I’m weighting in one more time on the "Duck Dynasty" controversy.
Phil Robertson has every right in the world to express his views on any subject he so desires and do it in a public forum. This is something I do every day though I don’t have the public pulpit Robertson does.
No one, understand, No One is in any way trying to deprive Robertson of his First Amendment right of free speech. A&E is just exercising their right to choose the individuals they want to work for them. A&E has not told Robertson he can never publicly state his views. They have just told him they no longer want him working for them.
InterActiveCorp did not told Justine Sacco she can not tweet insensitive Tweets. What they have told her is that she will no longer be working for them. The United Methodist Church did not told Rev. Frank Schaefer he can no longer advocate for Gay Marriage. The have just told him he can no longer do it as a Pastor in the United Methodist Church.
Understand that for "Free Speech" to be endangered in this country, thought Sarah Palin and Governor Bobby Jindal have suggested otherwise, the GOVERNMENT has to censor speech or prevent an individual from exercising their right.
As to what I think about the Phil Robertson interview, I find it stupid. While I find it stupid, I defend his right to be stupid and announce it in a GQ interview. As to the show "Duck Dynasty," I find it to be very hypocritical. Back in the 60s when a crew-cut Phil Robertson was a student and quarterback at Louisiana Tech, he and those of his ilk, were very intolerant of those of us who wore our hair long and had facial hair. Now they are making million of dollars while wearing long hair and facial hair, the same look they once ridiculed. Hypocrisy pure and simple.
While there are those who are asking for sympathy for Robertson, I just hope he, himself, is not one of them. I just hope he, being a educated man, accepts that there are consequences to one’s actions.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Free Speech and its Endangerment
FREE SPEECH. Just what is free speech? Is it the right for an individual to work for a Christian Organization while at the same time publicly advocating a positions that is in direct conflict with the organization’s stance and fear no consequence? Is it the right of that organization to dismiss that individual because they publicly exercised their right of free speech?
I’m sure there is no one reading this that believes the Christian Organization has done anything more than exercise their right to protect the image they wish to portray. Image speaks loudly, thus it has First Amendment protection. I’m sure that none of you would say that the organization is, in anyway, infringing of the individual’s right of free speech.
Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page, says that "Free speech is an endangered species." Would she say free speech was endangered when the United Methodist Church defrocked Rev. Frank Schaefer because he publicly advocated for gay marriage? No! Sarah Palin would defend the Church's action, stating the Church had a free speech right to protect their image. And she would absolutely correct.
Sarah Palin is taking a totally opposite position when it comes to the A&E Network placing Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson on indefinite hiatus. Here A&E is not protecting its free speech right, it has deprive Robertson of his. Here she paints A&E as the villain for doing no more than the United Methodist Church has done.
Free speech in this country is an endangered species when we take the position that when an individual exercises that freedom and their position or opinion is the same as mine there should be no consequence to pay. Now, if they exercise that right and it differs from mine, then the individual has no right to complain of the consequence.
Sarah Palin has the First Amendment right to speak freely and I applaud her for doing so. However, she now has to suffer the consequence of my pointing out her hypocrisy. And yes, I’m sure that some where there lies a consequence for me because I expressed my opinion here.
I’m sure there is no one reading this that believes the Christian Organization has done anything more than exercise their right to protect the image they wish to portray. Image speaks loudly, thus it has First Amendment protection. I’m sure that none of you would say that the organization is, in anyway, infringing of the individual’s right of free speech.
Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page, says that "Free speech is an endangered species." Would she say free speech was endangered when the United Methodist Church defrocked Rev. Frank Schaefer because he publicly advocated for gay marriage? No! Sarah Palin would defend the Church's action, stating the Church had a free speech right to protect their image. And she would absolutely correct.
Sarah Palin is taking a totally opposite position when it comes to the A&E Network placing Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson on indefinite hiatus. Here A&E is not protecting its free speech right, it has deprive Robertson of his. Here she paints A&E as the villain for doing no more than the United Methodist Church has done.
Free speech in this country is an endangered species when we take the position that when an individual exercises that freedom and their position or opinion is the same as mine there should be no consequence to pay. Now, if they exercise that right and it differs from mine, then the individual has no right to complain of the consequence.
Sarah Palin has the First Amendment right to speak freely and I applaud her for doing so. However, she now has to suffer the consequence of my pointing out her hypocrisy. And yes, I’m sure that some where there lies a consequence for me because I expressed my opinion here.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
A Granddad's Shining Football Memory
It’s was Thanksgiving and the game was about to began. I was surrounded by three grandsons. The youngest looked up and ask: "You played football didn’t you granddad?" When I told him I had played a little high school football, he wanted to know what I remembered most about playing.
