Because of the war going on in Iraq, I haven’t paid much attention to the winter Olympics this time around. I feel too restless and a little frivolous watching something I now consider a distraction. I’ve been working on a couple of short essays about Jon Langford and Hayder Daffar and was going to try to post them today but instead this caught my eye in today’s Tempo section of the Chicago Tribune:
TURIN 2006 Winners & Lugers:11 days into the Winter Games and the Tempo Subcommittee on Feigning Interest is doing its best to keep the Olympic flame alive. Reported by Maria Mooshil, Linda Bergstrom, Lilah Lohr, Tim Bannon Lucinda Hahn Published February 20, 2006
NBC commentator Tim Ryan: He referred to the "gang-infested Chicago neighborhood" gold medalist Shani Davis grew up in. That would be Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry. Somebody needs a geography lesson.
I grew up in the same Chicago neighborhood. While I have been mugged a few times, I wouldn’t call it “gang-infested.” One guy pulled a gun. When he wouldn’t let me go after I gave him my wallet, I decided to teach the mugger a lesson: Never get close with a gun. I grabbed the barrel and pushed it down towards the ground and started screaming. I fell on the ice. He was so stunned that I had tried to take his gun; he gave up on me and walked away. Another guy stole my bike from me with a shank. A shank is a homemade knife like weapon people usually make in jail. So I’m guessing this guy had been in jail before.
I asked my fellow blogger, Kevin Blanchard what he thought about Ryan’s comment about Hyde Park.
“If he thinks Hyde Park is gang-infested, he should come to my neighborhood, Englewood.”
Mr. Blanchard grew up in Englewood. It unlike Hyde Park does have a reputation for being “gang-infested.”
While I admit I don’t feel very safe going there, the folks I personally know who live there are among Chicago’s best and brightest.
But to return to our topic, I have admit to being mystified that there is so little coverage in the Chicago press about Shani Davis winning a Gold medal. You would think it to be the top story on every TV & radio news program and newspaper. I believe he is the very first African American man to win for speed skating. Vonetta Flowers is the first woman who in 2002 won Gold for bobsled. Although I’m sure some African Americans resent that there has to be a “Black History Month”, the Chicago press usually makes such a big deal about it.
On the Web:
TURIN 2006 Winners & Lugers
Shani Davis does it his way, wins gold medal
Friend proud of Davis’ Olympic gold
Shani Davis
2 comments:
Oh ... that's you who were mugged and grabbed the guy's gun? I didn't read carefully enough the first time round. You're quite the heroin. Er. Heroine?
Although you're not as brave as the U of C student I know who actually befriended her two muggers and ended up in the car with them, smoking a blunt! lol ... what a story.
Oh ... that's you who were mugged and grabbed the guy's gun? I didn't read carefully enough the first time round. You're quite the heroin. Er. Heroine?
Although you're not as brave as the U of C student I know who actually befriended her two muggers and ended up in the car with them, smoking a blunt! lol ... what a story.
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