Well, Adam Silver, the new NBA commish, did the right thing re: Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling, but what a mess, huh? Will the NBA be able to enforce Sterling’s lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine? Will Sterling sue? Those are the questions of the moment.
Meanwhile, much of the blogosphere is still stuck on the private/public dichotomy. He was set up, this group says, plus, lots of people say things in private that don’t reflect how they act in public. I had this conversation over Easter dinner with a gay friend as he defended former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, who lost his job over his private support for the anti-gay Prop 8. This, too, was the act of a private citizen.
But it comes down to leadership.
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Read MoreWhen I was a young reporter, a columnist asked me casually about a recent holiday. The next day, I read all about it in her column, to my surprise – and chagrin.
I was reminded then of something that I had learned as a child but had momentarily forgotten: Never say anything to anyone that you wouldn’t want to see in print.
My indiscretion was pretty innocuous. I revealed nothing beyond a ham and a turkey (literally) – which is more than we can say for Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. He’s accused of spewing the kind of racism and sexism that harks back to the 19th century. But then, I guess you can’t really expect discretion from a man who maintained a wife and a mistress simultaneously.
Let’s be clear: Harboring the kind of thoughts Sterling apparently does – admonishing former mistress V. Stiviano not to appear with black men at Clippers’ games – is morally wrong. But this is not a post about harboring such thoughts, which I think are a failure of our culture and our educational system. It’s about communicating such thoughts.
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Read MoreSo in the end, Michael Phelps didn’t make the final of the 50 free in the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa, Ariz. (He swam his patented butterfly stroke in the prelims. The rules allow you to swim any of the strokes in the free.) And Ryan Lochte bowed out of his final races. (He’s been nursing a knee injury and said he had pushed himself too hard in February.)
But having them back racing each other is certainly a boon for their sport despite the emergence of some young swimmers.
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Read MoreLos Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling is under fire for allegedly having a conversation – reported on TMZ.com – with a woman identified as V. Stiviano, in which he warned her about hanging out with black people and bringing them to the Clippers’ games. (Apparently, Stiviano, the defendant in an embezzlement suit brought by the Sterling family, released the tape to TMZ.)
This is not the first time Sterling’s name has been associated with prejudice. In 2009, he paid $2.7 million to settle a government claim that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics, blacks and families in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood.
The revelation comes four days after New York Mets’ pitcher Matt Harvey deleted his Twitter account. Harvey’s last Tweet was a picture of himself giving the finger on the half-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery.
I would agree with those who say that prejudice is far worse than crassness – though there’s no excuse for this deliberate kind of obscenity. (It’s not like a curse word uttered when you stub your toe.) Both prejudice and obscenity are a failure of culture, a failure of education. They say that we hold ourselves and others so cheaply that we think nothing of demeaning them, of demeaning ourselves. (Or perhaps we just don’t think, period.)
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Read MoreSending out love to former British tennis star Elena Baltacha as she battles liver cancer. The Ukrainian-born “Bally” rose to British No. 1, winning 11 singles titles and four doubles titles despite a knee injury and being diagnosed at age 19 with primary sclerosing cholangitis. This is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease of the bile duct that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or cancer, as it has in Baltacha’s case.
This summer, Andy Murray and Martina Navratilova – a former world No 1 and breast cancer survivor – will lead a group of players in a “Rally for Bally” fundraiser to aid Elena, who is now a tennis coach in Ipswich, England.
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Read MoreIt’s as if one never said goodbye and the other was never injured.
Michael Phelps, on the comeback trail, aced his prelim heat in the 100 butterfly only to fall to archrival and good friend Ryan Lochte in the Arena Grand Prix final Thursday night.
"Down there at the turn I kind of peeked over and I saw him and almost started smiling," Lochte said later.
“Why?” Phelps countered, “because you were ahead?"
Is Phelpte a great rivalry or what?
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Read MoreIs it any surprise that the Arena Grand Prix – which takes place Thursday, April 24 through Saturday, April 26 in Mesa, Ariz. – is sold out? Michael Phelps is swimming in his first meet since the London Games in what looks like the beginning of the comeback trail and may face off with pal and rival Ryan Lochte in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. Michael is also swimming in the 50 free while Ryan is entered in the 200 free, the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley.
There are a lot of other stars at the meet – including Nathan Adrian, Conor Dwyer and France’s Yannick Angel – but all eyes will be on Michael and, to a certain extent, the old rivalry.
For his part, Ryan has said he always knew Michael would be back.
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