Political Marketing was my favorite class when I was in graduate school, and many lessons learned from that course stick with me to this day. I selected jingoism, extremist patriotism and all things marketing of the red, white and blue as my term paper topic for this specific course.

Although I penned that paper back during the Bush 43 administration, insights reached back then have as much relevance today as ever. In studying the Star Spangled Banner as well as everyone who takes the national anthem way too seriously, I saw that the plot to Francis Scott Key’s tune was lost a long time ago. We really don’t need it to be played anymore at every single sporting event. It really needs to be reserved for just international competitions at this point.

When US Soccer legend and FOX Sports commentator Alexi Lalas gave his really bad take, via Twitter, on the topic and then apologized later, I really felt that this has all jumped the shark. Just like Drew Brees, you have a sports icon who doesn’t get it, then walks it back, and sounds extremely disingenuine in doing so.

Of course, what the anthem really means or is/was supposed to mean is something that went away a long time ago. We’ll explain why shortly, but for now it’s probably best to just move on. Don’t take my word for it though, just listen to former United States Men’s Soccer Head Coach Bruce Arena.

“I question why we’re playing the anthem in professional sporting events in our country … it puts people in awkward positions,” said Arena, currently the head coach of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution (a side that have about as patriotic or jingoistic a brand identity as anyone in American sports.

FOXBORO, MA – SEPTEMBER 24: Members of the New England Patriots kneel during the National Anthem before a game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on September 24, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

“We don’t use the anthem in movie theatres, on Broadway, other events in the US. I don’t think it’s appropriate to have a national anthem before a baseball game or an MLS game.”

Arena pointed out how many MLS players were born outside the U.S.

“In MLS, most of the players standing on the field during the national anthem are international players. They aren’t even Americans. So why are we playing the national anthem?… Having said that, I want it understood, I’m very patriotic, but I just think it’s inappropriate. And today, it’s becoming too big of an issue.”

“I understand why people are kneeling … if they’re respectful, it’s appropriate. I’m the most patriotic person you’re going to be around … Honored to represent the US in World Cups and international matches. I think playing the national anthem is clearly appropriate at those levels.”

I couldn’t agree more! For nation vs. nation, blare the Star Spangled Banner as loud as you want! For band of athletic mercenaries loosely affiliated with my city vs. band of athletic mercenaries loosely affiliated with your city, let’s just forego the anthem. 

The longer we don’t have sports, on account of how are federal government mishandling the pandemic worse than every other nation on Earth, the more time will be filled with sports figures saying dumb things about the Star Spangled Banner and the more weary we’ll grow of all the hot takes, reactions and reactions to the reactions. It’s best to just let it go and move on.

Long before much of the population completely misunderstood what Colin Kaepernick and company were trying to say by taking a knee during the playing of the anthem, the meaning of the ritual was bastardized.

More specifically, it was just sold out. The anthem became synonymous with paid for patriotism, as “reunions” between armed services members and their families was conducted on field.

It’s amazing that the military-industrial complex believed that the general populace would not eventually catch on to these publicity stunts, as if the people would somehow be too stupid to realize that these “reunions” were all put on for the cameras.

Most of the time, these are sponsored by the Boeings, Lockheed-Martins and other defense contractors.

Simply put it was just sponsored content that you were required to stand for, just like all the sports network programming during Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Patriots Day, Flag Day and Veterans Day.

The last one is when it gets ramped up the most, as November typically brings the most extreme nationalism within the sports world.

Although the Indianapolis 500 is really on its own level entirely.

Prior to the race, there is an onslaught of patriotic rituals and songs, and the level of excess is truly something to behold. Regardless of your views on the national anthem, I would reccommend seeing this at least once, as it’s the most interesting part of the annual spectacle. Here’s the 2018 Indy 500 pregame set list (includes a GREAT use of taxpayer dollars by utilizing one of the most expensive airplanes in history!)

The military does a lot of recruiting and advertising within the sports world, and they pay clubs and networks handsomely to do so. Really, this is what it’s all about- money and that’s it!

It’s advertising, but it comes under the guise of nationalism. You’ll notice that Arena mentioned how patriotic he was, several times, while putting forth his stance.

That’s required these days, if you want to say something like that and still minimize individual brand damage. You have to do the Jeff Winger on “Community” campaign applause line-

“if you ask me what my favorite color is, I’ll tell you that it’s a three way tie between red, white and blue.”

You’re not supposed to use Old Glory for the purpose of crass commercialization.

