Songs Sung True...

The Schloss-Blog is tuning up for karaoke, but it's not going to be too pretty, we're afraid. Before we take the mic though...

...a high school football coach who prays at the 50 yard line after games had his right to do so upheld by the Supreme Court in Kennedy v Bremerton, a blow to separation of church and state.

Some parents fear that defending this could adversely impact the chances of their sons playing if they don't join him or any other coach now with that SCOTUS blessing.

What do you think, guys? When you played, would you have felt intimidated?  What do you think, football moms?

***

The National Football League, so concerned about concussions, is petitioning the International Olympic Committee to have flag football declared an Olympic sport.

Can't want for the game against Russia.

***

We're going to have a new British Prime Minister.

Who cares?

***

Donald Trump is going to run for president again.

A few things here:

1) He could be running under indictment, in multiple states and federal jurisdictions;

2) But he'll use that for fundraising;

3) It would be a badge of honor for him;

4) Then again, if he did win in 2020, like he says, then he can't serve a third term;

5) As of the moment though, polls show him losing to ultimately unpopular Joe Biden.

***

New York has enacted a new law to restrict and monitor gun sales and possession.

Take that, Supreme Court.

***

President Biden has signed an Executive Order protecting women's reproductive rights. It goes as far as an executive order allows the man in the White House to go.

It broadens access to abortion pills and protects against some prosecutions that some state laws allow for performing and/or assisting those seeking abortions.

But with too many other things he has done in his administration, it may be too little, too late.

Until he gets Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to get their heads out of their asses, Democratic legislative platforms have little hope.

***

We don't notice it in our everyday lives, but a United Nations report cites that we are using up 12 percent of our wild tree species around the world, especially in Africa, where greater than the international average of one in three people use wood for cooking.

Yes, 1 in 3 people use wood for cooking, on average, around the world. Not everyone has an Abt or Best Buy to shop at down the block.

This trend though is doing harm to more than a thousand wild mammal species.

Camping across America this summer? Before you light that campfire...

***

I mentioned karaoke. This is "karaoke lamentation America," and where the right-wing fascists are taking us. Recognize this old one?

And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told

And I know you recognize this one:

Blossom fails to bloom this season
Promise not to stare
Too long (this is not America)
For this is not the miracle

There was a time
A storm that blew, so pure
For this could be the biggest sky
And I could have the faintest idea

For this is not America

***

A new report compiled by leading American Republican judges and leading conservative jurist Ben Ginzburg reveals conclusively that every fraud claim brought in every suit by Trump and his supporters - all 64 of those filings - had no basis of fraud whatsoever. Not even a single precinct anywhere in any battleground state would have been overturned due to fraud. This was indeed the cleanest, safest election in history.

Maybe, just maybe, enough idiots, enough members of the basket of deplorables, will finally believe that.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, followed by the Bohemian Night Cat, @JohnKirkDeRitis.

 

Grin, Aim and Bear It

The Schloss-Blog is thinking guns today. 

And lives lost. And lives threatened.

While Robert Crimo III was gunning down more than 40 people - killing 7 in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, two police officers providing security at a July 4 parade in Philadelphia were also shot. 

And in Sacramento, that same day, one person was shot dead and four others were wounded outside Mix Nightclub

This is America.

The Chicago Bears, whose practice headquarters are nearby to Highland Park in Lake Forest, Illinois, issued a statement condemning the violence and expressing their condolences.

Thoughts and prayers, they say, thoughts and prayers. The Chicago White Sox had a moment of silence before their game in honor of the victims in the Chicago suburb.

Who cares?

Everyone expressed a statement of thoughts and prayers but who did something about it, anything about it?

No one.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in Chicago for scheduled speaking appearance at a convention of educators, among America's most vulnerable in shooting episodes, stopped by Highland Park before heading back to Washington, D.C.

Thoughts and prayers, she expressed, thoughts and prayers.

Someone tell me what good "thoughts and prayers" do. Does it keep AR-15s and other weaponry of war out of the hands of the Robert Crimos of the world?

Or the Salvador Ramoses of Uvalde infamy? 

Of course not.

I'll let Mike Florio of NBC Sports and Pro Football Talk take it from here:

Thoughts and prayers. At this point, it’s more caricature than cliche. And yet that worn out phrase has made its way into the [Bears'] statement. What else, really, can be said?

The problem is simply beyond our ability to properly diagnose and repair. We just can’t do it. We can try. We can make minor strides. But it’s never going to be conclusively solved because we lack the political will to do it. The people may want it, but the politicians we’ve elected will not do it. And those who think it’s simple to replace the politicians who resist meaningful safety laws that don’t prevent responsible gun ownership don’t understand how a toxically-flawed two-party system truly works.

Here’s the reality. If you’re going to live here, you need to accept getting shot to death in a public place as one of the daily risks of leaving your house. Go to the grocery store, parade, church, school, wherever, and you could be shot and killed. Someone who has no business having a gun possibly will have gotten a gun and possibly will show up and take aim at you or those you have a solemn duty to protect but can’t.

Thank you, Mike.

Think about his words in his commentary, sparked by the Bears issuing their "thought-and-prayers" statement:

*If you're going to live here, you need to accept getting shot to death in a public place..."

Going to the movies anytime soon? People in Aurora, Colorado, did in in 2012: 82 of them were shot; 12 never made it home.

Gong to the grocery store? Payton Gendron is charged with shooting 13 people in a Buffalo grocery store on May 14, 10 of whom never made it home. He allegedly shot Blacks, trying to prevent the elimination of whites.