This was an easy one. I set back in my recliner and reminisced aloud:
We were playing Richmond High School in the last game of the regular season. I was in at left cornerback. When the ball was snapped it was as though everything began to move in slow-motion.
Not only was everything moving in slow-motion but it was as though I was not only a player, but also a spectator. I saw the quarterback turn to his right and hand the ball to their tailback. I saw their tight-end take our defensive-end to the outside while their tackle and guard sealed off the inside. Their fullback had our outside linebacker which left me to close the hole.
The football gods had been good to us that past summer. A Marine veteran had retired and returned home. He brought with him two teenaged sons who happened to be football players. The oldest was over six feet tall and weighted 190 pounds. He played defensive-end and his present alone raised our defense a notch. The youngest was a scat-back type runner who has seen a lot of playing time this year.
Klinton was a county school who played in the Class 3A Conference. Last year we were the runner-up in our division and as such missed out on the state championship play-offs. This year we had a one game lead going into our last game with Richmond, a city school who played in the Class 4A Conference. A win against Richmond and we win our division outright. A lose and we need Abby to loose or have to suffer through a coin-toss to decide the division winner.
Why was a Class 3A school playing a Class 4A school in football? The answer to that goes back a number of years. Back in the 30s when schools began to compete in sports, Manchester county’s economic base had been agriculture. As a result the two county school were larger than the city school and had better sports teams. Richmond was the county site and welded some political power. Not wanting to be left behind in the sports arena they had forced the county schools to sign a long term agreement to play Richmond City High School each year in all sports.
World War Two had changed those dynamics. The war had brought industry to Richmond and with it a boom in the population. Coupled with integration, the city high school was now much larger and as a result had much better sports teams. The City School District had tried a number of times to have the agreement nullified, but the County School District had prevailed each time.
Every year for the past ten years Richmond had begun the season by playing Tolbert to start the season and ending with Klinton. This year Klinton had the home field advantage and the football gods were once again smiling on the Mustangs.
It seemed that Richmond had saved every bad break that befalls every team for this last game of the regular season. Thus far they had seven penalties called against them for sixty-three yards. The really bad thing about this is, some of these penalties came at the most inopportune time.
A half the distance to the goal line penalty had pushed them back to their own six yard line. There a bad snap had been fumbled and before recovery was kicked out of the end zone for a safety. Then a punt that had penned us on our own twelve yard line was called back for an illegal procedure. The following kick we blocked and we returned it for a touchdown. Then another fumble which we recovered on their eighteen yard line turned into a field goal.
These games, for as long as I can remember had been lopsided with Richmond having the upper hand. Last year we had played them close until the last quarter and then they ran away with the game. This year our defense had played them hard. Our new defensive-end had outplayed everyone. Thus Richmond had been held to two touchdowns. While their defense was solid, our offense did have one good drive which turned into another field goal.
With fifty-five seconds left in the game we led 15 to 14. Richmond had the ball at our forty-seven yard line with a third and one. A pass was completed to our fifteen yard line, well within field gold range. Another illegal procedure penalty brought the ball back making it third and six. A screen pass failed to get the first down, but it cost us our best cornerback.
When my name was called it was a surprise. I had not played a down in this game and now I had to replace the guy who had just stopped Richmond from making a first down. The coach gathered us on the sideline: "Listen, they have a forth and one, they’re not going to throw another pass. All they want now is a first down. They’ll run Steward of right tackle, so I want everyone to crowd the line of scrimmage."
Since I was crowding the line of scrimmage, five yards back, I was closer than Steward when he got the ball. I shot the gap and met him a yard into his backfield. For what ever reason I knew he was going to try and run me over. It was as though I had all the time in the world. I saw him lower his shoulders and head and knew I had to get lower. On contact I was lower. His facemask slid over my right shoulder pad an instant before my shoulder came in contact with the ball.
Instead of continuing to drive, it was as though his concentration turned to the ball (he had fumbled twice). He tried to spin to his left but I had wrapped up. Instead of spinning out of the tackle, he fell forward.
The whistle blew and everything turned to normal. When the measurement showed he was a few chain links short of the first down, the ball went over. With thirty seconds left on the clock, this game belonged to us even though they had two time-outs left.
Having won our division we went to the state playoffs and lost in the semi-final game by three points. That year’s Year Book play up our march to the semi-final game in the Class 3A Conference, but, it gave much more coverage to the one point victory over Richmond High School. It even had a picture of me and Leroy Steward laying on the ground with the caption: THREE INCHES SHORT.
