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Thứ Sáu, 4 tháng 12, 2015

It's All About 'Muscle'

The Obama administration—easily the most ideologically progressive in modern American history—has been accompanied by both liberal triumphalism and liberal outrage.
Three major protest movements have marked the Obama era: Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the as-yet-unnamed campus protests that began at the University of Missouri and Yale and have now spread across the country. The Occupy movement failed utterly. The Black Lives Matter movement has been on a fast track to irrelevance, its only success having been to discipline Democratic presidential candidates to deny that "all" lives matter, while insisting that "black" lives do.
The campus protests are different. At one school after another, protesters have achieved the resignation and/or humiliation of high officials. They have extorted a great deal of money. They have tried to establish new conventions for the behavior of the media and have even intensified what may prove to be a serious debate about the future of the First Amendment. And in all of this it has become clear that the campus protests aren't about race or privilege or safe spaces. They're about power.
Seen from a certain angle, the campus protests are anomalous—the result of a freakishly improbable chain of events. If Michael Brown had not been shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, there would be no Black Lives Matter movement. The Concerned Student 1950 protests that grew out of Black Lives Matter this fall could not have happened at any school other than the University of Missouri, because while Ferguson was national news, it was also an intensely local story. And the Mizzou campus is a two-hour drive from Ferguson.
The chain gets longer. University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe was unpopular for all sorts of reasons having nothing to do with race. For instance, he was appointed president in 2011 despite a total lack of academic experience. As sportswriter Jason Whitlock noted, the school's curators "plucked Wolfe out of the unemployment line," for no discernible reason, at the end of a closed hiring process that reeked of favoritism.
Even so, Wolfe probably could have survived Concerned Student 1950. Except that one of the protest leaders, a 25-year-old black graduate student named Jonathan Butler, went on a well-publicized hunger strike, declaring that he would eat again only once Wolfe was out of his job. (Butler, by the way, comes from an extremely wealthy family in Omaha. His father, a railroad executive, made $8.4 million last year. In the Occupy era, he would have been part of the villainous 1 percent.) But even Butler's hunger strike probably wouldn't have mattered except that the former high-school football player was friendly with a number of players on the Mizzou team. (Mizzou's most famous liberal activist/football alum, the gay former defensive end Michael Sam, stopped by early on to lend support to Butler.)

Meanwhile, the Mizzou team was mired in a terrible season. They were 4-5 with a locker room divided over a quarterback controversy. Inspired by Butler's example, some of the black players decided that, since the team's season was effectively over, they would "strike"—that is, refuse to fulfill the obligations of their athletic scholarships—until Wolfe was gone. In an ordinary situation, you might expect the coach to step in and enforce some order. After all, supporting mutiny against a sitting university president guarantees that no other university president will ever hire you for another coaching job. But again, there was a wrinkle: Head coach Gary Pinkel had recently been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and was in the process of checking out of his career.

Missouri promotes Barry Odom to head coaching role

Missouri has named defensive coordinator Barry Odom as its new head coach.
Odom, 39, agreed to a five-year contract to replace Gary Pinkel, who retired earlier this month due to health reasons.
"We had the opportunity to visit with a number of excellent coaches throughout our search. At the conclusion of that process, coach Odom was the clear choice to serve as our next coach," said Missouri athletic director Mack Rhoades in a release from the school. "He is a man of high integrity and possesses all the qualities you look for in a successful head coach."
Odom began at Missouri since 2003, beginning as an administrative graduate assistant before joining the coaching staff as a safeties coach in 2009. He was Memphis' defensive coordinator from 2012-2014 before returning to Missouri this season. His 2015 defense ranked No. 9 in the nation this year in allowing 302 yards per game.
The move will help maintain one of the SEC's top defenses. Prior to Odom's return in 2015, Missouri won back-to-back SEC East titles with a stellar pass rush featuring eventual NFL draft picks such as Kony Ealy, Michael Sam, Shane Ray and Markus Golden.
Odom's salary remains unclear. He'll be introduced in a news conference Friday.
Memphis hired its new coach Thursday as well, naming Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Norvell replaces Justin Fuente, who led the Tigers to a 9-3 season before accepting the coaching opening at Virginia Tech earlier this week.

Thứ Bảy, 26 tháng 9, 2015

Out NFL player Michael Sam: My career could have gone better if I’d never come out

The first openly gay NFL player, Michael Sam, has admitted his career might have gone better if he had stayed in the closet.
Sam became the first openly gay player in NFL history when he came out as gay last year – and has since had brief spells with the NFL’s St Louis Rams, the Dallas Cowboys, and Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.
However, he crashed out of the sport last month citing mental health issues, and has since re-enrolled in school.
Sam has now made a sad admission – that things might have gone better if he had just stayed in the closet.
He told NBCSN talk show host Dan Patrick: “I wanted to come out after I made an NFL roster, it really wasn’t supposed to be public. It was just supposed to be to the team, as I did at the University of Missouri.
He added that he came out publicly partly because reporters were already aware of his sexuality, from his time at university, and that he feared it may be leaked.
The player added: “I wanted to be the one to tell my own story. I didn’t want someone to tell it for me.”
The defensive player previously indicated he would step away from sport for now, though he plans to return in the future.
He tweeted: “So I got admitted to University Of Missouri Grad program this week.”
Michael Sam CRED FB
“I enrolled in Grad school this Fall to further my education, while I train to get back to football!!!”
Speaking about his reasons for quitting previously, he said: “The last 12 months have become very difficult for me to the point where I became concerned for my mental health.
“Because of this, I am going to step away from the game at this time. I thank the Alouettes for this opportunity and hope to be back on the field soon.
o-MICHAEL-SAM-facebook
“Thank you all for your understanding and support.”

Martin Freeman Says He’s Not Homophobic For Calling Out JohnLock, Michael Sam Wishes He’d Come Out Later: MEME

