Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Busch, Mayweather Aren't Allowed Free Passes
I'm not perfect, no one is.
But there are certain actions, that even when not able to be "proven" in a criminal court of law should be carried with the perpetrator forever. You beat a woman but are able to dance your way out of charges, good for you but you don't get to be seen in a new light. You molest a child but never spend a day in jail for it, your still scum of the Earth. You like to sexually assault women but are able to argue it was consensual therefore skating the law, well played, but you are no doubt less of a man.
This week two such men have garnered the spotlight in the world of sports.
First, enter into the ring serial woman beater Floyd Mayweather. His long and sordid past was recently profiled in ESPN's Outside the Lines (video below) and I won't exhaust all of the incidents here but his history is clear.
If the history wasn't bad enough having shills like Stephen A Smith @ ESPN sticking up for is track record, and acting as if we are "bad" people for not separating the "boxer" from the "woman beater," is not only laughable, but a disgusting argument.
Now enter NASCAR and driver Kurt Busch who took the checkered flag on Sunday at Richmond. He won the race after being forced to miss the first 3 races of the season due to a suspension from NASCAR for a serious altercation with a woman that resulted in a restraining order being issued against him.
What made Busch's win very unsettling wasn't the fact that NASCAR had no backbone to continue his suspension but instead that his victory somehow exonerated him. FOX's Mike Joy actually uttered the phrase "from suspension to redemption," as Busch was on the final lap and crossing the finish line.
Jalopnik did a great job covering this today, and you can read that story here.
This isn't about second chances. This isn't about what can be proven in a court or not. This isn't about if victims get bought off and then change their story.
What this is about is simple. A person's actions off the court, field, track, ring or whatever their venue is in sports or professional work most certainly should be included in their persona inside the venue. Just because they excel in their sport or win races and boxing matches doesn't give them a free pass for beating on women. They aren't "redeemed" or exonerated once they claim victory on the field.
Shame on big media for allowing anyone to think otherwise.
But there are certain actions, that even when not able to be "proven" in a criminal court of law should be carried with the perpetrator forever. You beat a woman but are able to dance your way out of charges, good for you but you don't get to be seen in a new light. You molest a child but never spend a day in jail for it, your still scum of the Earth. You like to sexually assault women but are able to argue it was consensual therefore skating the law, well played, but you are no doubt less of a man.
This week two such men have garnered the spotlight in the world of sports.
First, enter into the ring serial woman beater Floyd Mayweather. His long and sordid past was recently profiled in ESPN's Outside the Lines (video below) and I won't exhaust all of the incidents here but his history is clear.
If the history wasn't bad enough having shills like Stephen A Smith @ ESPN sticking up for is track record, and acting as if we are "bad" people for not separating the "boxer" from the "woman beater," is not only laughable, but a disgusting argument.
Now enter NASCAR and driver Kurt Busch who took the checkered flag on Sunday at Richmond. He won the race after being forced to miss the first 3 races of the season due to a suspension from NASCAR for a serious altercation with a woman that resulted in a restraining order being issued against him.
What made Busch's win very unsettling wasn't the fact that NASCAR had no backbone to continue his suspension but instead that his victory somehow exonerated him. FOX's Mike Joy actually uttered the phrase "from suspension to redemption," as Busch was on the final lap and crossing the finish line.
Jalopnik did a great job covering this today, and you can read that story here.
This isn't about second chances. This isn't about what can be proven in a court or not. This isn't about if victims get bought off and then change their story.
What this is about is simple. A person's actions off the court, field, track, ring or whatever their venue is in sports or professional work most certainly should be included in their persona inside the venue. Just because they excel in their sport or win races and boxing matches doesn't give them a free pass for beating on women. They aren't "redeemed" or exonerated once they claim victory on the field.
Shame on big media for allowing anyone to think otherwise.
Friday, March 27, 2015
And so the Worm Turns -- Racial Violence Plaguing St. Louis
Just a day after I blogged about absolutely no progress being made in St. Louis on the race relations front and comparing our city's racial tension to the contrasting racial harmony, relatively speaking of course, that exists in the other side of the state in Kansas City, more ugliness rears its head.
A MetroLink passenger captured video of a black passenger yelling at a white one (to me the dialogue in the video is inaudible), but the white victim later told police that the black assailant asked the white victim what his opinion was on the Mike Brown case. His answer of "I haven't thought much about it," sends the black man into a physical rage where he is seen on camera betting the white victim about the face and upper body with punch after punch.
The video is very disturbing and you can see it all here, along with the Fox2 report on the activities.
Our city is in a very bad place right now with no signs of it getting better. Its sickening that we as a society are allowing this to happen. Something must be done.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Black Mayor Tired of "Racial Bullshit" and I Love Him For It
So an interesting article hit my news feed this morning.
Kansas City's Mayor Sly James (the city's second black mayor in its history) basically came out and told a black political group to go fuck themselves, he did it a little more diplomatically than that though, but even that isn't the headline here.
I don't know Sly James that well but I did have the pleasure of meeting him a few occasions during my time in KC at various events around the area. I have a dear friend who knows him well from back in his college days and we would both say Sly is a stand up guy and a wonderful leader for Kansas City.
As a longtime resident of the St. Louis area I am keenly aware that racial tensions run high in this area. That was clearly evident this summer with the incidents in Ferguson and elsewhere in the city's core.
It takes a dude with some serious stones to tell a black political group he doesn't care about them. It takes even bigger stones when that dude is a black man himself. On the surface it would appear that James is telling his African American base he doesn't care about him. But it is so much more than that.
You can read the complete history here in the original story from the KC Star but the bottom line is Freedom Inc. played some nasty politics recently and brought up Jim Crown in encouraging people to vote against a development and transportation project that James was in favor of.
Race relations are real, especially in Missouri. As a recent resident of KC I think the city is light years ahead of St. Louis in terms of integration. That's not to say KC doesn't have its share of racial issues. 1968 saw terribly violent riots in KC and even today Troost Ave remains as a socioeconomic and racial divide in the city's core.
It might be Jame's leadership, the collective attitude of its residents, a thriving business community in the urban core made up of both huge companies (H&R Block, Hallmark just to name a few) and start ups and small firms as well, or growing population of residents (vs. declining in St. Louis' urban core) but the racial line in KC is much more gray than it is black and white in St. Louis just 250 miles to the east. In St. Louis shit like this happens on a regular basis.
I am not saying its all kittens and rainbows either, but the fact that you have a black mayor saying "I'm just tired of racial politics. . . not going to put up with this racial bullshit," the message is clear. James is not about to let his city have a wedge driven through it.
Meanwhile in St. Louis leaders on both sides of the fence not only continue to allow the wedge to be driven in the metro area, they almost encourage it and welcome it. Leaders in Ferguson just dug their heels in deeper in response to the recent Department of Justice report that cast a dark light over a municipality where racial prejudice was allowed to run rampant. County and city leaders tip-toe around the subject for fear of upsetting their "base" which only draws the line deeper into the racial fiber of the metro area.
I'm like James on this one and am tired of the "racial bullshit." I am sickened when I hear white people put down blacks and I am disheartened when I hear black people talk of their distrust for whites.
Someone, anyone, needs to step up and yell "enough of this bullshit," and let's move this community forward into the 21st century. We are all in this together and the sooner everyone realizes that the better.
We don't have to look very far for our example or inspiration thanks to Sly James.
Kansas City's Mayor Sly James (the city's second black mayor in its history) basically came out and told a black political group to go fuck themselves, he did it a little more diplomatically than that though, but even that isn't the headline here.
I don't know Sly James that well but I did have the pleasure of meeting him a few occasions during my time in KC at various events around the area. I have a dear friend who knows him well from back in his college days and we would both say Sly is a stand up guy and a wonderful leader for Kansas City.As a longtime resident of the St. Louis area I am keenly aware that racial tensions run high in this area. That was clearly evident this summer with the incidents in Ferguson and elsewhere in the city's core.
It takes a dude with some serious stones to tell a black political group he doesn't care about them. It takes even bigger stones when that dude is a black man himself. On the surface it would appear that James is telling his African American base he doesn't care about him. But it is so much more than that.
You can read the complete history here in the original story from the KC Star but the bottom line is Freedom Inc. played some nasty politics recently and brought up Jim Crown in encouraging people to vote against a development and transportation project that James was in favor of.
Race relations are real, especially in Missouri. As a recent resident of KC I think the city is light years ahead of St. Louis in terms of integration. That's not to say KC doesn't have its share of racial issues. 1968 saw terribly violent riots in KC and even today Troost Ave remains as a socioeconomic and racial divide in the city's core.
It might be Jame's leadership, the collective attitude of its residents, a thriving business community in the urban core made up of both huge companies (H&R Block, Hallmark just to name a few) and start ups and small firms as well, or growing population of residents (vs. declining in St. Louis' urban core) but the racial line in KC is much more gray than it is black and white in St. Louis just 250 miles to the east. In St. Louis shit like this happens on a regular basis.
I am not saying its all kittens and rainbows either, but the fact that you have a black mayor saying "I'm just tired of racial politics. . . not going to put up with this racial bullshit," the message is clear. James is not about to let his city have a wedge driven through it.
Meanwhile in St. Louis leaders on both sides of the fence not only continue to allow the wedge to be driven in the metro area, they almost encourage it and welcome it. Leaders in Ferguson just dug their heels in deeper in response to the recent Department of Justice report that cast a dark light over a municipality where racial prejudice was allowed to run rampant. County and city leaders tip-toe around the subject for fear of upsetting their "base" which only draws the line deeper into the racial fiber of the metro area.
I'm like James on this one and am tired of the "racial bullshit." I am sickened when I hear white people put down blacks and I am disheartened when I hear black people talk of their distrust for whites.
Someone, anyone, needs to step up and yell "enough of this bullshit," and let's move this community forward into the 21st century. We are all in this together and the sooner everyone realizes that the better.
We don't have to look very far for our example or inspiration thanks to Sly James.
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