Author: whodeanny

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

 

The Little Dipper

 

I looked into the night sky

Once, early this spring

And discovered the Little Dipper

Rising into the heavens

From just above my roof

 

For thousands of years

The rich and the poor

The wise and the dumb

Have all looked in wonder

At these same few stars

 

Blinding them, gently

Then guiding their vision

Into the heavens

Far above their earth

 

So it feels nice that I

Can share in that wonder

Contemplating the same

Hidden gorgeous mysteries

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2011

  

Summer Days (#4)-Early Solstice

 

The sun bears down today

Not cruel but firm

Insistently

Patient

Winning our grudging recognition

Acceptance of its force

 

Car windows go up

Air conditioners on

Jackets come off

Buttons are undone

Joggers walk

Runners jog

Walkers smile in their malls

 

Children play and play

Barely noticing the stinging sweat

They wipe from their eyes

 

© Gayle Force Press 2011

 

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 21st 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

 

World B. Free

 

Twenty-five years ago

I went with my dad

To an old stadium

Gone and dearly departed

If not regretfully

To see my Indiana Pacers who

I loved stridently

At home

In the new Curtis Mathes set that

How were we to know

Lasted far too long

 

 

But there in person

For the first time

Was a different kind of feeling

Since they were bad

And most of my focus

Started and stopped on a man named

World B. Free

Although I’m not sure how much of

This poem

Is true

I have no doubt

About World B. Free

 

 

It started with his hair

Though it was not exceptional

Except in its lack of exception

Stuck in a time

I may never understand

But all the rest fit too

How much he loved the game

Even when it was an awful game

And tried without ever looking

As if he were trying

 

 

Mostly though

The shooting

Like little orange only rainbows

Up and down

With no gold at the end

Only more orange

And then at its beginning

The look that might have been a smile

If he’d known no one was watching

 

 

At the end of the game

It seems that no one else noticed him

Because watching him play

Might have kept someone from skipping school

As it did me from stealing gum

Off the too short racks

Meant to taunt me

At the store

But lots of kids did that

And their parents drank too much

Cheated with a waitress

Then left home

(Not because of the children)

Even though they’d seen World B. Free

On the court downtown

 

When I asked later on

My dad said he used to be called Lloyd

That may well be

But he was always World B. to me

  

© Gayle Force Press 2002

 

2012 Timberwolves Draft Thoughts

 

The last three years have been a very hard time to be a fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves. They have a comically unsettled coaching situation, a mismatched roster of players, a laughingstock owner and the General Manager so incompetent that he inspired a Facebook group of people hoping to replace him with a sportswriter.

Still, today’s draft could become a great turning point for the Wolves.

 

Multiple rumors have suggested that the Phoenix Suns are incredibly eager to draft Derrick Williams, the standout collegian from the University of Arizona. Even if there were no formal offer to trade Steve Nash for the #2 pick (and Chad Ford believes that offer did happen) the deal on the table that would trade that pick for center Marcin Gortat and #13 seems a must-do for the Wolves.

 

The Wolves are still uncertain as to whether or not they want Derrick Williams to be their selection and the only conceivable reason for them to choose Enes Kanter or Jan Vesely instead of Williams is the desire to upgrade the center position. If that’s the goal, why not go for the proven commodity in Gortat? In the last 30 games or so of the season, Gortat was one of the top 10 centers in the league despite playing short minutes. His ability to score, rebound and defend would immediately improve the Wolves substantially.

 

The Wolves could also use their first round draft choices to make their roster more complete. As it stands, the Wolves only have 8 or 9 guys who are clearly NBA players. They desperately need more talent, more athleticism and more potential. Using these two picks to find the combination of a high scoring shooting guard and a talented young center prospect seem the way to go.

 

When you’re as low as the Wolves are, it’s imperative to take risks and force yourself into opportunities. This draft appears to be an example of opportunity knocking loudly. Come on, Wolves. Open the door.

 

FDO

 

Update: The Wolves chose Derrick Williams and were ultra-aggressive in trading their picks. They got a lot done but appear to still be moving along the margins instead of making moves toward immediate success. Perhaps they anticipate next year's draft being so strong that they can make a quantum leap after the draft/free agency periods of next summer. Perhaps.