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A Review: Barking Signals (Badly) During Goldwater

In Sports on March 8, 2013 at 11:28 pm

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As I grow now into my twenties, I often find myself longing for the good old days when times were simpler and worries were few, the kind of days that abounded in my childhood. I ask myself why I was so much happier in my younger days, why my mood was observably lighter and more carefree. It recently dawned on me that it’s because my perspective was so limited. The world that I inhabited was so much smaller and more neatly defined. Simply put, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and that makes for a blissfully ignorant existence. With maturity, that life passes away, never to exist again. But if we’re lucky, we can still experience little snippets, pleasurable reminisces which occasionally transport us back to those happier times. Through his novel, Barking Signals (Badly) During Goldwater, author Garret Mathews took me on such a trip.

Mathews is a renowned author, having penned over 6,500 newspaper columns, two plays, numerous novels, and an audio project called “Folks are Talking” (his extremely interesting bio can be found here). Not only is he a skilled wordsmith, but he also possesses tremendous insight into the human mind, and into what makes people tick. This exceptional perception is particularly effective and enjoyable in Barking Signals, as Mathews’s narrative voice provides us with valuable insight into the thoughts of the central character.

Mathews’s flawed hero, A.C. Jackson, is a puny, tentative adolescent growing up in a rural community in the 1960’s. The story centers on his struggles, both on and off the field, as he makes the life-altering decision to try out for his high school’s JV football team. Anyone who hearkens back to his or her days as a teenager can relate, and have a hearty laugh at the day-to-day conundrums A.C. faces. A dry humor is a mainstay of Mathews’s writing style, but he does not merely flit across the life of 14-year-old A.C. The depth of the encounters he faces – meeting the mysteries of fear, love, identity, rejection, and even death head-on – imbue Barking Signals with an exceptional sense of realism. This is no mere sports story, no 80-page tale of how little Tommy tries hard and catches the winning touchdown at the end; this is a human novel, a story that will reach deep into your heart before you even realize what is happening, and enrapture you wholeheartedly. A.C.’s situation hit eerily close to home for me, from his constant concern over his social status and his fear of the unknown to the teacher who befriends and challenges him to grow. As is the case in any good novel, A.C. is not a static character; we clearly see his development over time. When he stumbles we commiserate, when he triumphs we rejoice as well… and our investment increases as we turn the pages. As I turned the last page, I did not want it to end. I wanted to follow A.C. further on.

Mathews has set out to accomplish a difficult task, to create a work that reaches across generations. It is not easy to do, but he succeeds brilliantly.  Fathers can enjoy A.C.’s tale with their sons. This book will touch so many more people than just fans of football. I would like to see it as required reading in middle school and ninth grade classrooms. The lessons that it teaches are so readily understood and so valuable… its merits are self-evident. And it is an easy read and an engaging text. I am a hard reader to win over, but Garret Mathews has succeeded fully in earning my esteem. Read Barking Signals (Badly) During Goldwater. It will remind you, too, of simpler times. It will make you laugh, and reflect, and feel. And it will be a literary experience that you won’t soon forget. I highly recommend it.

Here is an excerpt from the novel that is sure to leave you wanting more. This dialogue takes place when A.C. is calling his crush to ask her to Fall Social… and it’s pure genius.

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With as much self-assuredness as he can muster, A.C. dials Sylvia’s number. He prays he can’t get through. Or, even better, that she put in a special request with the phone company to only let in calls from boys who don’t have to beat themselves up to get a black eye. A.C. won’t get a rejection. Just an endless dial tone. He’ll tell Mr. Wiley he wanted to ask, but technology wouldn’t let him. That wouldn’t earn the big money, but maybe the man would toss a couple of fifty-cent pieces his way.

R-ring. R-ring.

Two times. That’s enough. No sense waking up everybody in the Trice household just for a boy-girl conversation.

A.C. starts to put the receiver down.

“Hello.”

It’s her. He can’t talk. There’s a mud bog in this larynx.

“Who is this?”

She isn’t agitated. Her voice is calm. Patient. It’s like she knows the poor soul on the other end is scared to death, and she wants to give him every opportunity to collect his gumption.

“Uh, uh, uh.”

There is no surly “Just state your business.” No “Get on with it, there’s another call on Line Two.”

Just a kindly, “Gee, your voice sounds familiar.”

Of course it does. Sylvia has heard A.C. give oral reports in English class since they were seven years old.

“Uh, this is me,” he stammers.

“Oh, now I know. How is Mr. A.C. Jackson doing?” she asks pleasantly.

The kid is shaking too much to talk, so Sylvia dances lead.

“Did you hear about Aggie in world geography? Mrs. Jerrue pulled down the big map of the world and asked him to find South America. Aggie looked high and low from Australia to the Aleutian Islands. Couldn’t find it anywhere. Said the map company must’ve left it off. Everybody got a big laugh.”

A.C. can’t believe what he’s hearing. Sylvia is actually trying to make this easy on him. She’s like the tutor in remedial English. She wants him to pass the test.

A formal request is much too intimidating. He decides it will be better if he breaks it down to the lowest common denominator. It works in blocking assignments. Maybe it will in attempted dating.

“Me. You. Fall Social.”

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Want more? You can purchase this book by sending $22 plus $3 postage and handling to:

Garret Mathews, 7954 Elna Kay Drive, Evansville, Indiana 47715.

More information can be found at pluggerpublishing.com.

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Lee’s adoration-inducing balance: an examination of humiliation and religion in Quiet Odyssey

In Sports on February 25, 2013 at 2:23 pm

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I recently studied Mary Paik Lee’s Quiet Odyssey for an undergraduate English class. Essentially my entire class loved the book, and I found it shocking that the novel has created minuscule online discussion. While other tales are discussed on all sorts of different sites, this one remains relatively in the shadows, which is an injustice. In my opinion, there is not readily available information on the novel on the internet for scholars to work with, so I decided to post my thoughts here. I’m no expert, but I figured anything helps. Hope some student, somewhere in the world, finds this helpful!

In boxing, the best fighters are quick, strong, and durable. They don’t get knocked down easily, and in the rare situation in which they do go down, they’re back on their feet and ready to duke it out again shortly thereafter. Above all attributes, though, the exemplary boxers have mastered one technique: the one-two punch.

Right hook, left cross. Left jab, right uppercut. The variety and order of the punches are negligible, but they invariably come rapidly (at just the right time) and powerfully (with just the right amount of oomph), knocking the boxer’s unsuspecting, vulnerable opponent to the mat.

