An Honest Effort

While watching Rep. Jamie Raskin sum up his impeachment case for conviction, I was reminded of a recent conversation with my daughter. Whatever we were talking about, it might have been VCU basketball, it got me to explaining my philosophy to do with a rule about honest efforts I learned from my grandfather as a boy: Always try hard, always give your best effort when playing sports.

Katey is good at pretending to be interested in hearing my old stories about playing sports. Our unspoken understanding is that it better be the brief version. So, to cut to the chase, I told her my grandfather taught me it was shameful to withhold one's best effort during any athletic contest, especially team sports, due to disappointment or anything else. He told me to never quit, no matter how lopsided the score. Moreover, it is one's duty to the game to play it properly.

Naturally, when he took me to a Richmond V's baseball game at Parker Field, when I was little, we always stayed through the last out, no matter the score. He explained: "You never know when you'll see something new." 

Eventually, as it was with everything to do with how to carry oneself properly, while playing sports, I adopted his hard-edged rules about honor (even if following them was sometimes beyond my reach). Therefore, it's at least partially his fault I became so stubborn about going all out -- all the time -- until the game is over. Sometimes my teammates and or opponents found it to be annoying. 

For instance, in basketball, on defense I tended to pick up the man I was guarding at half-court and stay on him, closely, no matter where he went ... also maybe a little hand-checking or a shove when emphasizing the setting of a pick. Some guys don't like that stuff, especially in pickup games. I did it anyway. In softball, in taking an extra base, I happily took out infielders planted in my way, by sliding into their feet to upend them. With Frisbee-golf putts, I didn't much believe in laying up to play it safe.

However, trying your best doesn't mean winning is the only point. As a college basketball coach I interviewed years ago told me -- "Winning is not the goal, it's a byproduct of good preparation and a good effort."

Once the game was over, after the initial rush for winning, or feeling of defeat for losing passed, I wasn't usually as pumped up over winning, or deflated over losing, as some of my teammates (Yes, I'm sure there were some exceptions). 

For the most part, for me, once it was over it was over. That's because I loved the process of striving more than I loved winning. Thus, while I always wanted to win, mostly I was more of a process guy than a results guy. Like Jamie Raskin did, I wanted to make a worthy play in a clutch moment.    

Raskin gave it his all. It was plenty. He should win, but it's like when he got into the game the score was already way in favor of his opposition; something like a mop-up relief pitcher who comes in from the pen in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, the bases loaded and his side down, 12-to-2. 

Nonetheless, Raskin and his fellow managers went all out. There was no lack of striving. I'm proud of their effort and Raskin's leadership, in particular. And even if some craven Republican senators weren't paying attention and they even made a show of it, a lot of young people were watching. Some probably saw something new to them -- an honest effort.

-- 30 --  

Rams Top Flyers

Final Score: VCU 76, Dayton 67
Location: Dayton, Ohio (UD Arena)
Current Records: VCU 14-4 (7-2 A-10), Dayton 11-6 (7-5)

 

The short story: Junior forward Vince Williams and sophomore guard Bones Hyland poured in 19 points apiece to lead VCU to a road victory Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.

 

OPENING TIP

·      Williams hit 7-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range on the way to a career-high scoring night. 

·      Hyland supplied 14 of his 19 in the second half as VCU held off the Flyers. He was 3-of-5 from 3-point range and played all 40 minutes

·      Senior forward Levi Stockard III and freshman guard Ace Baldwin added 10 points each to the VCU cause. Baldwin had three assists and a pair of steals

·      Ibi Watson led Dayton with 20 points

 

THE DIFFERENCE

·      VCU committed a season-low eight turnovers, while forcing 16 Dayton miscues. The Rams outscored the Flyers 29-8 off turnovers

·      In addition to ball security, the Rams were a picture of offensive efficiency. VCU shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field in the game, including 52 percent (12-of-23) from the 3-point line. VCU also finished 10-of-11 at the charity stripe

·      The Black and Gold trailed for most of the first half, but Williams nailed back-to-back 3-pointers during a 10-0 VCU run that provided the Rams with a 39-38 lead with 2:36 left in the first

·      Dayton pulled within 66-65 with 5:59 left, but Hyland scored seven straight VCU points, including a long 3-pointer from the wing, to give the Rams a 73-67 cushion with 3:16 remaining

-    The Rams played their best overall game of the season and to beat the Flyers this time it was needed

 

NOTABLE

·      VCU has defeated Dayton twice this season, including a 66-43 triumph at the Siegel Center on Jan. 23. The Rams are 13-7 all-time against the Flyers

·      The Rams have won four straight games overall. VCU improved to 5-1 on the road in the A-10 play. Last season the Rams were 3-6 on the road in league games

·      Hyland became the first VCU player since JeQuan Lewis at Liberty on Nov. 15, 2016 to play all 40 minutes in a game

·      VCU was without the services of starting forward Corey Douglas, who is nursing an ankle injury

-    Box score 

 

NEXT UP

The stage is set for a first-place clash with St. Bonaventure on Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Siegel Center. That contest will air on ESPN2. 

Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

Democratic impeachment managers' video

First thing for me to say about Day One of the impeachment trial is that I'm glad a well-edited short video documentary is playing such a pivotal role in this unfolding story. OK, the vote results after the presentations were expected, hardly conclusive, but overall, the Democrats won the day. Now we need for a lot of people to see this compelling 13-minute film that reminded me of the work of one of my favorite directors -- Costa-Gavras, who made "Z" (1969).

 

Trump's Son of Impeachment Trial Predictions

Here we go again: On Tuesday the second impeachment trial of the leader of the Trumpist cult is set to get underway. It's an event that will have pundits aplenty opining with certitude about how it will proceed and how it will turn out. Which means, of course, I'm ready to do my part with suggesting what we, the weary people, should expect will likely happen and/or probably not happen. 

But first let's take a look at an article about a new ABC News/Ipsos Poll that offers a snapshot of public sentiment about the former president's ordeal in the Senate and related matters. Spoiler: The headline for the piece reads: 

[A] majority of Americans say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding federal office in the future. 

Now here are my predictions:

Question: What's likely to Happen?

Answer: 1. Republican senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul will do all they can to piss off Democrats. They may even resort to making faces at key Democrats. 2. During the trial, jealous of the attention others are getting, Trump might cook up a stunt to steal the spotlight. Maybe a rally? 

Q: What Ought to Happen or Could Happen?

A: 1. The Democrats' Managers ought to issue a big fat subpoena for Trump to testify. Naturally, he will decline, but it will be hard for him to look good taking the coward's way out. 

2. Trump deserves a conviction and although it seems unlikely, today, think about this: If the damning story of Trump gleefully watching the mayhem unfold live, on TV at the White House -- and doing nothing to try to minimize the danger! -- is told effectively, well, perhaps a conviction becomes more possible. After all, during that crucial time, on Jan. 6, to say Trump was faithfully executing the laws, as per his oath of office, is quite a reach.

3. The GOP top dogs may have an epiphany that their party will be in a much better position in 2022 if Trump can't be a candidate in 2024; mainly because Liz Cheney is right when she says: 

"We have never seen that kind of an assault by a president of the United States on another branch of government and that can never happen again."

Q: What is unlikely to Happen?

A: 1. A mob will probably not be allowed to storm the Capitol. 

2. Trump will probably not be convicted, because the Republicans in Congress are still too afraid of incurring the wrath of the cult's dear leader -- Florida Man.

-- Words and art by F.T. Rea

The Brileys: Those Missing Cards

Note: In June of 1984 Richmonders experienced an abrupt change in the way news was gathered and presented. One monster jailbreak story made that happen. Then I stumbled onto an offbeat gimmick in the world of self-publishing. This piece about that episode was first written in 1988 for publication in SLANT, then I rewrote it in 2005. 

 

Today I have mixed feeling about this episode. Maybe the best thing I can say about it is that I ended up learning more than I bargained for. It certainly proved to me that regardless of the artist's intentions, in the first place, viewers will usually decide for themselves what it means to them ... as I suppose they should.  
  

*

Having terrorized the town with a series of grisly murders five years before, on May 31, 1984, brothers Linwood and James Briley led the largest death-row jailbreak in U.S. history. In all, six condemned men flew the coop by overpowering prison guards, donning the guards’ uniforms and creating a bogus bomb-scare to bamboozle their way out of Virginia’s supposedly escape-proof Mecklenburg Correctional Center.

While their four accomplices were rounded up quickly, the brothers Briley remained at large for 19 days. The FBI captured the duo at a picnic adjacent to the garage where they had found work in Philadelphia.

Linwood was subsequently electrocuted in Richmond on Oct. 12, 1984; likewise, James on Apr. 18, 1985.

While the Brileys were on the run the media coverage, both local and national, was unprecedented. During the manhunt the Brileys-mania led to stories about them being spotted simultaneously in various locations on the East Coast from North Carolina to Canada. When I noticed kids in the Carytown area were pretending to be the Brileys, and playing chasing games accordingly, well, that was just too damn much.

My sense of it then was the depraved were being transformed into celebrities so newspapers and television stations could sell lots of ads. Once they were on the lam, if it came to making a buck, it didn’t seem to matter anymore what the Brileys had done to be on death row.

“OK,” I said to a familiar Power Corner group in the Texas-Wisconsin Border Cafe on a mid-June evening, “if the Brileys can be made into heroes to sell tires and sofas on TV, how long will it be before they're on collectable cards, like baseball cards? (or words to that effect).” To illustrate my point I grabbed a couple of those Border logo imprinted cardboard coasters from the bar and sketched quick examples on the backs, which got laughs.

*

 

Later at home, I sat down at the drawing table and designed the series of cards. To avoid race humor entirely, I used a simple drawing style that assigned no race to the characters. The sense of humor was sardonic and droll. I elected to run off a hundred sets of eight cards each, which were put into small ziplock plastic bags, with a piece of bubble gum included for audacity's sake. I figured to sell them for $1.50 a set and see what would happen.

Traveling about the Fan District on my bicycle, it took about three days to sell the first press-run out of my olive drab backpack. New cards were designed, more sets were printed, more plastic bags, more bubble gum. 

A half-dozen locations began selling “The Brileys” on a consignment basis. Sales were boosted when the local press began doing stories on them. For about a week I was much-interviewed by local reporters and orders to buy card sets began coming in the mail from Europe.

Reporters called me for easy quotes to fill articles on death penalty issues; that I was opposed to the death penalty seemed to strike them as odd. Finding myself in a position to goose a story that was lampooning the overkill presentation of the same press corps that was interviewing me was fun, at first. In the midst of a TV interview I announced that T-shirts commemorating the Brileys' 1984 Summer Tour were on the way.

Apart from my efforts, the hated Briley brothers’ chilling crime spree and subsequent escape inspired all sorts of lowbrow jokes and sick songs, and you-name-it, which did indeed fan the flames of racial hate in Virginia. Naively, I felt no connection to that scene. 

At least, not until a stop at the silk screen printer’s plant suddenly cast a new light on the fly-by-night project that summer's effort was. Walking from the offices to the loading dock meant passing through a warehouse full of boxes, stacked to the ceiling. Suddenly, I was surrounded: Four or five young men closed in and cornered me.

Some of them, if not all, had box cutters in their hands; all of them were definitely Black. At that moment I felt Whiter than Ross Mackenzie. Tension filled the air when their spokesman asked if I was the man behind the cards and T-shirts.

As it was not the first time I’d been subjected to questions about the cards, I quickly asked if any of them had seen the cards, or had they only heard about them? As I suspected, they hadn’t seen them.

Luckily, I had a pack in my shirt pocket, which I took out and handed to the group’s leader. As he studied them, one by one, his cohorts looked over his shoulder. I explained what my original motivation had been in creating the cartoons. No one laughed but the spell was soon broken. I let them keep the cards.

Later I was in a drug store, restocking one of my dealers for the cards, when a White lady with blue hair approached me. She worked there and had seen the cards, which she found unfunny. The woman told me her husband was on the crew that had cleaned up the crime scenes after some of the murders. Then she said that if I was going to profit from it, I should be man enough to hear her out.

So, I did. She gave me specific details. It was mostly stuff I had known, or suspected, but the way she told it was brutal.

At this point the success of my absurd art project seemed to be going sour. I got a call from a reporter asking me what I had to say about Linwood Briley having made some disparaging remarks about my cards. I got peeved and asked the scribe what the hell anybody ought to care about what such a man has to say.

Like it or not, I had become a part of what I had been mocking in the first place, which I mentioned in an interview with a Washington Post reporter writing about the phenomenon.

Rea says he designed the cards to deflate what he saw as the growing mythology of the Brileys, and to lampoon what he viewed as excessive media attention to their exploits. "The cards are deliberately provocative," he said. "I sensed that the Brileys, because of their derring-do, were becoming heroes. People wanted to know everything about them. We had two to three articles in the paper every day down here."

Rea drew the first cartoons for friends. When they found them amusing, he decided to market them at $1.50 a pack. "I'm a little uncomfortable that I'm becoming a part of the point I'm making," he said.

So I decided to withdraw the cards and T-shirts from the market. Today, without the context of the 1984 news stories being fresh, the humor aspect of the cards is somewhat arcane now. All the images were based on details from the aforementioned over-reported stories.

About three years later, I was having a beer in the Bamboo Cafe, standing at the bar at Happy Hour talking with friends. A middle-aged man that I didn’t know stepped my way. Furtively, he asked if I was the guy who “drew those Briley cards.”

After I said, “yes,” and introduced myself, he asked me a few frequently asked questions about the cards. Then he spoke in a hushed tone, saying something like, “What about those missing cards?”

“Missing cards?” I returned, feeling uncomfortable. “Are you asking why I skipped some numbers?

He nodded and reached in his shirt pocket to pull out a full set of The Brileys, with the cards still in the original plastic bag. Wanting to end the conversation quickly -- that he had the cards with him was way too strange for me -- I told him the simple truth with no jokes: “OK. First, I wanted to imply there was a vast series out there, without having to create it. Then, I wanted the viewer to maybe imagine for himself what the other cards might be.”

The collector put the cards back in his pocket. He stepped away, plainly disappointed with my easy answer, which gave him no dripping red meat to savor. As I remember it, he just stepped away and didn't say anything else ... which was fine with me.

 

That night in the Bamboo the truth without adornment was of little use to my public, such as it was.