That was the last down I ever played for Klinton High School.
The game had started and the grandsons quickly lost interest in my football experiences.
This was an easy one. I set back in my recliner and reminisced aloud:
Not only was everything moving in slow-motion but it was as though I was not only a player, but also a spectator. I saw the quarterback turn to his right and hand the ball to their tailback. I saw their tight-end take our defensive-end to the outside while their tackle and guard sealed off the inside. Their fullback had our outside linebacker which left me to close the hole.
The football gods had been good to us that past summer. A Marine veteran had retired and returned home. He brought with him two teenaged sons who happened to be football players. The oldest was over six feet tall and weighted 190 pounds. He played defensive-end and his present alone raised our defense a notch. The youngest was a scat-back type runner who has seen a lot of playing time this year.
Klinton was a county school who played in the Class 3A Conference. Last year we were the runner-up in our division and as such missed out on the state championship play-offs. This year we had a one game lead going into our last game with Richmond, a city school who played in the Class 4A Conference. A win against Richmond and we win our division outright. A lose and we need Abby to loose or have to suffer through a coin-toss to decide the division winner.
Why was a Class 3A school playing a Class 4A school in football? The answer to that goes back a number of years. Back in the 30s when schools began to compete in sports, Manchester county’s economic base had been agriculture. As a result the two county school were larger than the city school and had better sports teams. Richmond was the county site and welded some political power. Not wanting to be left behind in the sports arena they had forced the county schools to sign a long term agreement to play Richmond City High School each year in all sports.
World War Two had changed those dynamics. The war had brought industry to Richmond and with it a boom in the population. Coupled with integration, the city high school was now much larger and as a result had much better sports teams. The City School District had tried a number of times to have the agreement nullified, but the County School District had prevailed each time.
Every year for the past ten years Richmond had begun the season by playing Tolbert to start the season and ending with Klinton. This year Klinton had the home field advantage and the football gods were once again smiling on the Mustangs.
It seemed that Richmond had saved every bad break that befalls every team for this last game of the regular season. Thus far they had seven penalties called against them for sixty-three yards. The really bad thing about this is, some of these penalties came at the most inopportune time.
A half the distance to the goal line penalty had pushed them back to their own six yard line. There a bad snap had been fumbled and before recovery was kicked out of the end zone for a safety. Then a punt that had penned us on our own twelve yard line was called back for an illegal procedure. The following kick we blocked and we returned it for a touchdown. Then another fumble which we recovered on their eighteen yard line turned into a field goal.
These games, for as long as I can remember had been lopsided with Richmond having the upper hand. Last year we had played them close until the last quarter and then they ran away with the game. This year our defense had played them hard. Our new defensive-end had outplayed everyone. Thus Richmond had been held to two touchdowns. While their defense was solid, our offense did have one good drive which turned into another field goal.
With fifty-five seconds left in the game we led 15 to 14. Richmond had the ball at our forty-seven yard line with a third and one. A pass was completed to our fifteen yard line, well within field gold range. Another illegal procedure penalty brought the ball back making it third and six. A screen pass failed to get the first down, but it cost us our best cornerback.
When my name was called it was a surprise. I had not played a down in this game and now I had to replace the guy who had just stopped Richmond from making a first down. The coach gathered us on the sideline: "Listen, they have a forth and one, they’re not going to throw another pass. All they want now is a first down. They’ll run Steward of right tackle, so I want everyone to crowd the line of scrimmage."
Since I was crowding the line of scrimmage, five yards back, I was closer than Steward when he got the ball. I shot the gap and met him a yard into his backfield. For what ever reason I knew he was going to try and run me over. It was as though I had all the time in the world. I saw him lower his shoulders and head and knew I had to get lower. On contact I was lower. His facemask slid over my right shoulder pad an instant before my shoulder came in contact with the ball.
Instead of continuing to drive, it was as though his concentration turned to the ball (he had fumbled twice). He tried to spin to his left but I had wrapped up. Instead of spinning out of the tackle, he fell forward.
The whistle blew and everything turned to normal. When the measurement showed he was a few chain links short of the first down, the ball went over. With thirty seconds left on the clock, this game belonged to us even though they had two time-outs left.
Having won our division we went to the state playoffs and lost in the semi-final game by three points. That year’s Year Book play up our march to the semi-final game in the Class 3A Conference, but, it gave much more coverage to the one point victory over Richmond High School. It even had a picture of me and Leroy Steward laying on the ground with the caption: THREE INCHES SHORT.
That was the last down I ever played for Klinton High School.
The game had started and the grandsons quickly lost interest in my football experiences.
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