The Whole Duty Of Man

Ah, the life and times of a college football fan. We anxiously await the end of summer to see how our team has improved since last year. We cheer on young men, hoping that they are able to excel in the classroom and beating their rivals. Here in Central Ohio, college football is a huge deal. We don't have a NFL team (unlike the "C" cities to our north and south), we don't have a MLB team (again unlike Cincy and Cleveland)... we have our Buckeyes. While we do have the Blue Jackets and the Crew, The Ohio State University football team is that thang around here. And they have been. The real fans have stuck by the Buckeyes when they continually lost to that team up north (hello, Jon Cooper years) and when they were busted by the NCAA (Jim Tressel years). Now here we are with another scandal.

So, if you don't know what is going on, here is a short recap: Urban Meyer is the head coach of our football team-- there are several different coaches (just like every other college football team). One of those other coaches was Zach Smith, grandson of the late, great Earle Bruce. Last month Zach Smith was fired by the university for (allegedly) abusing his ex-wife. Yesterday Urban Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave while the university investigates whether he knew about this (alleged) abuse and did nothing. Courtney Smith (Zach's ex-wife) is appearing everywhere stating that she told Shelley Meyer (Urban's wife) about the abuse and she thinks that Urban was aware of what was going on. Urban denies that he knew.

Consider yourself all caught up. Now: what is the Hot, Black and Bitter take? I'm glad you asked!

Before I get into this let me just say: while I am super excited about Urban Meyer's record while coaching at OSU, I am not an Urban fan. I am certainly no fan of Shelley Meyer (all you have to do is look at that chick's Twitter feed to know why I could do without her). Urban has a winning record, he can coach, BUT he has shown that he has... questionable character traits. OK- my takes on this new clusterfuck of crazy: Zach Smith is a piece of shit. No question. Anytime you abuse your spouse (or anyone, actually) you are a douchebag. I don't care who you are or who you are related to. He got fired and I, for one, hope he never gets a job in college football again. Keep your hands to yourself. Piece.Of.Shit.

Courtney Smith. This girl is going through it. She is certainly NOT being well received in Columbus-- because her all media tour is fucking up folks' football season. But you know what? She has a story and she should tell it. Everyone is quick to say that this happened three years ago, Urban has no obligation to help her out of a messy marriage/divorce and she is just doing this for her 15 minutes of fame. My take is a little different. 1. I don't care that the abuse happened three years ago-- Zach could have abused her 10 years ago and guess what? He would still be a piece of shit and she would still be a victim of abuse. 2. Urban and Shelley have daughters. I have a daughter. If, god forbid, someone abused MY daughter I would want ANYONE who knew of the abuse before me to help her. Period. Urban is also leading a group of young men here in Columbus. They have team rules and I believe the second rule is "Respect women." So he should be held to his own rules. I'm not saying that he should fight Zach but IF he knew what was going on, he should have (AT THE VERY LEAST) reported it to the school. I mean, it takes so little to be a stand up human being. 3. Stories of abuse should never be met with a counter argument that people are doing it for fame. That is absurd and lazy. I would not come out with a story about being abused, have my whole life turned upside down for something as fleeting as fame-- and I choose to believe that is true for everyone. I believe that Courtney was abused AND I believe that NO one wants to be famous for being a victim of abuse. That being said, if Courtney wanted Urban to know what was going on in her marriage, she should have told him directly.

Bottom line: do I think Urban should lose his job? No. But do I think that he should suffer some consequences IF he knew that Zach was beating his wife in 2015? Hell yeah. Folks around the country are busy sticking their noses in shit that absolutely has nothing to do with them. "Offenses" that aren't hurting anyone (like going to your neighborhood pool, selling water on a hot day, walking home, entering your own home, having a picnic in a park, leaving an Air B&B, etc.) People are so quick to jump into trivial situations with their two cents that no one asked for. If Urban knew that something as serious as spousal abuse was going on with one of his staff members then he should have done something about it. Damn the football season-- we should be teaching our kids (including football players) that they have to do the right thing... even when it is hard. Especially when it is hard.

