ENGLISH & Other Dead Languages

Kirby Puckett Is Dead. Good Riddance

When I was in junior high school, high school and even into college, my favorite professional athlete was Kirby Puckett. I liked him even more than Michael Jordan or Denver Nuggets Hall-of-Famer Alex English. I loved the way he always smiled, the all out hustle he exhibited on the field, the way he delivered in the clutch, both at the plate and in the field. He was the face and heart of the perennially underdog Minnesota Twins, who won two World Series while he played for them seemingly on the basis of Puckett's energy and the gritty starting pitching of first Jack Morris, then Frank Viola alone. Then Puckett retired--prematurely because of glaucoma in one eye--and I found out, along with the rest of America that Puckett was not only not a Hall of Fame person, he may have been a dangerous sociopath who abused and harassed women and beat his wife. I've never had an athlete as a hero, but I stopped being even a fan of Kirby Puckett.

Puckett died this weekend after complications from a stroke. He was 45. He was too young, yes, but I wonder if the women he hurt in his life, both the ones who went public and those who were too intimidated to do so, are going to miss him. I kind of doubt it. But in the national media, especially on ESPN (which is in bed with Major League Baseball as a broadcast partner of the sham World Baseball Classic) you won't hear very much of the dark side of Kirby Puckett. They'll show you that million dollar smile and the highlights of all of his big hits and big catches. They'll trot out all of the numbers that made him a legitimate Hall of Famer on the field and they'll televise testimonials from former teammates, from baseball writers and from Twins fans who will have you believe that Kirby Puckett was the greatest human being to walk the Earth since Jesus Christ.

Just remember this: athletes are human beings first, sports superstars second. In some ways, they are more damaged goods as humans than most of the rest of us because they have often been coddled through life because of their abilities, allowed to get away with more, they have more money, more handlers to protect them from the day-to-day grind of living and relating to other people in a normal way. This is not to make an excuse for Kirby Puckett, but it should be a reminder to all of us to separate the deeds on the field from the deeds of the man. One does not excuse or supplant the other.

Ali Farka Toure (1939-2006)

Another celebrity death from the weekend (they're coming fast and furious now--I'm a little concerned!) was noted Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure. He was best known for his bluesy style and deeply moral traditional West African songs. His collaborations with American roots musicians Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal have been background music staples of Starbuck's coffee shops for years (okay, not high praise, but how many other African musicians got that kind of exposure here in the States?) I will miss him. I scarcely did his musical career and influence justice, so instead I point you to the excellent New York Times obituary. I encourage you to look up his music--you won't be disappointed.

Jay Bennish - Not Dead Yet, but the Conservatives Are Coming for Him...

If you haven't heard, Jay Bennish is the Aurora, CO 10th grade geography teacher who has become the center of another one of those quarterly American culture wars because of comments he made to his class about capitalism and President George W. Bush.

I encourage anyone reading this blog to check out the audio of the class in question, recorded by student Sean Allen (you can download it through WindowsMedia.com) and form your own opinion. My opinion is pretty basic and to me indicative of a tempest in a teacup, which is why I've held off commenting on it until now despite a tangential connection to the story (which I will choose not to reveal). I don't think Mr. Bennish did anything wrong, especially since he was careful to couch his statements as his opinion and he repeatedly asked his students to do the reading and form their own conclusions--which is what a good teacher is supposed to do. Is it maybe not so judicious to compare President Bush to Adolf Hitler in a classroom full of 15 and 16-year olds? Yes...but he didn't say Bush was Hitler or even that Bush was like Hitler--he was making a point (ironically) about free speech and the twisting of language by those in power, a lesson his detractors would do well to learn.

Frankly, if Jay Bennish taught in Berkeley, CA or even up the road in Boulder, he might not have drawn so much attention. Aurora, CO is a wonderfully diverse, very large suburb east of Denver (about 300,000 people) that leans just very slightly to the right of the political spectrum, although it's not nearly as conservative as say, any large city in Texas outside of Austin or most of the rest of Colorado. But I think it's sad that the pitchforks are out for a teacher who is trying to get students to think for themselves instead of just memorize rote facts and figures. Seems to me, artless as some of his statements were, Jay Bennish should celebrated, not suspended. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

By the way, are tape recorders standard equipment in high school classrooms these days? Boy, I had it rough when I was in high school!

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Did you notice how today's topics had nothing to do with the content of the blog? Just a catchy headline, designed to try and suck you in and keep you reading until it's too late. That's kind of like a lot of right wing websites and talk radio shows. They lure you in --"The Story The Liberal Media Missed!"--and before you know it you're waist-deep in GOP propaganda. I'm sorry to use the same technique here, but I hope you enjoyed reading today's blog nonetheless.

What will I write about next? I dunno...depends on who dies tonight I guess. Or maybe I'll write about fudge. Whatever.

Peace...