“If we were 9-0, this wouldn’t be happening.”

Gary Pinkel is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  He issued a statement of support for his black players’ stance on the school president.

But he’s also got this to contend with.

A Missouri Tigers player said Sunday night that the entire team is not united over the decision to stop practicing until grad student Jonathan Butler ends his hunger strike.

“As much as we want to say everyone is united, half the team and coaches — black and white — are pissed,” the player, who wished to remain anonymous, told ESPN…

… The player, who is white, spoke on the condition of anonymity because coaches told the team not to talk to the media as they thought the situation “would blow over eventually.”

Yeah, that last part’s chickenshit.  If his statement about half the team being pissed were true, I doubt Mr. Anonymous would have had to speak on his lonesome.  But I also doubt that there’s a complete unanimity on the team, human nature being what it is.  How that division gets dealt with, especially if a significant part of the team refuses to suit up for this Saturday’s game, is a real challenge.

And not just in terms of keeping this team together.  There is the potential for this to become an explosive issue on the recruiting trail.  Just ask anyone who’s coached at Ole Miss if that’s any fun.

178 Comments

Filed under SEC Football

178 responses to ““If we were 9-0, this wouldn’t be happening.”

  1. TennesseeDawg

    If the black athletes are united, where is the university’s basketball teams now that their season is getting started?

    Like

  2. JCDAWG83

    Pinkel should tell the players if they stop playing he will assume they have quit the team and their scholarships will be revoked after the semester ends. He should tell them they will have unconditional releases from their LOI and are free to transfer wherever they like. If Pinkel doesn’t address this forcefully, the players will get the idea, rightfully, that they can run the university with the threat or implementation of a boycott. If the players feel so strongly about an action that was not directed at them and did not affect them, they should leave the University of Missouri and go somewhere they feel welcome.

    Like

    • I have no impersonal knowledge about whether the racial environment at Mizzou is toxic, but the African-American players are living in whatever environment it is. That means that the actions are directed at them as a group even if not individually.

      Sure, Pinkel can tell them, “tough shit” and kick them off of the team. He is savvier than that because he knows that the underlying campus racial issues present a recruiting challenge. Recruiting is a cutthroat business and if he followed your suggested approach every other team he recruits against will use that as evidence Mizzou is unconcerned about the racial environment African-American kids face.

      Remember when Michael Adams took the basketball team out of the tournaments in 2003 and when the team went to him to talk about it he called the police? That comparatively benign action became recruiting gold for other teams. “UGA does care about African-American athletes” was the meme.

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      • Scorpio Jones, III

        I don’t know Gary Pinkel, but I would suspect he has a pretty good feel for the internal workings of his football team. If Pinkel supports the kids, who the hell are we to pass judgement. I would also suspect Pinkel has a far better feel for the situation in CoMo than any of us. This decision could not have been taken lightly.

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    • Pinkel should tell the players if they stop playing he will assume they have quit the team and their scholarships will be revoked after the semester ends. He should tell them they will have unconditional releases from their LOI and are free to transfer wherever they like.

      And five minutes after he does that, he should resign. Because he’ll never put together another competitive recruiting class again.

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      • Scorpio Jones, III

        So what’s driving the player situation in CoMo is next year’s recruiting class?

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      • Ellis

        I respectfully disagree with the recruiting comments. In fact Mizzou just landed a 4 star receiver after this blew into the media story it is. The fact is kids that want to play football are going to play regardless. From everything I have read this is a tiny minority of students raising this ruckus and frankly whatever credibility their complaint had was negated with their ridiculous list of demands. The season is already shot for Mizzou so sending a message would easy for Pinkel to do. This is obviously causing alot of bad blood on the team and don’t blame the half of the team that is pissed, I would be too if I worked so hard only to have some selfish teammates quit on the whole team.

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      • JCDAWG83

        If the environment is as toxic as some here seem to think, I would think Pinkel would resign either way. Surely, a good man like Pinkel wouldn’t want to try and talk young black men into coming to such a racist place.

        Also, why would Pinkel want to continue to coach a group of players who will quit? Pinkel has two choices, either resign as a show of solidarity or lay down the law and let the players know they don’t run the university.

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        • Easy enough for someone who’s not in the middle of things to say.

          As others have pointed out, this isn’t something that can be resolved with a simple suggestion.

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          • mg4life0331

            As it is easy to call the student making the anonymous statement chickenshit. You don’t know what they are going through other than what you have read.

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            • I haven’t read that he’s going through anything.

              But again, if it’s half the team, where are all the other comments – even anonymous ones – backing what he said?

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              • mg4life0331

                I don’t know, how about sometimes anonymous doesn’t stay anonymous? You certainly don’t want to be known as someone who doesn’t agree with the BLM movement. I can think of a million reasons why people in Missouri don’t want to touch this.

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              • DawgPhan

                If it comes down to it, we will all find out which ones are willing to cross the picket line and go to practice and play in the games. They can’t remain anonymous forever. At that point we will know exactly who is chicken shit and who isnt.

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      • JoshG

        I’m not sure any recruiter’s sales pitch is going to involve telling a player that they should come to X instead of Missouri, because at X we’ll support you if you want to strike against playing football.

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      • back9k9

        This… +100. Whether you agree with the actions or not. This is the end result if Pinkel comes down on the tough love side.

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    • Of course he should.

      Like

    • UGA85

      Completely agree.

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  3. frowertr

    This whole thing is chicken shit. If I’m the coach I threaten with pulling their scholarships if they don’t show up today for practice. People are giving them to much credit for being “United” when they are facing no penalty for doing such. Threaten them with losing their scholarships as well as a year of NCAA eligibility and see where their unity lies.

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    • I do not doubt you would. And I do not doubt you would get trounced on the recruiting trails, too. And I do not doubt you would lose the trust of the kids you convinced to stay.

      Pinkel is smarter than that. Give him credit for knowing the situation better than us and give him credit for being able to see a way to resolve it.

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      • JCDAWG83

        It appears your view of everything revolves around the next recruiting class. I’d like to think Pinkel and the admin would look at the bigger, long term picture. Cave in now and what is the next “unbearable” thing the players will boycott over? If I’m Pinkel, I’m figuring out how to get rid of these players as quickly as possible, regardless of the outcome.

        Make the players have some skin in the game and see how united they are. It’s easy to take a stand when you have nothing to lose. If they lose their scholarships and a year of eligibility, they will be back home being mad about some perceived injustice. If they are willing to do that, they are truly committed and united.

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        • Cojones

          You really have no sensitivity toward African-American students, do you? This crap has gone on long enough in a society consisting of multicultures. Racism is the most inexplicably-reasoned evil on this earth because it comes from no values and satisfies only the most arcane egos. If that pure evil can exist without thought or foundation, it makes me believe there is a confirmed deity for good that exists.

          Without thinking of excuses for Pinkel, we can assume he is with his players in his heart and not just for his own coaching reputation.

          It’s “mox nix” anyway because the President of Mizzou just resigned.

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  4. Rp

    So this caused me to finally read up on this Mizzou situation and Jonathan Butler. The “unbearable” climate on campus apparently consists of a handful of incidents of drunk, unidentified individuals allegedly saying mean things to people. All I can find in the media is unsubstantiated allegations of racist incidents. They did identify a perp and remove him from the school in ONE case.

    So it seems pretty unreasonable to ask the president to quit his job over so little. This Butler character is mad because he wants the president to make a statement that he cares about black students. If I were the president I would be pretty damn insulted because that position supposes that I don’t care about minorities until I prove otherwise. That’s not how you bring people together.

    I hope these guys don’t throw away the rest of the season for the ones that still want to play because there doesn’t seem to be much substance behind this protest.

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    • Cojones

      You missed the part where the Mizzou President apologized yesterday for driving through a protest last year that tried to get his attention focused on incidents that continued on campus. He regrets that he didn’t confront them and discuss the problem. Sounds to me like he disagrees with your assessment.

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  5. Will Trane

    An opening for Richt, McGairity, andv Moorehead.
    Plus Tarkenton should go along to explain how a player in the Rams was absent from a potential SEC east champ most of 2014. Helped those Mizzou players claim a title after Chubb with a legit OC drilled them.
    Pinkel and Richt but should go.
    What say you Champ Bailey and Tony Barnhartt.

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    • Gaskilldawg

      Richt and McGarity should leave this situation alone. It is a Mizzou problem and their best course is to let Mizzou solve it or screw it up.

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      • Scorpio Jones, III

        Amen, bro. Judging from the tone of most of the comments here, a little separation from the situation makes it look remarkably simple. I doubt it is.

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        • Muttley

          That’s the wisest comment we’re likely to see, SJ3. I’m no longer young enough or smart enough to read a couple sentences about something and then have all the answers. Just glad this one particular headache isn’t ours.

          Good discussion here, as usual.

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        • DawgPhan

          its the same people saying the same things they said about paying the players. Or any thing else the players want to improve their situation.

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        • How true. There has to be one hell of a lot “behind the scenes” we never will know. It is easy to make it seem easy, when I am sure it is a complex issue. I also wonder if Pinkel being on the Kent State campus in May of 1970 has an a (e)ffect on his actions. Maybe yes, maybe no.

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    • D.N. Nation

      Try posting sober next time, gramps.

      Like

    • lakedawg

      I personally do not give a crap about what tony barnhard thinks, champ a little.

      Like

  6. @gatriguy

    They’re doing it wrong. You don’t strike. You play and just put forth a half-assed effort and lose to Vandy at home for Homecoming (alledgedly). #uga1994

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    • mikebozo

      Throw a game. Better to just not play it. Playing half assed is dangerous and could get some players seriously hurt.

      Like

  7. mikebozo

    So what it boils down to is a few racial slurs and confederate flags on a pick up truck. That happens everywhere not just on the mizzou campus. I am sympathetic but still think this will blow up in their faces.

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  8. How about we drop Misery from the SEC. At the very least, lets move them to the SECw and move an eastern team into the East. Auburn or Bama

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  9. JAX

    More #BlackLivesMatter crap. First off, ALL lives matter. Second, there is a contractual obligation between the school and the conference to field a team and participate. If these arrogant punks would like to lose their scholarships then please refuse to suit up. Third, if the #blacklivesmatter crowd really gave two shits about black lives, then they would protest the murder of a Chicago child who was lured from his home and murdered on cold blood. A child. Where is Jesse, Al, and the #blacklivesmatter movement? Where is Obama? Fucking hypocrites.

    Grow a backbone, terminate the scholarships, handle it firmly and with dignity, and set an example that football players are not bigger than a university, regardless of their color.

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    • @gatriguy

      Thanks Rush. Mega dittos.

      I’m sure handling it in the manner you’ve purposes wouldn’t crippled the entire Mizzou athletic program irreparably. But who cares, right? It’s not our program.

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      • JAX

        small minded response from a small minded liberal. rather than address the issue you offer……nothing. to be expected.

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        • @gatriguy

          Not a “liberal”, but thanks for playing. Did you even read the Senator’s post, or did you just glance over it and go into reactionary talk radio talking points mode?

          The whole point is that he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whether you think their complaints are valid (they seem pretty weak to me, but I’m not on campus), the fact is that the players have far more leverage than you would like to admit, given your solution.

          Awesome with the ad hominem attack by calling me small minded though.

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    • Dog in Fla

      “First off, ALL lives matter.”

      So true

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  10. Normaltown Mike

    “And not just in terms of keeping this team together. There is the potential for this to become an explosive issue on the recruiting trail”

    If the football team quits or the President of the University steps down b/c a grad student with severe oppression dysmorphic disorder is on a hunger strike, we have a much larger problem.

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    • Cojones

      The UM President quit this morning.

      So outline this much bigger problem for us.

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      • Normaltown Mike

        Sure, if one single student stages a hunger strike and he can get a President fired, then you’ve significantly raised the stakes for activists to bring down any person in authority pretty easily.

        Stated in a positive light (if you’re so inclined) the opportunity to effect tremendous change through a hunger strike have just been proven.

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        • Cojones

          I think he stepped down which means to me he ended up agreeing with the overall problems he didn’t try to stop for over a year.

          Hunger strikes and economic strikes have been used for years to get the social injustices out into the light of day. They are being good old-fashioned Americans by protesting to get their argument out of the cellar and I feel proud of them as Americans by not using violence to get their argument reviewed.

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          • Normaltown Mike

            What was the most successful hunger strike in the US prior to this?

            Just curious as I don’t recall it being done often or to effect.

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            • Dawgwalker07

              I’m not an expert on hunger strikes in the US, but the most prominent one that I can think of is the one that the National Women’s Party did in the early 20th century to gain attention towards the women’s suffrage movement.

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            • Cojones

              Try Ghandi, the man who modeled for Dr. M.L. King’s protests.

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  11. 3rdandGrantham

    I’m a fairly liberal person on social issues (though conservative on economic ones), thus most people wouldn’t consider me some old, white, fogey with narrow minded views. With that that, I read over some of the complaints from that 1950 group, and IMO many, if not the majority of their complaints were borderline absurd. From some lone idiot in a pickup truck yelling a racial obscenity to other random acts of so-called racism (so-called as most acts, IMO, were prejudiced or bigoted in nature, not racism); I just don’t see what the Mizzou president could have done to appease them.

    The one ‘demand’ of theirs that really stuck out to me was their demand to have Thomas Jefferson’s campus statue removed, due to the fact he was a slave owner. One of the leaders of the 1950 group said something like, “the fact that I have to stare at that stature daily creates all sorts of emotional barriers that won’t allow me to have to thrive in this culture.”

    There really is no comment needed in light of this, other than the last thing I personally would do would placate such narrow minded, if not flat out extreme views.

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    • Scorpio Jones, III

      Third, you know there is a “yeah, but” coming, right? So, yeah, but….

      🙂

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    • 3rd,

      I’m only liberal in my roster management views, but other than that I agree with you here.

