Tag Archives: Football

Education

Missouri President Resigns After Football Strike

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By Blake Neff University of Missouri (MU) President Tim Wolfe announced his resignation Monday morning, stepping down after a wave of attacks regarding racial tensions at the school.

The announcement followed an emergency meeting of MU’s Board of Curators on Monday morning.

Wolfe choked up as he quoted Psalm 46:1 from the Bible during his short statement.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble,” he said. “Please, please, use this resignation to heal, not to hate.” Notably, Wolfe’s resignation speech did not include the acknowledgement of his “white male privilege” campus groups like Concerned Students 1950 demanded of him.

Wolfe had been barraged by attacks over the course of the fall term from students who said he wasn’t doing enough to stem a toxic racial environment on campus. Students have complained about incidents of racial slurs directed at black students, as well as a swastika made of excrement that was found in a campus bathroom. Wolfe himself has attracted scorn after his car brushed against a protester during homecoming and for trying to define “systematic oppression” in a way that protesters found displeasing.

The final straw came over the weekend, when black players on MU’s football team announced that they were going on strike, refusing to practice or play in games, until Wolfe resigned. A student and faculty walkout was also planned for Monday and Tuesday. The persistently-worsening situation appears to have finally forced Wolfe’s ouster.

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Business, Entertainment, Politics, US

Christie’s Cronyism? NJ Governor Gave Sweetheart Deal to Firm Owned by Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones

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Dallas Cowboys fan and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was seen in sports news highlight reels hugging and celebrating in a luxury box with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones last Sunday as the Texas team defeated the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Jones has been treating Christie as his personal good luck charm, flying the governor down to experience a Cowboys playoff game on Jones’ dime, and has even suggested that, if his team keeps winning, he might endorse Christie for president in 2016.

However, Chris Christie, who snubbed his own state’s football teams in order to continue rooting for his childhood favorite, is facing new corruption allegations over his lucrative friendship with Jerry Jones. The rumored 2016 presidential candidate’s reputation recently took a hit when he was accused of closing lanes on the George Washington bridge to create traffic problems in an alleged attempt to punish a political rival. Now, according to International Business Times, Governor Christie is facing additional allegations that, two years ago, he personally pushed for a firm owned by Jerry Jones to receive a lucrative Port Authority contract.

Democratic New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the lawmaker who first investigated the George Washington bridge scandal, is considering launching an additional investigation into Christie’s relationship with Jones. Wisniewski told ABC News, “The governor of the state of New Jersey should be above being influenced by that type of gratuity: air fare for his entire family and self and tickets to a game… It certainly looks really bad…. I’m not going to argue the fact that the rules he is obliged to follow may in fact create a personal exception, but what I will argue is he should not have availed himself of that because it looks bad. It set a bad precedent.”

Chris Christie’s office claims that, though his state’s ethics rules bar officials from accepting gifts from persons or organizations receiving contracts from the state, an executive order exempts gifts from personal friends of the governor from that ban. Christie argues that Jones is a personal friend and, as such, it is legal for the two to exchange gifts. Wisniewski said of the exemption, “They are friends because he happens to be the governor and therein lies the problem.”

In April of 2013, Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed off on a deal between Jones’ firm Legends Hospitality LLC and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, granting the company a lucrative contract to run an observation deck at the top of One World Trade. The Washington Post notes that the deal is expected to earn the Port Authority $875 million over 15 years. Legends Hospitality LLC is co-owned by the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, and Checketts Partners Investment Fund. Chris Christie also gave $18 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the National Football League prior to receiving the free airfare and playoff tickets.

In an effort to estimate the value of Jones’ gift to Christie, USC Marshall Sports Business Institute executive director David M. Carter told NJ.com, “For games such as Sunday’s, and extending further into the playoffs, the value of any suite ticket could easily be deemed priceless by many fans for whom that game day experience would likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Entertainment

VIDEO: Ray Rice Beating Wife – Fired From NFL Indefinitely

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ATLANTIC CITY,  September 9, 2014 – The Baltimore Ravens announced the termination of running back Ray Rice’s contract Monday afternoon following the release of new video footage showcasing a domestic violence incident between Rice and his now-wife at a Atlantic City hotel.

