The Sins Of Other People's Past
August 29, 2018 at 3:13 a.m.
By Roger Grossman-
I am going to admit things to you that only a few people know. I am doing this because I want to get out in front of any scandalous story that might break about my past.
So, here we go.
When I was in college, I told my mom I needed to end our phone conversation so I could go study for a test, when I was really going bowling with the guys from my hallway instead.
Also, when I was at Butler, my room in Ross Hall (which was bigger than most of the dorm rooms), hosted a lot of parties where underage drinking was not only occurring, but I was the DJ playing the music for the parties.
And, as a child, I used to record the highlight shows of every Chicago Cubs game on to cassette tapes, and I kept those tapes. I still have them, all of them, which means I am a habitual offender of Major League Baseball’s warning that “the accounts and descriptions of this game may not be disseminated without expressed written consent.”
Having admitted all of those things, I hope I don’t lose my job, my ability to provide for my family or my reputation in the community.
About now you are asking “what in the world is Roger doing?”
A few weeks back I wrote about how social media posts by current professionals written when they were teenagers were being used against them. I wondered where the line is and what’s fair to expect from someone when they are 17 or 18 years old.
Last week we found out that the line is moving – fast – and I don’t like where it’s heading one bit.
Conor Daly is a 26-year IndyCar driver who was set to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut last Saturday. His dad, Derek, was a famous IndyCar and Formula 1 racer back in the 1980s and 90s. Derek has been working in Indianapolis as a racing commentator for one of the local TV stations.
Conor was diagnosed as being diabetic when he was 14 years old, so drug-maker Lilly Diabetes was a natural choice for major sponsorship on his car.
Friday changed everything.
It was Friday that Lilly pulled its sponsorship from the Daly car. Why? Because of something his dad said 35 years ago.
Seriously.
Derek Daly, who is from Ireland, was being interviewed on live radio by Larry Henry of the IMS Radio Network prior to the start of qualifying. He was asked what it was like to be an Irishman on an American racing team. He chuckled and then responded by saying that if anything went wrong, he knew who would surely take blame for it. He didn’t use those words, but instead used the “N” word.
Henry recalls in an article posted by Fox News being caught off guard by the comment to the point of stumbling over his words sending it back up to the control tower for the next qualifying run to be aired.
Nothing was said or done about it … until Friday.
Friday, that comment came up because it’s supposedly what Bob Lamey was talking about when he made comments that sent him into retirement two weeks ago because he used the word because he said Daley did. Derek Daly admits to using that racial slur at that moment, and he explains that in Ireland that term meant something very different than it does here. He said someone immediately pulled him aside and explained the difference and he has not used it since.
That was 35 years ago.
OK, so this is where I need to say that the “N” word is abhorrent and I don’t think anyone – black, white or otherwise – should ever use it for any reason. As someone who has spent the last 32 years studying the Civil War, I admit that I am a little more sensitive about that word than others.
I really wish that word would just disappear.
When Lamey’s utterance was traced to Daly (which Derek says is not an accurate remembrance), the Indy TV station made it known they were breaking ties with him as an analyst, which put the incident on the radar of Lilly Diabetes, and they pulled their sponsorship on the younger Daly’s car.
So, in review, Connor Daly lost the sponsorship of his car for Saturday’s Xfinity race for something his dad said and apologized for nine years before he was born.
Anyone got a problem with that?
I do.
Again, that word is just awful and I wish it would it would have never been brought to America. But we can’t undo that now.
But seriously, do the presidents of the major orthopedic companies here in town, or city and county government leaders, or superintendents and principals of our schools lay awake at night worrying about what they did the summer before their senior year of high school or when they were in college will become public knowledge now?
Gosh I hope not.
I also hope that my son Oliver won’t get kicked off the football team in 2030 because his old man did something he should not have done trying to meet college girls in 1990.
I am going to admit things to you that only a few people know. I am doing this because I want to get out in front of any scandalous story that might break about my past.
So, here we go.
When I was in college, I told my mom I needed to end our phone conversation so I could go study for a test, when I was really going bowling with the guys from my hallway instead.
Also, when I was at Butler, my room in Ross Hall (which was bigger than most of the dorm rooms), hosted a lot of parties where underage drinking was not only occurring, but I was the DJ playing the music for the parties.
And, as a child, I used to record the highlight shows of every Chicago Cubs game on to cassette tapes, and I kept those tapes. I still have them, all of them, which means I am a habitual offender of Major League Baseball’s warning that “the accounts and descriptions of this game may not be disseminated without expressed written consent.”
Having admitted all of those things, I hope I don’t lose my job, my ability to provide for my family or my reputation in the community.
About now you are asking “what in the world is Roger doing?”
A few weeks back I wrote about how social media posts by current professionals written when they were teenagers were being used against them. I wondered where the line is and what’s fair to expect from someone when they are 17 or 18 years old.
Last week we found out that the line is moving – fast – and I don’t like where it’s heading one bit.
Conor Daly is a 26-year IndyCar driver who was set to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut last Saturday. His dad, Derek, was a famous IndyCar and Formula 1 racer back in the 1980s and 90s. Derek has been working in Indianapolis as a racing commentator for one of the local TV stations.
Conor was diagnosed as being diabetic when he was 14 years old, so drug-maker Lilly Diabetes was a natural choice for major sponsorship on his car.
Friday changed everything.
It was Friday that Lilly pulled its sponsorship from the Daly car. Why? Because of something his dad said 35 years ago.
Seriously.
Derek Daly, who is from Ireland, was being interviewed on live radio by Larry Henry of the IMS Radio Network prior to the start of qualifying. He was asked what it was like to be an Irishman on an American racing team. He chuckled and then responded by saying that if anything went wrong, he knew who would surely take blame for it. He didn’t use those words, but instead used the “N” word.
Henry recalls in an article posted by Fox News being caught off guard by the comment to the point of stumbling over his words sending it back up to the control tower for the next qualifying run to be aired.
Nothing was said or done about it … until Friday.
Friday, that comment came up because it’s supposedly what Bob Lamey was talking about when he made comments that sent him into retirement two weeks ago because he used the word because he said Daley did. Derek Daly admits to using that racial slur at that moment, and he explains that in Ireland that term meant something very different than it does here. He said someone immediately pulled him aside and explained the difference and he has not used it since.
That was 35 years ago.
OK, so this is where I need to say that the “N” word is abhorrent and I don’t think anyone – black, white or otherwise – should ever use it for any reason. As someone who has spent the last 32 years studying the Civil War, I admit that I am a little more sensitive about that word than others.
I really wish that word would just disappear.
When Lamey’s utterance was traced to Daly (which Derek says is not an accurate remembrance), the Indy TV station made it known they were breaking ties with him as an analyst, which put the incident on the radar of Lilly Diabetes, and they pulled their sponsorship on the younger Daly’s car.
So, in review, Connor Daly lost the sponsorship of his car for Saturday’s Xfinity race for something his dad said and apologized for nine years before he was born.
Anyone got a problem with that?
I do.
Again, that word is just awful and I wish it would it would have never been brought to America. But we can’t undo that now.
But seriously, do the presidents of the major orthopedic companies here in town, or city and county government leaders, or superintendents and principals of our schools lay awake at night worrying about what they did the summer before their senior year of high school or when they were in college will become public knowledge now?
Gosh I hope not.
I also hope that my son Oliver won’t get kicked off the football team in 2030 because his old man did something he should not have done trying to meet college girls in 1990.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092