Indy 500, Little 500, Broadripple: Bawdy Tales of Indianapolis Racing Weekend Hijinks

May 25, 2019 By Leave a Comment

indianapolis motor speedway

A decade ago, I attended my first Indy 500, and it was in the infield.

My people watching that day became an essay which is among the site’s most popular posts of all time. A decade later, I returned to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, ready once again to regale you with tales of auto racing’s zaniest fans, on racing’s biggest weekend.

This time we added two more settings- the Little 500 in Anderson (about an hour from the speedway) and Broadripple, the neighborhood boasting the hippest nightlife in all of nap town.

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Filed Under: Entertainment/Media, Food and Drink, Politics, Social Issues, Tech, Travel

Indianapolis 500 Ramps Up Extreme Nationalism, Over the Top Jingoism

May 25, 2019 By 1 Comment

american military

Make no mistake about it, my favorite color is a three way tie between red, white and blue. Just look at the colors of this website. Take a look at the photo below to see how I dressed to attend the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. See the American flag emoji in my Twitter profile too.

However, there is patriotism, and then there is nationalism, and then there is patriotism and nationalism combined, on steroids and multiplied to the 10th power, which we usually call jingoism. This is a very hot topic right now, as the NFL decided last week to take the Star Spangled Banner issue and go full on #MAGA #AmericaFirst with it. The National Football League decided to completely pander to the lowest common denominator.

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Filed Under: Business, Entertainment/Media, News and Current Events, Politics, Social Issues

Cubs Broadcast Makes Monstrous Gaffe While Promoting Women’s Empowerment Night

May 16, 2019 By Leave a Comment

addison russell

If you’re not familiar with the Twitter account @_youhadonejob1, then you really need to check it out and see what you’re missing. The phrase “you only had one job” certainly applies to the producer and/or cameraman of the Chicago Cubs broadcast last night in Cincinnati.

During their win over the Reds Wednesday night, the Cubs telecast ran an in game promotion for their upcoming Women’s Empowerment Night at the ballpark. Now of the nine players on the field and the 24 on the roster, who would you NOT want to spotlight as you transition to the promo?  Well, take a look:

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Filed Under: Business, Chicago Cubs, MLB, News and Current Events, Politics, Social Issues

Owner Roman Abramovich Takes in First Chelsea FC Match of the Season

May 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Persona non grata in the United Kingdom, Chelsea FC Owner Roman Abramovich has not seen his team play live and in person- until tonight.

Yes, it was just a friendly, and every competitive match for Chelsea this season except one (London derby Europa League Final versus Arsenal on the 29th) has been played, but hey, the Russian oligarch is finally in the house. Abramovich was on hand at Gillette Stadium for Chelsea’s charity match against the New England Revolution.

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Filed Under: Business, Chelsea, Football/Soccer, News and Current Events, Politics, Social Issues

Sports Bank Founder to Give Talk at Fulbright Alumni Conference at Univ. of Arkansas

May 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment

“Building Bridges: The Fulbright Legacy and the Future of International Exchange” will be taking place next weekend, May 17 to 19, 2019 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and I will be on hand, hosting a round table on the state of journalism in the world today.

Hosted by the German-American Fulbright Commission, in partnership with the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, it’s a chance to discuss the Fulbright legacy and alma mater and reconnect with the Fulbright community. As a Fulbright alumni myself, I will be leading and moderating a World Café on Saturday, May 18, from 2:45 pm – 3:30 pm. The details are as follows.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, Entertainment/Media, News and Current Events, Politics, Social Issues Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Lost Talent – Vices that Have Ruined Promising Sports Careers

May 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Even the most talented, world-class athletes have succumbed to destructive vices. Many promising professional sports’ careers have been robbed of success through substance abuse or other addictive behaviors.

Here are some vices and the players that had their careers ruined because of them.

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Filed Under: Social Issues

Cubs Activate Addison Russell: Some of the More Appropriate Reaction Tweets

May 8, 2019 By Leave a Comment

addison russell

It’s been a rather strange and upsetting day here in the Chicago Cubs community. It began with the club trying to draw as much publicity as possible to the fact that they were aggressively investigating the fan who flashed the white power sign at a broadcaster.