The U.S. Flag Code reads as follows:

“The Flag Code addresses the impropriety of using the flag as an article of personal adornment, a design of items of temporary use, and item of clothing. The evident purpose of these suggested restraints is to limit the commercial or common usage of the flag, and, thus, maintain its dignity.”

Exploiting the flag, with contrived publicity stunts, is American as apple pie. The raising of the flag at Iwo Jima photo-opp was about as fraudulent as Enron. I suggest you screen the film “Flags of Our Fathers” for more on that topic. Kaepernick was right, he was far ahead of his time and the NFL has now come as close as they will ever come to admitting it.

However, those who thought he was taking a sacred ritual and desecrating it don’t realize, the so-called purity of it, which never truly existed in the first place, was a long time gone by that point.

Hey, when you come across a sign that is literally the name of this site….of course it’s the cover/featured image

This Fourth of July weekend, if/when you debate these topics, remember the words of Teddy Roosevelt:

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”

Happy Independence Day everybody! Celebrate safely!

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.

You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.

Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

It’s unlikely that many readers noticed, or cared, when news outlets started using % instead of percent after a numeral — a change prescribed by the Associate Press Stylebook last year.

Many newspaper readers have probably noticed a change made in the last month, however. AP, along with many news organizations, now recommends capitalizing Black in reference to people.

It’s a change long sought by activists and finally realized during nationwide protests against racial injustice. The change presumes that Black signifies an identity, not a skin color.

“AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa,” John Daniszewski, AP’s vice president for standards, said in the announcement on Juneteenth. “The lowercase black is a color, not a person.”

The AP Stylebook is used by the majority of the nation’s newspapers. Major newspapers and news chains that have their own usage guides, including the Los Angeles Times and USA Today, also shifted to Black this month. Locally, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times made the change.

“[I]n light of recent and ongoing events and the evidence of a real shift in usage across many sources,” the Chicago Manual of Style followed the AP’s lead a few days later. The Chicago Manual is used in publishing offices, including the Northwestern University office from which I retired.

The New York Times and the Washington Post, arguably the country’s two most influential newspapers, are still debating whether to make the change. Their hesitation isn’t reactionary — they are known as liberal publications — but reflects the complexity of the issue. It was debated two years by AP journalists in consultation with outside groups and thinkers.

Opponents of the change expressed concern that it fails to recognize that people brought from Africa as slaves came from many diverse backgrounds.

Then there is the matter of what to do about white when you capitalize Black. Those who argue against capitalizing white say that it is a skin color, not an ethnic identity, and that white people do not share a culture or an experience such as slavery. Also, capitalization could seem supportive of the white supremacists who capitalize the w.

On the other side is the argument that capitalizing white would be a needed reminder of white privilege. “Whiteness is endowed with social meaning that allows people to move through the world in a way that people who are not white are not able to do,” University of Chicago sociologist Eve Ewing tweeted in calling for the capitalization of W.

The Chicago Manual of Style, “as a matter of editorial consistency,” is allowing the capitalization of “White and similar terms” when referring to racial and ethnic identity.

AP now recommends capitalizing Indigenous in reference to the original inhabitants of a place, and it will make a decision within a month about whether to capitalize white. Thousands of newspapers, magazines, and public relations offices that use its stylebook would follow its lead.

The National Association of Black Journalists has come out in favor of capitalizing all racial identifiers. The Chicago Sun-Times has announced that it is also capitalizing Brown when “the terms Black and Brown are used together to collectively describe a group.” The Sun-Times is continuing to lowercase white, however, because “cultural trends among white people . . . are much more disparate.”

Those of you who aren’t editors and writers might be surprised to learn that editorial style is about more than where to place a comma. Style guides are updated to reflect social change. For instance, women were referred to as Miss or Mrs. when I began my career, then Ms., and finally by their last name only, just like men. Later came the movement toward person-first language — for example, “people with disabilities” rather than “disabled people.” More recently, both AP and the Chicago Manual of Style decided it was acceptable to use the singular “they” to be sensitive to nonbinary people for whom neither he nor she is appropriate.

*****

ANTI-TRUMP COMMENTS: 120TH IN AN ONGOING SERIES

“They are grasping at straws to try and explain this away. We’re looking at people picking at the margins for explanations to deny that we are seeing a surge.”
— Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease researcher at the Columbia University School of Public Health, about Trump and the Republicans who point to fewer coronavirus deaths to suggest that the worst of the pandemic has passed

The “Good Morning Football” crew plays NFL history trivia.

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I originally met Kerry Turgeon when I looked at a gorgeous house in Hinsdale, Illinois, via Zillow. It was my dream home. Having a great experience with her reminded me of three important qualities you want in your realtor.

