Just For The Sport Of It: Athletes Aren’t Heroes

Sgt. Pat Tillman, who died in a firefight in Afghanistan, is being properly eulogized across America. In a time of national peril, when little — if any — sacrifice is required of most of us, he went out of his way to make the ultimate contribution.

As a member of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, he walked away from a multi-million dollar contract in 2002. He was that moved by the events of Sept. 11. He quit football and enlisted in the Army. He then turned down all interviews that would have lionized his patriotism.

Tillman had always felt fortunate to live in a country where so many had it so good. He felt especially lucky that, as a well-paid professional athlete, he had it much better than most. In the patriotic aftermath of 9/11, he then felt obliged to give something in return. He gave his life.

That life of 27 years will be memorialized in many places in many ways, especially by the Cardinals and his alma mater, Arizona State University, where he was a summa cum laude graduate and an academic All-American.

Here’s a tribute suggestion. Could the media muzzle its sense of hero worship and athletic hyperbole and permanently refrain from using the word “hero” as it relates to sports? The world of games and those who play them has no heroes. It has players. Some make winning plays. Some are more exciting and dramatic than others. None, however, are “heroic.”

It demeans the memory of Pat Tilman to call those who play games heroes. Many aren’t even good people.

Tillman was an elite Army Ranger. He was also an elite human being. He was a hero.

More Civitas Fallout

Blight on: The fallout from Civitas, the 157-acre public housing plan by local developers that didn’t pass muster with the county commission, continues. Some commissioners got their skivvies in a knot over the way impact fees were waived and a low-interest loan to the Gatehouse Group was proffered. That means County Administrator Pat Bean’s short-lived honeymoon is officially over, and County Chairman Tom Scott’s credibility is shot.

Madstone’s Formula: More Than Movies

The other night I took in “Crimson Gold,” an interesting, well-regarded Iranian film by internationally acclaimed director Jafar Panahi. It was part of the 10-day, 20-films-from-13-countries Tampa International Film Festival at Madstone Theater in Old Hyde Park Village. The theater was packed for the 9 p.m. feature, and many of those assembled stayed on for the follow-up Q&A conducted by festival founder Rob Tregenza of the University of Tampa.

The 2-year-old festival is a good draw, but the near full house was still a novel experience for those who remember the patron-challenged AMC version that closed shop last year on the same site. This is definitely not the Old Hyde Park Village movie house we used to stay away from in droves.

“We’ve been pleased with attendance since we opened (Nov. 26, 2003),” says General Manager Margaret Murray. “And it’s been steadily increasing from week to week.”

What has Murray “amazed,” however, are the number of members — 1,100. Of Madstone’s 9-theater chain, Tampa is second only to Atlanta, which has 1,200.

The explanation, says Murray, is in the feedback.

“Time and again, we’re told by people purchasing memberships that they are doing so because they ‘want us here,'” Murray says. “We said we will bring in more foreign and independent films, and that we are committed to being part of this community. And people have embraced that.”

What Madstone is doing filmwise, points out Murray, is “trying to get a really good mix.” That means balancing big-budget mainstream films like “Alamo” with foreign sleepers such as “Tycoon: A New Russian” and an eclectic indie-flix mix.

Madstone’s community outreach, including its hosting of the Hillsborough Community College Ybor Festival of the Moving Image, transcends festivals. Every other Wednesday at 10 a.m., for example, Madstone hosts “BYOBaby,” for parents, caregivers and activity-requiring toddlers. There are art shows and receptions; a monthly writers’ group gathering; and wine tastings. A small filmmaker holds production-crew meetings at Madstone, and Tragenza teaches a world cinema class every Wednesday that is hardly limited to UT students. And it helps to have a video game-free lobby re-configured for small discussion groups of adults.

“I think people have seen that we’re making good on our community commitment,” says Murray. “And I think they can see that we look at screenings as a kind of activism. Helping to better understand the world around us.”

General Colin Powell Had It Right

Among the incongruities — and ironies — of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq is the seemingly untenable position of Secretary of State Colin Powell. It’s more than being a non neo-con.

As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1991, he cast a crucial no vote on adding to the grief of Baghdad by going in and ousting Saddam Hussein. President George Bush the Elder is still criticized in some quarters today for not having “finished the job” then and maybe obviating the need for what has been going on for the last year.

But it bears referencing what was behind Powell’s disinclination back then. He knew better than most that war wasn’t heck and that “finishing the job” would have meant more U.S. casualties from Iraqi resistance. Maybe a lot more. Moreover, Powell made it clear that “finishing the job” would have positioned the U.S. as the occupier of a foreign country, a Muslim one at that. It could have been a template for disaster.

Even if he didn’t envision a jihadist all-call, alienation of allies and inadequate planning, we now know why General Powell didn’t want to go into Baghdad back then. What we don’t know is how Secretary Powell sleeps at night these days.

