Kevin Marshall's America
Jim Tressel adorns the cover of the June 6th edition of Sports Illustrated for all the wrong reasons.
In sports and politics, you can run from improprieties but you can’t hide. It eventually catches up to you, as it did to Ohio State coach Jim Tressel when he resigned Monday on the eve of a Sports Illustrated expose that detailed various rules infractions by students that he knowingly overlooked.
Tressel has a long and documented history of denial. He didn’t know that a star quarterback at Youngstown received more than $100,000 and a new car from Trustees, even though he told him to go see those same Trustees for guidance. He didn’t know about Maurice Clarett‘s litany of rules violations, gifts, and downward spiral, despite professing that he spent more time with the troubled athlete than any other player under his tenure. Sure, mistakes were made, but it was okay because he was More Than a Coach as a biography of the man proclaimed. He was revered as a dignitary, downright saintly even, by not just fans of THE Ohio State University but sports fans in general. It was all an elaborate fiction, though, as the Sports Illustrated piece revealed. Tressel wasn’t clean, he was crafty, and he got away with it because sports fans and many in the sports media are amongst the most easily deceived and gullible people on the face of the planet.
The truly astounding revelation isn’t that a beloved father figure in sports was exposed as a fraud. It’s that the sports media is so scandalized by transgressions in an inherently corrupt system known as the NCAA. The problem is bigger than Tressel, new cars from Trustees, new houses for parents, shady scholarship grants, and people looking the other way. The problem lies in an amateur collegiate sports program that rakes in untold millions of dollars for corporations, Universities, broadcast networks, cable outlets, and the NCAA as a whole on the backs of kids who are given conflicting messages: you are not allowed to reap what benefits we reap from your sacrifices and talents, but take it if you can get it.
Fans of college sports can and will use whatever warped reasoning they have for their continued and undying support of programs that create ethical quandaries and use up young men like cattle, grinding them out and dumping them off without providing anything resembling real world experience or realistic expectations for what lie ahead. They’ll tell you that these kids all know what they’re getting into, that they’re old enough to know right from wrong, and after all, they’re over eigteen years of age and as such are culpable for their behavior. All of which is true, to a point; if any of them commit a crime, they’ll stand trial as adults. That reasoning, though, applies uneven standards and expectations on young, spoiled minds that are told they’re superstars. Not that they’re going to be superstars, but that they already are. They’re told by people in positions of power, authority, and prestige that they deserve these things that are given to them, because after all, they’re valuable commodities.
Some will say that Tressel should not be held accountable for the actions of others, and that the worst he did was look the other way so that these young men’s futures weren’t jeopardized. That, however, is a gross misreading of the circumstances and willfull ingnorance of his history. More than that, though, it continues the practice of self-deception in the mainstream when it comes to college sports, which are ideally supposed to be held in that order of esteem: college first, then sports. The reality, though, is that certain sports come first. I wouldn’t deign to call it sports college, though, because that infers there’s something of value at the end of it for many of the players. The sad truth is that a great disservice is done to the athletes participating in the major sports programs through a culture of exploitation and lack of ethics in the NCAA.
For far too long, the mainstream sports media has engaged in an attitude that the ends justify the means and that the revenue brought in every year by big-time football and basketball programs only makes those colleges better and gives opportunities to other programs and students where they otherwise may not exist, as if this is somehow impossible without comprimising things like ethical behavior and personal responsibility. Those same apologists, writing columns for major news organizations, will then go on ESPN and crow about the ruination of baseball vis a vis the steroid era, the bad behavior of NFL players, the egos and brazeness of NBA players openly colluding with other players in direct violation of policy en route to a championship, and all the other things that have contributed to a time where role models are few and the concept itself is all but discouraged.
The bottom line is that it all starts somewhere, and it’s with men like Jim Tressel and programs like Ohio State. Let’s not pretend, however, that this incident is isolated. We need to start asking some real questions about not only the accepted behaviors behind the scenes as a whole but also why we’re so willing to look the other way when it doesn’t do anyone any good, especially the players themselves.
This Wednesday is the launch party for Troy Alive, and you’re all invited!
The people behind Albany Alive want to extend their services to the Collar City. And appropriately enough – despite prevailing cynicism from shut-ins and out-of-towners, in the last decade the city has seen a slow by steady revival in its economy and nightlife. It’s only appropriate that it has its own version of Albany’s premiere event promotion company.
It all goes down this Wednesday, June 1st starting at 6:00pm at Revolution Hall. The event will feature a red carpet – the longest ever in Upstate New York – and will also feature a performance by Rich Ortiz and food provided by Brown’s Brewing Company. Plus, local treasure KEVIN MARSHALL will be in attendance along with several other area notables!
Donations for the Troy Boys & Girls Club will also be collected at the event.