      Perhaps I don’t fully understand the issues or perhaps they weren’t communicated very well by the 1950 group, but these seem a tad ridiculous. Upset over the Greek system at your university? Join the club, bro.

      On the other hand, my people have been on the wrong side of racial issues in the past, and while I don’t consider myself to be racist, perhaps I need to give a little deference here. Dunno.

      Have a good day,

      BD

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      • 3rdandGrantham

        Good thoughts. What makes me howl is the continued use of the word racist/racism, when its obviously clear to me that upwards of 98% of the population has utterly no clue of what exactly the word means and certainly wouldn’t be able to distinguish between racism, bigotry, and prejudice if their lives depended on it.

        Back in the day, people were accused of being any of these three words, mostly accurately depending on the situation at hand. But with the dumbing down of society in general, now simply looking at someone the wrong way automatically gets you labeled as a ‘racist!’, even though the vast majority of such actions/slights, etc, are prejudiced only, with a smattering of bigoted behavior and the quite rare racist behavior bringing up the rear.

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    • Macallanlover

      I am very close to 3rd’s views from his opening sentence, except that I add security issues to the financially conservative side. The prez made a mistake by not handling the initial contact between he and the protesters, and then didn’t follow up after the parade incident. That was surprising lack of action from a person in his position as a university president. I seriously doubt he would have defused all of the concerns because the group’s leaders seem pretty extreme, but he should have taken steps to include them in the dialogue of how the offensive incidents would be addressed and involve them them in the process of seeing how difficult it is to totally eliminate the acts of isolated individuals. Demanding his head is too extreme an expectation for the protesters to make, it isn’t like he endorsed the position of the fools creating the incidents. Extrapolate that to life outside the university environment and see how quickly the world’s societies come crashing down. Being totally driven by the exception is a terrible plan.

      Pinkel seems to have made a big error by endorsing the actions of the football players who basically quit the team. How does he deal with non-football issues that are important to some players/groups in the future? I recall the division on campuses during the Vietnam War era, athletes had strong personal views on that issue too. He seems to have opened Pandora’s Box with his position, and it has nothing to do with his level of concern over those same actions, it has do with his role on campus as the football coach. Don’t know him enough to understand his personal thoughts but endorsing a players’ revolt when they don’t like/agree with events outside the football arena seems too extreme. It sure seems that there may have been a better lesson he could have taught them as work, school, football, etc., cannot grind to a halt because of the actions of a few nutcases. I think Coach P. needs to reel this back in, quickly, if he can.

      How do other coaches respond if 2, 5, 15, etc., of their players decide to quit practicing/playing in sympathy? There are a lot meetings in athletic offices going on throughout the country this morning.

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    • Cojones

      I disagree with the idea of marginalizing black sensitivities in this case (and I’m one who thought CNN and a couple other media outlets racheted the feelings both ways concerning Ferguson’s problems, but it didn’t change the underlying reasons for a town’s torment. U of M complaints do have a few non sequiturs, but that’s not the full basis of the complaints. We are duplicating that situation by dumbing it down to our level of appreciation, i. e. not wanting to look closely at what offends others’ sensitivities.

      Like

  12. Hogbody Spradlin

    If they ‘fire’ the players, Missouri’s football program, and maybe other athletics, is going to spend a long time wandering in the wilderness.

    At the same time, I have little sympathy with people who say the world musn’t do anything to offend them or hurt their feelings. Life offends everybody regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion. Nobody’s special.

    Just wondering, has anybody found the culprit who made the pooh swastika?

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    • mikebozo

      Last I read is that the “pooh” swastika has yet to be confirmed as a truthful statement

      Like

    • If they ‘fire’ the players as some are advocating here, doesn’t that end the bullshit student-athlete charade once and for all? Wouldn’t the school be all but admitting that the athletes are indeed employees under contract to perform athletic services in exchange for room, board, and tuition? That’s also the reason why Mizzou will not revoke scholarships because they would get destroyed in court.

      Like

  13. Stuart Saum

    This is infuriating. Pinkel should yank scholarships from anyone who doesn’t come to practice. He’s spineless if he doesn’t. A handful of random incidents, that for all we know were fabricated by the “victims” themselves, and theres a huge problem and the president should be fired, blah blah blah? Give me a break. Someone yells the N word at somebody on campus and all the sudden they’ve got to shut the whole school down. These coddled kids need to learn something that their parents never taught them, its called LIFE, deal with it. The world doesnt revolve around you. Keep playing the victim card, wait for someone to give you something for nothing and see how that works out for you. This is more of the BS black lives matter movement. A very large part of the “racism” in this country is perpetuated by the race-baiters that extort politicians and corporations. Now the players on the team are being sucked into it and used as pawns, and might throw their careers away over a scam. This is also another example of the anarchy in this country permeating all levels of society. No respect for authority by anyone; kids disobeying parents, students disobeying teachers, citizens disobeying cops, states ignoring federal laws, and the Commander in Chief himself completely ignoring the will of the citizens.

