Your NFL Sunday: "As Iceberg Slim might put it, the players and public alike have been sold a series of air castles."

It's gaslighting all over again in this essay, which connects the autobiography of a pimp (spoiler: not a pretty story at all) to big-time football, health problems and brain damage suffered by players, thoroughbred horse racing, and the plantation-president.

As usual for a longer essay, I've included only one excerpt, and highlighted a single passage from it. You're encouraged to read all of the essay.

American Pimps, by Shawn Hamilton (The Baffler)

The NFL, Donald Trump, and Iceberg Slim

Retirement by Gaslight

The thoroughbred horse has reached what Richard C. Francis, author of Domesticated, calls an “evolutionary dead end.” Breeders have not produced a faster thoroughbred for decades.

Thoroughbreds have evolved “inordinately large hearts and lungs” to increase their aerobic capacity. They have evolved a huge chest cavity to make room for those larger organs, which then crowd the stomach and intestines, causing them to “shift around in hazardous ways.” The bodies of the thoroughbreds are “too large” relative to the legs and feet, making the animal “extremely top heavy.” And this, Francis writes, “goes a long way toward explaining the high frequency of leg injuries, often catastrophic.”

This is not the face of racing that the public sees. The early years of a racing horse’s career are glorious. As the horses get older, drugs are often used to keep them going. And when the thoroughbred comes to its end, quietly—away from the cameras, seersucker suits and sun hats —it is put down and perhaps later immortalized in statues, photos, or crappy movies.

The NFL player who sees a connection between himself and a poor kid in the ghetto appears nuts to many fans. But the working-class fan who thinks his interests align with those of billionaire owners is perfectly sane in their view.

In Pimp, Glass Top recommended retiring his obsolete thoroughbreds to mental asylums. He used a combination of ruses and drugs to convince them that they had gone insane. “I got a thousand ways to drive ’em goofy,” said Glass Top, “That last broad I flipped, I hung her out a fifth floor window. I had given her a jolt of pure cocaine so she’d wake up outside that window. I was holding her by both wrists. Her feet were dangling in the air. She opened her eyes. When she looked down she screamed like a scared baby.”

“She was screaming when they came to get her.”

Some have attributed NFL protests to a similar kind of insanity, stoked by the fervid imaginings of the players themselves. They are rebranded as “spoiled,” “entitled,” or just not that bright. The fan, meanwhile, is the paragon of reason and logical consistency.

This is the same fan who believes that paid patriotism is okay, but peaceful protest is not. This is the same fan who is eager to subsidize billionaire team owners, while labeling a dissenting player “spoiled” or “privileged.” And this is the same fan who is willing to watch the game despite scandals ranging from domestic violence, to prescription drug abuse, to the conspiracy of official silence surrounding the head-injury scandal. This fan is willing to accept all these contradictions and lies as just part of the game or as an unspecified price of doing business. And when the owner refuses to really “own” his players and put them in check, this fan is ready to boycott.

The NFL player who sees a connection between himself and a poor kid in the ghetto appears nuts to many fans. But the working-class fan who thinks his interests align with those of billionaire owners is perfectly sane in their view.

However, none of this wishful thinking will alter the fundamental shifts in the rules of engagement: the players can no longer “just play the game” the way the fans want them to. They know too much. The stadiums remain, but the air castles are gone. And this is probably just the beginning.

THE BEER BEAT: Bryan Roth on sexism, anonymity and speaking openly about diversity.

As I observed on Friday ...

THE BEER BEAT: "'Pinup versus pin her down': Indiana beers stoke controversy."

 ... Route 2 will have to do better than taking credit for the idea while cowering behind a curtain. It's the same degraded mentality behind on-line anonymity. Come to think of it ... hiding's the whole point, isn't it?

Bryan Roth's blog is called This Is Why I'm Drunk ("Beer culture, history and an academic pursuit of one of our oldest extra-curricular activities"), and Roth has followed up with this.

Silence and Secrets Have No Place Here, by Bryan Roth

 ... Among the many reasons why someone’s name needs to stay secret, the threshold was apparently crossed recently when an employee at Indiana’s Route 2 Brews didn’t feel comfortable talking on the record about overtly sexist branding created by the business.

As silly as that sounds – a marketing and sales director refusing to talk publicly about their employer’s marketing and sales – it was compounded by the willingness of the Indianapolis Star to provide anonymity to a source that created the names and labels for brands like “Leg Spreader ESB.”

My former colleagues at the Guild still find themselves in search of sure footing.

The Brewers of Indiana Guild, which has previously refused to acknowledge questionable behavior by its dues-paying members, barely spoke up when offered an opportunity for the story.

I'm no longer a board member, but my stance hasn't changed since early 2015, when Leg Spreader first reared its ugly word (and world) view.

If the guild is supported by the majority Indiana breweries, and it is, and if these breweries agree that it's a good thing for the guild to lobby on their behalf, then the corollary is for them to accept an obligation to be socially responsible -- precisely because the Indiana legal regime stipulates that irresponsibility (serving minors, etc) is grounds for the revocation of the brewing privilege.

Perhaps it is true that the precise nature of social responsibility in the context of Leg Spreader (or Naughty Girl) has yet to be determined, in which case it is the responsibility of the guild to lead an effort toward definition and consensus.

It may be impossible to eradicate irresponsibility, but this doesn't mean that a guild or similar trade grouping is precluded from being pro-active to protect the collective reputation of its segment in the marketplace. Roth is right, and it's time to speak openly.

THE BEER BEAT: "'Pinup versus pin her down': Indiana beers stoke controversy."

We will not be quiet about this important issue. We want to do our part so that the next generation of beer drinkers can focus on the fun, the flavorful and the future. Beers that demean women or promote rape culture will not be reviewed or promoted in this magazine or on AllAboutBeer.com.
 -- John Holl, editor of All About Beer Magazine

Last December, I was revisited by ghosts. It's a recurring phenomenon with me.

THE BEER BEAT: Addressing diversity in "craft" beer, with Naughty Girl once again on the wrong side of the debate.

 ... Leg Spreader gave me pause, as did the reactions of some colleagues on the guild board. In turn, I started seeing Naughty Girl in a different light. My professional life was evolving during the same period of time. These chain reactions in consciousness continue, and I'm constantly taking mental notes.

Have I become some sort of expert on these issues, whether they pertain to sexism, equality, diversity or a hundred other thoughts of cultural worth, worth having?

Of course not. All I can do is try to be better informed, and as a result maybe improve myself as a person. All I can do is try my best to listen, think and act responsibly. To me, the beer revolution always meant something better, far beyond the beer in the glass. I'm disappointed in myself that when presented with an opportunity to reflect this ethos with regard to a Belgo-Indian Blonde Ale being brewed in 2011, I chose a lower common denominator.

But what's done is done. Now, I'll do what I can do.

Bits of my phone conversation with at the time writer Bryan Roth appeared in "Sexist Beer Ads Miss the Mark," his article in All About Beer (March 2017; V. 38, No. 1), which is available at issuu. It's worth your time to read.

Last month I spoke with the Amy Hainline of the Indy Star, and her story appeared yesterday.

‘Pinup versus pin her down’: Indiana beers stoke controversy

Indiana beers straddle sexy and sexist

“Sex sells” is a phrase often used in advertising. But are craft breweries taking the tactic too far?

John Holl, editor of All About Beer Magazine, thinks so. His recent column asking breweries to stop what he calls offensive, sexist branding has been shared widely on social media by brewers and brewery owners. He cites Panty Peeler Belgian-style Trippel from Midnight Sun Brewing Co. in Anchorage, Alaska, and Once You Go ... Black IPA from Lynnwood Brewing in Raleigh, N.C.

As discussion erupted, Indiana examples surfaced, as well.

Lowell’s Route 2 Brewery makes Leg Spreader ESB and Stacked Double IPA. Gary’s 18th Street Brewery brews Sex and Candy IPA. New Albany’s New Albanian Brewing Co. sells Naughty Girl Belgian Blonde Ale.

Critics argue that the highly sexualized branding objectifies women and promotes a culture of rape and sexual harassment. But others in the brewing industry say the edgy, artistic marketing makes beers stand out and people are too sensitive.

My own tipping point came in 2015 with the advent of Route 2 Brewery's Leg Spreader.

Route 2 Brewery has a menu of beers with suggestive names and labels.

The small brewpub's Stacked double IPA label features an illustration of a well-endowed woman wearing only a pair of underwear. The label of its Leg Spreader ESB shows a large-chested woman sitting with the brewery's logo between her spread legs.

The marketing and sales director for Route 2 Brewery, who asked to not be identified for this story, comes up with the names and approves the artwork.

One way to look at Route 2 Brewery's accomplishments is to grudgingly concede that in terms of primal disinformation, they're completely synchronized with our Trumpian times, and ideally placed to begin blaming coastal beer snob elites for looking down on honest red-state-blooded Indiana males who just want 'em stacked, with legs spread -- and above all else, to make sure neither their local pastor nor Planned Parenthood doesn't get involved.

However, Route 2 will have to do better than taking credit for the idea while cowering behind a curtain. It's the same degraded mentality behind on-line anonymity.

Come to think of it ... hiding's the whole point, isn't it?

Meanwhile, here I am, doomed to think and rethink the past. I spoke at length with Hainline about the war between conscience and "be a good business person, already" and she included the most important part in the story.

“What was I thinking? Well, I know what I was thinking,” (Baylor) said, recalling how his business was struggling. “I was thinking whatever it takes to sell something because we’re not doing well. And that’s scary because lapsing into that is one reason I’m not doing it (business) anymore.”

The rejoinder comes from NABC's current management, still hemorrhaging money as I await my truncated share.

“I guess I would say sex sells,” Amy Baylor said. “I never really thought of it as sexist. Probably just growing up in the world we live in.”

Maybe it's time for all of us to delete our accounts until we get this thing right, finally. My ghost visitations are getting tedious, and I'd prefer they cease.

Shame on the farm in Sicily: "We are talking about potentially thousands of Romanian women as victims of serious abuse."

We visited Sicily for the first time last November, spending a week of contentment in the city of Catania on the island's eastern shore, with Mt. Etna a constant, fascinating presence.

While an active volcano poses a certain threat to human civilization, the rich volcanic soil it produces is an unqualified boon. There is a lot of growing going on.

As part of a volcano tour, we visited a vineyard and a honey vendor; moreover, much of our time in Catania was spent dining. We ate one fantastic meal after another, with an alarming weight gain mirroring time spent at the table.

In short, while we traveled nowhere near Ragusa province, Sicily's agricultural bounty was ever-present during our stay. If I'm to praise it, I'm also obliged to participate in shining a light on its dark underbelly.

Hence this article. The exploitation is sickening, and beyond the plain fact of it being inexcusable under any circumstances, that EU policies apparently promote one member nation importing members from another in this fashion is inexplicable.

Like slavery in America. We should know by now that the cost of our food supply often far exceeds the price we pay at the supermarket. Even so, the situation in Ragusa province is profoundly disturbing.

Raped, beaten, exploited: the 21st-century slavery propping up Sicilian farming, by Lorenzo Tondo and Annie Kelly (The Guardian)

Thousands of female Romanian farm workers are suffering horrendous abuse


 ... “When I came here I thought I was coming to a hard but decent job in another European country, but we ended up as slaves,” she says.

Hidden among fields of flapping white plastic tents across Ragusa province, 5,000 Romanian women like Bolos are working as seasonal agricultural workers. Their treatment is a growing human rights scandal, being perpetrated with almost complete impunity.

Zirin on "Louisville Basketball and the NCAA’s Political Economy of Misogyny."

Former University of Michigan and NBA star Jalen Rose, as quoted in the Detroit Free Press on the topic of college athletic recruitment:

"Yes, there is drinking. Yes, there is members of the opposite sex that are present. Remember, they're trying to woo me to the campus ... and as a 17-year-old kid, first off, if I'm not getting laid, I'm not coming. I'm not signing. I'm not coming."

At times like this, as the fanatics rush to decry and defend the coach, I take a deep breath and remind myself that we're about the only country in the world to confuse sports with education.

In this, it's helpful to know that Dave Zirin is out there somewhere, writing about sports and those aspects of it embracing genuine significance. Zirin warns against moralizing and cynicism, and hits the center of the target.

Louisville Basketball and the NCAA’s Political Economy of Misogyny, by Dave Zirin (The Nation)

 ... both of these reactions miss the most urgent issue—the NCAA’s political economy of misogyny. There’s a lesson in this scandal if we’re willing to learn it. It starts with Louisville Basketball, whose use of transactional sex as a method of recruitment produced results and made a small number of people very rich. Louisville has now been at the top of Forbes Magazine’s list of most valuable NCAA hoops programs for four consecutive years. Pitino won an NCAA title in 2013 alongside a new contract that pays him well in excess of four million dollars a year. The connective tissue before us between the political economy of amateurism and misogyny has been written in a neon script. It also shines a harsh light on how the use of women as currency links many of the public relations crises that plague sports and the psychological pain that plagues ex-athletes.

Zirin nails it: NCAA as "Poster Boy for Corruption and Exploitation."

Couldn't have said it better myself, although heaven knows, I've tried. Call me a Marxist if you wish, but when players generate billions in revenue for others while receiving farthings in return value, it's simply a farce.

Go get 'em, Dave.

The NCAA: Poster Boy for Corruption and Exploitation, by Dave Zirin (The Nation)

It’s time for that period of breathless college-hoops hysteria known as March Madness. It’s time for bracketology, Final Four predictions, office pools and the gambling of billions of dollars, legal and illegal. What will go largely unnoted is the fact that kids, ranging in age from 18 to 22 and branded with corporate logos, are producing this tidal wave of revenue—and they’re not receiving a dime of it.

Welcome to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the twenty-first century, about as corrupt and mangled an institution as exists in the United States.

AB-InBev guilty of exploiting Native Americans AND Bud Light Lime-A-Rita.

I recall a minor episode in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," wherein the mob mistakes a poet named Cinna for a conspirator of the same name.

Cinna the Poet. Truly, my name is Cinna.

First Citizen. Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator.

Cinna the Poet. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet.

Fourth Citizen. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses.

In like fashion, there's no need to tear Anheuser-Busch InBev (let's not omit the multinational connection, Nicholas) to pieces solely on one persuasive count of exploiting Native Americans. Just tear AB-InBev over its bad beer.

A Battle With the Brewers, by Nicholas D. Kristof (New York Times)

After seeing Anheuser-Busch’s devastating exploitation of American Indians, I’m done with its beer.

The human toll is evident here in Whiteclay: men and women staggering on the street, or passed out, whispers of girls traded for alcohol. The town has a population of about 10 people, but it sells more than four million cans of beer and malt liquor annually — because it is the main channel through which alcohol illegally enters the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation a few steps away ...

... For now, Pine Ridge’s alcohol problem is matched only by Anheuser-Busch’s greed problem. Brewers market beers with bucolic country scenes, but the image I now associate with Budweiser is of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome.

That’s why I’ll pass on a Bud, and I hope you’ll join me.