-- 30 --

April 14, 1973: Discover the Fan

Forty-eight years ago an ad hoc group of 21 merchants along the commercial strip just north of most of VCU's Fan District campus cooperated for a one-time-only promotion called Discover the Fan. It should be noted that none of the participating businesses are still there today.

On April 14, 1973 a lingering cold spell left town and warm breezes brought in a bright spring day. For that Saturday afternoon the 800 and 900 blocks of West Grace Street, and environs, were packed with an unprecedented amount of foot traffic. Hundreds of helium-filled balloons and free prizes donated by the merchants were given away. The street was not closed and the vehicular traffic was slowed to a crawl all day. There was live music on-stage.

Motorists traveling toward the West End were treated to an unexpected scene, given the neighborhood's then-bohemian image. (Grace Street was a busy one-way street heading west in those days.) On that Saturday there were thousands of ordinary people milling about having a good time. Many of them acted like tourists on a lark. Kids with balloons were everywhere.

The illustration below is a scan of a handbill done by yours truly. With its list of participating businesses it provides a snapshot of the area in what was probably the zenith of the hippie age. Some of the characters who ran those businesses were rather interesting people. (H/t: One-on-One co-owner Fred Awad came up with the name for the event.)

At this time I had been the manager of the Biograph Theatre for a little over a year and the Discover the Fan promotion itself was my project. I convinced my fellow merchants to chip in and promote our oddball collection of businesses as the equivalent of a hip shopping center in the middle of town. Many people helped put it together and worked on aspects of it, but the happening couldn't have come about without the help of Dave DeWitt and Chuck Wrenn (the Biograph's assistant manager), which was significant.

Below is a piece about this event from that era. It was penned by the late Shelley Rolfe:

Shelley Rolfe’s
By the Way
Richmond Times-Dispatch (April, 16, 1973)

It was breakfast time and the high command for Discover the Fan Day had, with proper regard for the inner man, moved its final planning meeting from the Biograph Theater to Lum’s Restaurant. Breakfast tastes ran a gamut. Eggs with beer. Eggs with orange juice. H-hour -- the operations plan had set it for noon -- was less than three hours away. Neither beer nor orange juice was being gulped nervously.

Terry Rea, manager of the Biograph and the extravaganza’s impresario, was reciting a last-minute, mental things-to-do list. There was the vigilante committee, which would gather up the beer and soft drink cans and bottles that invariably infest the fronts of the shops in the 800 and 900 blocks of W. Grace St., focus area of the discovery.

The city police had promised a dragnet to sweep away the winos who also invariably litter the neighborhood. The day had bloomed crisp and sunny, the first dry Saturday since Groundhog Day. “I knew it wouldn’t rain,” Rea said with the brash confidence of the young. “Lots of young businessmen around here,” a beer drinker at another table said. The free enterprise system lives.

REA WAS assigning duties for the committee that would rope off two Virginia Commonwealth University parking lots that would serve as the setting for a fashion show and band concert. The committee to blow up balloons, with the aid of a cylinder of helium [sic]. One thousand balloons in a shrieking variety of colors. “If we only get 500 kids... two to a customer,” Rea said cheerfully.

“I need more people,” said the balloon task force leader.

Twenty-one businesses were involved in the project. Each of them had contributed prizes, and gift certificates had been put into plastic Easter eggs. An egg hunt would be part of the day, and Rea had a message for the committee that would be tucking the eggs away: “Don’t put them in obvious places, but don’t put them were people can get hurt looking for them.”

“We talked about doing this last summer but we never got it together,” Rea said. There had been fresh talk in late February, early March, and it had become airborne. The 21 businesses had anted up $1,500 for advertising, which was handled by Dave DeWitt, proprietor of a new just-out-of-the-Fan, small, idea-oriented agency.

“Demographically, we were aiming for people between 25 and 34,” Rea said. There had been newspaper advertising and spots on youth-oriented radio stations. “We had a surplus late in the week...” Rea said. The decision was made to have a Saturday morning splurge on radio station WRVA. “Hey,” said a late arrival, “I heard Alden Aaroe talking about it.”

“We wanted people to see what we have here,” Rea said. “People who probably close their windows and lock their doors when they drive on Grace Street and want to get through here a quickly as possible.”

Well, yes, there must be those who look upon the 800 and 900 blocks as symbolic of the counterculture, as territory alien to their visions of West End and suburban existence. Last November the precinct serving the 800 and 900 blocks went for George McGovern, by two votes. Not a landslide, but, perhaps, a trend.

NOON WAS approaching. Rea and DeWitt set out on an inspection tour. Parking lot ropes were being put into place. Rock music blared from exotically named shops. The balloon committee was still short on manpower. An agent trotted out of a shop to report, “They’ve got 200 customers ...” And how many would they normally have at this hour of a Saturday” “They wouldn’t be open,” Rea said.

