Jack Tatum, 61, Oakland Raiders Legend dies: I saw Darryl Stingley hit

Tatum crushes Stingley (NY Times)

Jack Tatum, the Oakland Raiders Legend dies at the young age of 61, and this blogger is shocked: Jack Tatum is one of those people who, as an Oaklander, is like part of your mental furniture; you just expected him to be there, forever.

That's especially true because I saw Darryl Stingley as he was hit by Jack Tatum at the 1978 preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots. I was at Skyline High School at the time (in fact, unbelievably, our 30th reunion is this weekend) and went to the game with my good friend Bill Boyd (who you may remember from my Star Trek video, if you follow this space).

Bill and I were nerds before the term was created. In Bill Boyd's case, he was given to a Monty Python-style of humor: he could sing the "LumberJack Song" on cue. (Well, OK, all of us - me, Bill, Lars Frykman, and Craig Prior on a good day - could.)

Anyway, it was Bill's first pro football game at the Oakland Coliseum - I got the tickets from my Mom, who was friends with Raiders Defensive Tackle Otis Sistrunk and Marvin Upshaw, brother of Oakland Raiders Legend and later NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw at the time - and he was in rare form. When the Oakland Raiderettes Cheerleaders were introduced, Bill stood up in his seat and yelled "SEX! SEX! SEX!" When the Oakland Raiders players came out, he got up and yelled "VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE!" Well, he was right.

The New England Patriots and Darryl Stingley in particular, were having a field day on offense against the Raiders. I got used to seeing Stingley run after the catch with abandon; Tatum put a stop to that.

As I recall, Stingley caught a slant pass and headed up field; I saw a number 32 cross my binoculars, and then a resounding crack. That was it.

The Oakland Coliseum was the quietest it's ever been. Darryl Stingley was down and Bill and I thought he died. That's a wild something to experience, especially when you're a teenager.

Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, they brought out a stretcher, gently lifted Stingley, and took him to an ambulance.

As you know by now, Darryl Stingley was paralyzed.

That event forever changed Jack Tatum and NFL Football. He played with less abandon after that, and it closed a chapter in Oakland Raiders history where the team was considered to have "criminal elements" on it. The charge came from then-Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Chuck Knoll, who's own players had some of the same claims aimed at them...by the Raiders.

Shortly after that event, and entering the 80s, the NFL liberalized defensive contact rules, allowing receivers to run through defenses without being "chucked" beyond five yards, whereas a defender could hit a receiver and knock the person off course before.

That change paved the way for the wide-open NFL of today.

That ended the Jack Tatum era.

Jack Tatum, whom I met once, was from what I recall a quiet and nice person; not at all like his football persona.

He died too young, but his sprit lives on. Perhaps the modern Oakland Raiders will channel his energy into an NFL Championship.

Stay tuned. What a sad day for Oakland sports. Jack Tatum, RIP.

Charles E. Johnson, San Mateo's Tano Capital, invest in India, China

What's interesting to learn about Bay Area venture capital firms, and on the heels of Thursday's TechCrunch Summer Party hosted by August Capital, is that not every one focuses on the United States.

In the case of Tano Capital, the San Mateo, California investment firm founded by Charles E. Johnson, the former President of Franklin Templeton investments, who's its managing director, has its investment interests primarily in India and China.

The firm, established in 2007, started with a few small investments, but then ramped up its activity considerably in 2009. It started with an investment in AltoBeam Technology, a China-based designer of digital TV chipsets. Then Tano placed $2.2 million in TongXue.com, a Chinese-based social network, that's become one of the 50,000 largest websites in the World (and with a really cool animated activity map).

In 2010, Tano Capital's activity increased, to the point that it has now as many deals in play as it did in all of 2009. And Tano's not totally out of the United States in terms of investment deals: it started the Tano Global Hard Assets Fund, which invests in U.S. hard assets.

Tano does all of this from it's offices in San Mateo, Mumbai, Mauritius, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tianjin.

Terrell Owens is more than just a Reality TV star by: Nikky Raney

Terrell Owens was a well-known football player (former All-Pro receiver) before landing a reality TV show on VH1 (The T.O. Show).

Although some have reported that T.O's career is on the decline he still has hope for the upcoming football season.

The New York Jets are set to possibly be the next to sign Owens, but the Cincinnati Bengals also have their prospects on the star.

Only time will tell which team the star will join, but the fans will definitely be glad to see him back on the field.

(Photo courtesy of Mouth Piece Sports)

Move over Andrew Breitbart, here comes Hipskind!

