Guns, Sports and Politics. The shit has hit fan in The August Month in Review

August was highlighted by guns, politics and sports. Sometimes the topics intersected with each other. Let’s get to the news:

We begin with guns and man we had a lot of news:

In 2020, rapper Tory Lanez, during an argument after a party, shot music artist Megan Thee Stallion. Three years later he finally came to trial. When he was found guilty, his sentence was ten years in a California state prison.

Store owner Laura Ann Carleton was shot and killed in front of her business located in the San Bernadino mountains, about sixty miles east of Los Angeles. The reason: there was a dispute over the display of a rainbow flag. Carleton was a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and had rainbow flags torn down many times, but she always replaced them. This time the replacement flag cost the mother of nine her life.

At the University of North Carolina, the school was on lockdown for three hours after a graduate student shot and killed his faculty adviser. The photo at the top is the response of The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s student newspaper. They were scheduled to have a preview of the upcoming college football season but instead showed texts from students and their families during the lockdown. It was an unnerving but brilliant front page. Some of the best journalistic work is being done on our college campuses; you just have to know how to find it.

In Jacksonville, Florida, a twenty-one-year-old white man shot and killed three people at a Dollar General store. The victims were all Black. The crimes were racially motivated as the man was found to have three manifestos on him. Of course he did, because this is what these guys do.

Now for the combination of guns and sports:

At a Chicago White Sox game, two people were wounded while sitting in the outfield section. There have been plenty of explanations for how that happened. It was thought that someone outside the park fired some shots in the air and landed inside hitting the two victims. Then it was thought to be an inside job with one of the victims smuggling the gun in by hiding it in the rolls of her stomach. Her lawyer denied that one. But two things are for certain: White Sox management continued to play the game, even after learning of the shooting. They then lost to the Oakland A’s, the worst team in major league baseball. The entire scenario is typical of how the baseball season has gone on the south side of Chicago.

The Northside baseball scene is not void of gun violence. A Little League coach got into a dispute in the parking lot after his team lost a game. He pulled a gun out, threatened a couple and then tried to run off before being arrested. He was charged with felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Hmmm, four counts is like a grand slam? Seriously, I’ve coached eleven different youth softball and basketball teams. I’ve seen other coaches get upset over losses but never anything close to this. The coach/soon-to-be convicted felon has been banned from the park and also coaching again.

How about some good gun news? The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the law banning the sale of assault weapons in the state. Yes, I realize people can get them elsewhere or illegally and bring them into Illinois. I also realize the law has to get through the U.S. Supreme Court, but it’s a good start.

What’s happening in the world of sport?

College football is getting underway, even in Evanston where Northwestern is dealing with the aftereffects of the hazing scandal. On their first day of practice, coaches came out wearing t-shirts that said “Cats against the World” and the #51. That was former coach and star linebacker Pat Fitzgerald’s number when he played for them in the 1990s. Even the school’s vice president for athletics and recreation, Derrick Gregg said, “The shirts are inappropriate, offensive and tone-deaf.” At least one person in their administration gets it!

Conference realignment may have hit its peak in August. The Pac-12 is now down to four. It began last year when USC and UCLA decided to join the Big 10, or however many schools are now in that conference. However, UCLA's head basketball coach Mick Cronin had a realistic take on all of this: “None of it’s in the student-athlete’s best interest. It’s in the best interest of paying the bills.” Mick wasn’t saying anything we didn’t already know; it’s just refreshing to see someone in that position say the words out loud.

Let’s get to the political mess:

It wasn’t the best of times for Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. At the first debate, both Nikki Haley and Mike Pence made him look like a political newcomer, which he is. Pence even called him a rookie. Next, during an interview on Fox News, Sean Hannity called him out for wanting to cut aid to Israel. When Vivek denied it, Hannity threatened to play the tape where he said it. You know it’s not going well when you’re being fact-checked by Sean Hannity. And, to pour it on, Eminem told him to stop playing his music at his rallies. Really? Are his supporters big fans of Eminem? The good news is people now know how to pronounce his name…maybe.

Let’s head over to Russia where earlier this summer the Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed coup against the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Guess who ended up dead in a plane crash? How surprising!

Back in the good old USA, guess who got indicted again? Another month, another indictment for Donald Trump. If you have somehow lost count, that’s four indictments with ninety-one counts now against him. Is that finally the end or do we have more fake elector schemes in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin yet to come? Stay tuned.

That’s a lot of news. The shit rally has hit the fan. See you at the end of September.