August 11, 2010

Guess who’s debating Skip Bayless next week?

That’s right. Monday and Tuesday, August 16 and 17, 10 and 12 ET on ESPN2, and 2:30 ET on ESPN. To commemorate the occasion, here’s some good old fashioned SSP.

August 8, 2010

The 2010 NABJ Chronicles

Went to NABJ week before last. It wasn’t nearly as eventful as last year, which I mean in the most positive way. All costs were anticipated, every payment went through, there was no late night jaunt on the Interstate, and I don’t recall a single face-to-face encounter with a simp. At least my business and a simp’s never collided at the same point in the time/space continuum. And, when it all shook out, could I ask for anything more?

There were, of course, interesting moments. I think I can come up with 10. If I was more inclined toward snitching, I could probably bring this up to 875 (including a top 10 that would trump all of these). However, I was a man before I had a blog and/or jokes.

1. For the first time, I noticed just how light skinneded an organization NABJ is. No knock, of course. From what I hear, a battle between me and a paper bag would go to the judges. However, if you want a study in the role skin shade plays in determining economic outcomes, take a trip through this convention. If you took me, then surrounded me with four randomly chosen attendees, I’d put money that I’d look like Robert Parish in the starting lineup of the ‘86 Celtics. Make it four randomly chosen female on-air personalities, I’d put up the Palatial Bomaniland Estate. I was in one panel where I counted six darker-skinned people in the room. It was like taking a day trip to Ghana.

2. To be a city people have heard of, San Diego’s airport is kinda struggling. It’s a step above St. Thomas’, and that step is air conditioning. Not too many gates. However…

3. Compared to Nashville, it may as well have been LAX. My goodness, that was a bus station with wings. And considering it does a lot of Southwest business, that’s not really hyperbole. Look at the little area they got allocated for the kids. It’s what the play area would be like if they had one at Church’s.

4. The red hat ladies are off the hook. A convention of ladies in red hats shared the Hyatt with us. We all asked them what they did, other than wear red hats. They all said the same thing: “we’re just old ladies looking to have a good time.” Lemme tell ya something, folks — when everybody says the same thing, it’s a cover for something. I don’t know exactly what they were covering up, but I can tell you that they come looking for mischief. Take Brazen Bonnie, for example. That’s her on the left.

She told us that she was 78 years old, and she came to flirt. After all, she is Brazen Bonnie, which you’d know if you could make out the pin on her hat that read “Brazen Bonnie.” Well, I had to take a picture with Bonnie, for her gangster was respected.

See that look on her face? It looks just like her hand felt on the small of my back. The moral of the story: they’re some old ladies looking to have a good time. I’m content to leave it at that.

5. A lot more writers follow me on Twitter than I realized. Glad I figured that out after a few hours, because I was getting really paranoid about all these people knowing my face. Can’t that many of em have family in Canada. Either way, that’s a win for me. This way, when I say the crazy stuff you lovely people have gotten used to, I don’t have to worry so much about shocking someone’s sensibilities. They know what’s coming now. That’s more of a relief than you realize.

6. Roll the dice on Hotwire at your own peril. So I went with Hotwire on my hotel, and came up with a great rate. The problem, of course, was I couldn’t tell how close I was to the action. Turns out I was a mile’s walk from the action. That was pretty cool in the morning, when I’d soak up the California morning walking down the street with the iPod, scaring the bums singing Marley. At night, it was all about the taxi. It’s refreshing on the way there, but taxing on the way back. However, for $70 less a night, it’s a fair trade. Save the dough.

(Plus, should something come up, you’re away from those watchful streets. Gotta plan ahead.)

7. Elgin Baylor’s one of the eight coolest men on planet Earth. I’m not sure how tall he is, or how old, but considering how much I’ve laughed at him in my life, it was a shock for all that texturized cool to hit all at once. He carries it like he’d see Lou Rawls and hit him with some fresh dap you ain’t never seen before.

8. I’m now old enough that the youth expects ME to pay for food. So I see a young cat I go back and forth with. He asked if he and his homeboy could catch up with me to chop…well, it went like this (with names changed).

JOHNNY: Hey man, you got some time later, cuz me and Willie and Bobby. You know Bobby?

ME: Nah, don’t know Bobby.

JOHNNY: Oh okay. Well, we just wanted to chop it up with you.

