My favorite Olympic moment
OK, these Games have been a TV nightmare and are threatening to be historically bad in terms of ratings.
There are a slew of reasons for it, and everyone can have a favorite.
But this morning, at least in this portion of the column, I'm focusing on the positive, and gang, I have a new favorite Olympic athlete.
Meet Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who became only the second American female wrestler ever to take gold and the first Black female wrestler to do it.
Her story is filled with the type of feel-good, made-for-TV-movie moments that make it dusty when you watch. (Or as my daughter asks, "Daddy, are your eyes sweating?")
She lost her father, who died in a car crash coming home from one of her wrestling meets. She won the U.S. Olympic trials before the 2016 Rio Games, but did not get to go because the U.S. had not qualified in her weight class, so she went to Rio anyway to work as a training partner for those that qualified in other weight classes.
Then she arrived in Tokyo and killed tails and took names.
And best yet, amid all the distractions and discussions, the protests and, at times, self-serving protagonists, the controversy and the COVID-19 conversation, Mensah-Stock won gold and afterward shared a love for her country that was awe-inspiring.
Amid tears and sobs, she touched all the buttons and hit all the feels - from family, to goals, to being an example for all female competitors and patriotism.
"It feels amazing. I love representing the US. I freaking love living there. I am so happy I get to represent U-S-A!," is how she ended her interview.
Way to go, champ.
(Side note: Kind of disappointing that in the write-ups on NBC and NPR her patriotic quotes were not used.)
Hey, a new segment idea
Yep, Cameron Sexton, the Tennessee speaker of the House is today's Champ Kind winner of the "Sit the next few plays out" award. (Side note: This needs to be a weekly thing, and it needs to be sponsored by Champy's. Hey, get me someone from advertising on the blower.)
So, Cam, "Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you stop talking for a while."
Sexton's erroneous position has very little to do with COVID-19 in the big picture. Well, everything these days has something to do with COVID-19, so that's not entirely true, and man, we've made COVID-19 three times more deadly and damaging - on both sides - by politicizing this thing, and that's on all sides.
In the big picture of political discourse, this asinine request from Speaker Sexton is the peak of hypocrisy and would be downright laughable if it was not so disappointing. And detrimental.
Thanks to the excellent work of TFP aces Andy Sher and Elizabeth Fite, we learn that Sexton wants Gov. Bill Lee to demand that local school systems adhere to statewide COVID-19 policies and shun mask mandates or vaccination segregation.
Hmm, I wonder how Sexton would feel if President Joe Biden demanded that states adhere to a nationwide policy. I bet, right after having a litter of kittens, Sexton would rail against the federal overreach of trying to treat such a small cluster with a massive net.
And he would be so right. Which makes him so wrong on this one, regardless of the letter after the elected person's name.
And standing on a party line is not the answer - in fact, Sexton's contemporary in the state Senate has nailed this one. From the story: "But Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Republican Senate speaker, said Tuesday that while he is "firmly against a statewide mask mandate, I trust locally elected school boards to do what is necessary to keep their students healthy and their doors open. While I would have to see the specific proposal, I have always been in favor of school choice, pandemic or no pandemic."
Issuing blanket edicts because of that party line is not the answer, be it from the federal level or even the state level, because Crossville - Sexton's district - is way different than Chattanooga, which is way different than Clarksville, which is way different than Cordova. Address alliteration aside, you get the idea.
Which echoes back to Sexton's hypocrisy. You have to fight this thing by ZIP codes rather than zippy one-liners, and do it as locally focused as possible.
Yes, test scores are down. Duh, the kids have not been in school, and friends, the Zoom stuff is a pale imitation of a school day. Believe me. And I want in the worst way for the school doors to be open and the seats filled safely. It's a silent but cement-strong part of our daily lives.
Finding ways to get our kids back in school safely has to be the goal, and when it comes to Hamilton County, I trust the decisions from Jim Coppinger and our school board a heck of a lot more than I do Nashville.
Tuesday Feedback
OK, so we had one of those all-day beach days yesterday, even around the rain. (Side note: As someone who scoffed at the hubbub at all the Marvel movies - and with a teenage son who is a monster Marvel movie fan, we are currently catching up on the Marvel universe in order. Wow, what a story arc, and unbelievable movies. Truly.)
Anywell, we did not get the comments yesterday but there were two topics worthy of further exploration. First, Florida's COVID-19 numbers are nuts, and it's easy to see why. We are isolating while we're here, and I wear a mask going to stores. I'm in the uber minority of folks wearing masks, and yes, I am vaccinated. We are being overly cautious for a number of reasons, but primarily because we have an 11-year-old who is still, as of yet, ineligible for the shots.
And if Ron DeSantis is going to cash in on the political street cred when Florida first turned the COVID-19 corner even while being more economically aggressive in its approach, he must face the criticism when Florida becomes the world's Petri dish for delta. That's fair.
But the lack of quid pro quo on failing governors needs to be covered a bit today, too, since a) a California Democrat has done so poorly that he is facing the very real possibility of being a sitting state leader in a deep Red state who gets recalled like an Iacocca Chrysler (look it up, kids) and Andrew Cuomo did the Democrat undoable and has the NYT calling for him to resign.
Kind of goes back to a Monday point made by J-Mac - we are sorely in need of better candidates for leadership positions in this country.
Secondly, the news of LSU quarterback Myles Brennan facing surgery for a "serious" injury of his non-throwing shoulder led to an insightful Vader post on Tuesday. (Should we expect anything less?) And it deserved some deeper thought.
Here's what Vader posted about the LSU starting QB facing surgery that could end his season: "Brennan absolutely cannot catch a break at LSU, and I hate it for him. Comes in as a freshman with all the hype ready to take over for Etling as a sophomore. Gets bumped to second string for two seasons by some unknown Ohio State transfer (what was his name again?) oh yeah ... Joe Burrow. Gets injured last year a few games into an abbreviated season and now gets hurt again in training camp prior to his final season of eligibility. I wanted his career to be better and I am proud to have him as a Tiger, but I hate that this is how his football career ends. At least he got a ring though, right?"
Vader's loyalty to all things Red Stick is commendable, and injuries can, of course, happen any and everywhere.
But a couple of recent trends that have merited a lot of debate around the college sports realm of late take on a different feel through the Brennan prism.
If they had NIL four years ago, Brennan would have more than "what ifs" rolling around in his head right now.
And then the Myles Brennan era (if we can call it that) has been a Rorschach test for the transfer portal.
Brennan lost the job to Joe Burrow, who was part of the all-time QB transfer portal connect-the-dots that included Justin Fields, Tate Martell, Burrow and who knows who else.
Brennan chose to stay rather than enter the portal and battled through injuries with the dignity that earned him another crack at the QB1 job despite his limited experience. That caused backup/part-time starter TJ Finley to enter the portal and head to Auburn.
So yeah, lots going on.
This and that
- You know the rules. Here's Paschall on the sense of urgency the Vols offense is feeling. It's a fair take, too, because I have heard more than one UT fan wonder how good the win-loss record will be, but add the caveat of, "If we're going to lose, I'd rather lose 45-38 than 17-3." Josh Heupel to the white courtesy phone, Coach Heupel to the white courtesy phone.
- Speaking of the Vols, here's TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer on the four-person UT QB race. Good stuff.
- Another aces headline to the files of those covered in the Curious Cases of Benjamin Benton - seriously, can we have a write-in category for the Best of the Best already? - in this morning's fish wrapper. "Boyfriend of Bledsoe County slaying victim testifies in double axe murder trial." If you don't at least click on that one, well, you need to check your pulse.
- This Olympic story offers some perspective in terms of protest and speaking out. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya told reporters that IOC folks told her she would face punishment for speaking out against her home country of Belarus. Scary stuff.
- Braves played. Braves won by slinging around some lumber. Two things: Their crazy win-lose-win-lose-win, etc. streak continues to roll on. Second, Freddie Freeman has re-inserted himself into the MVP conversation, which is KER-razy considering he was hitting .224 on June 9 after an 0-for-4 in Philly. At that time he was 48-of-213 with 13 HRs and 32 RBIs; since he is 68-for-182 (.374) with 11 homers and 28 RBIs.
- Man, this Lakers team would have been in consideration for all-time status - in 2011. Now they have added Carmelo Anthony. We need to see if Dwyane Wade is working out somewhere.
Today's question
Which way Wednesday starts this way:
Which UT QB will take the first snap?
Which way would you feel if you were a high school senior and former football teammate of Quinn Ewers, who left for Columbus and seven figures in NIL?
Which Olympic moment has been your favorite so far?
Which college football player would you vote for as the best of the 2000s? (We ask because 247sports is running a very sports idea-based bracket on such matters. And that Cam Newton is not in the finals is staggering to me.)
As for today, Aug. 4, let's review.
Happy birthday Barack Obama. Side note: No job ages you like the presidency. The before and after pictures of those dudes are striking. Obama is 60, and yeah, I thought he was older, too.
Billy Bob Thornton is 66 today. Huge fan of his work. Does he have a movie in which his performance disappointed?
On this day in 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit announced the end of their relationship on Twitter. Did anyone else know that Piggy and Kermit split?
Elvis' "Hound Dog" was released on this day 65 years ago.
Rushmore of "Dogs" in a movie or song title. Go, and remember the mailbag.