Students at Notre Dame not to blame
Thoughts after a wild and weird weekend: 1 Oh, the hypocrisy in the world of sports, in particular, college sports. When Notre Dame edged Clemson in double overtime late Saturday night, many of the students in the crowd of 11,000plus stormed the field. Clearly an illadvised move, considering that coronavirus positives are spiking in Indiana — up 88% from two weeks earlier.
The next day, the university president, the Rev. John Jenkins, issued an admonishment, saying: “It was very disappointing to see evidence of widespread disregard of our health protocols at many gatherings over the weekend.” The university promptly implemented mandatory coronavirus testing for students and strict penalties for those who don’t comply.
Jenkins is from the “Do as I say, not as I do” school of educating. He attended a superspreader event at the White House, the ceremony for new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. He didn’t wear a mask ( most of the students on the field Saturday night appeared to be wearing masks) or socially distance. He tested positive for the virus a few days later.
Hard to have a lot of moral authority if you can’t hold yourself accountable. 1 If you plan on signing a player with a long rap sheet and history of misbehavior to your NFL team, try to make sure you have a “Sunday Night Football” game on your schedule.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unveiled their new wide receiver Sunday night, Antonio Brown.
Brown was benched by the Steelers, traded to the Raiders, signed to a huge contract, mangled his feet in a cryogenic chamber, refused to wear a newly designed helmet, was fined, disparaged the general manager, released a video of his phone call with head coach Jon Gruden, was cut and then signed by the Patriots.
But that’s just the NFL stuff. He also was accused of sexual
assault by two women; he was sued by one and sent threatening text messages to another. The Patriots released him. Early this year, he was arrested on battery charges in Florida, after an incident with a moving company. At the end of July, the NFL suspended him eight games for “multiple violations of the NFL’s personalconduct policy.”
Still, last month, during Domestic Violence Awareness month, the Buccaneers signed him. That’s even though head coach Bruce Arians had said in March that Brown “is not a fit in our locker room.” Arians bowed to the twin pressures of Tom Brady, who seems to have an obsession with Brown, and injuries to other receivers. The NFL reportedly is still investigating the rape accusations; a civil suit in the assault charge could go to trial soon.
Yet for SNF, Brown is simply — as Al Michaels said — the NFL’s “wayward son.” Like Dennis the Menace. This is the same way the crew talked about former 49ers and Raiders linebacker/ defensive end Aldon Smith when he debuted for the Cowboys, failing to mention why Smith was out of the league for so long.
Karma made a bigger statement than the broadcasters. The Bucs were blown out 383 by the Saints, and Brown caught three inconsequential passes.
The election of Joe Biden as president means that a lot of sports championship teams may return to the tradition of being feted at the White House.
Socialmedia posts indicated there will be a change in attitude about the visit ( and hopefully a change in diet — no more fast food).
The Warriors’ Draymond Green tweeted to the Lakers’ LeBron James “Yoooo @ KingJames y’all can go to the White House and celebrate y’all title G!” James tweeted back, “YO we back up in there my G!!! I’m taking my tequila and vino too.”
No NBA teams have attended a White House ceremony during the Trump administration. The outspoken Warriors started the trend, saying they didn’t want to go before promptly being disinvited.
The last NFL champion to attend was the 2016 New England Patriots, but only half the team showed. The World Series champions, NHL teams and college football champions have been the only consistent attendees. WNBA teams have not been invited, nor have most college basketball champions — men or women — aside from the Baylor’s women’s team in 2019.
One noted noninvitee, World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe — who got into a public spat with Trump after saying, somewhat profanely, that she would not be going to the White House if the U. S. team won the World Cup in 2019 — also was active on social media. She posted, “Update: I can’t get to the f** king White House fast enough now!!”
Of course, no one will be going to the White House for a very, very long time. There’s a global pandemic and there won’t be any superspreader events scheduled any time soon. 1 Speaking of the Warriors, it’s sure nice the team unveiled an “Oakland Forever” version of its City Edition jersey, celebrating the 47 years the team spent in Oakland, prior to moving back to San Francisco and to Chase Center.
But it did seem like odd timing, coming on the heels of the news that the team is continuing to fight in a dispute over the $ 47 million of outstanding debt at what was known as Oracle Arena. In August, a state appeals court reaffirmed that the Warriors owed the money that still remains from the 1996 renovation of the building. The Warriors have filed for a hearing before the State Supreme Court.
Oakland Forever?