Grace Street was becoming clogged with cars It would become more clogged. Don’t know how many drivers got out of their cars, but, for a while they were a captive audience making at least vicarious discovery.

Also much pedestrian and bicycle on the sidewalks. Merchants talked of espying strangers, of all ages. A white-haired woman held a prize egg in one hand, a balloon in the other. A middle-aged man had rakishly attached a balloon to the bill of his cap.

The fashion show went on to the accompaniment of semijazz music and popping balloons, most of them held by children. Fashions were subdued. A dress evocative of the 1840s. Long skirts. Loudest applause went to a man who paraded across the stage wearing a loud red backpack. Everybody’s urge to escape?

ON GRACE STREET a sword swallower and human pin cushion was on exhibition. No names please. “My mother ...” he said. He wished to be identified only as a member of “Bunkie Brothers Medicine Show.”

Discounted merchandise on sale included 20-yesr-old British Army greatcoats and a book fetchingly titled “Sensuous Massage.” Sales resistance remained firm.

On Harrison Street a sidewalk artist was creating. A wino, who had somehow escaped the dragnet, lurched across the sidewalk art muttering. “Free balloons ...” In a shop a man said, “I want the skimpiest halter you have ... for my wife.”

On an alley paralleling Grace Street, a man holding a hand camera and early on a VCU class assignment was directing actors. One stationed in a huge trash bin. “Waiting for Godot” revisited? The second, carrying a an umbrella in one hand, popcorn in another, approached the bin. A hand darted out for popcorn. “I ran out of film!” screamed the director.

Everything was being done again. The actor in the bin emerged, seized the umbrella and ran. “Chase him,” from the direct. Actor No. 2 did a Keystone Kop-style double take, jumped and ran. A small crowd that had gathered applauded.

LATE IN the day. Traffic still was at a saturation level. Early settlers said the territory hadn’t seen such congestion since the movie, “Deep Throat.” Rea spoke of objectives smashingly achieved. Euphoric talk from him on another day of discovery in September. City Hall would be petitioned to block off Grace Street.

The writer, Rolfe, lived only a few blocks away from the Biograph, so he was actually quite familiar with the cinema I ran and the surroundings he described. This was a day in which many things could have gone wrong, but didn't, so it was remembered fondly. Some of the merchants said they set new records for business in one day.  

VCU Comeback Edges Rhody

Final Score: VCU 63, Rhode Island 62

Location: Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center)

Current Records: VCU 13-4 (6-2 A-10), Rhode Island 9-10 (6-6 A-10)

 

The short story: Sophomore Bones Hyland buried a go-ahead 3-pointer from the right wing with 3.9 seconds remaining and VCU hung on for its first win at Rhode Island since 2015.

 

OPENING TIP

 

·      Hyland finished with a game-high 23 points, as well as four rebounds and two steals. He was 5-of-9 from 3-point range

·      VCU also received a season-high 15 points and three rebounds from senior forward Levi Stockard III. He converted on 7-of-8 attempts from the floor

·      Sophomore forward Hason Ward added nine rebounds and four blocks and hit a pair of critical free throws in the waning moments for the Black and Gold

·      Ishmael Leggett (injured Fats Russell's substitute) recorded 17 points for Rhode Island

 

THE DIFFERENCE

 

·      On its final possession, trailing 62-60, VCU’s Jamir Watkins missed a 3-pointer from the wing, and teammate Ace Baldwin was able to tip the ball to Hyland, deep on the right wing. Hyland faked, dribbled once and buried the eventual game-winner as the defender sailed past. VCU was whistled for a foul with 1.9 seconds remaining, but Rhode Island missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Ward secured the rebound to preserve the victory

·      Hyland also hit a triple with 3:10 remaining to tie the score at 58-58. A bucket by Rhode Island’s Jeremy Sheppard and two free throws by Leggett pushed URI back in front 62-58. But with 32 seconds left, Ward drew a foul and calmly knocked down a pair from the charity stripe. Rhode Island missed the front end of a one-and-one on its ensuing possession to set the stage for Hyland’s heroics

·      VCU trailed by as many as 10, at 45-35 with 13:26 left in the game, but continued to chip away

·      VCU forced 16 Rhode Island turnovers and outscored URI 17-11 off miscues

·      The Black and Gold were 14-of-18 at the line, while Rhody was just 5-of-8

 

NOTABLE

 

·      The win snapped VCU’s four-game losing streak to Rhode Island. The Black and Gold also secured their first win in Kingston since the 2014-15 season

·      The game marked Hyland’s eighth 20-point effort of the year

·      VCU has won three straight games overall

·      Box score. 

 

NEXT UP

 

VCU is scheduled to meet Duquesne at the new UPMC Cooper Field House in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. That game will the broadcast on NBC Sports Network. 

Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

Poor Richard's, the Biograph Theatre and the Richmond Mercury

During 1972 three businesses were launched that seemed then to be solid indications that Richmond was becoming a more modern city/cosmopolitan market: Poor Richard's (restaurant) opened on Jan. 28; the Biograph Theatre (cinema) opened to the public on Feb. 12 (following the party the night before); the Richmond Mercury's first issue (weekly news magazine) was published on Sept. 13. 

 

Those stylish changes in what sort of thing was available in Richmond were warmly welcomed by many in my generation, the baby boomers.

In 2021, with those three enterprises long gone, I have to think most of the optimistic people who staffed those three businesses would say that 49 years ago we may have underestimated Richmond's stubbornness, somewhat. 

 

Still, there's no doubt we had some fun shaking things up while we could.

Rams Stifle Explorers

Final score: VCU 73, La Salle 62
Location: Richmond, Va. (Stuart C. Siegel Center)
Current Records: VCU 12-4 (5-2 A-10), La Salle 7-10 (4-6)
 
The short story: In A-10 action sophomore guard Bones Hyland scored 24 points in leading VCU past La Salle at the Siegel Center.

 

OPENING TIP

• In addition to his scoring output, Hyland dished out four assists and grabbed four boards in the contest. He connected on 3-of-6 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc and converted 11-of-12 free throws
• Sophomore forward Hason Ward recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams. He was 6-of-7 from the floor
• VCU junior forward Vince Williams Jr. contributed 11 points and grabbed four rebounds
• Additionally, freshman guard Ace Baldwin Jr. showcased his versatility with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Rams
• Sherif Kenny led La Salle with 20 points

 

THE DIFFERENCE

• La Salle led for the majority of the first half, but Hyland hit a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 VCU over the final 4:33 of the period to send the Rams to the locker room with a 33-30 lead. To start the second half the Rams used a 10-4 burst to extend their lead to 43-34.
  
• VCU won the rebounding battle 37-29. The Rams recorded 13 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 13 second-chance points
• VCU continued its dominance in the paint this season scoring 38 points near the basket
• The Rams shot 81 percent (21-of-26) from the free throw line

 

NOTABLE

• Hyland scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this season
• Baldwin’s performance is his first with 10 points and at least five assists as a Ram
• VCU improved to 10-2 all-time against La Salle
• The Rams are 7-1 at home this season
• Box score
  

 

UP NEXT

 

VCU will take on always tough Rhode Island on Wed., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.  

-- Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU assistant A.D.

OK, Mob Republicans, Now What?

With the settling of the inauguration dust we're gradually learning more about what the Democrats who work at the White House want to do with the power President Joe Biden won in November. The same goes for the Democratic Party's leadership teams in Congress. Their agenda is pretty much there for all to see. Meanwhile, the mixed signals emanating from the Republican Party are steadily getting less understandable but more ominous. 

 

Now what?

 

Does Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), the Senate's minority leader, want to return to the way it was in 2009, when he gladly opposed everything Obama? Called himself the "Grim Reaper." Or, in keeping with their maneuvers to curry favor with Trumpists, maybe Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) and Sen. Josh Hawley prefer the time before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- an era in which institutionalized discrimination kept the underclass of Americans in their place?

 

What about the other Republicans in Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 election results, to install Donald Trump as President-For-Life? It doesn't look like those Republicans want to go back in time, to relive the past. They seem to have a radical agenda for the future. It appears some of them consider the January 6th insurrectionists to be new wave Republican activists; perhaps we should call them "Mob Republicans." 

 

After all, just because they fling hate at liberals they like to call, "socialists," continuing to consider them to be "conservatives" is ridiculous. Mob rule is never conservative. 

 

So what the hell does the Insurrection Wing of the GOP want?

*

Growing up with the echos of World War II being ubiquitous, rarely did I hear any good words said about former British Prime Minister (1937-40) Neville Chamberlain. In that time, instead of a seeing him as a failed seeker of peace who meant well, he was commonly viewed as a weak leader who coddled and emboldened Adolph Hitler. Chamberlain's concessions to Hitler leading up to the war were widely characterized as terrible mistakes that were timid in a shameful way. 

During height of the Cold War the loudest voices condemning Chamberlain as a wimp were usually those of right-wing Republicans. All of which stokes my curiosity about how today's right-wing Republicans can still be comfortable with how blowhard Trump hasn't missed a chance to talk softly to Vladimir Putin. 

Hey, isn't Putin yet another brutal dictator who's just as anti-American as can be? 

While some Republicans have always been partial to blustery trash talk and striking cock-of-the-walk poses, most conservatives used to stand firm on the notion they were all about hard-edged reality and protecting the status quo. That, while they labeled liberal Democrats who called for justice and respecting nature as "dreamers."

Now modern Republican politicians talk about "alternative facts." When they see votes in pretending that evolution is a myth they don't even appear to believe in science. Please note, there really was a time when conservatives supposedly stood for prudently protecting -- conserving! -- the nation's assets and resources. There's hardly much of that sort of thinking left in the Trumpist approach to governing.  

