Sportsmanship
On Saturday, Northville High School defeated Brother Rice High School 2-1 to win Northville’s first state championship. Northville is coached by Dan Cimini who prior to this year coached at Grosse Point University Liggett High School where he won five state championships. Brother Rice is coached by Bob Riker. Both coaches are class acts. I umpired multiple games for both coaches over the years and never had any issues with either coach.
Riker has always been near and dear to my heart because of the respect he shows toward the game, his team, and umpires. His handling of another loss in the state finals by one run (he lost in 2013 to Bay City Western 1-0) earns him my Orchid of the Day and Quote of the Day. Here is Riker’s quote following the game.
“We just couldn’t get the big hit and that’s the nature of the game, but that’s why you play, that’s why you coach because it’s uncertainty every single time, so you go in thinking you want to just throw strikes, catch the ball, put the ball in play and compete like none other. There’s always a winner and loser. It’s hard to be a champion. It would have been awesome to win the championship, but the journey means more and who you take that journey with, and I love these kids. They did everything right and I will miss them.”
I know that the above is very genuine. When he lost a double header to Howell in two highly competitive games, he was quick to complement me and my partner Todd for a job well done.
Legends
Last week, Jerry West, the Los Angeles Lakers legend and one of the greatest basketball players in history, died at 86. West was a 14-time all-star as a player, and as an executive he helped assemble two Lakers dynasties. His silhouette adorns the N.B.A. logo.
Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players in history died yesterday at age 93. Mays was one of the original 5-tool players, as he was rated with the highest score for speed, hitting, power, defense and throwing. His basket catches on routine fly ball were unique to him. He is the only player in MLB history with over 600 homeruns, 3,000 hits, 100 triples, 500 doubles, and 1900 RBI. See my Video of the Day
Red Flag Law
Per Bridge Michigan, a Shelby Township man who opened fire on an Oakland County splash pad was so worried the government was tracking him that he carried a gun in his own home — but still legally possessed the gun he used to wound nine people.
A law that went into effect this year in Michigan is designed to allow judges to confiscate weapons from people like Michael William Nash, 42, who police say had 11 more guns at the home he shared with his mother.
But gun laws failed to stop the Saturday shooting for one simple reason: Nobody asked a court or law enforcement to intervene.
The limits of the law came into sharper focus on Monday as more details emerged about the shooter. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters that the man’s mental health struggles were well-known among relatives.
“It appears he had been musing about different things, saying, ‘shut your phone off. We’re being watched. They are listening to us.’ Walking around the house with weapons,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Monday.
Prior to Saturday’s shooting, Michigan’s new “red flag” law has so far been used roughly 100 times for court orders to confiscate guns from individuals who pose an immediate risk to themselves or others.
Under the red flag law, which took effect in February, a judge can only issue an extreme risk protection order after an individual petitions a court and shows why immediate harm could occur.
Those who can petition include members of law enforcement, health care professionals, and members of a person’s immediate family or people who reside in the same household as them.
That does not include neighbors, who described the splash pad shooter as a “loner” who kept to himself.
Bump Stocks
From Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American.
By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court said the ATF did not make that decision correctly and that bump stocks were not banned under the law.
After the Parkland, Florida, shooting of February 14, 2018, when Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, then-president Trump told reporters that he had been studying the issue of gun safety. This was his first articulated policy on that issue, and although the Parkland shooter did not use a bump stock, Trump said he had told then–attorney general Jeff Sessions to write regulations to ban bump stocks in October of the previous year, after a gunman using them had fired up to 1,000 rounds of ammunition in 11 minutes, killing 58 people and wounding about 500—two died later—at a Las Vegas music festival.
By the time the ATF finalized a new rule on December 18, 2018, Sessions was gone and it was Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker who announced that bump stocks would be classified as a “machinegun” under federal law. The rule went into effect on March 26, 2019. People who owned bump stocks had to get rid of them, either by destroying them or by taking them to an ATF office. The ATF estimated that about 520,000 bump stocks needed to be destroyed.
A Texas gun store owner, Michael Cargill, handed over his two bump stocks under protest and then sued the ATF, saying it did not have the authority to reclassify bump stocks.
Today, in a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court dove deep into the mechanics of bump stocks to try to establish that they were not physically machine guns and that because of differences in the mechanical operations between true machine guns and bump stocks, the law did not prohibit bump stocks. ATF officials thus had no business defining bump stocks as they did in 2018, and those who want them can own them.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote: “There is a simple remedy for the disparate treatment of bump stocks and machineguns. Congress can amend the law—and perhaps would have done so already if ATF had stuck with its earlier interpretation. Now that the situation is clear, Congress can act.”
Indeed, if Congress truly reflected the will of the people, it would have acted on this issue years ago. A Pew poll from June 2023—when bump stocks were illegal—showed that 64% of Americans want assault-style weapons banned altogether, as they were between 1994 and 2004. But Republicans have increasingly fetishized guns as a symbol of individualism, and Republican senators have kept most gun safety legislation at bay by weaponizing the filibuster, which means that any legislation must have not simply a 51-vote majority to pass the Senate, but 60 votes.
