The NFL’s domestic violence issues — and the league’s bungled response — has been inescapable lately.
So for this week’s podcast, we talked to someone who knows the long view when it comes to the league and the perception of athletes in the media, Robert Edelman, a sports historian and professor at UCSD.
There is no precedent for the level of intensity the NFL is facing for cases like Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens player who’s been released from the team and suspended indefinitely from the NFL.
One of the big concerns to come out of the scandal, Edelman said, is the impact it might have on kids who idolize certain players. Kids wear their favorite players’ jerseys and obsess over them in a way that doesn’t exist in other corners of our culture.
“Sports is what we call an empty vessel, kind of like a garbage in and garbage out,” Edelman said.
Jump to 22:33 to hear more of what Edelman had to say.
Also on this week’s podcast, Andy Keatts and guest co-host Randy Dotinga explore the plausibility of philanthropist Malin Burnham’s gambit to form a nonprofit that would purchase U-T San Diego, try to explain what the San Diego City Council was up to with a symbolic vote on the Climate Action Plan and debate Dotinga’s belief that all cyclists are lawless menaces to public safety (he doesn’t really think this).
If you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, please reach out to Emily Tillson.
Listen to the podcast here, on Stitcher or on iTunes.
[fold-audio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/vosd/voice_of_san_diego_09-28-14_0_1411744280.mp3″]
Show Notes
• The San Diego City Council on Monday sent a message to Mayor Kevin Faulconer to include some teeth in the Climate Action Plan he’s expected to release by the end of the month.
• Will the U-T have its fourth owner since 2009? Malin Burnham has confirmed that he is interested is creating a nonprofit that would own the paper.
• Our Hero of the Week is Daniel Orozco for finding a way to use strobe lights and homeless people to notify him when one of the city’s pump systems fails.
• Goat of the Week is college student Blaise Hahs who landed a job with the Carl Demaio campaign, then lost the job for tweeting offensive and inappropriate comments.
• Do veteran deputies at the San Diego County’s Sheriff’s Department make almost 20 percent more than veteran San Diego Police Department officers? A Fact Check this week found Jeff Jordon, vice president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, was dropping truth.