An NFL spokesperson, Greg Aiello, followed up the Raven’s statement on twitter with the announcement of Rice’s suspension from the NFL, stating “Roger Goodell has announced that based on new video evidence that became available today he has indefinitely suspended Ray Rice”.

 

News of a domestic violence incident between Rice and his then-fiancee back in February broke earlier this year, initially resulting in a paltry two game suspension for Rice. Many felt that the NFL’s punishment of Rice did not go far enough and took to social media outlets to express their outrage. Several journalists for well known news outlets including the Huffington Post, and CNN also criticized the NFL for what they viewed as a slap on the wrist for Rice. The public outcry eventually lead NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, to announce a strict new conduct policy for domestic violence offenders on August 28th. In the letter sent to NFL owners detailing the new policy, Goodell admitted that he “didn’t get it right” concerning Rice’s suspension, though no further action was taken by the NFL against Rice until today.

TMZ released the shocking elevator surveillance of Rice’s domestic dispute on Monday morning, leading to Rice’s termination and indefinite suspension a mere few hours later. The video shows Rice punching Janay Palmer in the face, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on a railing. The football player is then shown dragging Palmer’s limp body off of the elevator and disposing of her in a hotel floor. You can watch the full video here:

 

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Politics, US

U.S. Government Trying To Force Washington Redskins To Change Team Name

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On Wednesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled six of the Washington Redskins’ federal trademarks in a 2-1 verdict. The decision stated, “Petitioners have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that a substantial composite of Native Americans found the term REDSKINS to be disparaging.”

While the cancellation won’t force the National Football League to change the team’s name, it does give ground to those who find the term “Redskins” to be a derogatory racial slur. It also weakens the Redskins’ legal protection, and allows counterfeit Redskins merchandise to be sold in the United States.

Once the trademark decision had been made, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to express his opinion, saying, “the handwriting is on the wall.” Reid went on to say that the Redskins’ owner, Daniel Snyder, might be the last person in the world to realize that his team’s name is “racist,” but that “it is just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing and change the name.”

Washington Redskins attorneys stated that the team would appeal. Team attorney, Robert Raskopf stated that just as the team prevailed on appeal in an earlier iteration of the case, he was confident that they would succeed once again. “This case is no different than an earlier case, where the Board cancelled the Redskins’ trademark registrations, and where a federal district court disagreed and reversed the Board,” said Raskopf.

The controversy over the Redskins’ team name has been an ongoing one, and when Daniel Snyder was asked by USA TODAY in May 2013, if he would consider changing his team’s name, should they lose their federal trademark, his response was: “NEVER, you can use caps.”

US

ACLU Tells Schools To Stop Praying, Or They May Sue

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Tennessee is perhaps best know for country music. “Music City”, as it is known, plays home to the mountain distilled whiskey Jack Daniels (Ole Lady 7 as I like to call it), the Great Smoky Mountains, crazy night life, hot chicken and the buckle of the bible belt. Okay, perhaps not the buckle, but definitely one of the first couple holes.

As reported by the Tennessean,

The ACLU has sent a letter to 135 Tennessee school executives telling them to stop praying at football games. The ACLU of Tennessee reminded school executives that the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times against public prayer.

“Our experience is that many public school administrators and educators struggle with how the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom apply to prayer during their school-sponsored events,” said Hedy Weinberg, the ACLU’s executive director. “Our goal is to make sure that school systems statewide understand these First Amendment guarantees and commit to protecting religious freedom for all students, including athletes, and for their families who attend the games.”

The ACLU was promoted to compose the letter after an East Tennessee football coach publicly endorsed the idea of prayer before football games. However, Weinber hasn’t actually ever received a complaint about prayer before football games.

Weinberg says that the ACLU is prepared to go to court to support families who are “victimized”.

Follow Michael Lotfi on Twitter: @MichaelLotfi