Can we have a real discussion on what counts as racism and what is just guys joking with each other.  I know times change but every team I've ever been a part on we picked on each others weaknesses just to give guys a hard time.  We had a black guy with a very dark complection who asked the coach to schedule night games because the other teams wouldn't see him.  No one was racist towards him because of it, he was our brother and we understood where comments came from. Just an example, we had an o-lineman covered in stretch marks so his nickname was bear claw.  It made us closer as a team the more we ragged on ourselves.  You accept your buddies despite picking on them.   

Former Iowa running back Akrum Wadley is now saying he dealt with racism while at school.  Below is what he is claiming to be racist.  I've had coaches/teammates say much worse (not saying they are right or wrong) to me(white) and my buddies(white and black) while we worked out, practiced, walked down the halls etc.  He also claims that Kirk Ferentz threatened to take away his meal card but doesn't say why, just leads us to believe it's because of racism.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/06/29/iowa-football-akrum-wadley-allegations-of-racism/

During the winter, the Iowa coaches handed out black wool NIKE hats to all the players. When we finished practice while leaving the field I liked to put my hat on immediately because it was cold and when sweating I didn’t want to get sick. One time when I was jogging to the facility, Coach Brian Ferentz says, ‘Hey Akrum, are you going to rob a gas station?’ I was so upset, but ignored him and kept going. This happened a couple more times in the same situation. The only difference is he said, ‘Akrum are you going to rob a liquor store?’ Those other times I just looked back at him and shook my head because I knew responding to him would result in some type of unfair punishment.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this.  Why can't Wadley go to Kirk Ferentz man to man or have a phone call and say you know what, i didn't appreciate the way you spoke to me.  Rather than drag a man's character through the mud when everyone is on edge about comments it's better to go to the source first if you ask me.

 

I think this is the longest running political discussion in the blog in recent years

8 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Can we have a real discussion on what counts as racism and what is just guys joking with each other.  I know times change but every team I've ever been a part on we picked on each others weaknesses just to give guys a hard time.  We had a black guy with a very dark complection who asked the coach to schedule night games because the other teams wouldn't see him.  No one was racist towards him because of it, he was our brother and we understood where comments came from. Just an example, we had an o-lineman covered in stretch marks so his nickname was bear claw.  It made us closer as a team the more we ragged on ourselves.  You accept your buddies despite picking on them.   

Former Iowa running back Akrum Wadley is now saying he dealt with racism while at school.  Below is what he is claiming to be racist.  I've had coaches/teammates say much worse (not saying they are right or wrong) to me(white) and my buddies(white and black) while we worked out, practiced, walked down the halls etc.  He also claims that Kirk Ferentz threatened to take away his meal card but doesn't say why, just leads us to believe it's because of racism.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/06/29/iowa-football-akrum-wadley-allegations-of-racism/

During the winter, the Iowa coaches handed out black wool NIKE hats to all the players. When we finished practice while leaving the field I liked to put my hat on immediately because it was cold and when sweating I didn’t want to get sick. One time when I was jogging to the facility, Coach Brian Ferentz says, ‘Hey Akrum, are you going to rob a gas station?’ I was so upset, but ignored him and kept going. This happened a couple more times in the same situation. The only difference is he said, ‘Akrum are you going to rob a liquor store?’ Those other times I just looked back at him and shook my head because I knew responding to him would result in some type of unfair punishment.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this.  Why can't Wadley go to Kirk Ferentz man to man or have a phone call and say you know what, i didn't appreciate the way you spoke to me.  Rather than drag a man's character through the mud when everyone is on edge about comments it's better to go to the source first if you ask me.

 

It depends on the person.  Some can take a joke while others cant.  

My buddy, who is white, had a bandana around his face the other day and I said something joking about "hey you going to rob a bank or something".  The coach probably should have used 2 or 3 kids of both white and black and made the comment.  I can see where the kid might be offended but like I said depends on the person.  

