production cost of Nike shoes is anywhere from ten to thirty times less than what they sell for. If you moved production to Detroit, or Chicago, or LA you would cut into the $2.7 billion in cash and short term investments on their balance sheet, but you’d hardly put the company out of business.

Maybe we try something different next Olympics. Run the same video of the next "dream team" wearing Nike. Just put out ads with more appropriate national anthems in the background. Something for the good folks who made the shoes.

Start with a few lines from the Vietnamese national anthem-

"The path to glory passes over the bodies of our foes…overcoming all hardships together we build our resistance base."

Or China’s’ "Everyone must roar his defiance. Arise! Arise! Arise!"

Or Indonesia’s "Indonesia, a beaming country. A country we love with all our heart."

In the end it comes down to image and truth. The national anthem is a powerful song because it is true.

There really was a
Star Spangled Banner. It was a 30 X 42 foot garrison flag that flew
over Fort McHenry in Baltimore in 1814. Francis Scott Key watched from
a ship on the river as the British pounded the fort.

The rockets
red glare Key wrote about was from actual banks of small incendiary rockets
which were launched at the roofs of buildings inside forts to try to start
fires. The bombs bursting in air were heavy shells exploding and
raining shrapnel down on the forts defenders. Defenders who would die
at their post rather than pull down their flag. You can see that flag
in Washington at the Smithsonian.

Like American manufacturing it is pretty badly beaten up, but worth saving.

Marvin Gaye’s was perhaps the greatest singer of the 20th century. His style, his talent, his poetry all created an image. But what he wrote about was real and true.

"Money, we make it.
Before we see it, you’ll take it."

It’s time for Nike to get real.

Just do it.

The Hernandez Claim On Truth Serum

August 11, 2008 at 5:16 pm · Filed under 1

(Test administrator) Okay, I am now administering the sodium pentothal. Let’s wait just a moment and then begin. Please try to relax. It is 9PM on August 10 and I am here on behalf of the ownership of the Colorado Rockies.

Alright Mr. O’Dowd, are you the general manager of the Colorado Rockies?

(Dan O’Dowd) Yes, yes I am.

(Test administrator) And you recently placed a waiver claim for Livian Hernandez?

(Dan O’Dowd) Yes, yes I did.

(Test administrator) Very good. Now, were you aware Hernandez had given up 206 hits in 142 innings and only struck out 55 batters?

(Dan O’Dowd) I do not think I was aware of that at this time and probably was not aware of it at the other time at which I did not know that of which you spoke in the first part.

(Test administrator) Now, for your safety and to ensure the accuracy of this test, I must ask you, have you consumed any alcohol beverages in the past 24 hours?

(Dan O’Dowd) Why, whatever do you mean, officer?

(Test administrator) Had you ever heard of Livian Hernandez before you assumed the remainder of his $1.65 million contract?

(Dan O’Dowd) The Twins said he was a nice man and a good teammate.

(Test administrator) But did they say he could still pitch?

(Dan O’Dowd) Not that I recall.

(Test administrator) Now, why did you allow Mr. Hernandez to start Sunday knowing this would place spectators beyond the outfield walls and your own players at grave risk of physical danger and place your employer at risk of personal injury lawsuits?

(Dan O’Dowd) Bob Apodaca, our pitching coach, watched him warmup. He told the press "This wasn’t
touch-and-feel. This wasn’t to see what kind of stuff he has. I mean he
was 10-8 in the hairy-chested American League."

(Test administrator) I’m sorry, I confused.

(Dan O’Dowd) Hi, I’m Dan O’Dowd, pleased to meet you. I understood Bob perfectly. He evaluates pitchers based on the chest hair content of the league they pitch in. That is why we don’t promote players from A ball. They have not had sufficient time to grow the amount of chest hair necessary to pitch in the majors.

(Test administrator) Huh?

(Dan O’Dowd) Exactly.

(Test administrator) Moving on. During Sunday’s game when did you begin to suspect it had been unwise to acquire the services of Mr. Hernandez?

(Dan O’Dowd) It’s hard to say, it all happened so fast.

(Test administrator) Take your time.

(Dan O’Dowd) Well, it was probably the first inning, some time just after the first batter singled. And then the second, and when Brian Giles doubled them in. I didn’t even know he was still playing, I thought he had retired. Or maybe that was his brother. Anyway I’d say it was between then and when the Gerut kid took him deep. I knew we should have pitched him more carefully. He did hit 11 home runs that year at Salem.

(Test administrator) Now, one thing I’m unclear on. You were 12 games out at the time you acquired Hernandez. Why did you feel compelled to acquire a veteran pitcher?

(Dan O’Dowd) In time I thought we could close the gap to 11 games.

(Test administrator) Now, you released Kip Wells to make room for Hernandez and owe him $900,000 for not pitching the rest of the year.

(Dan O’Dowd) Have you seen him pitch? It was money well spent.

(Test administrator) So, if I have this right, you’ll spend $1.4 million over the next two months to pay Hernandez to not pitch well and Wells not to pitch at all.

(Dan O’Dowd) We have that all figured out. If we can just sell 119,000 more hot dog and beer combos over the next two months that should about cover it. And, with Hernandez pitching we think there will be a lot more drinking at games. Heck, we’re thinking Hurdle and his coaches are going to put a big dent in it even before the fans start.

(Test administrator) So, you take sole and complete responsibility for signing Hernandez?

(Dan O’Dowd, begins singing) Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention. I did it my way!

(Test administrator) OK, we’re done, just relax and someone will be along to drive you home. It’s now 9:22 and the O’Dowd interview is concluded.

(Dan O’Dowd, continuing to sing) Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? (hitting high note) About time…..

http://youbeenblinded.com/michael-jordan-me-vs-kobe-not-even-close/1430

Michael Jordan vs Kobe 1-1

August 5, 2008 at 6:12 pm · Filed under 1

Michael Jordan told a group of young basketball campers Kobe could beat him 1-1 "Because I’m old". In their primes? Jordan says it wouldn’t even be close and he’d have a better chance to stop Kobe than the other way around.

So who would win?

I’ve played a lot of one on one. In my younger days I was compared to some of the greats of the game. I had the open court skills of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the inside game of Tiny Archibald, and the jump shot of Dennis Rodman.

But I do know a little about the game. Here’s how Kobe and MJ would break down.

Forget the open court skills.

1-1 is not about that. You might see a dunk off a rebound, but Air Jordan would be mostly taxiing on the runway. And Kobe slamming one down over Jordan? Not going to happen.

The outside games are a fair match.

I don’t see a big advantage. Kobe may be the better shooter, but by a very slim margin. But here’s the problem. Kobe has to get his shot off against one of the best defensive stoppers who ever played the game. Jordan wouldn’t have a day at the park, either. Bryant has the size to disrupt the smaller Jordan’s jumper.

If Jordan were to press Kobe’s outside game, could he get around him?

Not easily. In his prime Jordan’s lateral movement was much better than Kobe’s is now. Consider also that Jordan often shut down the other team’s top scorer. Kobe doesn’t often draw that assignment, and especially not against a Michael Jordan.

Posted up…

Kobe would be able to take Jordan down low. Jordan would beat him black and blue in the process, but this is definitely an area of opportunity.

From the baseline…

This would be a draw. Bryant has a little more range than Jordan showed, but slightly less consistency. For both players the age old question-do I want to come out on this guy? What was it Clint Eastwood said in the movies? "Feelin’ lucky?" Probably not.

As Yogi Berra once said…

Ninety-five percent of this game is half mental. Here Jordan would rule. Call him cocky or arrogant, but Jordan feels at home in his skin. Kobe, not so much. Jordan would assume he would win and will himself to do so. Kobe would feel the pressure much more. In a groove Kobe Bryant cannot be stopped, even by Jordan. Get in his head and it’s a different story.

Final Score

21-16.

Next?

