Engage. Enrage. Enjoy.

Swarmy

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The NFL received the punishment recommendation for DeShaun Watson yesterday.  It suspends him for six games and imposes no financial fine for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Former federal judge Sue L. Robinson, who was named the independent disciplinary officer in the case, handed down the ruling Monday.

The NFL and The NFL Players Association have about 48 hours left to appeal the decision.

Watson evidently attempted at least 24 passes to 24 different massage therapists. That’s how many came forward as the sordid tale wound through the criminal and civil proceedings.   That’s about how many he settled in civil suits with nondisclosure agreements attached.

Predictably the sports and social media world lit up.  The suspension is too much for some and not enough for others.

Comparisons to previous actions were fast and furious.

How can Calvin Ridley get a full season suspension for betting $1500 on NFL games?  What about Patriots owner Robert Kraft getting off (so to speak) without even a slap on the wrist for a few trips to the local massage parlor himself?  What about Ben Rothlisberger?  This means Alvin Kamara’s on-tape beat down in the Vegas elevator will only be two or three games, won’t it?

On and on it went, and on and on it will continue for a bit.

There are harsh realities to all of this hubbub.

One is that the NFL can do what it wants.  Its only obligation is to its conscious and to its checkbook, not in that order usually.

Make no mistake about it, their number one goal in matters like this is to protect their brand.  That’s why even the appearance of insider gambling is viewed as more grievous, and likely always will be.

In protecting the brand and its ever-increasing franchise values and gushing revenue stream, its fans (read as paying customers) must feel satisfied. That’s why Commish Goodell arranged not only for a female independent officer but a former judge.  Women worldwide are where the next leg up in viewer eyeballs lives.

Expect the NFL to appeal the ruling.  It looks good and has no downside.  The NFLPA has already asked to let the punishment stand.

But, what is Watson guilty of anyway?

Houston PD, its DA, and a grand jury went down the criminal investigation road and declined to file any charges.  Speculate all that you wish, but it’s “he said/she said” in the civil cases and bound by NDA’s.

Usually, where there is smoke there is fire.  And, the NFL’s own investigation found a four-alarm one.

We submit he’s guilty of not feeling guilty.  Denial and/or lying repeatedly isn’t a good look.

He’s maintained all along that he’s done nothing wrong.  And, that unto itself is wrong.  Man up.

This brings us to compare.  Remember Tiger Woods and a dozen or so dalliances he confessed to not long after his nine iron became a hood ornament on his Mercedes?

Tiger knew better.  Tiger confessed.  Tiger suspended himself.  Tiger asked for time. Tiger entered sexual addiction rehab.  Tiger came out the other side a better person for it.  Tiger today is adored by millions.

This has been a terrible look for Watson and by extension the NFL.  And, if nothing else, that’s why the NFL will hand down a six-game suspension at a minimum.

But, by mid-October Watson will be back throwing as many passes on the field as he attempted while on his back off of the field.

Above all, America loves a winner.  Cleveland craves one.

This too shall pass, like it or not.

It just feels swarmy.  Because it is.

 

 

 

 

Hail to the Red Faced Commanders

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Once upon a time, they were the Washington Redskins.  No more.  Once upon a time, they were the Washington Football Team.  No more.  Now they are known as the Washington Commanders.

Free speech was previously known as free speech.  No more.  Now it is known as either disinformation or expensive or both.

Commander’s defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio likely had no idea the dust-up he would cause when Del Rio called the 1/6/21 Capitol assault a “dust-up” at the team’s minicamp last Wednesday.

Head Coach Ron Rivera released a statement through the team’s official Twitter account. He called the events of Jan. 6, 2021 “an act of domestic terrorism.” Rivera said Del Rio’s comments were “extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DC area.”  Calling DC a great community might be disinformation unto itself, but we digress.

Del Rio also compared the Capitol insurrection to the sometimes violent protests (but labeled mostly peaceful by the left) of systemic and racial injustice in 2020.  “Our organization will not tolerate any equivalency between those who demanded justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the actions of those on January 6 who sought to topple our government,” Rivera continued.

Those “who demanded justice” could also be read as “those who murdered, rioted, stole, assaulted, and set fires.”  Well, actually that was way back when free speech was free.