Darlene Heslop "sighed and rolled her eyes" according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. For that she got ejected from the June 14 meeting of the City Council in Elmhurst, IL.

"Surely nobody expects the committee to conduct its business effectively if citizens are free to make facial expressions in public."

I'm serious.

"Making faces behind the mayor's back is disruptive, in my opinion,"

~Stephen Hipskind

Now, according to the Tribune's Editorial, the Elmhurst City Attorney has been directed to research the legal definitions of disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior apparently as a precursor to drafting an ordinance "to curb non-verbal outbursts." There is already a state law defining disorderly conduct as "an act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another, or to provoke a breach of the peace." 

Somehow, to me, neither sighing nor rolling your eyes, even if done more-or-less simultaneously at a meeting of elected officials, seems likely to provoke a breach of the peace. A snort? Maybe. A chuckle or two, even? Perhaps.

July's been a busy month for dictionary makers

First we have the new verb breitbart, as in "he breitbarted the story," to describe taking something so egregiously out of context that it takes on a meaning opposite from what was originally intended.  Now we also have the new verb hipskind, as in "he hipskinded the event," meaning he caused members to walk out undermining the meeting quorum yet succeeded in wasting tax-payer money by sending an attorney on a wild goose chase - over somebody sighing and rolling their eyes.

Is it any wonder voters seem hard-pressed to trust elected officials to bring value to their work? To delegate to an attorney the task of devising a way to control facial expressions sounds like some farcical Monty Python sketch.  Sadly, it's not - it's the state of the city in Elmhurst, IL.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to various web sites on topics such as economics, politics, culture, and community. He's glad nobody could watch his facial expressions while he wrote this.

Tom Staub? City of Alameda's City Manger in trouble on SunCal Alameda Point

Victim of a can't do city

This blogger returns from Comic Con to see that Alameda's a big mess. Forget Tom Staub, or Tony Hayward, or Fugazi, or cats that look like Hitler, or any questionable content, the Internet World should pay attention to how Alameda messed up.

The City of Alameda’s rejection of developer SunCal’s Alameda Point redevelopment plan and involvement is an example of the City’s awful political and staff leadership and it will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and lost jobs over the coming years.

Perhaps just as damaging, unless something with SunCal can be salvaged, my sources say the City’s reputation has been irreparably damaged with Wall Street and the investment community and, now, any major developer would be foolish to even entertain driving through the Alameda Tube.

(Hey investment community, come to Oakland.)

That's too bad for a project, the redevelopment of what was the Alameda Naval Air Station and what we call Alameda Point, which was closed in what was called the "Base Realignment and Closure Act" of 1992.

I was on the first Alameda Base Reuse Committee, and the time table we had called for the project to be underway by now. But, thanks to Ann Marie Gallant, that's not the case.

Alameda’s interim city manager, Ann Marie Gallant is the problem. Period. She's become the Tony Hayward of the investment community in my view, and someone should be royally pissed off; I am. Ann Marie Gallant has been single-handedly behind the collapse of the SunCal project from the view of this space.

Gallant's recent stop-the-development-at-all-costs efforts in which sources say she secretly started reading the emails and correspondence of a well-regarded Councilwoman, Lena Tam, and then hired a private attorney to file claims against Tam, taking her out of the vote for the Alameda Point development and casting aspersions on Tam’s supporters.

While Alamedan’s don’t know the full story about Ann Marie Gallant, it will soon come out in this space, as both Tam’s top attorney John Keker and, separately, SunCal are looking at legal action against Gallant and the City of Alameda.

One of the big issues is the money SunCal spent in paying the City of Alameda's staff during the negotiating period and what the staff did and did not do during that time. To say that Gallant and the City of Alameda are in big trouble is an understatement.

Tom Staub? Forget it.

Stay tuned.

On Leah Siegel of ESPN, Dez Bryant, and Comic Con 2010

Blogging thoughts on Leah Siegel of ESPN and the Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant, and posting videos on Comic Con from San Diego International Airport.

Leah and her kids 

Leah Siegel of ESPN

Leah Siegel, is a Dallas-based producer for ESPN, and mother of three, sadly lost her battle with breast cancer Monday at the young age of 43. That news is particularly hard for me, because I will never forget the January 14th day my mother first informed me she had breast cancer.

And although she has survived, 2005 was a year that, between her breast cancer, and losing both my father and step father to prostate cancer in March and October respectively, I'd never cried so much in one year in my life. I hope, before I die, we find a cure for cancer. But for now, we morn the passing of Leah Siegel, who's plight generated an online following.

