Phil Mushnick
Sport
June 15, 2023 | 21:08
Can’t shake it. Not that I would even try. That would be a waste of thought.
I still see them. Weekday. When I’m stopped at a red light, walking down the street, and always when I’m driving toward the Manhattan skyline.
I see images of falling, horribly scattered people who have chosen to jump to their deaths from 80 stories or higher in the World Trade Center rather than burn to death. I think of the options they had to consider before deciding. I wonder what their last, terrified thoughts were. I have read that an estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths.
And I think of the nice, polite words we still choose to describe the 3,000 dead, words like “killed,” “perished,” “lost,” and “dead.”
But we don’t hear or read the stark, unfiltered and indisputable truth. They were murdered.
And I wonder if Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, David Feherty and the rest of the Saudi money golf tour and PGA that just sold out to the Saudi government have seen these pictures.
Do they turn a blind eye to them or quickly look away? Or have they been blinded by all the money as if they would otherwise be homeless?
I wonder if they even care. How can they really care when they are attached to a price tag to ignore the murder of 3,000 on American soil?
The rationalizations start there: “You wouldn’t be moved by that kind of money?” “Aren’t we buying oil from Saudi Arabia?”
It always comes back to money. Let the families of the murdered mourn, but quietly and discreetly.
I wonder how our last two presidents feel, whether they have recently seen images of innocents falling to their incomprehensible targets, or whether their oath of office prevents them from seeing such a grotesque reality perpetrated by America and Americans .
As president, Donald Trump unequivocally blamed Saudi-planned and funded terrorism on the same Saudi government that funded the LIV golf tour for a proposed PGA merger.
Now “Sportsman Donald” is celebrating the deal with the Saudis as a wonderful coincidence, a way to get his eponymous golf courses to earn more Saudi-affiliated pro events for his cut of the events.
Joe Biden seems no longer willing or even able to see 9/11 for what it was and remains. He has turned America into a gasoline patsy of the Saudi royal family while opening our borders to tens of thousands of God-knows-who on their way to God-knows-what in and around major American cities.
Then there are new politicians, such as Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who succinctly explained the Saudi Arabian 9/11 attacks as “some people did something.”
Was she unaware or unconcerned that Muslim extremists across the Arab world expressed their naked joy after the attacks? Did she know that 3,000 Americans of all religions were murdered by these “people [who] did something”?
And the next time Bryson DeChambeau excuses his two-fisted Saudi government golf money with “No one’s perfect,” I’d like to show him the picture of what is now called “Falling Man,” a soul falling head first to its death from what believed to have been his workplace at Windows of the World, the restaurant on the top floor – the 107th – of the North Tower of the WTC.
The photo was taken by AP photographer Richard Drew, who that morning was on assignment to shoot – imagine – a maternity fashion show.
And so the PGA’s righteous public indignation and patriotic attitude to stand with the friends and families of 9/11 murder victims was not worth the sand it was scratched.
What could PGA boss Jay Monahan have done instead? He could have preserved his dignity, credibility and the courage of his convictions by resigning. Instead, he took the money out.
A greater betrayal of humanity and exploitation of American mass murder may never be matched in the name of a sport, a “game of honor” that sold its soul for buckets of money and buckets of blood.
Let the record show that the PGA played the 3,000 9/11 murdered and their survivors in the middle.
Arcangelo is not the one who ‘doesn’t belong’
The Belmont: First and foremost, Mike “I’ll Never Host a Podcast” Francesa still has it. On his pre-race podcast, he authoritatively declared that Arcangelo “doesn’t even belong in the race.”
And the winner is… Arcangelo!
As for Fox’s production, it was a mess, an accident culminating in the loss of legendary Tom Durkin’s entire call in the race. Durkin, summoned by Fox out of retirement, was heard only in a scratchy background muffling.
The commentary was also strained. Host Curt Menefee referred to highly suspect, sanctioned and perhaps corrupt trainer Bob Baffert as the Bill Belichick of horse racing.
Don’t know how many players Belichick has been forced to kill, but even if it was one, I imagine we would have heard about it.
The two players that a manager would insist on giving their full, uninhibited attention while on the field are the pitcher and the catcher.
But bullpen speed caller Aaron Boone allowed ESPN, Sunday night during Boston-Yanks, to hook catcher Jose Trevino to a live microphone.
Naturally, Trevino was heard shouting an exclamation, after which play-by-play man Karl Ravech apologized to the ESPN crowd.
Ravech should instead have blamed Boone and ESPN’s producer for the absurd idea.
Then again, as reader Norm Rosenfield suggests, there’s no better way for ESPN to prepare its audience for the addition of Pat McAfee, who apparently was hired because he’s vulgar rather than in spite of it.
Manfred: You fathers better sleep in
Father’s Day weekend on Rob Manfred’s watch: The Yankees have a three-game series in Boston. All night games for maximum TV money. Grandfathers, fathers and their children can go to hell.
And reader Kenny Kaplan points out that in addition to being off this past Memorial Day, the Mets and Yanks are off for Labor Day.
Not enough gang violence in Baltimore, now the Orioles want to contribute to the dress code with their new all-black Nike uniforms. Or is it just another coincidence in the same color? …
Give me the old religion: Watching Oklahoma’s softball team win another NCAA championship on ESPN. Hard to miss — and stomach — was OU’s incessant team and individual showboating. Then, at a championship news conference, they credited their success to their deep religious faith. I do not understand it. …
Nice to see Aaron Rodgers and Sauce Gardner practice their elaborate handshakes after the game. Modern priorities. …
Reader Mark Yost sent along a photo of the individual-sized bag of Cracker Jacks purchased at a Padres game for just $16. Heck, the profit started after a handful. And you can wash it down with a $5 bottled water or a $14 cup of Budweiser. …
Name of the week: The course manager for last weekend’s Canadian Open was Patrick Greenman.