Superville Review

Major League Baseball, also known as, The National Past Time is intimately familiar with its place on the vanguard of societal issues. Jackie Robinson breaking a shameful color barrier in 1947 to the advent of free agency in professional sports in the 70's. Baseball once again finds itself at a cultural cross-roads, but this time the narrow path doesn't lead to broad social change in racial and economic areas. No, this time that narrow road points inward at the competitive viability of the game itself.

Full disclosure here: I am a New York Yankee fan; have been since I could walk. I am grateful for ownership that cares enough to reinvest its profits into fielding a team with the sole objective of winning. However, after spending over 300 million dollars on contracts of super pitcher C.C. Sabathia, face of the game, Mark Texeria and the potential of A.J. Burnett the Yankees have drawn the ire of baseball fans in the outer regions of economic equality. Milwaukee G.M. Doug Melvin and numerous "anonymous" sources have been critical of the Yankees spending habits. These habits have been adopted in recent years by the Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels and Cubs. Big city baseball teams spending big city money.

For fans of teams such as Kansas City, Florida, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Pittsburgh and just about any team not in New York, L.A., Boston or Chicago, all hope for a title is abandoned after early June in most seasons. Yes, Florida has won two world series. Yes, Tampa Bay was a 2008 world series participant. But after each world series victory the Marlins did not wait two months before gutting their team in a fire sale of its high impact performers. And the Devil Rays have been below putrid since they came into the league. Only after years of building and retooling their farm system were they able to offer a viable product. Can they repeat that success this year?

Baseball is the petri-dish for the have and have-nots. Baseball was on its deathbed in 1994 when an unpopular strike canceled the World Series.
Then a steroid fueled home run era brought baseball back to national prominence with broken records and raised attendance.

Today, baseball's World Series showcase draws lower and lower national ratings every year. Now that possibly is a result of Fox Sports moribund and sanctimonious announcing duo of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, but more than likely is the fact that the Tampa Bay's, Florida's and Arizona's of the basball world are not sexy enough to garner attention. Those cities have home grown talent that peeks in a given year, but is widely unknown to those outside of baseball. And this is where baseball suffers. The die-hard fans and purists will complain, but always come back for another hardball fix. But baseball is not gaining new fans in an era of sports where football and basketball have taken over the imagination of the youth.

Without new fans baseball will die. But without a competitive parity in the world of Major League Baseball that allows fans in out of the way places to believe their teams have a chance to be champions or teams, outside of big cities, that capture the imagination of casual observers, baseball won't be able to sustain its television life. Which will further erode the ability of small market teams to compete with their big brothers.

Labels: Big Market Baseball, Doug Melvin, Major League Baseball, New York Yankees

Yes We Did. Yes We Can.

(aol/people file photo)


Amiri Baraka's poetically hard line riff on society at large begins with these foreshadowing lines:

Something in the way of things
Something that will quit and won't start
Something you know but can't stand
Can't know get along with
Like death

Well, I don't know if Baraka's lines were a shot over the bow of modern day media and their coverage of the world, but they do fit that demographic, as well as the people who watch it.

The people who watch what is passing these days for media coverage are the something that will quit and won't start. These somethings and somebodies have quit looking for informative journalism and won't start on a path to demanding better from their media coverage by refusing to engage in the rumor mills that news coverage has become. When ESPN dedicates headlines to Alex Rodriguez and his wife's pending divorce request we know things done got too far gone; especially after the man tied all-time great Mickey Mantle's 536 home runs. The something that the somebodies know and can't stand is that they trade in a he-said, she-said brand of retro-gossip that harken back to days of high school soap operas brought to us by alienation, wistfulness, confusion and desires for popularity. The can't know/get along with like death is the idea that rummaging through time on the wings of minding other folks personal business is a waste of time. It is a type of mental death for meaningful knowledge.

