Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Jen's Turn: Apparently, It's in the "Cards"

It's time to Break It Down!

Last week I discussed the San Antonio Spurs and their historic association with Becky Hammon.  At that moment, it seemed to represent quite a leap for the world of sports.  Staying in the realm of athletics, in today’s post I am invading the rarified (for me) air of the NFL.

My close friends and associates know I am a huge basketball fan, and as such, I’ve written about basketball, both college, and professional, on numerous occasions.  Alternately, I’ve written sparingly about football. 

I wrote about Michael Vick, but it had much more to do with his legal issues than with football.  I also wrote about the exigencies of playing Super Bowl XLVIII outdoors in cold weather.  That game was played on February 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the first Super Bowl played outdoors in a cold-weather city.

For the record, the Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43–8, the largest margin of victory for an underdog and the third largest point differential overall (35) in Super Bowl history.  It was the first time the winning team scored over 40 points, while holding their opponent to under 10. This became the first Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks and the fifth Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, the most of any team.

Today, for fans of the game, the big story circulating is likely centered around N.F.L. (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell upholding the four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, one of football’s biggest stars, after finding that he destroyed potential evidence as the league investigated his role in the deflation of game balls to gain competitive advantage in the A.F.C. championship matchup last January.  The saga is referred to as Deflate-gate.

The League, in a 20-page statement, said yesterday that it based its decision on Brady asking an assistant to destroy a cellphone that he had used before, during, and after the week of the game.  According to the League, the destruction of the phone eliminated what investigators believed to be 10,000 texts.  This revelation came to light during Brady’s testimony at an appeals hearing in June, several months after investigators had requested text messages and emails.

NFL rules did not require Brady to surrender the materials.  However, his failure to do so, compounded by the destruction of the phone, raised the question of obstructing the investigation.  It was a compelling factor in leading Commissioner Goodell to uphold the suspension rather than reduce it, as he has often done in past disciplinary cases.

All that is interesting enough, but it’s not my focus.  Football has for some time been elevated to the status of “America’s Game.”  The game is intricate, complex, even cerebral, to be sure, but the things that often resonate about football are the elements of raw strength, power, and a level of physicality that frequently define the game. 

Becky Hammon’s emergence on the scene as a successful basketball coach for the San Antonio Spurs is a rare air kind of development.  It was surprising a year ago when she arrived, it was surprising last week when she led her team to the Las Vegas Summer League Championship, and it will certainly be surprising should she ever actually assume the reins of an NBA Head Coaching post.

But that’s basketball, a lofty perch, but a completely different kind of game.  This weeks surprise comes from the NFL.  On Monday, Jennifer Welter was hired as a training camp and preseason coaching intern for the inside linebackers position for the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals. The signing made her the first female coach in the NFL.  This is her third "first" for men's football in 2014 and 2015.

On February 12, 2015, the Indoor Football League's Texas Revolution named Welter their linebackers and special teams coach making her first woman to coach in a men's professional football league.
On January 24, 2014, the Revolution announced signing 5-foot-2, 130-pound Jennifer Welter as a running back. This made her the second female player for a position other than kicker or placekick-holder on a men's professional football team, and the first at running back.

Welter is a veteran of several women's "semi-pro" football teams (including the Dallas Diamonds and Dallas Dragons).  She was a gold medal-winning member of Team USA at the International Federation of American Football's (IFAF) Women's World Championship in 2010 and 2013.

Cardinal’s Coach Bruce Arians had this to say about the landmark decision to bring Dr. Welter (that’s right, Dr.; I’ll get to that later) into the organization:    

“Coaching is nothing more than teaching.  One thing I have learned from players is, 'How are you going to make me better?  If you can make me better, I don’t care if you're the Green Hornet, man, I'll listen.  I really believe she'll have a great opportunity with this internship through training camp to open some doors for her.  She came for an OTA and I met her, and I thought she was the type of person that could handle this in a very positive way for women and open that door.  Welter has earned this.”

For her part, Dr. Welter took to Twitter to express her appreciation:

Thank you ‪@AZCardinals & ‪@BruceArians & everyone here in ‪#Phoenix. I am honored to join this amazing ‪#footballfamily

Mike Freeman, of Bleacher Report, shared a text he received from a player in the AFC on Welter:

"The truth is, she has more playing experience than some of the coaches who      coach me now."

The NFL may traditionally be a man's league, but Welter has the background to handle the spotlight. She played football professionally for 14 years and most recently served as an assistant coach for the Indoor Football League's Texas Revolution.  She also entered a game as a running back for the Revolution last year, becoming the first woman to appear in a men's pro football contest at a contact position.