For more info on the event, click here and also be sure to follow Troy Alive on Twitter.
Hope to see you there!
Civil War re-enactors got word of Scharpling's actions and were not happy.
Tom Scharpling is a 21st Century Renaissance man: he’s been a comedy writer, host of “The Best Show” on WFMU, and director. Now he’s added hostage-taker to the list.
Scharpling is a friend and fan of one of my favorite bands, Titus Andronicus, a post-punk outfit based out of New Jersey. He’s talked them up on his show and recently directed the music video for “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future” from their latest release, “The Monitor” (a great album that I highly recommend you pick up NOW).
But Tom also has a dark side.
Not content with the 45,000 views the music video received on YouTube, Tom sent the following threat to the band and its fans:
“I have in my possession a live clip of Titus Andronicus performing an AMAZING version of “A More Perfect Union” shot in New Brunswick during our one-day tour of New Jersey as documented in the “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future” video that we dropped a couple weeks ago. You can watch the “No Future” video by going HERE.
I will put the new clip online if we can get the “No Future” video to 100,000 views before Titus Andronicus play New York City on June 7th. But if we don’t get to that goal, the only video I will release will be one of me DELETING THIS VIDEO FROM EXISTENCE.
I am not joking about this – on June 8th you will either get a video of Titus Andronicus rocking out, or you will get a video of me sending this footage to the great trash icon in the sky. The choice is yours, and if you want to see some new Titus Andronicus action, you need to get the “No Future Part Three” clip to 100,000 views by June 7th!”
Folks, he’s serious. The man has made his demands, and if they’re not met this video WILL disappear forever. So please, for the sake of the band’s fans, watch the video and help it get to 100,000 views.
It’ll also be a great way to raise awareness about a great band who just released a great album. And, as Thomas the Jackal himself mentioned, they’re playing New York City on June 7th.
Don’t let Tom win. Fight the good fight. These colors don’t run. Let’s roll.
If you haven’t already, read my open letter to Sheldon Silver and the New York State Assembly.
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On Monday the New York State Senate passed a bill to legalize Mixed Martial Arts, but it was not without its critics. One of them was Senator Liz Krueger of New York County. She was the only one who actually spoke during debate in opposition of the bill, and as such I’ve decided to take some of her concerns and discuss them.
Mind you, I’m not trying to be unfair to Senator Krueger, but I do want to make clear some important points regarding the criticisms she levied against the sport, particularly since they are not just reflective of Senator Kreuger’s opinion but also of other opponents of the measure in the Capitol, particularly those in the Assembly who could see a vote in the last days of their session.
What follows are her main points of contention and my comments. For the sake of not making this into an opus, I’m going to focus specifically on her comments starting at the 5:54 mark of the above video.
1. MMA requires participants to do the most damage possible.
- MMA judging is actually based on four criteria: clean strikes, effective grappling, octagon control, and aggressiveness. “Clean strikes” refers to contact rather than a measurement of force. Effective grappling is wrestling and submissions. Aggressiveness refers to dictating the overall pace of the fight. Actual physical damage is NOT a criteria for judging. Fighters can and do win decisions who have received more visible “damage” because they excelled all areas of the judging criteria.
2. Studies show that strikes on the ground are delivered with 910 Kilos of force.
- That’s if a fighter is in a dominant position, unrestrained, against an opponent who is not struggling, which never happens. Fights are stopped well before it would get to that point where a fighter is not be able to defend himself effectively and/or intelligently.
3. The media under-reports damage to fighters.
- This is a point Senator Krueger made several times, and I’m not exactly sure if she’s referring to specific claims or making an anecdotal observation. I’m also not sure if she’s talking about the mainstream media or specifically the leg of the sports media that covers MMA. I follow several MMA sites that release a full lists of medical suspensions enacted by State Athletic Commissions after a fight card. For those that aren’t aware, a medical suspension states that a fighter after a knockout, grueling fight, and/or injury sustained in a bout will have to undergo a number of days – anywhere from sixty to ninety – with no physical contact and no fighting until they are cleared by a medical professional and approved by the Athletic Commission. The disclosure of injuries is the norm in MMA coverage. As for mainstream media, if there were a way to further sensationalize the dangers of the sport, does anyone think they’d really hold back?
To Whom it May Concern:
There is a popular sport in this country that has come under scrutiny in recent years for the long-term damage it does to its athletes and the culture of self-destruction it breeds. Medical examinations show that repeated concussions, both those that are and aren’t diagnosed, lead to more brain damage than previously thought. Children and teenagers have been severely injured, crippled, paralyzed, and even killed in pursuit of this sport, both as an official activity and a hobby.
