It was sort of like looking at FCAT results. You check to see if you misread something. In this case, an update on that 15-billion-gallon, above-ground reservoir in eastern Hillsborough County. The 4-year-old one with all those 3-year-old cracks. It cost $146 million to build. It could cost $125 million to repair – after it closes for two years.
And, yes, there are lawsuits involved. But that’s a whole different reservoir.
Anyone else have mixed feelings upon learning about the down-on-his luck, South Dakota cowboy who won that $232-million lottery jackpot? Everybody loves an old-fashioned, rags-to-riches tale, and 23-year-old Neal Wanless seems like a nice enough guy. Good for him and his family.
But what was a guy in serious debt doing — spending $15 on lottery tickets? And isn’t his highly trumpeted windfall a marketing coup for lotteries everywhere? And won’t that further fuel the long-shot hopes of everyone who can’t afford to gamble — a demographic obscenely over-represented in lottery players. Sure, Wanless beat the odds because someone has to. But the fact remains that the longest-of-long-shot chances of hitting such a lottery are about the same – whether you play or not.
Perhaps you missed the story about the guy who went for that 3:30 a.m. swim in the Gulf last week. The last his friends saw was his flickering cigarette. Eventually, he was rescued by the Coast Guard after he had been in the water for nearly five hours. The Coast Guard, using a boat and a helicopter, found him about 8:30 a.m. after a 3-hour search. He was not wearing a life jacket, seemed to be suffering from hypothermia and was bobbing around about 300 yards from where he started. He will live.
No less important, here’s hoping this fool is made to reimburse the Coast Guard and Pinellas Count paramedics. In effect, here’s hoping the effort was worth it.
Amid all the partisan sound bites about the nomination of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, this much seems evident:
*She is eminently qualified and has a compelling, indeed inspiring, life story.
*She is left of center but hardly far left of center. The Wall Street Journal finds her mainstream. She’s not an ideological game-changer. She was first nominated to the bench by a Republican President, George H.W. Bush.
*She has a couple of quotes she would dearly love to have back, but – in context – she is obviously nobody’s quota queen or token ethnic.
*It will be awkward – at best – when (this summer) the Supreme Court hears the high-profile, New Haven firefighters’ (Ricci vs. DeStefano) reverse-discrimination case and likely overturns a ruling she supported on the 2nd Circuit.
*The Republicans won’t filibuster her nomination. But they’ll scrutinize her “Latina woman” empathy and imply a predisposition to bias. Ultimately, a Judiciary Committee Democrat will rein them in with a verbatim reminder about Justice Samuel Alito’s testimony that referenced his unique Italian roots. To wit: “When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that in account.”
*The Republicans will go hard at her decision on Ricci – and rightfully so. It wasn’t her finest hour.
*Not withstanding whatever Rush or Newt might say, this won’t be a Bork or even an Obama (who, as a senator, voted against both John Roberts and Alito) pay-back. Certainly not for a minority party that can ill afford to marginalize itself further in the eyes of Hispanic voters. A party whose 2008 presidential candidate won less than a third of the Latino vote.
*And then Sonia Sotomayor will make history by being confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
That front-page piece on teen bodybuilding in the Tampa Tribune last Sunday was as informative as it was disturbing. Who knew there were at least eight Hillsborough and Pasco County public schools that held annual novice bodybuilding contests?
Sure, teen obesity is a major health concern, and too many kids lead sedentary, empty-caloric lives. And, alas, serial texting now qualifies as a physical activity. But do you address it by sponsoring teen-preen, narcissism contests that can easily sow the seeds for poor nutritional choices, crash dieting, extreme dehydration and steroid seduction among the physiologically immature?
Whatever happened to working in a salad and doing some exercises? Or is that too uncool and quaint a concept – right there with deferred gratification?
Recently catching my eye was a feature in the St. Pete Times that referenced three students taking different post-high school paths. One was opting to immerse himself in Spain and the Spanish culture. One would be working with orphans in Africa. And one would be lamenting bad grades, looking for any kind of job and maybe attending a community college some day — to keep alive a goal of playing college football.
I thought these three odysseys — with accompanying photos — didn’t belong in the same feature. But it was more than thematic incongruity.
The students (read: successful) who were following the beat of a cultural-immersion and African-orphan drummer were white. The student whose sports ambitions had been thwarted by bad grades, bad test scores and a bad procreation choice was black. It seemed the academically underachieving athlete, hardly unique, had been shoehorned into a story about good students defying formal-education lockstep and exploring other, more idealized, options.
At best, this is careless editing and lazy reporting. Are there no students of color opting for an interesting, self-satisfying, untraditional road not normally taken? At worst this is stereotype trafficking in the guise of inclusive-feature packaging.
But to the Times’ credit, this story came under some in-house scrutiny. The Times’ own African-American columnist, Ernest Hooper, hashed it out in a response to an “unofficial African-American ombudsman” buddy who thought the juxtaposition was inappropriate.
Unfortunately, Hooper disagreed with his friend. Hooper thought the underachieving black athlete was appropriately included because he provided a “cautionary tale for any aspiring athlete, regardless of race.”
Noble aim. Wrong, counterproductive context.
Hooper misses the point. Such “cautionary tales” — and, frankly, there’s no dearth of them — have considerable merit. In fact, they are so societally relevant that they deserve self-contained status for impact. But when they are part of a gratuitous juxtaposition, they bespeak more of token inclusion than a truly “cautionary tale.”
Hooper asks the “ultimate question” at the end of his column. “Did the Times perpetuate a negative stereotype by contrasting (Chamberlain High’s Adrian) White’s situation with those of more successful white students? Or did we call attention to a pressing problem that can be solved with community involvement?”
The first answer is: Yes.
The second answer is: Yes, but.
It’s a “pressing problem” that is its own well-documented, societal niche – and, thus, doesn’t deserve token appendage status. As for “community involvement”: It’s not, of course, unimportant — but it’s often a sociological catchall that too easily mitigates individual responsibility.
But that’s another column for another day.
When it comes to salaries, as we know, the world of professional sports is a parallel universe. Why bother to get our marketplace shorts in a knot over journeyman athletes making much more than cancer researchers and transplant surgeons? But a cursory look at Tampa Bay Rays’ salaries reveals blatant anomalies within that Bizarro World. To wit:
^Matt Garza, arguably the best — and most effective — pitcher on the Rays is pulling down $433,000 a year. Scott Kazmir, who is a major reason the Rays are a disappointment so far, makes 14 times that. You read that right.
^Ben Zobrist, the epitome of versatility and productive enough, frankly, to make the All-Star team (and Joe Maddon gets to choose), earns $415,000. Pat Burrell, who is almost as productive when he’s on the Disabled List as when he’s DHing, makes 20 times that. That’s not a typo either.
And there are others.
Part of Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ marketing is putting gigantic (83-by-40-foot) banners – featuring the uniformed likenesses of key players – on the side of Raymond James Stadium. But given all the Bucs’ personnel changes – no more Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn, for example — the team has had to change its banners. Now up are middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, wide receiver Antonio Bryant and defensive back Aqib Talib.
Brooks and Dunn are tough acts to follow – as solid citizens as well as pre-eminent players. Ruud, a genuinely nice person who is now coming into his own as one of the better LBs in the league, is a most worthy replacement. Bryant has had a problematic past, but in his one year with the Bucs put up big numbers. Talib makes no sense.
The second-year player is expected to start this year. But he had a checkered past in college (Kansas) and has already been involved in two major, thuggish, intra-squad altercations. An egotistical player with serious attitude issues needs to be reined in – not unleashed to be marketed with a bigger-than-life banner.
This Saturday’s Tampa Bay Rays’-Washington Nationals game will be the second edition of the Rays’ successful Summer Concert Series. This one (June 13) will present rapper Ludacris. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but Saturday will also feature the return of Elijah Dukes, only this time it won’t be for a court-ordered appearance.
The rumors remain rife that Dick Greco will make a mayoral comeback. The business community still loves him, and his experience, charisma and civic salesmanship trump that of all potential rivals. And then some. And when asked about his interest, Greco doesn’t preclude the possibility. He typically notes that it would probably be “fun” – while underscoring that it’s still way too early for any kind of commitment.
Greco doesn’t lack for encouragement or fund-raising wherewithal. It comes with the iconic status and the historical statue.
But by 2011 he will be 77. The players and the challenges have changed. More than likely, it wouldn’t be as much fun as it used to be.
Look for Greco, who could still do the job, to continue to enjoy the speculation and even milk it — but to pass on the “Last Hurrah” opportunity.