Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 10/12/17
Jason Momoa makes flippant comment about rape
1:34 PMAll right, kiddos, big day in these streets. I’ll be doing Around The Horn on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. on ESPN, then hosting #TheRightTime on ESPN Radio from 4-7:30 p.m. EST. And I’ll be stressing about Nats baseball all day, starting now.
Hi. pic.twitter.com/qwb4J3LHIe
— roxane gay (@rgay) October 11, 2017
Black people are genius. No, really. The 2017 MacArthur Foundation grant winners list was released this week, and there are six of us on there. Njideka Akunyili Crosby is an artist based in Chicago. Tyshawn Sorey is a musician working out of Connecticut. Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times has a reputation that speaks for itself in this line of work. Jesmyn Ward is a writer in New Orleans. Dawoud Bey is a Chicago photographer. But my favorite person on the list is Rhiannon Giddens, who makes some of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Keep telling me that the vestiges of slavery aren’t still alive in America. The way that our prison system is set up in certain states, that’s basically what prisoners are used as, and government officials have no problem letting that fact be known to the world. They’re borderline proud of it and have based their entire budgets around the existence of unpaid labor from people in jail. And in private practice, people are still trying to use black folks as slaves to run their business. All of this is so sickening.
WATCH.
In 38 seconds Steve Prattor, Sheriff of Caddo Parish in Louisiana, tells you why he REALLY likes keeping "good" Black men in jail. pic.twitter.com/7YtxixE1rU
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) October 12, 2017
Y’all need to get your man Jason Momoa. You know him, the actor whose Instagram page gets everybody tingling inside and who has starred in various movies in which he plays fantasy superhero types of all breeds. He’s Hawaiian and a dreamboat. He’s also got some really problematic views on rape and sexual assault that he made plain to the world on a panel. I obviously don’t know that guy, and everyone on that panel probably does, but how someone says that and you don’t get up and leave is just beyond me. This is not OK.
[protected-iframe id=”cc6e28bc6f5a7528bc82065dcdff3015-84028368-105107678″ info=”hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-video”]
Alex Morgan might be woke? If nothing else, she at least understands what her place as a white woman in America affords her after she found herself dealing with authorities at Walt Disney World. The story is that the U.S. women’s national soccer team player was there with her crew and things got a little loose in terms of the partying. But footage of her encounter with authorities was published, and at one point, with what she believes to be unfair treatment. She says matter of factly that she “can’t imagine what black people go through.” All righty, then.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If you don’t know what a bodega cat is, you probably haven’t lived in New York. Bodegas are a vital part of the ecosystem. And because the internet is amazing, there are social media accounts that document their lives. The person who does it is a national treasure. Read this interview.
Snack Time: YouTube is glorious. We all know that. But can you imagine a world in which there was a reasonable competitor? And who do you think could mount such an effort? Amazon, of course.
Dessert: Watch this. That is all.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 10/11/17
Eminem takes a major swipe at President Trump
4:09 PMI went to the White House on Tuesday, and thankfully, nothing went awry. In all seriousness, the Pittsburgh Penguins were there meeting President Donald Trump, and it was pretty procedural. Here’s my story. Oh, and this.
@clintonyates making canadian national news looking like a boss pic.twitter.com/EBgj83EbGj
— Mitch Robson (@_mitchrobson) October 11, 2017
Harvey Weinstein’s gross predatory behavior has officially rocked Hollywood. The sordid tales of the big-time movie mogul’s pattern of sexual harassment, assault and intimidation have turned up an entire slew of accusations. In addition, it’s forced a light on what is effectively a standard practice in the movie business, an obvious problem with toxic masculinity overall. Now, actor Terry Crews has gone public with a story about a time he was sexually assaulted at a party. He didn’t report it either.
