Jon Gruden & racism and NBA Players Arrested and Etc

 Jon Gruden in an email to Bruce Allen, the President of the Washington NFl team, once known by the racist slur "The Redskins," referring to De Maurice Smith, the African American NFLPA director in 2011, said of him that he had "lips the size of Michellin tires." You don't get more racist than that. Gruden, now the coach of the Los Vegas Raiders claims that back then he referred to people who lie (meaning Mr. Smith) as having "rubber lips." Really, Jon? Got caught being a racist and pulling shit out of the air? I check out the Urban Dictionary to see what it says about rubber lips. Definition #1: Someone who mangles the pronunciation of a word through lingual clumsiness. Definition #2: The rubbery shape of a person's lips. Think Mick Jagger. Nowhere could I find having rubber lips meaning to lie. That pretty much hoists you, Jon, on your own petard, wouldn't you say? 

Another thought to keep in mind for those still willing to give Gruden the benefit of the doubt. To whom was Jon Gruden emailing this slur? Answer: To the brother of George Allen, famous for his racist "Maccaca Moment" to describe a man of color who was tracking his political speeches. Aha! And lets make a further connection: Bruce Allen was hired by Washington team owner Daniel Snyder a staunch conservative Republican who was proud of his team's name "Redskins" considered racist my Native Americans. Voila! And lest we forget, Mr. Snyder donated $1 million dollars to racist ex-president Donald Trump. Checkmate, baby!

There is a whole lot of inductive reasoning going on, Jon, that leads to a reasonable conclusion about you that in 2011 you meant exactly what what spewed out of your mouth to be  a racist slur. Nobody believes that rubber lip lie crap, 

Would Jon Gruden of today use raciest slurs? Probably not, not that he might not want to, but because in today's media sensitive society, he'd be caught out pronto and would be out of a job just as fast. Jon Gruden is not a stupid man, but he might very well be a deeply ingrained racist. The evidence seems overwhelming.

On to another distasteful subject:

Can't believe that retired NBA players scammed our NBA health insurance. Shame and for shame on you guys. What's so nuts to me is why? WHY IN THE HELL DO IT? The money doesn't make sense. Let's just say that all these scammers when they played only received veteran's minimum. In the year 2000 the minimum for vets with 4 years experience was $510,000 dollars but probably higher in most cases. But lets just say it was the basic minimum and each of the scanners played eight year seasons. That comes to $4,080,000, not a bad for 8 years work. So, now these guys are scamming a health system for 10 or 20 lousy grand? What's up with that? The only thing I can think of is they're broke and desperate. 

I'm thinking of teachers minimum starting salaries, Small business owners, social workers paychecks and I have no sympathy for these guys. Every single one of the scammers should pay back what they scammed, and they should serve jail time. And they should made to pay for their own health insurance. 

On a happier note, a much happier note, my Golden State Warriors are going to be a vastly improved team this coming season. Kudos to Bob Myers and Joe Lacob for insisting a WIN NOW strategy does not preclude a WIN LATER draft strategy. The Dubs are now a far better shooting team that the last season with Jordan Poole coming into his own and with the addition of Howard Porter Jr and Nemanja Bjelica to space the floor. Let's hear it for drafting Moses Moody and Kuminga. And sticking with Wiseman and not panicking because he was so raw. Klay will be back by mid year. Go Warriors!

I'm also happy to report -  in my humble opinion - that the Sacramento Kings, my fall back team due to the fact I live in Sacramento, with the addition of Devion Mitchell and other vets Like Tristan Thompson, will be a much better team this year. I'm betting they will make the playoffs. I'm not betting a whole lot, but I AM betting. 

Here's a poem from my first collection of poetry Nothing You Lose Can Be Replaced. 

Oscar      by Tom Meschery

          Oscar Robertson, The Big O, Hall of fame guard Cincinnati Royals & Milwaukee Bucks     

Always at those moments
when we thought the game was ours,
out came the cavalry bugler
blowing charge. It was Cincinnati
1963, but today it's pure Hollywood,
soldiers suddenly appearing on the horizon,
the terrified Apache, who always suffered
a losing season, high-tailing it across the border. . . 
were only and an average team. Don't you remember
the Warriors won most of those games.
not anymore. Today, I can't use 
wins and losses, but Oscar's jumpers,
rising over Embry's crushing picks,
the bugle's notes fading into applause - 
I need those picture, like movies
I can watch over and over.

It's About Frigging Time

 It should have happened long ago. Today the NFL announced that they would clamp down on Taunting. It's been going on far too long, and has, in some minds, especially young athletes, a part of the game as they see their favorite football players taunting opponents. Taunting is not cool. It is not manly. It is dishonorable, It is childish. It adds nothing to the game unless you are the kind of knuckle head fan who likes to see stupidity. It is not strategic and it provides the taunter with no advantage, except the enmity of the tauntee. It is not gamesmanship. It is small mindedness.. Taunting is a form of bullying. Those of you in the NFL who taunt, consider the example you are setting for the youngster playing football.  

It should have happened long ago. Today the NBA rules committee announced that in the upcoming season the league would pay greater attention to players on offense drawing fouls, the example they gave was of a player dribble up the court with a defensive player behind him. The player with the ball suddenly stops and the player behind him has no place to go except run into him. Foul against the defense? No longer. It will be called from now on as a no-call (get on with the game) or a foul on the player dribbling who stopped. No longer will offense be able to leap into a defender and get a guaranteed foul and freethrows. A no-call or a charging foul on the offense. Players who try to get this kind of advantage are to put it mildly sneaks. 

In both cases, the acts have something to do with a player's attitude to winning. If winning is one's only goal, then any advantage one can gain seems worth doing.

Here's a small poem by William Makepeace Thackery

Who Misses or Who Wins

Who misses or who wins the prize
Go lose or conquer as you can:
But if you fall, or if you rise,
Be each, pray God, a gentleman.     

COVID Knuckleheads & Simmon's Commentary

 Okay, let's get this right, QBS Kirk Cousins and Lamar Jackson will not get their COVID vaccinations. Cousins, I read in the news, questions the science. I guess he's a scientist and not just a so-so quarterback. Jackson has already had the COVED19 twice. Guess he'd like to try for a third bout. He might want to read a little about the virus's long term side effects. Do both of these men qualify for the term Knucklehead? Oh, by the way, the Pfitzer vaccine is approved by the CDC and the FDA. 

P.S. Has any reporter found out the number of Republican Anti-vaxxer politicians who have secretly had vaccinations? Might be a good article. 

Ben Simmons wants out of Philadelphia. I say to the 76ers, good riddance, but management doesn't see it that way. They are willing to trade him, but are asking for the moon as well as a couple of planets. This for a guy who refuses to learn to shoot properly. KNUCLEHEAD???? His free throw % an embarrassment. To all the teams who have a need for Simmon's unique skills (I do believe he is a unique passer and finisher and rim scorer) I say to them, DON'T DO IT. As much as I admire Philly's GM Daryl Moray's defense of Hong Kong protestors, I humbly suggest, let him suck it up. Simmons is a Super Star Project. Yes, PROJECT. As long as he shoots the basketball like my Aunt Nellie without her specs, he will be a project and never truly fit on any team. And he will never be worth the $ and loss of draft choices, etc.  And, to Moray here's my humble advice, if you can get Brogdan from the Pacers or another true point guard plus one downtown shooter like Buddy Heild in, say a 3 way deal, go for it. And this is just by way of an aside: The 76ers would not have fallen to the Hawks had Danny Green been healthy and hitting threes. Even with Simmons scared to death of taking a shot in the final game. 

In closing, I wonder if anyone is annoyed that the dual screens during commercial breaks are of equal size. I'm  not against the double screens per se. However, shouldn't the players get a teeeeeny bigger screen than frigging Rolex or Mortgage banking?

As it's base ball season in full swing, here's one of my poems bout pitching.

LOOKING AT AN X-RAY OF MY BACK   by Tom Meschery

I say to my doctor, my spine
looks like a curve ball
and he says
it's a breaking pitch
to the inside. I think that's funny,
so i say I can still win a game 
or two even at my age,
you know. And he says
you can't fool anybody
with that pitch at any age. 

Osaka Sadness and Etc

 As an athlete who's played at the highest level of his sport, I found Naomi Osaka's interview heartbreaking, particularly the part about not being happy with winning, only relieved. Winning tennis no longer makes her happy, she said. Osaka has recently opted out of the last two tour tournaments and chose not to compete in the Olympic games for her country, citing mental health issues. It was very brave of her to share what her problem was. Could she have some back too early for the US Open? I believe her body language on the court proved it even more than the mistakes she would have never made had she been mentally ready and engaged in the game. 

Serena Williams, when asked how she deals with the pressures of professional tennis (the constant attention of media, the demands on one's personal life) she said she had "thick skin." Clearly, Naomi could use a thicker skin. Naomi Osaka's depression and anxiety could have had more to do with her empathy for the suffering in the COVID world around her and her horror over the greedy and power MAD politicians that endanger humanity. Need I mention the environment, the racial divisions, the violence, and the rapidly growing separation between the rich and the poor? Osaka's skin is  not thick enough to withstand such inhumanity. For that, she has lost heart. It will take her time, meditation, love, and support to find her way back to tennis so that she can once again feel the joy of victory. 

Etc:

If Daryl Morey doesn't become more realistic about Ben Simmon's value, he'll wind up out thinking himself. He better ask himself if the 76ers can start the season with this problem still unresolved. Simmons has already said, he's a no show for training camp. 

The Sacramento Kings should take a flyer with Simmons, but only if it requires giving up Heild and Bagley and maybe a first round draft choice down the line. No more. Simmons defense and athletic skills would help to change the defensive culture of the Kings who sorely need to get tons tougher in that category. Not to mention that Simmons at close to 7 feet can run like a deer and finish at the basket. The speed of a Fox Simmons, Davion Mitchell, Terese Haliburton would be impressive and effective. They'd have virtually no consistent 3 pts scoring without Buddy, but at this point in Kings history they need Big D before Big 3

To the PGA, adjust your split screen policy and give a larger screen to the match and a lesser screen to the commercials. Ask yourselves, are you selling products or providing sporting entertainment? 

A lovely little poem for you fly fishermen   by Philip Raisor from his book of poems, Headhunting.  

from Four Legal Weapons.

Before the art comes the hook,
disguise, let's say, as a Wooly Bugger.
I attach a sliver of marabou to the shank
and wrap the hackle feather tighter
than most. Beautiful, yes, but remember:
downstream is the hunger waiting to fry.    

Tony Finau and Other Stuff

 A big HooWah for Tony Finau, a man of color, who won the Northern Trust tourny. He's advanced to the Fed Ex Finals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Finau is of Tongan and Samoan descent and the first of Pacific Island heritage to play golf at the highest level on the PGA tour. 

It's not news that are few men of color playing professional golf on the PGA Tour. That goes for the Women's tour as well. But let's stay with men for the time being. Before Tiger Woods took the game to a  new level, there were a few African American men who distinguished themselves: Lee Elder and Calvin Peete, for example. Today on tour there are two noteworthy black players on tour: Cameron Champ and Harold Varner III. It is understandable in a country that is so divided between the rich and poor. Golf is expensive to play and to learn. Similarly, so is tennis. Yesterday I saw two African Americans playing against each other in the first round of the U..S. Open. "Wow!" I said. However, when the camera panned into the stands I also noted there was very little racial diversity sitting watching. Ditto the fans watching golf at the National and the BMW. A sport has to be accessible to youngsters for them to catch the fever. Golf and tennis are not even in the same city let alone the same neighborhood. 

STUFF:

What are the bookies saying about the odds that the 49ers two QB system will work? 

Since defensive linemen in football in a punting situation by rule can release as soon as the ball is snapped, why the heck don't they sprint back to become blockers for the receiver rather than try to block the punt, an act of futility as far as I'm concerned.

There should be a  rule in soccer that says once the ball crosses mid field, it can not come back, which it does so often I'm half asleep before there looks like a reasonable attack unfolding. 

Another NFL question. Why do coaches keep their stars (the ones not coming off of injuries) from getting any real game time during exhibition season? Are they so certain that the vet will be game ready to play from the get-go? I guess we'll find out this season. 

Lots of talk in our sports page about high school athletes leaving their district schools and enrolling in schools with more elite programs. This is a  trend that has been going on now for at least the last 15 years. In basketball, for example, there are basketball academies for the extremely gifted that have their own schedules and play against each other and are scouted by the pros. If this trend continues and there doesn't seem any reason to believe it won't, it is time to consider the European model of school boy and girl sports. No sports in school. Sports clubs for athletics. I love the democracy of high school sports and would hate to see this happen, but it looks to me that sports in our country is fast becoming more of an oligarchy than a democracy. 

Here's a fabulous poem about baseball written by Robert Hamlin from his neat poetry book, Keeping Score

A HERO FOR ALL SEASONS

I remember Eddie Yost:

Who raised the base on balls 
to the level of art.

Who took batting practice
to practice not to hit.

Who once fouled off nineteen
third strikes to earn a walk.

Who persuaded kids too small
for football and too short
for basketball
that litt'uns could also be big'uns.