Jackie Robinson Day - April 15, 2007

by Fox 71 on Apr 13, 2007 4:49 AM PDT Comment 21 comments

Bumped from the diaries. It is funny to me. Imus (who I do not feel sorry for) can get fired over "making jokes" (according to him and his apologists), while Pom Pom gets to skate by dismissing graphics of black babies in chains and swastika as a "mistake". Is something off here? GO BRUINS. - N

Major League Baseball is set to celebrate Jackie Robinson on April 15, the 60th anniversary of his monumental and courageous trot out to his position in a major league game. He was carrying the aspirations of many, and breaking down the barriers that existed then and which now shame all of us. He was in many respects the greatest Bruin ever.

We all know his history. As to what he had to endure, we can't "know" it - all we can do is "know about" it. We all know his legacy - a legacy of equality and merit and tolerance. And always a legacy of courage.

Actually, I exaggerated just a bit. His legacy is apparently not particularly well known at justsc. If it is known, it is not embraced. I refer, of course, to the "White Nation." We discussed that website and the aftermath of its disclosure at some length, but then tabled the issue because of the NCAA tournament. (In retrospect, I wish we had not done so -- it's as big an issue as banner number 12 in my opinion.)

I have since looked at some justsc blogs. The incident has been totally forgotten. It is totally under the rug as far as I could determine. There is no mention of it anywhere that I could discern. I do not choose to subscribe to the Daily trOJan (either the justsc campus version, or the one with wider circulation (i.e., the fishwrap)), so I cannot personally state that nothing has been written in those august publications. But it stands to reason that if any trOJan, either officially or unofficially, wanted to lodge some sort of protest or start some sort of investigation, we would all have heard of it by now.

But what have we heard? Nothing. Nothing from the administration of the school. Now a word from the faculty. Dead silence from the student body. Nothing new from the athletic department or the team.

I will not pretend to understand what goes on in any trOJan's mind. I will not pretend to comprehend how anyone could willingly attend that institution, or could willingly allow a loved one to do so. (I have made my position on that clear, and have invited legitimate debate on those points of conscience. No one has accepted that offer.)

The point of this post is Jackie Robinson. I cannot let a day honoring him come and go without issuing a challenge to everyone who is connected with justsc (or even one person connected with justsc) to take some sort of action to address the "White Nation," the players behind the "White Nation." and most importantly the mindset that allowed the "White Nation" ever to come into existence in the first place. Have you no sense of decency? Where is the outrage? Where are the calls for action? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?

The unwillingness to do anything about the "White Nation" - either on an institutional or on an individual level - speaks volumes about justsc. It is the ultimate condemnation of that contemptible place.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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We can't "know" it?

Is that a South Park reference? If not check out the first episode of season 11 here.

by alcor805 on Apr 12, 2007 10:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Link Doesn't Work. Try This.

www.allsp.com

by alcor805 on Apr 12, 2007 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've never watched South Park

by Fox 71 on Apr 13, 2007 5:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I sent a letter to the editor

The fishwrap ran a very short story about the incident after it happened--a very short story.

A few days later, I emailed a letter to the editor complaining that the story was not as effective because the Times chose not to run the images from the website which, frankly, would have really hit home what the site was all about.

A day later, a senior sports editor from the LAT emailed me back and said that they were unable to find the images when the story first ran so they ran the story without them. I responded that it was not too late to run a follow-up story or at least post the images which would surely have been more effective than the short story which had previously run without the images. I received no response to my follow-up email.

The LAT, and all papers, run follow-up stories all the time, sometimes day after day, as we all know. I guess this story just did not merit that type of attention in the LAT's eyes.

by Barnes2JJ on Apr 13, 2007 5:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Why do I get the feeling ...

if those images involved athletes from UCLA, Trojan Times would have no problem doing followup stories.

What a bunch of rat-f8cking bastards these LAT sports editors are.

by bluestreet on Apr 13, 2007 5:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep

And, as N and Fox and others have already noted, the silence from the folks across town (and by that I also include the student body and alumni) has been deafening.

by Barnes2JJ on Apr 13, 2007 6:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Imus

Imus would have gotten in no trouble at all if OUTSIDE forces did not put pressure on CBS and MSNBC. Both entities did nothing for about a week, then suspended him, then fired him.