Del Rio was fined 100k and later apologized for his “transgression.”

Rivera said Del Rio has a right to voice his opinion, but added, “Words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community.”  In other words, free speech is expensive.

And, if some had their way, it would be even more expensive.

Those comments resulted in NAACP president Derrick Johnson calling for Del Rio to resign or be terminated. “You can’t coach a majority Black team while turning your back on the Black community. It’s time for you to pack up and step off the field,” said Johnson.  Could you coach a majority white team and turn your back?

Oh, the irony.

All of this stench emanates from a franchise that staunchly refused to change its “racist” Redskins nickname for decades on end.  The smart money will tell you that the name change only happened after the NFL launched an investigation into front office boy’s club multiple sexual harassment allegations, claims, and lawsuits.

Owner Daniel Snyder was and is front and center.  It was time to give a little to get a little so to speak.

Heck, as a further sign of goodwill, they even hired the first non-pale face in Redskins history in Rivera in 2020.

And, then late last year news broke that Snyder and company were possibly skimming(under-reporting) some local revenue before sharing it with the other 31 team owners and franchises.  A former VP publicly claims the practice has been in place for over a decade.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee in the “great community” of DC is investigating.

Or, should we say, “oh, the hypocrisy?”

Blame it on (Del) Rio!

The Swamp and its football team are made for one another.

 

 

 

 

Football Is a Joke.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time to lighten it up a bit.

One of our faithful readers forwarded the quotes and jokes about the game of football below.  We blatantly copied nearly all of them for you.  Enjoy as the season is but three games from being over.

First, here are the quotes.

“I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.”
– Bear Bryant / Alabama

“It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle, you can hear it!”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“At Georgia Southern, we don’t cheat.
That costs money, and we don’t have any.”
– Erik Russell / Georgia Southern

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”
– Lou Holtz / Arkansas – Notre Dame

“When you win, nothing hurts.”
– Joe Namath / Alabama

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.”
– Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.”
– Woody Hayes / Ohio State

“I don’t expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation.”
– Bob Devaney / Nebraska

“In Alabama, an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in Bear Bryant.”
– Wally Butts / Georgia

“I never graduated from Iowa. But I was only there for two terms – Truman’s and Eisenhower’s.”
– Alex Karras / Iowa

“My advice to defensive players is to take the shortest route to the ball, and arrive in a bad humor.”
– Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar except for my grades.”
– Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

“ Always remember Goliath was a 40-point favorite over David.”
– Shug Jordan / Auburn

“I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn’t recruit me “
He said, “Well, Walt, we took a look at you, and you weren’t any good.”
– Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State/Dallas Cowboys

“Football is NOT a contact sport, it is a collision sport.
Dancing IS a contact sport.” –
Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team was;
“All those who need showers, take them.”
– John McKay / USC

“ If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education.”
– Murray Warmath / Minnesota

“The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb.
To be a back, you only have to be dumb.”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.”
– John McKay / USC

“I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.”
– Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

Ohio State’s Urban Meyer on one of his players:
“He doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear.
In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn’t know the meaning of a lot of words.”

And, now a few jokes.

Why do Auburn fans wear orange?
So they can dress for the game on Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday.

What does the average Alabama player get on his SATs?
Drool.

How many Michigan State freshmen football players does it take to change a light bulb?
None. That’s a sophomore course.

How did the Auburn football player die from drinking milk?
The cow fell on him.

Two Texas A&M football players were walking in the woods.
One of them said, ” Look, a dead bird.”
The other looked up in the sky and said, “Where?”

What do you say to a Florida State University football player dressed in a three-piece suit?
“Will the defendant please rise?”

How can you tell if a Clemson football player has a girlfriend?
There’s tobacco juice on both sides of the pickup truck.

University of Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh is only going to dress half of his players for the game this week.

The other half will have to dress themselves.

How is the Kansas football team like an opossum?
They play dead at home and get killed on the road.

How do you get a former University of Miami football player off your porch? 

Pay him for the pizza.

 

Have another good one?  Drop it in the comments!

 

 

I Pray For You

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In order to fully understand the story, you need to know the characters.

Brian Kevin Porter, Jr. is a 21-year-old third-year NBA player for the Houston Rockets.  He sunk a buzzer-beating game-winning three Wednesday evening at the Washington Wizards (as they are known now).

