The shooting death of football's Sean Taylor was mangled by the Media
By A.J. Hayes

Fox News isn't the only media outlet that lets the facts get in the way of a good story.

Last week the sports media throughout the nation stumbled over themselves painting a "Boyz n the Hood" story line behind last week's tragic shooting death of pro football star Sean Taylor in south Florida.

The theory was that Taylor just couldn't shake his ghettoized past.

It's an idea that's quickly becoming one of the most commonly used race-related clichés in sports. It's a versatile stereotype too, adaptable to any African-American athlete who's either a crime victim or is implicated in a violent crime.

While police in the early stages of their investigation said the attack did not appear to have any gangland connection, the media - columnists and sports talk show hosts who had minimal knowledge of Taylor's life away from the gridiron - weren't having any of it.

It was clearly a "home invasion" they said, orchestrated by a vindictive group of Taylor's former running mates, who were kicked to the curb when Taylor inked a $19 million contract to play defensive back for the Washington Redskins.

by Paula Connelly

Have patience, it progressively gets weirder. The best part is that it actually works. Ever since our illustrious receptionist Dena enlightened me to this video, I've been walking around the office singing, "spare me my life!"

By Benedict Sinclair

SF Tea Party for 9/11 Truth
Dec. 16, 1pm
Pier 39
415-451-8102
www.communitycurrency.org

Hoo, boy -- here come the truth fetishists. They’re still groping away at that mirage in the distance where we all get to know what actually happened on 9/11, who was behind it, and how to claim the tragedy for political means in order to replace one lame duck for another in that most outmoded of positions, "American president". The Boston Tea Party is slated to become another terribly misused reference to successful protest in this, its 234th anniversary, as activists try to gather angry Americans not sold on the media's representation of the World Trade Center bombings at both Bostonian and San Franciscan docks. Attendants are asked to dress in colonial attire—preferably from the late 18th Century (leave the pith helmet at home, Grandpa)—and to bring fifes and drums, presumably for their distracting novelty value.

Not exactly recycling, but ....

"Proclamations" will be made denouncing such garbage as the 9/11 Commission Report, PATRIOT Act, Military Commissions Act, and just the broad, general notion of all-around tyranny. "Genuine" investigation, accountability and impeachment will be called for. The final act of protest will be a mass dumping of cardboard and bleached paper—a series of large, corny replicas of the actual published work being protested—into that precious natural resource: the San Francisco Bay. At least they could make ash of the boxes first, like they’re doing in Milwaukee, and in a slightly more tasteful and harmless move stick to dumping spent carbon instead.

Yes, let's all wheel a bunch of junk effigies down to the bay and dump them in the water in a game of dress-up, all on the basis that errors can be found in each account given on the attacks, which isn’t exactly the most surprising turn of events since the trial in Rashomon.

Getting the word out for a friend whose cousin has been missing for 2 weeks:

Alicia Amanda Stokes, who goes by Mandy, is 33 years old, 5'4" with blonde hair and green eyes. She was last seen on Sunday, November 25 at her home in Oakland. Her car was found abandoned containing her wallet and cell phone at 5000 Park Blvd, one freeway exit away from her home. If you have any information that could lead to Mandy's safe
return home to her family, please call 404-931-7044 or 702-318-1590 or the Oakland Police Department who is investigating her case.

By AJ Hayes

It's interesting how the NFL promotes itself as the all-American sport while making its players follow a zipped-lip policy you might have expected to find behind the Iron Curtain. That's the Iron Curtain of the former USSR, not the Steel Curtain of the '70s Pittsburgh Steelers.

For all the times football fans have had to sit through incessant flag waving John Mellencamp's "This is Our County" Chevy ads during NFL telecasts you might have thought that the NFL big wigs would have freedom of speech as a basic right of it's employees.

The Ravens' Samari Rolle

But when you see what happened to four Baltimore Ravens players this past week after they spoke out about what they perceived as poor officiating calls and insulting treatment that got personal from game officials, during a very tough 27-24 loss to New England on Monday Night Football (Dec. 3) you would realize that the NFL believes the first amendment rights apply only to the shot callers, not the grunts who break their necks (sometimes, literally) so the NFL stuffed shirts can also stuff their wallets on a weekly basis.

Don’t freak out if you missed Folsom this summer, or if you forgot to pop into the Mission for Cinco De Mayo, or couldn’t make it Pride or whatever. This is San Francisco, remember? The sun may be gone, but the gratuitous rallies ain’t stopping anytime soon. If anything, winter means it’s time to get extra fucked-up and crazy, which is what all the freaks and burner kids will be doing at the 13th annual SantaCon Convention.

Here’s the deal. As night begins to fall on December 15th, thousands of filthy and depraved Santa Clauses will be finishing up their alcohol-fueled photo sessions, closing their tabs at dive-bars, calling up their hoes, and collectively stumbling toward Pier 39. By 5:45 chaos will be in full effect as the Santas begin marching down the Embarcadero toward Union Square. Expect a lot of slutty Mrs Clauses, drunk elves, pissed off holiday shoppers, and the usual bunch of kooky naked dudes. It’s gonna be dangerous. It’s gonna be dirty. It’s gonna be absolute Santarchy!

Photo of last year's SantaCon by Lane Hartwell

By Iris Tablas-Mejia
It’s that time of year again! Dust off your red and white apparel ‘cause a fleet of debauched Santas will be running amok through San Francisco again on Saturday, Dec. 15, spreading their unconventional holiday cheer to bars, city landmarks, jaded locals, and unsuspecting tourists starting at 10 a.m. at the Pier 39 carousel.

