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The Great Religious President

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President Trump spoke at one of the two national prayer breakfasts held in Washington a few days ago and showed once again what a great Christian he is.

Except for the great Christian trait of modesty.  He’s never been very good about that.  “I’ve done more for religion than any other President,” he proclaimed.

I agree.  Wholeheartedly.

No other President has been able to have as many people shout the name of The Savior with more exclamation points than Donald Trump has.

No other President has said or done things that have had more people say, “Oh, My God!

No other President has ever had so many people praying.  For our country.

He displayed his high regard for prayer by telling of Speaker Mike Johnson saying when they’re having lunch, “Sir, may we pray?” to which our reverent President reported his answer was, “Excuse me? We’re having lunch.”

In his speech he showed Christian respect for others by calling a Congressman “a moron” and pondered how Christians could vote for Democrats.  The answer, as he might learn this fall, is: “very easily.”

He remarked that 2025 was a record year for Bible sales although he modestly didn’t proclaim that sales of the Trump Bible made anything more than a tiny drop in the sales bucket. The remark, however, was a rare stroke of truth in his long verbal ramble.*

This is the great Christian who told a group of religious leaders ten years ago or so, “I think if I do something wrong, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”

At least at the prayer breakfast he didn’t repeat something the man who worships the putter on Sunday mornings told at an earlier Turning Point USA meeting, “I love you Christians.”

Is he categorizing Christians the same way he has categorized immigrants in a 2024 speech: “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals.”

This is the same guy who washed his hands of any responsibility for the weekend portrayal on social media of the Obamas as apes. The buck never stops at HIS desk. He blamed a White House staff member and professed ignorance of the portrayal. He didn’t say if the staff member still has a job.

He spoke for 75 or 85 minutes, depending on who was holding the clock. He made no references to any inspiring words from his “favorite book” and in fact has dodged citing any favorite verses—because he doesn’t know one that fits his religion (I differentiate religion from faith and as you’ve seen previously in this space have remarked that “nothing screws up faith more than religion.”)*

I wonder if he can pronounce “Beatitudes.” The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew says Jesus pronounced certain people as “blessed. Let’s see how many blessings our president qualifies for.

“Poor in spirit,” as in humble.  Can’t check that one.

“they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  He’s done a lot of thoughting and praying but that probably isn’t what Jesus was talking about.

“the meek.”  Meek, he is not.

“those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.’  His hungers and his thirsts have nothing to do with righteousness as far as we can tell.

“the merciful.”  Ask the people in Minneapolis about that one.

“clean in heart.”  Don’t get me started on that one.

“the peacemakers.”  I’ll stand with the Nobel Committee.

“those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”  Again, the people of Minneapolis in particular among all of the occupied cities and cities to come most likely have a far different view of who is persecuted and who is righteous. But not Donald Trump.

Even if we give him the last one that makes him only one for eight. Somebody who does one for eight doesn’t last long in the major leagues of baseball, football, basketball or carpentry, where hitting the nail on the head once in eight tries won’t build much.

You remember, don’t you, who was a carpenter?  The one whose name Donald Trump prompts so many to say with such emphasis.

*To impress you with how important the Bible is to Donald Trump, go to the official Trump merchandise page where you will find, among other things, about sixteen versions of the Trump Bible. “The Day that God Intervened July 13, 2024” edition is sold out but there’s one on eBay for $129.99). Other editions range from $64.99 to $99.99 although one with a hand-signed (no autopen for him, remember?) for a thousand dollars. Don’t forget to read “Two Corinthians,” his favorite book.

(picture credit: Trump merch store)

Sports: Just When You Thought the Tigers…..; Mikolas Understands; Catching up on Kobe and Others; The Daytona Survivor

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZBB)—Just when many thought the Missouri Tigers had turned an important corner and were playing consistent, intense basketball they are badly outplayed by a team that played their game better than they did.

Missouri, a team that feasts on the inside game with outside sharpshooters to provide balance, was badly outplayed on the inside in the Texas game and suffered another big-point loss at a crucial time.  Texas ran away in the second half to win 85-68. Texas outscored Missouri 40-28 in the paint and out-rebounded the Tigers 36-26/

The Tigers shot only ten three-pointers and hit four of them. They drew fouls on the inside but continued their mediocre (at best) free throw shooting, going 26-38. Texas missed only two of its 23 free throws. It was only the fifth time in the last eleven years that Missouri has tried ten or fewer shots from outside the arc.

Missouri sent into the game as the last team in the NCAA tournament according to one survey, and as high as 57th in another.  It’s back on the outside again.

The Tigers play Vanderbilt tomorrow night. It’s a big test.  Vanderbilt comes in at 21-4, has won three in a row, and is third in the conference standings.

(THE BILLS)—-The St. Louis University Billikens continued their roll with an 86-59 drubbing of Chicago Loyola to run their record to 24-1.  This week’s coaches poll has them 19th. Sportswriters have them 18th.