ME: Cool, just lemme know and we’ll see what we can do.

JOHNNY: Now, I don’t know if this is the South in me coming out of whatever, but I’m just gonna ask…if we go out to eat, you got us?

After that, things get kinda gray. I think I found a way to politely sidestep that one. A sticking point was that I didn’t know this Bobby character. Either way, yeah, spring chicken I am no longer. I do, however, give off the vibe I make more money than I actually do. I’m not sure if it’s regal, or Regal. Like the Buick.

9. We missed the chance to see Michael Steele speak before the convention. My man came down with “food poisoning.” They always do. Anyway, I may never again have the chance to see the least respected man on the planet give a talk. And if you can name someone less respected than Steele, I’d love to hear it. The only man in politics who doesn’t have a base.

10. A hole in your shirt will show up in photos. It was a real little couple of holes, too. Great, now I gotta get a new good shirt.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was that.

July 20, 2010

Can you believe I’ve been writing for 10 years?

Looked up the other day and realized that I’ve been doing this for 10 years now. I call it “this,” because there’s really no word for whatever this hustle has been. I still think of myself as a writer, even though I think I’ve written five full-length pieces in the last two and a half years. I think of myself as an economist, too, though I haven’t done a lick of research since 2004.

Then there’s the job they pay me for that consumes my life, but I’d be lying if I said I think of myself as a radio guy or anything else.

I’m writing this less out of self-indulgence than so I’ll have a clear answer for “how did you get your start in sports journalism?” Younger folks with ambitious of getting in this business ask me all the time, and I can rarely answer because it takes entirely too long to say over Twitter, e-mail or anything else. So, I’m going to do my best to give a timeline of how this went.

It’ll start with this disclaimer: don’t try this at home. Seriously. The only reason this has worked is that I’ve been able to ask people for money that I don’t have to pay back. And by “people,” I mean the best set of parents I can imagine anyone having.

Continue reading Can you believe I’ve been writing for 10 years?…

July 14, 2010

I was on Outside the Lines today…

And it wasn’t half bad.

July 7, 2010

Who needs the chrome in church?

I realized the other day that part of the reason why I don’t blog as much is that I’ve developed a distaste for talking politics over the years. I find more and more that people just want to talk with people they agree with, and I find that to be boring. I don’t feel like I’ve made much of a contribution if I look at the comments and it’s nothing but high-fives.

However, I’ve seen this guns in church thing in Louisiana, and I just can’t let it slide.

I really don’t want to get into the Second Amendment because that’s an area where no one’s going to be swayed. I just like to mention the irony that the amendment reads in a way that allows guns to form a militia, but see how quick the government will shut down your gun-toting militia.

Anyway, here’s my one question — what is going down at your church that makes you feel the need to pack heat?

I readily admit that I don’t have a lot of church attendance on my resume, but I’ve never been to a church where I felt like I might wanna have some steel. And hey, I’ve been to church a few times in Acres Homes in Houston. There’s no shortage of chrome ’round those parts, Jack.

I see that the law would allow church employees to have guns, just in case something jumps off. I can see the point there, given that there tends to be money in churches, and there’s always a criminal demand for money. But…you’ve got to be kidding me.

Maybe this is a statement to where we’ve come as people, but I just can’t see that. If you need the tool at church, you need to find another church. Either that, or your church really doesn’t command much respect. Somebody’s preacher needs to step his game up or something.

June 15, 2010

Help me make sense of the Drake love

I think Drake’s tape is 100% ratass. I also willingly cede others the right to like whatever drivel they please, from reality television to malt liquor.

I’ve found that I joke on the lil fella a lot. It’s partially because my producer, Corey Erdman, gets laughably defensive over it, like the two of them are kin or something. But it’s also because it’s like the saying goes — we mock that which we don’t understand.

And what I don’t understand are you people that really, really love his album. Or, like Talib Kweli, those that assume those that dislike Drake’s album are merely haters.

Thank Me Later is soft. There are just no two ways about it. If soft music doesn’t bother you, then that’s OK. I’ve got my soft indulgences, few though they may be. And, to be honest, the only one I can think of is the Counting Crows.