As a boxer must game plan, so too an author must have a strategy for presenting his/her story. In Mary Paik Lee’s biography, Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America, Lee displays a propensity for landing haymakers and leaving readers befuddled, thinking “how did her family persevere through that?” Lee’s one-two punches are less noticeable than those of a boxing event, but they are just as devastating. Presumably, many readers respond to the text the same way I did: How could Lee carry on in the midst of such persecution? What remarkable strength, what resiliency, what ambition. English scholars are cynical by nature. It’s inherent in the education, and few characters in literature are universally accepted as amazing figures. The students in my class (myself included), however, were unequivocally blown away by Lee.

Thus, a question begs to be asked: what is it about her delivery that makes this short novel – which most likely is not the best-written piece most students have read in a year or month or maybe even a week – so powerful? It cannot be simply her poverty, for the impact of her tale extends far beyond a “Hard Knock Life” narrative.

It is Lee’s balanced story made up of a one-two punch – humiliation and religion – that makes her such an easily admired and beloved character. It is her family’s constant disgrace countered by its unswerving faith in God. These two facets of Quiet Odyssey lodge Lee’s tale in a reader’s memory, and it does not wiggle free easily.

Lee’s poverty is clear. Her upbringing is pitiable as her family lives in essentially unlivable conditions. They survive by existing like animals. Their lifestyle is downright appalling, and, through the eyes of a young girl, it is demeaning. Before their poor life in America, early in the novel, Lee divulges the reason her family left Korea and, in the process, establishes the theme of humiliation.

After Japan took possession of Korea, Korean people were treated like second-class citizens … They were deprived of all their property and had no rights under the Japanese laws. Names of towns, streets, and persons were changed to Japanese … All Korean books and Korean flags were destroyed. It was the complete humiliation of an entire nation. (Lee 42)

Her family is helpless, experiencing “one crisis after another.” Her home has been abolished. They cannot stay in Korea, as they are being discriminated against and more or less brainwashed. The kids would grow up thinking they were Japanese. Right away in the novel, as Lee is laying the foundation of her story, we notice her amazing tale originated because of humiliation – “the complete humiliation of an entire nation.”

Later in the text, an adolescent Lee tells her father about a job opportunity she is interested in pursuing to help their family and assist in feeding the hungry younger children. Lee goes on to say: “Many years later, he told me he had felt humiliated to hear his eleven-year-old daughter tell him that her one-dollar-a-week wages were needed to feed the family” (24). Despite the family’s horrendous living conditions and the extreme prejudice they experience, Lee’s father still holds onto his pride. When Lee offers to help, he is humiliated.

The complete elimination of pride appears often throughout the text. As the story opens and the family moves to Hawaii, Lee’s mother wants to work to support the family but her husband will not let her. He tells her, “Even if we have to starve, I don’t want you working out in the fields” (9). He protects his wife from work as long as he can. Shortly thereafter, when Lee’s mother absolutely must start working and becomes a cook for hungry working men, she is forced to cut off her long black hair, which reached the floor. Lee says: “It must have caused her much grief to lose her beautiful hair, but she never complained. We had already lost everything else that meant anything to us” (15).

The family’s plight of humiliation only gets worse. As the parents sleep on the floor, Lee sleeps with a block of wood for a pillow. And later, when Lee begins working, she reaches arguably her lowest point: “There were times when I cried from exhaustion while I was working, with the sweat running down my back and stomach” (97).

Lee’s early life evokes unabashed, understandable empathy from readers. Consider the situations established above, though they are just a few of many: Her home has been captured, changed forever, and ruined; many of her loved ones are stuck back in Korea in even worse conditions than she is experiencing in America and her family has no idea how they are doing; her family cannot afford to feed everyone and the youngest children are starving; Lee’s mother must go to work and abandon any sense of physical beauty; and Lee, still a young girl, works herself to the point of tears. In all, that sounds like an extremely rough life – and it is a tremendously small sampling of what she experiences throughout the book.

With the reader off balance and already quite partial toward Lee, she needs just one more positive attribute – the second shot in the one-two punch – to seal the deal and cement her place as adored in the reader’s mind. If Lee had complained through all the hard times (though she does give in, as any young girl would, occasionally) and been an annoying child, she would not be cherished. However, Lee stays composed through reminders to maintain unwavering faith in God and dedication to her Christianity, following the precedent set by her hyper-religious parents. Readers cannot help but applaud the family’s undying faith and belief that God is in control in the midst of extreme toils.

As soon as they leave Korea, Lee says: “Mother said that God must surely have been guiding us in the right direction” (7). Though her father was slated to make just 50 cents a day for working from dawn to dusk and their situation does not look all that bright, they believe leaving their home country is a positive thing because God is guiding their family.

Immediately upon arriving in Hawaii, though they had enough other worries, the Lee family becomes involved in a church, where Lee’s father preaches when he is not busy working on plantations. This dedication to making it to church no matter what and relying on God above all appears on seemingly every page. Perhaps the greatest portrayal of their extreme belief in God, however, comes on page 101: “All during our farming years, we donated what we could to help build and maintain our Korean Presbyterian Church.” The family could barely get by. They struggled to eat at all and never ate well. Nevertheless, they kept tithing because the Bible stated: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7, English Standard Version).

Several parts of the story incorporate both major themes – humiliation and religion – at the same time. When Lee travels to the slaughterhouse with Meung to gather the disposed animal organs for her family to eat (food “considered unfit for human consumption”) and the butchers taunt the children mercilessly, it is clear the family is at a humiliating level. But Lee’s father turns to his religion for an answer: “When I told Father I didn’t want to go there because they were making fun of us, he said we should thank God that they did not know the value of what they threw out; otherwise, we would go hungry” (16). In Hollister, when Lee finds a church she likes, the minister asks her to join the congregation, but she is embarrassed. She feels the regular attendees will not approve of her heritage. In Willows, when the family holds church with seven other families, the young children sneak out to eat any food they can find while Lee’s father prays. They are in a place that exists to praise God, but the children are too hungry to focus.

Lee’s one-two punch of a humiliating upbringing but firm religious belief in the face of utter disarray molds her into a character the reader cannot help but admire. I find it appropriate that Lee begins Chapter 16, “Reflections,” with Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Her family embodies faith. If they were to base their outlook on the things they see on a daily basis, they would be depressed people. But they stay optimistic and thankful and keep on pressing on because of their “assurance of things hoped for,” videlicet, eternity in heaven. One other Bible verse rang through my head as I counted the endless occurrences of demoralizing poverty and heartening religion, II Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Mary Paik Lee and her family do not lose heart. In her recollection of their story of coming to America and struggling to survive, it is Lee’s early-life combination of humiliation and religion that causes readers to venerate her.