(KOBE)—Former Tiger Kobe Brown has moved from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Indiana Pacers in the last week or so. This is his fifth season in the NBA. He’s been a bench player throughout his career—getting only a couple of starts and averaging about three points a game.

But he was impressive in his first two games with the Pacers. In 19 minutes against the Knicks, he got a half dozen rebounds  and eight points.  When he was on the court, Indiana outscored the Knicks by 13.   He followed up that game with four points, seven rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets.

How ‘bout some other former Tigers:

Tamar Bates, who signed a two-way contract with the Denver Broncos after going undrafted last year, recovering from a December surgical procedure to repair a broken left foot. A two-way contract lets a player in the NBA’s G League move back and forth to the parent club while developing NBA skills.

Caleb Grill is playing for the Windy City Bulls, the G League affiliate of the Chicago Bulls. He’s averaging about 11 ppg in 27 games.

Jordan Clarkson is averaging about nine points a game for the Knicks. He’s an 11 year veteran of then NBA now.

Michael Porter is in his first year with the Brooklyn Nets. He’s averaging 25 points, 7 rebounds and three assists.

Dru Smith is averaging six points a game for the Miami Heat. He went undrafted in 2021 but played for Brooklyn before moving to Miami in the off season.

Sean East is averaging 17.5 ppg for the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League affiliate of the Utah Jazz.  He has earned his way into the NBA Rising Stars game.

D’Moi Hodge played internationally last year before joining the G League playing for the Texas Legends, the affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. In 32 games he’s averaging 8.5 points per game.

Jeremiah Tilmon also is on a G league team, the Wisconsin Herd, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks after playing time in Europe.

How about some baseball?

(CARDINALS)—Workhorse pitcher Miles Mikolas has found a new home with the Washington Nationals but he has no hard feelings about being cut loose from the Cardinals. It boils down to just baseball business.  He tells Sports Illustrated online’s Patrick McEvoy:

“The Cardinals, you know, they were kind of in between the teardown and the rebuild but you know, sometimes, you have to wipe the board clean, you have to grab a new sheet of paper before you can paint that next masterpiece. They got a new front office and they’re going for it with that. I’m sure you know that’s a really good, smart group of guys there. They’re going to make the moves that obviously they think are best. It is definitely different. It was loaded with veterans my first couple of years there and I was a little bit younger. …

“We caught some bad breaks the last couple of seasons. We lose some guys. Guys had some down years. I’m going to regret forever not pitching my last couple of years in a Cardinals uniform. But that’s the way that baseball is. You have good years and you have bad years. Bounce back. Comeback seasons and stuff like that. Wish all of my best to all of my buddies over there. I hope they do great except for the games that we’re playing them.”

He’s known as an innings-burner, one of four pitchers to start at least 30 games in a season in the last four years—130 of them, which ties him with Dylan Cease for second behind Logan Webb’s 132.  He also is one of a dozen pitchers to make at least 200 starts each year in the last eight seasons, despite missing all of 2020 and part of 2021 with an arm injury. He’s 37.

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(CARDINALS)—-The first spring training game for the Cardinals is Sunday against the Washington Nationals at “home.”

(ROYALS)—Kansas City’s first spring training game will be Friday against the Texas Rangers.

(CHIEFS)—-The Chiefs have picked up another coach with significant opportunities—DeMarco Murray, a former NFL Offensive Player of the year who is the new running backs coach. He spent the last six years on the staff of the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Chiefs have one running back under contract—Brashard Smith. Dameon Pierce, Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt will become free agents soon.

Murray was with the Dallas Cowboys for four years, leading the league 1845 yards rushing one  year. He also played for the Eagles and the Titans.

Circle time—well, more like a tri-oval time.

(DAYTONA)—-Right place, right time—-once again, the Daytona 500 ends with a mad scramble in the last 500 hundred yards and this year’s survivor is Tyler Reddick who emerged from the last lap madness to beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr., across the line. Third-place finisher Joey Logan crossed the line sideways by Brad Keselowski (still recovering from a December broken leg) and Chase Elliott crashing into his side. Logano was awarded third place and Elliott, fourth.

The race featured 65 lead changes with a record 25 drivers crossing the finish line leading at least one lap.  Bubba Wallace led 40 of them and came home tenth.

A year ago, Reddick and his teammates at 23XI Racing were uncertain they’d have rides this year as 23XI and its co-owners Denny Hamlin and NBA star Michael Jordan were involved in a heated anti-trust lawsuit about NASCAR’s charter system that guarantees starting positions and funding for teams.  The suit was settled during the off-season with 23XI getting its charter.

The win is the first for Reddick since 2024. “Just speechless. I didn’t know if I’d ever win this race. It’s surreal, honestly. The best part is my son asked before this race, ‘Are you finally going to win this race?’ Something about today just felt right,” he told an interviewer in winner’s circle.