Kevin Porter (born April 17, 1950) is a former NBA player.

He played ten seasons with four different teams (the first was the Washington Bullets as they were known then) and led the league in assists in four of those seasons.

Brian Kevin Porter Sr., who is Kevin Porter, Jr’s father, pleaded guilty in 1993 for the killing of a 14-year-old girl, according to a case docket with the King County Superior Court and USA Today. Porter Sr. was shot and killed in Seattle in 2004 when Jr. was but four years old.

Glenn Consor is a former NBA player, turned scout, who finally turned to broadcasting.  Consor has more than 22 years of experience in the broadcast industry, including 20 years with the Washington Wizards (formerly the Bullets) organization in radio and television roles.

Did you get all of that?

So, as the buzzer-beater swished through the twine Wednesday night Consor assumed, incorrectly, that it was a chip off of the old block.

“You’ve got to give credit. Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time,” Wizards broadcaster Consor said after Porter buried the jumper to give the Rockets a 114-111 victory.

It was a bad choice of words given who Sr. was, but Consor didn’t know what he didn’t know.  Consor assumed, and you know what they say about assuming.  The former NBA Porter is no relation to the current NBA Porter whatsoever.

Enter one more character.  Lebron James.  He’s The King.

“Oh, he thought this was cool huh!!?? Nah we ain’t going for this!” James tweeted. “Sorry but this ain’t going to fly! How insensitive can you be to say something like this? Beat it, man! I pray for you but there’s no place in our beautiful game for you!”

Cancel culture is an ugly game.

By yesterday morning Consor was told of the error of his ways.

Consor, on Twitter, said Thursday he mistakenly thought Porter was the son of the former NBA player who played several seasons in Washington in the 1970s and early 80s.
“I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk to him soon,” Consor continued.
That should do it, shouldn’t it?
But the King isn’t backing down.  He doubled down after his shootaround (probably a bad choice of a word as well, but we digress) yesterday.  “What he said — no matter if he thought that was his dad or not — was so insensitive, and the words he used — we know the words that he used, I don’t want even want to repeat it — is not even something that should ever be said.”
Come on, doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance Lebron? Or a third?  Or a fourth?
For example, King Lebron lectured Darryl Morey on how insensitive he and by extension, we are towards China.  Calling that foolish is being nice.
He further lectured us on the social injustice of the shooting of Kenosha’s knife-wielding felon Jacob Blake, and the crocodile tears of fully exonerated Kyle Rittenhouse.  Wrong and wrong again.
Thankfully, Lebron is “praying” for Consor he told all.  Sounds good.
Really?  No, he isn’t.  It’s just more grandstand theatre.
Words mean something.  And, sometimes fewer is better.  Consor learned that the hard way two nights ago.
Lebron has a ways to go.

SoFi or So Long?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Way back in 1977, a fictitious movie titled Black Sunday hit the big screens.  But, before it hit the big screens one of the final scenes had to be shot.

That scene had the ever-present at Super Bowl games Goodyear Blimp hitting a packed Orange Bowl Stadium during Super Bowl X, and dropping a bomb that would turn lose a quarter-million steel flechettes(think mini bombs).  The terroristic plot was foiled at the last second, but not before it terrorized 80,000 fans who were actually movie stand-ins of course.  The film grossed $16 million.

Now, 45 years later, Super Bowl LVI will be the 56th Super Bowl and is scheduled to be played on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, a city two miles from LAX and not far from the movie-making capital of the world-Hollywood.

Note we said scheduled to be played.  There’s a terror of a different kind sweeping the nation as we write.  And, last night there it was scrolling across the ever-present ESPN updates.  “The NFL is looking into alternate sites to host SB LVI.”

What the scroll didn’t say was why.  Why move?  It’s because Omicron is the 2022 version of the bomb and the ease of its transmission is the quarter-million flechettes.

The real why of course is that the NFL show must go on as Hollywood might say even if it needs to move to another state and stadium.  Super Bowl “movies” gross way more than $16 million worldwide these days.

A determined virus should never get in the way of capitalism, our economy, our freedom, and our independence many say.  The “many” who say that are few when it comes to California governance, however.