 

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Baseball’s Sad, Unfortunate Steroid Era

In Sports on February 12, 2013 at 5:00 pm

Growing up as an American kid, I idolized baseball from the moment I encountered it. Playing Little League Baseball was the greatest joy of my young life. Watching This Week in Baseball then the MLB Game of the Week on Fox was always one of the highlights of my week. And watching the Little League World Series? Well… Williamsport, PA was just heaven on earth. There was nothing I would not have done, and no amount I would not have paid for just one opportunity to step on that diamond at Howard J. Lamade Stadium to play for the LLWS title. Baseball was my passion. I devoured book after book on the sport and its famous figures, from biographies on Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron to a book that recounted – in narrative form – every World Series from 1903-1985 in great detail, game by game, run by run. I love the game and the romanticized descriptions I found within the books I so readily consumed. Even though I cannot stand the modern iteration of the New York Yankees, I love and respect their previous generations for their consistent, unrelenting excellence. Baseball is just too grand and too beautiful to be marred by anything so petty as my own dislikes. It is the perfect game, classic and unchanging, standing apart from the ever-changing, cheapening world around it. Or at least that’s what I thought as a kid.

As time has passed, my illusions have been shattered. One summer, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa pounded homer after homer, and I ecstatically went along for the ride. But these seemingly superhuman sluggers of the late 1990’s – my most impressionable age – have since tested positive for and admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds came next and completely shattered the records that had been so recently set, and I was even further excited by his exploits. He, too, has since admitted to using steroids. When their magical seasons were taking place, I don’t think any of us wanted to believe they were tainted in any way. We wanted the romance of the magical run to continue sweeping us away. But then reality hit, and it hit hard.

What greater honor exists than the Hall of Fame? Middle-of-nowhere Cooperstown, NY is a legendary place because of it. The greatest figures in history are immortalized there. Stellar careers logically lead to the Hall. As such, several candidates should be voted in handily. Well, as it turns out, the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame Class consists of… no one. Well, at least no one who is still alive. Three were elected by the Veterans Committee, all of whom passed away before 1940… meaning none of them had been involved in baseball for about 100 years. On the other hand, iconic baseball figures like Roger Clemens and the aforementioned Barry Bonds were denied admission to the Hall. How could this happen? The BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) pushed back, and indicated that tainted careers would be met with cold denial. At least this year. Writers are a fickle bunch, so who knows how long this resistance will continue. It could end next year, or extend indefinitely. As more athletes continue to be implicated in reports on PED use, such as the Miami New Times report which named stars like Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzalez, and Alex Rodriguez, the likelihood of the BBWAA permanently souring on steroid users becomes greater and greater.

So Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, the most dominant pitcher and slugger in my era of fanhood, may never be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. But is this right? Isn’t the Hall of Fame a place to recognize excellence? It’s hard to argue with Roger Clemens’s career numbers: 354 wins (9th all-time), 4,672 strikeouts (3rd all-time), 7 Cy Young awards, 11 All-Star appearances. It’s even harder to argue with Barry Bonds’s career numbers: 762 HR (1st all-time), 1,996 RBI (4th all-time), 7-time League MVP, 14 All-Star appearances.

At the end of the day, though, it isn’t just about the numbers; sports still aspires to a certain level of integrity and decorum. Pete Rose is banned from the Hall for breaking the rules, and if the all-time hits leader is banned, then Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others may indeed face a similar block. I am a firm believer in the innate integrity of sports. True excellence is achieved fairly and cleanly. I think that it is a sad day for baseball when zero living members are inducted, but I think that it is a sadder day when the Hall of Fame is devalued by inducting proven, admitted cheaters.

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Dance with the girl who brung ya.

In Sports on February 9, 2013 at 10:41 pm

 

What does our favorite football team say about the person we’re into?

Absolutely nothing. Why would you ask such a stupid question? But in the world between my ears, there’s some kind of half-baked correlation. And darn it all, we’re going to find it. So without further ado, what each team says about what we like in potential partners:

“They were not the first person you noticed. But once you got to know them, you saw how cool they were.”

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Oakland Raiders

Saint Louis Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Upside: They are so cool. You guys interact in the best ways. You can’t wait to hang out. They’re cool with your friends and you’re cool with their friends. For the most part. But you how hard they try. It’s great being with them.

Downside: Not everyone sees what you see. Worse, sometimes people wonder what you see in them. You know how cool they are. Yet, not a lot of other people do. Is there something wrong with you? Or are other people blind? Are you a terrible person for questioning? But you do sometimes. Would it hurt to one day have something to brag about? It’s shallow. But sometimes shallow is nice. Now you just feel guilty…

Verdict: It’s all good. As much as we appreciate them,  we are human. We get self-centered. We want them to do something that we can rub other people’s faces in. Really show off. But, there’s something to be said for someone who is continuously working to be better. Plus, sometimes those public displays go awry. But you like them. It’s all good.

“They had a history of being really cool. The whole package. Now everyone kinda resents you behind your back because you won’t shut up about it.”

Baltimore Ravens

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Upside: They’re so awesome. You couldn’t imagine someone more awesome. Yea they have issues but come on, their awesomeness is blinding. Sigh…

Downside: Sometimes they’re too awesome. And they don’t seem to care about what’s going on with you. Would be nice to be heard once in a while.

Verdict: Sometimes they don’t listen or seem to care. But they are pretty awesome. And they make an effort to show they’re listening. But seriously, from all of us who care about you deeply, SHUT UP ABOUT IT! Sheesh.

“They can be so cool…when they want to be…”

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts 

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles 

San Diego Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Redskins

Upside: When it’s on, it’s on like Donkey Kong. You guys go together like peanut butter and jelly. Winter and a sweater. Lemonade and sweet tea. Everything is great.

Downside: When it’s off, it’s bad. All talking ceases. Except for “uh-huh’ and other barely visible acknowledgements.  Everybody can tell somethings wrong but don’t want to say anything out loud.

Verdict: You’re gonna have to suck it up. As bad as it can be, you chose em.

And unfortunately, and maybe sometimes fortunately, when it comes to football allegiances and life in general, you just gotta dance with the girl who brung ya.