TV Editorials As Community Service

The recent death of former broadcast journalist Ray Dantzler is a reminder of more than the passing of a respected news anchor and news director. It also reminds us that there once was an era when a local affiliate — the old WTVT, Channel 13 — actually devoted prime time to a nightly editorial.

Dantzler did them. He was no news reader, but a serious journalist who cared enough about the community to research the issues and take on-air editorial stands through most of the 1970s and ’80s. Dantzler’s commentary would be anchored near the end of each 6 p.m. broadcast.

These days there’s not enough room in the format for well-informed, thought-provoking opinion. Well, actually there might be if it were allocated from time spent on soft features, happy talk, self promotions, weather overkill and lead-ins to network reality shows presented as real news.

Transportation Deficits: Not All Bad News

Maybe it’s a security reach, but is Tampa actually luckier than most major, high-commerce cities when it comes to transportation? TIA has almost no international flights; the cargo container business is still negligible at the port and Amtrak does little more than token business at Union Station. International flights, cargo containers and passenger trains are three prime terrorist targets.

And while we’re reaching for that half-full security glass, let’s not forget the GOP convention-coronation that should have come here. Security wise, it’s a blessing in disguise that Jeb Bush never pushed for Tampa as if it were Miami and that Karl Rove stayed overly enamored of New York’s Sept.11 symbolism. Now the Big Apple has another Big Target — and 9/11 ironically conjures up a certain commission hearing more than George W. Bush’s, bull-horned finest hour at ground zero.

Of Moral Courage And Self-Interest

Hillsborough County’s controversial Moral Courage Award is supposed to go to those who stand up to government. Think whistle blower. Think Rosa Parks. But Egypt Lake pole protestors? Not to diminish their assertive, combative efforts in taking on TECO, but isn’t there a stark difference between “moral courage” and self-interest? Being righteously determined and being pissed off?

Restaurant Reviews: Sometimes A Re-View Is In Order

In the last fortnight there was a pretty scathing review in one of the local dailies of a new restaurant. I won’t, for obvious reasons, mention its name. The veteran reviewer took the restaurant to task over everything. Not even the art and music measured up.

I’ve not been there myself, so I can’t contest anything — from the “limp arugula” to sepia-photos-of-Fred-Astaire ambience. But I will say this — and I have done restaurant reviews in a previous journalistic incarnation — it’s imperative to be both honest — and fair.

Newly opened restaurants, whatever their investment and fanfare, are still doing a shakedown cruise in the early going. Patrons and reviewers alike could well have a decidedly different dining experience the second time. While recognizing that the reviewer’s obligation is to readers — and his role is not that of public relations flack — it just might be appropriate to return for a second look. Soon.

And if the arugula is still limp, the criticism should be crisp.

Another Societal Air Ball From The NBA

Call it a societal air ball. Recently the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks had to apologize for playing a hip-hop song over the public address system of Phillips Arena during a timeout. Seems that Hawk management was shocked — not unlike Claude Raines’ famous double-take upon discovering gambling at Rick’s in Casablanca — that the ditty was filled with obscenities and other, uh, graphic language. And it was a “Family Night” promotion.

Nice touch.

Preeners, Wieners And The President

Where was JFK when we really — REALLY — needed him?

What else to ask after President George W. Bush’s annual prime time press conference? Unless it’s why do any at all?

Once again, neither the press nor the president distinguished themselves at a press conference. From network preeners to NPR wieners, too many queries were typical gotcha questions aimed at eliciting a headline-grabbing mea culpa from Bush on what happened — or didn’t happen — right before 9/11. What they prompted were some mea, gulp, uhs .

All the president’s handlers — well, Karl Rove and Karen Hughes — knew he would get this post-Richard Clarke barrage. At least, they could have provided him with a cheat sheet that read:

“I was expecting this question, especially in the aftermath of certain 9/11 Commission testimony. And I’ll be glad to answer it. ONCE.

“As president I take full responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens on my watch. I have ultimate accountability. Our capacity to gather, share and act on intelligence fell far short of ferreting out the most despicably cruel atrocity ever perpetrated on this country. As my national security advisor, Condoleeza Rice, and others have told the 9/11 Commission, although war had been declared on us, we were not on a ‘war footing.’ There were institutional walls and barriers and even statutes that precluded the best possible readiness. We know now what we didn’t know then. We always do.

“More importantly, we’re changing that unacceptable culture as quickly as possible. But I’m not going to play the blame game. As I said, it’s my watch.

“A day doesn’t go by that I don’t grieve for the innocent lives lost on Sept. 11. And a day doesn’t go by that I don’t grow more determined to do everything humanly possible to keep this country as safe as possible from those who would attack us.

“Does someone have a different question?”