You can never be “too safe,” and even level that might not be safe enough for Cali.  Could Cali opt out of SB LVI? Will Gavin Newsom make the call from the French Laundry Restaurant for the safety of the citizens he governs?

Could LA?  The Rose Bowl was played last Saturday in Pasadena.  But. But. But, new cases are geometrically increasing.

The world is waiting because the world will be watching regardless of what patch of grass it’s played on in five weeks.

It would take some game balls to call it off and make the NFL move the game and its footballs to another state.  It would be another huge defining moment of how divided our United States are on issues big and small.

Super Bowl LVI hits the big screens in your living room in five weeks and the Goodyear Blimp, sans flechettes, will have an eye in the sky to bring it to you.

Safety first?  Or hooray, hooray for Inglewood?

 

Opt out? Cop out?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Is opt out the new cop out?

Ben McDonald, former Baltimore Orioles pitcher turned SEC Network analyst, feels strongly that when it comes to a football bowl game that it is.

His Friday tweet read, “Hot topic again!  Players that opt out of bowl games!!  Can we please call it what it is?  Nobody opts out…they Quit! They quit on their teammates, coaches, and university!  That’s the bottom line.  Here’s the dirty little secret…they will do it at the net level too!  GM’s beware!”

Before the 2020 season started in year one of the coronavirus, the NCAA allowed a player to not play, not lose their scholarship, and not lose any eligibility if they felt like sitting beat possibly catching the dreaded illness.  Sounded reasonable then.

But, opting out now has spread like the Delta variant did in early 2021.  Running second team?  Opt out.  Coaches running you too hard?  Opt out.  Running from a girlfriend?  Opt out.  Running to a new coach at a new school?  Opt out.  NIL money better across the way?  Opt out.

Opting out and heading to the transfer portal is as easy as Alabama beating Rice.  Just say the word.  Heck, if you don’t like how your season is going, opt out.  If your coach gets fired, opt back in.

The counter to the complaint is that coaches leave for greener(read that as money) pastures all of the time. Players aren’t getting paid to play, so why shouldn’t they as well?

The counter to the counter is that now players are getting paid to play in addition to a paid-for scholarship.  Note, scholarships are paid for, not free.

So what is their obligation?  Where does the NCAA(if it exists in three years) draw the line?

The genie is out of the bottle.  And, it has granted too many wishes.

The landscape of college sports is changed forever.  That is until the next change moves it in another direction.

But back to McDonald’s rant, we go.  If you’ve toiled for a team, why leave before a bowl game?

Well, if the star QB is likely to get drafted you say “why should he risk injury, curtailing, or hurting his chances of getting the big bucks?”  When then does playing make more sense than not?  Maybe quit three games into the season?  Six?  Nine?  Before the bowl?  Why play in all-star bowls?  Why play ever?

Matt Corral played.  He barely avoided serious injury.  It meant something to him.

Ah, but if you’re in the playoffs (Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, Cincinnatti) those are meaningful games says the current sentiment.  Opting out of those would be moronic and you’d be labeled a quitter.  Hmm.  Where to draw that pesky line?

Skip the meaningless Continental Tire Bowl last Tuesday in depressing downtown Detroit and who cares?  Maybe your teammates care that you don’t?  If they don’t maybe they shouldn’t be on the team either?

Since there are plenty of “I’s” now in “team,” where oh where do you draw the line?

The NCAA took Bob Barker’s advice years ago and got neutered.  But it could grow a pair and put stipulations into the scholarship offers and NIL restrictions/ opportunities going forward if it chose to.

You’d have to play to get paid.

You certainly do at the next level.

Old Ben McDonald once threw 159 pitches in an NCAA regional final in early June to get his baseball team to the College World Series. He was drafted two weeks later in round one.

He knows a thing or 159 about loyalty.  And, he didn’t get paid a dime to do so.

 

A Taco, a Burger, and a Duck

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When you watch a lot of the same type of programming you see a lot of the same commercials.

The intent is obvious.  Advertisers target their existing and potential customers by viewing habits and hit them with their best shot.

For example, if you’ve watched a lot of NCAA football this fall you’ve seen a lot of Taco Bell, Burger King, and AFLAC spots.  We repeat, a lot.

