Regarding “Leagues not prepared to go all in” (Page C8, Tuesday), the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal law that limited wagering on sports events puts Major League Baseball team owners in an interesting position. The article reports that MLB is “in favor of a state or federal ‘integrity fee’ that would transfer some gambling revenues from casinos to the leagues.”
Wise guys from the mob era called that “a piece of the action” and, apparently, the people who banned Pete Rose for life because he bet on baseball games now think it’s OK to do that, as long as they get their “piece.”
These are the same hypocrites, by the way, who enabled the criminal distribution and consumption of steroids by league players because the eye-popping offensive stats of the likes of Barry Bonds kept fan interest high and the money flowing in.
The bottom line — and it’s always about the bottom line for these guys — is that if they profit, it’s OK. For everybody else, and particularly Pete Rose, they got standards.
Pete Smith, Cypress
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Headlines and the AP
Regarding "Vegas casinos appear ready to embrace sports betting" (Wednesday Business B7), one of the subtle pleasures of reading a newspaper is the creativity editors have in composing the headline. My personal favorites are the puns and alliteration. With this Associated Press article, though, we venture into new territory: overstating the obvious.
I look forward to future AP articles employing this technique; perhaps they could expound on how President Trump feels about Twitter.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
I look forward to future AP articles employing this technique; perhaps they could expound on how President Trump feels about Twitter.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
Franchise Owners Are Hypocrites
Regarding "Leagues not prepared to go all in" (Tuesday Sports Page C8), the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn a federal law that limited wagering on sports events puts team owners in Major League Baseball in an interesting position. The article reports that MLB is "in favor of a state or federal 'integrity fee' that would transfer some gambling revenues from casinos to the leagues."
Wise guys from the mob era called that "a piece of the action", and apparently, the people who banned Pete Rose for life because he bet on baseball games now think it's OK to do that, as long as they get their "piece." These are the same hypocrites, by the way, who enabled the criminal distribution and consumption of steroids by league players because the eye-popping offensive stats of the likes of Barry Bonds kept fan interest high, and the money flowing in.
The bottom line - and it's always about the bottom line for these guys - is that if they profit, it's OK. For everybody else, and particularly Pete Rose, they got standards.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
Wise guys from the mob era called that "a piece of the action", and apparently, the people who banned Pete Rose for life because he bet on baseball games now think it's OK to do that, as long as they get their "piece." These are the same hypocrites, by the way, who enabled the criminal distribution and consumption of steroids by league players because the eye-popping offensive stats of the likes of Barry Bonds kept fan interest high, and the money flowing in.
The bottom line - and it's always about the bottom line for these guys - is that if they profit, it's OK. For everybody else, and particularly Pete Rose, they got standards.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
Sunday, May 13, 2018
LTE: Rumble in Waco
Interesting. This is the letter that was published. Below that is the letter I wrote. The Editors inserted the word "alleged" three times. Why? On a humorous note, I misspelled the word "situation", and they left it in.
Rumble in Waco
Regarding "Waco melee probe falters" (Page A1, Sunday), what is amazing three years later is how little the Waco and state police have revealed about the role they played in the slaughter that left nine bikers dead and 18 injured.
To this day, we don't know how many of the casualties were caused by the police, but that is not the least of the alleged misconduct. The police were there in force and armed to the teeth, yet rather than insert themselves between the gangs and control the situtation, they stayed on the perimeter, allowing the melee to begin. Once it started, they alledgedly shot bikers until the bikers were subdued.
The real story here is the alleged misconduct of law enforcement officials, not unlike those of the Clinton administration in their military siege of the Branch Davidians a quarter century ago, ironically, also in Waco. Hopefully we have learned from that tragedy, and won't allow this one to be similarly swept under the rug.
Pete Smith, Cypress
The letter I wrote:
Regarding "Waco melee probe falters" (Sunday Front Page), based on the stories in the Chronicle three years ago, what is amazing three years later is how little the Waco and state police have revealed as to the role they played in the slaughter that left nine bikers dead and 18 injured.
To this day, we don't know how many of the casualties were caused by the police, but that is not the least of the misconduct. The police were there in force and armed to the teeth, yet rather than insert themselves between the gangs and control the situtation, they stayed on the perimeter, allowing the melee to begin. Once it started, they shot bikers until the bikers were subdued.
The real story here is the misconduct of law enforcement officials, not unlike those of the Clinton administration in their military siege of the Branch Davidians a quarter century ago, ironically, also in Waco. Hopefully we have learned from that tragedy, and won't allow this one to be similarly swept under the rug.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
Rumble in Waco
Regarding "Waco melee probe falters" (Page A1, Sunday), what is amazing three years later is how little the Waco and state police have revealed about the role they played in the slaughter that left nine bikers dead and 18 injured.
To this day, we don't know how many of the casualties were caused by the police, but that is not the least of the alleged misconduct. The police were there in force and armed to the teeth, yet rather than insert themselves between the gangs and control the situtation, they stayed on the perimeter, allowing the melee to begin. Once it started, they alledgedly shot bikers until the bikers were subdued.
The real story here is the alleged misconduct of law enforcement officials, not unlike those of the Clinton administration in their military siege of the Branch Davidians a quarter century ago, ironically, also in Waco. Hopefully we have learned from that tragedy, and won't allow this one to be similarly swept under the rug.
Pete Smith, Cypress
The letter I wrote:
Regarding "Waco melee probe falters" (Sunday Front Page), based on the stories in the Chronicle three years ago, what is amazing three years later is how little the Waco and state police have revealed as to the role they played in the slaughter that left nine bikers dead and 18 injured.
To this day, we don't know how many of the casualties were caused by the police, but that is not the least of the misconduct. The police were there in force and armed to the teeth, yet rather than insert themselves between the gangs and control the situtation, they stayed on the perimeter, allowing the melee to begin. Once it started, they shot bikers until the bikers were subdued.
The real story here is the misconduct of law enforcement officials, not unlike those of the Clinton administration in their military siege of the Branch Davidians a quarter century ago, ironically, also in Waco. Hopefully we have learned from that tragedy, and won't allow this one to be similarly swept under the rug.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
Friday, May 11, 2018
Black On White
Regarding "White student calls police on black peer who fell asleep in dorm common room" (Friday Front Page), there was something very familiar about this story, going back to my college days. It wasn't until near the end before my suspicions were confirmed, when I read that the black student - Lolade Siyonbola - admitted that she "had flipped off the lights and went to sleep".
In other words, she turned a common room into her personal bedroom, depriving other students of it's use. Untold in the article is how many times Ms. Siyonbola had committed this offense in the past, but from the reaction of the white student, Sarah Braasch, it had happened before.
This was a common practice 35 years ago by students of all colors. It was rude then, it's rude now, and Ms. Siyonbola is no victim.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
In other words, she turned a common room into her personal bedroom, depriving other students of it's use. Untold in the article is how many times Ms. Siyonbola had committed this offense in the past, but from the reaction of the white student, Sarah Braasch, it had happened before.
This was a common practice 35 years ago by students of all colors. It was rude then, it's rude now, and Ms. Siyonbola is no victim.
Pete Smith
Cypress, TX
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