Day: August 30, 2016

Colin Kaepernick not standing for the national anthem is not a story. Period. One man’s choice to exercise his freedom of speech shouldn’t be treated like national news. Honestly, it is not that big of a deal. He’s making a statement. Let him. Hell, defend him because that flag and that song and the piece of parchment they represent grant him the power to do so.

Moving on…

Well, not entirely. Stop acting like the national anthem is entirely about supporting our military. This is something that becomes convenient in times of war–especially in the days and years following 9/11. When they play it at the olympics it isn’t about our soldiers alone. No, that song is about one nation, supposedly indivisible with supposed liberty and justice for all. Yep, all of that is debatable given the history of our nation and the terrible conditions for some classes of people (who were not deemed human at multiple points throughout history to provide a convenient lawyerly workaround) not too long ago.

Really moving on…

This political nonsense is eating valuable football talk time. Getting back to that I ought to reveal that I had my first of two fantasy drafts this year and I am surprised by the results. Even in a PPR league there is a lot of speculation that RBs are the prize. My second league is not PPR and I am starting to think I need to refocus my attention on a thin crowd of backs. Who to pick? The safe bets are predicated by experienced lines and softball schedules. AP only has three weeks where he is not guaranteed 100 yds+. He makes the top of the list, with some speculation about the Tennessee backs to follow. They both looked amazing during pre-season, mostly because of a line that blows folks up. Still they both looked great, which is not great for fantasy.

More to come. I waxed political too long and am out of time, so maybe tomorrow with some picks.

I’m taken aback by the power of Spotlight.

The team and it’s stories, featured in the Spotlight film, is a real thing. I recently visited their website and was very impressed with their ability to tell relevant stories in a world that seems more obsessed with stories that have little lasting significance than stories–real human stories–that have lasting impact. The Spotlight film focuses on the paper’s exposure of sex abuses in the Catholic Church. Over the last 10 years the story has been largely forgotten, but there was a scandal–a rash of priests abusing minors–that stretched upwards to the Vatican. It is easier to shut our ears and eyes to the important stories than it is to actually accept that things happen. Accepting the reality of such things means that we either act or live with the fact that we did not act.

Neither is easy and that is why news is often so very shallow and meaningless.

That brings me back to Spotlight. They continue to tell the difficult stories and inspire me to do the same. I’ve been working on a plan to do so. I am moving towards an academic space where I can help students tell the tough stories–tell their stories. My focus this semester is on students asking questions and digging deeper, looking for the truth beyond the obvious and the cover up and the easy.