Now, if A-Rod were a politician or pastor sworn to uphold certain standards maybe this coverage would be more worthy. Some would say taking vows before the Lord counts as a sworn upholding of God's law. That might be true, but that's before God and the family of that man and wife. Whether A-Rod is cheating on his wife is between God, him, his wife and their families. Not a public looking for a thrill to shock the doldrums out of their own existence. The sad thing is that for whatever A-Rod's faults might have been in his marriage, there is no proof that he was carrying on an affair with the Material Girl. There is no proof she is seeking a divorce from Guy Ritchie, her movie director husband. There is no evidence that Cynthia Rodriguez was doing anything other than taking advantage of a friend's offer of refuge during a crisis which is what Lenny Kravitz has publicly stated that he offered. But because "professional" photographers (see paparazzi)are allowed to tail folks around town and country based on their bank account or celebrity, and they snap pictures, and send stories down the grapevine, some that, at times, are whisperings from the Public Relations reps of the stars themselves, citizens are at risk for innuendo, lies or secrets being revealed. Does anybody in the media care that any of the above mentioned people have children? Probably not. That's not the "story." But is the state of A-Rod's marriage truly news?

I am lifelong Yankee fan. I would rather hear why A-Rod's general manager, Brian Cashman, has not been able to pull together a pitching staff that is consistent or why many of A-Rod's teammates' bats have gone soft. Professional athletes have long been known to carouse. All of them? No. A lot them? Yeah. But during the more archaic times in national media coverage, BI (Before Internet) and B24 (Before 24 hour cable news cycles) this information was kept between the athletes, teammates, beat writers and no one else. It was off the field and, therefore, irrelevant to the story of the game.

Now the media has made everything on the record and much of it seems to be no more than simple junior high mischief; and the viewing public eats it up and gets a glut of fast news that gets imaginations fat, but leaves intellects painfully malnourished. And there is wonderment in some quarters of America in regard to how the red, white and blue is ceding financial power to China after decades of financial dominance on the world stage. Well, Americans don't have time to think about these types of issues. A-Rod is sleeping around and his wife wants a divorce. Cue up the violins and soap detergent ads here. To quote Toni Morrison's classic character Sula Peace, "harrumph!" There's something in the way of things indeed.

Labels: A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, Cynthia Rodriguez, ESPN, Lenny Kravitz, Media Coverage

I am currently checking out the newest book from University of Pennsylvania, Associate Professor, Dr. John Jackson, Jr., entitled Racial Paranoia - The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness. In the work, Dr. Jackson, Jr. breaks down a United States of America whose transcendent gains out of the Civil Rights Era has produced legislative and social gains, relegating bald-faced proponents of racial animus to the fringes of society, but allowing true racial feelings to lie buried beneath a surface of political correctness. Those smiling faces might just be a cover for a racial tempest that reveals itself in more intimate and supportive surroundings. And this is, says Dr. Jackson, the facilitator of racial paranoia; in the case of black American's, the paranoia of seeing racism behind every smile, gesture or perceived slight and for white American's, the paranoia of saying or doing anything that can be misconstrued as "racist" in spite of intentions that might be far removed from that reality.

The book got me thinking about my own bouts of racial paranoia and I had to laugh because yes, I have seen a look on a white face or thought I saw a gesture that I took as an indicator or a negative feeling towards me and by extension, African-Americans. Dr. Jackson is definitely onto an interesting theory of a new paradigm in race relations. I think though that there might be a new found place where racial paranoia has yet to make an appearance. The message board.

Along with the technological advances that created an internet that allowed the global community to become smaller and allow an up-to-the-second access to information for anyone looking has come the "message board," that growing community of facilitators, combatants and commiserators; sometimes to positive end, but often times blatantly racist or ill-informed about any given topic which is a link to xenophobic positions. Being a lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills and music and videos I can be found on any number of message boards related to the NFL, rock or rap concerts and youtube videos. Racism is alive and well, good people and most people spare no decency trying to hide it. Racial epithets, narrow minded views on politics, economics and social standing are par for the course on most message boards. You don't believe it? Please feel free to peruse a message board related to whatever your topic of choice might be.

It made me wonder if I would prefer the paranoia that Dr. Jackson writes about on our local message boards. There is a saying about people who get drunk and do things they would not ordinarily do; it's called getting "liquid courage." Well, cyber-courage operates under the same tenet. Hiding behind a keyboard from anywhere in the world, untraceable by everyman standards, probably not government standards (there is that paranoia), has allowed the normalcy of hatred and ignorance to rear its mental infantility without consequence of physical confrontation or a clearly public censure. In spite of many racialized message board posts being called for what they are by dissenters strongly condemning said occurrences, this form of "public" censure is still hidden. Without a face or video evidence of these written attacks "public" does not work with the same efficiency.