There are some other matchups that would have been fun to watch. First on my list would be Julius Erving vs Jordan. Jordan would be the favorite, but this would be a tough match up because of the height difference.

I can’t tell you who would win in a Bird-Jordan matchup, but the game would be quick. Neither would be able to contain the other. If I was in Bird’s corner I’d send him to the baseline and tell him not to stop shooting until it was over one way or the other.

Jordan would stop Magic without too much trouble. Johnson’s game was the open court and I don’t see him having the quickness to set up much in a half court game against Jordan.

I could see Dominque Wilkins or Connie Hawkins being a matchup problem. But would either work hard enough on the defensive end to stop Jordan?

Walt Frazier would get muscled by Jordan, but if he could make a few outside shots it would be interesting until about 12 all. Pete Maravich could get on a roll long enough to make it interesting, but could he sustain?

What about LeBron? What about him? Jordan would shut him down for a 6-0 stretch and own the "international icon" for most of the rest. Maybe in a few years, but maybe not ever.

My last nominee is someone people have forgotten all too easily. George "The Iceman" Gervin. A matchup of those two would be a wild affair. Nobody, and I mean NOOOOOOOBODY could stop Gervin from scoring.

Not even Michael Jordan.

2 Comments

For and Against

August 4, 2008 at 8:50 pm · Filed under 1

I’m not running for anything, so I can take a position and stick with it. Besides, it always seemed to work for John Wayne.

FOR The RedSox trading Manny Ramirez and for the Dodgers acquiring him. Win/win. Ramirez will play hard and hit well, if for no other reason than to show up the RedSox. On the other hand, who can blame the BoSox for believing that fruitcake is not a summer delicacy.

AGAINST The sportswriter who criticized Erin Andrews. I suspect there is a fair amount of jealousy involved in that a)nobody has heard of the writer and b)everyone has heard of Andrews. Is Andrews where she is because of her looks? Was Walter Cronkite the anchor at CBS all those years because of his voice? Your gifts get you to the table, your hard work keeps you there. Andrews deserves her place.

FOR Brett Favre playing this season with some team other than the Packers. Thompson and Company were ready for the changing of the guard before Favre had retired and he knew it. If he still wants to play, make the deal. Sixteen seasons and great numbers ought to buy some measure of respect. It’s his life and the window of opportunity is closing fast.

AGAINST LeBron James signing with a Greek team as a free agent when his Cavalier contract is up. I know it wasn’t going to happen despite the rumors, but I want to go on record. How can I blog about James if he’s scoring 50 a night against Kolossus Rodou?

FOR Mandatory drug testing by the NCAA prior to high school players being allowed to sign a scholarship offer. It would be a great positive incentive for high school kids to stay away from drugs at a critical time in their lives, and keep many hard core abusers from coming to school and creating disciplinary problems. (By the way, wonder why absolutely no one even mentions this as an option?)

AGAINST Fantasy football. I’m terrible at it.

FOR Self delusion. The Astros have declared they will "never" be sellers at the trade deadline. That would be the same Houston Astros who thought Shawn Chacon was just the free agent pitcher they needed.

AGAINST Mark Cuban buying the Cubs. He should buy his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates instead. A small market team with a bottomless cup of payroll beats another mega market team with unlimited payroll. (I know the Pirates aren’t for sale. But they should be.)

FOR A typhoon hitting the Olympics. The Olympics are to sports what infomercials are to late night TV. Besides, it couldn’t happen to a nicer government. Possible downside-the number of meteorologists who will be detained and "reeducated".

AGAINST Terrell Owens missing practice two days in a row. You just know that he’s thinking that we’re thinking that he’s thinking that we’re thinking….

FOR Tony Stewart winning a race. Stewart has zero wins. The natural order of the universe has been disturbed.

AGAINST Guys named Busch winning NASCAR races (see above).

FOR College football season starting and with it blogs full of trash talk and rash predictions.

AGAINST Penn State becoming the state pen and the SEC from becoming an expansion franchise of the federal prison system.

FOR The NFL returns!

