Category: Event

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, 50th 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

 

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.

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

Teaching and Stretching

 

In exploring another school this week, on an accreditation visit, I am learning much more about my own. Specifically, I’m learning about the relationship between education and expectation.

 

I teach in the ways that make the most sense to me, for my students as I perceive them. I am already beginning to wonder if I should invoke a more aspirational model. What that would mean for me is steadily moving toward higher expectations for all my students. Some of my students feel as though my classes are already (too) difficult but they really aren’t tough. The genuine issue is that most of the kids at my school are unaccustomed to working without a teacher holding their hand, making sure they don’t stumble. Oh yeah, they are also unaccustomed to working hard.

 

Curse you, Professional Development!

 

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

US Open Men’s Tournament Preview 2010

 

 

This is the first time in many years that at least 5 men should enter a Grand Slam tournament feeling as though they have at least a 10% chance of winning. For Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, this US Open has to be seen as a realistic opportunity to provide a breakthrough in some way.

 

For Federer, winning this title would not only ‘stop the bleeding’ but it would dim the calls that he’s on the path of clear decline. Last year, his loss to Martin Del Potro was seen as shocking, but this year, his aura of invincibility has all but vanished. Winning in New York would push him back to being the clear #2 in the world (the silly ATP rankings system be damned) and would give him another year of multiple Grand Slam victories. Not only would that pad his lead, it would also keep Nadal from gaining ground in that all important category.

 

For Nadal, this tournament could push him into rarified air. Winning the lifetime Grand Slam is significant and would allow him another feather in his history cap. 3 Grand Slams in a year would also propel him radically out of the pack and into a unique position at the top of his sport. Nadal stands to prove that his game truly does work on hard courts and US Open success could mean that Nadal would also be primed to win in Australia next January with a chance to win the “Spanish Slam”.

 

Soderling needs this win. He needs to get past the competitor stage and move into the champion stage. He has the game for it and the personality to take it. Instead of being one of the guys, Soderling could become The Next Big Thing in tennis, instantly surpassing Djokovic and Murray in that conversation. (Del Po could have been that guy but his wrist injury has made that impossible.)

 

Djokovic risks becoming a tennis afterthought. Even though he’s #3 in the world, and has been as high as #2, no one feels that he’s likely to become the best player in tennis. (To most fans, even Djokovic’s arrival at #2 was less about his climb as much as it was about Fed’s descent.) Winning in Australia in 2008 should have catapulted him into tennis’ royal box but it didn’t happen and now he’s in jeopardy of being a one hit wonder. He still has a chance to become Jim Courier instead of Michael Stich but has to take advantage of this kind of opportunity.

 

Roddick may need this championship more than any of the other top contenders because his window seems nearest closing. His only Grand Slam victory came here in 2003 and, although he’s had excellent results since then, he’s likely to be viewed as an underachiever when his career ends. Although winning again in New York would be the least beneficial major for him to win, he desperately needs another Grand Slam title under his belt.

 

Andy Murray is best suited to win on hard courts but in his two Grand Slam finals, Federer beat him thoroughly. If Murray truly believes he can eventually win Wimbledon, he would be well served to have notched a major championship elsewhere first. The openness of this year’s field may yield the best opportunity he will have to achieve his ultimate goal.

 

With the rough equality of so many top contenders, I believe the US Open may prove a tremendous fortnight for tennis fans across the globe.  Especially since the clear #1 woman, Serena Williams, is out of this year’s tournament, the excitement of the men’s tournament is likely to provide the key to a successful end to the 2010 major season. I am looking forward to the many great matches I expect over the next two weeks.

 

 

FDO

 

 

I Need Some ‘splainin’

Thursday, I saw two kids skateboarding in the parking lot of a funeral home. There was pretty clearly a funeral happening at the time and who knows, maybe skateboarding is great grief therapy. To my crotchety eyes, the sight was disgustingly disrespectful. Maybe I should spend some dedicated time and attention to American funeral practices before feeling so bothered. Maybe this is part of a long standing ritual. Right?

Right?

 

FDO

Be Very Very Quiet, It’s a Police Car

On the way to the store I was stopped at the one traffic light on my route. At the front of the line, 2 cars ahead of me, was a police cruiser. When the light changed to green, nothing happened. Really nothing happened. Nothing happened for so long that a car opposite us at the light turned left.  It was several, maybe 10 seconds. I honked the horn and the police car began moving. I live in a part of town that has grown dramatically in the last few years. People are consistently impatient drivers and I often hear honking within the first half second of a changed light. Sometimes, folks honk simply because the lead car is not going fast enough out of the chute. I began wondering if the fact that it was a police car is what kept everyone (else) from using their horn. Do people fear the police enough that they believe they will have a negative consequence from blowing a horn at a police car?

 

 

FDO

Obama’s View

I think it will be intriguing to see how much of a boost President Obama receives from his appearance on “The View”. This seems like a perfect opportunity for Obama to seem less distant law professor and more charming leader. The drone of politics will be replaced, at least for many folks, by soundbites and cute anecdotes. Isn’t that what every politician wants?

 

 

FDO