02/06/24
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 6th.
African American Coaches Day.
So naturally… let’s go to the numbers!
In the NFL – just over 56% of the players are Black, but out of 32 teams, there are only 6 Black head coaches. Out of 32 teams.
In MLB, 66.7% of coaches are white. 8.9% are Black.
The NBA is the only one that has made a genuine effort to diversify their coaching staff and now half of the franchise coaches are Black. Although the W has yet to follow suit, with only 2 Black women coaching in the 12-team league. And in the 21-year history of the league, only 21.5% of head coaches have been Black women.
And that’s just the professional team, to say nothing of college and other leagues. The NBA is proof that, just like diversifying is a choice… so is not working to diversify.
And now, the news.
Border Deals Hit Predicted Speedbump
Let’s start with the border deal, which is headed to a vote in the Senate this week and facing quite the battle, with 23 Senators already publicly signally they’re against it, including Mississippi’s Senator Wicker saying, “I think the proposal is dead,” and Mitch McConnell recommending a no vote in a closed door meeting.
As a reminder, in the House, Speaker Johnson has already said the bill, as is, is “dead on arrival.”
So we’ll see how things go, what ends up happening. But I do want to clarify something that’s in the bill but getting lost in translation out in the world, which is the claim that the bill could permit 5,000 illegal crossings into the country every day.
That’s not what’s in the bill.
What the bill does is give officials the authority to summarily remove migrants, essentially shutting the border to illegal crossings, after a certain number: an average of 5,000 encounters per day for a week, or 8,500 in a single day.
So again, this one’s got a tough hill to climb but if we’re gonna do anything here, it’s make fun of people who deserve it and try and combat some fake news.
What a hero I am.
King Charles III
In a statement released on Monday, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles has been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer and he will “postpone public-facing duties” while continuing with business and office work as usual.
What work that entails, I couldn’t tell ya but he’s a human being so, you know, get well soon.
In the meantime, Prince William will return to his duties (again, couldn’t tell ya what those are) after taking time off to take care of his wife who was in the hospital for two weeks following abdominal surgery and is expecting a two-to-three month recovery.
For… abdominal surgery.
So uh… who knows. But hopefully everyone recovers and feels better soon from… uh… well, who knows what, frankly.
I mean, listen, certainly everyone is entitled to their privacy, especially when it comes to their health, but like… two weeks in the hospital and a two to three month recovery time for abdominal surgery?
I’m no doctor, but I did also work on Hart of Dixie so I am kind of a doctor and…
Southern California Storm
-via AP News
It’s still raining here in LA.
Cold, too.
And that’s traffic and weather on the tens and twos.
Tracy Chapman
-via NPR
And hey, let’s end with some cool news:
After Sunday’s Grammys performance with Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car, as well as her 1988 debut album, are both sitting at number 1 on iTunes.
It originally peaked at number six.
And I just like this story because she’s great. The song’s great. And, you know… it’s just great.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
Not a ton of news when there’s a border bill to tank because a candidate for president, not even the official nominee technically just a candidate, would rather have chaos at the border and so he’s influencing his party to tank actual legislation to help his campaign.
I’m proud of excellent coaches. We all know I’m an athlete.
But more than my widely known, widely celebrated, athleticism… because you are also amazing… I’m proud of you.