Tarheel State Must Jump Thru LGBTQQ? Hoops to Host NBA All-Star Game

Reacting the North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) signing HB2 "The Bathroom Bill", the National Basketball Association has threatened the Tar Heel State that Charlotte is in jeopardy because the law discriminates against transgendered persons from using whatever bathroom they feel like visiting at that time.



Other sports leagues have threatened to boycott places to pressure governments to change their laws, like the NCAA's 15 year ban on South Carolina hosting sporting events over the Confederate battle flag flying on state capitol grounds in Columbia, or the NFL threatening to move a Super Bowl from Arizona over the state enforcing federal law on illegal immigration.

It is curious to see how the NBA is going to great lengths to protest this "discrimination" of people having different genitalia using separate waste evacuation facilities which has been in place for generations and is rife for confusion and abuse. 

This sort of progressive pressure again demonstrates that sports has been politicized by the tyranny of liberal fascism.

Obama Tosses a Pick When Greeting Patriots on the White House South Lawn

President Obama, fresh off a Florida photo-op in the Everglades for Earth Day, resumed his role as Celebrity in Chief by greeting the New England Patriots on the White House South Lawn in honor of their Super Bowl victory.  Mr. Obama must have been warming up for the Nerd Prom (a.k.a. the White House correspondence dinner) as he tried a few jokes that fell flat.  

It certainly is friendly banter to wish that Beantown would allow the Windy City to win a championship or two.  Joking that Gronk should keep his shirt on seemed like a hip towel snap. But making a Deflate-gate joke falls flat.  This photo op was supposed to honor the victory of the Patriots, yet Mr. Obama threw a pick and forced his guests to react nervously.

Jon Stewart is leaving the Daily Show in August.  Perhaps Mr. Obama ought to audition for that role.  At least he might get better writers. But doing the Daily Show might be difficult for President Obama  to squeeze in between rounds of golf.

Terry Bradshaw on Challenges

Is Seattle's 13th Man Initiative the Odd Man Out?

Defending Super Bowl Champions Seattle Seahawks have been successful on an off the field.  Civic pride for the Seahawks in Seattle is legendary, as their fans are considered the 12th man, giving the team a tremendous home field advantage.  Seahawk fans are so loud that their boisterous cheers caused two measurable earthquakes.

However, in the run up to the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers, Socialist Alternative Councilwoman Kshama Sawant railed against the restrictiveness nature of Seattle Seahawk season tickets preventing many unprivileged WeHawk fans from seeing the game in person.

Sawart organized some street theater to illustrate the divide between the Seahawk fans have and have nots with a "13th Man Initiative". The socialist rally on Capitol Hill gathered hundreds of blue and lime clad workers chanting "No justice, no beast".  During their march to Pioneer Square, protesters carried signs reading "We are the 13" and "12th Man, aka Bequeathed Mode".  

Sawart's solution to the Seahawk ticket situation is to share seats among the metro Seattle residents.  According to Sawart: 

“With 3 million people in the Seattle metro area, that’s about 44 people per seat. After this weekend, the Hawks will have played 10 home games, or 41 quarters (remember the overtime versus the Broncos). If you subtract infants and Sounders fans, that comes out almost perfectly to one quarter per person."

Right. And Sawant is supposedly an economics professor.  Perhaps it should be noted that Washington state has legalized the recreation use of marijuana.  College campuses may have been a bit ahead of the pot legalization initiative.

The 13th Man ticket sharing idea is about as idiotic as the living wage initiative which Sawant championed to raise the Emerald City's minimum wage to $15 an hour.  Seattle's City Council unanimously passed the $15 minimum wage and chose to fully implement it in April 2015, even though liberally minded restaurant owners warn that the drastic wage increase will decrease labor and threaten small business survival in the city.

Sawant gained notoriety for her involvement in the Occupy  Wall Street movement.  It seems like the "13th Man Initiative" is ersatz opposition which injects  class strife and partisan politics into sports successes.  The NFL has been plagued with politically correct controversies which are peripheral to football, like political pressure and  Obama Administrations machinations to force the Washington Redskins to change their name and football players engaging in the "Hands up don't shoot" meme ala Ferguson.

It is a pity that rabble rousers and progressive political animals continue to use sports as a platform for forcing their politics into sports rather than allowing the teams to build unity among the community. Alas the 13th man initiative is the odd men as the are people who can not root  for their team without playing victim (for not having tickets), "raising consciences" and politically dividing the Seahawks fan base.

What the "L" NFL ?

The National Football League is taking a hiatus on its classical finish to a season in 2016. Since 1971, the NFL championship game known the world over as the  Super Bowl has been marked by Roman Numerals.  However, when the Super Bowl is played at the San Francisco Giant's new stadium in Santa Clara, California on February 7, 2016, the game will be marketed as Super Bowl 50.

The reason for the change is neither Common Core compliance nor a concession to fans struggling with concussions.  The reason is purely aesthetic.  Keith Bruce, the president of the San Francisco Bay Area Host Committee, lobbied for a change from the "L" as it was time.  However, there is also speculation that contemporary audiences may equate the "L" with Loser.

For it's part, Jaime Weston, the NFL Vice President of Brand and Creative, noted that her team had tried 73 different versions of the Super Bowl 50 logo but could not find a design which was pleasing to the eye.

The NFL will market two types of logos for Super Bowl 50. Both will feature the Arabic Numerals "50" in gold, as a nod to Northern California's history when James Wilson Marshall striking gold at Sutter's Mill in 1849 and sparked a gold rush of prospectors to the Golden State. 

Both the national and the regional logos will feature the Lombardi Trophy.  The regional logo will also include Bay area landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, the TransAmerica tower as well as Levi's Stadium.

While Latin teachers and classic scholars may be dismayed at migrating away from Roman numerals, it should be noted that traditions associated with the Big Game have evolved over time.  The championship game was not even called "The Super Bowl" until its third iteration.  In fact, the NFL did not even trademark "The Super Bowl" for a few months afterwards. The touch of the Roman Numerals followed in 1971.

The NFL insists that this will be a one year hiatus, and that it will return in 2017 for Super Bowl LI.  If it is true that NFL branding was worried about unfortunate associations with the big "L", what will they do in 2025, which it is Super Bowl LIX?

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US Mint Strikes Curved Coin Celebrating Cooperstown

The US Mint will be striking its first curved coin in order to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Following the mandate of PL 112-152 passed by Congress in 2012, this limited edition legal tender is supposed to be produced like the French Mint's 2009 coins commemorating the Year of Astronomy.

David Everhart

The shape of the coin has the convex side depicting a raised Major League baseball which was designed by US Mint Engraver David Everhart and the concave obverse side will display the winner of a design competition judged by Baseball Hall of Famers Joe Morgan, Brooks Robinson, Ozzie Smith, Don Sutton and Dave Winfield.

Cassie McFarland

Cassie McFarland, a 28 year old artist from San Luis Obispo, California, entered the baseball coin design competition because: "she was fascinated by the notion that America's coins could reflect the personality and history of its people".  McFarland's  "Hand Full of Gold" design beat 177 other contestants by depicting a stylized baseball glove.  McFarland's glove design complimented the concave shape of the cupped glove.  Two shafts of wheat on the side of the glove unite with the glove stitching to form a circle, depicting national unity and perhaps the importance of our national pastime to American culture.

The San Francisco Mint will produce up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 half-dollar coins. These commemorative coins will be sold at a premium of $35, $10 and $5 respectively, with the proceeds going to benefit the Cooperstown based National Baseball Hall of Fame's non-profit operations.  

Numismatics can catch their curve-ball coins starting March 27th. However, due to the baseball theme and the convex curvature of the commemorative coin, it still would have been a bad bet for Broadway Joe to use for the Super Bowl XLVIII ceremonial coin toss. 

First Interception of Super Bowl 48?

Former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath was selected to perform the ceremonial coin toss for Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.

Some animal rights activists chortled at a perceived fashion fumble as Broadway Joe's dared to wear a fur jacket.

A more pressing issue, however, was the rapidity that "Joe Willie" performed his ceremonial toss. Namath threw the coin before the Seattle Seahawks called their preference as the visiting team.

  

The presiding referee intercepted the toss and things ran smoothly the second time.  Thus it can be said that Joe Namath threw the first interception of Super Bowl 48.

While the kerfluffle over Namath's sartorial styling and his pre-mature tossing were unfortunate distractions from the Super Bowl pageantry, at least it gave a second look to Namath.  Prior to the big game, Joe Namath posted a Twitter picture of a remembrance bracelet he was wearing.  Namath sported a Chris Kyle bracelet in honor of the American Sniper, the Navy SEAL who was America's deadliest sniper who was killed a year ago while helping a fellow former soldier with PTSD. 

Boston Mayor Menino Muffs Red Sox Reference

When the Boston Red Sox make the Major League Baseball World Series,  all of New England feels compelled to get on the bandwagon,  Blaze Radio host is a Boston Bruins booster who does not care much for baseball, but admits it is prudent to root for the Red Sox now that they are in the "big dance". 

It is expected that the hometown Mayor would lead the charge in civic cheerleader. But five term Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D-Boston) manged to muff his MLB reference.  Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer tweeted that Mayor Menino told a pack of reporters that he hoped that the Red Sox would win the World Series Cup and that their fans would be responsible.  

Mayor Menino seemingly melded MLB's Commissioner's Trophy with the NHL's Stanley Cup.  Oops.  This was not the first of Mayor Menino's missteps in sports quips.    But it is understandable as not every politico is an avid sports fan and they may not have access to the Teleprompter of the United States (TOTUS) to make them sound good. 

While it is amusing to twitter at Menino's sports ignorance, it is more more maddening to consider how Mayor Menino has been part of efforts to polemically politicize professional sports. Menino has been a prominent supporter of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).  For the last few years, MAIG has been running expensive $100,000 ads during the Super Bowl to promote their gun grabbing initiatives. 

If an elected official is a sports fan, let them go to town when their team is in the championships.  If not, stick to a script on rooting for the home team.  And be gracious about the city bets, rather than turning your nose at the hospitality in the World Series wager of the opposing side, as Menino did with St. Louis' offer of fried ravioli.  Finally, stop playing partisan politics with a veneer of sports, like with MAIG Superbowl ads.