Fumbles, Fouls and Faux Pas

What is this world--and especially this country--coming to?

First we have the "incident" with the Minnesota Gopher:


Apparently, the University has issued an apology about the incident.

Minnesota spokesman Dan Wolter said the mascot did not mean to offend anyone and that the incident was "plainly a mistake."

Wolter issued the following statement:

"On behalf of Goldy and the University of Minnesota, I want to apologize to the Penn State player involved and anyone else who may have taken offense from this incident. We have reiterated to Goldy the importance of exercising appropriate religious sensitivity in the future."

Hayes said he has seen the video and isn't upset about the incident, though he added some of his teammates have poked fun at him about it.

So let me get this straight . . . the guy being made fun of doesn't have a problem with this, but there is a problem. I watched the youtube video above, and quite frankly, I fail to see the problem. Yet, it is PLAINLY A MISTAKE.

Which brings us to the next issue that threatens to destroy civilization as we know it. THE WHITE OUT TEE SHIRT. From FoxNews:

The shirts — intended to foster school spirit — sport a vertical blue line down the center with the words "Penn State White Out" emblazoned across the chest, forming a design that some say resembles a cross.

Penn State says it has received six complaints about the shirt, including one from the Anti-Defamation League's Philadelphia branch, from people who say it connotes a Christian cross. The logo design also has become the focus of controversy in the student newspaper, "The Daily Collegian," which has received several letters to the editor on both sides of the issue.

Michal Berns, a junior majoring in media law and policy, said she refused to buy the $15 shirt because of its religious connotations.

Good for you Michal. That solves the problem right there. If you don't like it; don't buy it. You don't have to go out and curtail everyone else's right to buy it if they choose to do so. Is this really so difficult folks?

Larry Johnson, Jr. has been suspended by the Chiefs after allegedly Twittering gay slurs. I don't even want to get into that mess.

Bob Griese has been suspended by ESPN for saying that Juan Pablo Montoya was missing from the NASCAR advertisement because he was "out getting a taco." I actually heard that and thought nothing of it at the time. Sort of funny, but is it really worth a suspension?

Bob Leach has this gem in his press conference, but I don't know if the fat girls are offended and if he will be reprimanded:



Maybe I'm not the best person to comment on this, since I am a victim of the PC police. I was fired from Penn Live after a "private" email exchange.

Dick wrote: I log on to other big ten school sites get their take on opposing teams, things in general. Each case there is a rivaly[friendly] lotta chain yanking etc. but no where, no one spews the venom, constantly bad mouthing[big time] the other conf. teams in particular OSU,MICH,[them as you refer]IOWA, pretty much the top tier teams who pretty much beat the Nits on a regular basis.

I replied: The whole Big Ten bad-mouthing by PSU fans has a lot to do with how we have been treated as a team and as fans since joining the conference. Exhibit A is 1994 when a lot of our conference "brethern"--sportswriters in the midwest--voted Nebraska over PSU. What the bloody [FN] hell?! Damn straight the buckeye journalists would rank THEM number one if they were undefeated and had beaten OSU. But Penn State? What about the good of the [FN] conference back then???!!!!The conference can shove it up their a$$e$.

JP--who you purport to respect has talked about the way certain conference officials laugh behind his back. It was his infuriation over the [FN] BIG TEN REFS WHO THROW THE GAMES FOR OSU AND THEM that got national instant replay. Yeah, that ball hit the turf in Beaver Stadium and the refs called it a catch. That'll never happen in Ann Arbor or Columbus in Penn State's favor. Perish the thought!

One of my readers read the exchanges and said this:

Wow! This guy really has a problem. Probably the F-bomb that got you fired.

I have since received numerous follow-up emails from Dick, who conveniently hides behind private emails--private when it suits him--but you will not find a single public comment on this blog from the cowardly rat. What I don't get is if he didn't want to hear what I had to say before--to the point of crying like a baby to PennLive--then why does he continue to email me? He supposedly is an ex-marine who should have sworn to uphold the Constitution and protect our rights as Americans. Apparently I do not have a right to express myself to him, unless he deems it appropriate. I'm sorry. I was not aware that we had amended the Constitution to give him that right. He is now the Czar of Good Manners in Conversation.

In the end, this politically correct bullcrap boils down to who has rights and who doesn't. Worse yet, in most cases, the offended is a minority or in a minority, e.g. 6 complaints about 30,000 Tee Shirts. We live in a representative democracy where policy is supposed to be formulated by a majority vote--not a minority number. Instead, the person who offends someone else--even ONE person or even if it MIGHT offend one person--doesn't have the right to hold that opinion. But the one being offended has the right.

Am I missing something here? Is that really what our Constitution says? You have the right to free speech, unless it offends someone else? That is not to say that there aren't rules to follow. Had I published those F-bombs on PennLive for everyone to see, I wouldn't have been surprised if they had a problem with that. If Griese had called Montoya a lazy spic, I could understand ESPN taking action. I even understand the slander aspect of LJ's situation which is why I didn't go into that topic. There is a fine line between opinion and racisim/bigotry.

But if you don't want to listen to Bob Griese, then don't. You don't like the white out shirt? Don't buy it. Don't Twitter with LJ. You don't like my blog--stay the hell away from here then. Don't like my answer to YOUR email query, then delete and never reply back. Is it too much to ask that you allow others to partake if they so choose?