Say What?
Ravens’ Watson: Planned Parenthood goal to ‘exterminate blacks’
African-American athletes are increasingly vocal about racial injustice, but Baltimore Ravens tight end Ben Watson took protest to a new place when he claimed that Planned Parenthood “was formed to exterminate blacks.” The Sporting News quoted Watson contending that Planned Parenthood’s primary objective is to provide as many abortions as possible for black women to prevent the minority race from increasing in population. A devout fundamentalist Christian, Watson strongly opposes abortion, though he hasn’t found a quote from Jesus, or even St. Paul, on the subject. He’s correct that Margaret Sanger, who in 1921 founded the American Birth Control League that evolved into Planned Parenthood, was an advocate of eugenics to “weed out” human beings who were “unfit.” Some of her views bear chilling resemblance to those of Josef Mengele, but Watson did not cite her referring to any specific race as “unfit.” Watson did make a cogent point, however, that America considers abortion less tragic if it happens to blacks than if it involves whites: “When black girls are pregnant, it’s like a statistic, but when white girls get pregnant, they get a TV show.”
MLB umpire ejects fan for heckling him
It’s one thing for an umpire to eject a player or manager who’s heckling him, but it’s another thing to eject a fan, as Bob Davidson did last week in a Philadelphia Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. Initial news reports said the fan was told to leave because of repeatedly yelling, “You suck.” But Davidson, 64, said there was much more to it than that. “All right, ‘suck’ is not bad,” he told a pool reporter after the game. But the language that brought ejection was, “I own property on 69th Street. You could come over and suck.” Davidson said, “That’s when I turned around and said, ‘You know what, get rid of this guy.’ You could have your wife, girlfriend, kids –- they buy tickets. They don’t have to come here and listen to that.” Davidson said other fans approved of removing a man who was obviously inebriated. “People cheered me,” Davidson said. “Which is unusual in this town for me.”
Click here for VIDEO link.
Dear Bob: You had reason to chase an obscene fan, but the grandstanding was not needed. You could have asked stadium officials to take care of the fan, sparing us the rabbit-eared theatrics. But I admit, that video is fun to watch.
Padres’ GM bashes effort of those he traded
Rarely does a team trade a player and say, “Good riddance,” but that’s about what happened with the exits from San Diego of pitcher James Fields and outfielder Matt Kemp. Padres chairman Ron Fowler literally called “B.S.” on Kemp’s retort to allegations that he – to use his own words in The Players’ Tribune — is “selfish, lazy and a bad teammate.” As for Shields, shortly before trading him in June, Fowler called him “an embarrassment to the team.” Fowler saw little intensity in either of these high-salaried veterans. “We made a conscious effort to trade them out because we want people that are prepared to improve,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “If you’ve made a lot of money and think you’re already there, you’re not going to try to improve. . . . You saw Kemp’s letter. What a bunch of B.S.”
Dear Ron: Environment affects attitude. Last season Shields and Kemp played well for a team 14 games under .500. This season the talent around them was no better. True, they played dead much of the time, but you were hardly an elixir.
Hall of Fame Game canceled because of bad paint job
The Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, is the traditional opening of the NFL Preseason. But Sunday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts was canceled because paint was used for the logo in the center of the field and in the end zones had hardened to become slick. Players for both teams considered the field unsafe, as did the coaches. Tweeted Packers guard T.J. Lang: “Man what an embarrassing day for the NFL.” The 23,000 fans who bought tickets received refunds, and they still got to hear Lee Greenwood sing “God Bless the USA,” and the Colts’ cheerleaders performed some routines. But the autograph sessions recommended by TV commentators did not materialize. A half-hour after the scheduled game time, all the players were gone.
Marshall punches teammate Revis in training camp
In a New York Jets 1-on-1 drill, receiver Brandon Marshall beat cornerback Darrelle Revis for an 82-yard touchdown and couldn’t resist gloating. Revis jawed back, and after a few seconds of trash talk by the two Pro Bowlers, Marshall threw a punch that landed on the left shoulder of Revis. Even after he was pulled away, Marshall continued to scream insults at Revis, who had tight coverage on him for the four previous plays. Coach Todd Bowles said Marshall taunted Revis about being incinerated by Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins in a game last season.
Dear Jetfan: Relax. As long as no one is injured – and no one was – coaches see flareups like this as a sign of passion, two veterans trying their hardest, even in preseason practice when their jobs are nowhere near jeopardy.
Hannah says Bear’s practices were tougher than NFL’s
Hall of Fame guard John Hannah, who played for the U of Alabama before being drafted on the first round by the New England Patriots, said the practices Bear Bryant supervised were more grueling than what he experienced as a pro. He told Hall of Fame Network: “NFL camp was a vacation from what we went through with Coach Bryant.” Hannah also had an interesting observation on the evolution of offensive line play. “The linemen (today) are bigger and stronger, but I don’t think they’re as mobile.”
Dear John: When you played, it was common to see guards and tackles 30 yards downfield blocking for running backs. You rarely see that today. By the way, from what Chip Kelly’s ex-players are saying, HIS camps are no vocation.
USA Gymnastics accused of ignoring sexual abuse
The governing body of gymnastics in this country has often ignored complaints of coaches sexually abusing young female athletes. The Indianapolis Star reported that USA Gymnastics typically dismisses allegations against coaches as hearsay “unless they came directly from a victim or a victim’s parents.” The Star reported four instances in which USAG did not report coaches to the authorities after receiving warnings about suspected sexual abuse. “Those coaches went on, according to police and court records, to abuse at least 14 underage gymnasts . . .” The most appalling case involved a coach named William McCabe, who secretly videotaped girls in their early teens as they were changing clothes. He posted their naked photos on the internet. Even though USAG received written complaints against McCabe as early as 1998, he was allowed to continue coaching until 2006, when he pleaded guilty in Savannah, Ga., to exploitation of children. He’s serving a 30-year sentence. Steve Penny, president of USAG, expressed concern about a possible “witch hunt” and “potential danger to a coach’s reputation if an allegation proved to be false.”
Dear USGA: What a shame that your complacency has resulted in attention being diverted from the magnificence of Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and the rest of our Olympic team that‘s dominated world gymnastics for years.