Welcome to the debut of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine’s new daily/weekend news roundup, The Byline Report, which is a contemplation of news events that are current and relevant.
Short and sweet, The Byline Report will touch upon events with a blurb of facts and information, along with a dash of snarkiness and opinion.
Without further adieu, here are the new events from July 29 – August 3, that are making headlines now.
Ariel Castro Sentenced – Castro, the man who held three young Cleveland-area women, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus for over a decade, would be sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years(that is NOT a typo!) for sexual battery, rape and the killing of an unborn child during the women’s time in captivity. For Berry, DeJesus and Knight that Castro’s eventual corpse and great-great-great-great-great-great grand-ashes will never live to see the light of day is a fitting and comfortable end to their horrific ordeal.
Aaron Hernandez Speaks – Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez finally broke his silence recently with a recently released statement proclaiming that “God put me in the situation for a reason” and that he is—insert snicker—a great person. Right! So let me get this straight! You(Hernandez) are a multi-millionaire at the age of 23, play for one of the most successful NFL franchises in the Patriots, are newly engaged and yet you choose to channel your inner Grand Theft Auto fetish?
Really?
I hope for your sake that in God you’re referring to your new cellmate putting you in a new position as wide receiver, because you are no longer a tight end.
The Riley Cooper Dilemma – the embattled wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver—for now—would recently be excused from team activities to seek counseling for making a derogatory racial slur for African-Americans at a Kenny Chesney concert. The fourth-year wide out from Florida would be fined and is a media lightning rod on race and sports.
What makes the Cooper dilemma even more difficult is the fact it was made in one of the largest African-American cities(Philadelphia) and one of the most ardent and vocal fan bases in all sports.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 44.3 percent of the population of Philadelphia is African-American, if Cooper would have made such a comment in a heavily black city such as Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta—which has the largest amount of African-American season ticket holders—then Cooper will be facing even more backlash than he is now.
What is truly sad about this whole story is that within the black community, many spew the n-word around freely, and even in common speech at times, as a fellow African-American, I’m in the minority in feeling that the n-word needs to die and erased from our language and culture entirely.
Unfortunately, that will not happen in my lifetime and probably not in my bi-racial daughter’s either.
While racism is unfortunately alive and well in sports, politics and everyday life, both sides—black and white—need to face this dark seed on our society head-on and work to abolish it permanently first, before socially castrating the likes of Cooper.
News and Notes : No-Go For Romo – per media reports, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will not play in the Hall-Of-Fame game against the Miami Dolphins. Sounders FC Land Dempsey – Seattle has successfully landed former Fulham and Tottenham Spurs midfielder –and current USMNT player—Clint Dempsey via transfer for $32 million, Oden Signs with Heat – former 2007 top overall pick and the heir apperent to the Sam Bowie/Ralph Samson throne of NBA big men busts, Greg Oden, has signed a two-year deal with Miami.
Robert D. Cobb is the Founder/CEO/Senior Editor-In-Chief Of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine, for questions, comments and concerns email me at robcobb@theinscriber.com follow me on Twitter @RC_TheInscriber and follow The Inscriber : Digital Magazine on Twitter at @TheInscriber