Great Customer Service

Because of Kerry Turgeon’s amazing customer service, when it was time for me to decide to move back to Chicago, I knew the person that I wanted to call. I knew that this decision could not be trusted to just anyone. There were many different layers to the home buying process.  Because I was moving from out of state,  I needed to be cared for and loved in a certain way and Kerry did it. She was attentive, responsive, kind, respectful, and gave me within six hours all the choices that I would need to make the right decision.

Knowledge

Kerry’s knowledge was amazing. A broker with the Baird & Warner Hinsdale office, Kerry Turgeon has been working in real estate for 14 years, the past five of which she’s made the Baird & Warner Presidents Club. She is dedicated to every client and works extremely hard to help them achieve their real estate goals, whether they’re buying or selling a $200,000 condo or a $5 million home.

Turgeon has particular expertise in helping young families relocate from Chicago to suburban towns such as Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Western Springs, Burr Ridge, La Grange and Oak Brook. She understands the hesitation young people have in making the transition from city to suburbs, having been in that situation 20 years ago. Kerry knows it’s both an exciting and nerve-racking time, and that her job is to give clients all the information they need to make that transition easy.

Experience

Kerry has a vast amount of experience. Below is a quote from another satisfied customer. 

“Kerry was compassionate,” says one client. “She knew we had anxiety about leaving the city. Kerry showed us her favorite restaurants, proximity to Oak Brook Mall, and how easy it was to get to the city. We moved to Hinsdale a year ago, and I wish we did it sooner.”

Kerry constantly thinks about how she can better serve her clients. She recently launched her own website,kerryturgeonteam.com, to provide helpful information. Most recently, Kerry was beginning to see her past clients and friends transition to the next phase of their life in sunny southwest Florida. During the Illinois stay-at-home order, she took the next step to further her career by getting her Florida real estate license so she could assist in the sale of her clients’ homes in Illinois, while also helping them find their next ones in Florida.

“I saw a need and thought, ‘Why not become a one-stop shop and ensure my clients get the attention they deserve,whether they’re moving to the western suburbs or out of the western suburbs?’ I am very excited about this and cannot wait to get started.”

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I want to start by saying: Stay tuned for the quiz at the end of this week’s Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast. I am on a roll …

That done, we had a couple of interesting news items to discuss. Kicking off the podcast, we looked at the JD Power Initial Quality Study, which was released last week, and wonder of wonders, Dodge actually took the No. 1 spot for the first time in ever. Actually, a lot of domestic brands were “above the fold” this year, and that’s a refreshing change from years past. We talk about what this really means … and what it doesn’t mean.

We also discussed an Automotive News article on Mitsubishi, and we postulate that the automaker may be getting ready to pull up stakes in the U.S. — though, of course, they’ve said nothing of the kind.

Our guest this week was Larry Nutson, executive producer and Chicago bureauchief at The Auto Channel, who talked about the quality time he spent with the Cadillac XT6, and what he liked about this new SUV.

While I will continue to post the podcast to my blog each week, you can subscribe to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast on any podcast subscription service or visit the Buzzsprout link. New episodes are usually posted on Friday, and then the show itself airs on WCPT 820 AM on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

Be sure to let us know if you have questions or if there are any topics you’d like us to cover on future podcasts.

You can follow us on social at:

• Jill: @jillciminillo (instagram/twitter)
• Tom: @car_guy_tom (twitter)
• Damon: @DamonRBell (twitter)
• Consumer Guide Automotive: @cgautomotive (twitter/facebook)
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Robin DiAngelo‘s best seller, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” is getting scooped up by white idiots who want to know that they are racist to the core, without knowing it.

In DiAngelo’s view, the very fact that I am critical of the idea that racism is as embedded in my white DNA as my skin color is proof beyond doubt that I am a racist.

She knows this because, well, she knows it. It’s based on her years of conducting clinics shaming white people for their hidden bigotry.  If you challenge her methodology and epistemology as anecdotal, fraudulent, pseudo-scientific, idiotic and blinkered beyond belief, you might as well tattoo “racist” across your forehead.

My pathetic fellow white racists, you can’t see your racism because you have been unconsciously programed by your white privilege to deny your intrinsic racism. Despite your most passionate denials, it’s there, lurking just, well, skin deep. Rest assured, DiAngelo, herself a person of white, will set you straight. 

Somehow, she has pried open the heads of millions of white people to discover the rot hidden there, even though she doesn’t know me, or you, or you.

It gets even better.