Homophobic Pastor destroyed on "The Doctors," Selena Gomez covers "Rude" without changing pronouns, Daniel Pintauro comes out as HIV+
Tim Cook
When Tim Cook was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he was asked about Steve Jobs, which portrays the Apple founder in a less than positive light, and Cook said “I think a lot of people are trying to be opportunistic and I hate this. It’s not a great part of our world.” Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the film, called him out for defending his late friend and boss. “Nobody did this movie to get rich. Secondly, Tim Cook should really see the movie before he decides what it is. Third, if you’ve got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour you’ve got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic.”
Hotel Transylvania 2
Sony
Hotel Transylvania 2 is set to become Adam Sandler’s best opening film yet, with $46 million for the weekend, and good reviews. The Intern will take second place with $18 million, while the other wide opener, The Green Inferno, which many have called racist, is set to make the top ten with $3 million.
Angela Merkel
Getty
In Germany, the Bundesrat, or upper house, passed a bill recognizing marriage equality over the objections of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who doesn’t want the law changed. The bill now goes to the upper house, the Bundestag.
Smithers
Fox
Al Jean says that in the 27th season of The Simpsons, Smithers finally comes out of the closet. “In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously Burns doesn’t. We deal with that in two episodes. … We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options.”
Azealia Banks
Getty
Fresh off of hurling a gay slur as she was disembarking from a flight, Azealia Banks says “oh well imagine how I wanna spray a gay man in the face with pepper spray everytime he calls me a bitch a slut or a hoe. Kiss my ass. Goodnight.” I won’t stoop to calling her a bitch or a hoe, but I will call her a horrible person who only gets press for the awful way she lives her life rather than her music.
Jeb Bush thinks that he can win the black vote by encouraging a positive message rather than bribing them. “Our message is one of hope and aspiration. It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting — that says you can achieve earned success.” So your version of hope to to call them a bunch of moochers that want to live off handouts? Not really aspirational.
caitlyn jenner ellen degeneres
It’s official, Caitlyn is now legally a woman named Caitlyn Jenner. While it’s a formality compared to her brave declaration this year, it’s an important milestone in the journey any trans individual takes towards being their true self.
Martin Freeman
Getty
Martin Freeman is worried that because he reminds people that Sherlock and Watson aren’t gay, people will think he’s homophobic. “They’re not actually f***ing. It is possible for people of the same sex to have a deep friendship without being attracted to each other. People are attracted to each other in all sorts of ways. You don’t necessarily want to [sleep with] someone because you love them. They respect each other, they bring different things to their friendship. It’s a friendship. Way more has been made in the ether of that relationship than has ever been put in the show. The trouble is as soon as you start getting into a dialogue about that, it sounds like you‘re somehow being homophobic.” Actually, it’s not that you say it, or any other star says that the character they play isn’t gay that upsets people. It’s how you say it.
danny pintauro
OWN
Not only did Who’s the Boss star Daniel Pintauro talk about drug use in the LGBT community on Oprah: Where Are They Now?, he also revealed that he’s been HIV+ for 12 years now. “I was living in New York at the time and completely clueless to the idea that I was positive. I went in for a regular checkup. It was just regular blood work. You go in, and you sort of waited two weeks on pins and needles — or at least I did, because I was just terrified of the idea of getting HIV.” At the time, he had just come out of a two year relationship and wanted to experiment sexually. “I was doing crystal meth, which completely ruins your immune system. I’d been doing it at that point very briefly, but it was three weeks or so, off and on. I had just come out of a two-year relationship, and I discovered in that relationship that there was more I wanted to explore sexually. Crystal meth takes away your inhibitions… And if you want to explore that adventurous side, taking the drug is going to put you there. I was experimenting. And believe it or not, I thought that I was being safe in that encounter. I know exactly when it happened.”
Michael Sam called in to The Dan Patrick Show to talk about what happened in Montreal, what his future plans were, and what he might have done differently over the last year. One of the big points is that Sam would not have come out when he did. “I wanted to come out after I made an NFL roster. It really wasn’t supposed to be public.” Still he has no regrets about coming out, or allowing the cameras into his home for the draft, and that famous kiss. He does seem to harbor some ill will towards his advisers.
When Selena Gomex stopped by the BBC One Live Lounge to perform Magic’s “Rude” she didn’t give us a groundbreaking arrangement, nor really even a stellar vocal performance. But one thing she did do was leave all the genders in tact, so that she’s singing about asking for the had of a man’s daughter, which considering the storyline of a traditional father who wants a specific life for his daughter becomes all the more powerful when it’s done as a same-sex proposal.
The Doctors invited anti-gay pastor Josh Feuerstein on the show to talk about his Christian views on gender and sexuality and parenting, and put him face to face with Mikki Willis, the dad who rose to viral fame after celebrating his son picking out a Little Mermaid doll. What’s striking about all of this isn’t the content – we know what Feuerstein is going to say before he says it. What struck me was that nobody was on his side. The doctors jumped all over it about sexuality being innate, while gender was more complicated than toys. And the audience had zero fucks to give about his opinion.

Michael Sam: If I Hadn’t Come Out as Gay, I Probably ‘Would be on a Roster’ in the NFL

Michael Sam, who became the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL franchise, said he probably would have been on a team’s roster had he not come out.
Michael Sam before the inaugural NFL Veteran Combine in February 2015. (Image source: Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)
Michael Sam before the inaugural NFL Veteran Combine in February 2015. (Image source: Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)
Sam made the observation during sportscaster Dan Patrick’s radio show Friday.
He told Patrick he announced he was gay “a little too early for my taste” in early 2014 but “certain things happened” that influenced him to come out — notably reporters who knew he was gay and might break the story.
“I wanted to be the one to tell my own story,” Sam told Patrick. “I didn’t want someone telling it for me.”
Patrick then asked the former SEC Defensive Player of the Year if he hadn’t come out, would he be on an NFL roster right now.
“It probably would have been better for me if I didn’t come out … I would be on a roster,” Sam said, who added that he wanted to come out after making a squad.
Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams but was cut during training camp. He then went to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad but was released. Sam played in the Canadian Football League for a short while before he headed back to the University of Missouri where he’s pursuing a master’s degree.
Despite his NFL setbacks, Sam told Patrick he still wants to play in the league and believes he’s a still a “damn good” football player.

