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Today's
Stories
August 7 /
8, 2004
Joshua Frank
The
Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader
Donald Macintyre
The
Battle of Najaf
August 6, 2004
Joshua Frank
David
Cobb's Soft Charade: the Greens and the Politics of Mendacity
Derek Seidman
An
Interview with Stan Goff
Mike Whitney
The
Arbitrary Imprisonment of Jose Padilla
William S. Lind
Corruption in the Marine Corps
David Price
In
the Shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 5, 2004
Mike Ferner
The Kerry Show: When Peace is Off
Message
Bruce Anderson
Two
Rejections
Robert Fisk
The Tale of Saddam's Cameraman
Todd Chretien
Florida
Comes to California: the Democrats' Plot Against Nader
Peter Linebaugh
Doing Time for Political Crime:
Paul and Silas, Bound in Jail
August 4, 2004
Mickey Z.
Two
Traditions: WMD and Disinformation
Justin Huggler
The Hunt for Bin Laden
John Ross
Mexico's
Dirty War Never Ended: Inside Puente Grande Prison
August 3, 2004
Uri Avnery
The
Oligarchs
Ray McGovern
The 9/11 Commission Chimera
Jack McCarthy
Sexual Politics in Jeb's Florida
Eric Ruder
Meet Barak Obama: the Democrats' New Liberal Star
John L. Hess
Crying Wolf: Orange Alert!
Elaine Cassel
Civil Liberties Elections: 1800 v. 2004
Jules Rabin
The Man Who Didn't Walk By
Website of the Day
No Wall
Sex,
Drugs & the Blues!
Serpents in the Garden
CounterPunch's
Sizzling New Book on Culture and Sex is Now Available
Click here to purchase
August 2, 2004
Robert Jensen
Kerry's
Hypocrisy on the Vietnam War
Joshua Frank
Greens, Kerry and the Politics of Mendacity
Mike Whitney
The 9/11 Commission and Civil Liberties: "We Need an American
Police State"
Gary Leupp
Beyond
Good and Evil: Some Thoughts on Invasions
July 31 / Aug.
1, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Kerry:
He's the (Any) One
Merlin Chowkwanyun
Five Questions with Noam Chomsky: "The Savage Extreme of
a Narrow Policy Spectrum"
David Lindorff
The Shame of the DNC
John Chuckman
The
Disturbing Words of John Edwards
Brian Cloughley
All Slam and No Dunk; All Blame and No Responsibility
Christopher Brauchli
"Being Poor is a State of Mind": the Frowning Face
of Compassionate Conservatism
Fred Gardner
A World of Pain
Michael Donnelly
How Big Pharma Bilks the Elderly
David Nally
Genocide in Darfur?
Joshua Frank
Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon
Sam Bahour
Colin Powell and My Grandmother
Diane Farsetta
The IMF and the Indonesian Elections: The Invisible Hand in the
Voting Booth
Harold Gould
Was Iraq a Mutual Charade?
Van Bergen / Stephens
Election 9/11: Surreal Political Theater
Lee Sustar
A New Model for the Labor Movement?
Ron Jacobs
The Lost Art of Hitchhiking
M. Junaid Alam
An Interview with Palestinian-American Rapper, The Iron Sheik
Poets Basement
Albert, Ford, Krieger, St. Clair
Website of
the Weekend
Cross Cultural Poetics
July 30, 2004
Kolhatkar /
Ingalls
Shattering
Illusions: Kerry's Speech Tells Anti-War Activists They're Not
Wanted
Dave Lindorff
Murder
Not So Foul?
Bruce Jackson
Walt Whitman on the Sound of Wolf Blitzer's Voice
Fidel Castro
The
Pathology of George W. Bush
Maximilien Robespierre
Memo to Kerry and Bush: Why They Resist
Saul Landau
Bush
Charges Castro with Sex Tourism; JFK Rolls Over in His Grave
July 29, 2004
Cockburn /
St. Clair
Hail,
the Conquering War Criminal: What Kerry Really Did in Vietnam
Frank Bardacke
What
Michael Moore Left Out of F9/11
Tom Barry
Shallow and Formulaic: Kerry's Latin America Plan
Ron Jacobs
Kerry
and Lennon: Hawking the CounterCulture
Robert Fisk
The Unreported War
Lichtman /
Kellis-Borok
What Kerry Must Do to Win (But Probably Won't)
William S. Lind
The 9/11 Commission Report: Cashing in on Failure
CounterPunch
Wire
Doonesbury Onto John Kerry in 1971!
