Life In The DPC!

Pacman Jones is expected to file an appeal of his one year suspension. Monday is the last day to file and begin the appeals process. Ultimately any appeals and subsequent ruling are handled by the Commissioner Roger Goodell, the same man that handed Pacman his suspension.

Initially Goodell left the possibility open for Pacman to return after 10 games for good behavior. The NFLPA has been nearly mute on the issue.  

*Due to cancelling cable last month I was forced to listen to the ESPN Radio coverage of the 2007 NFL Draft.

The Good:

Oakland Raiders:
JaMarcus Russell is the prototype Al Davis quarterback and is an upgrade out of the gates over Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter. Zach Miller was a good grab in the 2nd round. Also on Saturday night they traded their 4th round pick (105) to Detroit for QB Josh McCown and WR Mike Williams.

Cleveland Browns: Grabbed the most coveted OL in the draft Joe Thomas wiith the 3rd pick and wheeled and dealed to get another 1st round pick, 22nd from Dallas, and grabbed Brady Quinn. Their is the possibility of two franchise players with their first two picks.

The Bad:

Miami Dolphins: Ted Ginn Jr. with the 9th pick was an odd choice when they needed to address their QB issue and Quinn was available.

Detroit Lions: I realize they got the best player in the draft in Calvin Johnson but they should have dumped traded the pick to garner more choices and fill many pressing needs.

The Ugly:

Brady Quinn: He fell from a likely top 10 pick all the way to 22nd. I thought Leinart got shafted last year but Quinn’s recent drop blows it out of the water. On a positive note he went to the team he wanted to but lost some serious cash in the process.

THE Ohio State: Criticism has already been thrown towards Ginn Jr. Antonio Pittman was once conisidered a 2nd round pick and fell to the Saints in the 4th round. Troy Smith went from Heisman winning darling to tanking in the BCS and is now an uncertainty in the draft. On a positive the other Tony Gonzalez went to an ideal situation with the Colts.

“Sambos”, an American restaurant chain from the late 1950’s until 1982, still has its original location open in Santa Barbara, Ca. The current restaurant is owned by the founder’s grandson and advertises itself as as “An American Classic”. 

Little Black Sambo is a late 19th century childrens book about a boy, Sambo, and his tigers. The book was penned by Helen Bannerman, a Scot that lived in India, and is likely derived from her residence but the illustrations, specifically early European editions, are typical blackface.

The diner maintains that it isn’t named after the racist term but they did capitalize on it by decorating their franchises with animated dark skinned children chasing tigers. Any and all denials are noted by the franchise’s website:

its origin seemingly subject to many ideas as to how the restaurant got its name. The fact is - SAM was a real person and BO was a real person. Sam is Sam Battistone and Bo is Newell Bohnett, known affectionately to his friends, family and associates as “Bo”.Despite all the other stories - this is really how SAMBO’S got its name.‘The Story of Little Black Sambo’ by Helen Bannerman was an afterthought. The SAMBO’S RESTAURANT already was established before the children’s story was discovered and used as part of a marketing promotion.
Samborestaurant.com

The Santa Barbara location, and the last Sambo left after a peak of nearly 1,200 before going bankrupt, has been revamped and seems to be more upscale than the original diner, which seems consistent with a Denny’s. Despite inherently bad publicity the owner is still trying to push forward and go national. The official reason for the initial Sambo bankruptcy and subsequent disolving of the chain was noted as too much expansion but protests by the African-American community is the likely reason.

“I have a hard time,” Chad Stevens, Sambo Restaurant owner said, “and maybe being white or Anglo-Saxon, maybe I’m not seeing something. Maybe I’m blind to something. I’m sorry about that. Just read the story, and you tell me.”

Unfortunately Life In The DPC! has been focused on the shortcomings of Nevada head coach Chris Ault and has disregarded any social commentary, Vatican and Limbo criticism aside.

Lindsey Rhodes and I attended the University of Nevada together for one year, 2002-2003, but since that time we have remained friends despite her emulation of Jack Kerouac and his lack of a definable mailing address and my inability to figure where I want to live. Since our one year of living in the same town I have proven to be a petty, bitter and misguided fella that is hell bent on some form of self gratification while she put her energy into positive agendas that have yielded beautiful results.

Lindsey is finally back home at Boise State University and a volunteer mentor at the campus’ Women Center. As an undergrad volunteer she is doing her part to dispel the myths of feminism and to educate local teenage girls on how to prevent sexual assault.

Her struggle to generate a source of awareness for the community is thrice as difficult due to the inherent conservative nature of Idaho, the social stigma of feminism and a culture’s inability to acknowledge that gender roles evolve. It is the opinion of this fair writer that race relations and gender roles face similar hardships, misgivings and strife but this is not always conveyed to the populace.