The Cardinals hiring Welter is fitting for a franchise that has embraced progress and created an exciting brand of football as a result.  Adding Welter figures to breed more positive energy and enthusiasm within the organization.  The Cardinals have experienced quite a culture change since Arians took the reins in 2013.  Arians is known for his vertical passing-based offense, aggressive style and overall confidence, which has evidently rubbed off on his players and earned their respect as they've compiled a 21-11 record over the last two seasons.

That bold attitude includes the front office and general manager Steve Keim, who's been unafraid to take risks in the draft. Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu and wide receiver John Brown were both polarizing third-round picks, but they've emerged as playmakers.

Welter has a long way to go to climb the NFL coaching ladder, but she's already broken new ground.  Although she isn't in the position San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon was in recently when she led the squad to an NBA Summer League title, Welter's gig in the desert provides the vital foundation for something greater.

She also brings a full Monty of educational qualifications to the table.  Dr. Welter graduated from Boston College and has a master’s degree in Sport psychology and a PhD in psychology from Capella University, a for profit school in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

By the way, this is not the only NFL recently.  It's the second such barrier to be broken in the NFL this year.  The league announced in April that Sarah Thomas would be the first woman to be a full-time NFL official. Just for the record, the NBA has had women Referees since 1997, when Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner entered the League’s pool of Referees.  But, be that as it may, today is Jen’s Turn: Apparently, It’s in the Cards!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

The Spurs and Becky Hammon: Another Chapter Added

It's time to Break It Down!

Last August, I wrote a post entitled, “First The Spurs Won The Title: Now They Are Making History!”  (http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-spurs-won-title-now-they-are.html)  It heralded the introduction of Ms. Becky Hammon to the NBA, after her hiring by the then World Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurts made Ms. Hammon the NBA’s first full-time Regular Season female Assistant Coach on August 5, 2014.  It was clear at that time she had cultivated a history with the Spurs, and that she had established a relationship with both Coach Popovich and a number of Spurs’ players.  Other women had served in support roles, one as an Assistant during the Summer League, and another as a Volunteer Assistant during the Regular Season.  Hammon, however, assumed full coaching responsibilities, and traveled with the team.

The NBA Summer League is a series of off-season competitions designed to bring National Basketball Association teams together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups.  Usually, participants include a mix of rookies, second year players, and unsigned free agents.  The current summer league consists of three separate leagues: the Las Vegas Summer League, the Utah Jazz Summer League, and the Orlando Pro Summer League.

Summer leagues have existed for decades. Historically, there was not an organized structure, with leagues sometimes overlapping and not officially coordinated.  In 2004, the league held the Las Vegas Summer League for the first time; it is by far the largest league, with 23 NBA teams plus an NBA Development League all-star team participating as of 2015.

The Orlando Pro Summer League has been held since 2001. The Utah Jazz Summer League began play in 2015, replacing the Rocky Mountain Revue, an event held from 1984–2008 before going on a lengthy hiatus due to declining participation. 

On Monday evening, Ms. Hammon led the Spurs to the Championship of the Vegas Summer League, as the Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 93-90.  By doing so, she became the feature attraction in yet another chapter in the annals of history, after having added one just two weeks ago, when she became the first woman to serve as Head Coach of an NBA Summer League Team.  The Spurs lost their first Summer League game to the NY Knicks, but rallied from that point, winning the rest of their games, including in the end, persevering in a hotly contested Title Game.

In describing the experience, Hammon said:

"It was a grind. They've been together about 17 days.  They really started to kind of gel here these last two or three games.  They listened, and they played really hard for me.  So I'm just really [appreciative of] their attentiveness and alertness and their desire to win."

Along the way, Becky Hammon has diffused a number of the lingering concerns about whether her instincts and experience connected effectively with the rigors of the men’s game.  The end result of her performance in this highly competitive environment, in which all the actors recognized her unique role, with no place to hide, should silence some of those concerns.  It probably won’t, but it should.

A number of Hammon’s players recognize the value of her voice on the bench.  Former Tar Heel Danny Green lauded Hammon when the Spurs hired her.  At that time he said:

“Everybody here respects her.  She’s a really good player and also a good person to have around.  She understands the game.”

He had this to say in an interview with NBA TV during Monday’s game:

"She gives another perspective on the sidelines for us. She sees some things that we don't see.  She’s obviously a player, everybody respects her, she's well respected.  She knows the game.  She understands the game.  She sees it from a point guard perspective, but a female perspective [too], which is very different for us.
She's one of my favorites ... She's doing very well.  I'm happy for her."

Jonathon Simmons won the Championship’s MVP honors.  As he described it, it was “amazing” to have Hammon on the sidelines.  He said:

“She’s a real cool coach and she's a player coach and that's what guys like my age -- we like that.  She's experienced, you can't take that away from her."

