Blackchecking is ManInBlack’s quick-hit thoughts of the day. Today, we’re trying a new format.
First Thoughts
~Former NY Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested on rape charges today. The allegations are pretty serious, as the girl involved is 15-years old and was apparently beaten. He has been charged with 3rd degree rape. Anyone who knows football knows LT is generally considered to be a bad guy, what with a history of violence and drug abuse. So my first thought, considering he has already been charged, was to condemn him. I’ll wait, however, until gathering more facts. There is a press conference this afternoon that should clear up a few things, and then we’ll see what comes out in the trial if it comes to that.
~The guy in Philly who got tased deserved it. The guy who ran out the next day should have been too, but the worst he got was a hefty booing by Philly fans. Good thing it wasn’t free battery day, or I’m sure the guy would currently be in intensive care.
~I didn’t expect Dustin Byfuglien to score a hat trick against the Canucks last night. I didn’t expect him to score a hat trick on anyone. With Kane, Toews, Hossa, and Sharp on your team, you could say its a bit unexpected for a mediocre forward to score three goals. Hell, the Hawks’ coach doesn’t even know whether he’s a forward or a defenseman, switching him up from game to game. But that’s what the playoffs are all about. Unsung heroes stepping up and delivering.
~Also, I have an issue with the prononciation of some of the Blackhawks’ names. Why is Byfuglien’s name pronounced Buff-lin? It should be By-fug-lee-in. And Jonathan Toews should be prounced like the word “toes”, not “tays”. Hossa, hos-a. Not hoe-sa. Worst names since Brett Fav-ra.
~I have no problem with the Phoenix Suns using their “Los Suns” jerseys last night to send a political message…as long as everyone was on board. From what I read, the locker room and coaching staff was right with the owner, but I’d hate to think that there’s a guy on the team that was afraid to speak up and had to go along with something they didn’t ideologically agree with. But as long as everyone was on board, I have absolutely no problem with it.
~I need to know what distraught baseball player and board game magnate Milton Bradley’s personal issues are. The guy has been such a douche for so long, I’m not about to give him a free pass. If he’s going through a crisis at home, believe me, I’m sympathetic. It effects every part of your life. But from a guy who’s been a distraction to every ball club he’s ever been on, and has blamed everyone and everything from managers to fans to racism for his bad behavior, I just can’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Until I know the supposed cause of his repeated emotional breakdowns, the guy is just a bad teammate and constant distraction in my eyes.
~Former Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell died. I know quite a few Detroit fans, and I’m sure they’re all very sad at his passing. Losing some of the older announcers these days is like losing a friend, a voice that has just always been there for you. While not overly familiar with him, I was nonetheless aware of his contributions to the game and the Tigers organization. Mitch Albom wrote a nice piece on him for the Detroit Free Press. You can find the link at the bottom of this post.
~Tim Tebow’s jersey is the #1 seller after news leaked that wearing one gives you magical powers and wipes clean all your sins. Side effects include radiating a blinding inner light and not being able to run a pro-style offense.
When I’m Right, I’m Right…
~Called the Flyers upset of the Devils. They just had their number this year.
~Nailed the Cavs beating the Bulls in five games after the Bulls won game 2. There was no way, hurt elbow or not, that Lebron was going to let that series get out of hand.
~Was right in saying that Roethlisberger would probably be suspended despite not being charged for a crime. Also, the Santonio Holmes trade is looking better and better as he continues to have stupid incident after stupid incident.
And When I’m Wrong, I’m Really Wrong.
~I said that Caps would sweep the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. I think my exact words were that I’d be “shocked” if the series went more than five games. Well, it did go more than five games, with the Canadiens upsetting Washington in 7 games. Oops.
~Took the Avalanche over the Sharks in the first round. The Sharks are one game away from sweeping Detroit and going to the Conference Finals.
Zelda’s Heroes
Is Sidney Crosby slumping…or waiting?
If you pitch a perfect game, they’ll make you a millionaire. Even if its from your couch.
While I agree 100% with your stance on the Suns wearing the Los Suns jerseys, I wanted to point one thing out. The Suns had been planning to wear these jerseys for quite a few weeks now, to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. They even had to get approval from the league, before this new Arizona bill was even an issue.
After the ‘zona bill became an issue, and San Antonio found out they were playing the Suns, and the Suns were wearing those jerseys, S.A. asked the league if they could create & wear Los Spurs jerseys last night, as well. Not for Cinco De Mayo, but rather as a statement against the league. The league rejected it.
Whether there is some strict timeline teams must adhere to regarding notifying the league office of plans to wear alternate jerseys, or the league was afraid of taking too strong of a stance against this bill, I have no idea.
Take that as you will.
I know about the Cinco de Mayo angle. But the owner of the Suns went out of his way to explain his team’s stance on the bill from an organizational standpoint. And after the bill became law, the organization held a locker-room meeting with the coaches and players to discuss whether or not to wear those jerseys and ask if anyone had a problem with doing so. From what I’ve read of that meeting, nobody had a problem, so they went ahead with it.
What I would hope is that everyone was in agreement in that meeting because they were united in their stance, and not because those who were against it were too afraid or uncomfortable to speak up.
As for why the Spurs were unable to get approval for alternate jerseys, I don’t know. I hadn’t heard that they requested it. Perhaps the league was ok with the team that represented Arizona to make their own statement, but not with a team from Texas making a statement about a law in Arizona.
I didn’t know about the meeting, so that is news to me. But regardless of that, it had been pre-determined to wear Los Suns. They just kept up with it and used an already planned celebration of Mexican culture as an excuse to make a statement.
Please link to someplace that says it had been determined long before. From everything I’ve read, the decision was made just a few days before Cinco de Mayo and had everything to do with the immigration law.
I’ve read several articles and have yet to read one that paints the Suns’ organizational viewpoint on Arizona’s immigration law as a happy coincidence to a long-ago devised plan to wear the jerseys for Cinco De Mayo. The articles I’ve read don’t say “Suns wear Los Suns jersey for Cinco De Mayo”, they’re almost exclusively “Suns make statement about immigration law by wearing jerseys on Cinco De Mayo”, or some such thing. If you could find me a link that says its just a happy coincidence, I’d be very interested to read it.
Also, from what I just read, the reason the Spurs didn’t have “Los Spurs” jerseys was because they simply did not have enough time to get the jerseys done before the game.
No link. It was during Tuesday’s Dan Patrick Show. Don’t remember when exactly, but they talked about it a lot. During the Charles Barkley interview, and again later in the show. It’s available on itunes as a podcast.