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    • A handful of random incidents, that for all we know were fabricated by the “victims” themselves…

      Yes, because it’s a given that we’re in a post-racial society these days.

      This is why I have a hard time taking these kinds of arguments at face value. I think that much of what that 1950 group is seeking is over the top, but I don’t discount there’s a real basis for some of the anger and frustration out there. You shouldn’t either.

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      • The NAACP, Sharpton, Jackson, etc…would never allow us to live in a post-racial society. It would kill their business. Im not so closed-minded as to think that there is not a real basis for SOME of the anger and frustration out there. But Im not so open-minded that my brain fell out.

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        • D.N. Nation

          Jesse Jackson is 100 years old and has zero political clout. Al Sharpton hosts a milquetoast cable talk program that no one watches. Bringing up those two in a frothing rage is quite the tell, friend.

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          • Come on man, thats all you got? I was just using those names to make a point, but Jackson and Sharpton are like the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of what has become an industry of race-baiting. They don’t need political clout to make money. They just need a way threaten boycotts and negative publicity. They both use their notoriety and “coalitions” to extort corporations. The fact that Sharpton has a tv program on a major cable news network is frightening and is the perfect venue to promote his agenda. If you can’t see this, you just aren’t paying attention. But theres a whole slew of them out there now, and instead of promoting them by putting their names here, Ill mention the names a couple of African Americans that publicly refute these views, Alfonzo Rachel and Kevin Jackson. Ask yourself a question. If you are confronted with irrefutable facts that contradict your views, are you even willing to change your mind?

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            • Ask yourself a question. If you are confronted with irrefutable facts that contradict your views, are you even willing to change your mind?

              You should probably ask yourself that same question, bro. I’ll repeat what I said earlier. The idea that any one political bent has exclusive licensing on faux outrage in 21st century America is just false. Shit man – Glenn Beck’s made his entire career out of it. 90% of Fox New’s programming today is dedicated to what new way the majority constituents in this country are being persecuted because a coffee corporation elected not to put Santa Clause on a red cup. My original point this morning about echo chambers is being very broadly illustrated here by your stance that your comments are irrefutable facts. They’re, in fact, just things you’ve heard repeated enough times that you’re convinced they are irrefutable facts

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            • Derek

              Personally I preferred Medger, Fred Hampton, MLK and Malcolm. You know how you can tell how effective an African-American leader is? Check his pulse. If there ain’t one, he was probably pretty effective. There is a reason that Al and Jesse live. They make great bogeymen for the right and get not a damn thing done.

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        • @gatriguy

          But Rush and the talk radio mafia, why, they’re just doing the Lord’s work. Unlike Jesse and Al, they’d never swung from issue to issue to keep their listeners perpetually angry because their business model depends on it.

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      • There very well may be a reason for anger. They have chosen to act in a certain way an should be man enough to face the consequences, which may be getting kicked off the team. Nothing in life is fair, might be time to learn that lesson. If I were Wolf I would apologize for being insensitive, fire Pinkel for insubordination, and kick the winey little bitches off the team.

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        • D.N. Nation

          Yeah! You tell those kids off, Internet Commenter!

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        • DawgPhan

          Seems like they are ready for the consequences. Doesnt seem like the university is.

          Remember that Mizzou is very proud of their Journalism school. A chunk of the liberal media I am sure some of you would call it. You dont pick fights will people who buy ink by the gallon.

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      • The Nelson Puppet

        Yeah, but if you’re old enough to remember the antiwar protests on college campuses in the 1960s, the protesters’ demands were similarly over-the-top. It’s simple free-market negotiation. You start with unreasonable demands with the expectation that you will negotiate down to the reasonable.

        And I think Gary Pinkel is a lot more progressive, liberal, whatever you want to call it, than the average college football coach. I couldn’t see Mark Richt publicly supporting an openly gay football player the way Pinkel did.

        Maybe Pinkel developed some humility a few years ago when his career almost got derailed over a DUI. If not for that incident, I would have him on my list of potential future UGA coaches.

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  14. SouthernYank

    “Yeah, that last part’s chickenshit. If his statement about half the team being pissed were true, I doubt Mr. Anonymous would have had to speak on his lonesome.”

    Based on the gestapo like tactics of the social justice warriors, it’s not chickenshit at all.

    #blacklivesmatter, et al. have so jumped the shark, it’s absurd.

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    • Oh, for fuck’s sake. Gestapo tactics?

      Something’s absurd here, that’s for sure.

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      • SouthernYank

        Yes, there is something absurd: google their demands.

        Oh, my bad. I went a bit over the top comparing them to the Gestapo. I forgot that only they are allowed to do that.