For no good reason this AM, we decided to dissect these three attempts at getting you out of your LayZBoy recliner and getting into your wallet.

First up we make a run for the border, although you shouldn’t say that anymore.  And, actually, that’s part of the point.   Taco Bell might be changing its image right before your eyes.

For years after it dropped that campaign, it attempted to shove too many “lipstick on a pig” creations down your throat all at a great value (read cheap) price surely ending in $.99. “Try our taco stuffed chalupa on a bun,” or something similarly unappealing like that.

Suddenly, they have the newly paired couple about to embrace on the beach, waves in the background, when the buoy falls over and makes the Taco Bell familiar gong sound.  Like Pavlov’s dogs, the female heads directly to the nearest Taco Bell.  When you need a taco, you need a taco, and you need it from Taco Bell.

It’s whimsical, its lifestyle, and it doesn’t trade on price.  If you have a brand that has value, why incessantly promote price?  Maybe Taco Bell’s brand had little value, and it’s now attempting to gain some.

We grade the initiative S for solid.

With Burger King, let’s flame broil the 30 seconds wasted straight away.  Let us count the ways.

The Burger King name limits the offerings that people will assign value to.  Quick, name another offering there besides the Whopper?  Subtly change the name already.  Think Popeyes.  It’s now calling itself Louisiana’s Kitchen more loudly by the year.

Second, change your corporate colors and uniforms.  This is a tough one.  But, if you keep doing the same things over and over again and you expect better results you define insanity someone once said.

Third, rework the mascot from head to toe.  Burger King, the character, is plastic-looking, intimidating to children, looks like Charlton Heston in Gray Lady Down, and provides no symbiotic connection.  Think Geico.  That gecko is tied at the hip to your home, boat, car, or motorcycle insurance.

And, lastly, stop offering your best product on sale every single day.  It’s not a sale anymore.  Two Whoppers for six bucks is the new price point.  Trading against yourself on price is a race to the bottom.  It’s one you can’t win, and if you do you lose anyway.

If the Home of the Whopper went out of business, would anyone notice?

We grade the initiative T for tired.  Very.

Speaking of kings, the king of football coaches, Nick Saban found 30 seconds here and there to trade in his crimson-colored wardrobe for a bright light blue blazer and shill for AFLAC.  Sometimes it’s he and the AFLAC duck, and sometimes Prime Time Neon Deion Sanders joins the two legends.

But just like how his defense can hit you directly in the jaw from the first play till the final whistle, Saban’s acting (or lack thereof) is something that you cannot unsee.  You focus on it, not the message.

When paired with the duck and its iconic quack of AFLAC, it does make an impression.  Goal number one is to get the audience to remember you.  Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes not so much.  Adding Sanders, who is now coaching too, looks downright uncomfortable on air.

And about that nasty blue color that overrides the entire spot-terrible.

Saban doesn’t need AFLAC’s money.   AFLAC doesn’t need Saban.

The duck isn’t lame, but the spot should be a lame duck.

We grade the initiative B for barn.  What?  As Mr. Wonderful would say on Shark Tank, “take the video out behind the barn and humanely dispose of it.”

And, now we’re set for the second-half kickoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Wor(l)d Police

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Psst.  Did you hear the one about the Catholic priest, the rabbi, the Irishman, and the rooster?  Of course, you didn’t.  It’s no joke anymore.

Once upon a time, people found it funny to poke fun at themselves and others with the use of stereotypical jokes.  No more.  It’s deemed racially insensitive and sometimes even more.  Don Rickles would need a different occupation today.

The free speech police, over the course of time, switched sides.  Once, its job was to protect.  Now, its job is to deem what is allowed and what is not.

And, when the utterance is divisive, uncalled for, and downright mean even greater consequences loom.  We aren’t here to judge the change in the wind, we’re here to examine its hypocrisy at times.

And, one of those times might be 2011, though we only heard about it in late 2021.  The guilty party, you ask?  Jon Gruden.

What did he say back then?  It’s actually what he wrote.

Gruden emailed then-Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen about DeMaurice Smith, back in 2011.  “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” he wrote.  That qualifies for insensitive at the very least and misspelled as well.  But, you get the picture he painted.

Gruden later told ESPN he used the term “rubber lips” to describe someone he saw as lying and that he was frustrated by the lockout at the time and failed negotiations between Smith and Goodell.

