I have said this before, but Missouri in many ways, should be located in the Deep South, especially in terms of the relationship between the races and the relationship between people of color and government/police. I have never felt comfortable the times I’ve been there, and all one has to do is look at not only Ferguson, Mo. and the issues there, but in the whole area. Police comprised predominantly of white men covering an area that is 60% or greater African-American.
Apparently, there have been numerous incidents on the University of Missouri campus including taunts and comments hurled at minority students. For months, black student groups have complained of racial slurs and other slights on the overwhelmingly white campus and lead school of the state’s four-college system. Frustrations flared during a homecoming parade Oct. 10 when black protesters blocked President Tim Wolfe’s car, and he did not get out and talk to them. They were removed by police. It was so bad that one student held a one week hunger strike protesting the situation and calling for the president to resign.
Then the black players on the football team announced that they would not participate in any sporting activities until Wolfe stepped down. Less than 24 hours after the football players joined the protest, Wolfe did resign.
President Tim Wolfe said his resignation was effective immediately. He made the announcement at the start of what had been expected to be a lengthy closed-door meeting of the school’s governing board. Wolfe took “full responsibility for the frustration” students had expressed and said their complaints were “clear” and “real.” “This is not the way change comes about,” he said, alluding to recent protests, in a halting statement that was according to CNN.com ‘simultaneously apologetic, clumsy and defiant.’ “We stopped listening to each other,” said Wolfe. He urged students, faculty and staff to use the resignation “to heal and start talking again to make the changes necessary.”
While the Missouri football team is no powerhouse this year (4-5 currently), it is still about football and money. The Tigers’ next game is Saturday against Brigham Young University at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. A clause in the agreement between the schools says that canceling the game would cost Missouri more than $1 million. So, this change was one of cash over remorse.
I remember when the black football players at Northwestern boycotted practice over racial comments and rules by then coach Rick Venturi, but that’s far different from calling for the university president to resign. But the situation at Missouri is much worse: the devisiveness of politics and media has turned the school (and probably many others) into hotbeds of bubbling unrest.
I comment these young men (and the young women who are also participating) on the football team and the man who did the hunger strike. Obviously, the world is changing, but many people, like dinosaurs knee deep in the tar pits, are fighting for the status quo of white privilege and it’s going away and they know it.

I’m sure that NHL Commissioner Gary “The Count” Bettman is breathing a sign of relief today along with the entire Chicago Blackhawks front office. After a week where he scored 4 goals and had 5 assists, Patrick Kane was named the number one star of the week. Kane has been under a huge cloud amid stories that he had sexually molested a young woman in August. It almost got him traded, banished; he has been taunted on the road. As he has said, the hockey rink has been his sanctuary.
Perhaps Kane has been celebrating on the ice this week: the young lady withdrew her cooperation with the investigation and the prosecutor said that there was a preponderance of reasonable doubt. This does not of course preclude the young lady from filing a civil suit against Kane, but criminally, the case is over.
Reportedly, the Blackhawks are still angry over Kane getting himself into this situation in the first place and could consider his future with the club, but since he’s tied in the scoring lead for the whole NHL right now, and local fans are more then ready to move on, I don’t think the PR implications are going to be too severe for the club. (Kane’s promotional future is probably dead however.)
So, Patrick Kane was the NHL number one star of the week on and off the ice. Blackhawk fans are happy; the team marginally so; the league definitely so.

Everything is for sale. Body parts, relatives, integrity, nothing matters in this world except for the almighty dollar. Even patriotism, which could mean anything from general love of country to a “love or leave it” kind of unthinking slavish devotion. As it turns out, the Pentagon has been funding many of the tributes to service men and women at sporting events, especially at NFL games.
Over the past few years, the Pentagon spent $6.8 million to pay for patriotic displays during the games of professional sports teams according to a joint oversight report released by Arizona Republican Senators John Flake and John McCain. Since 2012, the Pentagon signed 72 contracts with teams in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer that amounted to what the senators called “paid patriotism.”
For example, taxpayers paid $49,000 to the Milwaukee Brewers to allow the Wisconsin Army National Guard to sponsor the Sunday singing of “God Bless America.” In another contract, the New York Jets were paid $20,000 to “recognize one to two New Jersey Army National Guard soldiers as hometown heroes.”
USA Today reports that NFL teams received the biggest slice of the pie, $6 million. The newspaper added that: “The Atlanta Falcons received $879,000; the New England Patriots, $700,000; and the Buffalo Bills, $650,000. The Atlanta Braves received $450,000, the most of any Major League Baseball franchise, while the Minnesota Wild were paid $570,000, the most of any National Hockey League team. The Atlanta contracts included a 2013 event during which a roaring crowd cheered as the Falcons welcomed 80 guard members who unfurled an American flag across the Georgia Dome’s turf.”