For those paranoid folks black, white, brown, red and yellow who long for relief from the weariness of seeing bogeymen in every interaction they have friends on the message boards who will be more than happy to tell them exactly how other feel about "their people."

Labels: Dr. John Jackson, Jr., Penn, Racial Paranoia, Racism, University of Pennsylvania

(Sports Illustrated Photo)

Brett Favre is one of the NFL's all time great Quarterback's that is not up for question. With his swashbuckling style, strong-arm confidence, emotional toughness and improvisational approach to the game Favre generated a nation of fans not just in Green Bay, but across the country. A good ole' boy, with a man-child shrug and grin appealed to football fans tired of the modern era, high maintenance, primadonna persona of NFL player. Who knew Favre was no different?

For the past several seasons Favre has turned his possible retirement into a soap opera that extended well beyond the NFL draft and into OTA's that are used to build team chemistry and chart an organizational strategy for the coming season. Favre traded on his legendary status and general likeability to hold the Packers hostage to his decision on stay or go. This off-season was no different except for the fact that Favre decided early in the process that it was time to call "game." Through tears and wistful deep breaths he thanked everybody and their mama for the good times, the memories, the camaraderie and the support. He went into the sun chin up, chest out and still loved by the media, the league and his fans. His early decision, unlike previous seasons, allowed the Packers to prepare for the future; preparing Aaron Rodgers to take the reigns as the number one and drafting Brian Brohm, the Louisville gunslinger holding more than a passing resemblance to Favre's big arm tactics. But of course it was too good to be true.

The Packers just recently cleaned out Brett Favre's locker. And only after news reports painted the picture of the organization as embarrassingly unable to let go like the guy who had the dime girl, until she moved on, but couldn't let go and let everybody know the power she still had over him. But actually, last season the world could have seen the Favre's selfish nature. After another slow build-up of deciding on play or retirement Favre started getting called out in the media about quickening his decision. His response? Favre said, "what are they gonna do? Cut me?" Favre is that gridiron dime piece who knows his status and used it with abandon. So is it really any surprise that after holding that epic press conference in Green Bay back in March that he would change his mind?

Latest reports have Favre changing his mind after catching an itch on his back that told him he still wants to ball. His family vouches for his good shape and his undiminished ability. Favre calls it all a rumor to newspapers in his native Mississippi. Yet ESPN is reporting that Favre has contacted the Packers front office about a possible return. So what do the Packers do now? Pull Aaron Rodgers, a man who was already under the heaviest pressure to perform well in replacing a legend, and re-insert legend himself? This would delay the Packers, the NFL, fans and Rodgers himself from seeing if he's up to being number one in Titletown. It would also push back the development of Brian Brohm.

Favre, as great a signal caller as he was, is showing himself to be all about Brett. And if he hasn't noticed, it's really not. The Packers should tell him thanks, but no and send him back to his deep south farm life to tip a beer and wheel his tractor.

Labels: Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Brian Brohm, ESPN, Green Bay Packers, NFL

AP PHOTO

Wesley Clark's recent appearance on "Face the Nation" has caused a firestorm. I first heard his opinion of John McCain's inability to lead foreign policy based on his POW record of service on MSNBC's ever popular "Morning Joe" program. But the firestorm strikes me a one based in hysteria.

General Clark makes an assertion that has to be taken with seriousness. Senator McCain is a war hero. He is a courageous man. He endured horrors that would have broken a good number of people. However, that is not, in and of itself creating a strategy for waging war. It is a specific instance of bravery and endurance. There is a difference. I believe that his bravery and courage and the stubborn defiance of simple survival is part of what makes John McCain the leader America would get if they were to cast a vote for him as President. McCain's statement on a hundred year occupation of Iraq, be it misconstrued or not, bespeaks of a stubborn mindset. He is not willing to bend.

It might not feel good for McCain to be attacked in an era of "patriotism" and the surround circus the meaning of that word has become in the media and various communities across America. But is it true? It is true that Senator Obama has never served in the military. Obama, however, was not the one who made this case against McCain; at least in a public way that would call him directly or definitively into question. General Wesley Clark, who has commanded troops, said it and is qualified to say it. Clark is a Clinton supporter who now supports Obama in a general election campaign and as such his comments have been attributed to Obama's ledger. Many news pundits have screamed on how bad this criticism is for Obama to make and makes no political sense. They cede McCain the foreign policy battle out-of-hand, point out Mr. Obama's lack of military service and say it is foolish to even question that of Mr. McCain's. This is the problem with what the modern age media has become. The difference between Obama and McCain on issues of war time is based, not on military service, but on judgment.