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        • I’ve already said I’m not defending their claims. But I understand their anger and frustration.

          As for your last comment, I guess that explains Ben Carson.

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          • JCDAWG83

            Senator, please enlighten me on the “anger and frustration” scholarship athletes, most of whom would not be at the university if they could not run fast, jump high and catch a ball, are experiencing. Tell me how unbearable their life is because someone said or did something to someone else they don’t like. How bad do this group, who have every expense of their education, plus free tutors and other benefits regular students don’t get have it?

            It’s time to draw a line on the PC, perpetually offended bullshit. If the school or the football program were actually doing anything to the players, or to minority students, this would be different and possibly justifiable. These prima donnas need to see their behavior and actions have some consequences. If they don’t practice and play, the school should recognize their right to protest but take away the scholarship for playing football since they are not doing the thing they are being given a scholarship to do. They should be allowed to remain enrolled as students but have to pay their own way and make their own passing grades without the free tutors.

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            • Best comment of the day.

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            • Dawgwalker07

              “’It’s time to draw a line on the PC, perpetually offended bullshit. If the school or the football program were actually doing anything to the players, or to minority students, this would be different and possibly justifiable. These prima donnas need to see their behavior and actions have some consequences. If they don’t practice and play, the school should recognize their right to protest but take away the scholarship for playing football since they are not doing the thing they are being given a scholarship to do. They should be allowed to remain enrolled as students but have to pay their own way and make their own passing grades without the free tutors.”

              Sorry, but that’s bullshit. If that’s how our country worked we’d still be sucking on Great Britain’s teet. America is built on protest and the right to speak your mind without the government punishing you for it. If they feel offended by something then they have the right to speak up. If enough of the locker room agrees it’s a big deal, then it’s a big deal.

              The football players didn’t boycott until everything the 1950 group wanted was met. They boycotted until the president resigned. Don’t mix the two. And quit acting like taking a stand for something you disagree with makes you a prima donna. They believe in something and instead of bitching about the president on a blog online they put their money where their mouth is and said, “I’m not doing the thing I love until something changes.”

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          • SouthernYank

            “They” = Social Justice Warriors.

            Like

    • Dog in Fla

      “gestapo like tactics of the social justice warriors”

      It’s the hard-knock life

      Like

      • Macallanlover

        Preach it, Che. Revolt, tear down the place. This is like High Holy Days for folks like you, another cause to help tear the house down.

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        • Instead of mocking, Mac, spend some time reading Radley Balko’s work. He’s a dyed in the wool libertarian who does the Lord’s work writing about police power abuses.

          There’s a legitimate reason folks are angry and frustrated. And it’s not because Jesse Jackson’s out there pushing buttons.

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          • SouthernYank

            Of course they’re legitimate. It’s legitimate to be mad about a guy who stole some cigars, pushed a much smaller clerk, failed to listen to a cop to get out of the road, charged at and punched same cop (oh, and tried to grab his gun), and then got shot as a result.

            Completely legitimate.

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          • Macallanlover

            I believe he is the same author you suggested I read during the Ferguson fiasco, and I did. He totally missed the point in Ferguson, imo. Skin color, like or dark. is no excuse for disobeying the authority of the police, period. You want to discuss better training/hiring practices of police, or stronger punishments for abuse of authority when police are in the wrong, I am all for you. But anything that happens once a citizen resists arrest is the fault of the suspect and should not be defended. Got an issue with the law, or law enforcement? Fight it through the structure of the courts, legislatures, or voting.

            There is every bit as much anger and frustration from the other side who supports stricter enforcement from the police. Our society does not work when lawlessness is excused. And this isn’t really the issue here with the Mizzou boycott, although it is wrapped in as a part of all claims of racism. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t support the authorities bringing charges against the punks who committed the crimes and used hate speech. I don’t think the President of Mizzou (ex-Prez now), or the campus authorities are racist in their actions, but their lack of involvement in addressing them was an error. I can assure you that if a group of three blacks had walked by me on campus and addressed me as “honky” or “cracker”, it would not have gotten me an audience with the President, or brought the campus police running. No institution is going to be able to guarantee 100% of the students will never act stupidly in incidents like this.

            Black leaders should have been working to assimilate blacks into the American culture since the 1960s and not trying to fight/resist the culture of the remaining, overwhelming majority. We are not talking making changes or reforming, I am talking adopting the family structure, work ethic, and adherence to laws. The “go your own way” direction hasn’t worked for whites or blacks, all who adopt that rebellious attitude are impoverished. It has been a colossal fail on their part of the black leaders and I don’t think they will ever have the opportunity they squandered as a result because the money and heart of the non-blacks will never be the same again. Black society is broken, and the lack of responsible leadership seems to be have diminished both as a percentage and influence. As a white American I wanted the dreams of the civil rights’ leaders to come true, I have to think they are looking down these days and saying, WTF? I believe those leaders sold their race out for their own profit and notoriety. My opinion, suspect it will never fit yours, but I have had a ringside seat during the before and after years, and paid close attention.