Since Santacon’s creation by the Cachophony Society in 1994, cities across the nation have adopted San Francisco’s merry tradition, including Miami, Nashville, Portland, and Madison, WI, to name a few. Countries such as Germany, Thailand, Sweden, and Cambodia have also organized their own Santarchy invasions. According to Michael Michael of the San Francisco Cacophony Society—a group that has been involved with other mass events such as the Brides of March, the Urban Iditarod, and the Salmon Run during Bay to Breakers—Santacon is especially popular in Japan.

“The popularity of Santacon in foreign countries has a lot to do with the extent that American culture and its icons have spread beyond our borders,” explained Michael in an email.

Santacon appears to be as synonymous with the holiday season in San Francisco as Christmas itself, but don’t call it a movement. “That’s what you do in the bathroom,” reads the website dedicated to the non-movement, Santarchy.com.

The itinerary for this year’s Santacon is a closely guarded secret, but late arrivers can sign up for updates on the progress via text message. However, the Santarchy website does hint at its plan to “deflower virgin territory.” Last year, the jolly ol’ St. Nicks and Nickettes made an impromptu appearance at a wedding in North Beach, so there’s no telling what the Santas will get into this time around.

Mitchell, the owners' man

By A.J. Hayes

Boy, George Mitchell’s juicy report on baseball’s performance enhancing drug epidemic sure pepped up the news week.

The 409-page report was part CSI Cooperstown, and part gossipy tattler sheet with tons of tasty tidbits ranging from the names of nearly 100 players (the big one being Roger Clemens), to anecdotes detailing some of the black market purchases, including dealer Kirk Radomski returning home to find an overnight package stuffed with $8,000 in cash laying in a rain puddle at his doorstep.

But the more you delve into the Mitchell Report the fishier it smells.

First off couldn’t baseball find someone other than Mitchell, a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox, to head the investigation? Mitchell may very well be ethically impregnable, but the fact is he has both feet planted in an owner’s box. Was it a coincidence that virtually no current or former Red Sox players, besides Mo Vaughn, disliked in Boston for the way he departed the team, was mentioned in the report?

Was George Will too busy rearranging his bow-tie collection?

In the report, Mitchell gave ownership a slap on the wrist. The lion’s share of the blame went to the players – most of them little known utility-infielders and back of the bullpen relief pitchers.

The fact is baseball was rolling along happily collecting the real cash box profits garnered by artificially inflated players over the past decade.

After the owners canceled the 1994 World Series, baseball’s popularity took a nose dive. It wasn’t until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s thrilling competition for the single season home run record in 1998 did the fans come back.

Why, because it was damn entertaining. These buffed out sluggers had their selfish reasons for juicing, yes, but they also helped save the sport in the process. The owners knew it, the players knew it and any fan that it isn’t natural for a 38-year-old pitcher to get drastically better, knew it as well.

It wasn’t until congress got involved, threatening baseball with the removal of it anti-trust exemption that the owners considered a clean-up.

One of the players named, former San Francisco and Oakland bench warmer F.P. Santangelo, has come out this week and admitted his usage.

It’s time for an owner came out and said the same thing. Yes they had knowledge that something was up but did not act because the fans were eating the homers and strike outs, not to mention stadium hot dogs, up like crazy.

Someone has to say that, because the Mitchell Report does not.

Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith battled for the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium, but black coaches are still very much in the minority

By A.J. Hayes

If you’re a major college football institution, tis’ the season to get filthy rich.

Over the next week, millions of American football fans will be glued to their sofas and easy chairs watching an endless string of bowl games, and the schools will rake in the cash.

In between the beer and razor blade commercials, fans will comment on the exciting play, marvel at the colorful pageantry and debate who really is No. 1 in the nation.

But how many of these viewers will realize that while a great percentage of the amateur athletes competing in these cash cow contests are black, each head coach to a man will be white.

Apparently not too many. If there were, these football factories would at least be working to fix the discrepancy. Right now they appear to care not one bit.

According to the Black Coach’s Association, African-Americans currently comprise 50.8 of football players at the 124 Division I universities. But the number of black head coaches at this school is a pitiful five: Buffalo’s Turner Gill, Washington’s Tyrone Willingham, Kansas State’s Ron Prince, and Miami’s Randy Shannon.

The diversity figures at secondary athletic division schools aren’t any better. Just seven of the 119 division 1-A, non-historically black schools, have minority coaches. Four of the 122 Division 1-AA football coaches are black.

And its not like these schools are playing coy, even with pressure applied by the Black Coaches Assoction, two colleges, Ole Miss and Texas A & M recently didn’t even bother to search out black candidates for lip service interviews before giving the high paying slots to Mike Sherman and Houston Nutt, respectively. .

This isn’t just a problem in the Deep South where deep- pocketed alumni call the shots. At the start of the current football season the Pac 10 had two black coaches Tyrone Willingham at Washington and Karl Durrell at UCLA, by the end of the season that total was halved when durrell was dumped despite producing a winning season.

Some have suggested that black athletes boycott the schools that refuse to give minority coaches a fair shake. That would certainly get the point home, buy in the end that would only penalize the athletes. Universities especially state run school must institute a criterion that schools getting public funding consider and hire a diverse range of candidates – including those who mirror the makeup of their sport.