by John Walters
Where The Ho’s At?
We read this story on the NBA’s return which, let’s be clear here, appears on a website whose company will earn millions and millions of dollars hosting the NBA for two months, not to mention airing most of its games. We’re sure the writer has integrity, but there’s an inherent conflict of interest.
Anyway, the question of what will happen when a player tests positive (a two-week quarantine) has finally been answered but not who will administer the test. Because it matters. Because if the folks administering the tests are paid by an organization that has a dedicated interest to those tests being negative, well….
The story also said each player can bring a few people with him. That’s a nice story if you think of Steph Curry, his wife and the little ones, but most NBA players are not Steph Curry. Most are in their 20s, many are single, and plenty indulge in The Life of an NBA Player. And, well, from what I read, they’re not going to be allowed off-campus except in case of emergency and no one is allowed on. You (they) can only be amused by Xbox so long.
It’s a 100-page document on how to operate a 2-month long season. You have to wonder: Is it worth it? I don’t think it is. And while it’s doubtful any player will get sick and die, what if someone does? What if a few do? We don’t get it.
Gundy Gumption
Where does one even procure an OAN T-shirt? Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy went in front of a camera yesterday and apologized for wearing the T-shirt.
I did find it funny that Paul Finebaum, who’s spent his entire career catering to Alabama and Auburn football fans, is so aghast at the racist undertones of OAN that he called for Gundy to be fired on ESPN. I’m shocked! Shocked, that there is racism in this establishment.
Before we all go back to the early 2000s and an America so intolerantly tolerant that it gave rise to the likes (and dislikes) of Clay Travis and the Birther movement, I caution you: being racist is deplorable (yes, I used that word) but it is not against the law. Nor should it be. It’s one of those tests to the foundations of liberty, just like kneeling during the national anthem. Someone has a right to have views and opinions that you find atrocious. They have that right. They don’t have the right to break the law as a means of furthering those views (see here, you Boogaloos!), but they do have a right to those views.
So Mike Gundy can go on air and apologize. And he does owe his players an apology. But he has long been outspoken about a lot of things, and that’s why I’ve always liked him. My guess is that he’s a conservative (No!) who just didn’t appreciate how racist some of the people he hangs with are. My guess is that he’d go to that Tulsa rally if he could.
I don’t agree with any of those views (well-documented here). But I’ll alway defend people’s right to have them. You should, too. Liberty is a two-way street.
How To Do Everything Wrong
In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman has an Op-Ed titled “Is Trump Trying To Spread Covid-19?” That’s a deliberately provocative headline guaranteed to get Stephen Miller’s and Jared Kushner’s attention. And even though the overlap of people who want to attend the Tulsa rally and New York Times Op-ed page readers may be zero humans, it’s still a headline that will draw eyeballs inside the RNC.
I said it at the beginning, and I’ll say it again now (but rhyming), “No vaccine, no machine.” In other words, until there is a vaccine (or herd immunity), everything should be undertaken with a priority on stopping the virus. Doesn’t mean you totally ignore the economy, but you do all the smart things, which does not include attending MAGA rallies or going to crowded spots without a mask. Etc.
Donald Trump and his Republican enablers, by October 1st, will have been personally responsible for at least 100,000 deaths. I’m arriving at that number by taking the total number of Covid deaths in the U.S.A. (which will at least be that on 10/01) and dividing by two. And that fraction is giving Trump a very kind pass. He’s responsible for more deaths. 100,000 deaths. That’s worse than LBJ and Nixon combined in Vietnam and that was over 11 years. This will have been seven months.
One last Trump thing: everyone notes the slow descent on the ramp, but if you watched his body as he was speaking, he wasn’t standing upright for much of it (as the above photo shows). He was leaning to his left the way a Dean Martin roast speaker would after he’s had a few too many. We know Trump doesn’t drink, but he was obviously favoring something. And if you watch that ramp clip again, you’ll note that he’s stepping more gingerly on his right leg. Something to keep an eye on.
Brazen Bolton
The book’s release date is scheduled to be June 23rd. The book, The Room Where It Happened, by former national security advisor John Bolton, will likely contain the revelations that, had Bolton taken the stand six months ago, might have led to Donald Trump’s ouster. And who knows? Maybe the coronavirus would have been handled better.
Of course William Barr’s Justice Dept. is trying to have the book’s publication blocked (as if he’s Woody Allen or someone) and of course they’re using a bogus reason to do so. William Barr isn’t about justice or transparency: he’s about the status quo (read: white power).
David Halberstam once wrote a book about the LBJ years and the JFK cronies who got us into the Vietnam quagmire and ironically titled it, The Best And The Brightest. A latter day Halberstam type (Michael Lewis?) will write a book on this administration and hopefully title it The Worst And The Whitest. Without irony.
And while many will buy Bolton’s book or at least read it, let’s never forget: he’s a coward. He shirked his duty to the U.S.A. and sold us out for the book advance ($2 million) and royalties. There are many who’d argue that’s just the American way. Nevertheless, Bolton’s a Judas. To both the U.S.A. and now to the administration he served under. He’s hated by all sides, as he should be.
I’d have more respect for these leagues if they just came out and said we have to come back so we all can get paid.
Safety this, safety that. All bologna. Newsflash: The world won’t end if there isn’t a champion for the 2019-2020 season.
Surely Gundy’s apology (a day after he made a public statement with no such apology) was due to OSU’s panicked realization that any college football program with even a hint of anti-BLM bias will suddenly find recruiting a lot harder.
As for Bolton’s book, I co-sign with someone on Twitter who suggested that one person buy the book on the release date and tweet out all the interesting parts, and that the rest of us all agree not to buy it and enrich Bolton any further.
Why are you just asking about the NBA? What about the Euro soccer leagues, the PGA, & the NWSL (women’s pro soccer league whose mini-season/tournament is scheduled to start THIS MONTH)?
And are you saying HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES who have done nothing for most of the past 4 months can’t actually do some WORK for a month (most will be eliminated & gone within a month)? And boo-freakin-hoo, they have to “rough it” AT A HIGH-END RESORT! For god’s sake, I went to summer camp for 16 years – johns (outhouses) for toilets & outside showers & washstands, 4-10 bunks to a cabin. These guys can’t “survive” a FANCY HOTEL with multiple choices of pools & other amenities?!
And who do you think will be administering the tests? The unemployed arena concession staff? Come on jdubs, the NBA was the 1st pro-sports org to shut everything down, do you REALLY think they’d risk a mass epidemic by HIDING positive tests?
I think what the NBA is attempting shows creativity & much thought. It’s not just ESPN (Disney), TNT & the billionaire owners that want the “Return”; at least until 3 weeks ago, the vast majority of players were quite vocal that they WANTED TO PLAY. And what’s wrong with trying to make some money & not have the entire league go under?
If folks can work at the Piggly Wiggly, exposing themselves to the public every damn day, then pampered & sheltered MILLIONAIRE ATHLETES can give it a go, IF they want & if precautions are taken. And it seems those last two are covered.
As for Gundy – your GUESS is that he’s “conservative”? Even I know this guy has been a virulent Trump “supporter” for the past 3 years & until he was FINALLY CALLED OUT, was a “loud & proud” admirer of OAN! And “go to” the Tulsa rally? Heck, Gundy might be an organizer if not financial contributor. Since when did you embrace the MAGAites?
BTW, what’s your opinion of all those being FIRED for alleged racist statements/tweets made anytime in, oh, the last half-century? And you seemed to be onboard with tearing down all the Confederate statutes, but aren’t they a physical manifestation of “free speech”?
Lord, someone woke up on the wrong side of the broom. The statues are not free speech if they are being erected by a municipality.
It is fun to see your blind spot, though, Susie B. As long as your Sweet Pea returns, all is well. I imagine if he tested positive on the eve of the NBA Finals that we’d all hear about it and he’d sit out. Sure, that would happen.
Well jdubs, I guess you don’t remember that I’ve only watched Sweet Pea play TWO TIMES during the last TWO YEARS. After Kobe’s death, I had decided I would try to get past my anger & disgust with his decision to move to LA & more specifically, play for the Lakers, but on the 2-3 occasions I tried to watch some games in early March, I just couldn’t stand it & clicked away after 5 minutes.
I don’t even know IF I’ll watch the NBA’s version of the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride. Except for repeat viewings of past Olympics & various World Championships on the Olympic Channel & NBCSN, I’ve barely thought about sports the past 3 months (more concerned with, y’know, “STAYIN ALIVE ooh ooh ooh, stayin aliiiiiiivvvvvee”) & have rarely even watched anything on ESPN. I did watch the 1st two episodes of that JOKE of a 10-part (!) Jordan “documentary” (HAH! Talk about a FARCE!) , but when I found out he had complete editorial control, I stopped wasting my time.
What I know of the NBA’s plan for a return was from checking the website.
MAYBE if Sweet Pea shaves off that hideous beard, I’ll restock my Tums & give it a go when (if)ever the ‘Summer Nights of the NBA’ begins. Or at least when it gets deep into the Playoffs.
With regard to Susie’s reply to my comment yesterday, just wanted to make a couple of follow up points.
– That someone who attends OS on scholarship to play football, knowing that there are cultural issues of racist insensitivity, does not negate the fact they are now at a point where they feel like speaking up and out is an important thing to do.
– Gundy may always be a “conservative” and / or racist and he may be put in his grave with the same beliefs he held on Monday. This does not mean you decide he’s always going to be this way so why try? It’s not about him. It’s about calling people to account for what they express in their expressions of free speech. Making him realize that he is going to be held to a higher standard in his job and in public is still a step in the right direction. It’s not an all or nothing thing.
– Change is rarely an instantaneous thing. What Chuba achieved was pushing OS to take the first steps. Why is pretty irrelevant. We are dealing with a different generation of players, in a society that is markedly different in it’s expression of tolerance or intolerance of racism in just the last 3 weeks. The timing is conducive in a way it has not been in the past for players to start speaking out. We can hope it’s the beginning of a change that may take decades to be fully realize but it’s a start.