10 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Can we have a real discussion on what counts as racism and what is just guys joking with each other.  I know times change but every team I've ever been a part on we picked on each others weaknesses just to give guys a hard time.  We had a black guy with a very dark complection who asked the coach to schedule night games because the other teams wouldn't see him.  No one was racist towards him because of it, he was our brother and we understood where comments came from. Just an example, we had an o-lineman covered in stretch marks so his nickname was bear claw.  It made us closer as a team the more we ragged on ourselves.  You accept your buddies despite picking on them.   

Former Iowa running back Akrum Wadley is now saying he dealt with racism while at school.  Below is what he is claiming to be racist.  I've had coaches/teammates say much worse (not saying they are right or wrong) to me(white) and my buddies(white and black) while we worked out, practiced, walked down the halls etc.  He also claims that Kirk Ferentz threatened to take away his meal card but doesn't say why, just leads us to believe it's because of racism.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/06/29/iowa-football-akrum-wadley-allegations-of-racism/

During the winter, the Iowa coaches handed out black wool NIKE hats to all the players. When we finished practice while leaving the field I liked to put my hat on immediately because it was cold and when sweating I didn’t want to get sick. One time when I was jogging to the facility, Coach Brian Ferentz says, ‘Hey Akrum, are you going to rob a gas station?’ I was so upset, but ignored him and kept going. This happened a couple more times in the same situation. The only difference is he said, ‘Akrum are you going to rob a liquor store?’ Those other times I just looked back at him and shook my head because I knew responding to him would result in some type of unfair punishment.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this.  Why can't Wadley go to Kirk Ferentz man to man or have a phone call and say you know what, i didn't appreciate the way you spoke to me.  Rather than drag a man's character through the mud when everyone is on edge about comments it's better to go to the source first if you ask me.

 

You don’t understand why Wadley can’t go to Ferentz "man to man”, when Ferentz literally controls Wadley’s draftability and pro destiny through playing time, reps, practices, etc as head football coach?

The first example you cited from your childhood was a player using self-depreciation as humor.  Wadley’s example is his boss calling him a criminal for wearing a hat.

1 minute ago, Mike030270 said:

I think this is the longest running political discussion in the blog in recent years

It's awful I know.  Training camp cant start soon enough.

2 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

You don’t understand why Wadley can’t go to Ferentz "man to man”, when Ferentz literally controls Wadley’s draftability and pro destiny through playing time, reps, practices, etc as head football coach?

The first example you cited from your childhood was a player using self-depreciation as humor.  Wadley’s example is his boss calling him a criminal for wearing a hat.

So if Wadley went to Ferentz to talk about the situation and just let him know that it makes him uncomfortable, you think Ferentz would bench him or cut down his playing time?  I highly doubt it.

8 minutes ago, 315Eagles said:

It's awful I know.  Training camp cant start soon enough.

Lol season may get canceled

At least we’ll have that to discuss though lol

3 minutes ago, 315Eagles said:

So if Wadley went to Ferentz to talk about the situation and just let him know that it makes him uncomfortable, you think Ferentz would bench him or cut down his playing time?  I highly doubt it.

I wouldn’t doubt it at all.  I played for more than one coach who were authoritarian and petty.

It’s easy to say that a 19 or 20-year old kid should be man enough to sit down with a boss in his 60s — much harder to do.  Wadley is not the only Iowa football player who has an issue with Ferentz.

8 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

I wouldn’t doubt it at all.  I played for more than one coach who were authoritarian and petty.

It’s easy to say that a 19 or 20-year old kid should be man enough to sit down with a boss in his 60s — much harder to do.  Wadley is not the only Iowa football player who has an issue with Ferentz.

Yeah, it supposedly was a pattern at Iowa, with the strength and conditioning coach recently being let go with a nice severance package due to complaints of racism. 

59 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

JFC. Trump campaign sued all PA counties today to limit our ability to vote by mail, a law passed with bipartisan support including my Republican representative and my Republican senator.  My 81 and 84 year old neighbors, I have no idea what party they are in and don’t care, have asked my help in getting signed up to get mail in ballots.  She has COPD and heart issues as well as a bad hip that leaves her in pain when she stands and should never need to go to the polls to vote.  What a dope move. As a Republican, I am embarrassed. 

Good. I'm glad he did. If people in India can get in line then there aren't many excuses why people in this country can't past being spoiled and taking for granted the freedoms and blessings we have. Those people live in 3rd world conditions and walk who knows how far and stand in line for hours. And stop saying you are a Republican. You are full of it.

 

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

The pitiful attempts to show mail vote fraud just demonstrate how rare it is. It's simply a non-issue except for a small cadre of Fox News (and even more Sinclair and AON) viewers.

Ask BigEFly about the good ole days in Texas, when the dead rose in the East Texas piney woods to cast their ballots, while the Cows voted in South Texas.

The reason the Republicans have decided to oppose mail in voting (but not in Republican dominated states or for older voters) is they want long lines in urban areas this November to discourage voters, after they try to suppress voter registration.

The Republicans are now the minority party, and each 4 year cycle sees 1-2% of their base literally die off, so voter suppression is their only hope for victory.

Unfortunately for them, Trump is the best Democratic get out the vote motivator in the last 6 decades.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/politics/new-jersey-attorney-general-announces-voting-fraud-charges/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0Ua1awieOA3OeiFJvJp9KsiM5tSxSZ7QWixmGLxOm2DPFAD5Y4eUChtJc

And I'm someone who supports mail-in voting.

The absolutist way in which you post things over your head is becoming really grating.  

30 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Good. I'm glad he did. If people in India can get in line then there aren't many excuses why people in this country can't past being spoiled and taking for granted the freedoms and blessings we have. Those people live in 3rd world conditions and walk who knows how far and stand in line for hours. And stop saying you are a Republican. You are full of it.

 

So you think in a country thats not 3rd world that voting should be more difficult and some how that makes us more free or if our right to vote was made more accessible that would make us spoiled?

Were talking about voting here not demanding food stamps or health care, just being able to vote.

Youre unhinged go take a nap😒

 

 

People are sheep 

7 minutes ago, Utebird said:

So you think in a country thats not 3rd world that voting should be more difficult and some how that makes us more free or if our right to vote was made more accessible that would make us spoiled?

Were talking about voting here not demanding food stamps or health care, just being able to vote.

Youre unhinged go take a nap😒

 

 

Damn right I do. Those people seem to be able to walk miles and stand in line for however long it takes and have to show ID. Absentee ballots are for people who won't be in the area or who are disabled. Past that get the hell in line and show ID and stop ****ing about hardships.

17 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/politics/new-jersey-attorney-general-announces-voting-fraud-charges/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0Ua1awieOA3OeiFJvJp9KsiM5tSxSZ7QWixmGLxOm2DPFAD5Y4eUChtJc

And I'm someone who supports mail-in voting.

The absolutist way in which you post things over your head is becoming really grating.  

Wow, a couple hundred votes. And they got caught.

Probably the biggest recent voting fraud was a Republican I think in NC.

Point is these are small, rare events, and they get caught most of the time. The issue has been studied to death.

There's a reason large scale voting fraud is impossible these days, not just safeguards but statistical analysis, any anomalous voting behavior would show up (much like insider trading) on computer analyses of voting, drawing closer scrutiny. And if an election is close, votes tend to get scrutinized more closely, so it would be hard to use fraud to flip a close election and get away with it.

So it's a non-issue except for Trump.

1 minute ago, Diehardfan said:

Damn right I do. Those people seem to be able to walk miles and stand in line for however long it takes AND have to show ID. Absentee ballots are for people who won't be in the area or who are disabled. Past that get the hell in line and show ID and stop ****ing about hardships.

So are you in a densely populated urban area with only one or two polling places?

Sigh... Might as well move the blog to the WU section.

4 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Wow, a couple hundred votes. And they got caught.

Probably the biggest recent voting fraud was a Republican I think in NC.

Point is these are small, rare events, and they get caught most of the time. The issue has been studied to death.

There's a reason large scale voting fraud is impossible these days, not just safeguards but statistical analysis, any anomalous voting behavior would show up (much like insider trading) on computer analyses of voting, drawing closer scrutiny. And if an election is close, votes tend to get scrutinized more closely, so it would be hard to use fraud to flip a close election and get away with it.

So it's a non-issue except for Trump.

So are you in a densely populated urban area with only one or two polling places?

I don't know. Are you in a third world country where you have to walk to polls and stand in line for hours and show ID? The tragedy of having to stand in line to vote. Get the violin out. OR...how about the Democrats who run the city add another polling place. That is a ridiculous argument.

They closed down gyms and bars here in Arizona again starting tonight for the next month with how bad it's getting out here. Ducey totally botched this entire re-opening process and it's probably doomed us for the rest of the year. 

42 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Good. I'm glad he did. If people in India can get in line then there aren't many excuses why people in this country can't past being spoiled and taking for granted the freedoms and blessings we have. Those people live in 3rd world conditions and walk who knows how far and stand in line for hours. And stop saying you are a Republican. You are full of it.

 

You are an a$$.  Apparently Main Street Republicans are no longer welcome in your vision of our party. Fine, kick us out.  Regardless of the law of the state of PA, you want to make us vote by India standards.  Despite a bipartisan law passed in our Republican controlled state House and Senate, you want us to vote by India standards. My father-in-law, 84 and can’t go to the polls in Texas and stand for hours.  Despite voting laws passed by the Republican controlled House and Senate and signed by a Republican governor, you want to impose India standards on him.  Deprive Trump of his vote then and disenfranchise him.  Neither can my neighbors stand for hours. You want to disenfranchise them because of some third world standard.  Disenfranchise Kaleigh McEnany then. She votes absentee from her parents address in FL.  She looks pretty healthy. I suspect she could stand long hours in the FL sun. 

 

1 minute ago, BigEFly said:

You are an a$$.  Apparently Main Street Republicans are no longer welcome in your vision of our party. Fine, kick us out.  Regardless of the law of the state of PA, you want to make us vote by India standards.  Despite a bipartisan law passed in our Republican controlled state House and Senate, you want us to vote by India standards. My father-in-law, 84 and can’t go to the polls in Texas and stand for hours.  Despite voting laws passed by the Republican controlled House and Senate and signed by a Republican governor, you want to impose India standards on him.  Deprive Trump of his vote then and disenfranchise him.  Neither can my neighbors stand for hours. You want to disenfranchise them because of some third world standard.  Disenfranchise Kaleigh McEnany then. She votes absentee from her parents address in FL.  She looks pretty healthy. I suspect she could stand long hours in the FL sun. 

Yes, go to the polls and vote.

30 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

They closed down gyms and bars here in Arizona again starting tonight for the next month with how bad it's getting out here. Ducey totally botched this entire re-opening process and it's probably doomed us for the rest of the year. 

Maricopa county is having the majority of the issues. Based off the numbers Maricopa county has 62% of the Covid 19 cases in all of Arizona. Granted highest population but Pima county is at 10% and it’s the second highest populated. Navajo is extremely high for how low the population is and how many cases they got.

the thing that doomed Arizona is people just going out to the salt river (among other places). I had a friend go and he told me it was packed and no one wearing masks and just tubing down the river and when you got out t was droves of people. Also didn’t help they were stupid in opening the bars. First night they were open here in Tucson it was packed and no masks or distancing regulations were really taken. You knew drunk people wouldn’t wear masks (when finishing their drink) nor go along with staying 6 feet. It doesn’t help the younger demographic in AZ doesn’t believe it’ll Kill them so they go out just thinking they’ll get sick and get over it and be fine. I’ve seen a ton of college students just go out without masks and totally just ignore the 6 feet. It’s like a daily occurrence. 

3 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Maricopa county is having the majority of the issues. Based off the numbers Maricopa county has 62% of the Covid 19 cases in all of Arizona. Granted highest population but Pima county is at 10% and it’s the second highest populated. Navajo is extremely high for how low the population is and how many cases they got.

the thing that doomed Arizona is people just going out to the salt river (among other places). I had a friend go and he told me it was packed and no one wearing masks and just tubing down the river and when you got out t was droves of people. Also didn’t help they were stupid in opening the bars. First night they were open here in Tucson it was packed and no masks or distancing regulations were really taken. You knew drunk people wouldn’t wear masks nor go along with staying 6 feet. It doesn’t help the younger demographic in AZ doesn’t believe it’ll Kill them so they go out just thinking they’ll get sick and get over it and be fine. I’ve seen a ton of college students just go out without masks and totally just ignore the 6 feet. It’s like a daily occurrence. 

I think this is what doomed us up here in Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale. Big college demographic with ASU up here and they just flooded the bars on Mill Ave. and in Old Town. Masks also should have been a mandate when they opened up again back in May instead of enacting it only a week ago. Just a colossal failure on Ducey's part and people in general not taking it serious. 

Selfishly, I'm just upset about the gyms closing. You can take the bars, restaurants, tubing, or movie theaters. The gym that I went to was taking people's temperatures when you'd enter and sanitizing everything down before and after use. I thought that would have been good enough to get around, but I understand the shutdown now. 

You still haven't told us where you live, whether it's one of those areas with short lines at the polls (Those people can wait in line, We people shouldn't have to). Example was Wisconsin, where rural areas had relatively short lines while Milwaukee had only a few voting places and long lines to vote. Without volunteers (most of whom are elderly), they couldn't open additional voting places.

And no, making people wait in line isn't Kosher, many people work, have children, etc. We should make election day a holiday, but that would increase voter turnout.

And I'd be careful about using India as an example:

https://www.ft.com/content/a9d35821-f2f1-3479-8082-2ce1e6fa79cf

20 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

You are an a$$.  Apparently Main Street Republicans are no longer welcome in your vision of our party. Fine, kick us out.  Regardless of the law of the state of PA, you want to make us vote by India standards.  Despite a bipartisan law passed in our Republican controlled state House and Senate, you want us to vote by India standards. My father-in-law, 84 and can’t go to the polls in Texas and stand for hours.  Despite voting laws passed by the Republican controlled House and Senate and signed by a Republican governor, you want to impose India standards on him.  Deprive Trump of his vote then and disenfranchise him.  Neither can my neighbors stand for hours. You want to disenfranchise them because of some third world standard.  Disenfranchise Kaleigh McEnany then. She votes absentee from her parents address in FL.  She looks pretty healthy. I suspect she could stand long hours in the FL sun. 

You people were persona non grata once Gingrich and Murdoch took over.

Come help move the Democratic party back to the center, there's no hope for the Republican party, hopefully it'll implode and we can bring back the Whigs.

2 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

I think this is what doomed us up here in Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale. Big college demographic with ASU up here and they just flooded the bars on Mill Ave. and in Old Town. Masks also should have been a mandate when they opened up again back in May instead of enacting it only a week ago. Just a colossal failure on Ducey's part and people in general not taking it serious. 

Selfishly, I'm just upset about the gyms closing. You can take the bars, restaurants, tubing, or movie theaters. The gym that I went to was taking people's temperatures when you'd enter and sanitizing everything down before and after use. I thought that would have been good enough to get around, but I understand the shutdown now. 

It was actually beneficial the uofa closed in March and everyone basically went home so we haven’t had nearly the college population we usually have. I suspect it’s a large reason why it hasn’t been worse in Pima county. Asu i feel most of the students stayed in the Phoenix area. Most of the kids not from Tucson want to leave ASAP when summer hits so when it was spring break most just didn’t return for us. Phoenix being the 5th most populated city (including suburbs and such) i think it was only a matter of time when you have younger kids and college kids that feel they are inevitable. the masks should’ve been on since March. My dad who hates wearing it has been adamant as a doctor that everyone needs to even if it sucks to wear.

i was waiting for my gym to open back up. So i feel you on that. There’s really only so much that gyms can do like you said and it was still going to happen. It was hard to not being able to work out. I really should’ve invested in weights when this began to go down. 

my dad and I were talking to a friend we have at one of the labs down here with the testing. He wants testing for Covid-19 to also include testing for other coronaviruses for people who have mild or asymptomatic symptoms. They want to be sure the tests don’t come back with testing positive for Covid 19 and a coronavirus like 229E (associated with a cold). But he thinks it would cause a bigger issue where people would just stop listening about everything.