(SEVENTIME)—Jimmie Johnson is going to quit messing around in the cockpit of a NASCAR car a year from now.  He announced before the Daytona 500 that next year’s race will be his last one behind the wheel.  He’s been competing occasionally in select races for the last six years, but says it’s time to devote all of his time to his team, Legacy Motor Club—which bought up Petty Racing a couple of years ago. Johnson will be 51 in September. He ran with the contenders for part of the race but finished 29th.

 

 

Waiting For Names

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It is early on a Friday morning.  No longer dark and not quite light and I have been driven to my keyboard by a brief conversation with an unidentified friend that came to my mind in that strange time between sleep and wakefulness.

The cats have been fed to keep them at bay while I sit here in pajamas and robe to write this before it fades away into the day’s life.

I have told Nancy from time to time that writers sometimes must write when the muse demands no matter when it is.

A friend (I’m sure it was a friend although I recall no face, just a voice) in that in-between time this morning asked me a question and I am motivated to answer it here.

“I want to name my son Jesus,” he said. “What do you think?”

He pronounced it with the “J.”

I answered,  “Sure, go ahead.  But think about pronouncing it “Hay-soos.”

And a few seconds later, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to give him the middle name of Nguyen?”

I am fascinated by names and what they say about our national culture.  As I was talking to myself, or maybe with my dream friend, I began to wonder how many babies might be born to White families like mine (where the children have good white names such as Robert and Elizabeth) in Minneapolis this year with first names such as Abdi, Bashir, Dahir, or Wasame—-popular Somali surnames meaning, in order, servant or worshiper, bringer of good news, light or sun, and glad tidings.

It is not uncommon for names to be tied to events or to challenging times that highlight parts of our cultural stew.

(I prefer “stew” to a reference to our cultural soup that suggests we all blend together into a single entity.  Stews are made of different elements that retrain their identities —carrots, potatoes, meat, and sometimes little bitty onions and peas—to provide a tasty flavor.)

Jesus Nguyen Jones.   Lara Solis Smith (Mexican surnames for a place of laurel trees and sunny).

Names of African-Americans such as James Washington that stem from the slave era, are giving way to some wonderful and fascinating new names—-just look at the wide variety of names on the back of some sports uniforms for examples.

I am waiting for the first white athlete named Jamar.

What is happening seems to this observer to be a quiet but growing form of new cultural recognition  that in time will create a nutritious national stew.  The elements are becoming more self-identified. But with time, we will see the Jesus Nguyens and the Lara Solises, and the Robert Jamals and Elizabeth Githinjis (Kenyan for “one who is blessed or fortunate”).

A century from now, the face and faces of America are most likely to be much different from today’s American culture and, we hope, the irrational fears of “others” will be relegated to history. We do not fear that time for it speaks of a recognition that all are children of a creator known by different names in different places within a single world.

(Picture Credit: The Golden Rule, Norman Rockwell Museum)

Sports: Two clutch wins; a boost from Minnesota; Super Bowl Rings and baseball is back.

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(SUPERMO)—Several football players from Missouri were in the Super Bowl Sunday and some will be wearing the big rings. The starting center for Seattle was Jalen Sundell, a Maryville native who played collegiately at North Dakota State.

Running back Jacardia Wright played three of his five years of collegiate football at Missouri State, where he rushed for more than 3500 yards and scored 33 touchdowns. He joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.  He carried the ball five times for 20 yards in the ‘Hawks win over New Orleans in week three but was injured and finished the season in injured reserve.

Drew Lock is the clipboard quarterback behind Sam Darnold for the second year. He got into five games this year and  threw three passes.

Mason Richman was a Blue Valley High School grad who went to Iowa for college. He’s a lineman who got into two games this year for Seattle.

Yasir Durant, an offensive tackle from Mizzou, was with the Chiefs and the Patriots before becoming a Seahawk.  He was on injured reserve all season.

The Patriots had Mizzou’s Marcus Bryant as their number two right tackle/  Bryant, a seventh round draft pick, was in a dozen games for New England this season.

(MIZZBB)—Every game is a “must” for Missouri from here on out as they come off of two important victories, one on the road. They remain on the NCAA tournament bubble as we head into the final weeks of the season.  Missouri’s win against South Carolina ups their conference record to 6-4 and their overall record to 16-7 with eleven regular season games to go.

Next up is Texas A&M, the top team in the conference at 7-1. The Aggies’ overall record is only slightly better than Missouri’s at 17-5. A&M was 25th in the coaches poll last week but is off the list this week.

(MIZZMIN)—Minnesota has helped Missouri in its run to the tournament. The Tigers beat Minnesota 73-60 early in the season. Minnesota gained stature by beating 10th ranked Michigan last week, and the elevation of Minnesota brings Missouri along with it. We could try to explain it, but to be honest, we don’t quite grasp the Quad thing.

(MIZZBAMA)—-If the Alabama Crimson Tide meets Missouri in the SEC tournament, the Tide will be without Charles Bediako, the 7-foot center who was allowed to play after spending time with an NBA G League.  An Alabama circuit judge denied Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would let him keep playing. Bediako scored 14 points in ‘Bama’s 90-74 win last month.