As described in a review in New Yorker:

In DiAngelo’s almost epidemiological vision of white racism, our minds and bodies play host to a pathogen that seeks to replicate itself, sickening us in the process. Like a mutating virus, racism shape-shifts in order to stay alive; when its explicit expression becomes taboo, it hides in coded language. Nor does prejudice disappear when people decide that they will no longer tolerate it.

Like Covid-19 is a disease, racism is a disease for which there is no vaccine. You can’t get rid of it by wanting or trying to gt rid of it.

More from the above review:

Even the racial beliefs and responses that feel authentic or well-intentioned have likely been programmed by white supremacy, to perpetuate white supremacy.

In other words, your belief that all black lives matter is programed by white supremacy to perpetuate white supremacy.”

And in the face of this, do you dare to think that you are an individual, a product of your free will, your experiences, your reasoning and even your own emotions? No way:

Such ideologies include individualism, or the distinctly white-American dream that one writes one’s own destiny, and objectivity, the confidence that one can free oneself entirely from bias.

And for those whites who so strongly despise and speak out against  racism, your feelings might only be a dodge to avoid facing your obligation to, well, genuflect and repent:

You may have subconsciously developed your strong negative feelings about racism in order to escape having to help dismantle it.

The absurdity, irrationality and high-flying speculation of all this (and more) is breath-taking. It’s bizarre. More than that, it is dangerous.

This is food for those who see life as simply explained, in terms of black and white and in ways that appeal to emotion instead of reason. It is trash posing as scholarship. It is designed to guilt well-meaning people. It is does exactly the opposite of what it claims to do: it divide us into combating groups.

This book frightens. That so many people, many of them well-intentioned, take this as The Word, is alarming. It fuels the hatred and violence that maims America today.

But I’m glad that it is published. It exposes the warped thinking to the bright light of truth.

Even with Illinois in Phase 4 of its COVID-19 plan, college football in the state remains as much up in the air as a well-struck punt into swirling winds. So much is still unknown.

As July approaches, Division I athletes have been allowed to participate in voluntary activities for roughly a month. According to the NCAA Division I Council, schools were “expected to make decisions based on the health, safety and well-being of their student-athletes and in compliance with local, state and federal regulations.”

Patty Viverito, commissioner of the Missouri Valley Football Conference in which Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois compete, serves on the council.

While Prairie State Pigskin emailed Viverito last week for an interview, no response was returned.

Viverito told Todd Hefferman of The Southern Illinoisan in a mid-May story, “We will make a decision that makes the most sense for the most amount of people, and that’s going to be directed by states and municipalities, and where they are with COVID-19 and where we are with testing, and where we are with campuses open. It’s not going to be 100%, and I don’t think there’s any doubt if it’s less than 100% we could go.”

Kyle Schwartz, Ohio Valley Conference assistant commissioner for media relations, told Prairie State Pigskin, “Right now we don’t have finalized policies regarding COVID-specific items. Our administrators have talked it through and we have a health and safety working group with doctors, athletic trainers, etc. who have been working on policies for when competition begins.”

Thus, though some players are back on campus, what happens going forward is still a question mark.

Positive tests nationally

Anyone following college football has no doubt seen the number of positive COVID-19 tests among athletes.

Roughly one-third of Clemson’s roster has tested positive in the past month. Reports stated at least 30 of LSU’s players are currently in isolation after either testing positive or having contact with those who did test positive for the virus.

Closer to home, a recent si.com story stated that University of Illinois athletics officials have refused to release numbers or specific names of players that have returned to the Champaign-Urbana campus for voluntary workouts. U of I athletics officials are also refusing, citing medical privacy laws as the formal reason, to report any positive COVID-19 tests.

Illinois State is scheduled to open its season Sept. 4 against the U of I in Champaign.

Big Ten medical leaders have settled on a three-stage approach for easing into football, increasing in the frequency of testing with each stage: (1) return to campus, (2) return to practice and (3) return to competition.

Randy Reinhardt of The Pantagraph reported that approximately 60 ISU players are going through conditioning drills in small groups with members of ISU’s strength and conditioning staff. Reinhardt further noted that ISU coaches are not allowed to directly work with players until July 23. Coaches and players are still allowed to meet virtually.

Reinhardt’s story added, “Redbird players start each day with a COVID-19 screening. They are then given a colored bracelet to indicate they have been cleared for that day’s activity.”

Meanwhile, a recent si.com story stated that athletes rights advocates are concerned about the varying college reopening plans. Certainly money plays a role. On average, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test (which determines if a person is currently infected) can cost $100-200 each. To perform a requisite amount of testing on each athlete, prices can soar to more than $400,000, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told SI last month. Other estimates go much higher. 

A school’s insurance may cover the cost, but like many questions connected to the virus, that’s still unanswered. 

