It was a strange week for sports, and a strange week for the world. Unless you live under a rock, you know that "wannabe" shock jock Don Imus (who usually saves his tirades for calling Hilary Clinton a "lesbian bitch") has been fired for calling members of the Rutger's women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."
The comments were offensive not only because the term "nappy" is equated with the black community, but also because the Rutgers basketball team did nothing but play excellent basketball. Sadly, this will probably only be stashed into the long-term memory because of Imus' comment.
While I don't think the comment by itself should have landed Imus a one-way ticket to the unemployment line. The man has a history, and I'm not exactly ready to cry a river over his fate.
Many will say this is "free speech issue," and frankly, that would be wrong to apply in this case. Getting fired from a private company is a little different from getting "fired on" by the government.
On the other side of the river, and with much less media attention, was a comment made by the usually "happy-go-lucky" and apolitical Steve Spurier, who near the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, said that he would like to see the Confederate flag taken down from the South Carolina statehouse.
"I realize I'm not supposed to get in the political arena as a football coach, but if anybody were ever to ask me about that damn Confederate flag, I would say we need to get rid of it. I've been told not to talk about that. But if anyone were ever to ask me about it, I certainly wish we could rid of it," Spurier said Friday night after winning an award from a volunteer organization.
Personally, I think Spurier needs to be commended. While it will never make me forgive his insistence that Florida "gunslinger" Danny "Woeful" Wuerfell meet the exceeded pedigree of being an NFL quarterback for the Redskins, Spurrier did show guts and an understanding of what's right in making the comment.
I know many Southerners who say that the Confederate flag is not at all a symbol of antagonism for African Americans, but rather a symbol of annoyance and pride against what they consider to be the fast-paced and often inconsiderately mannered North.
If you have ever attempted to hail a cab in New York, you could kind of understand what many in the south mean, but honestly, is the Confederate flag the best symbol of that? Would we ever buy the claim from someone who flew the Nazi flag, that he was only showing pride for his German heritage? Probably not, which doesn't mean that those flying the Confederate flag are racist, just that they should consider that to many, the flag holds a lot of weight for all the wrong reasons.
I'm sorry to get so political here. I know I skip to the sports section first in the Washington Post everyday, only because at the start of the day I want a little "lightness and triviality" before facing the weight of the world.
This has especially applies while attending a school where the people are so ultrapolitical that a woman once told me she only attended an American vs. Army basketball game to hold up a sign protesting the Army's action in Iraq.
Anyway, next week I will try to keep things lighter, and shoot off a couple jokes about Ron Artest's fabled rap career, as nothing quite says "street cred" like attempting to take on the entire town of Detroit.
A final note:
Totally unrelated to anything I wrote before, but props to Marco Scutaro, the unheralded backup shortstop for the Oakland Athletics, for not only making my day, but also my entire week. That a team, with two outs in the 9th and down by two runs, could somehow rally against one of the best closers in baseball history in Mariano Rivera, and have Scutaro, who had exactly one hit in 17 at bats this year, hit a game-winning three-run homerun, is just another reason why we watch. People will remember this win, when Oakland goes on to win the AL West (you can book it).