On the way to church? On June 17, 2015, a white supremacist charged into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed 9 people in a Bible study group. All Black.

Thoughts and prayers, let me hear you.

Let them hear you on Capitol Hill.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mike Florio.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

***

Hey Orlando, don't forget to read @RonaRecommends.

And congrats to dear friend @MeredithThompson of Wichita, Kansas, on her retirement.

Odd Questions and Blood Money

So, the Schloss-Blog is wondering, courtesy of Morning Brew, what is the oddest question you've ever been asked on a job interview?

For me, when I got hired to teach at Columbia College Chicago's Journalism Department, I was asked, after exchanging pleasantries with department chair Nat Lehrman, where are you from(?), after he clearly noted my New York accent.

When I said "Brooklyn," he came back with, "What high school did you go to?"

"Brooklyn Tech," I responded.

"Me too," he shot back. "You're hired."

That's it - two questions (and an impressive C.V., IMHO), and I was in.

What about you? What's the oddest question you've gotten in a job interview?

***

Now though, as John Oliver would say, our main topic today is ... Blood Money, the kind Saudi Arabia is paying the LIV Tour signees to play golf for them.

Why is it blood money?

Saudi Arabia has a dismal human-rights record, is noted to support terrorists and suppressive regimes, like the war in Yemen, and has ties to 9/11, let alone the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

And so, some of the biggest names in golf are playing on the LIV Tour, so named because of its 54-hole (LIV) format, shotgun start and no cuts. All the players, in fact, have been paid handsomely just for showing up (they have to) and play for a $4 million first-prize.

And what else?

They've been banned from the PGA Tour (they don't care), they can't play Ryder Cup or President's Cup (they don't care) and ... just what the hell else are they playing for?

Is Phil Mickelson just paying off his alleged gambling debts or does he have something else to prove, because he's been playing like shit.

What else do some of these players have to prove? Many have won majors, so why bother anymore? Why not just play for fun and money?

Fun? Is it fun being asked at every tour stop how they feel about taking "blood money?" Is it fun saying that they separate golf from terrorism?

From outright murder? The brutal, disembodiment murder, that is, of a respected, celebrated journalist?

He had a family. He was taking care of routine business at an overseas Saudi consulate and they grabbed him and disembodied him, one part at a time.

This is who's paying the LIV players.

And even worse, the LIV Tour is Donald Trump's entree back into "pro golf," such as it is, by virtue of two events being played on his courses this year.

Will you watch if it's televised? Will you attend if it's in your neighborhood?

I sure as hell won't.

ESPN Sports Center had highlights on from the most-recent event. I changed the channel.

***

I want to personally thank everyone who put a "like" or 💖 (90, so far) on my post about Jocelyn being named ASID's "Designer of Distinction" for 2022. It's quite an honor - they only give out one among designers from all disciplines.

I showed her the number and all the comments - from relatives, friends, former students of mine, colleagues - thanks from the bottom of my 💖.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jocelyn.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, including a cameo by Jocelyn..

Schloss-Sports Blog: Sports World Reacts to Roe, and More...

The Schloss-Sports Blog is watching, among a lot of other things, reaction from the sports world to Roe v Wade.

* The NBA and WNBA released a joint statement that speaks for itself: “The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom must be protected."

*Kyler Murray, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback, tweeted: “No one should be able to force their beliefs on anyone's body, that is not right. Sending love to our women.”

The sports world is lining up behind those who want to protect reproductive rights before the Supreme Court also does away with gun control and separation of church and state.

No, wait...

***.

Sports has a good side in the stands among some fans.

An adult at a Royals game snared a home run ball, to the dismay of a kid nearby, but gave the kid the ball.

When the kid, glove in hand, snared a home run ball later in the game, giving him two, he gave the first one back to the same guy.

Hey fans at Fenway and Wrigley, pay attention.

***

Ohio State has trademarked "THE," as in "THE Ohio State University."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will sue on behalf of "The U" and prohibit "The" Ohio State from playing in Florida unless they go back to just being "A Ohio State University With A Lot Of Illicitly Recruited Players."

***

The New York Times has banned its recently acquired Athletic property (not "The" Athletic, according to The Ohio State) from commenting on politics.

Just sports, says the Times.

At a time when sexual harassment, women's reproductive rights and equal-opportunity hiring are all on the sports radar and politics and sports intersect regularly, really, NY Times, really?

You guys, of all people? 

I guess this means Wordle, which they also own, cannot have political or politically-themed words either.

***

What a treat last week to attend a dinner at The Continental in Buffalo Grove honoring the memory of the late Daily Herald Managing Editor for Sports, Bob Frisk. Never a bad word ever in Bob's columns about sports and the prep athletes who participated in them.

Delightful to see fellow sports scribes Dick Quagliano, Larry Weindruch, Jim Cook and Mike Imrem, and coaches Doug Millstone, Ken Grams, Pat Ritchie(!!!) and John Wendell, with big thanks to Doug and Ken for organizing.

Bob, your words, your legacy still impact all of sports coverage, especially preps.

***

Briefly:

LIV Tour (Not THE LIV Tour, according to Ohio State) is something I could care less about because ... I just don't.

"Let's get ready to rumble," is trademarked by ring announcer Michael Buffer and he has made an estimated $400 million on it so far. 

LSU Gymnast Olivia Dunn is modeling for (not THE) Boyfriend Jogger by Vouri. Looks like I'm breaking up with Bar Paly.

***

Hope you enjoyed (not THE) Howard rock 'n' roll Hours on Radio Free Phoenix on Sunday night. More next week.