The thing with them is that Duritz is ridiculously compelling. Yeah, he never seems to be too happy with anything, the chicks are doing him wrong (that Latina he wrote about circa ‘94 put him through the ringer), but he’s so damn emotive and sincere and writes brilliant songs. Yes, he’s soft, but he’s absolutely fascinating.

What makes Drake’s album so wack to me is that it’s absolutely uninteresting. I don’t mind him talking about the women he pines for and the ones that did him dirty. But just talking about them isn’t enough. Since he doesn’t give much emphasis on any syllables, let alone punchlines, there’s never a moment where I feel these songs. To hear them is to read them off a piece of paper. At points, they read impressively. But that’s all they do — read.

They float, but they don’t dance. They never rise above the din. And no matter how much talent Drake has, and how witty his wordplay is, I cannot understand how so many people — people I respect and admire, in some cases — are so enamored by such an emotionless record.

Maybe it’s emo, but it’s not emotional. The beats aren’t evocative (or, as my man says, it’s 808s and Heartbreaks minus the 808s), making it even more crucial that he be able to sell what he’s saying. Where on Thank Me Later does he do that?

The problem is that just talking about your problems with little behind it is just as annoying to listen to on record as it is in real life. The dude sounds like a complainer. Listening to this album, for me, was no different than listening to someone go on and on and on about his problems. Since it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with me, it just drones on and, after a while, makes you wanna shake him by the shoulders and tell him to man up. I can’t feel it, so there’s no way in the world I can be expected to care.

And in the course of writing that paragraph, I think I figured out why I dislike this album so much.

Now, that’s an opinion that’s formed independent of what anyone else thinks. I admit, however, I’m probably more vocal because of the huge contingent on the other side. Better conversation that way. Plus, I really don’t get the appeal.

Some have credited Drake’s ambition, making an album that goes between genres. I could care less about that, personally. If you rap well, rap. If you sing well, sing. Just do it well. I sure didn’t hear that, particularly the singing. For that quality of vocal, I’d go listen to Ciara.

Now, let’s get this part straight — I’m not saying that, if Drake is soft, he should pretend to be something he’s not. But he simply lacks the depth to articulate who he is in a compelling way.

So worse than disliking Thank Me Later, I’m totally disinterested in it. I haven’t had an inclination to put it back in after the second time I listened to it.

I’m just trying to figure out what’s got other people interested. Considering how passionately people defend the album, I’ll acknowledge that there may be something he’s trying to get across that I simply don’t see. Please let me know what it is because, based on my recollection of what sorts of music people have enjoyed since the beginning of time, I have no idea what makes some of you dig it so much.

June 8, 2010

Should I ignore Slim Thug’s blog post?

My father read my post on Slim Thug and raised an interesting question — is it the best move to ignore problematic statements from celebrities?

This came up earlier with the John Mayer sitch, also. It’s a tricky one for me to answer. On one hand, I get exactly what he’s saying. On the other, I’m trying to figure out who in the world was looking to Slim Thug or John Mayer for legitimate opinions on anything?

Maybe I’ve been in talk radio too long, but I think people have the right to be as stupid as they want. I’m really not in the business of trying to fix those folks. And what Slim Thug said, by and large was stupid. And again, his biggest problem was essentialism.

But I just can’t pretend to take someone seriously that I never took seriously before, and I think people’s energy would be better placed toward those who are taken seriously and promote ideologies just as damaging and dangerous as his. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to talk about people that really matter if I’m wasting my time talking about this cat. How much sense does that make?

And sorry, but I’m not going to do it. Now, had Obama said what Slim Thug said, I’d speak on it. Jesse Jackson? Same thing. Hell, even Jeremiah Wright, and I barely remember what he looks like.

But Slim Thug? C’mon now. I didn’t listen to him yesterday, and I’m not gonna listen to him tomorrow. I still ask the same question — if you listened to his music, what about his blog bugged you that hadn’t before? That just doesn’t make any sense.

Look, I’m all for being mad about what’s messed up in the world. But I just don’t have time to waste on him or whatever he said. And, I have no idea how you claim to be so busy and have time to get upset with that and continuously comment on it.

If what he said was worthy of dismissal, then dismiss it rather than, yanno, inadvertently giving him, his thoughts, and his work more shine than you believe they deserve. Seriously, am I the only person that sees how stupid that is?