Fans in the stands?

As Hefferman’s story noted, Phase 4 allows for gatherings of 50 people or more. Phase 5, the last one, would clear the way in the state to get back to what is considered normal.

“All the discussions we’re having right now are scenario-driven,” SIU athletic director Liz Jarnigan told Hefferman. “Everyone is very hopeful to have fans in the stands this fall, but everybody knows we have to be as realistic as possible. One of the scenarios for the fall would be no fans. That’s something certainly nobody wants. My hope for our community and Southern Illinois is that football comes as a celebration of our ability to come together and be united as a region.”

In Macomb, WIU head coach Jared Elliott hopes to have his team on campus for the involuntary workout period for mid-July.

“I kind of have all these different schedules in my mind, written down on paper, trying to plan, still nothing is concrete, I hope we’re soon, so maybe you have an idea, but we have different plans if we’re early July, mid July for our approach and how soon we can go,” Elliott told Scott Holland of the McDonough County Voice last week. “We will as a staff communicate, but until we get the green light, you don’t really know what you’re going to put in place, but it is important to know what and when you put things in place, we do have plans ready to go, so we’ll see what happens.”

No doubt, the same is true for EIU, SIU and ISU.

Money ball

As with virtually all aspects of the economy, the coronavirus has hit athletic departments hard. Across the nation, sports have been cut and athletic department budgets have been frozen or trimmed. Last week, for example, WIU announced it was suspending its swimming and diving programs.

Longtime FCS power Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference has been hard hit. Ryan Collingwood of the Spokesman (Wash.) Review tweeted that Eastern Washington’s athletic programs and administrative units will lose 30% of their operating budgets; administrators and coaches have been asked to take reductions in salary and roughly 12 vacant positions in the athletic department won’t be filled.

Traditionally, most FCS schools schedule annual games with FBS opponents to gain large financial guarantees that infuse money into the FCS athletic budgets.

According to a recent report by HERO Sports, three of the four Illinois FCS programs are set for these 2020 paydays:

Sept. 4 ISU at Illinois $450,000

Sept. 12 SIU at Wisconsin $500,00

Oct. 10 EIU at Kentucky $500,000

If these days aren’t played, the financial hit to the state athletic departments will certainly be felt.

Transfers

The summer months have traditionally been a time for college football programs to add transfers to their rosters.

While this will still continue to be the case this year, there comes added uncertainty that COVID-19 has delivered. After all, there were no campus visits or in-person evaluations of transfers.

“It’s difficult because like any other recruits they want to see your campus and facilities. They want to be around you a little bit. It’s going to be difficult, it won’t stop you from trying to do that [consider transfers]. Depending on when we go back, some of them may have to come sight unseen. That’s a risk for them and us,” ISU head coach Brock Spack told Prairie State Pigskin this spring.

For most programs, there was no spring practice. Thus a player who transferred during the winter did not get practice reps with his new team. Whether they get to practice with their new teams remains a question that the coming weeks will likely provide answers.

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EIU Panthers, Illinois State Redbirds, SIU Salukis, WIU Leathernecks

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  Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).

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We are heading out to Shamrock Park in Berrian Springs, MI today. By the time you get this, I’ll be traversing the Indiana Toll Road south, to EB I-65, and north up into Michigan. Here’s your rundown of picks from my latest Release Radar.

HAIM has finally released their third album, Women In Music Pt. III, which has been a long time in the making. We have heard four strong songs, and today we get the rest of the batch produced by Rostam Batmanglij, of Vampire Weekend. I’m definitely getting that Rostam vibe on “Now I’m In It,” and “Don’t Wanna,” and can’t wait to hear the rest. This combo is lethal!

This week Ray Lamontagne releases his 8th album Monovision. His first single off of it, “We’ll Get Through,” is his, folkie, bread and butter, while the second, “Strong Enough” was more rock and roll. I’m hoping that rock vibe continues. I can deal with a little Neil Young, but too much can bring the party down.

Khruangbin has been all over Sirius XMU with their single “Time (You and I) and I love their style. Their new album Mordechai is out today, and it’s a breath of fresh air.

The Spanish infused, flamenco of “Pelota” is just what the doctor ordered for some summer revival time.

Good to see Dent May in the rundown this week, as well as Cut Copy, they are both consistent in their own right, and continue to carve their own paths.

Don’t forget about that jazz. “Hammerspace” by Andrew Vogt is a jam, with standout guitar and horns. Jack Jezzro, is back with “Moonlight In Vermont, and the Pink Martinis do their thing on “Let’s Be Friends.”

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