Because you just never know, do you?

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The NCAA and you.

In Sports on January 24, 2013 at 12:15 am

 

 

Are you worried about making sure your school is doing the right thing? Are you worried about making sure you can do the best you can for your student-athletes? Then you are at the right seminar! We are the NCAA…and we are here to help. Now we’re sorry if we can’t get to all the questions that you have but we will cover what we can.

So let’s get started. First, we can all agree that these student-athletes are amateurs. They are, after all, students first. So…they should not be paid for their sporting endeavors. If, as a school, you happen to make money off a player’s name, number, talent, etc., it is your right as the school to pocket that money. After all, you are providing an education. Moreover, we will sanction video games such as NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball, and partner with media partners like ESPN, but we will leave the players’ actual names off the game so no one can will know. For example, it is impossible for someone to confuse the cover boy of NCAA Football 11, #15 from Florida, as Tim Tebow. We’ll keep that between us.

Now, about that education. Like we said, you will provide athletic scholarships so these individuals can go to school. Also, there will be mandatory study time so the athletes don’t feel overwhelmed. If practice times are too stressful and impede with academics, you can be sure that the athletes would pick an education over sports. There is nothing in our college sports culture that would cause a student-athlete to prioritize sports over an education. Furthermore, no coach would ever intimate to a player that college is just all about the sport. Coaches have to balance the rigors of sports with the realities of gaining a quality education.

In addition, no coach is to help an athlete get a grade he/she did not earn or herd them into courses that are less rigorous with an understanding about the situation; those situations would be unethical. Therefore, we are establishing an Academic Progress Rate. If your athletes fall below a specific number we deem as unacceptable, you will be banned from postseason participation.

Brief aside: Except you, football.  Don’t worry guys. You make us the most money so just keep doing what you’re doing.

Anyway, as I was saying…banned!

Now, let’s talk about criminal proceedings. Most of the time, we don’t really care; we’re not that type of organization. Still, if it makes big enough of a public stir, we’ll poke our heads into it. So, if it’s a crime that involves athletes, we will prosecute to the full extent of the law that we made up for that day; you can’t adjust for everything, you know. And because we made it up that day, we are not accountable for telling you why you received such a punishment. We punish as we see fit.

You see, it’s not our fault…oh, wait. I almost forgot. If we have turned a blind eye to your school’s misgivings because you were winning influential games, do not take that for granted. If you slip up when you are not relevant, we will lay down the law. Furthermore, there is no one we will not talk to in order to get our point across to your institution. That includes the defense attorney of the person that is in prison for providing impermissible benefits to your athletes. We have no reason to doubt the statements of that defense attorney towards said institution and will use them in our court of law as judge, jury, and executioner.

Now, as I was saying before, it is not our fault that you universities are utterly helpless. As beacons of academia, your lightbulb is beginning to dim; and some may argue, have been dimming for some time. It is tough to make money, apart from tuition hikes, so you force faculty to publish as much as possible to get the most money into your school. Yet, sometimes that isn’t enough. So you began to rely on donations.

That method makes alot of sense until the boosters decide that instead of a building named after them, they want to see a winning football team. Coupled with the media contracts and sponsorships associated with popular sports like football and men’s basketball, and the fact that we say you can’t pay your players, you have a wonderful revenue stream. Well, kind of. The actual math is kind of tedious but pretty much only some schools make a profit on sports through ticket sales and sponsors but that’s neither here nor there.

All that you need to know is that we are here and we are here to help you. We are the NCAA. Any questions?

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Up, up, and away.

In Sports on January 19, 2013 at 2:03 pm

 

I miss Smallville. I’m ok saying that out loud. I watched Smallville from beginning to end and Superman became my favorite superhero; I felt like I somehow knew him. Smallville ran for 10 seasons, from the now-defunct WB to the CW. Spanning from the beginning of the 5th grade till the end of my junior year of college, Smallville was just the coolest thing to me. Clark Kent’s struggles with stuff we go through, and then the added pressure of having the ability to save the world, made for engaging television. Through it all, he eventually becomes a symbol of all that is good and represents the best of humanity and human nature.

However, The Last Son of Krypton is not the focal point of discussion today. Thinking about Smallville also got me thinking of the intro: “Save Me” by Remy Zero. Interpolated within scenes from the show and cast members, “Save Me” captured the plight of Clark Kent in song. I always thought the song suited Smallville and I think it’s a good place to begin our discourse.

“Somebody save me…”

To imply that athletes are held to a moral standard that supersedes that of most of society is not exactly an original thought. Athletes, and sports teams for that matter, make money based upon consumer-ship. Buying tickets to games, jerseys, a brand or the products of a sponsor are all activities that lead to investments in athletes and their teams. Therefore, we seem to impose the highest moral standards upon them. If you have the most talent that allows you to make the most money, then you deserve the most scrutiny. Athletes are then supposed to become symbols of all that is good and represent the best of humanity and human nature.

“And I would give you anything you want, know

You were all I wanted”

So what happens when they can’t be the best on the basis of their talent or work ethic? What if there was a way to provide more of the material that makes them great? What if greatness was in a needle? Did PEDs make the pitches for Roger Clemens? Did PEDs hit the ball for Barry Bonds? Did PEDs save thousands of lives with the research from the Livestrong Foundation? What if you gave everything to achieve greatness? You could inspire so many people and all you had to do was take an injection. What if this was an opportunity to play on a level playing field with everyone else? You could make enough money to donate to charities and give back to your hometown and local communities where you play. All you have to do is choose what truths to tell and what lies to defend. What if you could be Superman?

“And all my dreams are falling down”

And after the Hall of Fame election of 2013, or lack thereof, and the story of Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o made headlines; his story has not so much made headlines as much as it seems to have dominated the national discourse. A feel-good story that instantly became shockingly bizarre. We will know more as time goes on but this is what we know so far: Lennay Kekua did not exist.

For those who don’t know, or those looking for a refresher, I’ll say what I know; or more specifically, what I have heard and choose to accept this far.

Manti Te’o was a senior middle linebacker on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. On a nationally broadcast game in September against Michigan St., those watching found out that this young man had lost his grandmother and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, during the same week. An unspeakable tragedy, we watched a young man have a great game, seemingly inspired by his situation.