In a Presidential election any issue can and should be questioned; including McCain's ability to lead foreign policy. At 72 years old Senator McCain will not be in a fighter plane and at risk of getting shot down. In that case he would be the prohibitive favorite for leadership in Office. A General questioning the qualifications of another military man who he outranks is totally within the realm of possibility when America's future in Iraq and possibly in Iran is on the table. Clark's comments were not an attack on McCain's character, but a disagreement on how the nature of his service qualifies him to lead and strategize military operations going forward. It seems that discussion is one that requires too much nuance for the media and its pundits to engage in. It is easier to cede that point to McCain based on factors that General, not Private, not Corporal, not Sergeant, but GENERAL Clark does not see eye to eye with.

Labels: Barack Obama, Face the Nation, Morning Joe, MSNBC, Wesley Clark

Incredible. Stunning. Stupefying. Ralph Nader your green party candidate. Upon watching the current political news cycle from poll to poll, pundit to pundit, CNN to MSNBC to Fox a funny thing happened on the merry-go-round. Ralph Nader accused Barack Obama of talking white and not focusing on exploitation of the "ghetto." Wow on whatever level one wants to choose.

A white Presidential candidate, fringe and independent as he wants to be accusing a black Presidential candidate of a major party, who happens to be of African descent of being white is uncharted territory. It seems that Barack Obama cannot win whichever way he turns and this has played out slowly over the course of the past three months. Reverend Wright; he should not distance himself from Reverend Wright, his mentor, his crazy old uncle. But when the good Reverends dog and pony show at the National Press Club made any affiliation with Wright impossible Obama saved his candidacy and rightly distanced himself from a man he would not outright abandon six weeks prior. Some in the media wondered what it meant about Obama and not in a good way. Those same people wondered why Obama did not leave Trinity United years ago. Obama was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

As the first African-American nominee of a major political party Obama has been credited with running a "post racial" campaign that focused on issues of broad concern and avoiding race based speak. Which isn't entirely true because his speech on race in Philadelphia was necessary and the first of it's kind for a Presidential candidate. But Obama has little choice. He doesn't visit a Mosque he's said by Minnesota's Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison to have abandoned the Muslim community. However, if Obama goes to a Mosque the aforementioned news outlets would make it 24 hour news and that would feed the fire of internet innuendo claiming Obama to be anything, but a child of God. Some of his staffers have gone overboard, like removing head-scarf wearing Muslim women from behind the podium during one of Mr. Obama's speeches, but he is a candidate that is fighting a unique game perception that no other candidate has had to navigate. Why? Because Obama is a first of his kind for the stage he now sweeps across so charismatically.

Obama has to present himself as a man running for President of the entire United States, not, to borrow an associates line, block captain of Martin Luther King Boulevard. So here comes Mr. Nader, who has not shown himself to effectively enact any policy or tangible action in the past decade regarding issues affecting the "ghetto" he blames Obama for abandoning; and not only abandoning, but doing it in an appeal to white guilt with white ways of speaking at least figuratively if not literally. Obama's past career as a community organizer in the roughness of South Chicago must not give him enough negro points in Ralph Nader's view. But Obama's very presence on the national stage gives him more clout in any ghetto than Ralph Nader will ever be given or can ever earn. Stealing votes from Democratic nominees in the past two Presidential elections that has lead to the Republican rule of the past several years was a bald faced stake in the heart to ghetto's domestic and international. Dig that campaign strategy.

So Ralph Nader posits an old argument that black nationalists have espoused against the black middle class for several decades. A chastisement for not being "black enough." Obama or at least his surrogates have been accused, with some legitimate reasons, of allowing race to be floated in an attempt to knock Hillary Clinton out the box in Dixieland, USA. Obama has no choice but to tell the truth of race while at the same time distancing himself from the same racial hope and resentment that draws itself to him throughout the diverse communities of America. Either way Obama is damned by someone for doing or not doing a racial dance that no other candidate running for President has been made to endure. But that person should not be Ralph Nader.

Labels: 2008 Presidential Campaign, Barack Obama, Race and the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Ralph Nader