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            • Dog in Fla

              Who said it:

              Ben Carson

              Tom from “Monticello”

              Mac from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” or

              Mac from “Get The Picture”

              “As a white American I wanted the dreams of the civil rights’ leaders to come true, I have to think they are looking down these days and saying, WTF? I believe those leaders sold their race out for their own profit and notoriety.”

              https://twitter.com/cafedotcom/status/663749418638688256

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            • Skin color, like or dark. is no excuse for disobeying the authority of the police, period.

              When the justice system is rigged to use the black population as an alternate source of revenue, what exactly would you suggest folks do, Mac?

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              • DawgPhan

                I am guessing that Mac thinks that they should stop being so uppity and just appreciate all that his people have allowed them to have.

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                • I don’t think it’s that. But I wonder if Mac would have had some issues with the American Revolution if he’d been around then.

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                • Dog in Fla

                  Rumor is that he’s a Redcoat sympathizer

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                • Cojones

                  I would hope so. I’ve been one since the early 60s. It’s a fine place to sit near during a game.

                  And that’s the only red that Mac wants to be sympathetic about. ‘Cept maybe our school colors. Or the political color of our state (though I have been wondering why ‘Publicans want to be identified with Red Army colors).

                  Maybe it’s probably because all of us have the same colored blood that can be administered in emergencies no matter the color of the skin of the person giving it. Or. Spilling it on his country’s field of battle in foreign countries where no one asks his skin color as long as he is on the correct end of a gun defending the rest of us here blogging. You never know the racial makeup of the blood or blood components you receive in emergencies, so why should a people not be received wholeheartedly for all those positive things they do in our mutual society?

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              • Macallanlover

                Fair to say we evaluate the justice system differently in that regard. I have my issues with the judicial system, but do not think it is that racially unbalanced. And the alternative of citizens choosing to not obey leads very quickly to anarchy, which would be total chaos once it begins rolling. I see us moving in that direction, and feel there will be a “divorce”/breakup in the future, but an enhanced level of civil disobedience would accelerate the process, for certain.

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                • I take it you haven’t read the Justice Department report on Ferguson, then.

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                • DawgPhan

                  first rule of holes, bro.

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                • Cojones

                  Maybe so, Mac, but I have enough faith in the country as a whole to address and fix it’s arcane problems invented out of stupidity before it comes to anarchy.

                  Looking back at what has already been solved in racial injustice is very important to solving other racial injustice problems of the future.

                  If I had been born black in this country, I would be dead from a white man’s gun or finishing the last of a 50yr sentence for killing a white guy by now. What was unacceptable to blacks in the 60s remains unacceptable today. My right to vote in some states would have been abrogated by politicians now as well. Wouldn’t that make you angry enough to use that licensed carry you have? You probably couldn’t get that license if you are black in some parts of the country. Wouldn’t you expect that the downtrodden part of our country’s people should have the most licensed carries in order to protect themselves than others? As you know, that ain’t the way it stretches out to cover and there is social injustice in that as well.

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                • Derek

                  Preach it! All power to the people! No justice, no peace!

                  What people don’t seem to realize is that the powerful never relinquish power voluntarily. Whether it’s India, South Africa, England, the American Revolution, on and on. Injustice is only rectified by leverage and by whatever means are necessary to create that leverage. But even in revolution there in prejudice. Our founders did not engage in hunger strikes. That got rifles and engaged in High Treason for which they each would have been justifiably hung. And they were heroes. Every last one of them. A black man goes on hunger strike and its fucking anarchy. I call bullshit.

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                • Gurkha Dawg

                  At the end of the Revolution, the Army wanted to install Washington as King. Washington turned them down, saying that was what they had been fighting against. First time in history a man turned down power like that. Probably was the last time too. By doing that Washington saved the Republic.

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              • doofusdawg

                Truth. Most minority kids that get in trouble with the law get in the system for something like driving without insurance or a suspended license or a speeding ticket that they don’t have the money to pay. Once they have a warrant then they are fucked. I would love to see some type of intervention/assistance at this early juncture to keep a mountain from being made of a mole hill.

                The ironic thing… there always is one… is that it’s the government’s need of revenue that initiates the fines. Here we can probably agree that if government was smaller and less intrusive then maybe the need for tax dollars wouldn’t be so extreme. Or maybe not. Thanks for the forum.

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                • Actually, the problem in Ferguson is that local government is too small – there are a bunch of municipalities that have too small a tax base to operate efficiently. But the problem with fiefdoms is that the chiefs don’t want to relinquish power.