In memos included in the report, the Pentagon said the payments were part of its recruitment campaigns. But it has since banned the practice and, according to Flake, the NFL has called on its teams to stop taking money for patriotic salutes.
I guess showing returning soldiers is better than showing the reality of what these young men and women are going through: PTSD, depression, poverty, lack of support from the government despite jingoistic “Support Our Troops” rhetoric. For the first time in a very long time, I agree with these two Republican senators, when people thought that these teams were doing these displays for altruism, these were very nice displays. The scenes of surprising young people and family members with the sight of a returning mother, father, son or daughter were really moving scenes. Although becoming a bit cliché, we fans have gotten used to rising and applauding veterans at sporting events, but now, it’s just another revenue source for the teams.
I know that I am very cynical – I’m old; I’ve seen a lot, especially in sports. Greedy owners, cheating athletes, abusing coaches; it’s hard not to be jaded. This report didn’t help.

Last night, 22,000 fans watched as Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane continued his torrid scoring pace, tying the score at 2 against the Los Angeles Kings early in the third period by taking the puck and while the Hawks changed lines in really a one-on three break, ripped a rocket shot that whizzed past All World goaltender Jonathon Quick. Eight minutes of play later, Kane had the puck behind the L.A. goal and he made an unreal backwards pass to Teuvo Teravainen who scored what would eventually be the game winning goal.
Kane was voted the number 1 star of the game, and perhaps he was celebrating. It appears that the sexual assault investigation against Kane three months ago may be ending with no charges against the star. The woman who accused Kane of raping her is no longer cooperating with the law-enforcement investigation, according to two sources with knowledge of the case. This follows stories yesterday from the same publication saying that there were doubts that criminal charges would be filed.
The Buffalo News, citing five unnamed sources, said the accuser signed “an affidavit declining prosecution” last week after a meeting at the Erie County district attorney’s office in western New York. Technically, prosecutors could move forward with the case without the woman’s cooperation, but it’s unlikely that they would do so. Sexual assault cases often hinge on the accuser’s testimony and credibility. If an accuser appears reluctant or waffles on testimony, it could be difficult to persuade jurors to convict.
The case showed significant weakness weeks ago when prosecutors said that DNA analysis found that samples taken below the accuser’s waist came from more than one male profile. None of the DNA belonged to Kane, according to Kane’s attorney, Paul Cambria. The timing of all of this cannot be overlooked. Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III could choose to bring a case against Kane, but he is now expected to be elected as a state trial judge Tuesday in Buffalo, where he is running unopposed. As I wrote weeks ago, this case had to have had Sedita in quite a quandary: do you go forward with the prosecution of a local star or risk being seen as soft of sexual abuse.
Blackhawk fans are probably breathing a collective sigh of relief as Kane is currently leading the team in scoring and third in the NHL with 16 points. The image conscious Blackhawks can relax having put behind them the controversial decision to let Kane play in training camp and the season with the allegation hanging over his head. The young lady is certainly no winner, as are many rape victims.
Folks, there are no winners in this. Something happened in Kane’s house on the night of August 1st. Did Kane do the wrong thing? We will probably never know. Did the girl try to make money off the situation? We will never know. Did the police handle the case properly, like treating the young woman like a victim, not like being prosecuted? Again, we will never know. Kane is playing well, and making millions of dollars per year, but he will lose millions from lost endorsements. The young lady is definitely a victim, not matter what else happened. The Blackhawks franchise is a victim, trying to run a model franchise but with one of its biggest stars always subject to scrutiny and questions.
And we the fans are victims too. Yes, we wear Kane jerseys and cheer victories, but, like it or not, these guys represent us also. As a father of girls, what does it say to cheer a possible sexual abuser?
This is a sad story that may be coming to a sad end. But no one is spared the shame.

Conspiracy theories are the bastion of Republicans, Tea Party members and Fox News, although I’m still in the air about the JFK assassination. Still, I’m no Oliver Stone. But I did wonder if Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred gave a call to the owners of the Washington Nationals this week.
The Nationals were a huge disappointment this year; to many pundits, they were World Series contenders, but they underperformed, finishing the regular season barely above .500 at 83-79, seven games behind the New York Mets in the NL East. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo wasted no time when the season ended, firing Matt Williams who had never had a managerial job prior to the Washington D.C. job. It was obvious that more experience on the bench was necessary.
