Wednesday Thoughts

Between the Nats’ home opener, celebrating the Nats’ home opener with various spirits and recovering from both the Nats’ home opener and celebrating said home opener with various spirits, I wasn’t able to post anything yesterday. And even though I’m on spring break, I have another busy day planned today. However, because the #1 goal of Chris’s Sports Blog is to provide daily worktime diversions for the masses, I’m now going to write as much as possible during my three morning cups of coffee.

* Even though it’s going to be a long baseball season in the District, I was still excited about Opening Day. Sure, it’s sort of lame when “opening day” is the eighth game of the season and when Russ Ortiz is the starter in that eighth game, but after not having baseball in my hometown for the first 22 years of my life, I’m happy for any and every game played within the city limits.
That being said, yesterday was a pretty uninteresting afternoon at the ballpark. It seemed that the Nats expended all their energy going 2-5 against the Mets and Astros because their attitude and play yesterday was borderline lazy. During the pre-game announcements my uncle (who’d like for me to say that Mickey Mantle is the greatest of all-time) turned and said, “they don’t look too excited to be here.” He was right. It was a long cry from last year when the players were like Little Leaguers before the home opener.
It’s say a lot about the game when the highlight of the afternoon, for me, was some big guy in the row in front of us scaling down three rows of seats (no small feat in itself, for this was a man of generous proportions) and swatted the hat off a guy who was yelling something during Placido Domingo’s rendition of the National Anthem (or was it the other guy… I can’t remember). This led to my oft-repeated question of: If men are supposed to remove their hats during the National Anthem, why do women keep them on? Equality of the sexes, my ass. But I digress.
At least tonight’s game should be infinitely more interesting: Pedro Martinez is on the mound in his first start following his beanball orgy last week at Shea. (A quick refresher: Pedro had hit Jose Guillen three times in 45 at-bats prior to last week. Then, last Wednesday, Pedro hit Guillen twice in his first two at-bats, which led to a shouting match and Guillen storming the mound. Pedro also hit another National player, but at no time was he giving a warning by the umpiring crew, the same crew that missed Paul Lo Duca dropping the ball at home plate in the season opener, a gaffe which led to the Mets win.)
I love Pedro. I’ve loved Pedro since he was with the Expos ten seasons ago. I loved Pedro when he was on the Sox. And he’s always been a headhunter. That’s his thing. He throws at batters and he does it on purpose, intimidating through fear (much like Roger Clemens). This goes unchallenged by the baseball hierarchy because Pedro (and Rocket) are stars. But after the first plunking of Guillen last week, Pedro should have been warned. They have a history. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and the umpires should have been aware of that. They weren’t, so instead of Pedro getting in his shot and not being able to do it again, he was able to throw at Guillen a second time. It was only then that the warning came. Needing to retaliate, the Nats’ Francisco Rodriguez had to throw at somebody and he did. His ejection (and subsequent three-game suspension) were fair, but also ridiculous: At that point in the Mets/Nationals series, the Mets had hit six Nationals. F-Rod’s pitch was the first by a Nat to hit a New York player.
Yesterday, there was no trouble between the teams. Tonight, though, there could be some fireworks at RFK. The Nats should throw at a Met player (preferably Carlos Beltran... Just because) in the top of the first, which would cause the home plate ump to give a warning to both teams. That way, Pedro can't hit anybody without getting tossed. Frankly, I think all the pre-game hype (the ESPN lead story, a Buster Olney blog entry) will lead to an uneventful night. But if something does happen, look for Pedro to go up and in on Guillen without actually hitting him. Pedro isn't dumb, he knows plunking Guillen could lead to an ejection. He also knows Guillen is a hothead and will likely charge the mound on any ball that's inside. So, much like Tony Soprano, Pedro will try to provoke an easy target and let the rest work itself out. Thank goodness tonight is the first game of my 20-game season ticket plan or else I'd be forced to watch on MLB.com. And I'm pretty sure they don't have a "brawl" feature on their Gameday bot.

