Even though this San Francisco Giants player is two home runs shy of tying the record set by Hank Aaron in 1974 and may do so during the current series against my beloved Atlanta Braves, I’m cheering for him to tie and break the record.
Probably because so many others – especially white people – are rooting against this man who lives by his own rules of media engagement. White sports journalists are not accustomed to this and have accentuated the negative. That has poisoned the history-making home run record chase for others.
I was disappointed Sunday by a commentary on CBS Sunday Morning by a journalist I ordinarily admire: Bob Schieffer. He said, among other things, “Barry Bonds is no hero. He is just a guy who hits home runs. Who would want a kid to be like him?”
See his full commentary at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/22/opinion/schieffer/main3086258.shtml
A whole lot of white people hated the Braves’ Hammering Hank Aaron when he homed in on the previous record set by Babe Ruth. People then, as they are now with Bonds, sought ways to place an asterisk next to his record, questioning forever its legitimacy. Now he is the home run god and Bonds is the evil interloper. Because Aaron and a number of baseball’s bigwigs have said they won’t be present whenever Bonds ties or breaks the record, I’m cheering for this godson of the great Willie Mays all the more.
Go, Barry!
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
April 15: When All Hell Broke Loose….
...not just in baseball (See Red Barber's book by this name), but in US society. Sixty years ago, April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play in baseball’s Major League in the modern era. We have to add that “in the modern era” because long before the 20th century, Blacks played professional baseball with White folks, just as Blacks were jockeys in the big-time racing circuits.
He was 28 years old. When he died at age 53, many people said that baseball and the stress of being the first, of being abused initially by not only fans and opposing team players but by his own teammates, of having to ever be the gentleman and not strike back, cut his life short.
Jackie Robinson, No. 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, forced the US to deal with its racism. To this day many older Blacks are fans of the Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) because of Jackie Robinson.
In honor of his accomplishments on the field, many Major League Baseball players and coachs -- and the NY Mets' manager Willie Randolph -- will wear No. 42 today (Apr. 15).
But to really appreciate Robinson, one must know about the man off the field, the man who challenged the status quo in a segregated Army prior to his baseball career and challenged the economic status quo after his baseball career by helping found a bank for Black people in the 1960s. He was a prominent participant in the 1963 March on Washington. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson to bring yourself up to speed on Robinson if he’s not in your pantheon of people to be admired and whose spirit and courage are worth emulating.
He was 28 years old. When he died at age 53, many people said that baseball and the stress of being the first, of being abused initially by not only fans and opposing team players but by his own teammates, of having to ever be the gentleman and not strike back, cut his life short.
Jackie Robinson, No. 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, forced the US to deal with its racism. To this day many older Blacks are fans of the Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) because of Jackie Robinson.
In honor of his accomplishments on the field, many Major League Baseball players and coachs -- and the NY Mets' manager Willie Randolph -- will wear No. 42 today (Apr. 15).
But to really appreciate Robinson, one must know about the man off the field, the man who challenged the status quo in a segregated Army prior to his baseball career and challenged the economic status quo after his baseball career by helping found a bank for Black people in the 1960s. He was a prominent participant in the 1963 March on Washington. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson to bring yourself up to speed on Robinson if he’s not in your pantheon of people to be admired and whose spirit and courage are worth emulating.
Friday, April 13, 2007
The Imus Mess
I
IMUS was never a must for me
Imus is going down – at least on MSNBC on television and CBS on radio and with major advertisers and with politicians and journalists and other celebrities who’ve lent credibility to his show so many years.
I’ve never listened to or watched Imus or any other shock jock. Just as I refused to watch a sitcom that famously billed itself as a show about nothing (Seinfeld), I’ve refused to participate in the shock jock cult. There’s too much to be shocked about in the real world to support repugnant, outrageous, insulting commentary as entertainment, often at the expense of the underdog.
Why Imus and his producer felt the need to denigrate 10 young women who had overcome great odds to reach the final game in the NCAA basketball championship is beyond understanding. These young women, ages 18 to 20, were not “nappy headed” (Most seem to have perms, for god’s sake!). And there is absolutely nothing to indicate that these very disciplined, very academically sound young women are “whores”. (Definitions: “a prostitute; a person considered sexually promiscuous; a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain”)
Hmmm. That last definition sounds more like Imus than the Rutgers team.
II
Where are White women?
Imus did not just insult Blacks, but also women. Quickly this became an Imus versus “the Black community” conflict. The sexism in his no-infamous line has pretty much been ignored except by a handful of Black women. And so I ask again: Where are White women?
III
There is power in protest
If anything, this fallout from Imus’s on-air idiocy has demonstrated the power of speaking out and of making economic demands that can influence social policy. It was one thing for the Rev. Al Sharpton to use his various bully pulpits to speak out; this went to a whole new level when major advertisers listened and decided to withdraw their support for Imus’s show.
Vote with your hands. Change the dial. Don’t listen to the Imuses of the airwaves. But if the other Imuses out there say something as despicable as he did, don’t fear to use the power of the purse. Encourage advertisers to withdraw their support.
I’m encouraged by this mobilization of this particular coalition of the willing. Now it needs to carry on to assault those aspects of hip-hop culture that have usurped that culture and turned it into something that makes an Imus comfortable with referring to Black women as whores. There are big corporate bucks out there behind this aspect of hip-hop. Let’s go after them.
IV
Post-embarrassment “therapy”
Imus didn’t rush into therapy for alcoholism or temporary mental illness or whatever the way other celebrities have done after getting caught with their inner-hatred unleashed and facing the loss of income.
But that 2 ½ hours at the New Jersey Governor’s Mansion with the Rutgers team and its coaches must have been more intense than anything Isaiah Washington or Mel Gibson experienced during their rush-to-therapy after expressions of homophobia (Washington of television’s Grey’s Anatomy) and anti-Semitism (Gibson, the actor, director and producer) or racism (Michael Richards, the comic most famous as a character on Seinfeld).
V
Once again Sen. McCain called it wrong
As various Imus regulars – politicians, journalists, etcetera – announced their intent to boycott Imus’s show, McCain said he accepted Imus’s apologies and would gladly return to Imus In the Morning.
He can’t get it right. Just a few days ago, after visiting a market in Baghdad surrounded by about 100 heavily-armed soldiers and with military helicopters hovering overhead and sharpshooters positioned on rooftops, he came back espousing the Bush administration party line: The streets are much safer in Baghdad these days; the war is being won.
And then he had to admit, after public humiliation by not just US bloggers but also by Iraqi civilians who know otherwise, that he’d been wearing rose-colored glasses and had “misspoke.”
Is this man ready for his closeup as a viable presidential candidate?
IMUS was never a must for me
Imus is going down – at least on MSNBC on television and CBS on radio and with major advertisers and with politicians and journalists and other celebrities who’ve lent credibility to his show so many years.
I’ve never listened to or watched Imus or any other shock jock. Just as I refused to watch a sitcom that famously billed itself as a show about nothing (Seinfeld), I’ve refused to participate in the shock jock cult. There’s too much to be shocked about in the real world to support repugnant, outrageous, insulting commentary as entertainment, often at the expense of the underdog.
Why Imus and his producer felt the need to denigrate 10 young women who had overcome great odds to reach the final game in the NCAA basketball championship is beyond understanding. These young women, ages 18 to 20, were not “nappy headed” (Most seem to have perms, for god’s sake!). And there is absolutely nothing to indicate that these very disciplined, very academically sound young women are “whores”. (Definitions: “a prostitute; a person considered sexually promiscuous; a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain”)
Hmmm. That last definition sounds more like Imus than the Rutgers team.
II
Where are White women?
Imus did not just insult Blacks, but also women. Quickly this became an Imus versus “the Black community” conflict. The sexism in his no-infamous line has pretty much been ignored except by a handful of Black women. And so I ask again: Where are White women?
III
There is power in protest
If anything, this fallout from Imus’s on-air idiocy has demonstrated the power of speaking out and of making economic demands that can influence social policy. It was one thing for the Rev. Al Sharpton to use his various bully pulpits to speak out; this went to a whole new level when major advertisers listened and decided to withdraw their support for Imus’s show.
Vote with your hands. Change the dial. Don’t listen to the Imuses of the airwaves. But if the other Imuses out there say something as despicable as he did, don’t fear to use the power of the purse. Encourage advertisers to withdraw their support.
I’m encouraged by this mobilization of this particular coalition of the willing. Now it needs to carry on to assault those aspects of hip-hop culture that have usurped that culture and turned it into something that makes an Imus comfortable with referring to Black women as whores. There are big corporate bucks out there behind this aspect of hip-hop. Let’s go after them.
IV
Post-embarrassment “therapy”
Imus didn’t rush into therapy for alcoholism or temporary mental illness or whatever the way other celebrities have done after getting caught with their inner-hatred unleashed and facing the loss of income.
But that 2 ½ hours at the New Jersey Governor’s Mansion with the Rutgers team and its coaches must have been more intense than anything Isaiah Washington or Mel Gibson experienced during their rush-to-therapy after expressions of homophobia (Washington of television’s Grey’s Anatomy) and anti-Semitism (Gibson, the actor, director and producer) or racism (Michael Richards, the comic most famous as a character on Seinfeld).
V
Once again Sen. McCain called it wrong
As various Imus regulars – politicians, journalists, etcetera – announced their intent to boycott Imus’s show, McCain said he accepted Imus’s apologies and would gladly return to Imus In the Morning.
He can’t get it right. Just a few days ago, after visiting a market in Baghdad surrounded by about 100 heavily-armed soldiers and with military helicopters hovering overhead and sharpshooters positioned on rooftops, he came back espousing the Bush administration party line: The streets are much safer in Baghdad these days; the war is being won.
And then he had to admit, after public humiliation by not just US bloggers but also by Iraqi civilians who know otherwise, that he’d been wearing rose-colored glasses and had “misspoke.”
Is this man ready for his closeup as a viable presidential candidate?
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Coach Eddie Robinson Dies
I trust that you've heard of Eddie Robinson, the legendary and long-lived coach at Grambling University. If not, make yourself aware. The Associated Press has reported that he died at age 88 last night.
More from its report:
"Super Bowl MVP quarterback Doug Williams, one of Robinson's former players, said the former Grambling State University coach died about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Robinson had been admitted to Lincoln General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
"Robinson had been suffering from Alzheimer's, which was diagnosed shortly after he was forced to retire following the 1997 season, in which he won only three games. His health had been declining for years, and he had been in and out of a nursing home during the last year.
"In his 57 years in football, Robinson set the standard for victories with a 408-165-15 record. John Gagliardi of St. John's, Minn., passed Robinson in 2003 and has 443 wins.
"Robinson's teams had only eight losing seasons and won 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and nine national black college championships.
"He sent more than 200 players to the NFL, including seven first-round draft choices.
"It was a career that spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement. His den was packed with trophies, representing virtually every award a coach can win. He was inducted into every hall of fame for which he was eligible."
Thanks, Coach. Rest in peace.
More from its report:
"Super Bowl MVP quarterback Doug Williams, one of Robinson's former players, said the former Grambling State University coach died about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Robinson had been admitted to Lincoln General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
"Robinson had been suffering from Alzheimer's, which was diagnosed shortly after he was forced to retire following the 1997 season, in which he won only three games. His health had been declining for years, and he had been in and out of a nursing home during the last year.
"In his 57 years in football, Robinson set the standard for victories with a 408-165-15 record. John Gagliardi of St. John's, Minn., passed Robinson in 2003 and has 443 wins.
"Robinson's teams had only eight losing seasons and won 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and nine national black college championships.
"He sent more than 200 players to the NFL, including seven first-round draft choices.
"It was a career that spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement. His den was packed with trophies, representing virtually every award a coach can win. He was inducted into every hall of fame for which he was eligible."
Thanks, Coach. Rest in peace.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Regarding Ali
On Sunday about midday someone involved in a public affairs type position told me that she had been informed that Muhammad Ali had died. I, of course, revved up my engines -- cellphones, e-mails, land line phones, whatever -- to find out the truth of this. Throughout the late afternoon and evening, I heard from folks in sports and in media who'd also heard that and who, like me, eventually after going through similar anxiety, had been assured that Ali was having a grand old time, even enjoying his favorite Popsicles.
When I heard it from Howard Bingham, his longtime friend and official photographer, I believed.
Long live the King!
When I heard it from Howard Bingham, his longtime friend and official photographer, I believed.
Long live the King!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Hardaway's Big Mouth Costs Him
Obviously, Tim Hardaway forgot to study the play book before going off on a homophobic tirade on a radio show just before the National Basketball Association's annual All-Star splash.
So the former star player has lost a PR gig as an official representative of the league in the leadup to the big game, which will be held in Las Vegas this weekend.
"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," NBA commissioner David Stern said after Hardaway’s anti-gay rant created a storm.
Hardaway has a right to his views, but he doesn’t have a right to represent the corporate NBA, which likes to make money and put forth a face of tolerance when, as everyone knows, a lot of folks associated with the league probably agree with Hardaway. Why do you think John Amaechi waited until he had retired from professional basketball to disclose that he is gay? (His newly published memoir is "Man in the Middle.")
Hardaway, apparently not comfortable enough in his own sexuality and ignorant enough to believe that homosexuality is contagious, said, while discussing Amaechi’s revelation:
"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that is right. I don't think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room."
When the radio host challenged him, Hardaway went on and on: "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
Maybe it’s views like Hardaway’s that “shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
His handlers tried to clean up the mess he’d made by issuing a statement that you just know he did NOT write: "As an African-American, I know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause. I regret and apologize for the statements that I made that have certainly caused the same kinds of feelings and reactions.”
At least he didn’t claim to be checking into gay rehab -- either to become more sensitive to gay people or to be cured of one's own flirtation with homosexuality -- the way the actor Isaiah Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy”) did or the way the disgraced evangelical preacher Ted Haggard did.
So the former star player has lost a PR gig as an official representative of the league in the leadup to the big game, which will be held in Las Vegas this weekend.
"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," NBA commissioner David Stern said after Hardaway’s anti-gay rant created a storm.
Hardaway has a right to his views, but he doesn’t have a right to represent the corporate NBA, which likes to make money and put forth a face of tolerance when, as everyone knows, a lot of folks associated with the league probably agree with Hardaway. Why do you think John Amaechi waited until he had retired from professional basketball to disclose that he is gay? (His newly published memoir is "Man in the Middle.")
Hardaway, apparently not comfortable enough in his own sexuality and ignorant enough to believe that homosexuality is contagious, said, while discussing Amaechi’s revelation:
"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that is right. I don't think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room."
When the radio host challenged him, Hardaway went on and on: "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
Maybe it’s views like Hardaway’s that “shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
His handlers tried to clean up the mess he’d made by issuing a statement that you just know he did NOT write: "As an African-American, I know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause. I regret and apologize for the statements that I made that have certainly caused the same kinds of feelings and reactions.”
At least he didn’t claim to be checking into gay rehab -- either to become more sensitive to gay people or to be cured of one's own flirtation with homosexuality -- the way the actor Isaiah Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy”) did or the way the disgraced evangelical preacher Ted Haggard did.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Something's Happening Out There!
The SuperBowl game is usually a yawner. But as of today, this year's game has got me ready to throw down with a big ol' party on Feb. 4. The two opposing teams, the Colts and the Bears, both victors today in their conference championships, are led by Black head coaches. I don't care which team ultimately wins SuperBowl XLI. We've all advanced.
For more info: http://www.superbowl.com/features/general_info
For more info: http://www.superbowl.com/features/general_info
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