(Bills)—The St. Louis Billikens have cracked the top 20 in the AP sportswriters poll. The Bills, 23-1, are 18th among sportswriters and 19th among coaches. Mizzou got zero votes in both polls. They’re in the top 20 for the first time since they reached as high as tenth in 2013-14.  Their sixteen straight wins are the longest streak since the 2013-14 team reeled off 19 straight. The scoring margin of plus 23.3 is the best in the country. They’re fifth in scoring average—91.3. Their seven games ato100 or more is tied for the national league. They have an NCAA-best 31.2 defensive rebounds per game. Six players have double-figure scoring averages, one of three teams in the NCAA Division 1.

(BASEBALL)—Spring training is starting with Royals pitchers and catchers reporting tomorrow and the Cardinals pitchers and catchers due incamp on Thursday. Position players are due in camp Monday.

Fast Stuff—-

(NASCAR)—NASCAR’s biggest race will kick off the season Sunday afternoon at Daytona, weather permitting. Forty-five drivers/teams are entered but four will not be in the starting field.  Qualifying to set the first two starting positions will be tomorrow with two short races Thursday that will set positions for the rest of the starting field. The green flag drops on the season at 1:30 our time Sunday.

Brad Keselowski’s broken leg, injured in a December 18 skiing incident, has healed enough that he’ll be able to start the race. His only win at Daytona was in the July race in 2016.  He was NASCAR’s champion in 2012.

Five days out, the weather is iffy—41% chance of rain during the race’s scheduled time.

(INDYCAR)—–Mick Shumacher has finished his first test on an oval and says “one of the weird parts” was keeping his foot down when approaching a corner. The test was done at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a former racing site in the series.

 

Schumacher is the son of 7-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, who won five F1 races on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He drives for the team owned by Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and television personality David Letterman.

Pre-season testing for most of the other teams started yesterday on the Sebring road course with 23 IndyCar drivers turning laps. Marcus Armstrong had the fastest lap by a whisker over Scott McLaughlin. Alex Palou had the fastest lap of the day, running the course in a morning session.

The season starts March 1 with a race through the streets of St. Petersburg. Florida.

(photo credit—Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing).

 

Three Celebration 

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A few days ago we had a joint celebration at Lincoln University, the school on the hill at Lafayette and Dunklin Streets in Jefferson City.  The combination Black History Month observance, the celebration of the school’s 160th birthday, and the observance of our nation’s 250th birth anniversary also created a unique moment for local author Michelle Brooks.

Michelle has become a prolific author of nine books about Jefferson City’s history, including he one that debuted that evening, February 5 (another anniversary: the 115th of the burning of the Capitol that led to the construction of the magnificent building we have today). First to Freedom; Cole County U.S. Colored Troops, is a tribute to several of the Jefferson City black soldiers who were in the 62nd and 65th Colored Infancy of the Union Army whose financial contributions led to the creation of Lincoln.

One of the officers of the 62nd noted in his farewell speech that 99 of the 4312 men had learned to “read, write and cipher.”  In all, he noted “200 read and write understandingly, 284 can read, 377 can spell in words of two syllables and are learning to read.”

Jefferson City offered a ramshackle school building for the new institution. Classes began in the fall of 1866, nineteen year after Missouri passed a law making it illegal for black people to be taught to read and write.

I was asked to emcee the event that included an Abraham Lincoln reenactor reading the “Proposition 95—Regrading the status of slaves in states engaged in rebellion against the United States.”  Most people speak of it as the Emancipation Proclamation—which I believe should be pronounced with emphasis on the first word: EMANCIPATION proclamation—and another reenactor portraying Robert Foster, the founding officer. Missouri became the first slave state to have its own EMANCIPATION Proclamation. By the end of the war, one-in-ten Union soldiers was black—179-thousand in the army and another 19-thousand in the Navy.

Part of my remarks between presentations and to end the evening said:

“We have many great statues and bronze tableaus in and at our Capitol, but I think the finest, and most inspirational one in Jefferson City is just up the hill, the “Soldier’s Memorial Plaza” tableau.  It recalls the sacrifices made by members of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries, men who knew full well a way of life they fought to leave behind.

“They are symbolized in bronze now.  But they were symbols FOR millions of people in their time and remain in bronze as symbols of hope for all of us today and tomorrow—-life and freedom are only a hand-grasp away, and they are a reminder that an open hand  is always better than a closed fist in maintaining the nation whose 250th birth anniversary we celebrate this year.

“The first slaves were brought to Missouri to help mine lead in the 1720s.

“When Lewis and Clark went upstream past the bluff that is now the site of our city, a black man named York was part of the group, the slave of William Clark. When they came back from the Pacific Ocean in 1806, a black man was part of the explorers. His name was York. York was William Clark’s slave. He endured with them all of the dangerous times, saw all of the glories of the great mountains, and was the equal of all on that perilous trip. He  believed he would become a free man on the return and could not adjust to being nothing more than a slave again.   Eventually Clark shipped him off to Louisville Kentucky where he was reunited with his enslaved wife.