Simmons later addressed the importance of Hammon's trailblazing role in the league, when he told Sports Illustrated (SI):

"It’s always good to be a part of history. This day will go down in the books for years to come … I love her. I barely know her and I love her already."

Hammon, in turn, acknowledged the relationship she's forged with her players, when she noted, also to SI:

"I’m just thankful that [Popovich] trusted me with the guys in that locker room, and that those guys trusted me back."

One writer at YAHOO Sports, Kelly Dwyer, (Editor Ball Don’t Lie Blog), has already opined that Ms. Hammon is “ready” to become an NBA Head Coach.  Admittedly, I don’t write or follow sports for a living, but I think Mr. Dwyer is wrong about that.  Yes, her accomplishments are impressive.  She has played the game in college, in Europe, in the WNBA, and in the Olympics.  She has the background, skills, and experience that ensure she could be ready in the not too distant future.  In fact, I would not be surprised if she becomes the NBA’s first female coach, though not likely in the coming year.

Yesterday, Mr. Dwyer wrote:

“These basketball reasons are why the NBA needs to get the novelty of the first hiring of a female head coach out of the damn way. Becky Hammon can coach your favorite team, and she can coach it well. And when she is hired and when she does coach it well, we can move on to more important things. Like gender equality in jobs that actually matter.”

In his blog, he suggested if Jason Kidd can be trusted running a $100-plus million dollar payroll weeks after retiring (Milwaukee Bucks), or Derek Fisher can survive a 17-win season, Hammon deserves a shot.  Dwyer noted Steve Kerr is a Gregg Popovich protégé, as is Ms. Hammon.  Moreover, absent coaching experience on any level, he led the Warriors to a Title in his first year. 

While all of that is true, their disparate records demonstrate wildly different outcomes.  At the every least, those results suggest that which team a coach goes to, any coach, plays a key role in the outcome of their coaching efforts.  And, as we know, and Mr. Dwyer conceded, Ms. Hammon won’t be coaching the Spurs in the near future.

Let me frame it this way.  The Spurs have long since established themselves as a savvy franchise.  They have assembled a mixture of veterans, free agents and young skilled players from around the world, all with an abiding willingness to accept “winning” as the preeminent mission.  When they hired Becky Hammon, it was fair to presume she was or would become adept at coaching.  By all accounts, she is doing just that.  After Monday night’s Summer League Title, that factoid is in clearer focus than ever before. 

No, she’s not ready to assume the reins of a Franchise when the NBA Season begins in November.  But don’t sleep on her; she will be in the foreseeable future.  I wrote last August, “Welcome to the NBA Ms. Hammon.  “First The Spurs Won The Title: Now They Are Making History!”  Today, “TheSpurs and Becky Hammon: Another Chapter Added!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

President Obama is Going to Jail: A Presidential First!

It's time to Break It Down!

The United States of America is good at lots of things.  In fact, our country is so outstanding at so many things, a number of politicos routinely boast that we are an “exceptional nation.”  On occasion, it’s necessary and appropriate to frame a particular concept in its proper context.  While there is a tendency to think of “Exceptionalism” as a desirable construct, a state to be admired and aspired to, that is not necessarily the case.

An example of one such counterintuitive instance is the incarceration rate.  Long a point of contention for ethicists and other people of good will who care about the fair and equitable treatment of human beings all over the planet, the issue is drawing special attention this week in the United States.  President Obama commuted the sentences of 46 nonviolent offenders earlier this week, and is set to go to prison tomorrow.      

Oh wait, you thought…  OK, he’s not really “going” to prison, he’s going to visit a prison.  Sorry GOP partisans. 

Yes, for the first time in the history of the world, a sitting President of Exceptional America, the shining light on the hill, will visit a Federal Prison.  On tomorrow, President Obama is scheduled to visit El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma. 

The facility is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates.  It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and currently holds 1,000 inmates, 265 of whom are in prison camp. 

Perhaps the most notable inmate currently residing at the facility is Kwame Kilpatrick, Register Number 44678-039, former Mayor of Detroit, (2002-2008).  He was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and other charges in 2013 for using his office to commit extortion, bribery and fraud.  Mr. Kilpatrick is serving a 28-year sentence, and is scheduled for release in 2037.

Two days ago the White House announced that President Obama had commuted the sentences of several dozen offenders, most convicted for nonviolent drug offenses.  Officials say this move illustrates the President’s commitment to criminal justice reform.  In a video posted to the White House's Facebook page, President Obama said:

“These men and women were not hardened criminals.  Their punishments didn’t fit the crime.”

