The bars in North Beach and the Marina are already packed but it just doesn't seem right. The fans will be giddy and loud --assuming the 49ers/Eagles have an entertaining fight but again, given the carnage via video in Memphis, who cares. And just when we're over all that, we're due for another mass shooting, which makes Brock Purdy and Super Bowls irrelevant.
*I MISS Herb Caen.
Don't we all.
Herb was at his maximum best when tragedy occured whether here in the city or outside. He knew the moment and could make sense out of the senseless. It was especially evident after Jonestown and the Moscone/Milk murders. The city/Bay Area were hit back-to-back with tragedy galore and Caen's ability to navigate the mayhem and cruelty that overtook SF, was much needed.
The horrific Memphis video showing man's inhumanity to man was gruesome enough but the idea that it took a young man's life made it even more grim and downright depressing. I can't envision what Mr. Nichol's family is going through, a parent's worst nightmare.
Which only makes the idea of watching a football game seem even more bizarre and wholly inappropriate, at the very least.
Mr. Caen in heaven, your services are needed. Give us a momentary break from all the madness and ease our anxiety and temper our hysteria.
Give us solace that it's OK to take our minds off the depresing reality that is our life today fraught with terror and amazement of just how cruel we as a society have become. Only you, Herb, could jolt us with a detour from all the chaos.
Your help is vital.
I know what good ole Rich is writing here, and I get it. BUT, while it may seem somewhat jaded to say, I have become so accustomed to this stuff, that I think watching an NFL game is just what is needed. There is too much darkness in the world today, so I think it does need lightening up with a game. And while I am not really a fan of a bunch of millionaires running around chasing a ball, the story of today's game with the 49ers, is really, the "made for TV movie" in the making, which is, the Brock Purdy story! I mean, this thing is definitely a story if there ever was one! Of course, it depends on the 49ers winning today, and then, the Super Bowl, but ya know, even I, a non-sports fan, would much rather endure watching an NFL game, than seeing more protests, etc. I am sick of protests, really...
ReplyDeleteWell put, have a nice day.
DeleteCaen is missed. We don't have enough people with gravitas, kindness and human decency in the media. While Cronkite and the original 60 Minutes crew were not perfect, I got straight forward news, no spin and their egos were not front and center. Man's inhumanity to man is not new. The fact that some in this country think talking about difficult topics- racism, police abuse and anything that makes some people uncomfortable as "woke" this country has really taken a dark turn down the rabbit hole. The fact that some people can debate facts when they are shown on video is a pathetic state of affairs. I don't mean Memphis, I mean anytime there is a video of an event and we can see what happened, there are some who say " what did he/she do before". "he/she must have done SOMETHING to deserve what happened." I know people who said that about George Floyd, Amhad Aubery, Tamir Rice etc. Herb, Cronkite, the original 60 Minute crew and Barbara Walters must be doing somersaults in their graves.
ReplyDeleteUnless a story had a San Francisco angle, it was unlikely Caen would have written about it.
ReplyDeleteMr. Crump is not a criminal lawyer. He won't be involved in litigating the criminal counts against the five defendants. He is a civil lawyer who will file a multimillion dollar wrongful death suit against the city of Memphis. Memphis being afraid of more rioting, will quickly settle and Mr.crump will get one third. This is why he is a multimiliionaire,himself. The battle then will be who gets the remaining two thirds? Should it be the mother, or the child he left behind in Sacramento. There is still no official cause of death. The Medical examiner's autopsy results are not released, not will Mr. Crump release the entire privately paid for hired scalpel autopsy results.
ReplyDeleteHerb is moldering in his grave. He won't be commenting.
ReplyDeleteRich. You seem to be saying this was racist. The 5 cops are black and the chief is black. I hope you're not going there with this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSo far the 49ers are sucking.
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ReplyDeleteSFGate.com must feel as you do. No mention in any of the headlines on the SFGate.com website following the game, or for the remainder of the day, about who won or the score.
ReplyDeleteWatching football, THIS MORNING???
ReplyDeleteKyle
Santa Clara
LOL
DeleteNope. Packing for Cancun! Then going to Spring Training.
DeleteFor anyone who's a Herb Caen fan, I have a book I bought several years ago at Half Price Books in Concord "The World of Herb Caen" San Francisco 1938-1997 edited by Barnaby Conrad. It has pictures, many of his comments etc. One stand out a column he wrote on Nov. 24 2 days after the assissination of John F. Kennedy. I have another column he wrote the day after the assissination of the president, he managed to put into words the void, senselessness of the act and the bewilderment and hopelessness most American's felt at that time. I was still living in my native Denmark, but we shared the same feeling as did American and many all over the world.
ReplyDeleteWhile the protest of Nichol's murder here have been peaceful, the celebrations of the Eagles win have not.
ReplyDeleteFootball is the “modern equivalent” of Gladiator spectacle. It is also big money for advertisers, TV companies, and fast food franchises. The NFL is the playpen of Billionaire Owner$, who employ an ever changing cast of young men.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how one makes the call, it is a sport built on violent hits - that make us ooh and aah and wince at the pain inflicted.
The Spectacle will not address Police violence - doing so does not jibe with the message advertisers want to portray. Advertisers want you to buy more Wings, more beer, more chips. TV, a poor version of reading a book, is just another method of leaving reality for a brief time…
What would Caen have written about SF’s massive homelessness and open-air drug use and epidemics of car breakins and store robberies? None of it totally new but all of it much greater than in his day.
ReplyDelete