Throughout the season, his story became the story of the Notre Dame football team as they rose to #1 in the national rankings. The public was treated to stories of Te’o's devotion in Kekua’s last days and his unrelenting love and affection. Te’o was a finalist for the Heisman, partly for his great play and partly for  his inspirational story of aspiring for, and achieving greatness, in the face of immense tragedy. Notre Dame went on to play for a national championship in January. Even after a disappointing loss in the championship game, Te’o was seen as a wonderful story that embodied all that is good and represented the best of humanity and human nature.

Then a strange report came out. We were led  to believe, with extraordinary detail, that Lennay Kekua did not exist. Account after account suggested that her, and her story, had been fabricated. Immediately, it became clear that we all had been duped. We all had bought into a fable, with a substantial moral, but a fable nonetheless. Now, as more details come out, one is left wondering whether Te’o knew about the hoax. Was he “catfished” by some elaborate prank or a willful participant? Is he a very trusting young man who was taken advantage of or a narcissistic sociopath with the audacity to believe he could pull off such a ruse? We may never know. Either way, we know this: Manti Te’o is not the player we thought. The court of public opinion is split and the conversations I have had with friends have touched on just about every theory out there. And really, can one be refuted at this point?

Even still, with the allegations against the prominent members of the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot and the confession of Lance Armstrong, it is safe to say that there is a disillusionment towards heroes. There is a sense that if you probe just below the surface, we will find a shell of a human being that is propped up on their talent, commercialism, and the belief of fans.

And whatever direction this Manti Te’o story takes, it is safe to assume that he too wanted his chance at greatness. Whether as a star-crossed dreamer or a calculated associate, he was Superman. But one may argue the hero was never really a hero at all. And maybe worst of all, as was the case with Bonds, Clemens, and Armstrong, some of us thought that. But we wanted to believe anyway. Superman’s gone, but we will wait for someone else to put on a cape and paint a “S” on their chest.

I guess Smallville had it right all along:

“Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through and
Somebody save me
I don’t care how you do it
Just stay, stay
Oh come on
I’ve been waiting for you”

 

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My Take on Manti

In Sports on January 18, 2013 at 6:37 pm

 

We have all heard some version of the story by now, a story first reported by Deadspin.com on Wednesday. Notre Dame’s poster-boy linebacker – Heisman runner-up, National Championship runner-up, national sympathy recipient and projected top-10 NFL draft pick Manti Te’o - had been involved in a hoax of staggering proportions. Deadspin revealed that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, who he had spoken of as an inspiration throughout their relationship and in her death of leukemia in September, never existed. She was nothing more than an online personality and an unknown voice on the phone. When this broke, Manti’s role in the hoax was unknown; did he perpetrate the story for sympathy, for attention on a run at the Heisman, or some even deeper motive, or was he simply a victim of a cruel and terrible Catfishing scheme? An anonymous source in the article said he was “80% sure” Manti was knowingly involved from the beginning. As I read the Deadspin article late Wednesday afternoon, my own head began to… ahem… spin. I felt like I had vertigo. My first reaction was, like everyone else’s, shock and disbelief. But it was the second reaction where I diverged from about 90% of Twitter users; I did not immediately point an accusing finger at Manti Te’o. This is because, having gone to school with him for three years, having several mutual friends, and working with the Notre Dame football team for an entire season, I had the privilege of getting to know Manti a little bit. And it’s readily apparent when you spend any time at all with him; he’s really a good guy. Whether that makes me biased or more qualified to judge the situation probably depends on your stance. I think it has helped me maintain perspective.

When the story broke, many rushed quickly to judgment. Twitter exploded with assessments of the situation, with tweeps calling him an attention whore who wanted the media notoriety for a Heisman run, a closeted gay who made up a girlfriend as a cover, a pathological liar, or even mentally troubled. I can see where an outside observer could draw such conclusions – it looks awful from the outside looking in – but my own personal experience with Te’o led me to sincerely doubt these as true. Nevertheless, many questions remained in my mind. There were still a great deal of inconsistencies in the story. I couldn’t believe that the hoax was his idea, but what was my alternative?

Then I watched Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame’s athletic director, give a press conference a few hours later. He explained the idea of Catfishing, that Manti was the victim of a hoax, and that a private investigator hired by ND had discovered online chatter – “casually cruel” chatter, according to Swarbrick - between several parties who perpetrated the hoax. His sincerity, emotion, and willingness to stick his own neck out for Manti convinced me fully of Te’o's lack of involvement in the planned perpetuation of this fraud. You see, I also know Jack Swarbrick. I have had several conversations with him, and I have been unreservedly impressed each time. He spoke to a small group of young men in my dorm last year as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, and after sharing his personal story, he gave the most frank and straightforward question-and-answer time I have ever seen from any figure in sports. He also later met with me one-on-one to discuss my career prospects, and to advise me on how to move forward in my goal to become an athletic director myself one day. He was nothing less than generous, welcoming, and honest, and I really grew to admire him through these experiences. When I watched the press conference, I no longer had any doubt about how this whole hoax began. (Sources have since divulged that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo perpetrated this hoax without Manti’s knowledge, thus confirming my beliefs).

That only clears Manti to a point though. What about the many inconsistencies in his story? What about how he said he met Kekua in 2009 after an ND-Stanford game, and they had a moment where they touched hands and locked eyes? What about how she has supposedly visited him in Hawaii? How could he never have met her in a year? There are a lot of holes in his account.

And this is where I have to cut him down. He lied about a lot of things. He made it worse. He definitely handled it poorly in some ways. He REALLY needs to stop hiding out now, and just face the music. He’s making it worse for himself and for everyone who is defending him and believing in him, and that needs to stop. He and the Irish had such an incredible season, but it seems to be spoiling more and more by the day. Talk to us, Manti. Admit where you lied, where you were duped, and share the truth openly.