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                • doofusdawg

                  Yep. Saw where the attorney representing the family was also the sheriff or the mayor of adjoining municipality that was sighted by justice department for exactly what you are saying. Politics and football… who knew. Still sorry about that post.

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                • Cojones

                  The first para of your 3:41 post is dead on as the reason many blacks get into the law’s net to begin with and it gets very little ink. You are correct for advocating an intervention, but impetus should come from the direction of the law to polish some of the jagged parts of criminal justice.

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              • Macallanlover

                I have to admit I find it pretty funny that you suggest the justice system is some type of conspiracy rigged to rob minorities of money via the collection of fees. I assume you actually meant what you said, or was that some sort of sarcasm that I don’t understand. Either way, at least it is something to laugh at, which is quite an accomplishment with the heavy BS being laid by folks in this thread.

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            • Dog in Fla

              “but I have had a ringside seat during the before and after years, and paid close attention.”

              Was it a Thrilla in Manila? Was it Fifty Miles from Selma to Montgomery? Sure. But through all the trials and tribulations; there is one thing that Mac has learned:

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            • Dog in Fla

              “Fight it through the structure of the courts [packed by Republicans], legislatures [packed with gerrymandered Republicans], or voting [suppressed for use and benefit of Republicans].”

              Or an economic boycott

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          • Rp

            I cant speak to the larger stats because it’s a careers worth of work to really get to the bottom of whether the stats and studies are fair or not but I do know this: the vast majority of the high profile “police brutality” cases I take the time to look into turn out to be justified use of force and understandable responses given the situation the law enforcement officer faced. Most of the BLM outrage with respect to stand your ground or police use of force is painfully ignorant, uninformed, and outright dishonest. To the extent I can evaluate good evidence about what is happening out there it almost always leads to the conclusion that the BLM movement is not based on truth or reality. So I can only assume that most of the other things they cite which I can not verify are also BS.

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        • Look – I’m not particularly enthralled with the list of demands, but I also know that growing up as a white male Christian precluded me having to deal with a lot of the bullshit folks that don’t look like me have to deal with on a daily basis. Admitting that reality doesn’t make me an apologist or part of the “PC, liberal, looking to be offended, insert whatever sophomoric putdown you use to insult folks that don’t see the world like you” crowd. It’s just acknowledging a reality that people that don’t look like me have systemic obstacles that I’ve never had to face. Some overcome those challenges and succeed in spite of them (see Ben Carson and the Kenyan, Marxist usurper for examples), but many others don’t and it’s not just because they’re lazy or entitled and it certainly doesn’t mean those systemic challenges don’t still exist just because a small percentage have overcome them. So whatever your #hottake is on this issue, it sort of rings hollow when you’ve never had to walk a day in their shoes.

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        • Dog in Fla

          “Preach it, Che. Revolt, tear down the place.”

          But leave the school crossing zones alone

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      • DawgPhan

        I just bought this shirt.
        thanks…

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  15. Predictable responses scattered throughout here. Now I’m just waiting for somebody to tell me how reading Breitbart or Salon will give more balance to this story so I can have a hearty chortle. For a lot of folks in this world, the only balanced reporting to them is when the reporting says exactly what they want to hear whether it’s true or not. To me, that’s the saddest impact cable news, political talk radio, and the internet have had on our society in the last 20 years by actively targeting segments of the population with directed messaging rather than just reporting the actual facts and allowing people to come to their own conclusions. This way, people no longer have to perform any critical thinking about the issues. It’s far easier to bury themselves in echo chambers that validate their own positions. That’s where we are in this comment thread with folks that aren’t on the front lines of what’s going on at Mizzou acting like there’s some quick fix-it because Rachel Maddow or Rush Limbaugh said so. Predictable, but sad.

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  16. Cousin Eddie

    I feel for Pinkel, he is in a no win situation. If he goes forward and plays with any athletes that are willing to practice he is called out for not backing the players that took a stance they believe in. If he calls the game he is made to look like he gave into there demands and has been bullied by the students he was to be in charge of.
    I have respect for Pinkel as a coach and he comes across as a good guy so I believe he will try and make a compromise with the players that are willing to preform after getting “approval” from those who wish to protest.

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  17. tmflibrarian

    Just to point out that this isn’t about a handful of incidents, but a pervasive situation. When even other professors use racial slurs when addressing their colleagues, it’s a much bigger issue.

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  18. Per CBSsports.com, Wolfe resigned.

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  19. Scorpio Jones, III

    It would appear there was at least some fire at the place where the smoke was coming out in CoMo. University presidents generally don’t resign over nothing, its too good a job.

    Pinkel looks like a hero in CoMo.

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