In case you don’t know already, I’m talking about football, which has become America’s number one team sport. We do not outlaw football, however, because it is a part of our culture and while there are legitimate concerns, the benefit it has to our society far outweighs the negatives. Moreover, its athletes are well aware of the physical risks, and regulations are put in place to protect them from unnecessary risks and further harm.
Mixed Martial Arts, on the other hand, has experienced only two deaths since adopting a more strict set of rules regulations in 1997 and at the highest level has never seen a fighter paralyzed or otherwise permanently disabled during a fight. In fact, the vast majority of fighters walk away unassisted from fights, a stark contrast to the ambulatory removal of players seen every week during the NFL season.
My point is not to demonize other team sports but to appeal to reason, logic, and common sense.
Despite misconceptions from those who have not been exposed to and educated on the finer points of the sport, MMA is not any more dangerous than other sports in terms of statistics, practice, or regulations. Although words like “knockout” and “submission” can elicit visions of cruelty and bloodlust, the reality is much different. Most “knockouts” are in fact referee stoppages, which occur when the referee sees that a fighter is in a position where he or she will eventually knocked out. While flash knockouts do occur as they do in boxing, more often than not a fight ends after what may be a minor concussion; unlike boxing where fighters are given to a count of ten and receive more damage and repeated shots to the head, which studies have shown exponentially compounds the long-term damage done to participants.
Even still, as alluded to in a previous point, MMA is no more dangerous than even beloved team sports such as football and hockey.
You will notice that I have not used the argument that we can generate revenue. That is because despite the fact that it’s true, I do not want you to think that myself or anyone else is suggesting you throw your hands up and allow MMA to be legalized because someone’s going to make money off something detrimental to society, so it might as well be us. Rather, my point is that Mixed Martial Arts is not the evil, immoral, hedonistic activity you think it is. It is a sport, it is heavily regulated, and through Athletic Commission oversight and provisions in the legislation you have the opportunity to pass in this session, many of the concerns you have will be addressed.
MMA is not a perfect sport, but what is? To say that Mixed Martial Arts is barbaric and that it should remain illegal in the State of New York is not only baseless and morally inconsistent, it is not in keeping with the level of honor and respect the vast majority fighters have for their sport, each other, and their fans.
I urge you to do what you have been unable to do in the last few years: pass the bill to legalize Mixed Martial Arts. Show your constituents and the rest of the country (which allows the sport) that you are not subject to the false assumptions, misconceptions, and knee-jerk reactions to the sport and can judge it on its own merits. You’ll find that if you do so, passing this legislation will be one of the better votes you cast in this session.
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If you support the legalization of MMA in New York State, contact your representative and tell them you want MMA legalized during this session! It will only take a few minutes and could make all the difference.
- Contact your representative by e-mail
- Contact your representative by phone
- Unsure who your representative is? Click here.
In the winter of 2008, I bought an album that received so much play that I stopped counting the number of times my iPod’s battery died in the midst of listening to it, which is (thankfully) the closest thing we have in this day and age to wearing out the grooves in a vinyl record. The album was Bon Iver‘s “For Emma, Forever Ago,” a heartbreaking rumination of singer-songwriter Justin Vernon’s journey into an emotional pit of frozen angst and despair following a break-up with his longtime girlfriend and subsequent retreat into the wilderness. I fell in love with every track on that gorgeous, haunting, and heartbreaking LP.
Seventeen years earlier another album, Bonnie Raitt‘s “Nick of Time,” received continuous play in my family’s apartment courtesy my mother. My musical inclinations mostly come from my father and siblings, as my mother rarely held enough interest in any music or specific artist to actually buy an album, let alone play it. Raitt was the exception and that album played on a continuous loop for weeks after she acquired it. I developed a soft spot for it and some of the tracks that remains to this day.
Just twenty minutes ago, I came across a link from the music blog Stereogum to a video of Bon Iver performing one of the songs from Raitt’s 1991 album, “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” I was skeptical at first, given the potential cheese factor.
I watched, listened, and was awestruck. There’s a lot of music that I enjoy, but it’s rare that I have a strong and visceral reaction to any musical performance in the way I did this. As I listened I felt my heart roll up my chest cavity and inch slowly up my throat. It seems ridiculous, but it happened.
From last night’s episode of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” here’s Bon Iver performing Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Bob Dylan turns 70 today.
I had a very, very late epiphany when it came to Dylan and only started listening and appreciating his work within the last two years despite earlier efforts by friend and family members. My older sister Bridget listened to him quite a bit in High School and always encouraged me to listen to “Blonde on Blonde.” My father was a big Dylan fan, particularly of his more folky, country-tinged period of “John Wesley Harding” and “Nashville Skyline.” He was also a big fan of “Desire.” Then there are others that will point to his work in the last two decades as their favorite era of Dylan. A big part of the problem, perhaps, is that I didn’t know where to start.