Now, though there is no acceptable excuse for lying as he did, I also contend that people need to get off Manti’s back a little bit. Twitter has been especially heinous. First of all, there is little to no proof that he was behind the hoax in the first place. In fact, Deadspin’s ”80% sure” anonymous source is the the only actual evidence I’ve heard, despite egregious amounts of accusation taking place. So there’s that. Next, consider the stakes and the circumstances here. You have to understand the shock, horror, embarrassment, mortification and head-spinning questions caused by the phone call on December 6th. He didn’t even believe it for a while, I’m sure. Then the Heisman ceremony was December 8th; should he have said, “Oh, by the way, guys… my dead girlfriend is fake” live at the Heisman ceremony? Come on. I’m sure he needed quite a bit of time to deal with these appalling developments, and as Jack Swarbrick has recently divulged, to try to follow up on it himself. In addition, imagine the questions that arise if he comes out with this news soon after the Heisman ceremony. He would be vilified even more for playing with the voters’ sympathies in an effort to win the trophy! The suspicions of this being a hoax for attention would be even more heightened. I’m also sure that once he confirmed that he had in fact been duped, in mid-to-late December, he did want to talk to his parents in person instead of over the phone. So he waits a bit for all that to clear up… but then if he comes public with it in late December- early January, it becomes the biggest distraction of all time for the Irish before their first national championship game in 22 years. If the Irish lose and Manti has come out with this story beforehand, he takes a good deal of the blame. That seems undesirable. First he was the victim of a terrible hoax, then upon its revelation, was placed in a terrible situation where there was NO WIN for him. At all. Just judgment and suspicion from all sides, except from Swarbrick and those who actually know him. If I could see Jack Swarbrick today, I would give him a huge hug and I would probably cry on his shoulder for sticking his neck out so damn far for this great kid. Not a perfect kid… just a great kid.

You see, they’re all just kids. Manti Te’o is almost two years younger than me. And the attention and platform and pedestal is all OURS, not theirs. Sure, he embraced it; he told a story that was incredibly moving for him. He had no reason not to. But he doesn’t check his humanity or his privacy at the door when he decides to attend Notre Dame. Just because he is in this spotlight doesn’t mean he ceases to be a college student. Maybe these stakes make it more complicated than a simple, indignant “He should have told everyone immediately as soon as he got that call!”

Maybe he should have told his parents in person in New York, even if he wasn’t sure what to think yet. I think he should have gotten it out sooner. He should have never lied about meeting her or any other lies he told. He was probably embarrassed about how their relationship started and was proceeding, and I can definitely feel him there. That still doesn’t make it okay by any means.

But please, consider this as well; he has also done so much on and off the field for Notre Dame. I’m truly grateful for all that. It was an amazing season, and he overcame REAL anguish and heartbreak this year (regardless of this debacle, his grandmother did die, and he did genuinely believe that another person he had grown to care deeply about passed away as well) to play a spectacular season for a team that went on an incredible run. Let’s not discount that. Between the emotional trauma and the embarrassment and the massive amount of good he has done in his 4 years at Notre Dame, I am willing to reserve some of my vilification for the obvious wrongs he did commit. He was the victim more than the perpetrator here. Maybe he should have been more suspicious in the first place; I’m sure he will be from now on. Maybe I’m too soft. But I think he needs support and understanding more than the BS he’s getting from everyone right now.

Maybe I say this because I can understand; I’m a very trusting, maybe even somewhat naive, romanticizing person. I can easily put myself in his shoes. I would be embarrassed as hell about telling the national media how I fell so hard for someone I had never met in person. Then, if a tragedy was getting me so much attention, I’d probably run with it and exaggerate the details a bit too. It’s not right, but it’s understandable. I think he just needs a little bit of understanding. Then in a week or so, a good tongue-lashing for what he did. Maybe instead of a real, live girlfriend, he should find a good, solid mentor. He is, after all, still just a kid.

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Pegulaville.

In Sports on January 15, 2013 at 8:04 pm

Pegulaville: Home of the Buffalo Sabres.

Population: Not as much as you would think.

What is the sport that most Americans watch today? I would give you three guesses but you probably only need one: football. Not a game where the ball is kicked with the foot (unless you’re a kicker or punter) but rather is thrown, caught, handled between the chest and forearm, and thrown ruthlessly into the ground to exhibit dominance and emotion. Football is the most watched sport in the United States and has been for some time now. For some people, it is the execution of well-laid plans and precise details being performed at humanity’s physical and mental peak that draws them. However, even the most contemplative of viewers lets out the complimentary, “Ohhh!!” when a player is “laid out” at any given point in the game. One of the biggest reasons people watch football is for the big hits. Keep that in mind as you read on.

What is the sport that most people in the world watch today? I would give you three guess but you probably only need one: football. A game where the ball is kicked with the foot and can be touched by the head, heel, knee, chest, shoulder, back, etc. but no hands…or lower forearm really; unless you’re a goalie or Diego Maradona. For almost everyone watching football, it is the execution of extricate passes, exemplary form, and extraordinary talent that drives viewership. While the pace may not be everyone’s cup of tea, most fans appreciate the build-up of play that leads to “that one moment” that produces a goal. MLS has seen a substantial uptick in its viewership and TV deals with NBC Sports Network and ESPN speak to its growing popularity in these United States. Scoring is at an absolute premium and that is one the biggest reasons people watch football. Keep that on the back-burner next to that other oblong-shaped thing.

Then’s there’s basketball. Basketball is unique that in while it was created in the United States, there was a purposeful effort to expand the game globally. The growth of the NBA, as a brand, is a credit to David Stern and an emphasis on an open-door policy that allows for the many international citizens in the Association today. As for the popularity of the sport of basketball, it is the pace of the game that draws people; to contend that basketball is dull due to game speed is a tough argument to rationalize.

So let’s take a look at what we have here: American football is popular, for many reasons, but one of those reasons is the physicality of the sport. Football is the most popular sport on the planet and the most important reason might be how hard it is to score. Finally, basketball is popular in the U.S. and the rest of the world because of the pace of play.

Which brings us to hockey. Born in Canada and played around the world and in the U.S. Hockey has the physicality of American football (with fighting, mind you), the scoring premium of football, and the pace of basketball and yet, is routinely ignored. TV ratings for hockey, especially in championships, seem to be consistently jockeying baseball for third behind the NFL and the NBA. Why is that?

One reason could be weather. In the U.S, there are just not enough places that are cold enough. In many European countries, a dominantly cold climate allows for the prominence of ice; the same can be said for our neighbors to the North. As for the U.S., many of the states are in warm climates that are not conducive to ice. While it is obvious that there are indoor rinks, if individuals do not grow up around ice, can they appreciate it as much?

Secondly, there is the economics of it all. The NBA has been able to incorporate corporate sponsorship in media timeouts that help “pay the bills” as they say. MLS has it a bit tougher but sponsors on jerseys help to remind the viewer of products to be consumed. As for the NFL , they have done the best job of infusing commercialism into every facet of the game. The pre-game show is sponsored by companies, there is a media timeout after the first kickoff, media timeouts after punts, and media timeouts after touchdowns and extra points and the ensuing kickoff. There are even sponsors for the post-game show and the highlight shows after the post-game show.