So, should I just dismiss a celebrity saying something stupid in a public platform? I don’t know about “should,” but if it’s someone I deem unimportant — and someone that doesn’t seem to have any legitimate importance — then yes. I don’t know how you’ve got time to do anything other than that.

June 7, 2010

The ridiculous Slim Thug backlash

People are mad at Slim Thug. They’re mad because he wrote this.

Now, there are two kinds of people reading this post — people who have heard of Slim Thug, and people that haven’t. Under 30 and listen to rap and/or from Houston? You probably know who he is. If not, then not. For example, my father just resigned himself to not knowing who he is.

Now, if you have no idea who he is, I’ll save you some time — he’s not important, so I’m pretty sure the post’s grammar alone let you know he’s not someone whose opinion you should be concerned with.

If you do know who he is — I mean, have you heard the man’s music? Given that, what exactly surprises you about his ridiculously essentialist takes on race and gender?

As many times as he’s rapped about bitches, I can’t say my world stopped when he said something largely ignorant (I say largely because he did make a point or two not far off the mark, most notably about the unrealistic expectations many women have). I wasn’t thrilled to read it, but I’m not sure what else I should expect given my previous exposure to his art and the philosophy he expresses.

Oh, but I see people are mad, assuming the wonderful world of Twitter is any indication of the public response (FWIW, n>>>>30). I then ask this question…

If you’re really that mad, how in the hell did the man sell all these records? I mean, damn, how did the dance floors fill up to give him some shine? Man making that much money selling records without getting some ladies to dance? I ain’t heard of that!

I’m not going Delores Tucker here (though, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized she was more correct than I could understand as a teenager). But if you’re not going Delores Tucker with yours, then what are you talking about? You’ve been cool with him and others saying a lot worse. I just don’t know what you expected from him in a blog. No disrespect to the man, but it’s Slim Thug, folks.

Slim Thug

I guess what I’m asking — if Slim Thug broke bad with women today, what’s different than yesterday?

June 2, 2010

To the class of 2010

I was fortunate enough to be invited to give the commencement address for the eighth graders at the RTP Charter School in Durham. I’ve never done anything like this, so the speech may be dreadful, but here’s what I plan to tell the youth.

Forgive the caps. I’m not gonna have time to re-type this. That’s the formatting I’ve got to make it easy to read.

I WOULD LIKE TO START BY CONGRATULATING ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR. AND BY YOU, I MEAN YOU – THE PARENTS. YOUR CHILDREN HAVE FINISHED MIDDLE SCHOOL, BUT YOU HAVE SURVIVED IT. THIS CEREMONY IS FOR THE GRADUATES, AND I’M CERTAIN THAT ALL OF YOU ARE VERY PROUD, BUT I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU.

AND IF YOUR PARENTS ARE TAKING YOU OUT TO EAT AFTER THIS IS OVER, OR EVEN IF THEY’RE SIMPLY GOING TO WARM UP A PLATE WHEN YOU GET HOME, YOU SHOULDN’T FORGET ABOUT THEM, EITHER.

BUT TO THE GRADUATES, I OFFER THE SAME CONGRATULATIONS. I’M PRETTY SURE MOST OF YOU ARE MORE EAGER THAN ANYTHING TO MOVE ON TO HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE YOU’LL HAVE MORE FREEDOM AND THE OPPORTUNITIES TO DO MORE THINGS. OF COURSE, THE TRADE YOU MAKE IS TAKING ON MORE RESPONSIBILITY. WHAT IS GOOD ENOUGH NOW WILL NOT BE GOOD ENOUGH THEN. YOU HAVE TO CATCH UP TO THE FUTRE, BECAUSE IT CERTAINLY WILL NOT SLOW DOWN FOR YOU.

BUT I DON’T SAY THAT TO TRY TO SCARE YOU, OR EVEN TO WARN YOU. EVEN THOUGH, YOU CAN TAKE THAT AS A WARNING. BUT KEEPING UP WITH WHAT’S NEXT, THOUGH IT’S RARELY EASY, SHOULDN’T SCARE OR INTIMIDATE YOU. IT SHOULD EXCITE YOU.

EVEN AT MY AGE, EVEN AT YOUR PARENTS AGES, AT YOUR TEACHERS AGES – NONE OF WHOM, BY THE WAY, LOOK A DAY OVER 27 – PEOPLE LOOK FORWARD TO SOMETHING I KNOW ALL OF YOU WANT – TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

OF COURSE, THAT DOESN’T MEAN MUCH IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. AND HOW DO YOU FIGURE THAT YOU? THROUGH PREPARATION AND BY LIVING.