Michael Sam still hoping for NFL career

In this file photo former Montreal Alouettes' Michael Sam and teammates warm up for a Canadian Football League game against the Ottawa Redblacks in Ottawa, Ontario on Aug. 7, 2015.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Michael Sam is back in Missouri, working on a master’s degree and still hopeful for a career in the NFL.
Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by the league, told a Columbia, Missouri, TV station this week that his life has been a “roller coaster” since the St. Louis Rams picked him in the seventh round last year.
The 2014 Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year from Missouri was cut by the Rams and spent part of last season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad before being released.
Sam, 25, signed a two-year deal with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes this summer, but quit in August after playing just one game. He said on Twitter at the time that the past year had been so difficult he was worried about his mental health.
WATCH BELOW: Michael Sam stepping away from football after making history playing for the Montreal Alouettes
For now, he’s content to work on a master’s degree at Missouri,trying to see if a career in broadcasting suits him.Sam appeared relaxed in an interview on KMIZ-TV. He said he wants to return to the NFL in 2016.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Sam said.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what’s next in my life. I’ve just come to a conclusion, as I take this break from football, I want to focus on my media training.”
All of the media attention after Sam came out in February 2014 was overwhelming, he said, but eventually he got used to it. It also whetted his appetite for a career in media. Still, he felt a need to scale down and step back.
In addition to dropping out of the Canadian league, Sam parted ways with his agent and publicist.
Taking a break from football “was one of the smartest things I’ve done in a long time,” he said. “I’m really just focusing on me right now.”

Michael Sam 'never' wanted to play for the Montreal Alouettes

Defensive player who left Alouettes after 1 game says he is considering a career in media
Michael Sam was feted when he signed with Montreal in May, but now says it was never really his desire to play in the CFL.

Michael Sam is back in Missouri, working on a master's degree and still hopeful for a career in the NFL after abruptly leaving the Montreal Alouettes.
Sam, the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL, told a Columbia, Mo., TV station this week that his life has been a "roller coaster" since the St. Louis Rams picked him in the seventh round last year.
  • Michael Sam, NFL's 1st openly gay draftee, signs with CFL's Montreal Alouettes
  • ​Alouettes' Michael Sam leaves team for mental health reasons
The 2014 Southeastern Conference defensive college player of the year from Missouri was cut by the Rams and spent part of last season on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad before being released.
Sam, 25, signed a two-year deal with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes this summer, but quit in August after playing just one game. He said on Twitter at the time that the past year had been so difficult he was worried about his mental health.
'I never really wanted to go to the CFL, but I did and I committed to going.'- Michael Sam
Sam admitted to never really wanting to play in the CFL on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday.
"It was a really last call to go to the CFL. I never really wanted to go to the CFL, but I did and I committed to going," Sam told Patrick.
"But you know, I left [the Alouettes] with some personal issues the first time and the second time I came back I really hadn't gotten over those issues," he said, referring also to an earlier leave of absence from the team in June.
Sam said he wants to return to the NFL in 2016.
For now, he's content to work on a master's degree at Missouri, trying to see if a career in broadcasting suits him.
"It's been a roller coaster," Sam said. "I've been trying to figure out what's next in my life. I've just come to a conclusion, as I take this break from football, I want to focus on my media training."
All of the media attention after Sam came out in February 2014 was overwhelming, he said, but eventually he got used to it. It also whetted his appetite for a career in media.
Still, he felt a need to scale down and step back. In addition to dropping out of the Canadian league, Sam has since parted ways with his agent and publicist.
 
 
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