They did find him and they indeed follow through on their promise to ban him from the park for life. Why did they come down so Draconian on one anonymous racist idiot? Why did they want to bring so much public attention to their hard line response against one random white supremacist piece of trash?

Two words- Addison Russell.

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Filed Under: Chicago Cubs, MLB, News and Current Events, Social Issues

Cubs Fan Faces Lifetime Ban for Flashing White Supremacy Sign On-Air

May 8, 2019 By 1 Comment

Last night’s thrilling 5-2 win by the Chicago Cubs over the Miami Marlins ended with a Kris Bryant walk home run. It was a powerful moment to be sure, but it’s another moment, memorable for all kinds of very different reasons that is being talked about today.

A Cubs fan, well aware that he was in the midst of broadcaster Doug Glanville’s live shot, flashed the upside “OK” sign. This gesture, here being flashed at a black man by a white guy, is a symbol for white supremacy. It’s also a part of the exceedingly stupid “circle game,” which consists of an individual flashing a hand sign at another person, and if that person looks, they get punch. Yes, DUMB.

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Filed Under: Chicago Cubs, MLB, News and Current Events, Social Issues

Martellus Bennett on How the NFL Discourages Individuality, Free-Thought (Exclusive)

May 3, 2019 By 1 Comment

During his NFL career, Martellus Bennett scored more than 30 touchdowns, accrued more than 4,500 receiving yards, won a Super Bowl with the 2016 New England Patriots and earned a Pro Bowl berth with the 2014 Chicago Bears.

Not bad for artist and writer. Bennett was in town last week to do a public reading of his new children’s book “Dear Black Boy,” at Open Books, a literacy non-profit in the west loop. A major point he emphatically made, over and over again, is that creating art and literature is more fun than sports. 

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Filed Under: Business, Chicago Bears, Entertainment/Media, New England Patriots, NFL, Politics, Social Issues

Pat Fitzgerald on His Chicago Cubs Consulting Gig this Past Offseason

April 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Although Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald would never actually use any of these following terms himself: gen-Xer, millenial, gen Z, the Chicago Cubs deemed him an expert in bridging the generation gap. 

The Cubs brought Fitzgerald in this offseason to talk to the coaching staff, due to his expertise in communicating with college and soon-to-be college players. “We all learned a little something from that talk,” Cubs GM Theo Epstein told the Chicago Tribune a week after the consultation.

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Filed Under: Chicago Cubs, MLB, News and Current Events, Northwestern Wildcats, Social Issues

Pat Fitzgerald Has Strong Takes on Instagram Likes, Influencers, Smartphone Addiction

April 16, 2019 By 1 Comment

pat-fitzgerald-northwestern-football

Northwestern did not stage a spring game this year and head coach Pat Fitzgerald absolutely, positively made the right call there. As someone who militantly believes there is actually no such thing as a “spring game,” I’m one million percent in support of that decision.

A game requires an actual external opponent, so what went on at myriad other schools all across the country today weren’t anything more than intra-squad scrimmages with branded titles. Not having a so-called spring game meant that Pat Fitzgerald wasn’t asked to analyze meaningless statistics in a faux game. Instead, the conversation with reporters covered a vast array of topics, and many of them went above and beyond football.

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Filed Under: Business, College Football, Northwestern Wildcats, Social Issues, Tech

Jurgen Klopp Condemns Racial Abuse aimed at Mo Salah by Chelsea Fans

April 12, 2019 By Leave a Comment

jurgen klopp

Here we go again with a small group of Chelsea fans engaging in deplorable behavior, singing offensive, discriminatory chants. Once again a tiny group of Chelsea supporters took a sweet, beautiful song and made it into an instrument of racial abuse.

Ahead of the Premier League’s headliner fixture this weekend, Chelsea at Liverpool, a group of six male Blues backers were sang “Salah is a bomber,” to the tune of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” in a Prague pub. The video, which circulated worldwide yesterday, is below:

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer, Liverpool, News and Current Events, Social Issues
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