“When they came for Oklahoma State, I said nothing, because I was very confused about what was going on.”
The occupying force that is the NCAA stepped even further upon our freedoms today, suspending 2021 NIT champion Penny Hardaway for three likely inconsequential nonconference games because one of his assistant coaches broke the “rule” about how many times you can visit (allegedly) James Wiseman in his home.
Uh, I’m sorry, when (allegedly) James Wiseman invites us to his house are we all supposed to say no? Sounds like somebody’s mother didn’t raise them to be polite.
This is obviously a witch hunt, an unconscionable act of NIT sabotage whose unspoken context says this is not, in fact, a nation of rules. If we were a nation of rules, would coaches be punished for breaking those rules? That’s what I thought.
Penny Hardaway receiving punishment for breaking a rule Penny Hardaway’s program broke is an act of aggression like few ever seen in the NCAA–NIT conflict, and the NCAA–NIT conflict once escalated into an antitrust lawsuit which had to be settled out of court. This is big stuff!
So please, fight for your rights, and fight for the rights of those who can’t. At Coach Hardaway’s arraignment in Indianapolis this week, show up and remind the swamp who really runs this nation: Whoever shouts the loudest.
Aaron Rodgers Is Headlining a Psychedelics Conference
“Well, yes, of course,” you say. The bigger surprise is that Rick Perry is one of the other speakers, though psychedelics are hot right now in the veteran advocacy community. Do you think Rodgers and Perry will talk politics? What if Perry asks for Rodgers’s sword? Is there any way he could take it?
NASCAR to Europe?
NASCAR does have a series in Europe, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series which runs stock cars half a dozen weekends a year in Britain, Belgium, Italy, and a few other places over on that continent. Jenson Button says it’s time to step it up.
Benjenson Button, for those who aren’t sure (that’s me, I’m looking it up right now to make sure I don’t miss anything), is a former F1 world champion who helped drive NASCAR’s entry at Le Mans last weekend. He had a great time. This week, in a press conference covered by Matt Weaver, Button raved about French fans’ reactions to the sheer noise and power coming from the stock car and pushed for NASCAR to run a Cup Series race there as soon as possible. His one concern:
“‘There are things I think the European fans will struggle with, the no rules in terms of how aggressive you can be on the track,’ Button said. ‘I think that’s one thing I think that any of us who get into racing in any category, we struggle with that in NASCAR initially, because if you even tap a guy in any other form of racing, you’re probably getting penalized.
‘In NASCAR, you can hit people, and it’s up to the other guy if he retaliates or moves out of the way. That’s the biggest thing for the European public to get their heads around.’”
Hell yes, Jenson. You get us.
I’m not going to say whether it’s better to be a racing series that lets drivers sort things out amongst themselves and only steps in when the conflict becomes egregious or a racing series that uses an inconsistent application of the rules to make people laugh at it, but Button is right. There are major differences between NASCAR and Formula 1. Thankfully, we’re allowed to like both, and some of us do!
Really, I hope this happens so that we get the European–NASCAR equivalent of American F1 Bros™. I think it would work well. The stereotype here would be overpaid and underworked Italian 27-year-olds explaining to their friends condescendingly that “actually there’s a lot of strategy in NASCAR” and then failing to articulate what that strategy is, but I don’t think that’s what would happen. I think what would actually happen is a bunch of British 55-year-olds who voted yes on Brexit realizing they can pound beers and slam fried chicken while watching some of the best competitive drivers in the world wrestle massive, unwieldy automobiles around a track, trying to scrape past one another to victory lane with no help from helicopter parents turned race officials.
I agree with Button.
I think they’d like it.
Becoming a Bar Guy
To be clear: I’ve been to bars before. I’m not new at going to bars. But! I’ve never really been a regular at a single bar. I might try to change that.
The MLB TV blackout means I can’t watch the Astros or Rangers in my home, and while those aren’t the worst teams in the world to miss, they did leave me ready last night to scramble over to the bar down the street if I saw Joe Kelly was warming up to enter the game. Which made me realize: Should I be doing the nightly Joe Kelly watch from that bar? Should I be hate-watching the Astros? Should I be leaning into my geographic proximity to the Rangers?
If the Rangers trade for Joe Kelly like so many in their fanbase are hoping they will, the die will be cast, but for now, I’m just toying with the idea. I don’t love the bar down the street, but there’s something about having a bar you’re able to scramble to.
More to come.