Fed Up Friday - Caping for the Villians

Ah, 2016. Here you are, just over a week ago some of us were ringing you in with the hopes and promises of being better people-- more awake to everything that goes on around us. Ah, some of us are liars. Horrible liars. Social media tells all. It lets us know who continues to bring the close minded bullshit from previous years to our mental doorsteps... and let me just say, there are a lot of you assholes. You haven't dropped the shit that holds you back. You still spend your day talking shit about situations/people/places you (still) don't understand. You post memes-- misspelled memes-- that espouse your ridiculous stance on whatever your cause of the hour is. Making me sick. Like, more than morning sickness... making me physically ill.  Prime example: the events of today.

Today is R. Kelly's 49th birthday. How do I know this? Because a radio station in Columbus told me so, several times. Listen, I cannot even pretend that I didn't rock to R. Kelly in the 1990s. He was everywhere and his shit was grand, hear me? Grand. One of my college roommates loved R. Kelly. In the broke days of college, when you actually had to go and purchase CDs at the store when they came out, I am not ashamed to say that I stood in line a couple times. But that, friends, was the 90s. The unnamed radio station in Columbus played some R. Kelly hits AFTER playing portions of an interview where Mr. Kelly got angry at the reporter for bringing up several past allegations of sexual abuse of minors. And THAT is why I don't fuck with R. Kelly anymore. Sexual abuse of minors. Several minors. He has a penchant for young girls. Man, what?

You know who else seems to have a thing for young girls? Some dude named Tyga. I don't know what he does, but I am guessing he is some kind of musician. He looks like a weird underfed rat. Whatevs. I guess that he has hooked up with one of the young(er) KarTRASHians, before her 18th birthday, and has been caught sending direct messages to a 14 year old on Instagram. Fourteen. He has men all up in arms talking about "that girl doesn't look 14..." Tyga claims that he contacted her because she is a musician. She says that in the direct messages he NEVER mentioned music. Uh huh.

And then there is the biggest news story in all the Black world-- Bill Cosby. Cosby is STILL in the news regarding his drugging and raping women for DECADES. Fifty plus women have come forward, with stories that are close to the same, claiming that the man who gave us The Cosby Show takes advantage of women. This week his attorney, who is a Black woman, hit the airwaves to profess his innocence- on a case by case basis it seems. She is leaving all kinds of reporters in her wake, which is impressive to some. Me, not so much, but hey lawyers have to mount a good defense for their clients, right?

Let me tell you WHY these three stories are annoying. R. Kelly is getting praise for his music and people tend to forget his shady ass past. Tyga has been given a built in excuse that the girl he is talking to through direct messages doesn't LOOK her age. Bill Cosby is given a pass because he is supposedly "America's Dad" because of a show that was on the air 25 years ago. I call bullshit. Why can't we just say that while R. Kelly WAS talented but we refuse to compensate him for "musical talent" when he is abusing the future mothers of our community? Why complicate the matter? Why continue to put money in his pockets when some of y'all have seen the video of him pissing on a young girl? Why can't we see this direct message debacle as a pattern for Tyga? Instead of looking at the girl in the situation and giving him a built in excuse, why not just say he has approached and "dated" an underage girl before and he is probably trying to do that shit again? Why blame that little girl and her mama, when the real blame belongs on the grown ass man that is sliding into her DMs trying to get her number?

And then there is Cosby. Sir, I need you to take a seat. A stadium full of seats. I mean, I don't care who you are, if 50 different people come up to me and tell me you are an asshole, guess what I think of you before we even meet? I'm supposed to give you a pass because you had a hit show in the 80s and 90s? And to all the conspiracy theorists... stop it. This is not happening to Bill Cosby because he wanted to buy NBC. This is happening to Bill Cosby because he thought he was above the law and could do whatever the hell he wanted. He has said that in the past he has given drugs to women and then proceeded to have sexual contact with them. He said it. So now that he has a capable Black woman at the helm, I'm supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt? I wonder how he would have treated her 30 years ago if she wanted to be an actor? Ewww.

Why are we so easily tricked into forgiving and forgetting? Why do "celebrities" make us lose our moral compass? Why are we caping for the villains instead of weeping for and helping the victims?

I Need To Take a Poll - The Texas Case

OK- so there aren't many times that I ask people for their opinions. I mean, it seems clear to me that I have just enough opinions for us all, right? Yes. But as I was reading through some news today, I ran across something that I have to ask y'all about. I have my own conclusion, but seeing as how I have readers from all different aspects of life (married, single, parents, or not, city dwellers, country mice... you get it) I figured that I would ask you about this video below.