The NHL? There are really no issues there. Miscellaneous media timeouts throughout the game are congruent with the other sports leagues.

There is also the idea of hockey as a foreign entity. Is that the answer? American football, derived from rugby, has been the symbol of the U.S. when it comes to sports. American football is not played in any other country at a level that rivals the United States. There are countless heroes, stories, moments, etc. that are so ingrained in the fabric of the stars and stripes that you must separate football from soccer.

Basketball was created in the United States and diversified its investment to the rest of the world. As for soccer, its popularity worldwide, along with the performance of the United States National Teams in competitions, has assisted in an increased importance in our sports climate.

The NHL? Not as lucky. Hockey is tied to international entities who seem to define its growth. Hockey consistently has low ratings in the U.S. and much higher ratings in Canada. Why is it that the NHL cannot find a foothold? The majority of its season is after the NFL season is over. Yes, it does compete with the NBA but shouldn’t that be a fair fight?

Finally, you have the appearance of a sports league that is woefully out-of-touch with its players and fan base. Three lockouts in one commissioner’s tenure? A revenue stream that is fifth in the world as of 2011 behind the NFL, NBA, MLB, and the Barclays Premier League? That is not a business model that exactly screams efficiency.

No doubt, it is some combination of these factors and possibly, other confounding variables. Still, the question has to be asked: Why does a sport that combines the physicality of football, the scoring premium of soccer, and the pace of basketball not have a lot of viewers? Then again, maybe that is the wrong question. Maybe that is the wrong thought process. Maybe the question is: Why does a business, that has the best hockey players, not have many viewers?

Pegulaville.: Home of the Buffalo Sabres

Population: Not as much as it should be.

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Twitter’s Indelible Impact on Sports

In Culture, Life, Sports on December 14, 2012 at 11:59 am

Since its creation in 2006, Twitter has become nothing less than a societal phenomenon. Everyone, it seems, from famous athletes and celebrities to your corner grocer is tweeting and following others, trying to share their thoughts on the state of the world, stay up-to-date on their particular flavor of news or gossip, or just trying to rub virtual elbows with the rich, famous, and influential. The sheer number of people using Twitter today inherently provides the service with a tremendous amount of power; with a great reach to a vast audience comes immense opportunity. Social media  is a profoundly effective tool when utilized correctly, and what arena could be better-suited to take full advantage of these resources than sports? No entity’s success is more dependent on its engagement of the population than a sports organization, and no entity provokes the same kind of loyalty and passion within its affiliates. Indeed, a sports organization’s very existence is predicated on a mutually gratifying relationship with the fans. As a result, any athletic brand with some semblance of forward thinking is working hard on improving its social media profile today. It is critical to winning over the fans.

Consider Notre Dame Football’s Twitter profile as an example of social media’s evolution. One of the newest practices in college sports is to essentially tweet the play-by-play of an athletic contest.  @NDFootball tweets frequent updates during Irish football games, often maintaining a furious pace. ND Football tweeted 102 times on October 13, 2012, the date of Notre Dame’s overtime victory over Stanford; this was a vital date for Notre Dame because that win catapulted the Irish into true legitimacy on their way to an undefeated regular season, #1 BCS ranking and a berth in the National Championship game. These kinds of play-by-play tweets are such a cool way for fans to connect with the team, because unlike following on GameCast or another reporting service, a team’s official Twitter account has the element of being explicitly connected to the team itself, and the game updates are presented from this perspective. All this is very important to a shared fan experience. ND Football also live tweets from Brian Kelly’s press conferences on Tuesdays and his radio show on Thursdays, sharing information directly from the source with fans who hang on every word but could have never gotten into a private press conference. These kinds of things accentuate the strength of social media by emphasizing the immediate availability of inside information for fans.

If I could define Twitter in one word from a sports fan’s perspective, that word would be “access.” Access to this inside information, access to contact with athletes, access to places that were never navigable before. The thought of interacting with one’s favorite football team is incredibly exciting for any die-hard fan; yet via Twitter, this is a very distinct possibility. In a revolutionary turn of events, anyone has the ability to interact with any other person who has a Twitter account, including famous athletes and celebrities. I just imagine if someone would have told me ten years ago that I could have insight into the day to day thoughts of my favorite NFL players, and that I could tell them exactly how much I admire or revile them, I would have said that was crazy. How wrong I would have been. Twitter has brought fan, team, and player closer together, and this is truly a great thing for both parties.

Twitter has also revolutionized the sports world and its media outlets because of the nature of news. In the journalism business, arriving first to a story is a significant victory, but social media has taken breaking news to the point of near immediacy. As a result, the watchful eye of national/local media outlets can catch what insiders on these Twitter sites are divulging, and must be quick to immediately jump on the story. The staggering impact that social media has had on the reporting of information cannot be overstated. With Twitter, you do not have to wait a day for the local newspaper to digest the game and spit out a form article covering its events; you can follow it in real time, through the lens of an official affiliate of your favorite team. It is now rare to not have access to a blow-by-blow Twitter account of any major sporting event. That is a radically different and awesome opportunity that has not been around for very long, but it is spreading like wildfire.

Indeed, the impact that social media has had on the sporting world as a whole cannot be overstated. For fans, sponsors, and media outlets alike, through its immediacy and intimacy of information, Twitter has revolutionized athletics in an astonishingly short time. Twitter feeds share a common importance to fans; inside information. Sports fans rabidly consume information that they perceive as exclusive or special, and firsthand accounts from a source closely affiliated with an athletic organization definitely qualify. News has become nearly instantaneous. We can have virtual conversations with our favorite athletes. As a fervent sports fan, this is an exquisitely beautiful world to live in. Thank you, Twitter.

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Drop-backs and tattoos: an inked sports writer’s response to David Whitley

In Culture, Life, Sports on November 30, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Kaepernick

Sparked by a Sporting News column, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s tattoos have been the source of heated discussion across national sports media the past two days.

Tattoos are the hot topic and columnist David Whitley is under fire. The reason? On Wednesday, Whitley published a column entitled “Colin Kaepernick ushers in an inked-up NFL quarterbacking era.”

Here’s the gist: Whitley doesn’t like tattoos, new 49ers QB Kaepernick (a good-character 25-year-old from Milwaukee who is thriving as the new guy under center in San Francisco) has a myriad of permanent markings on his body, and Whitley thinks Kaepernick is setting a bad example for kids.