Onion of the Day.
Per the NY Times, In the battle to dismantle gun restrictions, raging in America’s courts even as mass shootings become commonplace, one name keeps turning up in the legal briefs and judges’ rulings: William English, Ph.D.
A little-known political economist at Georgetown University, Dr. English conducted a largest-of-its-kind national survey that found gun owners frequently used their weapons for self-defense. That finding has been deployed by gun rights activists to notch legal victories with far-reaching consequences.
He has been cited in a landmark Supreme Court case that invalidated many restrictions on guns, and in scores of lawsuits around the country to overturn limits on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and the carrying of firearms. His findings were also offered in another Supreme Court case this term, with a decision expected this month.
Dr. English seems at first glance to be an impartial researcher interested in data-driven insights. He has said his “scholarly arc” focuses on good public policy, and his lack of apparent ties to the gun lobby has lent credibility to his work. But Dr. English’s interest in firearms is more than academic: He has received tens of thousands of dollars as a paid expert for gun rights advocates, and his survey work, which he says was part of a book project, originated as research for a National Rifle Association-backed lawsuit, The New York Times has found.
Dr. English refused to declare who funded his research. As a result, William English gets my Onion of the Day
And the Beat Goes On
The attacks continue. The deaths continue. Aid continues to struggle to get through to those in need. The Israel War Cabinet has been disbanded. Peace in the Middle East is an oxymoron. There is no end in sight.
The Detroit Piston Owner Tom Gore
As the owner of the Detroit Piston, Tom Gore makes former owner of the Detroit Lions’ William Clay Ford look like a great team owner.
Per the Detroit News, after enduring the worst season in franchise history and weeks of deliberation, the Pistons have decided head coach Monty Williams’ time in Detroit has come to an end.
The Pistons fired Williams Wednesday morning after just one season at the helm, a league source confirmed to The Detroit News.
The decision to officially cut Williams did not come lightly. The Pistons could be on the hook for the more than $60 million left on Williams’ deal that he signed a year ago this month.
“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a team statement. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course moving forward.
“I have great respect for Monty as a coach and as a person and I am certain he will be successful in his future endeavors. I sincerely wish him and his family the very best.”
Williams was NBA coach of the year with the Phoenix Suns, and he became the best coaching candidate on the market after he was fired by the Suns last offseason. Williams initially planned to take this past year off of coaching after his wife, Lisa, was diagnosed with breast cancer during the 2023 playoffs. But the Pistons ultimately offered Williams a record-breaking contract that he couldn’t refuse.
The six-year, $78.5 million deal made Williams the highest-paid coach in NBA history. In his introductory conference last June, Williams, a coach with experience in developing young talent, spoke about his ambitions to turn the team around after years of futility.
Gores and since-ousted general manager Troy Weaver backed up Williams, and there was general belief that the team would take a step forward after finishing with the worst record in the NBA in 2022-23.
Last month, Gores made the move to hire Trajan Langdon to be the team’s first president since 2018 and allowed Langdon the freedom to do what he felt was necessary to fix the Pistons’ woes after yet another season of regression.
“We are unwavering in our commitment to bring a championship-caliber team to Detroit,” Gores said in Wednesday’s statement. “We will be diligent and swift in our search for a new head coach to lead our exciting young core of players and will continue our vision towards building a best-in-class front office that will help us achieve sustainable success.”
Weaver was the first domino to fall in the Langdon era after his franchise restoration didn’t yield successful results in his four years. During Weaver’s tenure, the Pistons had an overall record of 74-244, and they haven’t made the playoffs in five seasons.
Detroit Tigers
Here is the Tigers’ record with the number of runs scored per game for the last six games.
June 14, Astros 4 Tigers 0
June 15, Tigers 13 Astros 5
June 16, Astros 4 Tigers 1
June 17, Braves 2 Tigers 1
June 18, Braves 2 Tigers 1
June 19, Braves 7 Tigers 0
The Tigers scored 13 runs in one game and scored 3 runs total in the other 5 games.
In the game they scored 13 runs, Justin Verlander was the Astros’ scheduled starter, but he was replaced at the last minute before the game. Thus, the Tigers faced an emergency starter that day.
Other than Riley Greene, there is no hitter in the Tiger line-up that scares the opposing pitching staff.
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Quote of the Day: Brother Rice High School Varsity Baseball Coach Bob Riker. See above under Sportsmanship
Orchid of the Day: Brother Rice High School Varsity Baseball Coach Bob Riker. See above under Sportsmanship
Onion of the Day: William English, PhD. See Onion of the Day
Question of the Day: How low will the Detroit Pistons go?
Video of the Day: Willie Mays
A Tribute to Willie Mays | Narrated by Jon Miller (youtube.com)