“If York and his wife had children, they would have been part of the freedom movement after the Civil War.  We don’t know what happened to him. History seems to have obscured him. But the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment gave his descendants the freedom he dreamed of.

“When the first black member of the legislature, Representative Walthall Moore of St. Louis took office in 1921, almost sixty years after the proclamation, he had to room in Jefferson City with a black family, had to eat at a black restaurant, travel in black-owned taxis, and drink from water fountains for the colored.

“But it was Moore who got the half-million dollar appropriation that transformed Lincoln Institute into Lincoln University. .

“Forty-seven years later, I watched as the Jefferson City council, in 1968, passed an ordinance that said black legislators no loner had to stay in Lincoln University dormitory rooms and private homes, and that black people could live anywhere in the city where they could afford to live.

“One-hundred-and-sixty years after the founding of Lincoln University, many people of color still struggle to be considered “people” and there are those who judge some to be unequal only because of their color, their faith, their identities—-and the country where they were born.

“In this year when we celebrate the 250th anniversary of a document that proclaimed that all men are created equal, we again find ourselves wondering meaning the meaning of those words. Some interpreters believe Jefferson meant that all of us are BORN equal in nature.  It is in nurture that divisions are made, distrust develops, and hate can take hold.

“We learn these lessons through the honest study of history and if we are free to learn that history, we can be the ones who bend the arc of the moral universe a little more toward justice.

“Let us go forth from this good evening in the hope that history gives us for peace.”

The event concluded with a fine prayer from Rev. Dr. Adrian Hendricks II of the Joshua House Church in Jefferson City.

Heavenly Father: Tonight as we take a moment and pause to celebrate the history of African Americans, we pause to celebrate American history, giving you thanks and praise, O God, for this nation; giving you thanks and praise or i’s foundation and for its forefathers and for its Declaration to uphold the high ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And yet In this hour, even as this nation struggles to uphold its identity, we give you thanks and praise for its potential, a potential that still has the opportunity to demonstrate love for our fellow man, a potential that still has the opportunity to pick up the poor and stabilize the impoverished, a potential that still has the opportunity to right historical wrongs, heal historical wounds, and to be the first global power that’s unafraid to let freedom ring!

Lord, go before us, as WE navigate a new pathway. Stand beside us, as we rediscover our moral compass and move within us as we continue to define what it means to be an American.

It’s in your mighty and matchless name that we pray,

Hallelujah & AMEN!

Amen, in deed.

(Photo credits: Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau; Lincoln University)

Sports: Donovan Finally Traded For Switch Pitcher; Pasquantino Locked In; Missouri Playing Itself into NIT Contention; Race Cars and National Monuments (2/3/26)

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By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(BASEBALL)—By the time we file our next entry, pitchers and catchers will be playing catch in Arizona and Florida.

(CARDINALS)—It appears, as we go to press, that the Cardinals have finally traded Brendan Donovan.  USA Today reports Donovan is going to Seattle, which has lusted after him since November as a key man in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Rays. The Redbirds pick up another prized pitching prospect in Jurrangelo Cijntje and minor league outfielder Tai Peete. The Rays get no Cardinals but the Cardinals get minor league outfielder Colton Ledbetter.

Ledbetter hit .265 with seven homers and 37 steals in 123 games in Double-A last year. He’s considered a candidate to move up to Memphis, in Triple-A, for 2026.

Peete was a first round draft pick for Seattle in 2023. MLB.com says he’s a “premium athlete,” bats left, has “immense raw power and showed flashes of it in 2024.”  But he struck out 31% of the time. MLB projects him as a utility player if he makes it to the big leagues.

All of the trades depend on all of the players passing physicals.

(ROYALS)—The Royals have Vinnie Pasquantino through next year after signing him to an $11 million deal. He gets $4.2 million this year and $6.9 million in ’27. He had a career years last year with 32 homers and 113 RBIs. GM J. J. Picollo calls him “a premier run producer and someone our fans have really connected with.”

(MIZBB)—The problem with the Missouri Tiger basketball team this year is that nobody knows which team will show up for a game—one that simply cannot be beaten or, a few days later, one that has no chance.

Saturday, it was the focused Tigers that beat Mississippi State 84-79, running their home record to 13-1 this year. The Tigers are only 2-6 on the road or on neutral courts. They stayed above .500 by beating a team they were supposed to beat; State is 11-11 this year.

Missouri led by fifteen at one point in the second half but let Mississippi State get within one possession but didn’t fold in the closing minutes. Mark Mitchell finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.  T. O. Barrett continued to be an offensive spark with 16-8-4. Trent Pierce and Jayden Stone also were in double figures.

The game against Alabama was a total reversal from the two buzzer-beaters game a few days earlier. Missouri couldn’t hit from outside the arc or from the free throw line—4/21 from outside and only 8/23 from the free throw circle.