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I’m Still Suburb

August 2, 2008 at 9:37 am · Filed under 1

Ron Artest let his new teammate Yao Ming know that he was "still ghetto".

I’m still suburb. Whatever that means. As if geography is destiny and free will doesn’t exist. Martin Luther King spoke of a day when people would be judged by the content of their character. Maybe we’re not there yet. But if we are, what do Artest’s comments justifying physical confrontations on the basis of "respect" say?

This week West Virginia quarterback Pat White, who has been
drafted more than once by major league baseball teams, said he wouldn’t
be going out for the team at WVU after his football career was over.
"In my knowledge of West Virginia baseball, there’s not been many
players of my race on his team. He’s (Coach Greg Van Zant) not too high
on it." He went on to add that the team’s players disliked the coach,
the team wasn’t very good, and that perhaps he would play baseball if
the team had a different coach.

One small problem. White acknowledged he hadn’t spoken directly to Van
Zant. It was a hit and run accusation coming from a Heisman trophy
candidate who is very popular in the state of West Virginia. Van Zant
is now in the position of defending himself against comments he didn’t
make to a player he hasn’t spoken to.

Van Zant has a reputation as a poor communicator with a good won-loss
record. But nobody has accused him of prejudice, and there isn’t any evidence of it beyond the fact that there aren’t many African-Americans on his teams (or on many other college baseball teams). But Van Zant will be carrying the weight of White’s words as a tag line the rest of his career. "Greg Van Zant, once accused of racism by WVU quarterback Pat White."

Then again.

It is a sports world inhabited by Redskins, Braves, and Indians. No stereotyping or prejudice there, right? Why are the Redskins called that? Because they were originally the Boston Football Braves. Moving to Fenway Park they became the Boston Redskins, presumably to clear up the name conflict with the Boston National League baseball team.

The baseball Braves were named not for native Americans but for a Democratic Party political machine. In the late 1800’s New York politics was dominated by Tammany Hall, a sort of political machine and lodge that used native American phrases and symbols and referred to it’s meeting place as a wigwam. When New York politician James Gaffney bought the team they went from Boston Rustlers to Boston Braves. By which logic, the Atlanta Braves ought to have a picture of a smiling politician on their logo.

The Indians of Cleveland were the Naps, after their captain Nap Lajoie. When Lajoie was sold to the Philadelphia A’s, sportswriters were asked by the team to come up with a new name. They chose Indians, in part because of Cleveland player Louis Sockalexis, a native American. Ironically, Sockalexis died within a few years due to alcoholism. It was reported that a reason for his heavy drinking was the racial slurs hurled at him by fans.

Where am I headed with all this? Where are we headed?

We could start with the idea that words matter.

Ron Artest should consider, and probably won’t, that endorsing violent responses to perceived slights is not evidence of culture but of a curse laid upon generations. It will continue, is continued, by thoughtless statements from athletes and entertainers.

It would be nice if someone, anyone, from the administration at West Virginia University publicly called out White for his reckless comments (unless he can back them up, which he hasn’t so far). But the simple fact is White’s performance on the field makes his happiness more important than the reputation of a 14 year employee of the school.

Oddly enough, it must be some warped sign of progress in this country that white fans in West Virginia were quick to go to college football message boards and throw their white coach under the bus lest any criticize their African-American quarterback.

Which brings us to the Redskins. Once a year I come out in favor of retiring the name. Once a year people get mad and say I’m a politically correct liberal trying to force my ideas on other people. In fact, I’m somewhat to the right of Ghengis Khan politically, but that’s neither here nor there.

I have been blessed to be raised in the South. We get things wrong. Boy, have we gotten some things wrong. But we used to be raised to understand that you thought about your neighbor and went out of your way not to cause offense.

That said, I say we rename the Redskins (who used to be the Braves). The Indians we can talk about, but the smiling Chief Wahoo logo has to go. The Braves? Probably not an issue anymore, but I do think the smiling politician should be worn for at least one season.

But that’s just me.