JUST DO IT!

By...Erik Schuman

For most people, when they hear those three words, their first thought is: Nike. The overpriced shoe and apparel company with products made by underage, underpaid and overworked slaves in China, came out with this slogan many years ago for their massively overpriced products. One that is still remembered by many. In this case those three words are expressed by many these days for other reasons with three very prominent ones coming to the forefront: Health, Football and an Airport.

On February 22, 2019, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. On May 20, 2019 I was declared CANCER FREE! On July 23, 2019 I left Hoag Hospital after my last day of Chemotherapy.

It may have been 13 months since being told I was in remission. It may have been 11 months since I left Hoag as a completely hair-free, 155-pound gaunt (Normally 185-190 pounds) quivering mass of fat-and-muscle-free humanity. But I am still in the “susceptible” group of people for a potentially future disease.

It is for that reason when I am outside the house, I wear a mask. I have said countless times I know how lucky I am not to be battling cancer NOW! The thought of battling it now and having to also deal with Covid-19 is scary.

Yet, for some reason, there are people out there who have no desire to wear a mask. They feel their “freedoms” are being violated and how there is nothing in the Constitution that says they have to wear a mask. They are right about that. There is also nothing in the Constitution about driving a car, talking on a cellphone or being able to fly on an airplane. But they do that and for the first two, multiple times per day.

The right for me to freely swing my arms ends at the tip of someone’s nose. The second my fist smashes their nose I not only have violated their rights but face the realistic possibility of a rather expensive lawsuit. It is far easier for me to control my fist than it is for these “people” to control any virus they may have in their body – whether they know it, or not. Just because these people like playing Russian Roulette with 1 empty chamber instead of 1 loaded one, doesn’t mean I have to do the same. I have no desire to spend time in a hospital like this:

Staying 6-feet apart from people and wearing a mask is THE ONLY WAY we are going to beat this Coronavirus. Until we get a vaccine and who knows how long that will take. Until then the discussion on whether to wear a mask, or not, is rather simple!

If the NFL team in our Nation’s Capital was named “The Washington ‘N-words’” that name would either be already changed by now or would be very soon due to pressure from all sorts of groups seeking to put an end to anything doing with BLM or anything else like it with racist undertones. Universities all across America are facing pressure to do just this. UNLV and Mississippi are the “Rebels” and have mascots that reflect these names. Both will soon be changing things up some. Oregon and Oregon State’s annual football game has been called “The Civil War” since the early 1930s but as of a few days ago it will no longer be called that. No new names have been given to this game yet and knowing what State we are talking about no one will really be surprised by whatever name is eventually chosen. Even though I have many relatives living there one of the best names would be: “If not for Nike, no one would know this State existed – or cared” although that would be tough for the media to say or put in a game recap (I can hardly wait to get a call or text from my cousin’s wife about this name with her comments on it…I might learn some new language from her call).

Unless owner Daniel Snyder is keeping this silent, a name change for his team does not appear to be something he is considering.

For now.

I believe it is only a matter of time before Snyder is forced to change his team name. Something he has steadfastly said he WILL NOT DO. EVER! That may have been the case in the past but knowing what the world is like in 2020 I anticipate he will have to make the change. Under Snyder’s (mis)management the team has gone from one of the best and most stable organizations in all of sports to one of the worst. Tickets that used to be hard to come by, with a waiting list rivaling the length of the Green Bay Packers, now sees tickets on the secondary market for around the price of a drink at Starbucks.

Snyder has long desired having a Super Bowl in his 82,000-seat open-air stadium. The NFL usually holds those games in warm weather cities or cold-weather cities that have a dome stadium. Snyder wants to be the first to have a cold-weather stadium Super Bowl. Rumor has it there was a cold-weather Super Bowl before but being a Denver Broncos’ fan, I don’t remember that being the case. I know my team won SB 32 and 33 then won SB50 but I don’t recall anything in between? Do you?

The NFL needs to make it very simple for Snyder: Change the team name and you get your Super Bowl. Period. Nothing more to discuss here. This is a great way for Snyder to “save face.” He can say something bogus like: “I had said many times in the past I would never change my team’s name, but times change. I now realize how wrong I was. We are changing out name to (Whatever he decides) effective immediately.”

Doing so gets him a great deal of positive publicity. Something he, rightfully so, gets none of. It allows him to make a ton of money with new uniforms. And in return, he gets the Super Bowl he so desperately wants. Will it actually happen? “Knowing” Snyder like we do – doubt it! But it should and when the NFL comes talking to Snyder his only reply should be:

I live less than 10 miles from an airport. It is one family members and I have flown in/out of too many times to count. Because we live so close, we choose it over any other airport when at all possible. We would rather spend $50 more to fly out of it than deal with the drive and hassle of LAX, located about 30 miles away. The drive on the freeway just to get there is a pain and then dealing with the parking-lot like traffic once there is even worse.

The airport I live near is called: John Wayne Airport or just “John Wayne” for those of us in the area. It has been called this since his death in 1979. But that might not be the case much longer. Some politicians in the area are looking to change the name back to its original name: Orange County Airport.

The resolution includes statements which “condemns John Wayne’s racist and bigoted statements,” calling them “white supremacist, anti-LGBT and anti-indigenous.” It is hard to say this resolution is wrong since Wayne has been quoted as saying, “I believe in white supremacy until the Blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.

I am not here to defend what Wayne said. There is just no way anyone can do that these days. What he said AT THE TIME was the prevailing thoughts for most. That doesn’t make it right so please don’t say I said it was. It is wrong now. It was wrong then! It is wrong until the Earth comes to an end.

But here is the part of it that makes no sense. John Wayne H-A-T-E-D that airport. Hated every single bit of it. He lived in Newport Beach. Planes taking off from the airport flew right over his home, no doubt disturbing him in the process. If it were up to Wayne, he would have brought the Cavalry to the airport and eliminated it from existence.

I promise you Wayne is looking down on us and begging politicians in the area to change the name. He wants his name off it more than those wanting his name removed. By a large margin. I know John Wayne is saying only 3 words to this resolution. The same 3 to the thought of wearing a mask in public right now and to Daniel Snyder about his team’s name: