Gayle Force Press

Justified Use of Force

 

Every year there’s a new one

A Diallo, King or me

Clamoring loudly

Broken faces on TV

We ask so many questions

But no one’s forced to answer

 

With sympathy’s short half-life

Soon most are hoping for the noise to stop

And the questions to disappear once again

Just like us

In our lives

And our deaths

 

 
 © Gayle Force Press 2003

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is...

 

Being the parent of a teenager who still wants to watch Rudolph and the Grinch every year. 

 

Merry Christmas. 

 

FDO

 

Losing Weight

 

This is the first time in my life when I’ve used a scale on a regular basis. It’s become a tangible measure of success and failure for me. I can already begin seeing why some folks become obsessed with weighing. Every day you get a chance to win something! (Or lose something but I’m a half-full person so I pay much more attention to the victories than the defeats.)

 

I weigh less now than I have at any time since my first term in college. It’s hard to believe now but during the stretch from about Labor Day to Thanksgiving that year I gained 40+ lbs. My whole life seemed to change in those 12 weeks including this radical physical shift. I went from a thin person to a chubby person in one autumn. (I just wrote ‘chubby’. What an odd word. Chubby.) 

 

While I’ve lost weight recently, I haven’t exactly gone from chubby to thin. In the past few months I’ve lost around 25# and it’s peculiar to notice how perceptions of me have changed so quickly. Look, I’m a big guy so it’s not as though I appear sick, drugged or destitute. Still, there’s no question that things are different.

 

Sometimes the differences are about other people- I get more smiles; people flirt with me more often; people seem to think I’m taller than I am (I’m just above 6’ but I’ve had a couple tell me that they thought I was 6’ 3“ in the past few weeks. Weird.) and I’ve had a couple clerks express surprise at my age when they see my photo ID.

 

Other times, the differences are about me- I actually do feel better physically with less knee and back pain; I spend less money and time at restaurants and I don’t have as high a tolerance for alcohol. I suppose those changes are all positive but I wonder what it means that I’m writing this only after having lost some weight. If I gain weight, will I spend this time and energy writing about it? If so, would I make that writing available for anyone to see?  

 

I started writing this post in early November and held off from finishing and posting it because I wondered if the holiday season and cold weather would become my excuses for eating more and exercising less. So far, that hasn’t been the case.  I’d also been worried that I’d begin obsessing over the scale. I think I’ve satisfied myself that the scale is a tool only. My refusal to give it any more power feels like a very good choice.

 

 

FDO

 

PS- Since I started on this post, I’ve had a great new weight loss connection. I am no longer a diabetic! That’s a clinical distinction based on long term blood sugar levels and it doesn't mean I'm planning to change my diet or exercise habits.  I am fortunate enough to have responded well to medicine and I can afford spending the time and money to give myself a better chance at healthfulness. Ultimately, weight loss is not the only important factor in this shift away from diabetes but it is an important one.

 

And a happy one. 

 

 

Some Bonds Can’t Be Cashed In

 

Barry Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice in the BALCO case. Apparently our government has spent something like $50 million on this effort. It’s stunning on multiple fronts. Bonds won’t have to serve any jail time and isn’t banned from working Major League Baseball. Typically, a player with his pedigree would have his pick of jobs but that won’t happen for Bonds.

 

ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian says that the taint of steroids is too strong for baseball teams to take a chance by hiring a player who is associated with the drugs. That’s why Barry Bonds won’t be employed by a major league team again. I disagree strongly with his reasoning.

 

Mark McGwire's job as the hitting coach in St. Louis is evidence that it's not about steroids; it's about personality. If you're beloved, you're more easily forgiven. In ‘98 McGwire lied repeatedly about his use of PEDs but he's been given a chance to work in MLB again. He never demonstrated any attempt to give back any gains he made from his drug use. He never donated the money he made or asked to be removed from the record books. Nope. He just apologized.

 

And that was enough apparently to gain a high level of forgiveness. There were virtually no fans who were abusive to him as the Cardinals traveled this season and his history only came up a couple times during the teams unlikely run to a World Series championship. Big Mac is back!

 

The contrast could not be clearer when it comes to Barry Bonds. As much as some people would like to see Bonds back in the game, it won't happen simply because he won't a) put on the cape of public contrition or b) have the fan support to allow a team to hire him without issue. The Giants know that he (and they) would be publicly vilified as soon as he wore their uniform again, even as a hitting coach just like McGwire. 

 

Ultimately, Kurkjian is right and Bonds is likely done with MLB.  (Rather, MLB is likely done with Bonds.)  But don’t believe that it’s because of what he did. After all, we now know that scores of players knowingly, willingly and deliberately took PEDs. It’s not the what; it’s the who. And that’s the last sad chapter of this entirely sad story.   

 

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is...Replacement Names

 

NBA Nicknames that Replace Given Names

Here’s the corollary to the original post about nicknames.

The NBA has had a vast number of players whose given names have been virtually replaced by their nicknames. Replaced to the point it would seem more peculiar to use their given name. These are the ones I can think of right now although there are probably many others. I’m not even counting the guys who often have their nicknames used but not always. That means there’s no Bones Barry, no Cat Mobley and no Clyde Frazier here. Even without them, this is an awesome list.

 

Magic Johnson

Pearl Washington

Tree Rollins

Tiny Archibald

Moochie Norris

Bimbo Coles

Muggsy Bogues

Doc Rivers

Spud Webb

Boobie Gibson

Slick Watts

Buck Williams

Mookie Blaylock

Pooh Richardson

Sleepy Floyd

Fat Lever

Cornbread Maxwell

Flip Murray

Rip Hamilton

Speedy Claxton

Truck Robinson

 

Yep, this is quite a list. I repeat myself. I love nicknames.

 

FDO

 

Late Additions:

Fly Williams

Smush Parker

 

One Thing I Really Like Is... Nicknames

 

Nicknames.

 

I love ‘em. It’s probably because I like both pro basketball and pro wrestling but I’m not sure. Nicknames are just fun to me. I have had lots in my own life and there a couple I still hang on to.

I also enjoy giving people nicknames. Now, I’m not like George W. ‘Shrub’ Bush who apparently gives nicknames to everybody. To me, that cheapens the gift. Nicknames are reserved for people I love or at least love spending time with. Nicknames like ‘Nuprin’, ‘Mijo’, ‘Big Daddy’ Kane, ‘Duchess’ and ‘Mr. Incredible’ need to come from a place of love.

 

It’s great when nicknames become so commonly used that they virtually replace given names. Magic Johnson is the most famous example but the NBA is chock full of this phenomenon. This deserves a separate post actually.  

 

Some nicknames are funny even when there’s no context. I mean, I know why Darryl Dawkins is called ‘Chocolate Thunder’ but realistically does it even matter? Isn’t ‘Chocolate Thunder’ always gonna be funny? That could be the name of a movie, breakfast cereal, band, video game or bodily function and it’s still gonna work. Perfect.

 

There are also lots of nicknames that aren’t in common use that really should be. My friend, ABC, calls Eli Manning ‘Baby E’ and it’s perfect. Just look at him. The Anaheim Angels’ Torii Hunter should obviously be nicknamed ‘Big Game’. Obviously!

 

If Mitt Romney wins the GOP Presidential nomination I certainly expect folks on the left to start calling him ‘Glove’. Why wouldn’t they?  

 

Boston Celtics coach Glenn ‘Doc’ Rivers’ son, Austin is a perfect candidate to be ‘Baby Doc’ but no one’s willing to go there. C’mon, they don’t look Haitian so it’s ok, right? 

 

Right?!?

 

FDO

 

 

 

Average Obama

 

I liked President Obama’s Osawatomie speech and recognize the obvious resonances it has with Teddy Roosevelt’s  New Nationalism  speech. That connection has been made in multiple places and is well worth reading and reading about. I think Obama's speech was the start of something else too. Something with great potential for Obama’s re-election campaign against Mitt Romney in 2012*. I mean the re-branding of the President as “Barack Obama, regular American.”

 

I believe that in this campaign Obama will try to present himself as a typical American with a very American story. Even though he has often been defined as an outsider, I don’t think that Obama has ever believed that to be true. Obama considers himself to be quintessentially American. That belief will be easier to spread to the public at large if Obama is running against Willard Mitt Romney.

(Much in the way that Obama’s middle name became a campaign issue, I’m convinced that Romney’s first name will be tossed about and made the subject of jokes. I assume the story about Mitt being named after George Romney’s best friend Willard Marriott is true. That’s not gonna be helpful.)

 

Obama’s campaign will work hard to present Romney as the embodiment of America’s elite. Romney is, after all, the son of a governor and was born into a highly affluent family. His own professional career has placed him squarely in the 1% as defined by Occupy Wall Street. In 2000, those would have been helpful characteristics but in the midst of our Great Recession, economic privilege is no longer perceived as indicative of inherent merit. Instead, his extraordinary level of privilege is probably a major detriment to Romney’s candidacy.

 

Obama’s own American story is well known and his recent speech cleverly emphasized his rootedness via his family of regular folks from Kansas. His single mom spent time on public assistance rolls and Obama only became an elite himself through educational attainment. He legitimately is a contemporary Horatio Alger. Even as an adult, his South Side of Chicago bona fides are clearly intact. Describing his career as working for the people of his community as opposed to having the people work for him will be a winning presentation.

 

And while folks often describe Obama’s rise to national prominence as meteoric, he will be able to define himself as a political plugger compared to Romney. Obama’s political career began in the Illinois State Senate before moving on to the US Senate and then the White House. He has been an elected official since 1997. Obama can reasonably describe himself as having climbed the political ladder, albeit with tremendous speed. Romney’s sole electoral victory was his one term as Massachusetts governor. In just those four years, Romney made many choices he has since disavowed. While I personally believe Romney’s Olympic experience is very impressive, I doubt that he’ll be able to use that time as a proxy for holding office.

 

There will likely be one other interesting area in which Obama can define himself as average and Romney as exceptional: religion. Obama’s Chicago church experience was a problem for him in 2008 but in 2012 it’ll be a big advantage. Jeremiah Wright is old news and the President has so comfortably and consistently invoked God that his religiosity seems safe, normal and generically American. Romney’s Mormonism makes him suspect in the eyes of many and makes him an outsider in the eyes of many more.  I don’t want to link to some of the vicious portrayals of Mormonism in the world of mainstream punditry but it’s very easy to find scary talk about Romney’s church. The ham handed “I’m a Mormon” campaign might have helped had it begun several years ago but in the short term it will likely make Romney (and Jon Huntsman) seem even more suspicious to non-Mormon conservative Christians.

 

In terms of family, work and faith, Obama can claim common cause with ‘the American people’ in ways that Romney simply can’t. It’s a strange world wherein the half-Black guy with the Arabic name can present himself as more authentically American than the White guy who looks like middle age Superman but I think that’s what we will begin to see in the next few months. Perhaps even more strangely, I think it’s gonna work.

 

 

FDO

 

*- I've been asked if any of this applies to the President if Newt Gingrich were the GOP nominee.

2 responses- 1- If Newt's the guy, Obama won't have much to worry about anyway. 2- Yes! Obama's team will paint a picture of the President, First Lady and their two young daughters compared to Newt's 3 marriages, adulterous affairs, Clinton era sexual hypocrisy, the cancer-ridden wife divorce story and late in life conversion to Catholicism. That's a lotta grist for the campaign mill.

 

Combine that with the difference between making lots of money by writing books about your family and making lots of money by using your government contacts to (almost) lobby for corporations and it's game over. 

 

 

 

Driving with Blinders

 

A few days ago I had an interesting reminder of how economically privileged I am. See, I couldn’t quite figure out the gas pump.

 

 

I drive lots of miles and buy gas at least twice a week. What I usually do is simply swipe my credit or debit card, pump my gas and leave.  Well, on this particular Saturday, I wanted to buy a couple extra items inside the store connected to the gas station.  So, I thought to myself, how about I pay for my gas along with the other purchases?

 

 

That was my trouble; I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I pressed the button to pay inside but the machine wanted me to pay inside then come back out and pump the gas. But how would I know how much the gas would cost?

 

 

I wasn’t interested enough to see if there were some other option so I just paid at the pump then went inside and bought the other items separately.

 

 

It was only then that I realized how long it’s been since I’ve had to decide to buy gas based on how much it was going to cost instead of how much I needed for my car.  There’s a big difference between those two thought processes.

 

 

I look for the lowest priced gas and when I find it, I simply fill up the tank. Until I finished grad school I always bought gas based on how much I was able to spend.  Often that $5 or $10 but sometimes it was $3.50 or even $2 on a couple occasions. Now that’s never the way I make decisions about gas. Really, I don’t even think about what I’m doing enough to describe it as decision making.

 

 

Many of the folks I saw in line Saturday had a very specific amount of money to spend on gas and make decisions based on that reality.  I had to have a reminder that there are even those decisions to be made.

 

 

How fortunate am I?

 

 

 

FDO

 

 

Say It Loud!*

*- I've linked to a great article at the bottom of the page. It helpfully amplifies some of what is already here. 

 

 

Occupy Wall Street is an interesting manifestation of a new recognition of increased people power. Part of what excites me most about it is that I believe OWS is just one indication of how (many) things are changing in American life.

Two examples: Last month, Netflix announced that it was shelving the revolutionary new business model they’d been trumpeting. Not because the business model made too little sense but because the backlash against it was so strong. People didn’t care how much sense it made; they balked. Similarly, Bank of America has ended its proposed debit card usage fee. Bank of America could have weathered the storm of negative feedback better than Netflix but it recognized that the brand damage the fee generated was coming to dominate every story about the bank. Had these same changes been instituted five years ago, I’m convinced that the public response would have been a brief gasp of distress followed by a long, boring sigh.

 

Now that sigh does not seem to be enough for us. I don’t want to make any grandiose statements but I do believe that there’s a quickly increasing sense of agency among regular people. While most would probably trace this change to the Arab Spring movements, I think that it goes back a bit further. I am convinced that the 2008 Presidential election was a critical turning point in developing populism for the 21^st century. After all, much of the early work of the Arab Spring seemed to take important cues from Barack Obama’s campaign.

 

Most critically, each of these populist movements created a broad enough range of connection points to transform individual interests into a perceived network of shared values.  Social media was widely credited with the successes of both the Obama campaign and Arab Spring. What I believe to be more true is that both movements used social media as a formation tool. Eventually, the networks grew large enough and loud enough to be perceived as an authentic voice of the people and achieved enough momentum to become virtually self-sustaining.

 

As much as they’d hate to acknowledge it, the TEA Party has used much of the same style to launch itself as a viable national brand. Much like Obama, the TEA Party presents itself as the representative of the regular person fighting against ‘The System’. They’ve made good use of some pre-existing networks but have built their own communities too as they continue to work outside the existing infrastructure. Preserving their independence provides them autonomy and credibility with their base.  

 

All these movements have rooted themselves in the belief that individuals and small groups of people can make the behemoths of the world yield power. At least in America, we’d forgotten about the ultimate source of that power. For too long, we’d neglected our own strength. I’m excited to be living in a time when we’re beginning to reclaim our voices and use them.

 

I’m determined to be one of those voices.

 

 

FDO

 

Here’s an intriguing article that addresses some of the issues I wrote about in this post, namely, some of the ways social media is changing the organizational possibilities of broad based movements. The author also suggests some of the ways groups like Wikileaks make information sharing more dangerous.

http://www.capitaljewishforum.org/jeffrey-bleich-from-obama-rsquo08-to-the-arab-spring-ndash-the-political-impact-of-social-media.html

 

Lead Us (to Ill Repute)

 

Today I saw a feature on ESPN’s College Football Live show called the Urban Meyer Leadership Series. I had just turned to ESPN so my initial response was to wait for the punchline… I mean, Urban Meyer? Really, Urban Meyer? This guy has clearly succeeded as a coach and just as clearly failed as a leader. His program has been riddled with arrests. How is it that this guy gets to be perceived as a credible source for leadership? This is part of the pattern of college coaching that saddens me.

 

Jim Tressel is finally forced to resign at Ohio State and Ohio high school coaches decide to honor him by planning to dress like Tressel in their first game.  What example does this set for the athletes and communities of Ohio? Since you won, it doesn’t matter that you lack basic integrity? What other message could there be?

 

Sadly, the situation is probably worse in men’s college basketball. Kelvin Sampson and Jim Calipari left town just ahead of the NCAA posse in multiple locations. Both these guys had programs with major violation stacked on major violation. Distressingly, they continue to fall up, instead of down. Calipari has one of the very best jobs in his profession and Sampson is now the lead assistant for the NBA’s Houston Rockets and is perceived as a likely NBA head coach starting next summer. No penance has to be paid if you get to bowl games or the Sweet Sixteen. Conference championships and rivalry dominance absolve a multitude of sins.

 

Fans of college athletics are so accustomed to this sad situation that today there’s very little outrage about the ways college coaches abuse the system, their universities and their players. Or even the taxpayers who fund their million dollar salaries. It seems that Al Davis bespoke the future of college sports decades ago. Davis’ magic phrase? “Just win, baby.”

 

 

FDO

 

Discovering Rambo

 

“They drew first blood, not me.”  -John Rambo  

 

Tonight I’m watching First Blood for the first time. Even though I grew up in the 80s, I never watched this or any other Rambo flick. Rocky yes, Rambo no. At some point, I’m sure I knew a few things about Rambo but nearly 30 years on, I have no idea what those things were.

 

Rambo is a Vietnam vet who walks to find his last remaining friend. A loooong walk it seems clear. The friend died the previous summer which is news to Rambo. Whoops. What a great way to indicate how disconnected this guy is.

 

David Caruso? Ok. So peculiar to see him here. Especially since he’s so young and innocent in this role. Verrrry Howdy Doody.  

 

The sheriff’s car tumbles down an embankment and flips, landing top down. The sheriff gathers himself then pushes his way out of the door, stumbling out. This is 1982. Had it been 1987, the car would have immediately exploded into a massive fireball.

 

So, Rambo is an innocent until the sheriff gives him unwarranted grief. The belligerence of Rambo combined with the callow brutality of two police officers sparks a frightening combination of chase and escape. Okay. After 20 minutes of exposition, let the fireworks begin!

 

Except that there aren’t fireworks… I thought these were high body count movies but apparently that comes later. Update: He gets a gun then throws it down. He doesn’t keep a gun until the very end of the movie.

 

Early on there is some amazing scenery and stunt work. It’s hard to imagine superstars doing stunts like this. Wow. Cliff dives onto giant trees. Nice.

 

He spares the life of the sheriff who precipitated the whole situation. Rambo~Batman?

 

“Don’t push it or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe. Let it go. Let it go.” 

 

Richard Crenna’s Col. Trautman character is hilarious to me. He’s basically Yoda with a stack of joke books.

 

A rocket launcher!?!  Well, at least the yokels that use it are appropriately impressed by it. Is it sad that I immediately thought about the S-A-M that took down the Rwandan Presidential plane in 1994, sparking the genocide in that country? (Yes. Yes it is.)

 

The unfolding of the tale is thoughtful and well done. We get some nice revelations as the movie proceeds.

 

There’s a second violent car crash. Rambo puts a police car (they’re shooting at him) into a parked car. The parked car explodes but the cops’ doesn’t and they’re presumably fine. He doesn’t kill them. It takes a very deliberate action to set the commandeered Army vehicle on fire.

 

What a weird movie?!? This is really not the ‘shoot em up’ movie I expected. Rambo blows up lots of stuff but not people. The only guy Rambo tries to kill is Sheriff Teasle (the clear villain) and even he gets spared.

 

The soliloquy at the end is incredibly powerful. I can only imagine what it might have been like to watch that as someone who lived through Vietnam. Wow.

 

John Rambo is a compelling character in part because I knew so little about him at the start of the movie. Like everyone watching in the theatre! Smartly done.

 

This is a 90 minute movie. It’s very tightly made. There’s basically nothing extraneous. I can absolutely understand why sequels were made to this. So many possibilities for next steps. Hmm.

 

Although I’m guessing the sequels lose most of the important psychological elements and political subtexts in exchange for massive firepower. Hey, lightning rarely strikes the same movie franchise twice.

 

I’ll have to think about the Batman parallels too. There’s probably a deeper connection between the two than I initially noticed. Good stuff.

 

 

FDO

 

Names Without Frontiers

 

I’m very confused about naming. Parents choose names for their children and usually there’s some reason for it. Sometimes the reason is family or friend related, sometimes it’s trendy or celebrity driven and sometimes a name even indicates aspiration. What about names that just seem weird? What encourages a parent to choose a name that will automatically draw laughs, gasps or disbelief?

 

Some researchers think this trend is largely about narcissism in an increasingly individualistic culture. While that’s probably true to some extent, shouldn’t parental narcissism lead to bold, heroic, fabulous, august names for kids? Instead, everyone seems to know someone with a name that feels problematic. I would love to receive some insight on this phenomenon. I just don’t understand.

 

 

FDO

 

Lessons of Andrew Johnson

 

I’m reading an interesting biography of Andrew Johnson by Annette Gordon-Reed. Her primary contention is that Johnson was a wonderfully talented man who rose far beyond the expectations of his birth. Johnson utterly failed to recognize that his ability to transcend his station came from the sheer accident of his Whiteness.

 

Johnson’s intense disdain for the aristocrats of the South was almost entirely about the status of poor Southern Whites. He never connected the condition of poor Whites and poor Blacks who were slaves then newly freed people. It’s sad that the poor of America’s 21^st century still struggle so much to make cross-racial coalitions.

 

It's amazing that we can still learn so much from one of the 19th century's most dramatic failures.

 

 

FDO

 

Gay Marriage as a Civil Rights Issue

 

I believe that marriage is a public expression of a private relationship. Folks are allowed to think their own thoughts about the private element of any relationship. However, in the respects that marriage is a public issue, isn’t allowing same gender marriage simply a matter of civil rights? How can our society feel comfortable picking and choosing which people are allowed to participate within our legal frameworks?

 

The array of legal and economic benefits that marriage provides is astonishing. Telling people that the gender of their spouse should disqualify them from receiving those benefits is an obvious injustice. Yet, that’s what most of the states continue to do. It was more than forty years ago that miscegenation laws were finally lifted via Loving v. Virginia. Those laws denied marriage rights to people based on the race of their spouses. What’s the difference between race and gender here?

 

I hope that we move quickly enough toward marriage equality for homosexual couples that we don’t need another Loving case but until then I’d like to share a brief statement my wife and I included in our wedding program.

  

We appreciate and respect the values and benefits of marriage, thus it saddens us that not everyone is allowed this opportunity. Fifty years ago, our marriage would have been illegal in most states. Now, it seems clear that making different laws based on race is discriminatory and wrong. We think that making different laws based on sexual orientation is also discriminatory and wrong.

Please join us in supporting laws, initiatives and politicians who advocate marriage rights for everyone. Let love be the highest law.

 

 

FDO

Slowly but Surely

 

More thoughts on the New York gay marriage victory soon. In the meantime, here's part of a post about gay marriage I wrote last August. It feels appropriate today.

 

 

While judicial decisions are critical stepping stones, it is ultimately the support of the American people that generates the permanent force of change. That change is occurring. Most people I suggest this to think I’m crazy but I believe that gay marriage will be legal in half the states by 2020. That's my hope and my prediction. We're on the way, people. Slowly but surely. We're on the way. 

 

 

FDO

 

The First Fires

 

There were massive thunderstorms last night in the Indianapolis area. This morning there were multiple houses on fire and the common response seems to have been shock. It's almost as though we forgot that lightning can generate fire. I suppose that's okay. After all, in modern America, we are dramatically unaccustomed to being subject to the whims of nature.

 

The storm and aftermath made me wonder again about the initial human relationship to fire. I have lots of questions but no answers…

 

How many times have people discovered fire?

What was the first source of ‘controlled’ fire? Was it lightning; was it lava?

Was it an accident?

How long ago did it happen?

Were the people who found it hailed or cursed?

Did those individuals become powerful as a result?

Did it happen multiple times in the same place or in different places?

Have other animals ever ‘controlled’ fire?

If not, when will it happen?

 

Lots of questions but no answers.

 

 

FDO

First Thoughts on Heat-Mavs Part Deux

 

Yes, part 2 is how this series is being presented because it’s only been 5 years since the teams met in the Finals. There is a core of institutional memory of that series in both organizations that’s interesting. There has been consistent ownership and management and the two players remaining on each side fill important roles. Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are the home grown superstar/best player in franchise history and Udonis Haslem and Jason Terry compose the emotional core of their teams. Otherwise, though, for both squads, there have been such substantial changes that neither team seems very connected to 2006. 

 

Almost the entire rosters have turned over for these teams. The Mavs are a collection of cast offs, former All-Stars and just past their prime guys who have all coalesced around the goal of winning a title. The Heat are, of course, the model for contemporary team building. Grab as many stars as possible and fill in the blanks around them.

 

It is that collection of star players, Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, that seems to be the key to this series to me. While Dallas’ players largely get the ball in scoring areas based on ball movement and double teams of Nowitzki, Miami has a more consistent offensive attack. Wade and James are almost always in scoring areas because with a move or two, each guy can get to a comfortable spot with an advantage. There were times in the Mavericks’ victory over the Thunder that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook seemed to be able to score at will. That scoring was predicated on speed and athleticism.  Wade and James have speed, athleticism, experience, confidence and great options when they need to pass the ball.

 

Some of Dallas’ offensive limitations have been masked by their incredibly accurate three point shooting during the playoffs. Miami expects to give up 3 pt attempts as long as they are contested. Miami will be able to slow down Dallas’ offense and force Nowitzki to win games by scoring 50 points a night. Dallas has very little chance of corralling James and Wade; that will be the difference.

 

Official Prediction: Heat in 6

Gut Feeling: Heat in 5 games. Yes, that means clinching the title in Big D. What a perfect scenario that would be for the most popular villains in NBA history.

 

FDO

 

 

RIP Macho Man

 

It's been a week since Randy 'Macho Man' Savage died. It took me a little while to gather some thoughts about him. These are them.

 

I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling since the late 1980s. Unlike most kids at that time who were able to choose between the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF), I never preferred the WWF. My granddad was a big fan of boxing and my dad liked it pretty well so it feels natural to me that when I began exploring wrestling with some real passion, I gravitated to the more realistic of the Big Two.  That was clearly the NWA.  

 

For me, one of the important differences between the wrestling organizations was the World champion. In the WWF that was usually Hulk Hogan and in the NWA it was usually Ric Flair. While most kids were awed by the larger than life Hogan, I was awed by the pretty normal looking Flair. Hogan was billed at being 6’ 8” and 300+ lbs. To me that seemed absurd as did his in ring antics. He’d get beaten up by some monstrous looking guy then shake his head a lot and become invulnerable. Uh, yeah. He’d run through a couple moves, pin the guy and the parade started. (There was not really a parade but that’s what it felt like.)

 

On the other hand, Flair was incredibly vulnerable! In order to stay the champion, he sometimes needed to cheat, sometimes he needed help from someone else and sometimes he needed to get lucky. That seemed perfectly realistic since Flair was listed as 6’ 2” and around 240 lbs. Even though he was a big guy, Flair was never physically overwhelming and was often overmatched by bigger, stronger, faster guys. He used his brain as much as his body and that appealed to me greatly. Hogan’s successes seemed overly scripted and painfully predictable while Flair’s seemed uncertain and complicated. That Flair was just as successful as Hogan awed me.

 

Then in the late 80s, Randy Savage moved from being an up and comer to being one of the biggest stars in the wrestling universe. He was one of the smaller guys in the WWF but wrestled with the same kind of attitude, intensity and spirit as Hogan did. His ascendance was marked by a change in his wrestling style to fit into the Hogan mold and that’s ultimately why I never became a fan of his. The paint by numbers approach sold lots of tickets but left me cold. I thought I was kind of missing out on Savage but I wasn’t sure why.

 

The difference between his Wrestlemania matches in 1987 and 1989 is amazing. In 1987, wrestling against Ricky Steamboat, Savage utilized an amazing array of holds, flips, dives, counters and counters to counters. In 1989, wrestling against Hogan, Savage used lots of punches, power moves and presentation elements. The first is a revolutionary technical, artistic exhibition while the second is a triumph of style over substance. It is, of course, to Savage’s credit that he excelled at both styles. It’s interesting for me to recognize that I was never a fan of Savage’s particularly though I always recognized his ability. What I've realized in the past couple years is that he always seemed to have excellent matches with all the guys I really was a great fan of.

 

Savage had tremendous wrestling based feuds with guys like Tito Santana, Steamboat, Ted DiBiase, Flair and even Jake “The Snake” Roberts. In all these feuds, Savage made his opponents look great and kept up with them, move for move. I suppose the bottom line is that Randy Savage could always do everything he needed to in a wrestling ring. That strikes me as a pretty good definition of greatness.

 

 

FDO

 

 

Race Day

 

As a Circle City native, Memorial Day weekend always feels festive. I never participate but the Indy 500 permeates the environment in Indianapolis.

FDO

 

 

Race Day

 

Camper cities

Traffic for miles

Checkered flags wave

In all directions

Coolers full of Bud

Dirt cheap sunglasses

Tank tops

Jake the snake around

Brother Henry’s neck

Grilled brats and burgers

“Show us your tits!”

Naps on the infield

Day long engine drone

A rainbow of cotton candy

Tires over the fence

Some foreign guy wins

May is beautiful

In Indy

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2004

 

 

Basketball Hall of Fame (kinda)

 

 

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame needs to consistently expand and develop an NBA focus or be augmented by a separate NBA sponsored Professional Basketball Hall of Fame.

  

I have generally felt this way for several years but the elections this year cement that position for me. 2005, 2007 and now 2011 have all been awful. (Mercifully, 2009 was so obvious it couldn’t be screwed up with Jordan, Robinson and Stockton all getting in.) Part of the problem seems to be the attempt to use HoF voting as a method for separating the immortals of the game from the merely worthy. Baseball thinks having an ultra-exclusive Hall translates to more majesty for it. For that sports HoF to be a staid, limiting, judgmental institution is somewhat appropriate for a game that illustrates those same qualities to an unhelpful degree.

 

 

But basketball is dramatically different. Basketball is about art, passion, creativity, expanding, redefining and breaking limits while erasing barriers. Lots of people do basketball in incredibly different ways; that’s part of why basketball has become the American sport that clearly translates best to the rest of the world. Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade can dominate a game just as surely as Yao Ming and Dwight Howard do. The variety of skills and talents that can lead to success in basketball should be mirrored in its HoF.

 

 

There is a clear hierarchy in the world of basketball and the NBA is unquestionably at the top. The best players, coaches and executives in the world aim for the League. Consider that Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski is consistently asked if he will leave his top level college job for an NBA job. I have never heard anyone suggest that Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson might leave his top level NBA job for a college job. Never. Former NBA All-Stars Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson have recently played outside the US and everyone feels sorry for them because they have fallen so far. Meanwhile, players like Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili continue to leave their countries to play in the NBA because they want the chance to play with the best in the world. I don’t believe the HoF should eliminate the number of contributors, coaches, women and international players. What it should do is recognize the hierarchy everyone else does and give more credit to the players at the highest level. That seems natural and fair.

 

 

Lots of individuals would benefit from this expansion but current and future fans will benefit more. There will be more people to celebrate, more accomplishments to note and more exceptions to the rules. Isn’t that what we want from sports? And what we often get from basketball?

 

 

This year’s elections of Artis Gilmore and Dennis Rodman fix two glaring oversights but there are probably a dozen other players that should be in the Hall but aren’t. Every time I start making a list it saddens me. Maybe I’ll do that later.

  

 

FDO

 

The Happiest Movie Ever Made?

 

In my kitchen there is a Wizard of Oz promotional calendar. The month of April describes the film as ‘The Happiest Movie Ever Made!’

 

WTF?!? Are you kidding me? The Wizard of Oz is a great movie to be sure. I love almost everything about it from the singing to the dancing to the innovative visuals to the intelligence of the movie to its important cultural impacts. But The Happiest Movie Ever Made? What a rotten, mean joke! The movie features a false god, political corruption, malevolent witches, terrorist attacks, family dysfunction, murder, kidnapping, natural disaster, drug use and abuse of power. And topping it all off, at the end of the movie, Dorothy decides she wants to stay in Kansas!

 

I realize childhood didn’t mean the same thing in 1939 as it does today but can you imagine seeing billboards saying ‘The Happiest Movie Ever Made!’ and walking into the theatre to see The Wizard of Oz? As Flavor Flav would say, “Don’t believe the hype!”

 

 

FDO

  

 

 

 

 

Bad MVP voting. Again.

 

Wow. I feel good and bad about sharing this publicly. I wrote this post Monday and Tuesday then read the Hollinger article here Thursday evening at halftime of the Spurs-Celtics game. (It’s ESPN Insider only, sorry.) I’ve been trying to write more frequently so I will have enough to post between 3 and 5 times a week. That often means writing something then holding it for a few days. Unfortunately, what I wrote now pales in comparison to what the professional ESPN writer shared AND covers some of the same ground. Such is life. Enjoy anyway! And hey, mine is shorter!

 

Derrick Rose is being anointed the MVP of the NBA and it’s a bit amusing because it’s clear Rose is not the best player in the league. There’s a very good chance he won’t even make first team All-NBA this year. With around ten games left, I’d have Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade at guard.

 

There seems to be a widespread media narrative indicating the D Rose should be the MVP and nothing has changed that narrative since the All-Star Break. Particularly considering how much statistical analysis is impacting the NBA, I have a strong feeling that in a couple years, the D Rose MVP will feel like the Steve Nash back to back MVPs of the last decade. Everyone will wonder what mass psychosis led to that decision making. We’re seeing lots of parallels between the two situations I think. Unexpected team success, a player’s rapid jump from the fringe All-Star to All-NBA levels and no signature performance from a competitor. (The Iverson MVP and Kidd runner-up seasons follow similar patterns.)

 

Rose has been a superb player for the Bulls this year and, seemingly, everything has worked out well for the Bulls. They are clearly ahead of schedule and have their own Big 3 with Rose, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, all of whom complement each other well and for whom there is a defined pecking order. The Bulls are the anti-Heat in some important respects. This all helps Rose’s candidacy, as does the substantial failings of the post-Jordan Bulls franchise.  Everyone wants Chicago to be a title contender again.

 

Overall, Rose has clearly been the best story in the NBA this year. Does that mean he’s been the best player or the most important? Well, if I were Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki or Kobe Bryant, I might not feel that way.

 

My guess is that in 2014, most folks won’t feel that way either.

 

FDO

 

Half Man, Half Missing

 

I watched the Suns-Thunder game Wednesday night and was awestruck to watch Vince Carter playing like it was 2003. He was fantastic! He made offensive play after offensive play and was in such a groove that everyone in the building seemed to be waiting for him to do something special. It’s interesting to me that I initially typed ‘be’ instead of ‘do’. Most NBA fans have always expected him to ‘be’ legendary instead of just ‘doing’ some legendary things.

 

Carter made strength moves, speed moves, balance moves, lefty drives, baseline drives, fading jumpers and one spin move into a dunk that fewer than ten other guys in the league could pull off. It was a tantalizing reminder of how great Carter could have been. He’s one of the most physically gifted players I’ve ever seen and has always had phenomenal basketball skills. Carter really should have been the Chrissie to Kobe Bryant’s Martina.

 

But where talented athletes like Martina, Chrissie and Kobe were all obsessed with their sporting success, Vince has always seemed content to stay on the periphery of greatness. He has never been willing to push himself to develop new skills or average 10 free throws a game or dominate defensively. Usually, folks ask ‘what if’ about guys like Grant Hill, or even Vince’s cousin, Tracy McGrady who saw their careers limited by physical injuries to ankles, knees or feet. Folks will always ask ‘what if’ about Vince too. But not about his ankles, about his heart.

 

 

FDO

 

From Mitch Mitchell to Sting

 

 

In the past few months I’ve spent a little time listening to Foo Fighters. They have a great number of songs I like and several I love. I’d basically missed them until recently, largely because I was never a fan of Nirvana and just presumed FF to be a spin-off band. I am so stupid.

 

Dave Grohl has had a virtually unique career.  He’s the only person I can think of who has gone from being a Mitch Mitchell (well-known but clearly a background member of a popular group) to being a Sting (the frontman and primary songwriter of a popular group) in different groups. Typically, musicians are cast in specific roles early on and are unable to shift positions later. That’s just not part of the pattern.

 

Actors often expect to move from supporting to leading roles but for musicians being a backup guy almost always means you’re going to stay a backup guy. Fans don’t typically accept that change any more than record companies do. Dave Grohl was part of the biggest band in the world but when that ended, he ultimately created a fabulous new entity that reflects his voice. Pretty impressive.

 

Also, are there any suggestions for folks who’ve had parallel career trajectories? Michael McDonald doesn’t count because nobody knew who he was in Steely Dan. Phil Collins stayed in the same band so I don’t think he works either. Maybe Eric Clapton? I dunno how popular the Yardbirds actually were then. They remind me of Buffalo Springfield in that they seem more important in hindsight.  Any thoughts?

 

 

FDO

  

 

 

Life as a Vegetable (Eater)

 

A friend and I have been thinking and talking about our status as vegetarians. We’re part of a friendship group that eats together frequently and we sometimes plan around our eating choices. Of course, I've also thought about this subject before but don't remember the marvelous way I'd formulated it. Dang.

 

I think a big difference between me and most vegetarians is that I don't personalize what I’m eating. Maybe personify is the word to describe what I don’t do.  It’s kinda boring and maybe weird but I just don't have a relationship with the animal I’m not eating. Helpfully, I don’t personify the food as having a relationship with me either. If I were to bite into a veggie spring roll and discover that I’d been tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled and led astray (or just grabbed from the wrong plate) into eating a chicken spring roll instead, I’d spit out the bite, rinse my mouth and never think about it again. I guess that for me, 'being a vegetarian' doesn't mean much about who I am. Instead, I'm just somebody who chooses not to eat meat.

 

In fact, I still cook meat for my family on occasion even though I don't have any desire to eat it myself. (Every few months, lamb korma sounds great but that’s about it) I know they enjoy meat and I believe my son needs meat in his diet so I just cook it and then I'm kinda done thinking about it. I don't know that there's any deeper meaning for me.

 

Because it’s not normative, my guess is that if you asked most vegetarians to list 20 things about themselves to give a stranger an idea who they are, being a vegetarian would be high on the list. There’s a chance that it would show up on my list, but probably only if I knew there would be meal at the end of the exercise.

 

 

FDO

Changing the Lenses

 

Much has been made about the super large moon we've seen lately. While Megamoon is beautiful to look at, I am also struck that our perception changes so much, so quickly. Spending a night watching the Moon race across the sky feels wonderful in part because we can see some of the fundamental processes of our universe at work in just a few hours. Really, at moonrise or moonset, we can notice those processes in a matter of minutes.

 

In astronomical terms, it's stunning that an object so close in size as our Moon is to Earth is also so close to us. The Moon is a quarter of the size of the Earth. However, the Moon and Earth are incredibly far from each other in our terms. The distance between the two objects is something like 250 000 miles. Going a quarter million miles in a car means you talk to your friends about how great your car is and how many years it took you to go that far. In the late 60s it took 3 days for Apollo 8 to travel that distance. 3 day! Is that incredibly fast or incredibly slow?

 

I recently had a conversation prompted by something I read on Wikipedia about Sedna, the most distant sizable member of our solar system. I acknowledged that I was overwhelmed by how far away Sedna is from the Sun. Sedna is now about 3 times as far from the Sun as Neptune, but at times, it is 32 times as far! At that distance, how could the Earth and Moon be viewed as anything but a singularity?

 

Close. Near. Fast. Slow. These two celestial relationships (Moon-Earth, Sedna-Sun) make me think concretely about how much our view depends upon the lens we choose to use at any given moment. My guess is that changing lenses impacts our view of our own universes in similar ways. That's maybe even harder to understand.

 

 

FDO

 

 

Super Bowl Blogging-4th Quarter

Super Bowl Blogging-4^th  Quarter

 

Damn.

First play and Mendenhall coughs it up. I’m wondering if that’ll be the play of the game. So surreal.

 

The crowd seems hyped but the Packers don’t. That would be disconcerting if I were a Packer fan.

 

What’s up with Jordy Nelson? All my images of sure handed, slow footed, White possession receivers are being distorted.

Especially now that he races across the field like a gazelle. Who are you, Jordy Nelson?

 

Why does AROD keep hopping? He’s done it on 5 or 6 occasions since the 2^nd quarter. It looked stupid when Pete Sampras did it but he at least made winning plays out of it.

 

Yep, Mendenhall fumbles and 3 minutes later the Pack has a nice lead and has finally re-captured the momentum.

 

It’s great that in the Super Bowl, there are so many video cameras that people holding television cameras are often on camera.

 

Activity Dogs have to be gone from commercials too.

 

Painfully tacky, adult oriented commercials co-exist seamlessly with movie ads designed for 4 year olds. Is anyone even trying?

 

Flozell. Is mother Flo(rence) and father Zell? Is father Flo(yd) and mother Zel(da)?  I really wanna know.

 

GB 28- PIT 17. This seems like the perfect time for a Big Ben comeback for the ages and Hall of Fame immortality.

SHIT! I wasn't expecting Green Bay to stop playing defense.

 

I suppose if Ben wins another title this year, he’ll at least have to spend lots of time and energy answering uncomfortable questions. So, there’s that…

 

WOW. 3 points down after that awesome 2 point conversion.

 

HA! Pretending that Go Daddy has limits (that the FCC) hasn’t established I mean.

 

Waaay too many people eat during the Super Bowl for VW to have done a Beetle ad with real beetles. The Idiot Wind is blowing.

 

If the Packers get any more nervous they’ll have to carry security blankets.

 

Down the field aggression works for Green Bay! Well, when they catch the ball at least.

 

The Steelers really could have benefitted from having additional timeouts.

 

31-25, just over 2 minutes left, trailing time receiving a kickoff. Wouldn’t most of us have been happy if we knew this would be the situation for this year’s Super Bowl?

 

Another personal foul? In the Super Bowl? Almost comical. Of course, I don’t have any money riding on the outcome so…

 

Hasn’t Kim Kardashian moved from football to basketball?

 

Lots of time being spent on meager gains by the Steelers. I don’t understand. 50 seconds and 20 yards?

 

Pre-route contact? Nah. Not in the Super Bowl.

 

Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Now, I can only hope for next years Colts-Vikings grudge match.

 

What a fun game this was.

 

Let’s hope Rashard Mendenhall gets treated well. He’s gonna need it.

 

Super Bowl Blogging-3rd Quarter

 

Super Bowl Blogging-3rd Quarter

 

 

Wow, James Jones dropped a sure fire long gainer and potential touchdown. Instead, Green Bay punts. Ouch.

 

Immediately followed up by a dubious 15 yard penalty. Double ouch.

 

Chimps and babies. Is it just me or shouldn’t those commercials have gone out with the Clinton Administration?

 

Man, momentum is huge! GB was so close to a 28-10 lead. Seemingly, 5 minutes after the drop, it’s 21-17. DAMN!

 

Nelson dropped another pass he could have caught. Uh oh, are the Packers feeling nervous? With the lead? Not a good sign for them.

 

All the momentum is on the Steelers side of the ball.

 

Timothy Hutton didn’t really do that Groupon commercial did he? How much crack must he be smoking?!? What a bitch!

 

Watching this game reminds me both a) why so many folks think  Big Ben is a great QB and b) why they’re wrong.

 

Charlotte Jones Anderson?!? Who the fuck is Charlotte Jones Anderson?!?

 

Massive, absurd overthrow by Ben. See 2 lines previous.

 

Clay Matthews almost made an insanely great play (instead of just an excellent one). And they say White men can’t jump…

 

4^th and 15 from the Packer 34. A FG brings you within 1 point. I gotta go for the yardage. Send a message: We’re gonna win!

 

ISH. Horrible kick.

 

What does this city [Detroit] know about luxury?

They’ve been to Hell and back? To Hell, okay? Back? Not so much.

When your lead ambassador is Eminem, you've got lotsa work to do.

 

AROD running around a bit, throwing downfield, the Pack being aggressive. This is how you got to the Super Bowl!

 

All these injured guys are making visual indications of physical distress. No Cutlers here!

 

56 yd FGA is easily in range says Joe Buck. What a tool.

 

Uh, throwing a judo chop at someone’s helmet is stupid on many levels. Tramon Williams, this means you.

 

Green Bay seems entirely discombobulated. Almost frightened. Don’t be scared. Be happy.

 

Bad challenge, Mike McCarthy. Especially when you’ve already used two timeouts. Ish.

 

My bad, The Steelers have blown two timeouts, not the Pack. That helps.

 

How many times will we hear the word ‘correction’ tonight? I need to retain this for next year’s potential drinking games…

 

I’m thinking Janet Jackson for next year’s Super Bowl. MJ’s dead and there’ll be lots of interests because of NippleGate. Hmmm.

 

 

 

Super Bowl Blogging-2nd Quarter

 

Super Bowl Blogging-2^nd Quarter

 

Sounds like the production team spent the whole time between commercials trying to make Joe Buck sound less ridiculous. Fail.

 

Sanders went behind the first down marker on his own. He shouldn’t have been awarded that first down.

 

Didn’t Shaun Suisham used to play for the Cowboys? How nice this must feel for him to play in JerryLand while the Cowboys have been out of contention for 3 months?

 

Elton John can’t be this desperate for money…

 

I saw John Travolta but thought it was Rod Blagoevich. Sad but true.

 

Wait a sec, is BMW being advertised as a pro-America company?

 

Coke, THOR and VW with sci-fi themed commercials consecutively.

 

Big Ben headlines are mentioned but unmentioned a) this was not the first allegation of sexual assault and b) the DA in the Georgia case was convinced Ben was guilty but the accuser was apparently so drunk she couldn’t be a strong witness. If that’s the only 15 seconds they spend on this, I’ll be disappointed.

 

Again, there’s conversation about Ben’s lack of mobility just before he takes off running. Hello guys, it’s not disabling him now so don’t force your square storyline into that round hole.

 

A chimp commercial. Really, in 2011? Who is Career Builder’s lead marketer, Homer Simpson?

 

2 INTs for Big Ben

Legacy is slipping away quickly.

 

Green Bay 21, Pittsburgh 3. Jake is Super excited.

 

Troy Aikman makes a great point about the Pack’s 3^rd touchdown of the half. I was starting to wonder why he was in the booth.

 

Advertising FB access as a selling point for a car frightens me.

 

It feels odd to me that Marvel has flown so far ahead of DC in terms of its movies. DC has, arguably, the three most iconic comic heroes in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. So, what happened?

 

Watching injured players walk down long hallways toward medical care makes me wonder why there aren’t golf carts at the ready.

 

Green Bay secondary injuries may combine with Steelers desperation to provoke a massive second half shootout. Hmm, that could be good.

 

Actually, it looks like the injured guys are walking through a sports bar toward medical care. That’s much better.

 

The last Steelers drive was really impressive. Ben and Hines Ward have clearly played together for a long time. It’s odd seeing the high speed, frazzled looking offense playing against the Packers because Brett Favre was a master of that style.

 

This has not been the kind of first half I expected, largely due to Pittsburgh sloppiness, but it’s been lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Bowl Blogging-1st Quarter

Super Bowl Blogging-1^st Quarter

 

Why defer possession? Is that about gamesmanship or attempting to stave off nervousness?

 

Ah, momentum swings quickly.  The Steelers fans got so excited at the muffed punt then 2 minutes later, the Pack is at midfield and feeling great.

 

I don’t really care that much about Aaron Rodgers’ family history and how hard it was to be a late first round draft pick. Such tales of misery should wait for the second half.

 

I can already imagine the squawking from Packers fans about the near miss catch by Nelson on the first drive, followed by the near miss at pinning the Steelers near the goal line. So close, yet so far away…

 

The best advertising minds in the country came up with this tripe? I am glad to see that Kenny G still looks like, uh, Kenny G…

 

How many different ways will announcers obliquely refer to Ben Roethlisberger’s ‘troubles’ or ‘year’ or ‘difficulties’? I hope folks are using this as a drinking game…

 

Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel in the same movie? Wow, what a great chance to see the baddest ambiguously ethnic action stars in the same movie!

 

A Rod and Cameron Diaz? Are they the least Latin Latino stars in the US? Hey, I’m just asking? (Even the Anthem Killer did a Spanish language album a few years ago.)

 

If Aaron Rodgers is wearing a different helmet because he’s been concussed a couple times, shouldn’t everyone wear that different (presumably better) helmet?

 

Great pass to Nelson. It would have been hard for Nelson to drop that one.

 

When will people start calling Aaron Rodgers ‘A-Rod’? Andy Roddick was never gonna get it but perhaps…

I love that play callers get lots of credit in the NFL. On the touchdown play, the receiver WAS NOT OPEN! The play worked because AROD (see, no hyphen) threw a PERFECT pass. Not because of any schematic genius.

 

Cowboys vs. Aliens followed by Roman Gods vs. Indians? WTF? (No, not ‘win the future’.)

 

So, has Big Ben been 'unredeemed' now?

 

15 yard celebration penalty. Nope, you’re not allowed to celebrate the biggest play of your life in the No Fun League.

 

Boz Scaggs? Who knew?

 

Wow, Eminem sells tea? Wait a sec, did I write that? Yep. Eminem sells tea. Isn’t that the 4^th sign of the Apocalypse?

 

Emmanuel Sanders? What a fun name.

 

It’s still hard for me to hear the words “good protection” associated with Big Ben.

 

Within 10 seconds, Joe Buck says something about Big Ben like…

~ ’He looks like he can hardly move.

Now, he can move!’

C’mon Joe Buck, you’re better than that!

  

 

 

 

Super Bowl Blogging 2011- Part 1

Pre-Game

 

I didn't hate Christina Aguilera until tonight. Now, I never want to hear her again. She butchered the Star Spangled Banner in a phenomenally painful way. Marvin Gaye made the anthem soar, swoon and shine during the NBA All-Star game in LA (I think in 1983). It made me want to hear the song over and over. This performance makes me want to hit X-tina. Hard.

 

So far, this pre-game (only since 6) has been atrocious. The Walter Payton Award was great but super quick. The rest has sucked. I also couldn't help thinking: "I wonder how many years it will be before Big Ben wins this award?"

 

Is Michael Douglas dying? Did I get that right? <sigh> Sad, I know.

 

Deion Sanders' tie looks like a candy cane. He's probably still fast enough to have run 20 yards while the coin was in the air.

 

Rachel doesn't like football but she thinks it's absurd that the networks force players and coaches to chat just before kickoff. She's right.

 

 

 

Bears+ Vikings+ Frozen Field= Trouble

 

I’m very interested in watching the Bears-Vikings game tonight outside in Minneapolis. I’m a fan of the Vikes and there’s a rivalry involved but more interestingly, the field is frozen and reportedly concrete hard. This game is happening outdoors at the same time that the NFL is trumpeting its efforts to maintain player safety. What an odd contradiction.

 

The Vikings have lots of reasons for wanting this game to happen in Minnesota (Favre’s last home game, ticket sales, 50^th anniversary events…) but this is another illustration of short term desires overriding common sense. I want to know what happens if someone gets badly hurt. How much will this game ultimately cost the league?

 

 

FDO

 

Unpierced

 

…the words here deployed are equivalent to blanks in a loaded gun: they make the same sound but do not pierce us in any way.

 

-Alyssa Pelish

 

 

I have begun feeling this way about my poetry. The only folks who seem pierced by my poems are the ones who hear them from my lips or, lacking proximity, in the voice their minds’ ears have labeled as mine. Either way, it’s about connection. Connection with me, not the words themselves. Knowing me and believing they understand the genesis of those poems allows the words to matter.

 

Maybe this just means my words are not the right ones. Perhaps it means that most of us only allow people to pierce us; we don’t allow ideas to do the same.

 

 

FDO

 

Don't Ask Don't Tell- A Turning Point?

 

It seems almost impossible in this political climate but yes, in just a couple hours, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, will no longer be official government policy. This historic acknowledgment of the right of gay men and women to serve openly in the American military feels like a dramatic shift leftward. That this policy change can happen at the same moment that the GOP has just made substantial gains in Congress and President Obama seems to have become convinced that he must govern in as centrist a manner as possible is particularly extraordinary.

 

Maybe it will be revealed later that DADT repeal is part of a broader quid pro quo. Perhaps it just means the Republican leadership in Congress has decided they don't need the social/religious conservatives as much as they have in the recent past. Otherwise, why would the GOP allow the final vote to happen so quickly? Forcing the DADT vote to happen on a Sunday, after the morning talk shows, seems the play to make if you want to rally the religious right. Simply ceding ground here is puzzling.

 

Unless, that is, the GOP has come to realize that most Americans have finally come around to legitimately accepting that all of us have certain fundamental rights. Even the military brass seems to generally recognize this and, as a friend at a service academy told me recently, "Even though it's [DADT repeal] uncomfortable for us to think about, we know they're [gays] people too". Yes, gays are people too.

 

Ultimately, I believe the broader implication is that we are continually moving toward a country that has full(er) social inclusion for gays and lesbians. I have argued previously that I believe half the states will have a marriage/civil union option within the next decade. This is another overdue step in that direction. 

 

Congratulations, Congress. Thanks for doing the right thing.

 

 

FDO

 

Faux News

 

This article confirming that Fox News specifically and deliberately mimics the talking points of the Republican Party is not at all surprising. Neither is this requirement that global warming be treated as some kind of subversive theory. Yet, I feel as though this additional clarity should force an end to the charade that still exists that Fox News intends to report news in an independent fashion.

 

Having an editorial perspective makes a great deal of sense and I have no trouble with that at all as long as it’s not publicly lied about.  There should be no remaining doubt that Fox News is virtually an organ of the GOP, not particularly different than the Republican National Committee at base. Continuing to give Fox News the credibility associated with mainstream journalistic institutions is unwarranted.

 

 

FDO

 

Update- Here's a study suggesting that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed. Raise your hand if you feel a sense of surprise!

 

Obama as a Bridge- Always.

 

It seems interesting and sad that President Obama has so few ardent supporters left. The reality of his eroding support does not seem congruent with his level of accomplishment in the White House. Things have been tough for him during the first couple years of his Presidency, but he has made some pretty remarkable things happen. I suggested six weeks ago that the principal problem may be that his administration fails to tell its story well. There are not enough efforts to get his message out. I also believe the country has developed a sense of collective amnesia as we have run away from remembering that George W. Bush was our President for 8 years. Even the Republican Party has thoroughly distanced itself from him. Obama suffers from the lack of comparison now, as he benefitted from the constant comparisons in 2007 and 2008.

 

One thing I’ve begun to recognize about the prospect of creating new kinds of messages about the President is that there is no single message to trumpet. This is Barack Obama does not exist on a fixed point. There’s nothing immutable about him. He moves as he needs to move. Always.

 

I’m sure a psychologist could have a field day with this interpretation. Just consider the rough outline of Obama’s story. Half White, half Black. Born in the part of America that feels least like the rest of America. Living as an outsider in virtually every moment of his childhood. Being broke while in the Ivy League. And now, being young, inexperienced and Black in the Oval Office. He moves as he needs to move because he has always needed to do so.

 

That strength may be part of the reason President Obama seems such a natural mediator. In most contexts, that’s a tremendously valuable skill! I believe that he always wants to manage situations so that everyone feels a sense of victory. Just consider who his Secretary of State is!

 

Unfortunately, all those compromises and efforts at conciliation make it hard for him to lead. And, personally, Obama’s approach makes it hard for me to understand what matters most to the President. I don’t remember the last time he resolved to do (or not do) something because he cared about it enough NOT to compromise about it. Even though I think he’s made some fantastic successes, I imagine there’s not much he has done in office to inspire continuing faith in many people. There’s nothing to be counted on just because it exists at his core. There doesn’t seem to be a core.

 

 

FDO

 

Bush's Book Part 2

 

Where are the articles comparing Karl Rove’s book to George W. Bush’s book?

Since Rove seems to have fictionalized some of his account, does Bush correct the story? Are the trouble spots, uh, I mean, decision points, critical ones? Have we already decided that we just don’t care anymore? Never mind. I shouldn’t ask the question if I can’t accept the answer…

 

FDO

 

World AIDS Day- A Whimper, Not a Bang

 

The lack of attention generated in America by World AIDS Day this week was astonishing. It’s a great sign and a horrible indicator all at once. I suggested a couple months ago that Americans don’t have the same level of fear about acquiring HIV since it no longer feels like the death sentence it once was. That’s just fantastic but HIV rates in the US are still MUCH higher than they need to be. While America has done a phenomenal job of reducing mother-to-child transmissions, virtually every other infection route is still clearly common. What I haven’t figured out is why there’s so little effort being made on this front.

 

There is an estimate that around 20% of people in the US living with HIV don’t even know it yet! More than a million Americans are likely HIV+ and we just seem kinda fine with that. This is a preventable disease! Somehow though, there’s not much public space for outrage, worry or even conversation.

 

FDO

 

PS- I was forwarded this post about celebs attempting to raise money for World AIDS Day. The effort was a disaster.

Science Over Sight

 

Felix Hernandez won the American League Cy Young award yesterday in what is being touted as a harbinger of a new age of baseball. In this new age, statistical complexity trumps conventional wisdom, and in some ways, the ability to believe what we see. One of the many charms of baseball is the ability to create much of individual games through the standard box score. At bats, runs, hits, RBI. Many baseball fans can get 95% of a game’s flow correct from those four stats in a box score. Any game! We can also determine the success level of players based on those box scores. For some, box scores have been an obsession because they indicate so much about baseball. (Tim Kurkjian writes about this beautifully.)

 

What sabermetric statistical analysis has done is to de-value what we see in our box scores. Those cherished box scores are only a portion of what indicates a player’s success. Discovering that the baseball writers who vote on Cy Young and other awards are willing to look beyond the box scores and the conventional measures of success really does seem to be an indication of how thoroughly this sabermetric revolution has taken hold.

 

There are two near certain next steps. One, virtually all baseball television coverage will soon show stat lines that shift during an at-bat. We’ll still see Batting Average, Runs Batted In and Home Runs. Then the scroll will shift to include On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage and On-Base + Slugging Percentage. Then the scroll will shift again to include RC27 (Runs Created per 27 Innings), SECA (Secondary Average), ISOP (Isolated Power) and TB (Total Bases). By 2020, every kid discovering baseball will know those terms as naturally as I do ERA. And when that happens, the second next step will occur. Every computer will have ‘sabermetric’ in its spellcheck.

 

 

FDO

 

Falling Up

 

In the last decade or so, I’ve been consistently amazed that so many Americans seem to succeed… by failing.

 

It’s not always clear failure but, often at least, people get rewarded without rising to the level we would expect to be required. Sometimes it’s about taking advantage of personal relationships while other times, it’s about public perception. Consider that attending (and re-attending) rehab has been the spark plug for dozens of careers in the entertainment industry even though addiction is often a career killer for average people.

 

Rod Blagojevich was a virtual nobody until he was caught trying to sell a Senate seat. Now he’s cashed in tremendously and has the kind of name recognition that most governors only dream of obtaining. Amazingly, Blago is not only getting rich but he’s still famous, not infamous. Whatthehell?

 

Harriet Miers almost joined the Supreme Court solely because she was George W. Bush’s close friend and counsel. She was widely viewed as incompetent and it was only the uniformity of this view that kept her from rising to a lifetime appointment interpreting America’s laws. Scary stuff.

 

Conan O’Brien seems the best current example of this phenomenon. Maybe he’s actually the ultimate late night talk show host and I just haven’t noticed… This week he’s been at the top of the media world having been rewarded with a brand new TBS show, overwhelming public affection and a second giant contract. All this, even though he was booted from his dream job to make way for Jay Leno’s return. NBC would never have made that move if Conan’s audience were as big as Jay’s so in the most direct sense, Conan’s show failed. What is it that could possibly have built so much buzz that Conan is now bigger than he’s ever been?

 

It seems as though we not only accept failure, we often reward it. Now, if I can only convince someone with clout that my career as a poet has been a disaster…

 

FDO

 

Language Is Odd

 

I love that people still talk about ‘reading the paper’ even when all their news sources are electronic.

 

FDO

 

Falling Down the Memory Hole

 

In another saddening but unsurprising addition to the large and steadily growing library of football head trauma victims add Jim McMahon. The Super Bowl champion quarterback for the Chicago Bears describes the horrifying memory loss he suffers now. AT AGE 51!

 

It’s amazing that so many of the current generation of players are still resisting efforts to make the game safer. Especially when they see some of their own football heroes, like McMahon, experiencing a clearly declining quality of life.

 

 

FDO

 

New Evidence for Expanded Health Insurance

 

Health insurance should no longer be seen as optional. The CDC has released a new report that indicates more than 59 million Americans were without health insurance for some portion of 2009. Adults between 18 and 64 accounted for 50 million of that total. This is another great indication that broader health care inclusion for this country was a real necessity.

 

Everyone knows that the costs of health care, or worse, the costs of going without health care, are extraordinary. What has not received enough attention is the depth and breadth of the problem. This issue is not about poverty or race or even the recession. It’s about individuals and families being overwhelmed by systems they don’t understand and costs they can’t manage. That is precisely when the government should intervene. The Obama administration should broadcast this report as loudly as possible to help make the case that health care reform is critical and repealing it would be disastrously cruel. Besides, as I recently asked, when Americans begin receiving additional coverage, who among us will want it to go away?

 

 

FDO

 

Bush's Book

 

I’m not that interested in reading what President George W. Bush has to say about the topics he’s interested in discussing. Today is the release date for his book but I have a very different list of things I want to know. Namely, what were his immediate reactions to some of the events that happened while he was in office.

 

These aren’t the most important things, just important things Bush wouldn’t necessarily have known about it in advance. First responses are always telling. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Here’s my list:

 

The first American has died in Afghanistan

Daniel Pearl is killed

Pat Tillman

Columbia disaster

Saddam Hussein’s capture

Re-election is confirmed (Remember that in the 2004 Election Bush almost lost in a similar fashion to the 2000 Election he won. That year, Ohio could have disrupted the popular vote/Electoral College relationship.)

Colin Powell’s resignation

Fidel Castro’s resignation

Sarah Palin as John McCain’s VP choice

Barack Obama winning Nobel Peace Prize

 

 

FDO

 

The Minnesota Vikings- The Ewing Theory 2012 Super Bowl Champions!

 

As a Vikings fan, I am desperately holding onto hope for this season (Rodgers is the next Packer to hit the IR, the Bears play like they are who we think they are and the Lions, well, never mind.) but if none of that works out, here’s a new possibility for us. The Ewing Theory! In a nutshell, this idea says that many teams dramatically exceed expectations in the season after their signature star leaves the team. Examples abound.

 

The Vikings will be a perfect candidate after Brett Favre, their Hall of Fame bound quarterback, fails in his quest to bring the Vikes that elusive Super Bowl win (and move up the list of all-time greats). He's "Ewing".

 

Brad Childress will be fired and Leslie Frazier will be his replacement, giving the team a renewed emphasis on defense. Tarvaris Jackson is not the incompetent many of his detractors claim and combined with Adrian Peterson and a healthy receiving corps, the Vikings will be at least average offensively. In the weakened NFC, the combination of a solid offense, aggressive defense, awesome home field advantage and a giant chip on their collective shoulders may be enough to make a deep playoff run.

 

(If Childress is fired this year, there’s some modified Ewing Theory hope for this season. Randy Moss would be the Ewing in that scenario.)

 

Now, if only there were some hope for the Timberwolves…

 

 

FDO

 

 

Justified Use of Force (for Oscar Grant)

 

 

Every year there’s a new one

A Diallou, King or me

Clamoring loudly

Faces on TV

We ask so many questions

But no one’s forced to answer

 

With sympathy’s short half-life

Soon most are hoping for the noise to stop

And the questions to disappear once again

Just like us

In our lives

And our deaths

 

 

 

 © Gayle Force Press 2003

 

RIP Oscar Grant

 

Once again, Black folks in California are publicly distressed about a police shooting. This time, the victim was Oscar Grant, a 22 year old Black man who was shot and killed by a White police officer in a subway at the beginning of 2009. The officer was convicted of the shooting (involuntary manslaughter) and given a 2 year sentence. The frighteningly short sentence is the source of the protests. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, will probably be out of jail by Memorial Day 2011. 

The CNN article linked above is indicative of the attention that's been/being paid to the entire situation. Grant's name does not appear until the 11th paragraph. 10 paragraphs before this dead person is even acknowledged by name. 

 

The basic outline of the shooting is tragically familiar. White officer kills unarmed Black man. Momentary outrage. Down the memory hole. Wait a little while. Repeat. 

 

A few years ago, I wrote about this cycle of police violence but I wasn't bold enough to follow it to the ultimate conclusion for so many young Black men, death. Instead, I wrote about the violence that wounds, heals and scars. Today, that doesn't feel like quite enough. It's not quite enough for me. It's not quite enough for Oscar Grant. But it's all I can give him now. 

 

 

FDO

Ta-Nehisi Coates on a Culture of Poverty

 

<Sigh>

 

I immediately related in many ways to Ta-Nehisi Coates' recent post about almost beating someone up at a professional gathering. In the super short version, TNC was accosted by a stranger. TNC and the stranger had an interaction that got heated and then got superheated. When TNC tried to physically leave the situation, the stranger followed him and refused to end the exchange until TNC made it clear he was willing to move from verbal to physical. The guy left. (Hey, I can admit that I still have the occasional dayflash about beating the hell outta someone.)

 

 

Fortunately, I think, I never wore the tough pose very well either. That lack of fit made it much easier to take off when I needed. The notion of code shifting is very important because those of us who do it well simply have more choices than those who don't. It sounds to me that the conversation TNC had at the party shifted into being a confrontation and his default response to confrontation is radically different than his default response to conversation. He shifted codes subconsciously.

 

 

This gets to the broader notion of poverty's culture in that TNC had lots of teachers for both the 'street' and 'elite' codes he now knows well. Most kids who grow up poor only get one set. That's one of the core reasons why I believe many elite institutions hold more value for non-elites than for elites. My poor students, Black and White, get much more out of our program than the rich kids do. The poor kids learn academics and culture. The rich kids just learn academics. That's largely because my school replicates many of the norms and themes of elite life. One area where I think we push some rich kids to code shift is our emphasis on social justice. They don't get those kinds of messages from the rest of their culture and the leaps many of them have to make to embrace social justice as a value often mirror the leaps poor kids here make to personal restraint (which I argue is an elite value).

 

 

The kind of restraint TNC wishes he'd demonstrated in the story he relates fits perfectly in The Atlantic but would be laughable if he were telling the story to his friends at the domino table. My guess is that he would feel pressure to alter the ending in that setting. In the new telling he'd probably make sure his friends knew a) how serious he was in his threat b) how well the threat worked and c) how much he wishes he'd been able to act out the threat.

 

 

But maybe I'm just projecting.

 

 

FDO

 

Me and Kim Novak

 

 

If you’re not current, you don’t count.

 

I don’t want this to be the way of the world in 21^st century America but I think it is. I saw the name Kim Novak at the top of a Yahoo search list and instantly assumed Kim Novak has recently died. My thinking was pretty simple. Why would Kim Novak be a hot topic right now? She must be dead.

 

Kim Novak has almost no meaning for me. I think she is (was?) an actress in Hitchcock movies and that makes me think she’s (she was?) blonde. I’m putting together some impressions I have of her but that’s all I got. It’s possible that Kim Novak is a) not at all who I am thinking, as in, an entirely different person b) the same person but famous for a totally different reason c) doing something that warrants an uptick in interest but I didn’t get to choices a-c until actively pausing to consider other options besides dead. Sad but true.

 

If you’re not current, you don’t count.

 

 

FDO

Dusty Baker, Tony LaRussa and Red Ruffians, or, Major League Blunders!

Why Baker and LaRussa should not see each other again this season.

I have a few thoughts about the Cardinals-Reds brawl from their last series. You may remember Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips made numerous provocative comments about the Cardinals then when he came to the plate, Yadier Molina chastised him, benches cleared, bodies flew and hell was raised. At least two pitchers were tossed against the fence in a scary scene. One of them, Johnny Cueto, received a seven game suspension because of kicking at the Cardinals surrounding him. Jason LaRue suffered a mild concussion as a result. I firmly believe that Cueto’s lengthy suspension was based on the injury that his actions caused, not the actions themselves. Random kicking into an onrushing crowd is much less dangerous than throwing a fastball at a batter’s head. Cueto was obviously frightened and, as a pitcher, smartly avoided throwing punches. As we’ve seen too many times, a single arm injury can cost a pitcher his career, millions of dollars and his team a championship.

More importantly, MLB should institute a blanket rule covering fighting the way the NBA has done. In the NBA, if you are on the bench and cross onto the playing floor you are automatically suspended. (I think there should be a little gray area there because basketball benches are so close to the court that players on the sidelines are often less than a step away from the court so crossing over sometimes happens during actual play, much less during a melee.) In baseball, the idea might be to simply punish anyone who comes onto the field or, if already on the field, leaves their legitimate area of engagement. That covers guys playing defense, warming up on the sidelines, the on-deck hitter, the base coaches, everybody. As usually happens in these fights, Phillips and Molina were yelling at each other but not fighting. It was only when 50 other guys crowded the area that things became physical. (Reason #37 professional sports are like junior high school.) Removing the additional people from the scene means that umpires and security personnel can tamp down confrontations quickly, easily and safely. Ideally, managers would be exempt from this rule and allowed to bring their players back to earth from Planet Testosterone.

That notion took a beating in the Phillips-Molina encounter because Tony LaRussa and Dusty Baker failed in their primary responsibility as managers during a fight. They did not serve as peacemakers protecting the game and their players, instead they escalated the confrontation. For them, two games was not a severe enough penalty. I think MLB missed a perfect opportunity to declare that fighting is a dangerous problem for baseball by dropping the hammer on these managers. Baker and LaRussa should have been suspended for the rest of the season series between these teams. I mean, full blown suspended too, as in, can’t enter the stadium during these series. These are old school guys who behave in old school ways that simply don’t make sense in 2010. These great managers behaved in ways that encouraged their players to fight. That is entirely unacceptable. What I am suggesting is the kind of draconian penalty that would make it clear to managers that fighting will no longer be tolerated. Too harsh? Perhaps. That’s kinda the point.

FDO