And that’s what makes him brilliant. Bob Dylan’s importance to music and culture isn’t as a sixties political songwriter, but rather as an artist who evolved and changed in a way that was organic and reflected the changes in his life and mindsets, rather than trying to adapt and embrace changing sensibilities in the industry. It’s that aspect of Dylan that drew me to him and is encapsulated so effectively in “I’m Not There,” the 2007 film directed by Todd Haynes that tells the story of Dylan by having six different actors portray different characters based on the various stages, twists and turns his life has taken.
In 70 years he’s been a folk artist, country musician, actor, born-again Christian, acoustic idol, electric rock pioneer, poet, and more. If one was to emerge in modern times with that degree of depth and ability to transform and explore himself in such radical and meaningful ways, he’d be called wishy-washy and erratic in blogs and gossip columns. And, in fairness, he did face some those accusations throughout his career. It is the strength of his character as an artist, however, that has kept him relevant and made him unsusceptible to the influence of an increasingly cynical culture.
Happy birthday, Bob.
The New York State Senate will, today, consider a bill to sanction Mixed Martial Arts in New York State.
The full text of the bill – S1707A-2011 – is here. At a cursory glance, it doesn’t appear to be much different from previous incarnations, with all the same wording and proposals put forth, including the 8.5% tax on the gate for all events in New York State (boxing in contrast is taxed 3% on the gate).
The blog NY MMA Now is bound to have more info on this.
Bills to legalize MMA have previously passed through the Senate but been defeated once it reaches the Assembly.
UPDATE 4:20pm – The bill has passed the Senate 42-18.
IT HAPPENED IT HAPPENED IT HAPPENED!
Oh happy day, the Rapture happened as planned on Saturday and I am just as keen as a can of peaches.
And let me tell you, it is GREAT up here. Yesterday I played pool with Minnesota Fats and Jackie Gleason, who played Minnesota Fats in a movie! What a trip that was. Also, it’s worth noting that when I say yesterday I really mean just now, or it seems like it. The passage of time up here is a lot different than it is down there, but if I tried to explain it to you your human brain would explode.
Oh, and I met Orson Welles and John Cassavetes! They’re Bridge partners.
Since you’re reading this, I need not tell you that most of you did not make the first cut. Which is all well and good. You have six months to make amends, after all. It’s just that I wish more of the people I knew and cared about were here. Good thing I was secretly practicing polygamy whilst pretending to be a single man about town all that time I was down there or I’d be pretty lonely!
Well, I have to go. But to all you people who said it wouldn’t happen, in your faces, all of you.
Enjoy the next six months, suckers. Here’s some pictures to show you what you’re missing:
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see also: Apocalypse Fallout (Rev. Alan Rudnick’s blog)
Savage at Wrestlemania 7, April 1991.
TMZ is reporting that Randy Savage has died.
They confirmed the news with Lanny Poffo, his younger brother who was better known to WWF fans as wrestler and manager “The Genius.” He told TMZ that Savage, real name Randy Poffo, was driving his car at around 10:00am when he suffered a heart ailment and lost control of his vehicle.
Early reports indicate that Savage was driving with his wife Lynn when he crossed a concrete median and crept into oncoming traffic. The car then collided head-on with a nearby tree. Savage sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he died. His wife escaped with what are only described as minor injuries.
He was born Randy Poffo, the eldest of two sons to Judy and Angelo Poffo. Angelo himself was a professional wrestler who gained notoriety in several territories throughout the fifties and sixties. His son Randy followed his father’s footsteps into the industry, though it became wildly different – and far more dangerous – under an expansive effort undertaken by WWF (now WWE) owner Vince McMahon in the 1980s.
He first gained prominence in Memphis, competing for Jerry Lawler’s Continental Wrestling Association before being culled by the expanding WWF in 1985. He quickly became a star for his flashy ring garb, aggressive personality, and trademark strained growl. Along with real-life wife Elizabeth Hulette, who passed away from a drug overdose in 2003, he became the biggest name in wrestling that wasn’t Hulk Hogan throughout the late eighties and well into the nineties.
Savage retired from professional wrestling while in his 40s, only making occasional appearances at autograph signings and for smaller promotions not affiliated with WWE. He had been recently used by WWE for an ad promoting their “legends” action figure line, where he pitched the “Macho Man” figure and poked fun at his own aging features and gray beard.
I grew up a fan of professional wrestling and especially Randy Savage. He was a personal favorite amongst me and my friends, who didn’t take as much to the Hulk Hogan character that demanded we say our prayers and take our vitamins. Perhaps it was that buck of authoritarian figures that led us to the Macho Man, whose only commandment was that we “dig it.”
Sad news.
STALK ME