According to her husband Eric Loehr, writing on her blog, Leah died at 4:30 AM. Funeral service will be held at Friday, July 30th, 2 PM at Sparkman-Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 Northwest Hwy Dallas, TX 75225.

Dallas Cowboy's Dez Bryant Is Terrell Owens?

Former Oklahoma State Wide Receiver, and Dallas Cowboys 1st Round Draft Pick Terrell Owens is being compared to former Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Terrell Owens, and for a really stupid reason: he will not carry Roy Williams pads!?

To that I saw, Roy Williams and the media need to grow up. No disrespect to the great Roy Williams, but he made this a really bone-headed story by running to reporters, who were eager to take it, and form it into another, drum-roll please, "BLACK MAN WON'T DANCE" tale. Want proof: they played the "Terrell Owens" card.

Oh brother.

That Roy Williams is black, which someone's going to blurt out with, as if that's significant here, is of no matter. According to ESPN, Williams said he carried pads, paid for dinners, and did other things NFL veterans asked him to do because he "didn't want to be that guy."

Roy Williams knows, and anyone else culturally honest enough to admit it will say, that being "that guy" means being a black guy who does not play by the rules set out for him by society. Thus, the "Terrell Owens" mention by the media.

It's an institutionally racist way of society reminding a black guy of his place, and aided by another black guy, in this case Roy Williams.

Considering that the Cowboys having won an NFL Championship since the '90s, maybe Dez Bryant's the guy the need. Roy Williams seems more worried about Dez Bryant being a black guy "who dances," rather than an NFL player who can help them win a ring.

Williams could have just talked to Dez Bryant privately about the issue, and not ran to the press. That was awful on Roy's part.

Dez, just play ball.

Comic Con 2010 is History

A sad Monday and not just for the news of Leah Siegel's passing, but for the end of Comic Con 2010. With the exception of the unfortunate stabbing incident, I've never seen so many happy people in one place in my life. Every day of the five days I was here, my days at the San Diego Convention Center started with seeing smiling people, young, middle-aged, old, and even toddlers. That was cool.

On the matter of the stabbing incident, I talked to David Glanzer, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations on Comic Con on video, here:

.

Briefly, Glanzer and San Diego Police Officer Sargeant Cecena both said that two friends got into an altercation and that the pen stabbing accident (more that than an assault) was "minor." It took 40 minutes to get the show back to normal that Saturday evening. Glanzer said he "could not remember anything that this happening at all" in the 41-year history of Comic Con. Part of the problem may be the sheer size of Comic Con.

Glanzer said they've outgrown the San Diego Convention Center, and even though they experimented with expanding events to the nearby hotels, they had to turn away 400 exhibitors. If an average booth cost is, say, $400, then Comic Con turned lost $400,000 because of lack of space at the San Diego Convention Center.

But fear not, Comic Con will be back in San Diego for 2011 and 2012; it's 2013 and beyond that's the issue.

Glanzer and the Comic Con staff will take a week off, but come next week they will be "right back at it" looking at proposals from Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Diego for the future.

Buffy The Musical closes Comic Con

One of the most fun events I attended (the other being not really an event, but the day spent with the Hatchet 2 cast and crew, and I've got a lot more to blog about for that) was the last one called Buffy The Musical.

Basically, an audience of about 3,000 or 4,000 people watched and sang along to Buffy The Musical's songs, using the subtitled lyrics as a guide. Some people knew the songs by heart. My favorite song was "Where do we go from here."

Did I sing? Yes. But then, that's what happens when you're a black guy who doesn't dance.



A really good question. But I'd like to thank Lila King and my friends at CNN iReport for giving me a cool Flip Video Camera Mino HD, specially designed for CNN, and a nice CNN hat.

Stay tuned.

2 can play @ Breitbart's editing game!

By now you've learned what great lengths Andrew Breitbart will go to editing video to make people, such as Shirley Sherrod, look as though they're for something they're against - hey, video clips don't lie, right?

Right.

Now the folks at MoveOn have released the perfect counterpoint: video of Breitbart talking about having cocktails with terrorists while disparaging the people you and I think of as normal.

Mr. Breitbart's remarks, excerpted from a presentation at February's Conservative Political Action Conference -- months before he deftly edited Ms. Sherrod to defame and discredit her -- are shocking, really.  

But don't take my word for it - go see for yourself!

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.