BY LIVING, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE ALL THE WORLD’S POSSIBILITIES. THROUGH PREPARATION, YOU WILL FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE OPTIONS AND WHERE YOU FIT.

BUT LIVING, OF COURSE, ISN’T JUST EATING, SLEEPING, WORKING AND BREATHING. IT’S TAKING THE TIME TO APPRECIATE WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT’S BEFORE YOU, TO TALK TO THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU AND LEARN FROM THEIR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, TO BE CONCERNED WITH MORE THAN JUST WHAT YOU CAN EASILY SENSE.

AND PREPARATION ISN’T JUST GOING TO SCHOOL. IT’S LEARNING AND NOT JUST UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU’RE BEING TOLD, BUT UNDERSTANDING WHY YOU’RE BEING TOLD THOSE THINGS. SCHOOL ISN’T SUPPOSED TO SEE WHAT YOU CAN REMEMBER. WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE, OR ANY OTHER SCHOOL, YOU SHOULD KNOW THINGS. AND YOU WILL ONLY KNOW THESE THINGS IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO THINK OF THEM.

AS YOU HEARD IN THE INTRODUCTION, I HAVE A FEW DEGREES IN ECONOMICS. BUT I HOST A SPORTS TALK SHOW. PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME HOW I’M USING ECONOMICS IN SPORTS.

FOR ONE, STUDYING ECONOMICS FOR YEARS TAUGHT ME THAT I DIDN’T WANT TO SPEND MY LIFE IN ECONOMICS. BUT ECONOMICS TAUGHT ME TO THINK, AND THAT THINKING HELPS ME DECIDE WHAT TO SAY EACH MORNING. AND, ON TOP OF THAT, THAT THINKING HAS PUT ME IN A POSITION TO MAKE A COMFORTABLE LIVING FOR SITTING IN MY HOUSE IN MY PAJAMAS AND TALKING AND LAUGHING FOR THREE HOURS PER DAY. I’VE HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET PEOPLE THAT I LOOK UP TO, AND THOSE PEOPLE SEE ME AS THEIR PEER. I’VE DONE THINGS PROFESSIONALLY THAT I NEVER DREAMED I WOULD BE ABLE TO DO.

I DON’T SAY THAT TO BRAG. I SAY THAT BECAUSE I’M FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY DO WHAT I WANT TO DO. AND I SINCERELY BELIEVE THE REASON I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT HAS BEEN THE TIME I TOOK TO GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE AND TO LEARN FROM WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY.

SO, AS YOU GO FORWARD, THERE IS PLENTY OF ANXIETY. IT’S CERTAINLY REASONABLE TO BE NERVOUS ABOUT WHAT’S NEXT. JUST ABOUT EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WAS IN THE SAME POSITION ONCE. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. THE REAL FUN IS AHEAD. TAKE THE TIME TO GET READY FOR IT, AND ENJOY YOURSELF ALONG THE WAY.

May 21, 2010

I’m waiting, Chris Myers

The other day, Chris Myers sat in on the Dan Patrick show. While there, he broke the first rule of fill-in hosting on radio — don’t do anything that anyone will remember the next day.

Yeah, he broke that. Here’s the money quote.

It’s a great country here. We have disasters issues when people pull together and help themselves and I thought the people in Tennessee, unlike — I’m not going to name names — when a natural disaster hits people weren’t standing on a rooftop trying to blame the government, okay. They helped each other out through this.

And Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, Tony Stewart, among some drivers went from the race over to the middle Tennesee area where still a lot of hardworking, tax-paying, legal American citizens have been affected by the floods and are trying to rebuild their lives and they are helping out. And I think that other people around the country, of course the music industry in and around Nashville helping, without making a big deal out of it and I think that’s a good thing.

Now, because he’s not a fool, Myers apologized…to the city of New Orleans.

I can’t think of anything more ridiculous.