That is the ONLY reason he got fired. CBS and MSNBC make a lot of money from Imus and would rather have done nothing. If more entities, more powerful people made a big deal out of this whole White Nation thing, then something would have been done. But, of course, it really was just a bunch of mediocre jackasses posting stupid racist images to their facebook. These guys did not have a national audience and influence within circles of power like Imus. They were not Pete Carroll or Leinart or Booty or anyone like that. If it were I think the story would've been very different. We really are talking about apples and oranges here.

by njbruin on Apr 13, 2007 7:03 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

apples and oranges

nappy headed hoes v black baby in chains

the comparison between the offending parties involved here may be apples and oranges, however, the nature of the disgusting images/comments are involved are comparable in terms of how vile and offensive they are. JMO.

by bluestreet on Apr 13, 2007 7:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

targets

Yea, and Imus' comments were directed at a particular group of people while the players posted an (undoubtedly racist) image but not targetting any person or people in particular. It's just two totally different things. Not particularly better, or worse, but it's easy to see why someone like Imus would get heat but these guys did not.

These people are worthless, meaningless fools and will get theirs in the end. If I was a black player on the team I'd punch 'em in the face, myself, but I'm not. If I was a black student or alumnus at USC I would care, but I'm not. Outrage over here at BN doesn't amount to a whole lot. Remember Imus was canned because the people with money said he had to go.

by njbruin on Apr 13, 2007 8:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

People with money said he had to go ...

because they felt the collective outrage that started percolating from (gasp) blogosphere, which found its way into the traditional media.

In this case the outrage was there, but it never got picked up by the traditional media.

If those images got through ESPN or the LAT, you'd be people with money would feel the pressure. But it never got to that step.

And for that the so called reporters who faield to cover this story ought to be ashame of themselves.

by bluestreet on Apr 13, 2007 8:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fox 71 -- I agree with your anger...

... but I respectfully advise caution, my friend.

I trust that you know that I agree with you on many things -- the first and foremost thing being a profound sense of disgust and disrespect for the institution across town.

To this day, I am still sadly amazed at the level of violence, disregard for authority, and seeming contempt for ethics and rules that is repeatedly linked to their "student-athletes." (BIG props to Menelaus for the updated chronicle of Trojan sins.)

However, I hope you will consider the use of the phrase "YOU PEOPLE" when referring to "everyone who is connected to justsc."

I am often guilty of it, too, whether in my own sense of comedy or my own over-impassioned lack of sense. I often paint $Cers with too broad a brush, and I will work to watch my own writings in the future.

I simply encourage you and others, in a time when statements by so many people from New York to Rutgers to Durham, end up having (or possibly revealing) a farther reach than is originally intended or originally anticipated, to be mindful of such all-encompassing words.

It's not everybody at $C that perpetrates the appalling levels of disrespect and arrogance that we so often read about in our sports and news sections. Indeed, I have a brother who just started working there in a technical/ executive capacity, and he's as passionate a Cal fan as you'll ever meet. (Did I agree with hsi job choice? Oh, hell no.)

That being said, I'll keep throwing my verbal slings and arrows at those folks at $C that perpetuate the notion of $C Athletics being a home for non-law-abiding, corner-cutting bunch of unruly jerks.

And, God forbid, if my children decide to go to $C (shudder), I sure as there's a heaven won't pay a dime for it.

Fox 71, I apologize if these words have offended you. I mean no disrespect to you. If you don't agree with this post, I hope we can certainly agree to disagree.

Peace.

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 13, 2007 10:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Correction: first and foremost is actually...

...love for our Bruins and our beloved UCLA.

Loathing the Trojans just comes along with that, par for the course.

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 13, 2007 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The brush was admittedly a little broad

I know some justsc people. As I have said many times, on a one-to-one basis basis, many justsc people are decent. Collectively, however, even some of the decent ones manifest the unfounded arrogance that is so hard to explain.

