dust in the wind, and other hits
The first floor of stately lumberyard manor is covered in ceramic tile dust. The guys are supposed to come today and yank up the carpet and vacuum...a lot. In the meantime we're treating our second floor like an apartment...pretty much living there. For the youngster, the dog, the mom-in-law, the wife and me...let's just say it's cozy, and there's no kitchen.
Jaguars offensive tackle, Kalif Barnes, got stopped by the cops recently, for doing in excess of 100 mph in a 65 zone on a highway in town. He blew over the legal alcohol limit and was charged with DUI. In my mind...no worse than anyone else getting pulled over. What he did after that on tape is what's causing a local furor. It's being played over and over locally. He said it's a shame there's a professional team in this hick town, and he couldn't wait to get out. We, apparently, don't know how to treat professional football players, especially if they're black. We don't respect NFL players. Then he called the arresting officer a "KKK devil". When I said he was an offensive tackle, I was referring to his position, not his tirade, though it fits there too. Apparently we're not alone though. One Cincinnati Bengals player said the Ohio State Police force had been targeting Bengals (who are the current poster team for this sort of off-the-field crap) players because of the kind of year they were having. One has to wonder...were they having a good year, or a bad year? Kalif's home town of San Deigo isn't doing so well either. A member of their police force recently shot at an NFL player. Maybe that's our problem. Our police force dissed him by not taking pot shots at him before pulling him over, maybe? No street cred in that, when you're spending the night behind bars.
Now the question is...what happens to Mr. Barnes? If a white player did something like that and railed against the black community, he'd be run out of town before the sun went down...either released or traded. Think John Rocker and the Atlanta Braves. Yet everyone sorta shrugs this off because of the double standard that says only white men can be racists. The apologists are coming out with all sorts of reasons why this should be swept under a rug and forgotten. I can tell you this. If he thought people didn't like him before because he was black, he now knows how it feels for everyone not to like him because he's stupid. His popularity has plummeted. His silence on the issue isn't helping him any either. No explanation. No apology. No nothing. I thought the public and the media overreacted to John Rocker when they pretty much pressured the Braves to get rid of him, and I think pressuring the Jaguars to get rid of Barnes would be just as much of an overreaction. In both cases though, the player made his bed and has to lie in it, in the court of public opinion. The list of punishment suggestions range from "nothing, get over it" to "release him". The consensus is a few game suspension, but nobody thinks that'll happen because of that double standard. I think he should be fined and suspended for 4 games. Anybody else have an idea?
Jaguars offensive tackle, Kalif Barnes, got stopped by the cops recently, for doing in excess of 100 mph in a 65 zone on a highway in town. He blew over the legal alcohol limit and was charged with DUI. In my mind...no worse than anyone else getting pulled over. What he did after that on tape is what's causing a local furor. It's being played over and over locally. He said it's a shame there's a professional team in this hick town, and he couldn't wait to get out. We, apparently, don't know how to treat professional football players, especially if they're black. We don't respect NFL players. Then he called the arresting officer a "KKK devil". When I said he was an offensive tackle, I was referring to his position, not his tirade, though it fits there too. Apparently we're not alone though. One Cincinnati Bengals player said the Ohio State Police force had been targeting Bengals (who are the current poster team for this sort of off-the-field crap) players because of the kind of year they were having. One has to wonder...were they having a good year, or a bad year? Kalif's home town of San Deigo isn't doing so well either. A member of their police force recently shot at an NFL player. Maybe that's our problem. Our police force dissed him by not taking pot shots at him before pulling him over, maybe? No street cred in that, when you're spending the night behind bars.
Now the question is...what happens to Mr. Barnes? If a white player did something like that and railed against the black community, he'd be run out of town before the sun went down...either released or traded. Think John Rocker and the Atlanta Braves. Yet everyone sorta shrugs this off because of the double standard that says only white men can be racists. The apologists are coming out with all sorts of reasons why this should be swept under a rug and forgotten. I can tell you this. If he thought people didn't like him before because he was black, he now knows how it feels for everyone not to like him because he's stupid. His popularity has plummeted. His silence on the issue isn't helping him any either. No explanation. No apology. No nothing. I thought the public and the media overreacted to John Rocker when they pretty much pressured the Braves to get rid of him, and I think pressuring the Jaguars to get rid of Barnes would be just as much of an overreaction. In both cases though, the player made his bed and has to lie in it, in the court of public opinion. The list of punishment suggestions range from "nothing, get over it" to "release him". The consensus is a few game suspension, but nobody thinks that'll happen because of that double standard. I think he should be fined and suspended for 4 games. Anybody else have an idea?
Labels: Bizarro World
John put this out here at 8:00 AM
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