I am in a unique position to respond. I am a young man who is: a white guy, a sports journalist, a former athlete who considered playing college basketball and probably would have won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest one day if that had happened, an avid NFL fan since birth, a business professional, someone who has pondered if athletes should be considered role models, and a canvas of two tattoos.

Hear me out.

First, I am the editor in chief of a college newspaper. I worked in the sports department at a local television station for a year, I often write sports articles for two local daily newspapers, and I’ve also done freelance reporting for The New York Times. While I am young (21 years old) and Whitley calls himself a “dinosaur,” I am a sports writer just like him. And while I may not have the clout he has as a writer for AOL and Sporting News and I don’t want to cause a ruckus by publishing this column in a publication, the Internet gives me the same ability to express my thoughts through a small blog I share with two of my closest friends.

I gave Mr. Whitley my eyes and undivided attention. Now I am asking for his.

I promise it won’t take too long, but I have a whole bunch of thoughts.

While my two (yes, just two) tattoos don’t show up in a business setting, they’re both large and noticeable. Additionally, my newspaper (The Spectrum) published a point/counterpoint section debating tattoos last year and my co-worker Lisa Khoury’s anti-tattoo column went viral. I know Lisa and I know she’s a good person. I’m sure Whitley is, too.

I’m not here to debate if Whitley is racist, as some writers have asserted. I suppose the criticism is warranted because he compared Kaepernick to a prisoner and commended white quarterbacks, such as Peyton Manning, while demeaning black quarterbacks, namely Michael Vick. However, I trust it was an oversight and his response is genuine. I ask you to do the same, as readers tend to assume the worst in writers and fail to grant the benefit of the doubt. I am a white male like Whitley, but I grew up in the inner city of Buffalo and I’m not your typical “wealthy suburban prep” (in fact, as you can read via that link, the stereotype bothers me to no end). I think Whitley’s two adopted black daughters are enough evidence that he is far from a bigot.

Instead, I’m here to talk about his assertion that “a person’s body is a temple, and you don’t cover temples in graffiti.” I saw the overwhelmingly negative response to Lisa Khoury’s column firsthand, and I don’t wish to degrade Mr. Whitley or label him as closed-minded, as other blogs have done. This is simply the frank opinion of a developing journalist — who is probably similar to the person Whitley was when he was 21 — who has tattoos, doesn’t see them as an issue whatsoever, and has no problem telling the world.

Young? Absolutely. Naive? Hardly.

I got my first tattoo when I was 19 years old. It is scripted: “he conquers who conquers himself,” a translation of the Latin saying “vincit qui se vincit.”

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“he conquers who conquers himself”

Mr. Whitley, this tattoo is not a way “to pay homage to [my] religion, children and motorcycle gang.” It is rather a constant reminder that life is not about me. Society preaches arrogance to college students, and it’s easy to buy in. It’s easy to be a selfish young person. Sometimes, that’s a huge problem for me. The phrase “he conquers who conquers himself” is a reminder that I will not accomplish anything in life when I just set out to serve myself. I won’t leave anything behind.

As Winston Churchill said, “You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.” That’s a concept I often struggle with. Believe it or not, every time I see my tattoo, I go out aiming to make someone’s day. I aim to do something bigger than serve myself.

The tattoo is also a metaphoric bridge. When people happen to see it and ask what it says, I’m able to tell them the philosophy behind it. Would not the world be a better place if everyone were to “conquer him/herself” and start serving others? I think it would. I tend to think you would agree. That’s why I have the message permanently etched into my chest.

But my back, well, that’s the tattoo that means the most to me. Here’s a photo:

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

As I said, I was an athlete growing up, so everyone who sees this tattoo and doesn’t know me well assumes it was my high school number. But this number belongs to someone much more talented and generally much better than I. This number belongs to life-long friend Zack McLeod, who suffered a serious head injury during a football game in 2008 and has not had an easy recovery. Here is a basic synopsis.

Inside the number 16 is Zack’s favorite Bible verse, II Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Zack epitomizes the perfect kid — the “little Dutch boy” Whitley so admires. He was one of the best athletes I’ve ever met and yet he was the nicest kid — the kind of young man you can only wish your kid will grow up to be. He was humble. He had conquered himself.

And then the injury happened.

It didn’t — and still doesn’t — make sense to me. Why do such bad things happen to such good people? The tattoo is my outlet for telling others about Zack. If I were to tell you the full story, I can guarantee it would change the way you see the world. The back tattoo is also my permanent reminder that anyone’s life could come crashing down at any given moment — no matter how kind, talented, or good you are. Appreciate what you have. Show love. For more on this “pay-it-forward, carpe-diem” philosophy, check out a column I wrote at the beginning of this semester.

Maybe you, Mr. Whitley, don’t need reminders to be a good, selfless person. Maybe you think my tattoos would make “Jerry Richardson clutch his chest in horror,” like you assert Kaepernick’s will if he ever hoists the Lombardi Trophy.

You may very well have not made it this far, but I applaud you if you have. Stick with me. I’m almost done.

Am I not justified in being a professional with these two constant reminders on my skin? Does that discredit me and make me look like a prisoner, sir? Do I resemble the “98.7 percent of the inmates at California’s state prison [who] have tattoos?” I’ve never had any trouble with the law, I’m a Dean’s List student, and I excel in my work — but I do have two tattoos.

Mr. Whitley, I know you think I’ve missed your point and I also know you think “tattoo removal is going to be huge industry in the coming years,” but that industry won’t be getting any of my money. Not a dollar.

I was grappling with this column in class today when my Spanish teacher started talking about tattoos. A student sitting next to me asked if I had any, and I answered in the affirmative.

He scoffed. “You really want something permanently on your skin?” His judgment was clear, as if he was saying: “You’ll regret that in five years and never land a job.”

Then he took a big gulp of lemon-lime Gatorade and sighed, “I drank way too much last night.”

I spent last night producing a newspaper that would be read by over 10,000 people and working on a documentary for class until 4 a.m. But, again, I have two tattoos (which, though I’m adamant they deeply affect me, are about as meaningful to many — including the young man in class — as barbed wire on someone’s bicep), so I’m probably not on pace to land a successful job.

You ended your column with: “If you can’t draw the tattoo line at NFL quarterback, you can’t draw them anywhere.”

Consider this: Maybe an inked-up NFL quarterbacking era isn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe, in fact, it can be a positive thing. Maybe painting the walls of our “temples” with impactful, uplifting messages that mean a lot to each individual isn’t a sign of the Apocalypse.

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