And, now here comes the word police to solve the ten-year-old crime and administer punishment as well.  Judges and juries come as a package deal these days.

Some close to Commissioner Roger Goodell believe that ultimately a hefty fine and further diversity and inclusion training will be forthcoming, with a suspension possible.  But they also suggested that there are not many comparable situations to this and that other evidence could necessarily lead to a more intense punishment.

Other evidence?  Sounds like it’s time for an investigation.  Send in Kenneth Starr.

Gruden was working for ESPN at the time, not the NFL.  But, that won’t stop the NFL, or his current employer the LA Raiders, from doing what they deem necessary.

“The email from Jon Gruden denigrating DeMaurice Smith is appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values,” the league office’s official statement read.

There is an irony that Gruden wrote to one of the ultimate decision-makers of a team that at that time was known as the Washington Redskins.   Public sentiment in 2011 and prior strongly suggested that the Redskins change their nickname.

Did the league consider the nickname appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to its values in 2011?  Does it now?  Will the league look back to its behavior then and fine itself somehow?  No.  Maybe some additional sensitivity training?

Daniel Snyder, the owner of the now nicknamed “Football Team” wasn’t ever going to change the nickname.  But, a #metoo movement swept through America in 2017 and with it swept out an exposed “boys club” mentality in the Washington front office.  Like the nickname, sexual harassment was a part of everyday life inside the organization.

Snyder did the NFL a solid and the NFL threw Snyder a lifeline.  Really, that’s more boys club at its finest.

Did the league consider the front office behavior appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to its values then?  Will the league now investigate and fine Snyder or his team now for its behavior then?  No.

Google and Facebook are companies that decided a while back to control the narrative by limiting what you can say or write on their platforms.  It’s their right. The NFL can do the same on its own turf.  But now we get the NFL reaching into a private email written when Gruden was not employed by the NFL over a decade ago.

The slope is slippery.

The bill of rights protects the act of burning an American flag as freedom of expression. You don’t have to like it, just respect it.

It also protects freedom of speech, ignorant or otherwise.  You don’t have to like it, just respect it.

Well, it used to.

 

A Band of Brothers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Every episode except the very first of the critically acclaimed Showtime hit series Ray Donovan began with the screen dark and Liev Schrieber saying “previously on Ray Donovan.”

And in the 30-seconds that followed very seldom was the recap that didn’t involve a bat to the kneecap, or a punch to the gut, or worse.   For all of their problems, the fictitious Irish heritage Donovan family would quickly band together and never backed down. If you picked a fight with Mickey, Ray, Terry, Bunchy, half-brother Daryll, and even Abby, you got more than you wanted back from the fighting Irish.

And, almost as predictable as Ray throwing a haymaker you knew it would only be a matter of time in today’s world that cancel culture would want to pick a fight with Notre Dame over their Fighting Irish nickname.

When journalists at the Indianapolis Star reviewed a recent survey on college mascots, they focused on the fourth most offensive on the list — Notre Dame’s leprechaun who cheers on the Fighting Irish.

So, The Star asked the university for their response to the survey that asked 1,266 participants to rate 128 mascots at colleges and universities in order of best, worst, sexiest, creepiest, and offensive.

Be careful what you ask for.  “Our symbols stand as celebratory representations of a genuine Irish heritage at Notre Dame, a heritage that we regard with respect, loyalty, and affection,” the ND statement said.

Notre Dame said its nickname began as a term used by other schools to mock its athletic teams. At the time, anti-Catholicism and anti-immigrant sentiments were strong.  Notre Dame was largely populated by ethnic Catholics.  They were mostly Irish, but also Germans, Italians, and Poles.  The university was a natural target for ethnic slurs, it said.

As the football team gained national prominence in the early 1900s, journalists began to use the ‘fighting Irish’ phrase in their stories. ‘Soon, Notre Dame supporters took what was once an epithet into an ‘in-your-face’ expression of triumph,’ the university said.  In your face, they said.

By 1927 the nickname was officially adopted.

As for the leprechaun, Notre Dame said it is “symbolic of the Fighting Irish and intentionally a caricature.”  Therefore, “the intent is to recognize the determination of the Irish people and, symbolically, the university’s athletes.”

