Kaepernick's day in court
OK, Colin Kaepernick got his day before the NFL lawyers Tuesday.
He was deposed in his civil suit claiming NFL owners colluded to keep him form getting job. The NFL got to ask him questions about myriad of topics, and you have to believe they covered how much he was asking for when talking to prospective teams. You have to believe the NFL asked him about whether he was interested in playing in the CFL to show how serious he was about playing. You also have to believe he was asked if he had first-hand knowledge or evidence of actual collusion.
First, the background. Kaepernick is arguably the most well-known football player on the planet.
His protests during the national anthem have set off a national debate that has affected the NFL's bottom line and the perception of the league and its players.
Good or bad, and regardless whether you think Kaepernick is an Ali like spokesman or a hollow hypocrite, there is no denying that his protests have been heard, his donations have been real and his lack of NFL employment is because of it.
But that does not equal collusion, and that's what he and his attorneys are trying to prove.
What Kaepernick continually proves in full, though, is that his fashion sense is abysmal. And incredibly tone eaf.
Kaepernick showed up to give his testimony in a T-shirt that had "Kunta Kinte" across the chest.
Yes, "Kunta Kinte," the African name adopted by the slave who became the hero in Alex Haley's epic "Roots."
So, Kaepernick - a man who opted out of a contract with San Francisco that was set to pay him $12 million - thinks, at least tangentially, that the NFL is akin to slavery and the players' are, in some ways, not unlike Kinte.
Oh my. The NFL is not slavery. Far from it.
If you want to call it savagery, well, that's fine. But we're pretty sure that there were not millions of Africans waiting to be chained and shackled forced into slavery like the millions willing sacrifice almost anything for a chance to play football on Sundays for hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars.
We're pretty sure the line of folks willing to put their body and health and whatever else on the line to play in the NFL makes it 100 percent opposite of slavery.
Maybe we should expect it from a guy who wore socks making fun of cops as he tries to engage the nation in better relations between police and minorities. Maybe we should expect it from the guy who wore a Fidel Castro shirt during his protests under the grace of American freedoms. Maybe we should expect it from the guy who, in a year in which voting could not have been more important, chose not to go to the polls because he didn't like either choice for president. (Which is fine, and he certainly was not alone in 2016 of trying to pick the lesser of two less-than-perfect candidates, but we have forever said that the ballots cast in local elections carry far more direct impact in your life than those cast for president. Either way, you chose not to vote, I am happy to chose not to listen to your bellyaching.)
Anyhoo, in this very space, we have routinely stated that you have every right to say and do -within confines of the law - what you want. That's the first amendment at its core.
But freedom of expression is not freedom of repercussions. And freedom of speech - like wearing a Kunta Kinte T-shirt - is not a freedom from questions or reaction.
Now that may be common sense for a lot of folks.
But a lot of those same folks probably wouldn't wear a Kunta Kinte T-shirt into a legal matter in which you are saying those folks will not let you get a job on their fields.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban talks with the media in his first spring football news conference, Tuesday, March 20, 2018, at Naylor-Stone Media Suite in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/Alabama Media Group via AP)
Alabama visits the White House
First, major thanks to Hugh Morrow, the Ruby Falls bigwig who called into Press Row on Tuesday and gave Wells and Paschall a first-hand account of what the trip for the national champions was like.
Morrow is a monster Bama backer. And it was great account of what seemed to be a pretty cool moment.
(If you are asking, where was that fat-headed, big-mouthed Greeson, well, I had a flat tire heading to the radio station. Man, is there anything that can derail a day quicker than an issue with your car? Yes for a lot in our society without a car, that may seem like a First-World issue, and maybe it is. But the question still remains, is there anything that can derail a day quicker than car issues?)
Anyhoo, back to Alabama going to the White House.
The one-liners - both from the stage and the social media machines - were pretty stout.
There was Donald Trump saying how great the state of Alabama is, primarily because he won it by 32 points.
There was the line of humor about how there was a task-master, power-craving dictator on the stage. And Donald Trump was there too.
You get the idea.
Here's the idea I appreciate. There was never a debate about whether the Tide would or would not go.
And remember, according to filings, Nick Saban has always leaned left politically and only donated to Democrats.
But he runs his program his way, not kowtowing to outside pressure or the winds of indifference. He and the Tide have become regulars at the annual champions tradition and have made the trip with a controversial Democrat (four times to meet Obama) and now a controversial Republican in office.
That's about respect for the office and being consistent and true.
Maybe there was a player or three or more who are severely anti-Trump. That's there right as Americans. But there were who knows how many Alabama players thrilled with the chance to get to go to the White House as stars of the show.
And Saban handled his business and his program like the ultimate professional and leader that he is.
Kudos. (And the fact that he was calling recruits from the White House lets all of us know what kind of recruiting savage he truly is.)
More shoes dropping
Well, away we go.
Again.
Kansas and N.C. State have been added to the list of schools tangled in the FBI investigation.
Buckets. And not the good kind of basketball buckets.
Buckets of corruption. Buckets of money. Buckets of trouble and uneasiness.
And now this leads us to this question:
If, say 18 months ago, we had said that Rick Pitino, Bill Self, Tom Izzo and Bruce Pearl would either be unemployed or on an ever-growing hot seat, who would have believed that?
Oh my.
This and that
- Richie Incognito is retiring from the NFL because of the stress. Man, this is a hard-to-read story.
- This is a pretty weasel move from Derek Jeter. And kind of smart. Jeter has given the Miami Marlins a corporate address in the British Virgin Islands to avoid a Miami courtroom in a lawsuit claiming the city was defrauded of funds and lied to since the new stadium was built under the guise of not rebuilding a roster for the third time in a generation.
- Speaking of big money, the Carolina Panthers still have two bidders willing to pony up the $2.5 billion (yes, billion with a B) to Jerry Richardson to join the NFL money-printing fraternity.
- Did you watch Andre the Giant last night on HBO? We did and thought it was pretty good. Couple of things we thought were well done was the eternal mission to actually find out how tall and heavy Andre was, and the documentary still could not get exact details. The other thing is that there were no Paul Bunyon-type-legend stories. Only eye-witness accounts. That added value and validity in our view.
- How about the debut for Andre Ingram, the 32-year-old rookie who dropped 19 in his first NBA game with the Lakers last night? It's worth noting that Ingram spent 10 years bouncing around the D-League before getting his chance. That's the definition of persistence anode a dogged pursuit of a dream friends.
- Braves face an ace. Braves counter with a jack. Braves lose. This will not be the last time the pitching rotation faces the card game of War and the ace-less Braves come out on the wrong end.
Today's question
Wow, on this day 50 years ago the Civil Rights Act was signed by LBJ.
We made a huge deal about the anniversary of MLK's assassination. This one kind of passed by with a whisper.
Forty-two years ago the Apple I was released.
Today is the final day of the regular season in the NBA.
As for a Rushmore, well, today is national pet day.