All this week, it was rumored that Bud Black, former manager of the San Diego Padres had the job. It appeared to be a done deal, until stories surfaced that Black was insulted by the financial package the team had put together. Meanwhile on the MLB Network, for Reds/Cubs manager Dusty Baker was openly upset about the fact that he couldn’t get a managerial job despite 20 years behind the bench. It appeared that Baker, Ozzie Guillen and other former bench coaches of color were going to be overlooked, the first time since 1988 without an African-American in a manager’s job.
Suddenly, Black was passed over and Baker got the Washington Nationals job, allowing Major League Baseball to not be embarrassed by its lack of diversity (although 1 of 30 positions, or 3.33 percent is not exactly a great ratio). The 66-year-old Baker, brings a 1,671-1,504 career record ( .526 winning percentage) to the Nats bench. He has the second-most victories of any active manager, and he has plenty postseason experience having led the San Francisco Giants to the 2002 World Series, and reached the postseason a half-dozen other times. Baker also managed the Chicago Cubs and, most recently, the Cincinnati Reds, who fired him in 2013. Baker won NL Manager of the Year honors in 1993, 1997 and 2000.
Again, I’m not saying that the commissioner applied any pressure on the franchise, especially since sports commissioners are the powerless principals to a school full of rich, unruly owners who the commissioner serves at their discretion. Still, to have a very experienced, successful, black manager on the sport’s own network bemoaning the lack of opportunity looks bad.
So, I’m congratulate the Nationals, who got a good manager. Black I’m sure will have other opportunities. Baseball dodged a bullet at least in the court of public opinion.

As everyone knows, the Kansas City Royals ended a 30-year championship draught by winning the World Series over the weekend in five, very exciting, come from behind games, including 2 extra inning contests.
I was working at the old Comiskey Park in the 1980s when the Royals were the class of the American League with George Brett, Frank White, Jorge Orta and the rest. Still, this shows you how the sands of time can change one’s attitude toward a hated team. As a Sox fan, I didn’t like it when the Royals came to town to beat on the South Siders, which they did with regularity. One of my favorite memories was of the left field White Sox fans who, after several years of the Royals making the postseason but losing, posted a banner “Welcome Annual Pennant Chokers” in Royals blue. Needless to say, the Royals weren’t happy about this and I remember they pulled off the left field wall and stomped on it on the warning track.
But those days are long gone. The Royals were a small market franchise who rarely was even noticed – they were like the old Kansas City A’s, farm team to develop talent who would get good and leave town once free agency time came around. In past posts when discussing the problems of the game and the concept of contraction came up, I also listed the Royals as a franchise that could no longer compete – ripe for relocation or dissolution.
No longer – the Royals are champions and the city is alive with pride and activity after having lost in the Fall classic last year. The bigger question now is – can they stay there? Perhaps more than anything, this is contingent on fans paying money to sit in seats. I know that fans who support teams in good times and bad hate bandwagon jumpers, and so I wonder how some fans are handling success? I have not had the opportunity to travel to Kansas City in many years, but I was in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival and there, the Blue Jays were the hottest property in town. Bars were packed when they played; tickets were as hard to come by as Maple Leafs tickets. Unfortunately, mismanagement, a weak Canadian dollar in comparison with the U.S., led to bad teams and general indifference. I have been to games since the hey day of the early 1990s when you could get good seats at game time. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have the longest streak without a Stanley Cup title of any NHL franchise, but tickets are impossible to get. SkyDome resembled a mausoleum more than a fan filled baseball park. Kaufmann Stadium was the same back in the early 2000s when I was last there.
I have written at length over the years of the implicit contract that professional sports teams have with their fans and the cities in which they operate. Owners and front offices have the responsibility to put the best team on the field/diamond/pitch/ice/court that they can and if that’s enough, fans should support them. I admit turning down Blackhawks tickets in the early 2000s because of “Dollar” Bill Wirtz charging Bentley prices for a Yugo product. Now however, the Hawks have of course won three Stanley Cups, but we shared partial season tickets in the years before the championships. I haven’t been to a White Sox game in a couple of years more due to a busy schedule than a statement about the team. Still, I have to wonder about how deep the support really is in Kansas City? Or Toronto?

Football is the sport for the unbridled id – instinct to run, block, hit the “enemy” – the members of the other team. Football is discussed in terms of war: the bomb, territory, among others. I think it is this constant contact and aggression in practice and during games that helps to explain football players who are abusive to wives, girlfriends and kids. And I am not even talking about the additional aggression that is a side effect of steroid use (’roid rage”). However, these very large men inflict serious harm on other players; a normal person would be in serious trouble.
