EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Some weeks you don’t even have to go find a story to talk about, they find you. Like a blindside neutral zone hit, this weeks topics hit me hard in a 24-hour span between Thursday and Friday afternoons. It was harder deciding which song should be the Song of the Week. Without dragging out this introduction (which I just did) let me get to today’s brass tacks… the usual Song of the Week, followed by: NFL Bans Kneeling, Sterling Brown And NBA Playoffs.
Song of the Week: Last week, I raved about one of my favorite artists, Matt Kearney. I discussed his fourth album and how he has a fifth one out. I was going to pick from some more songs from the fourth album but thought I should focus on the fifth album. There were two songs in consideration but they are romantic songs I can use to get me out of a tough spot with my wife. She doesn’t read my articles that much – or as much as she should – and as we have separate music tastes (I like good music, she likes noise). Anyway, I decided to introduce you guys to the second single from that album and my third favorite. This week’s Song of the Week is Face To Face by Matt Kearney.
NFL Bans Kneeling: Earlier this week one of my liberal friends described Roger Goodell as the Paul Ryan of NFL Commissioners. It kind of fits and even the NBA Commish, Adam Silver, took a shot at Goodell for passing a law banning kneeling as a form of protest during the National Anthem at NFL games. Goodell didn’t consult with the players association on this. Heck, they claimed the owners voted but it turns out that there was no official vote. Team owners were just privately polled and Roger made a new edict. Beyond my general objection, this was ham-fisted and stupid. If the NFL did some research, discovered their fan base was conservative and felt it was something to be done, that is one thing, but they could have done better and worked with the protestors. They first messed up by letting President Trump use it as a wedge issue. Not standing behind the players and excommunicating Kaepernick has them now getting sued. Instead, they could use their PR to talk about the community programs they are working on. They totally failed to own the narrative and now this reaction shows clear disdain for the players. There is already mutiny brewing in the owner class. Raiders owner Mark Davis was not happy about the vote and spoke up at the meeting. The J-E-T-S also stood up, which was surprising. The Jets are owned by Woody Johnson, who supports this President. Woody was rewarded for his loyalty with an ambassadorship to the United Kingdom. Woody’s brother Chris is handling the Jets during Woody’s absence and the Jets have said they will pay the fine for any player that wants to protest. This is what I mean by the idiocy of Goodell. They could have done this so much better and cleaner if they really cared about public image and the way this would be perceived. Finally, I want to recognize ESPN’s Michelle Beadle for speaking some truth on the matter.
Sterling Brown: No, this is not about the This Is Us star. He has a K in the middle of his name. If you watched the previous video, you will hear Beadle mention Brown’s situation. The basic facts are that Brown parked horizontally over two handicap spaces at 2am on a weeknight. A cop shows up and rather than write a ticket and leave, it becomes something it shouldn’t. Below is the whole video and not the-2 minute clips that you will find on most of the net. The whole situation boils down to one of the things that is often missing or forgotten in Police Officer training, de-escalation. Every time I see one of these videos I think there was a way to approach it without needing to call in 6 more cops and attacking/tasering him. But it all starts with attitude and words. If you don’t believe me you can Google former Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown and find his words on it. As a black man, a former top cop whose son’s psychotic episode led to a wounded cop and his son getting killed, he may have some more credence as to how much better in could be handled.
NBA Playoffs: This generation’s version of Lakers vs Celtics is Warriors vs Cavaliers. The best team versus the best player. Apparently, nobody told the Houston Rockets and the Boston Celtics. As it sits now, both favorites lost game 5 and are now facing elimination. I wouldn’t bet against a comeback from either of the favorites but Games 6 and possibly 7 in each series just got interesting. Although, I would figure the underdogs have to put it away in 6 because if they lose six, they just gave the faves loads of momentum. Let’s see what happens.
Leave your thoughts below and come back tomorrow for another gem by Cheesy Bruin. You can also find us on Twitter – @JunoirBlaber, @MeetTheMatts & @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram – @MeetTheMatts – and Facebook – Meet The Matts
