Rant #2,217: Bits and Pieces

Well, back to normal today ...

Now that that is out of the way, today, the Ranting and Raving Blog looks at several stories at once today, but stories that I have decided do not merit a full column to look at.

So today--and "today" is my favorite word of the day, since I have used it three times already--we go the "Bits and Pieces" route.

Here goes:

Colin Kaepernick and Nike Sign Deal: If anyone needed any one reason to question whether we are currently in the PC age or not, they only have to look at this situation, where a major sports apparel brand has agreed to terms on a contract with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, as you might recall, is the perpetrator of the "take-one-knee" movement, where NFL players take to their knees during the national anthem to protest supposed injustices against blacks in this country.

This has caused an uproar nobody could have foreseen, on either side of the story, and has made NFL pre-game festivities even more important than the game itself.

It has also drawn the ire of President Trump, who at times has affirmed in various statements that such insubordination should be met by teams firing players who decide to do this.

With their signing of Kaepernick, Nike has stirred the pot a bit, and the Washington state based firm has drawn both the ire, and praise, of many.

Look, there appears to be no middle ground with this controversy--either you respect the right of players to participate in peaceful protest, or you shake your heads at their chutzpah, being that they are being paid millions of dollars to play football, not to protest the very flag that has made it possible for them to do so.

Personally, I believe Nike has every right to pick anyone to be a spokesman for their brand, just like the players have every right kneel if they want--

But that does not mean that you do it in both cases.

NFL players who kneel when the anthem is played prior to games are portraying themselves as ungrateful wretches, knocking the very flag that gives them the freedom to do what they are doing.

And as far as oppression of blacks, well, when you are paid millions of dollars to do what you are doing, I can't see that as being oppressed.

Kaepernick is the poster child of this imbecility, a guy who isn't even good enough to play in the NFL. He has a lawsuit going against the league, who he claims has conspired to not employ him as a player, but this is all hogwash, as he has been offered jobs as a backup player but has turned them down.

Nike both stands to lose customers and gain them with their move, but it will leave a stain on them that will last for a long time.

Having the right to do what you want doesn't mean that you do what you want. We have the freedom to think in this country, and I just believe that Nike went for the shock effect here, and nothing else.

Remember the old axiom, "Any publicity is good publicity"?

Well, it certainly fits here as well as Kaepernick's "cops as pigs" socks do.

School Opens For Millions of Students: By tomorrow, school will have officially opened for millions of students across the country.

I remember that i both hated and liked this time of year: hated it because I didn't want to go back to school, but loved it because I was bored with being off and needed new challenges that school would provide.

But back then, none of us kids had to worry about gun violence in schools. The only violence we encountered was the occasional fight in gym or in the lunch room, but that was about it.

I hope that we as a society have learned about how to prevent gun violence in our schools from the previous past, unfortunate incidents that have taken place.

Yes, I know that guns do not kill people--people using guns do--but I have to think that in schools, the only challenges kids should encounter are those trying to learn their subjects, and nothing else.

Who Is Luke Voit?:: When the New York Yankees signed Luke Voit a month or so ago, he was simply a St. Louis Cardinals castoff, a guy who was signed as insurance for first base on a team that was struggling with Greg Bird stinking up the place there.

Voit really had no proven track record at all, and although he looks like a ballplayer, well, I don't think anyone realized just what a ballplayer this guy has turned out to be.

In fact, he might have saved the Yankees' season.

Last night, Voit hit another home run in the Bronx Bombers' 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics in a battle of the probably wild card teams in the American League.

This guy has come out of nowhere to hit eight dingers for the Yankees, has 18 RBIs and is hitting .300. He also plays a nifty first base.

Yankees fans have to hope this guy can keep it going, but when I look at Voit, memories of Shane Spencer come to mind.

Spencer was called up by the Yankees 20 years ago, and performed the same feats that Voit is doing, hitting home runs--several grand slams--and leading the Yankees to victory.

Unfortunately, Spencer turned into Joe Hardy--the player in "Damn Yankees" who makes a deal with the devil--and he never attained such heights again, with pretty much a nondescript career after his initial deluge of big hits.

Is Voit this generation's Spencer, or is he Hardy, or is he a late bloomer that the Yankees got just at the right time?

It is difficult to catch lightning in a bottle, but the Yankees may have done this with Voit.

Beyond that, who knows?

Speak to you again tomorrow.