Three years ago, the NFL got a reminder of how dangerous a troubled football player could be. Jovan Belcher was a linebacker with the Kansas City Chiefs who after another of a long string of arguments with his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, killed her, then drove to the Chiefs practice facility where he killed himself in front of then GM Scott Pioli and then-Head Coach Romeo Crennel. The ease of getting guns, with the football mentality gave us a horrific, terrible incident.
It appears that the Chicago Bears could have missed a mass shooting incident with recently cut defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff on October 21 according to police reports that were released this week. According to the Chicago Tribune, Ratliff showed up at Halas Hall that day in no condition to work according to multiple people familiar with the situation. Ratliff was sent home in a car driven by someone else. This may have been the last straw for the Bears, who decided to cut the four-time Pro Bowler. After Ratliff was informed of his release, he returned to team headquarters, parked outside the security gate and came onto the property on foot, saying he needed to gather his belongings. According to the police report, Ratliff at one point said “he felt like killing everybody in the building.”
Ratliff left with his belongings without further incident during that particular visit, but he did return to Halas Hall a short time later. According to the police report, Ratliff said that he needed to retrieve his cell phone. During that visit, he said, “I am the devil” and that he “wished staff member’s children would die.” It was not clear from the report whether police arrived before Ratliff’s third appearance, but team officials alerted police of their belief that Ratliff owns multiple firearms. Ultimately, no charges were filed and Ratliff has not returned to Halas Hall since, according to Deputy Chief Karl Walldorf of the Lake Forest Police Department.
I’m sure that Halas Hall security, mostly concerned with keeping fans away from the players, upped the ante with the possibility of a cut, angry, potentially highly armed individual on the loose with a grudge against the team. However, this is not the only story about rage in today’s media…
After this week’s GOP Presidential debate, CNN.com ran a story today headlined “We’re Christian Voters and We’re Scared.” At first I thought, scared of what? White Christians remain in the majority in this country, what are they scared of? Reading the piece, on the surface, they see Evangelical bakeries going out of business for discriminating against same-sex couples; they see themselves demonized and ridiculed. In actuality, the world is changing and leaving them behind. They are marginalizing themselves with 5th Century thinking; America is become more like Europe when it comes to religion and that’s not a bad thing. More and more, I think that “conservative” means resistance to change (unless having more people think EXACTLY like they do). Sorry, the times are changing and those on top have to make way for everyone else or its French Revolution time (figuratively if not literally)..
I think that future historians will look at this period in American history as the “Age of Rage.” Everybody’s nerves are on edge; ready to be insulted by the slightest word or deed. Perhaps the rest of the country is following the lead of black people, especially young black men, who seem to always be ready to take umbrage at something and unleash deadly force. Of course, this is a result of having so little self-esteem that any affront must be punished. Of course, the public discourse has been polluted by Limbaugh, Coulter, and Fox News. Liberal outrage, at first, was understandable; it you keep getting called names, eventually, you want to respond in kind. But even liberals sometimes go too far.
I find myself doing the same, coming close to wishing a pox on Rupert Murdoch and his minions, all of the GOP Clown Car, the Koch Brothers, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, but then I remember that I wasn’t raised that way. What it comes down to is two things: first, the times are changing so rapidly, many people feel that they cant catch up; and secondly, we take ourselves entirely too seriously. The Indignant Oldest Daughter is very sensitive and I guess some other kids think she’s weird. I told her that “normal” is boring and I’ve always been weird and I don’t care. Yes, it hurt sometimes, especially when I was her age, but it will pass.
It’s time for much of this country to take a deep breathe and a chill pill. You are not John Wayne against the Apaches in the culture wars; what you do makes not much of a ripple in the pond of life. If something offends you, avoid it. I can’t take more then 15 seconds of Fox News, so I don’t watch. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. A friend of mine used to listen to a radio show in the morning and she would get to work pissed off. I told her not to listen; eventually, the message got through.
Yes, I could go on about gun control, more money for mental health programs, less money on the war on drugs, more on rehab programs, letting adults get high if they want to, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. Yes, all of the liberal/progressive stuff that I have written here so many times before. But maybe it’s just time to tell lots of people (myself included) to sit the f%^& down and relax. In my experience, most people just want to live their lives in peace. Those that don’t, we can deal with, but no one else is a threat to your entire way of life.
The faster everyone puts their guns away and comes to grips (and take responsibility for their sadness in their lives, the better we will all be.