So to recap as Liev does, the opposition to Notre Dame called the team the “insulting” name, and the press wrote of them as such. ND then turned the tables and nearly 100 years later still proudly wears the moniker like a badge of courage.  In your face, indeed.

After all, if you’re going to pick a fight it’s best that you not pick one with the Fighting Irish.

They’ll band together like three and a half Donovan brothers.

What an interesting twist.  The woke actually tried to wake themselves.

Score one for history.

Deep Breaths

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back in the Stone Age, the word humdinger got a lot more run than it does today.  Have you never heard that word used?

Humdinger defined is a noun used to describe a remarkable or outstanding person or thing of its kind.

Baseball is a sport that some critics think still operates in the Stone Age.  But, give baseball fans, players, managers, and reporters credit for slimming down humdinger into a catchphrase for a home run.  They call them dingers.

In Denver, the air is a “mile high.”  So, dingers were flying towards Aspen with great regularity from the very start of the Colorado Rockies franchise.  In fact, they did so often that the franchise birthed Dinger, the Rockies Mascot, based on a triceratops – an herbivore dinosaur species that lived in the area, as evidenced by the several triceratops fossils found in the region.

Dinger made his debut on April 16, 1994, at Mile High Stadium. Like the legendary San Diego Chicken, Dinger made his official debut by being hatched. At the game, fans were told that an egg was found during the construction of Coors Field, and a grey egg was seen on the field. Two “doctors” were seen attending to the egg when it began to hatch – and thus Dinger was born.

But on Sunday, some 27 years (or roughly 2240 home games later) when a fan sitting not too far from home plate nor too far from the broadcast’s field microphones repeatedly yelled the mascot’s name to get his attention, he got the entire on edge world’s attention.

Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson stepped up to the plate in a game between two very below-average teams.  Brinson is African American.  And for viewers and some Rockies officials, the call for Dinger sounded like the worst racial epithet of all, the n-word.

No Marlins, including Brinson, said after the game that they had heard any of this.  But, one of the Rockies broadcasts did pick the shouting up, and the disgusted Rockies Organization sprung into action as you see below.

Monday Brinson said he had watched the replay “like 50 times in the last 15-16 hours” and believes he does hear the n-word.

And predictably the twitter world, the players union, and the media ran with the story.

Some of the best, or worst follows.

1.  @JessBlaylock
I proudly stand WITH Lewis Brinson, who is one of the kindest, hardest working, genuine people you’ll ever have the pleasure to meet. I firmly stand AGAINST hatred, intolerance, ignorance, and the disgusting behavior that was exhibited earlier today. We have a long way to go!

2.  MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said in a statement on Sunday night that ‘we have to continue to work together to ensure that racism is never tolerated on or off the field.’‘While many are truly committed to respect and equality for all, the abhorrent racial animus displayed today highlights that there is still much work to be done,’ he said.

3.  By BBR’s count, no less than 15 major US media outlets ran with the wrong side of the story by Sunday PM.  There were the usual suspects like the New York Times, ESPN, Newsweek (who knew they still existed, we digress), and CBS amongst others.

Multiple fans seated in the section stated that the fan was shouting from contacted the Rockies to clear the misunderstanding.  By early Monday morning the Rockies Organization, in cooperation with the broadcast by AT&T Sports and section ushers corroborated the multiple nearby fans’ version.  Dinger it was.  And, the earth could resume spinning on its axis.

The Marlins traveled to San Diego and played the Padres on Monday.   Believe it or not, a resilient Brinson homered in the game.  We doubt that anyone in the stands dared to call it a dinger though.

This brings us to the fate of Dinger, the mascot.  Apparently, the Rockies received calls Monday to dump the name as it’s too close to the hated slur.

This is no joking matter.  And, while we are on that matter, jokes can no longer be called zingers, either.

Roy Rogers’ horse would be in a world of hurt/hate right about now.

Who knew that for 27 years and 2240 or so ball games that the organization and its fans were walking such a tightrope.  Surely someone has yelled out Dinger’s name once or twice before?

No charges will be brought against the fan.  Duh.

And for 48 hours the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves got a reprieve.

We do indeed have a long way to go!

Inhale, exhale.