Interestingly, while the President’s move commuted a number of sentences, he did not grant any Pardons.  On many occasion, Mr. Obama has eloquently addressed notions of grace and redemption.  However, he has been MIA (Missing In Action) when it comes to the issue of Pardons.  His paucity in that area is so severe; one has to go all the way back to President James Garfield to find a President who granted fewer Pardons than the 64 that President Obama has.  This is even more noteworthy when you consider President Garfield died from an assassin’s bullet in 18881, just over six months after he had been sworn in.  President Obama, of course, has been in office over six years.

Doug Berman, an Ohio State University law professor, who has studied Presidential Pardons, say of President Obama:

“He’s been unusually stingy – he’s a clemency Grinch.”

A number of critics, and some current and former officials say the President’s lack of activism in this area reflects his determination to avoid the type of controversies that followed President Clinton, such as the uproar that ensued when President Clinton Pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich on his last day in office.

P.S. Ruckman, Jr., a political science professor who writes a blog, “Pardon Power,” says:

            “It’s just not something he’s interested in.”

He ranks President Obama as “the seventh least merciful” President in history.


The President, in his own defense, blamed the Office of Pardons Attorney, whose Chief, Ronald Rodgers, resigned last year amid disclosures that he had misrepresented a commutation applicant’s record to the White House.  A former journalist, Deborah Leff, now heads the Office.  Of the situation, the President said:

“I noticed that what I was getting [from the Pardon Office] was mostly small-time crimes from very long ago.”

He vowed to be more aggressive on petitions during his remaining time in office.

It was important to note the President’s differentiation between commutations and pardons in order to view his move to push for judicial reform in a balanced light.  It is refreshing that this President is moving to address a system that has treated black and brown people specifically, and the poor in general, in a way that can rightly be called ruthlessly.  By the same token, it’s worth noting that three-quarters of the way through his tenure, this President, who has done many remarkable things, has been an underwhelming player in addressing some areas of judicial inequity.  The good news is, there are 18 months left in this Presidency, and lots of people will be focused on the 2016 Presidential Election.  That may allow the President some oxygen and space to continue to expand the areas in which he leaves an indelible and positive mark on the American landscape.

Judicial reform is certainly an area of opportunity, and incarceration policy and practices make great targets.  America is to incarceration, what CNN claims to be to news, the Worldwide Leader.  So altogether now, let’s hear the cheer…”We’re Number 1!”  What a dubious distinction.

The United States accounts for roughly 4 percent of the world’s population.  Contrast that to the fact we account for 22 percent of the world’s prison population, and as you can see, we are vastly overrepresented in that category.  In 1970, there were approximately 200,000 incarcerated Americans.  By 1990, that number had increased to nearly a million.  By 2008, at its peak, the number was around 1,600,000.

In the ‘70’s, America transitioned from the Sex, Drugs, and Rock-N-Roll era of the ‘60’s to a Law and Order society.  To that end, the Prison industrial complex was born, and incarceration ceased being the primary purview of bureaucrats, and became principally a functioning for profit enterprise.  Partly as a result, an ugly dichotomy emerged.

The crime rate peaked in the ‘80’s.  Yet when President Bill Clinton became President in 1992, expanding crime fighting by increasing incarceration levels was still the favored prescription.  To wit, President Clinton enacted tougher sentencing laws that not only sent more people to prison, but applied longer sentences.  Factor in vastly disparate sentencing for crack (principal urban drug choice) and powdered cocaine (principal suburban drug choice), and the deluge of imprisoned people of color was a fait accompli.

As we approach the midpoint of the second decade of the21st Century, politicians on both sides of the aisle are beginning to recognize the enormous ill effects of this questionable policy gone totally wrong.  The deleterious economic consequences of subtracting hundreds of thousands of able bodied potential employees for the workforce deprives both business and families at a time critical to individuals, companies, and the nation.

I look forward to hearing what the President has to say about reforming the criminal justice system while he is at El Reno tomorrow.  He will be interviewed for the HBO newsmagazine series “Vice” on the issue.  The segment will air this fall.  However, he likely previewed the theme when he spoke at the 2015 NAACP Convention last night in Philadelphia.  There he raised the topic and argued it is one America can’t afford to ignore.  In laying out his vision for fixing the criminal justice system, he noted a need to focus on communities, courtrooms, and cellblocks.  He announced a federal review of the use of solitary confinement, and urged Congress to pass a sentencing reform bill by the end of the year.  He also called for voting rights restoration to felons who have served their sentences, and suggested employers eliminate the box asking job candidates about their past convictions.  In a nod to his commutations earlier this week, he said long mandatory minimum sentences now in place should be reduced – or discarded entirely.

Taken in total, tomorrow should be an exciting day for Oklahomans, in general, and for the inhabitants and employees of the El Reno Prison.  The word is out; President Obama is Going to Jail: A Presidential First!”  But remember, he’s just visiting.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

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