*

However, we've seen plenty of how the activists of the Insurrection Wing of the GOP like to disturb the peace and cow the easily cowed. But beyond waving flags and denying reality, what do they really want in the long run? 

 

"Stop the Steal" is a slogan. It's a slogan based on a lie. It's not the title of a new plan for how to run the government efficiently. 

 

Other than seizing power and stomping on the faces of their least favorite politicians, what the hell do the terrorists who stormed the Capitol actually want to do? How would those violent insurrectionist Republicans of January 6th truly improve the system, when about all they can do well is torture the truth? 

 

Speaking of truth, let's acknowledge reality: Instead plans to govern, for the insurrectionists, what stands out are their churning desires to trample on tenets pertaining to forming a "more perfect union," as outlined in the Constitution. 

 

Just as Trump never had a plan to fix the nation's monstrous health care problem. Likewise, he never formed a national COVID-19 plan. With Trump running the show there have only been schemes for living in the moment and dominating all he surveys. That isn't likely to change with him sulking in exile at Mar-a-Lago. 

Moreover, the Insurrection Wing of the GOP wouldn't know a step-by-step plan if it stepped in one. Recklessly charging ahead without a plan seems to be an integral part of the Trumpist brand of nihilism and a significant part of its charm for his numbskull fans.

 

Accordingly, since the true momentum of Trumpism is being fueled in great part by the festering anger of white guys seeking wicked thrills, it seems to me the Insurrection Wing of the GOP is bound to split into feuding factions. 

 

Bottom line: In the long run, isn't the Trumpist wing of the GOP mostly a big-ass suicide cult?  

 

-- 30 --

UR and VCU to Co-Host A-10 Torunament

Today (Jan. 28, 2021) the Atlantic 10 Conference announced that the University of Richmond and VCU will team up to serve as hosts of the 2021 A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship, March 10-14. The two-arena format will provide student-athletes with a conference championship experience, while adhering to COVID-19 protocols and addressing the challenges created by the pandemic.

The Siegel Center will serve as host for two second round games on March 11, as well as two quarterfinal contests on March 12. All other games, including the semifinal and championship rounds, will be held at the Robins Center on Richmond’s campus. The location of each second round and quarterfinal game will be revealed when championship seeding is announced. The tournament is being presented by Air Force Reserve.

“This decision is a great example of exceptional collaboration between the A-10 membership, our media partner NBC Sports, Barclays Center and our A-10 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee. Independently, both VCU and Richmond submitted proposals to host, so their willingness to combine efforts and support the league’s best interest to separate the days with four games is truly appreciated,” stated A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “The fact that we have two premier arenas, within six miles of each other, willing to host is a tremendous advantage for the A-10 in our goal to provide the safest, best experience for our teams, coaches and campus communities. A-10 members Dayton, Duquesne, George Mason and Saint Louis submitted proposals to host and each would have provided an excellent option. I wish to thank them for their time, work and effort and willingness to host the championship.”

The unique opportunity to play the eight games across Thursday and Friday at two A-10 arenas in the same city, allows for operational efficiencies in implementing comprehensive health and safety plans by establishing two highly COVID-precautionary controlled environments. Participating teams will benefit from receiving additional time and space for pre-game stretching, warmup and shooting time because of transitioning from game to game between two arenas. 

NBC Sports, which broadcasts both the second round and quarterfinals to a national audience, will also benefit from the elimination of extended time between games, allowing for comprehensive coverage with the games being aired consecutively.  

This will be the first Division I conference tournament contested in the city of Richmond since 2013, when the Colonial Athletic Association held its championship at the Richmond Coliseum from 1990-2013.

Note: The information in this post was furnished by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

Flashback: A Beer with the Mayor

Note: It's hard to believe it's been over 20 years since I wrote a piece about Tim Kaine, "A Beer With The Mayor," for Richmond.com. 

It was published on Fri., Sept. 29, 2000. At that time I was writing about politics and sports on a regular basis for them. Time flies. The text of the piece follows.

*

As an observer of matters political, when I learned of Tim Kaine's interest in running for lieutenant governor, it got my attention. Having been favorably impressed with his performance as mayor of Richmond, I was curious about his plans. To get some answers, and to get a feel for Kaine as a player, I asked him to set aside some time to meet with me and spend a few minutes talking politics.

The busy councilman/attorney was kind enough to agree to get together on what is familiar turf for me -- the Baja Bean at Friday happy hour.

Kaine and I sat down at a small table and the waitress took our order; a Rolling Rock for me and a Miller for the mayor. I was glad to see, as a good Democrat, he ordered a beer and not a Slice -- the soft drink he has been seen shilling for in local television commercials.

Once we got past the normal exchange of introductory folderol, I asked him why he wanted to be lieutenant governor. He pointed out that he hadn't officially announced his candidacy, but conceded he was looking hard at running. Then he cut to the chase: He admitted that his long-range sights are on the governor's chair.