Website of
the Day
Jabbing JibJab: Copyright Madness
July 28, 2004
Robert Fisk
The
Occupation at 114 Degrees: Baghdad is Swamped in the Smell of
the Dead
Kevin Mink
Kerry's Misperception of Palestine
Ray McGovern
Israel and the Iraq War: How the 9/11 Report Soft-Pedals Root
Causes
United for
Peace & Justice
An
Open Letter to John Kerry: Winter Soldiers and Summer Patriots
Mike Ferner
Vets Demand End to Occupation: "Pull the Troops or Face
Impeachment Mvt."
Imraan Siddiqi
Turning Tricks with Ann Coulter
Alexander Cockburn
Candidate
Kerry
Website of
the Day
Iraq Vets Against the War
July 27, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Why
the Democrats Deserve Nader
Dave Lindorff
Back to the 19th Century: Globalization's Coming!
Mike Whitney
Control Room: Inside Al Jazeera
Ali, Anderson, Bello, et al.
If We Were Venezuelan, We'd Vote for Chavez
Stefan Wray
Texas Plan to Grab Los Alamos Takes Hold, as DOE Shuts Down Labs
Louis Proyect
Reflections on Nicaragua: First Came the Contra Butchers, Then
the Sweatshops
Rick Giombetti
Faith in Freedom: the Challenge of Thomas Szasz
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
The
9/11 Report and Its Weak-Kneed Consensus: Dogding Israel/Palestine;
Blinkered on Causes of Terrorism
July 26, 2004
Todd Chretien
Green
Resistance: a Reply to Normon Solomon & Medea Benjamin
Robert Fisk
Terror
by Video
Richard Forno
Security
Theater in Boston: Security Expert Harrassed by DHS for Exposing
Flaws at the Fleet Center
Mitchel Cohen
Report from a Boston Demo: Arresting the Curious
Richard Moreno
Rockers
for Justice: an Interview with Tom Morello and Serj Tankian
Alexander Cockburn
Boston
Awaits a Dead Party
July
24 / 25, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Democrats and Their Conventions:
Part One
Dennis
Hans
Those 16 Words Still Smell, Mr. Bush
Patrick
Cockburn
The Struggle for Iraq is Only Beginning
Josh
Frank
The War Path of Unity: Dems Reject
the Peace Movement
Justin
E.H. Smith
Christianity and the Left: the Latin
American Experience
Tariq
Ali
What's at Stake in Venezuela
Fred
Gardner
The Politics of Pot: Year of the
Antagonist
Mark
Scaramella
There's Dope and There's Dope
Ron
Jacobs
The Weather Underground's Prairie
Fire Statement...35 Years On
July
23, 2004
Lee
Sustar
Revolution in Nicaragua: 25 Years
On
Dave
Lindorff
Battle for NYC: Bush 1, Protesters
0
Saul
Landau
Zaniest President in US History: Bush
Beats Reagan
Mike
Whitney
The 9/11 Whitewash: Blaming No
One
Mickey
Z
Get On the Bus: 150 Years After Elizabeth
Jennings
Gary
Leupp
The 9/11 Commission and the Looming
War on Iran
July
22, 2004
M.
Junaid Alam
Ten Ways to Build a Better Democrat
Brian
McKinlay
Rusted On Down Under: Howard, Bush and Sharon
Jason
Leopold
Cheney Lobbied for Easing of Sanctions on Terrorist Regimes While
CEO of Halliburton
Chris
Floyd
Mob Rule: Ripping the Lid Off of America's Pious Myths
Uri
Avnery
Chirac v. Sharon
July
21, 2004
Paula
J. Caplan
The Emotional Casualities of War:
Psychologists Can't Heal All the Damage
Joshua
Frank
Nader Sleeping with the Enemy? Let's
be Fair
Ron
Jacobs
American Exceptionalism
Reza
Ghorashi
The Elections, Iran and al-Qaeda
Amy
Martin
Will Congress Rearm the Guatemalan Generals?
John
Ross
Bush May Lose, But His Wars Will Go
On and On
July
20, 2004
Stan
Cox
The Bush / Kerry War Ticket
Chris
Randolph
An Open Letter to Dr. Ehrenreich: It's Over, Barb!
Forrest
Hylton
The Ghosts of Gonismo: "Popular
Patricipation" and Bolivia's Gas Referendum
Mark
Scaramella
It's Official! Mendocino County is Crazier and Fatter Than the
Rest of California
Sam
Bahour
The World is Knocking on Israel's Door
George
Reiter
A Defense of David Cobb
John
Ross
Burying Iraq, Burying Bush
John
L. Hess
Girlie Stuff: Media Tolerance of Arnold & Co.
Website
of the Day
This Land is Your Land
July
19, 2004
Uri
Avnery
Marie and the Ghosts: the Hoax of
Paris
Col.
Dan Smith
What Has Been Accomplished?
Mike
Whitney
Allawi: Our Puppet with a Pistol
Karyn
Strickler
Just Marriage, Not Gay Marriage
Robert
Fisk
The Crisis of Information in Baghdad
David
Swanson
Media Blackout of US Labor Opposition
to Iraq War
Jennifer
van Bergen
The Death of the Great Writ of Liberty
July
17 / 18, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Apocalypse Now: Why the Book of Revelations
is Must Reading
Ghada
Karmi
Vanishing the Palestinians
Lenni
Brenner
When Cattle Unite, Lions Go Hungry: Notes for Ralph Nader
Ben
Tripp
Man on a Bridge: a Ghost Story
Brandy
Baker
What Would Elizabeth Cady Stanton Make of John Kerry?
M.
Shahid Alam
Israel Builds Another Wall
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
Nuclear Hypocrisy: Israel, Iran and the IAEA
Patrick
Bond
The George Bush of Africa
Fred
Gardner
Politics of Marijuana: Cannabiniod Therapuetics
William
Blum
Bush and Thucydides
Ben
Terrall
Carter and the Indonesia Elections: "I Don't See Anything
Wrong with a General Running the Country"
Tom
Barry
John Lehman on the War Path
David
Vest
Dylan Without the Music
Phyllis
Pollack
Return to Sin City: Keith Richards Does Gram Parsons
Ron
Jacobs
Smearing Muhammad Ali: Bob Feller Strikes Out
Joshua
Frank
Kerry to Edwards: "Let's Lose!"
David
Nally
A Call for Sudan: Our Georgraphical Blindspot
Toni
Solo
Bolivia's Gas Referendum
Landau,
Hassan, Prashad & Lindorff
Three Reviews of Moore's F911
Poets's
Basement
Ford, Smith and Albert
July
16, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Adonal Foyle: Master of the Lefty Lay-Up
Shervan
Sardar
Dershowitz, the ICJ and Jim Crow Laws
Ron
Jacobs
The Lil' Engine That Couldn't: Kucinich Surrenders on Anti-War
Plank
Robert
Fisk
Iraq, According to Edgar Allen Poe:
Coffin Bombs in Baghdad
Greg
Moses
The Forts of Iraq
Mickey
Z.
Ad Infinitum?: Presidential Campaigns in the Age of TV
Dan
Bacher
A Landmark Win for Salmon and the Tribes
Dave
Lindorff
The Mumia Case: Support from NAACP,
But a Movement in Shambles
Paul
McGeough
Did Allawi Shoot Inmates in Cold Blood?
Website
of the Day
10 Reasons to Fire Bush (and 9 Reasons Kerry Won't Be Any Better)
July
15, 2004
Heather
Williams
McMissing
the Point: Supersize Me Crashes on Its Message
Werther
Iraq: Follow the Money
Tom
Crumpacker
The Birds of Guantanamo
Brian
Cloughley
What Does the Bush Regime Object To?
Bill
Christison
Reorganize the CIA? Of Course,
But...
July
14, 2004
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Chronicle of a Nomination Foretold:
the Green Deceivers
Neve
Gordon
Of Socrates and the Apartheid Wall
Diane
Christian
The Priesthood of Death
Stefan
Wray
Who Benefits from Missing Data at Los Alamos Nuclear Lab?
Josh
Frank
The Nader / Dean Debate
Conn
Hallinan
Divide and Conquer as Imperial Rules
Elizabeth
Weill-Greenberg
Bring My Brother Home!: Class, War
and Education
Website
of the Day
Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of US Empire
July
13, 2004
Ray
McGovern
The CIA and Iraq: an Intelligence
Debacle...and Worse
Mark
Donham
The Sierra Club's Inexplicable Treatment of Cynthia McKinney
Ben
Tripp
Politus Interruptis: With Friends Like
These, Who Needs Electorates?
Mark
Gaffney
Slipping Towards Armageddon: Israel
in Iraq
Dave
Lindorff
Osama Wins! Election Postponed!
Chris
White
Double Think: the Bedrock of Marine
Indoctrination
July
10 / 12, 2004
Kathleen
Christison
The Problem with Neutrality Between
Palestinians and Israel
Janine
Pommy Vega
Trail of the Comet: a Gathering of the World's Poets Against
War
Sherry
Wolf
From Maverick to Party Attack Dog: Howard Dean Gay-Bashes Nader
Saul
Landau and Farrah Hassen
A Transfer of Power, Sort Of
Michael
Donnelly
How to Steal an Election: the Green Version, 2004
Stanton
/ Madsen
Iraq Survey Group: Rumsfeld's al-Qaeda?
Richard
Lichtman
The End of Innocence: Reflections on American Pathology
Gila
Svirsky
Thank You, Your Honors: a Legal Blow to the Wall
Kurt
Nimmo
Clinton's Life
Toni
Solo
Empire-Speak: What Roger Noriega Really Means
Ron
Jacobs
The Black Panthers and the Rest
Camelo
Ruiz Marrero
Gene Warfare in Oaxaca: Genetic Mutation of Mexican Maize
Omar
Barghouti
Wither the Empire: Rise of a Global Resistance
Poets'
Basement
Curtis and Albert
July
9, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Carlos Delgado on Deck: Blue Jays Slugger
Stands Up Against War
Justin
Delacour
Wishing Kerry Would Shut Up About
Latin America
Robert
Fisk
Iraq in Reverse: Martial Laws Fuel Insurgency
Boris
Kagarlitsky
Two Congresses and a Funeral
William
S. Lind
The October Surprises
Sibel
Edmonds
Our Broken System: John Ashcroft's War on Truth
Ron
Jacobs
Reading Tea Leaves: What Vietnam Tells Us About Iraq's Future
Gary
Leupp
The Lie That Will Not Die: Cheney and
the Iraq/al-Qaeda Link
July
8, 2004
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The Inexplicable John McCain
Toufic
Haddad
Protesting Israel's Apartheid Wall:
a Letter from the Hunger Strikers' Tent
Dave
Lindorff
Liberation as Martial Law
Joshua
Frank
The Fall: How Beltway Dems Sank Howard
Dean
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush & Cheney Play the Hitler Card
James
Petras
The Truth About Jimmy Carter
July
7, 2004
John
Chuckman
Kerry's BBQ: a Deafening Silence
of Meaning
Virginia
Tilley
A Line in the Sand: Azmi Bishara's
Hunger Strike
Susan
Martinez
A Letter to Bill Cosby
Mickey
Z
Elie Wiesel's Strange Parade
Michael
Donnelly
Our Own Private Wilderness: Trusting the Land in the Inland Empire
Sean
Donahue
Boston Social Forum: the Dems aren't the Only Show in Beantown
Diane
Christian
Sovereignty and Freedom in Iraq
July
6, 2004
Lisa
Viscidi
Fleeing Guatemala: Central Americans
Risk Lives to Reach El Norte
Marc
Norton
The Felonious Five Ride Again: the
Supreme Court and Enemy Combatants
James
Brooks
Chemical Warfare on the West Bank?
Ray
McGovern
Porter Goss as CIA Director?
William
Cook
Legacy of Deceit: If Dante Knew of Bush and the Neo-Cons...
July
5, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
US Imperialism in Latin America: Sept.
11, July 4 and Systematic Torture
Chris
White
A Former Marine Sgt. on the Meaning
of Independence Day
Joe
Bageant
Cranky Reflections on the 4th of July
Robert
Jensen
Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore
Misses About the Empire
Kathy
Kelly
"Two Days an' a Wake-Up"
July
3 / 4, 2004
Elaine
Cassel
Bush's Police State and Independence
Day
Stan
Goff
ABC of Opportunism: "Progressive"
Latin American Leaders Support the Coup in Haiti
Snehal
Shingavi
"We Want Real Justice for Bhopal": Two Survivors Speak
Out
Bruce
Anderson
The Cheney-Leahy Metaphor and the Greens
Sharon
Smith
Twilight of the Greens: the Chokehold of "Anybody But Bush"
Josh
Frank
Ralph Nader's Revolt: an Interview with Greg Bates
Robert
Fisk
Pentagon Tried to Censor Saddam's Hearing
Joe
Bageant
Sons of a Laboring God: Leftnecks Unite!
Brian
Cloughley
Fortress Bush and the One Law Doctrine
Justin
Delacour
The Anti-Chavez Echo Chamber: Venezuela's Media Tycoons
William
S. Lind
Saudi Spillover
Linda
S. Heard
A Joke Called "Justice"
Greg
Moses
"It's Illegal, But It's Our Right": Korean Labor Won't
Back Down
Ron
Jacobs
"Ain't You Proud to be White on Independence Day?"
Toni
Solo
Weary of Indigenous Resistances? Just Pretend They're Not There
Dan
Nagengast
Chicken Manure as Cattle Food: Safe, But Do We Want to Eat It?
Stew
Albert
Brando, a Personal Recollection
Dave
Zirin
From the Black Panthers to Sacheen Littlefeather: a Eulogy for
Our Brando
Patrick
W. Gavin
The Progressive Case for Dodgeball
Steven
Rosenthal / Junaid Ahmad
The Problem is Bigger Than the Bushes: a Review of F911
Poets'
Basement
Kearney, Ford and Davies
Website
of the Day
Global Peace Solution
July
2, 2004
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Suicide Right on the Stage: the Demise
of the Green Party
Douglas
Valentine
Fahrenheit 911: Mocking the Moral Crisis of Capitalism
Gary
Leupp
"Just Because I Could": On Obscenities and Opportunities
Lee
Ballinger
Illegal People: Kerry Opposes Immigrant Rights
Robert
Fisk
Saddam in the Dock: Confused? Hardly
CounterPunch
Wire
"What Law Formed This Court?": a Transcript of Saddam's
Arraignment
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush's Drug Card Lottery: the Price Ain't Right
Saul
Landau
Buzz Words and Venezuela
July 1, 2004
Katherine
van Wormer
Bush's Damaged Mind: the Madness in
His Method
Joe
Bageant
Is Our President a Whackjob? Does It Matter?
William
James Martin
The Dogma of Richard Perle
Dave
Lindorff
Bush's Evacuation Moment
Robert
Fisk
Bread and Circus Trials in Iraq
Alan
Maass
Green Party in Reverse
Website
of the Day
Michael Moore and Israel: Blind or a Coward?
June
30, 2004
Kurt Nimmo
Nicholson
Baker's Checkpoint: a New Kind of Anger About Bush
Tariq
Ali
Getting Away with Murder in Iraq
Jennifer
Van Bergen
Bush and the Detainees
Douglas
Valentine
Apotheosis of the Psychopaths: Instead of Fahrenheit 9/11, Rescreen
The Quiet American
David
Price
Fahrenheit 9/11 Through the McCain-Feingold Looking Glass
Roger
Normand
America's Criminal Occupation of Iraq
Stan
Cox
Sanitized for Your Protection: Ashcroft's
War on Art
Henry
David Thoreau
On the Futility of Bush v. Kerry: All Voting is a Kind of Gaming
Ben
Tripp
Who Dast Call Him Liar: a Rebuttal to Nicholas Kristof
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
August
7 / 8, 2004
Run
Ricky Run
Football,
Pot and Pain
By
FRED GARDNER
In the autumn of 1995, the 49ers fullback,
William Floyd, had a knee destroyed by tacklers. Management had
been overworking him mercilessly. On the play before his injury,
Floyd had carried four men for about two yards. The TV replay
of his leg going one way above the knee and another way below
the knee ended what was left of my mild football addiction.
So it was only peripherally
that I followed the career of a running back named Ricky Williams,
who in '95 was a freshman at the University of Texas. He had
speed, power, and dreadlocks (before they were fashionable).
He broke conference records that had endured since the days of
Doak Walker. The New Orleans Saints drafted him in 1999; Mike
Ditka gave up eight players to get him.
Williams's first agent had
experience in the world of rap music, not football, and the contract
he negotiated with the Saints owners' was not as lucrative as
it could have been.
Williams injured a shoulder
in his second NFL season and missed six games, but still gained
1000 yards. As he was recovering, he was induced by Glaxo SmithKline
to be the celebrity patient in a campaign to sell Paxil to the12
million Americans who allegedly suffer from "Social Anxiety
Disorder." Glaxo had to sell the concept that shyness is
actually a medical condition "a chemical imbalance
in the brain"- that can be corrected by a pill. Williams
gave interviews in which he praised the therapist who told him
that his reluctance to be accosted by strangers at airports could
be overcome by medication.
Williams was traded to the
Miami Dolphins in 2002. That season he led the league in yards
gained rushing (1853) and number of carries (383). In 2003 his
yardage dropped slightly but again he had the most carries (393).
Williams won't be playing in
2004. In late July he made two related statements: that he was
retiring from football, and that he found marijuana to be "10
times more helpful than Paxil" as a confidence builder.
(Glaxo promptly purged him from the Paxil website.)
Retiring isn't an easy step.
Williams's love for football is expressed in the pages of a journal
he's been posting sporadically at runrickyrun.com. He has a clear,
colloquial writing style -straight ahead, like his running style.
If we're lucky, he'll soon explain his decision to leave the
game, and keep us informed of his whereabouts.
Williams was facing a four-game
suspension after testing positive for marijuana on two occasions,
and he knew he had tested positive a third time. "I didn't
quit football because I failed a drug test. I failed a drug test
because I was ready to quit football," Williams told a writer
he trusts, Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald, on July 28.
"Williams said there were
'a hundred reasons' for his retirement and that his desire to
continue smoking marijuana without inhibition was merely one
of them," Le Batard reported. "He said he was not addicted
to the drug, but merely that he didn't believe in government
and NFL laws banning it. He said he had already decided to quit
football even before testing positive a second time for marijuana
use last season and incurring a $650,000 fine. He appealed that
fine, flying to New York to argue his case before an arbiter
with his attorney, but received word last week that his appeal
had been denied.
"While the appeal was
pending, Williams said he continued smoking marijuana while on
tour with rocker Lenny Kravitz in Europe and failed a third test
upon his return. He said he had been using a masking agent to
cleanse his system while being randomly tested for two seasons,
but said he didn't even bother before the last such test after
returning from Europe."
"Williams failed his first
drug test soon after arriving in Miami in 2002. He spent much
of his two seasons with the Dolphins in the league's drug program,
seeing a therapist weekly and subjected to eight to 10 random
urine tests a month at his home.
"Williams said he continued
smoking throughout his time as Dolphins, stopping only for a
month here and there, but passed random tests by drinking 32
ounces of a masking agent called Extra Clean and chasing it quickly
with 32 ounces of water...
"Williams, who suffers
from social-anxiety disorder and was a spokesperson for the anti-depressant
Paxil, said marijuana helped him once he had to stop using Paxil
because it didn't agree with his diet.
"'Marijuana is 10 times
better for me than Paxil,' he said.
"Williams said he doesn't
see anything wrong with marijuana because it is 'just a plant'
and his hero, Bob Marley, admitted to smoking it daily. Williams
has Marley tattoos all over his body, named his first child Marley
and is friends with Marley's children."
The Associated Press reports
that the Dolphins "will attempt to recoup about $4.7 million
in bonus money that Williams has collected due to reaching rushing
incentives in his new contract... Miami still believes there
is a chance that Williams will reconsider and decide to play
football, once he realizes he will have a financial fight on
his hands and once real contact begins."
Williams's current agent, Leigh
Steinberg, who also thinks his client might change his mind,
made some sensible comments on his behalf. The Dolphins had been
using Williams as a "battering ram," Steinberg said.
"In so many of his carries he was running straight into
the line. It took a heavy physical toll. Maybe it took an emotional
toll... Running a football into the waiting arms of 300-pound
defensive tackles whose goal is to fling one to the turf time
after time requires an extraordinary degree of passion, and commitment,
and he found it lacking."
"All NFL players get hurt,"
says veteran AP football reporter Dave Goldberg. "The beating
you take is horrendous." Goldberg calls Williams "a
throwback to the '60s, a free spirit, very bright. When he was
at Texas he decided he wanted to get to know Doak Walker, the
old SMU halfback, and they became friends. It was an interesting
pairing... Ricky is really atypical. The professional football
environment is -let's not call it fascist, but it's the military
mindset, and the players buy into it." Goldberg recalls
an NFL executive he admired, George Young, deciding to shock
everybody at an owners' meeting by announcing that he was a Democrat.
When he heard about Williams's retirement, Goldberg says, he
recalled a comment by Young, who was the Giants' general manager:
"Never draft a guy who's too smart."
Here are some excerpts from
Williams's journal:
o "My shoulder was extremely sore after this week's game,
and it's always going to be [written Sept. 11, 2002]. The trainers
told me that it's basically going to flare up every time I get
hit on it directly because I've got so much junk in my shoulders
from the wear and tear of football. I've gotten what seems like
hundreds of X-rays, and it's amazing to see how much stuff is
in my joints. I've separated both my shoulders before, and I'm
going to keep getting hit there because of how hard I run. It's
kind of unavoidable. I can get my shoulder scoped after the season,
but I'm not doing anything right now except working really hard
to strengthen and protect it. I can't let anything take me off
the field. It's too important for me to be in there for me and
for the team. I'm going to have to start doing a lot more shoulder
work. It feels fine right now because of all the treatment I've
gotten on it, but feeling fine is usually temporary in football.
I played all last year with it banged-up pretty good, so it's
not that big a deal. I'll treat it and take care of it, but you
better learn to play with pain in this game. You always play
a little hurt. The difference between good players and better
players is usually who plays the best when hurtin. It's amazing
to me to think about the numbers I could have put up by now if
I hadn't chosen to play with so many injuries. I've always had
big numbers when I've been healthy, but that's part of playing
in the NFL. You rarely feel 100 percent, so most people are trying
to do whatever they do when they don't feel 100 percent (especially
late in the season). You know how it is when you are young? You
always feel bullet-proof, invincible, and can play forever. But
all I had to do was look at some of my X-rays to know my days
are numbered."
o "The marketing lady
from the NFL called and asked if I wanted to do it [a VISA commercial
for which another participant would be paid three times as much]...
Me, thinking I was in the top echelon of players in the NFL...
the marketing lady explained that I wasn't there yet. We got
into an argument about the top 3 selling jerseys in the NFL.
I started to realize that I don't ever want to be there if that
means acting the way she wants me to, or anyone else wants me
to. If I get there the way I want, being myself, then I can be
proud of it, but I'm not going to be proud of it if I get there
behaving the way someone else thinks I should."
o "Whenever I do a commercial,
the director always tries to get me to act tough and talk tough.
If you haven't heard me talk, I have a soft voice. I shouldn't
have to act tough, I play football. I AM tough."
o "Everyone wants to hear
what I have to say. Even when I don't have anything to say."
o "Today I had another
interview. I don't really understand how many different people
it takes to write the same story."
o "Believe it or not,
making a football team has a lot more to do with who the coaches
like than who the best player is."
o "Friday night, Coach
Wannstedt brought in a sports psychologist to talk to us as a
team. The psychologist told us that the biggest mistake athletes
make is that we think. Off the field, we don't think as much
as we should. On the field, we think too much. That make sense?
Anyway, the psychologist told us that we all have genies that
are 7 feet tall, run the 40 in 3.5 and vertical jump 60 inches.
All we have to do is tell our genie what to do and he'll do it.
In other words, say positive things and visualize them and let
your genie (your subconscious) play because it can do better
things that we can do within the limits of our own bodies. As
he talked, I was wondering how many of the guys on the team thought
he was full of it... I guess it wasn't me that who scored that
touchdown, though, it must have been the genie. Everyone knows
my hands are small, so I tried to spike the ball but I had a
hard time getting a grip on it and it kind of squirted to the
side and I didn't get the bounce I was aiming for. I'm pathetic.
I guess my genie still has small hands."
o "I was an education
major in college. I wanted to be a teacher because of the important
role teachers played in my life. Growing up with a single mom
who is out trying to provide leaves a lot of opportunity for
trouble. Without the help, guidance and confidence I received
from my teachers [in the San Diego public schools], I would
not be where I am right now. While living in New Orleans, I became
aware of the disparity between public and private schooling.
A lot of children who can't afford a private education don't
have a fair shake. I was under the assumption that, as Americans,
we were all supposed to have equal access to an education. I
guess I was wrong."
o "It's kinda weird how
people just give us stuff. Just last night some guy came over
and paid for my dinner for no reason. It wasn't cheap, either.
He just came over and asked if he could buy it. I wasn't going
to argue. I got the loaded Ranger Rover I was telling you about
just for agreeing to do two appearances. I get it for a year.
And I got a $20,000 check just for two hours of work on an EA
sports commercial..."
o [After meeting the great
running back Jim Brown] "He told me the other day, 'You
are no mystery to me. I knew you from the time we met.' We talked
a lot about athletes using the voice that sports gives them.
Jim is really down on some athletes for not using theirs, and
so am I. Jim says we are just like slaves who don't use the voice
because we're too interested in making money for ourselves and
taking care of ourselves chasing that all mighty dollar. Instead
of a better existence for everyone...
o "I wish athletes today
could have the same impact on social reform as they did when
he was playing. When the likes of Ali, Malcolm X and Jim Brown
all sat in the same room and discussed their views on America.
Nowadays, it seems all some of us are interested in is how much
money we can make. I love playing football, and I love making
money, but I am starting to realize that those aren't the only
reasons God has given me so much talent. Jim and I talked until
about five in the morning. We talked about everything from how
the Browns lost yesterday to prison riots. It was rewarding for
me to be able to chat with one of the only people I truly admire
in this world."
Attorney David Cornwell has
been helping Steinberg represent Williams. A former assistant
general counsel for the NFL, he sometimes sounds as if he was
speaking for management: "My recollection is we began testing
for marijuana sometime in the '87-89 contract. The players association
said it was not appropriate. We believed that not only was it
appropriate under the law, it was necessary."
Your correspondent opined that
drug testing is an assault on a person's dignity and that by
refusing to put himself through it, Williams was doing what millions
of Americans wish they could afford to do. Cornwell responded,
"I think, there is a place for it, if for no other reason
than the stature that professional athletes enjoy."
Cornwell expressed concern
that the NFL program "tends to devolve into a process where
they focus more on catching the guy than treating him if,
in fact, there is a substance abuse problem or some other underlying
issue. When it comes to education and treatment, there's a substantial
breakdown."
Cornwell acknowledged that
NFL team owners use the drug-testing policy to reduce players'
earning power. "There have been players that I represented
who have had multiple violations of league-sponsored substance
abuse policy and were facing some level of suspension. That certainly
had a chilling effect on their marketability finding teams
to sign them, and then once a team is willing to sign them, the
structure of the contract. Because the next violation could result
in either another suspension, a ban, or something in between.
As a result, teams are reluctant to put in up-front money or
guaranteed money into a deal if they might lose the guy."
Fred Gardner can be reached at fred@plebesite.com
Weekend Edition
Features for July 31 / August 1, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Kerry:
He's the (Any) One
Merlin Chowkwanyun
Five Questions with Noam Chomsky: "The Savage Extreme of
a Narrow Policy Spectrum"
David Lindorff
The Shame of the DNC
John Chuckman
The
Disturbing Words of John Edwards
Brian Cloughley
All Slam and No Dunk; All Blame and No Responsibility
Christopher Brauchli
"Being Poor is a State of Mind": the Frowning Face
of Compassionate Conservatism
Fred Gardner
A World of Pain
Michael Donnelly
How Big Pharma Bilks the Elderly
David Nally
Genocide in Darfur?
Joshua Frank
Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon
Sam Bahour
Colin Powell and My Grandmother
Diane Farsetta
The IMF and the Indonesian Elections: The Invisible Hand in the
Voting Booth
Harold Gould
Was Iraq a Mutual Charade?
Van Bergen / Stephens
Election 9/11: Surreal Political Theater
Lee Sustar
A New Model for the Labor Movement?
Ron Jacobs
The Lost Art of Hitchhiking
M. Junaid Alam
An Interview with Palestinian-American Rapper, The Iron Sheik
Poets Basement
Albert, Ford, Krieger, St. Clair
Website of
the Weekend
Cross Cultural Poetics
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