The Boy Scouts of America will now be allowing girls. Of course, to the basic mind, this sounds complicated. We have Girl Scouts, so what exactly is the purpose of this? Well, the two things are not the same as far as programs go, meaning there are things you can do in one and not the other, and the Scouts decided it was time to be more inclusive. The new setup will also feature a program for older girls. This is a progressive move, but I’m not sure how much it changes the face of the organization in practice.
Eminem came back in a huge way last night. The BET Hip-Hop Awards aired last night, and there was one headline that overshadowed everything. In the “Cyphers” portion of the show — which, by the way, is this event’s main contribution to the culture overall, forget the awards — Slim Shady dropped a beatless tome in which he basically went all the way after Trump and his supporters. Keith Olbermann was so impressed that he apparently likes the whole genre of rap now. It was pretty vicious, though.
Now that the NFL has made clear how it feels about kneeling, others are emboldened. What started as a form of protest against police brutality by Colin Kaepernick has now been flipped and completely upended by the league. Presumably, at levels other than professional football, we will continue to see these demonstrations, where the stakes aren’t quite as high. At Division III Albright College, however, a player took a knee during the national anthem and was cut from the team. What a mess.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Odell Beckham Jr.’s emotional and injury histories are well-documented in the NFL, and when he had such a tough go of things on Sunday, it looked like he would be done for the season. That, of course, is really tough to deal with. But that’s what friends are for. Friends like Drake.
Drake visited Odell Beckham Jr at the hospital: “had to visit my bro.. bounce back like 13” pic.twitter.com/HRJka9HNMn
— Giants Daily (@NYGDaily) October 11, 2017
Snack Time: Remember that police officer in Utah who tried to force a nurse to blood test an unconscious man, then assaulted and arrested her? He’s been fired.
Dessert: Yooo, is Broadway Joe woke? Might have to go ahead and invite him to the old folks’ home cookout.
Joe Namath speaks out in support of NFL players' anthem protests on Fox and Friends: 'Look up the word oppression' pic.twitter.com/WNWgUrbiw3
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 10, 2017
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 10/10/17
Mike Ditka is living in a fantasy world
2:39 PMThe last time I was at the White House, it was to hang out at SXSL, President Barack Obama’s innovation conference on the South Lawn. Tuesday, I’ll be there to see the Pittsburgh Penguins meet President Donald Trump. Life changes.
finally the NFL shows respect for the troops pic.twitter.com/9A4lURai5J
— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) October 10, 2017
While California has so many perks, the downsides are vicious. Beautiful weather, lovely terrain and generally agreeable people, to a certain extent. But there’s also the ever-present risk of earthquakes and wildfires. Now, in the Northern California wine country, an outbreak of blazes has killed 11 people. Thousands of buildings and acres of property have been damaged since 11 fires started burning. The photos from this disaster are really quite humbling, and officials say it could eventually be the worst in the history of the state.
It always amazes when people expose their own privilege. So when HBO’s Amanda Seales told folks on Twitter that if they’re spending money on Jordans and Nike suits as opposed to a passport that they’re losing, it ruffled some feathers. Why? Because the nonsensical respectability politics that come with this notion that traveling is the only thing that can broaden your horizons are extremely harmful. Not just because how people spend their money is their business, but for very real concerns, otherwise.
You know how people always reference their grandfathers? Typically when bringing up someone with a wildly outdated social view, or a stance that’s so misinformed, you presume they got it from a fake source? Well, Mike Ditka has seemingly become that guy. The old Chicago Bears player, coach and NFL Hall of Famer said in a radio interview that the United States hasn’t seen social oppression in the last 100 years, which is a nice round number to be wrong about on two fronts.
The U.S. men’s national soccer team has another qualifier Tuesday night. Last week, the Americans faced Panama in a game they effectively had to win to keep their chances to get to the next World Cup from being completely distant, and they won. So, in Tuesday night’s tilt against Trinidad and Tobago, the stakes are still high. If they win, they’re in the World Cup. Alas, there’s one problem. The field is absolute garbage. The stadium was flooded by storms, and that’s when all the finger-pointing began. The team isn’t using that as an excuse, though.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Nintendo’s new classic SNES console features a couple of dozen games and is a good enough retro toy for most people to cop and play with on their own, sans adjustments. But some folks always want to take things to the next level, and it turns out that hacking those modules is easier than you might think.
Snack Time: Gilbert Arenas is always involved in some foolishness, and his latest stunt with Mia Khalifa is exactly that. He aired her out over a DM slide, which is so petty and pointless.
Dessert: Here’s the official trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I don’t love it, but it’s just a trailer.
All Day
Behold, the greatest gender reveal of all time
College football player and his squad go the extra mile
5:02 PMIn the year of our Lord 2017 if you’re having a baby, it is your social media obligation to tell the world about it in a fun, creative and spontaneous way. In the past few years, as a party genre, gender reveals have become a huge hit, and the cottage industry around them is booming. Some people use cakes, some people use smoke bombs. After all, it’s a big deal.
Also gaining popularity in the sports world, particularly with college teams, are surprise videos where a key piece of information — like, say, getting a full scholarship — is celebrated by the entire team. They’re fun, they’re real, and in a world where so many things are staged stunts, they’re refreshing.
The latest, from Anthony Llosa, a member of the University of Ave Maria football team, manages to combine both.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/917439608979308550/video/1
Everything about this is awesome.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 10/9/17
OBJ reminds us that it’s OK for men to cry
1:11 PMHappy Monday, folks. Let’s get right to it, because my team was on a bye this week, so that always makes Sundays a bit odd.
supernaw is the greatest last name in sports,
— Tony X. (@soIoucity) October 8, 2017
There was an interesting moment in Sunday’s New York Giants game. At one point, star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had to leave the game. As it turns out, he has to have surgery and will likely be done for the season. For obvious reasons, this was an upsetting situation. OBJ was crying on the sidelines, but some people don’t seem to understand that emotion is part of sports. His college teammate and close friend Brad Wing tried to console him, much to the chagrin of mouth breathers across America. It was touching.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Those were the famous words of Rick James, but they are now affecting the Miami Dolphins. Overnight, a pretty wild video of a man snorting white powder while professing his love to a person was released to the public. The man was an offensive line coach in the NFL, the person he loves is a model in Nevada. She says she showed the video to the world because she didn’t appreciate the pushback against protests in the league this year. Chris Foerster has since resigned. What a story.
Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, though some of you call it a different name. For those of you who are not familiar, Christopher Columbus was no hero. His “discovery” of America was really a genocidal colonialist mission that got the wheels turning on the trans-Atlantic slave trade, if you’re keeping score at home. But various cities do make sure to honor those who were here before others arrived. Elsewhere, people are targeting Columbus statues for vandalism, which we’re fine with.
LeBron James is quite the salesman. He’s pitched us everything from sneakers to phones to soda to now … driverless cars? The Cleveland Cavaliers star is now putting his weight behind a new ad campaign that will help ease public fears about getting into cars with nobody behind the wheel. I can follow Bron Bron down a lot of roads, but I’m still old enough to be borderline deathly afraid of these machines. Your boy is not going to be the guinea pig on this, but we’ll let James cook.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Clearly, Dove doesn’t have enough black folks working with its marketing team. Somehow, this company has managed to get one too many racist ads off the ground and now are apologizing for it. To be clear, scrubbing the blackness off your skin is a marketing tactic as old as anything else.
Okay, Dove…
One racist ad makes you suspect.
Two racist ads makes you kinda guilty. pic.twitter.com/hAwNCN84h2— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 8, 2017
Snack Time: I want to love Klay Thompson, but every time I look up he’s doing something so corny that I just gotta take a step back. His latest for his sneaker company is a sight to behold.
Dessert: Soccer is such a beautiful game. I’m glad that Egypt made the World Cup, but not as happy as this guy.