He went on to say that for a number of reasons, the lieutenant governor's job seemed like the best move for him to make at this time.

Most of us would probably agree that in politics, little - if anything - is more important than timing.

In July, the sudden withdrawal of state Sen. Emily Couric of Charlottesville - the presumed Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor - threw the door open for Kaine, as well as two others who are reportedly testing the waters: Del. Jerrauld Jones of Norfolk and Del. Alan Diamonstein of Newport News.

Taking On The GOP

Essentially, Kaine indicates he also likes the looks of the part-time position of lieutenant governor because it would allow him to move on - he thinks eight years on City Council will be enough - and up, yet stay in Richmond. He puts value in being able to remain in his Richmond home, to spend time with his wife and three children, ages 5 through 10.

As far as his agenda is concerned, Kaine points to education as his chief interest and what would surely be at the center of any campaign of his for statewide office.

"Virginia is deeply underfunded in education, K through 12," says the mayor with the assurance of a man who can back up what he just said.

He explained that Virginia's Republicans - in order to strike the populist pose of tax-cutters - have shifted a greater portion of the burden of the cost for public education to the localities. They did this by cutting local taxes, such as the car tax, rather than income taxes. So while we are in a time of general prosperity, the cities and counties are hurting for revenue even as the Commonwealth remains flush.

Beyond education, Kaine is already on record as a supporter of tougher controls on access to handguns and other common-sense measures to restrict exotic weapons. As well, he intends to run against the death penalty. In his view, taking what I'd call a progressive stand on these issues will play better across the state than some would argue.

His Republican opponent, should Kaine secure his party's nomination, will likely characterize those positions as liberal. But Kaine doesn't flinch at the prospect. It is his reading that such positions on guns and the death penalty are consistent with mainstream thinking in Virginia today.

Running On Beliefs

Cheerfully, he told me it's his intention to run on what he believes. He hopes to win. If he loses, he'll be happy to go on to live the good life of a successful attorney and family man. I gathered that he wants to be governor one day, but he doesn't need to be governor at all costs.

"I like public service. And I think I'm good at it," Kaine says.

When time permits, he plans to stump for Chuck Robb. He'll put off any official announcement concerning his own running for office until after November's general election.

I do have one bit of free advice for Richmond's savvy and genial mayor: He should make that silly Slice commercial the last of its ilk. Although it may have seemed harmless when the prospect was pitched to him, as it appears on TV, the gesture comes off as bush league (not a whit of reference to anybody named Bush is intended), even if it's not inappropriate.

Maybe an eager police chief, even a small-market mayor, does it for a laugh. But in my view, it's not the sort of thing a Virginia governor does.

Or, maybe I'm being a stick in the mud.

Nonetheless, I suspect Tim Kaine has a bright future in politics. His grasp of the circumstances in which he is operating sounds sure. His natural confidence in his own view of the political landscape strikes me as refreshing. He comes off as a man who does his own thinking, and his sense of purpose seems genuine.

If Tim does get as far as the governor's mansion, I hope he'll still find the time to have a cold beer and talk politics at happy hour.

*

Of course, since then Kaine has built quite an impressive career for himself. Nonetheless, after serving as Virginia's governor and as a senator, to me, he still seems to be the same straightforward guy. 

-- 30 --

-- My illustration (2004). 

Rams Trample Flyers

Final Score: VCU 66, Dayton 43
Location: Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)
Current Records: VCU: 11-4 4-2, A-10, Dayton: 8-4, 4-3 A-10
 
OPENING TIP

• Sophomore guard Bones Hyland scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the first half. He finished 9-of-17 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc. He added five rebounds and two steals.
• Senior foward Levi Stockard III pulled down a team-high six rebounds and chipped in six points of his own.
• Junior Vince Williams contributed seven points and four rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Hason Ward had six points and five blocks.
• Jordy Tshimanga and Zimi Nwokeji provided 10 points each for Dayton.

 

THE DIFFERENCE

• VCU held Dayton to just 13 points in the first half on 6-of-28 shooting from the field.
• Hyland scored five points during a 14-0 VCU run that provided the Rams with a 19-4 lead with 10:26 left in the first half. The Flyers never recovered.
• The Rams held the Flyers to season-low 31 percent (17-of-55) shooting including 15 percent (3-of-20) from beyond the arc.
• VCU continued its dominance in the paint this season, outscoring Dayton 36-22 around the basket.

 

NOTABLE

• VCU held Dayton to a season-low 43 points, the Flyers’ lowest total in over 10 years.
• The Rams recorded a season-high 44 rebounds.
• Box score
  

 

UP NEXT

 

VCU will continue its three-game home stand against UMass 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Siegel Center. The game will air on CBS6 in Richmond and digitally on ESPN+.

 

-- Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, Assistant A.D.