Colin Kaepernick – man for our ‘Time’

September 26, 2016

During an idyllic Greek lunch overlooking the warm, teal Mediterranean Sea during Times Journeys’ recent “Legacy of Alexander the Great” tour, the conversation rolled around to Colin Kaepernick and his Anthem protest as a way to raise awareness of police violence against blacks. One of the Alexandrians in our group said that many in San Francisco view the protest as Kaepernick’s way of holding on to his job as backup quarterback of the city’s 49ers team as he isn’t very good.

But I don’t think Kaepernick is either that bad a quarterback – I believe he’ll be back as starter before December – or that Machiavellian a man. (I also think that there are easier ways to job advancement than turning yourself into the object of hatred that Kaepernick has become in some people’s eyes.)

Mostly, however, I take people at face value. If someone says he’s doing something for a particular reason, I believe him until proven otherwise. ...

Black like him: Colin Kaepernick and race

August 31, 2016

“Only in America could a conversation about racial oppression devolve into one black millionaire calling out a biracial millionaire for not knowing what's it's like to be truly oppressed.”

So posted Mark Thomas on an ESPN thread about NFL analyst Rodney Harrison criticizing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after he sat through the National Anthem in a preseason game to protest violence toward blacks and other people of color in this country. Harrison said that Kaepernick – whom all eyes will be on when the Niners take on the San Diego Chargers on CBS’ “Thursday Night Football” – didn’t know what it was like to be a black man. ...

Colin Kaepernick – a standup guy?

August 31, 2016

In the continuing saga of people I admire becoming cause célèbres this summer, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the National Anthem before a preseason game Friday to protest violence against blacks, garnering praise and condemnation.

I remain a Kaepernick fan – just as I remain a fan of Ryan Lochte. I believe people are more than the one comment or action by which we may judge them. And he, of course, has the right to protest this violence, which he understands as a biracial man in a way I as a white woman can’t.

But to me “The Star-Spangled Banner” is bigger than racism and violence, as is the Stars and Stripes. These are about our country as a whole and its place on this earth, all those Americans who came before, including those who died in defense of its freedom, and all those who have come and will come after. ...

Kasich goes his own way

July 18, 2016

Once upon a time, Gov. Krispy Kreme was my CPB – Chief Pretend Boyfriend. I imagined myself under the boardwalk down by the sea-ee-eeee yeah, on a blanket with my baby, swooning in passion as the waves crashed upon our bodies to the beat of The Boss blaring from my Hello Kitty boom box. We were like Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity” – if Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster were two beached whales, that is.

But what with Bridgegate and the capitulation to The Donald, it’s become harder to sustain the fantasy of being with my tubby little Luv Guv. So I banished Gov. Krispy Kreme from my heart, and instead promoted my WPB (Weekend Pretend Boyfriend), Rafael Nadal, to CPB status. ...

Tebow won’t be under center for The Donald

July 15, 2016

The deathless Deflategate is back as the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided not to rehear Tom Brady’s case, having already ruled against him.

Which means Tommy’ll have to stalk Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rest of the Supremes or face the music of the four-game suspension for his alleged role in deflating footballs in the 2015 AFC Championship. And don’t think he won’t take this all the way to the Supreme Court. Guy’s got an ego the size of Texas.

In other Brady buzz, he won’t be a speaker at the Republican Convention for his good – and equally modest – friend Donald Trump. The lineup for the convention – which begins Monday in Cleveland – is hardly stellar, but one name stood out, Tim Tebow’s. ...

Colin Kaepernick and ‘lynching’ in modern America

July 8, 2016

The world is like a restaurant with a major conflict in the front of the house and a fire in the kitchen.

In the front of the house is Brexit – the tip of whose Titanic-smashing iceberg we’ve just experienced. In the kitchen, we have terrorism in Istanbul and Bangladesh and the shootings in Baton Rouge and Minnesota.

Brexit will have sweeping, long-term effects – not the least of which will be the continued rise of women to the heights of political power, probably the only good effect.

But the more immediate issue is the continued violence in this world. ...

Novak Djokovic’s Brexit from Wimbledon

July 7, 2016

Novak Djokovic has lost to Sam Querrey, who’s having a helluva Wimbledon. So no Grand Slam, and I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed even though I’m not entirely surprised. Nole had won 30 Slam matches in a row. Though there’s no Law of Averages, the longer you win the closer you are to losing.

No one wins forever, but the good news is that no one loses forever. “Anyone can be beaten on any given day,” former New York Football Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin said after his “mediocre” Giants beat the “perfect” New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. “It’s not important to be the best, it’s only important to beat the best,” John McEnroe said in his pursuit of Björn Borg. Querrey must’ve been repeating these as mantras – or words to these effects. Whatever he did, he’s come through on a big stage, so congrats to him. ...