Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Tony Clark's 2002 season with the Boston Red Sox was the equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's II...HILARIOUS!
Clark only hit 3 homeruns and his batting average was .207. It was difficult to imagine him playing again, let alone being a starting first baseman. He spent 2003, and 2004 with the Mets and Yankees respectively. Over two seasons he smacked 32 homeruns. His batting average improved, but only marginally.
This year Clark caught on with the Arizona Diamondbacks and he's enjoyed a brief resurgence. Clark has hit 30 homeruns, collected 86 runs batted in, and is hitting .308. His stats are better than they ever were. Consider this, in Clark's best year with the Tigers, he hit 34 homeruns, but it took him 602 at bats to accomplish the feat. This season Clark has 30 homeruns in 338 at bats (one homerun every 17.7 at bats as opposed to one for every 11.3 at bats). He parlayed that into a 2 year contract with the Diamondbacks. The contract is not an extravagant one in terms of pay, what is truly unique about the contract is its charity stipulations/provisions:
Clark's contract requires the Diamondbacks to contribute each of the following per year:
-Use of the owner's suite for charity in four regular-season games.
-1,000 tickets to regular-season games for charity.
-$10 food vouchers for 34 underprivileged children at 34 regular-season games.
-Two scholarships of $7,500 each in Clark's name for the club's annual scholarship program.
-2,000 tickets to regular season games for use by families of military personnel serving overseas from Luke Air Force Base.
-$5,000 donation to a Little League in Arizona and working with MLB's annual equipment drive; will also work to develop other community charitable projects such as those involving the police and fire departments.
The contract is a rarity.
Even if Clark is traded, the Diamondbacks must still fulfil these stipulations. It's nothing short of awesome.
Clark only hit 3 homeruns and his batting average was .207. It was difficult to imagine him playing again, let alone being a starting first baseman. He spent 2003, and 2004 with the Mets and Yankees respectively. Over two seasons he smacked 32 homeruns. His batting average improved, but only marginally.
This year Clark caught on with the Arizona Diamondbacks and he's enjoyed a brief resurgence. Clark has hit 30 homeruns, collected 86 runs batted in, and is hitting .308. His stats are better than they ever were. Consider this, in Clark's best year with the Tigers, he hit 34 homeruns, but it took him 602 at bats to accomplish the feat. This season Clark has 30 homeruns in 338 at bats (one homerun every 17.7 at bats as opposed to one for every 11.3 at bats). He parlayed that into a 2 year contract with the Diamondbacks. The contract is not an extravagant one in terms of pay, what is truly unique about the contract is its charity stipulations/provisions:
Clark's contract requires the Diamondbacks to contribute each of the following per year:
-Use of the owner's suite for charity in four regular-season games.
-1,000 tickets to regular-season games for charity.
-$10 food vouchers for 34 underprivileged children at 34 regular-season games.
-Two scholarships of $7,500 each in Clark's name for the club's annual scholarship program.
-2,000 tickets to regular season games for use by families of military personnel serving overseas from Luke Air Force Base.
-$5,000 donation to a Little League in Arizona and working with MLB's annual equipment drive; will also work to develop other community charitable projects such as those involving the police and fire departments.
The contract is a rarity.
Even if Clark is traded, the Diamondbacks must still fulfil these stipulations. It's nothing short of awesome.
North of America Tour Dates
Don't be Stupid, Be Glad You Live North of America :
NORTH OF AMERICA – SEPTEMBER 29 – OCTOBER 15
09 -29 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (w/ Ted Leo)
09 -30 Hamilton, ON @ The Underground (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -01 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -02 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -03 Kingston, ON @ Clark Hall (w/ You Say Party We Say Die)
10 -05 Mississauga, ON @ Masonic Lodge (w/ Germans)
10 -06 London, ON @ Call The Office (w/ Chixdiggit)
10 -07 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge (w/ Dog Day)
10 -08 Brantford, ON @ The Ford Plant (w/ Dog Day)
10 -09 Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's (w/ Dog Day)
10 -10 Quebec City @ Kashmir
10 -11 Fredericton, NB @ The Taproom (w/ Special Noise + Fembots)
10 -12 Charlottetown, PEI @ tba (w/ Special Noise)
10 -13 Halifax, NS @ The Marquee Club (w/ Ted Leo and Chad VanGaalen)
10 -14 Halifax, NS @ The Pavilion (w/ Ted Leo and Sharp Like Knives)
10 -15 Sackville, NB @ George's Tavern (w/ Special Noise and Chad Van
Gaalen)
Don't be Stupid, Be Glad You Live North of America :
NORTH OF AMERICA – SEPTEMBER 29 – OCTOBER 15
09 -29 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club (w/ Ted Leo)
09 -30 Hamilton, ON @ The Underground (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -01 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -02 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon (w/ Ted Leo)
10 -03 Kingston, ON @ Clark Hall (w/ You Say Party We Say Die)
10 -05 Mississauga, ON @ Masonic Lodge (w/ Germans)
10 -06 London, ON @ Call The Office (w/ Chixdiggit)
10 -07 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge (w/ Dog Day)
10 -08 Brantford, ON @ The Ford Plant (w/ Dog Day)
10 -09 Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's (w/ Dog Day)
10 -10 Quebec City @ Kashmir
10 -11 Fredericton, NB @ The Taproom (w/ Special Noise + Fembots)
10 -12 Charlottetown, PEI @ tba (w/ Special Noise)
10 -13 Halifax, NS @ The Marquee Club (w/ Ted Leo and Chad VanGaalen)
10 -14 Halifax, NS @ The Pavilion (w/ Ted Leo and Sharp Like Knives)
10 -15 Sackville, NB @ George's Tavern (w/ Special Noise and Chad Van
Gaalen)
I have written a fair bit about the trials and tribulations of Ward Churchill. It's a pretty interesting case given the impact it has on issues of race, colonialism, intellectual copyright, intellectual freedoms etc. It also has a Halifax connection given that one of the academics that Churchill allegedly plagiarized from is Dalhousie University professor, Fay Cohen.
DissidentVoice.org is running a five part interview with Churchill. The first two sections are here andhere. Churchill tackles questions about his genealogy, Fay Cohen, and his comparison of World Trade Centre workers to Adolf Eichmann.
I still do not understand why media in Halifax hasn't cover the story other than running a cursory wire story.
Churchill co-authored the excellent The Cointelpro Papers : Documents From the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States. Earlier this month, Churchill spoke alongside Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Briantrusts. The two sessions were part of the annual Congressional Black Caucus Convention in Washington, D.C. The sessions dealt with COINTELPRO's relationship to hip hop and hip hop culture. Political commentator and former general manager of the Wu Tang Clan, Cedric Muhammad spoke at the sessions as well. An interview with him concerning COINTELPRO and hip hop can be found here
There's a interview with Big Pooh of Little Brother that's a little less conspiratorial here dealing with the idea that rap is the new minstrel show. There are some references to COINTELPRO, but in a much more figurative sense.
DissidentVoice.org is running a five part interview with Churchill. The first two sections are here and
I still do not understand why media in Halifax hasn't cover the story other than running a cursory wire story.
Churchill co-authored the excellent The Cointelpro Papers : Documents From the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States. Earlier this month, Churchill spoke alongside Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Briantrusts. The two sessions were part of the annual Congressional Black Caucus Convention in Washington, D.C. The sessions dealt with COINTELPRO's relationship to hip hop and hip hop culture. Political commentator and former general manager of the Wu Tang Clan, Cedric Muhammad spoke at the sessions as well. An interview with him concerning COINTELPRO and hip hop can be found here
the Village Voice wrote a very peculiar piece about how a government informant had infiltrated the management of Wu Tang. And I think in particular Ghostface Killa and Cappadonna. And I thought that the way that they portrayed the (Wu Tang) clan and the way that they tried to connect the group with illegal activity was what I recall from what I was taught by Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher Prowdy, who wrote part of the script for JFK for Oliver Stone and who specialized in Black operations from, I believe, '55 - '64.
There's a interview with Big Pooh of Little Brother that's a little less conspiratorial here dealing with the idea that rap is the new minstrel show. There are some references to COINTELPRO, but in a much more figurative sense.