If you tremble indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.
 - Che

Even if I didn’t know Lindsey from the college years she would be a friend of Life In The DPC. It takes an intrepid spirit to face these challenges and I admire her for it. One by one she is making a positive difference and hopefully it can motivate me to work on something meaningful.

Courage & Commitment: Survivors of sexual assault not to blame

The Roman Catholic Church has squelched the idea of Limbo. The Catholic’s interpretation of Limbo is a safe haven for unbaptized children that die. Baptism is used to disavow infants of original sin and the recent ruling from the Vatican is to entice Catholics to improve on the decreasing amount of baptised children. Non baptised children that die are now doomed to Hell in the eyes of the Vatican.

In 1992 the church denounced and revoked the term ‘limbo’, which was used in reference to great agnostics in Dante’s Divine Comedy. This facet of Limbo is generally regarded as a harmonious community but is closed off from God and is considered the very upper level of Hell.

I am not a Catholic. I am a non practicing Presbytarian that has not been to church, with the exception of weddings of funerals, I think, ever. It’s sad and true but like most of my suburban peers there is no emphasis on organized religion (though I know many Catholics that no longer practice but went through Catechism) but unlike them I will go to Heaven in the eyes of the Vatican. Which is likely a moot point since I’m not Catholic but I have been baptised. What troubles me more than anything else is the loss of the ’Limbo’.

I have used Limbo a perpetual excuse to dodge church since I figured I wasn’t neither overly sinful or angelic and would end up in there by default. By my logic I never intended to be evil (i.e. Hitler) but I have not been a beacon of philanthropy or goodness (i.e. Cesar Chavez)either. I, like most average folks, seem to gather at the middleof sin and righteousness and amble on through life. By denouncing Limbo it seems that I am doomed to Hell and this is both a bummer and unjust punishment for minimal misgivngs. In many way I view it like the Eighth Amendment and feel the punishmnet does not fit the crime.

So what does it all mean for a Life In The DPC!? The Vatican’s recent ruling has minimal effect on me spiritually due to the simple fact that I am not Catholic. If anything it shows that a church will use a deplorable means to garner new members. I assumed I was damned before this ruling by virtue of being ordained as a Minister In The Universal Life Church. The church is legal and very open minded and they also offer the opportunity to be acknowledged as a Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality. I can assume that the aforementioned title can develop their own brand of limbo.

The last time I spoke of the University of Nevada basketball squad it was shortly after the Memphis Tigers knocked them out of NCAA Tournament in a lackluster showing by the Pack. In a little over a month the Pack faced the normal happenings of any squad when seniors Nick Fazekas, Kyle Shiloh and Dennis Ikovlev played their final game and needed their spots filled by up and comers. Championships are won in the off season, specifically a 5th straight WAC title, but its been a vacation of discontent for Nevada.

1. Fazekas left school early, about three weeks before the semester ended, to prepare for the NBA Draft. Draftexpress.com has Fazekas getting drafted with the last pick of the 1st round and NBAdraft.net has him going 41st.

2. Ramon Sessions and Marcelus Kemp are entering the NBA Draft. Both players just finished their junior seasons and have not hired agents and return for their senior season if they withdraw by June 18. NBAdraft.net has Kemp going in the 2nd round, of the 2008 draft at 41st while Sessions goes at 19th in 2008

3. Coach Mark Fox is the part of many rumors as the coaching carousel turns but is staying at Nevada.  ”But it gets old answering the same question: `Are you going to be back?’ If your team is good, you’re going to have that question … But I’m just worried about keeping the job I have,” Coach Fox said.

4. Kevinn Pinkney made the NBA as a member of the Boston Celtics. Pinkney averaged 5.2 ppg and 2.5 rpg after signing a ten-day contract at the end of the season.  He had a memorable pro debut with 15-points after being brought in from the Bakersfield Jam of the NBDL.

An excerpt from Spartan Hoops.com and I’ll assume it was a slow day for SJSU.

The honest, upfront and little used way to criticize

There is a certain Nevada fan, one David Patrick Castro, who certaintly lets people know where he stands on many things, including Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault. We’ve taken the liberty of cutting ‘n pasting some of his blog entries below. You may agree, disagree or could care less about what he writes (it’s specific to Nevada Wolf Pack sports) but do give him credit for identifying himself front and center. That’s far, far more than most critics of anything do, especially so for the dimwits who fail to embrace reason and logic as their constant companions and also the cowards who slink back into the primordial slime when offered the opportunity to address their so called concerns face-to-face…

http://www.spartanhoops.com/html/news_story.php?news_ID=1583