It is the "collecive you" that was being called out. English is missing the second person plural pronoun, unless you want to count "y'all."

But I would be happy to engage an individual "you" from justsc. I have seen or heard nothing (other than from Cheatie Petie, and since I consider him to be devoid of any integrity at all and beneath contempt, I expected nothing more profound from him,)

Deafening silence so far from justsc, either on an individual basis or a collective basis.

Consider the difference - many of us are roaring at the fundraisers from UCLA and demanding accountability from the football heirarchy. How much more leverage does a justsc contributer have, when his or her checks are for seven or eight figures. But so far, we have heard nothing from those big money people.

And what about Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? Where are they? Is it just a "prank"? Doesn't it mean the same as the prank Don Imus was talking about?

Shakespeare said "Frailty, thy name is woman." If he were here today, he would probably say "Hypocracy, thy name is trOJan."

This latest rant is winding down. I concede that the brush I painted with was unreasonably wide. So now let's hear from those justsc people who I unjustifiably included the first time around. There should be plenty of them. Explain how you're taking steps to ensure that your institution is actually a place where the memory of Jackie Robinson is honored.

by Fox 71 on Apr 13, 2007 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough. Glad we're still cool.

Thanks for not taking it personally.

Nice to know I can still come to BN and find reasonable discourse in the virtual world, unlike other sites.

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 13, 2007 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It shouldn't be that big of a deal

I'm virtually certain that the majority of people who have attended UCLA have some sort of relationship or know someone who has an association with SUC, myself included. Some of our contributors here are even alumni of their graduate programs. I'm confident enough in my judgment of character (of quite a few friends I have that are undergrads there) that they aren't contributors to the "White Nation" attitude they cultivate at that sorry excuse for a school. Yet, I will continue to condemn their student body as a whole as one of the groups who have failed to express the proper outrage over the bigots among them. Obviously it's not because I believe that each and every one of them is a bigot like those football players, but one bad apple ruins the bunch, and SUC has a lot more bad apples than most. In that light, it seems even more appropriate to point out what a spoiled rotten place that is.

by Tydides on Apr 13, 2007 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can respect that.

Thanks for adding to the discourse, T.

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on Apr 13, 2007 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interfamilial discourse

Isn't it interesting that there are no trOJan interlopers dropping in to add their two cents worth on this issue? There were plenty here for basketball. But not one shows up to defend his or her plantation -- I mean alma mater. The disappearance is so sudden.

by Fox 71 on Apr 13, 2007 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The World Is Spun On Motive

After observing the whole Imus fiasco and thinking about what it means, I'm not suprised by the piling on of every political voice in this country. Hilary Clinton and Barrack Obama both spoke out to condemn Imus' actions. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson paraded around New York telling everyone within earshot that they wanted Imus out. The story ran everywhere from ESPN to The View.

Clinton and Obama want votes, Sharpton and Jackson want publicity and TV wants ratings.

I think Keith Olbermann said it correctly today when he commented that the whole situation was caused by the specificness of who Imus was insulting. They were victims who could be interviewed, promoted and exploited. And they have, but it makes for an interesting consolation prize for losing the Championship game.

Bringing this back to UCLA and USC, I think our motives are too obvious. We have a vested interest in seeing SC fans suffer. Screaming at the L.A. Times is not going to help because the Times makes money off of USC.

Comparing the stupid "White Nation" web site and the Imus situation is like comparing a billboard in Downtown L.A. with a campus flyer. Imus' show was broadcast over a nationally syndicated network and reached millions. The incredibly stupid "White Nation" site might get more hits from this web site then anywhere else.

I hate USC as much as anyone but if they put the SC players through the Imus treatment they would obviously cry on television and I feel that's what we really want to see.

by alcor805 on Apr 13, 2007 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Couldn't agree more

Any suc fan I've talked about it with all just brush it off saying it was a "prank" or a "joke" and it's not a big deal. Just continues to add to the list of things I can't stand about suc and makes me hate them even more.

by CaliWolverine on Apr 13, 2007 11:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs