Wallace Matthews, Derek Jeter and MLK.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Warning. DO NOT read this if you have just eaten.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/page/newyorkmlk/new-york-yankees-derek-jeter-embodies-martin-luther-king-dream

While it is true that sports fans are notorious for forgiving their heroes just about anything, the fact Jeter is one of the few Yankees who is respected and even admired by his bitterest rivals -- not even Mets or Red Sox can hate him -- points to the fact Jeter appeals to a lot more than just Yankees fans.

Derek Jeter's way, the way of hard work, discipline and exemplary behavior, would have made Dr. King proud. It certainly has made proud those of us who have had the privilege of watching him, regardless of race, creed or uniform.

Linking DFJ and MLK is just incredible. There's no way Matthews wrote this with a straight face. Even the kissy-face shout out to Ian F. O'Connor will make you wretch.

[Ceetar]

MLK sent gift baskets to the random women he met in bars and snuck in the back entrance of his building? I thought he was all about everyone being able to use the front entrance.

[Guest themetfairy]

Pukalicious....

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: MLK sent gift baskets to the random women he met in bars and snuck in the back entrance of his building? I thought he was all about everyone being able to use the front entrance.

All joking aside, Jeter might be the more gallant-- if also the more herpetic-- of the two in this regard, man.

[G-Fafif]

Per Chris Rock, is school going to be open on Derek Jeter's birthday?

And how about that headline? "Derek Jeter Embodies MLK's Dream" may be a bit of a reach. A more appropriate one would have been:

Columnist Stuck for Monday Topic

[metirish]

Wally just like a whole bunch of his area colleagues is embarrassing , really, how can he write this tripe and have someone say it's OK to post it/print it?

[Edgy MD]

I'm Edgy DC, and I'm here talking with Martin Luther King, III. Reverend King, looking at America now, would you say your father's dream has been realized?

Oh, yes. Fully.

Fully. Really?

Certainly. I mean, look at Scott Hairston. Mountaintop. We're sitting on it.

The amazing thing about that column is there is not one word for the reality that is President Obama.

Wally Matthews, you are our Crackpot Columnist of the Week.

[nymr83]

taking the worship of a good but not great SS to a whole new level

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Heck, I'd say Michael Jordan more closely meets the description than Jeter. Jordan, or Tiger Woods, might have been the most recognizable and popular athlete in the world.

I like how he takes Jeter's shortcomings -- the blandness -- and pretends they are virtues.

[metirish]

Jordan and Woods are bad choices too, did either of them EVER say anything remotely interesting on matters like race , equality and justice? , if anything they have been shills for big business and would never say anything to upset that. Comparing athletes to a man like King is folly , perhaps the athletes with the raised fists at the Olympics fit the bill here.

[Fman99]

Tiger Woods is the modern day MLK, at least, in terms of the amount of ass these guys were able to pile up.

[Gwreck]

I didn't read one word of this thread, and don't plan to. Just from the title alone, it belongs in the red light forum.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Wally Matthews, you are our Crackpot Columnist of the Week.

By saying "the Week", I'm pretty sure you're either leaving the door open for others for the rest of the year, or you're expecting him to out-crackpot himself in the very near future.
Either way, you'll probably be correct.
Later

[stevejrogers]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Heck, I'd say Michael Jordan more closely meets the description than Jeter. Jordan, or Tiger Woods, might have been the most recognizable and popular athlete in the world. I like how he takes Jeter's shortcomings -- the blandness -- and pretends they are virtues.

Which he, and Tiger as well, took from Jordan.

metirish wrote: Jordan and Woods are bad choices too, did either of them EVER say anything remotely interesting on matters like race , equality and justice? , if anything they have been shills for big business and would never say anything to upset that. Comparing athletes to a man like King is folly , perhaps the athletes with the raised fists at the Olympics fit the bill here.

Good point. Especially damning in Woods' case since that is how his father tried to hype Tiger as being that next transcendental type of athlete, on the level of Ali.

I do think that the mainstream sports media really wants to write that narrative though, that there is an athlete today that fits that transcending the toy and games department persona. Hence tripe like Mathews' piece.

Great case in point, when the Olympics were held in China, in the build up, (preliminary tournaments, etc) there were some rumblings that some of the USA Basketball players (LeBron, Kobe, etc) would be making statements in some form. Nothing eventually came to pass and ESPN through Outside The Lines ran a piece wondering what happened and suggested that the NBA, and/or their corporate partners wanted to quell any thing that could jeopardize growth of big business commerce in China.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I didn't even know that Derek Jeter was black until a couple of years ago.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I didn't even know that Derek Jeter was black until a couple of years ago.

That's how awesome Derek Jeter is.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I didn't even know that Derek Jeter was black until a couple of years ago.

His father is, his mother not.
And, on that subject, isn't it funny how the old 'one drop' rule is still carried on by many in this country even as the attitude towards it is different?

Back in the segregationists days, virtually any negro heritage anywhere on your family tree was enough to deny you various rights in certain areas. This so-called 'One Drop' of black blood means you're black standard was obviously an attempt to separate those deemed 'tainted' which turned it into something to be avoided by those of mixed race heritage.
Nowadays the same rule seems to apply although in a way where those of mixed race are categorized (almost exclusively by others but often by themselves as well) as being nothing but black. So when Jeter - or Tiger, or the president, etc. - is described, despite recent and well known family histories, AS black it sounds as if the idea now is to seek to minimize or deny any white (or, in Tiger's case, east Asian) lineage.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I didn't even know that Derek Jeter was black until a couple of years ago. His father is, his mother not. And, on that subject, isn't it funny how the old 'one drop' rule is still carried on by many in this country even as the attitude towards it is different? Back in the segregationists days, virtually any negro heritage anywhere on your family tree was enough to deny you various rights in certain areas. This so-called 'One Drop' of black blood means you're black standard was obviously an attempt to separate those deemed 'tainted' which turned it into something to be avoided by those of mixed race heritage. Nowadays the same rule seems to apply although in a way where those of mixed race are categorized (almost exclusively by others but often by themselves as well) as being nothing but black. So when Jeter - or Tiger, or the president, etc. - is described, despite recent and well known family histories, AS black it sounds as if the idea now is to seek to minimize or deny any white (or, in Tiger's case, east Asian) lineage.

Wasn't there some.. complaint? that Obama wasn't 100% black and that someone lessened the historical nature of a black president?

I've noticed some kids, and I did some substituting a couple of years ago and noticed the same thing, going beyond black and identifying by country/region. I don't know what that means, but it was interesting.

and this thread has gotten rather heavy for having a title mentioning both Jeter and Matthews.

[metsmarathon]

isn't it about time for silly notions of race to just go the fuck away?

and derek jeter, too?

[Edgy MD]

Wasn't there some.. complaint? that Obama wasn't 100% black and that someone lessened the historical nature of a black president?

I'm not sure what you're referring to. I do know that the president selected "Black, African Am., or Negro" on the 2010 census despite "Mixed Race" being an option.

I think it's shows how far we've come that Wally Matthews holds his job despite being half cracked.

[Frayed Knot]

metsmarathon wrote: isn't it about time for silly notions of race to just go the fuck away?

Which was pretty much my point - and why this tactic of clinging to a century-and-a-half (or older) notion where one drop of X makes you X is just as stupid today as it was back then even if you're doing it for different reasons.

and derek jeter, too?

Well that'd be nice also.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: metsmarathon wrote: isn't it about time for silly notions of race to just go the fuck away? Which was pretty much my point - and why this tactic of clinging to a century-and-a-half (or older) notion where one drop of X makes you X is just as stupid today as it was back then even if you're going it for different reasons.

PSST! One drop, five million... it doesn't matter! Genetically speaking, race doesn't exist (at least not as we generally define it)! Never has!

Don't tell anyone, or it'll kill the sales of "white" receivers' NFL replica jerseys!

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Edgy DC wrote: Wasn't there some.. complaint? that Obama wasn't 100% black and that someone lessened the historical nature of a black president? I'm not sure what you're referring to. I do know that the president selected "Black, African Am., or Negro" on the 2010 census despite "Mixed Race" being an option. I think it's shows how far we've come that Wally Matthews holds his job despite being half cracked.

I do recall at the time of Obama's election & inauguration that there were people arguing that Obama was not descended from slaves and therefore did not come from the challenging circumstances that Americans have African descent have to face. The argument has some merit although I responded to such people at the time that Obama's father would not have been able to sit down at a lunch counter in the Jim Crow South and his ancestors in Kenya did not have an easy time under European colonialism either.

[Ceetar]

Maybe that's what I was thinking of. how dare he not be the right type of black. Like his election was some kind of slavery reparations.