- Despite having no evidence beyond the word of a woman who once tried to run over a sheriff’s deputy with a stolen car, Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong still says he has a case against 46 Duke lacrosse players and will continue to pursue one. This, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that Nifong is up for re-election in November. This whole story stinks and has from day one. Here’s why:
Elitism, entitlement and boorishness make not a rapist - I’m sure the Duke lacrosse team consists, mainly, of a bunch of assholes. I have little doubt that they are loud, obnoxious, egotistical pricks who think they’re the bee’s knees because the play LaCrosse (as some inevitably (and arrograntly) spell it). I’m sure a few have sexist, racist and classist tendencies. But these things don’t make any of them a rapist.
Rape is the most vile, disgusting and demeaning act possible. (Beyond going to Duke, of course.) To lump these lacrosse players in with the dredges of society simply because they are a bunch of entitled rich kids is irresponsible. (The irony of judging these guys because of their wealth and status is surely lost on many of those who instantly proclaimed them guilty.)
This case has nothing to do with race but everything to do with wealth - After O.J. Simpson murdered two people and was found not guilty, the black community rejoiced because, for many, it was the first time they saw somebody of their race “beat the system.” That O.J. had shunned the black community for years didn’t matter.
But O.J. didn’t get off because he was black, he got off because he was rich.
The popular refrain during this case has been “if the shoe was on the other foot (ie, if the stripper was white and the players were black), the team would be in jail.” That may be true, but only if the stripper was rich and the players were poor. If a stripper from a trailer park accused, say, Puffy and his entourage, of rape, the same thing would be happening in that situation as is in Durham right now.
America’s court system isn’t biased against minorities, it’s biased against the poor.
Duke’s president has a terrible mustache. Oh, and he’s a huge coward. - Bowing to pressure from the media and irresponsible leaks from the D.A.’s office, Duke president Dick Brodhead cancelled the lacrosse team’s season without a single charge having been filed against anybody. For that, he is a coward more interested in playing to the media than in defending his own students.
The “vile e-mail” about skinning strippers is said to have clinched Brodhead’s decision. That said e-mail was an oft-repeated quote from a popular movie was apparently irrelevant. (And aybody who thinks that a vulgar e-mail makes somebody a criminal should offer to have every single one of their e-mails displayed for public consumption.)
I’ve heard it said that Brodhead made the right decision because the players using campus housing for a party with alcohol and strippers was a violation of team and university rules. To which I say: Are you f---ing kidding me? If that were the case then there would be no Division I-A football season for about 115 of the 116 teams (BYU being the possible exception).
If Brodhead wanted to revoke some scholarships because of the party, fine. That’s his prerogative. Scholarships are privileges, not rights. But to cancel the entire season because of an allegation is spineless. He should suspended the accused players (surely all 46 couldn’t have been at the party that night) until the D.A. filed his report, condemned the party and any possible criminal action that occured while still vaguely supporting his students and proclaimed that, if something did indeed happen, the Duke lacrosse season would be cancelled. Instead, Brodhead caved and hung the lacrosse team out to dry. The Duke regents should do the same to Brodhead if this blows over.
Belly dancing is exotic. Stripping is stripping. - This whole “politically correct” thing has gone too far.
Nifong is a blowhard - Roger Cossack and John Leo can explain why better than I can. (Leo's contention that many protestors likely want the allegations to be true just so it can reinforce their preconceived notions is spot-on.)
Does this mean I can finger J.J. Redick for the Kennedy Assassination? - To counter the defense statement that there was no Dukie DNA found on the accuser, the district attorney leaked the following information: The accuser identified three of her three attackers. (When asked, Nifong denied the claim.) This “fact” was incessantly repeated by protesters yesterday as a sure sign the accuser’s story is true. Whether it is or not has nothing to do with the following statement: Why wouldn’t the accuser be able to pick out three Duke lacrosse players from a photo array? Nobody is doubting she was at the house that night. Nobody is contending she didn’t see a bunch of Duke lacrosse players while there. Those three guys may, in fact, be guilty. Or they may just have been three guys at the party who did nothing criminal.
Once again, I want to make clear that I’m not condoning mistreatment of women or any actions of the Duke lacrosse team. No matter what happens, this is an unfortunate situation. I just think what the media has done in turning these guys into rapists without any actual evidence is irresponsible.