New Orleans was merely the vehicle he used to express his views. There’s nothing fundamental about that city that brought Myers to make his statement. Myers’ rhetoric was steeped in bootstraps ideology, which is used as often to affirm the greatness of the American spirit as it is to separate “real” Americans from fake one. That would explain why his transition from talking about the complainers of Katrina to “hardworking, tax-paying, legal Americans” was so smooth (complete with a NASCAR shout-out, it should be noted).

This wasn’t about New Orleans or Arizona or anywhere else. This was about people, with locality serving as little more than context for this passive-aggressive attack.

What people? It was about the power and resolve of white people and, by an extension Myers didn’t have to make to make his point, the deficiency of black people. Or, more specifically, about how all black people do is complain when things get hard.

Never mind, of course, that those folks pulling together in Tennessee had a lot of help doing so from dry land. It seems erroneous to compare the aftermath of the flood in Tennessee to what happened in the midst of disaster in New Orleans. If it’s like that, there was a telethon for Katrina. Top that.

Think I’m reaching? Put it like this — it wasn’t all of America that was on those rooftops begging for someone, anyone, to save them from the water. Yanno, the water that had friggin’ nutria rats in it.

And this dude apologized to New Orleans?

Come on, man. You weren’t talking about the city. You were talking about those people. And the only thing you really know about those people was that they were black (and presumably poor). No way in the world you’re going to get me to believe all he was doing was speaking on an isolated incident when what he took from the single greatest American tragedy of my lifetime — and I limit it there because that time is all I can speak confidently about — was people complaining.

No, not the people drowning, or cooking on roofs, or losing everything they had. All they were doing was complaining.

Right.

But don’t apologize to New Orleans, Chris. Apologize to me and the rest of the people that look like me. That’s who you offended because that’s who you were talking about. Myers’ racism is the same racism that partially explains why it took so long to get people off those roofs, why the President of the United States never treated the situation with proper gravity, and why Katrina was largely ignored by the media as soon as the ground was dry enough for everyone to get the hell out.

It’s the racism that we all say we hate but spend so much time trying to ignore. Well, there it is. It’s right in your face, and it was offered without provocation. And, to make matters worse, it was expressed without a semblance of backbone, dancing around the topic as if he just had to say it, but didn’t want to get in trouble.

And an apology to Mitch Landrieu is enough, ha?

I think I chose to write about this because of the significance Katrina plays in my life, for better or worse. I haven’t been the same since. At first, I didn’t get it. Then I got too much, walking around in a malaise for days and days because I was so distraught by what I saw on TV and what I heard people say about the area, the people, and the situation. I haven’t paid close attention to the news like I used to. I’m far more cynical than I ever was, perfectly aware that the only difference between me and the folks on the roofs was a whole lot of good luck.

In many ways, it broke me. I heard a good friend openly weep in the airport when the storm was approaching. I talked to him as he drove back and forth to Houston, looking for a father he didn’t like that much in the first place but couldn’t leave in the Astrodome. It was the end of any idealism I had about how things should be.

But, for Chris Myers, it was a bunch of black people on the roof, whining when they could have been building boats or swimming to freedom or growing wings so they could fly or Macgyvering helicopters to get outta there or something. Hell if I know what he thought they should do.

But I know what he should do now — be real. What Myers said was racist, and it displayed a level of racism that’s disturbing coming from someone whose job is to cover sports, where so many black men participate.

Don’t apologize to a city in a letter. You’ve got access to places where you can do what you should — come out and acknowledge what you said as being racist.

Now, if Myers doesn’t think what he said was racist, fine. Where are the rest of you to tap him on the shoulder, like good friends do, and remind him that what he said was, in fact, racist. You’ve got enough common sense to see through that rhetoric, and it only took me a sentence or two to unravel that thought process.

So, if it wasn’t racism, either Myers or anyone else can answer that — what about those people made them complainers when, under similar circumstances, the people in Tennessee rose up? What makes one group different than another. Given that n > 30 in this case, allowing us to assume the population in Tennessee is essentially the same as those in New Orleans, what made them different?

He said, effectively, that black people are whining malingerers, even when give a chance to fight for survival. We know what’s up. We know what he did. Now let’s call him on it.

There are all kinds of hot buttons in the media, things you don’t go out of bounds talking about because they’re of such great magnitude. Katrina was as much of a horror as any of those things.

Yet this cat can say that, send one fake apology, and it’s over?

Sorry, but I’m not going for that, even if all I can offer on the topic are these 1,100 or so words.