Let me state a couple of things before you watch the video. 1. This video deals with spanking a child-- don't want to shock you. 2. This incident happened 7 years ago. 3. The daughter in this video waited 7 years before posting this LAST week. 4. The father is a family court judge in Texas. 5. The wife participates. 6. The "child" is 16. 7. Somehow the mother has been forgiven by said "child" but the father has not.

If you can read between the lines, you can probably see how I feel about this video/situation. First of all-- why is a 23 year old woman releasing this movie now? How is this helpful? How is it that the mom has been given a pass? Why do the tears stop so quickly when the father is no longer in the room? Do you think that this is abuse? Why? Please leave comments here or on the facebook page... If you ask, I'm sure that I will give you my opinion!

The battle of stupidity, aka Michael Vick

As a dog owner, I have never hidden my feelings towards the Michael Vick situation as soon as it hit the news. So, the following blog will DEFINITELY not be a shock to anyone who knows me, or reads my blog on a regular basis. Be forewarned, this entry has been rewritten a few times- simply because I believe that text is more persuasive if it does not include a curse word in every sentence. With that said, please do not think my words timid or inadequate on the subject, I believe that Michael Vick is scum; his actions deplorable; and for me there is NO punishment will make what he knowingly participated in ok.

During my weekly relaxation session (which includes coffee and the Sunday newspapers) I came across an article- which I believe is also posted on sportsillustrated.com- that actually argued for Michael Vick's reinstatement to the NFL. I guess that I should be 100% forthcoming and tell everyone reading this that I have 5 wonderful dogs, each and every one a rescue of some sort. Each and every one a member of my family. They share my space, my home, my life. I cook for them, they eat the best food available, they get the best care and they are my greatest investment to date. Because of my great bond with these lovable little creatures I think that Michael Vick, his cohorts and anyone who did what he has finally admitted to are the biggest cowards on Earth.

When asked about his very cruel, illegal treatment of the dogs in his kennel (fittingly named, Bad Newz Kennels), Michael Vick proved what a coward he was by lying- to the public, his team and the NFL Commissioner. Once it was proven that MV was not only financing this dog fighting franchise, but was also involved in the killing of the dogs that lost, there was a public apology. MV was so sorry about what he had done. I don't believe that shit for a minute. MV did not kill ONE dog, he didn't finance ONE fight, he didn't do it ONCE. It was an ongoing operation. Thousands of his hardly-hard-earned NFL money went to pumping dogs full of steroids, making them exercise until they were exhausted, training dogs until they were blood thirsty and fighting until a dog died. And Vick was sorry. So sorry. Punk.

Why is there any thought that this FELON somehow deserves his job back? Is the NFL considering giving him his job back because he was only is jail for abusing animals? If so, shame on them. I know people who have been to prison- who are felons. They don't have multi-million dollar jobs waiting for them when they get out. They have to take what is offered, menial or not. Is it because they can't throw a football? Is it because they don't have "fans" that pay high ticket prices to see them play a child's game? Is it simply because they aren't Michael Vick? WTH? With all this press and even the possibility that MV might get back into the NFL, it seems as though the money hungry league and its lovely commissioner are saying that it doesn't matter that Vick tormented animals, because there is still a dollar to be made off him. Now, would they even consider reinstating him if he embezzled money? If he bet on his team? Hell, Pete Rose was arguably one of the best baseball players ever and he is not looking good for the Hall of Fame- ever. But somehow it seems fair that Vick get the chance to make millions of dollars again? Hmmmmmm. What life must be like as a cash cow.


Don't get me wrong- everyone makes mistakes. Some people are not ever going to be poster children for fame and fortune. But when do we start to hold people accountable? When he participated in this craziness, Vick wasn't 16. Next year he will be 30. He is an adult and should pay the consequences as an adult. If that means he is banned from the NFL, so be it!


Wow- I sound angry. I AM angry. Not only did Michael Vick embarrass the league that is currently thinking about letting him back in, he also embarrassed his family and his community. He is no role model; he is nothing special. Unfortunately, like hundreds of others, he is a criminal who used to be a high paid athlete, a cliche, a punk. I have no sympathy for him, his supporters or the NFL if they let him back in. And rest assured, even if he joins my beloved Bears, I will not support the team that he goes to. I hope I am not the only one to boycott said team... If they burden us with Vick, I say speak to them in the only language they seem to understand... Punish their pocketbook.