Last Tuesday night, blown out at Alabama. Couldn’t hit the trey or the free throw…4/21 from outside and 8/23 from the line. Missouri got forty of its 84 points from inside the paint.  Alabama outscored Missouri 45-12 from outside. But much of the credit for the win as from the free throw line from where one of the worst free throw teams in the SEC his 25 of 33.  Despite the long-range game, Alabama out-assisted Missouri 19-10 and stole the ball 10 times to Missouri’s three. Missouri had 13 turnovers. Alabama had 7. Missouri’s largest lead was three points. Alabama’s larges lead was 29.

Alabama is a top 25 team.  Missouri, before that game, had been considered  one of the next four out of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers are off until Saturday when they take on South Carolina on Saturday. South Carolina is another 11-11 team, 2-7 in the conference.

(SPEAKING OF TOP 25 TEAMS)—St. Louis University is 21 and 22 in the polls after demolishing Dayton 102-71 in an Atlantic 10 game, running their season record to 21=1 and their winning streak to 15. They play Davidson tonight.

(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs have added backup quarterback Jake Haener from the New Orleans Saints to their roster. Haener announced the signing of the reserve/future contract on his Instagram page. He spent most of the last season on the Saints’ practice squad, got into nine games last season, starting one, was 18/39 passing for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked six times for 55 yards in losses.

He’s kind of insurance for KC. Gardner Minshew, the first string backup last season will be a free agent soon. Haener will compete with Chris Oladukin for the number two slot.

Going in circles, sometimes:

(INDYCAR)—President Trump has tossed a big plum IndyCar’s way by signing an executive order creating a race around the monuments in Washington, DC in August. It will be the 18 race of the year for IndyCar. The “Freedom 250,” part of the national celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, would be run on August 23 with pre-race events on the 21st and 22nd.

Trump and IndyCar owner Roger Penske have known one another for sometime. The President gave Penske a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, calling Penske a man who has “built a team and legacy that will endure forever.”

The route of the race is to be determined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

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It’s kind of a family reunion for the Penske racing family. Tim Cindric, fired last May as President of Penske Racing, is back in the fold as a strategist for Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. Cindric had been part of Penske racing for 25 years , twenty of them as team president.

In his quarter-century with the Penske, the team racked up ten Indianapolis 500 wins, more than 400 victories overall and 31 championships across various racing series.

(NASCAR)—NASCAR has had trouble getting its season started. Historic snowfall in North Carolina caused postponements of exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem during the weekend. Plans to hold the race on last night fizzled and the latest word is that the race will be run tomorrow night. Weather permitting.

The real stuff begins next week at Daytona with practice starting next Wednesday, qualifying that nails down the first two starting positions, and two races on Thursday that will determine the other starters. The Daytona 500 is slated to start at 1:30 our time on Sunday, the 15th.

(Photo credit: Penske/Trump: ESPN)

 

Tiananmen Square in Minnesota

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When will President Trump send in the tanks?   He has 1500 soldiers trained in Arctic warfare on alert in Alaska, ready to make an increasingly tragic confrontation in Minneapolis even worse. He’s obsessed with the Insurrection Act and is ready to pull the string on it at almost any moment—probably with an overnight eruption on his unsocial media site.

(Missouri is safe from anything like this. We have insurance.  We have a Republican Governor.)

But a little soul-searching might be good for us here in safe Missouri. Suppose the ICE goons showed up in St. Louis or Kansas City and started “maintaining order” and cleansing those cities of immigrant populations—a lot of Bosnians in St. Louis and Kansas Cityhas its own Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The situation in Minneapolis shows no signs of easing, even as to-us intolerable weather conditions prevail. When people are angry enough to take to the streets in these conditions, it is easy to fear the confrontations will become more likely.  A Kent State waiting to happen, perhaps.  Or perhaps an American Tiananmen Square.

Is Minneapolis going to be America’s Tiananmen Square, a place where courageous people stand up to blunt force authority?

Thirty-seven years ago this June, more than two months of protests took place in Beijing, China. Negotiations between protestors and the Chinese government to reach a peaceful solution broke down, leading the government to send troops to occupy the square. The occupation turned into a massacre that is reported to have taken hundreds of lives.

The next day one man refused to get out of the way of the tanks. Who he was or what happened to him is buried in the secret government files.

Courage can be one man in front of a tank and it can be many citizens in front of an American agency unmatched in modern memory for its recklessness, cruelty, and lack of respect for freedom. From day one it seems to have gone far beyond our President’s announcement that it would seek out only the “worst of the worst.”  What is happening among the protestors in Minneapolis is part of the American character.  What is happening with ICE in Minneapolis is contrary to every principle of our founders that has guided us, albeit imperfectly at times, for 250 years.

We are likely to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our free country strikingly less free as a whole than at any time in our lifetimes. The thought that we would celebrate this significant anniversary under these continuing circumstances is beyond depressing.

There are only losers in America’s Tiananmen Square in frigid Minnesota today. But this is the United States of America.  The people will win.

We turn to the words of the great author, William Faulkner and his Nobel Laureate address in 1950 in which he spoke of the lasting power of the writer, of the poet. I believe what he said, not only about poets, but about the lasting power of a free people.

“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures but because he has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”

The defiance of the people of Minneapolis should remind all of us of “the courage, and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of (our) past.”  I believe the people of Minneapolis, and the people of this nation, will prevail against those who ignore all of those basic values that have sustained us as a nation.

A New Phase Has Begun

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We haven’t heard anything like this since the Vietnam era protest songs.  Bruce Springsteen wrote a powerful protest song last weekend, recorded it at the start of this week, and it might be taking the Minnesota experience into a new socio-political realm.  It is hard for provocateurs to regain control when the public mood becomes part of a nation’s popular music culture, for music can be one of the greatest indicators of a generational shift in national attitude.

The song has the feel of the 60s because the momentum of the public mood in an increasing number of places is starting to be reminiscent of the early days of the Vietnam protests and the Civil Rights movement, a volatile combination that rewrote our country’s self-image. Will this song be the first of many protests songs of this generation?

Those who lived through those days can recognize that possibility. Today’s demonstrators are the children and the grandchildren of those who in the 1960s opposed military interventionism and advocated civil rights.

April will be the 61st anniversary of the first major antiwar rally, in Washington. It was there that Judy Collins sang a Bob Dylan song, “The Times They are A-Changin,’” followed by Joan Baez’s rendition of “We Shall Overcome,” the song considered the civil rights movement’s anthem.

English poet William Congreve wrote in 1697 that “Music can soothe the soul of the savage beast.”  It can. it also can motivate those standing against a savage beast.

For those who think Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” no longer fits the times, listen to Bruce Springsteen and “Streets of Minneapolis” the first major protest song or our times.

Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

If you want to sing along, here are the lyrics. We apologize if they do not translate from our edit page to the post in proper verse order; our computer does odd things we don’t understand.  But you will be able to follow the lyrics as you sing along

[Verse 1]
Through the winter’s ice and cold  Down Nicolett Avenue A city aflame fought fire and ice ‘Neath an occupier’s boots  King Trump’s private army from the DHS Guns belted to their coats  Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law Or so their story goes

[Verse 2]
Against smoke and rubber bullets  In the dawn’s early light  Citizens stood for Justice Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets  Alex Pretti and Renee Good

[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land  And the stranger in our midst  Here in our home, they killed and roamed In the winter of ’26    We’ll remember the names of those who died  On the Streets of Minneapolis

[Verse 3]
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest Then we heard the gunshots   And Alex Pretti lay in the snow dead. Their claim was self-defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes  It’s our blood and bones   And these whistles and phones  Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies

[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

[Bridge]
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In our chants of “ICE out now”    Our city’s heart and soul persists  Through broken glass and bloody tears On the Streets of Minneapolis.

[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26    We’ll take our stand for this land   And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

[Outro]
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out

(llyrics from genius.com)

From the Front Lines in Minneapolis—III

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Our friends in Minneapolis who are among the thousands who are not on the streets, but who are deeply involved in resisting Trump’s war on the city, have shared a letter being circulated in their neighborhood from David McNally, an internationally known motivational speaker and author of six books. He’s Australian although he was bornin east end London.

This is the life we don’t see on television:

Dear Friends,

I am compelled to write to you after listening to the president of Risen Christ School, Michael Rogers, speak at the 9am mass this morning at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in South Minneapolis. The purpose of Michael being invited was to bring parishioners up to date with the impact of the unrest in Minneapolis specifically related to the behavior of federal agents. I bring this information to you fully aware that our politics may differ, but what we do have in common for many on this list, is our support over the years of Risen Christ both financially and through volunteering. On that note, if you ever attended a Risen Christ fundraiser you will never forget people paying thousands of dollars to have the inimitable Father Forliti host them for one of his famous Italian dinners.

As you know, and for those who don’t know, the school caters mostly to the poorer members of the Latino community.  96% of the student tuition is subsidized. Yet Risen Christ is an amazing success story. Historically, the school has 92% daily attendance, a100% high school graduation rate, 100% of the students speak both English and Spanish, and 81% enroll in college.

Here then are the current “conditions on the ground” if I may use that term.

  1. The approximately 300 students now live in fear. This is not an exaggeration. Let us be clear-we are talking about innocent children who are afraid.
  2. For this reason, an average of 50 students a day are now not turning up for class. This has never happened before in the history of Risen Christ.
  3. Several students have had a parent disappear with no knowledge of where they are and no resource to find out.
  4. Families are not leaving their homes even to buy food. The fear is real.
  5. Risen Christ teachers who come from Spanish speaking countries are living in fear even though their documents are in order. They do not trust the federal agents because of what they have witnessed.  They are being picked up at their homes and taken to work by their white colleagues. The statement that if you are in the United States legally you have nothing to fear is being proven wrong every day.
  6. St Joan of Arc parishioners are picking up children and taking them to Risen Christ so that they can continue their studies. They are then picked up and taken home.
  7. St Joan of Arc parishioners are also delivering food to those families who are afraid to leave their homes. This ministry is one for which I have now volunteered.

When I became an American citizen in 2019, it was with significant pride. I gave a brief speech following the ceremony in which I stated that the United States was the most amazing human experiment in history. That so many people from so many cultures could live in relative harmony was incredible. I proudly pled my allegiance. I still believe what I said. The situation at Risen Christ, however, clearly demonstrates that something is radically wrong. A child or adult who is doing no harm should not live in fear. Dignity for all is a value with which we should all be aligned.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
— Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

David McNally

E-mail: david@davidmcnally.com
http://www.davidmcnally.com

In sending me this letter from David, our friend Denny added: Most of our friends are ferrying food and supplies to our brown friends and neighbors. My cleaning team, a Mexican family of 5 (I have degenerative spinal disease), who help me once/month, will be here Wed. I’ve asked for a list of needs, especially feminine products, of which is a seriously underrated international need in times of crisis. That was first on her list…3 of her workers are teen girls…all are women. Last month when she was here she informed them they are not allowed to leave their apartments except for work.

Jeff stayed late at his church yesterday to take training guided by the Handbook for Constitutional Observers produced by the Immigrant Defense Network (www.copalm.org). His church sponsors a Latino school across their street and sits in the eye of this storm.

This is how we now roll…please tell your world.

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To conclude, and in response to those who think these entries represent Trump Derangement Syndrome, we wonder—-as we ponder David’s Bible verse—which side do you think the Disciple Matthew would be on in Minneapolis today—the followers, or tools, of Trump or those serving and protecting his potential victims?

To which we add one our favorite verses and one that a dear friend lived by until his last day a few months ago, from the Old Testament book of Micah:

And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

If being on the side of Matthew and Micah, and the Dennys and Davids and Jeffs of Minneapolis is Trump Derangement Syndrome, I joyously plead guilty.

(We’ll have a bonus entry Friday)

An Epic Game; Kansas Questions; A Chiefs Shuffle

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by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZBB)—When they make a list of greatest Missouri basketball games, Saturday’s 88-87 double overtime win against Oklahoma will be on a short list. Neither team could build a lead greater than six. There were ten ties and 22 lead changes.

Missouri, one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the SEC, went 24 of 33 (73%) from the stripe. They were only 6 for 21 from the three-point line. But the last two were historic, the ball ripping through the net as the red light around the backboard flashed on to show the time left at 0:00.

Oklahoma was up by three with 5.6 seconds left when Missouri inbounded the ball in regulation and fed it to Trent Pierce, who had missed five threes in the game finally hit one from the top of the key as time expired in regulation to tie the game.

Oklahoma was up by two with four seconds left in overtime and Missouri inbounding the ball under the sooner basket. Mark Mitchell took the pass, dribbled just past half court and fired the 37-footer that will make the all-time Tiger highlight reel.

The Tigers made up for poor shooting from outside by outscoring Oklahoma 40-12 inside and outrebounding the Sooners 41=29.

Oklahoma took its sixth loss in a row. Missouri might have kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive after a couple of tough losses. They’re now 4-3 in the conference and in the top half of the standings. But the road ahead is hard starting with a road game against 17th-ranked Alabama Tuesday night.

Three guys scored 66 of Missouri’s 88 points—Mitchell with 25 (and 10 rebounds), T. O. Barrett, making his first start, had 21 and Jayden Stone had 20.

(LOOK WHO’S IN THE TOP 25)—-The St. Louis Billikens are 19-1, lead the Atlantic 10, and are 23rd and 24th in the polls. They hammered St. Bonaventure 97-62 Saturday for their thirteenth win in a row.  Their only loss was by one point, 78=71, to Stanford. The Billikens have six players averaging 10-12.7 points per game and a seventh player who’s averaging more than nine.

(BEARS)—-Missouri State forward Michael Osei-Bonsu is the school’s first Conference USA Basketball Player of the Week.  The Bears beat UTEP and New Mexico State last week with Osei-Bonsu hitting 14 of his 22 field goals, averaging 19 points, nine rebounds and a couple of assists. He hit the game-winning shot att UTEP with 12 seconds left. Bonsu, a 6-4 forward, has the best shooting average in the conference and ranks 29th in the country. He’s majoring in psychology.

Missouri State  (12-8) is in sole possession of second place in the conference, at 6-3.  Liberty, undefeated in nine games, leads.
(CHIEFS1)—It appears the Kansas City Chiefs’ move to Kansas is hardly a done deal. The big hangup is a big question:

Who would own the stadium?

Arrowhead Stadium is owned by the Jackson County Sports Authority and is leased by the Chiefs, who want the same kind of deal with Kansas. The Chiefs made that clear in a recent Kansas legislative committee hearing.

It has to do with taxes. Abhishek Sachin Sandikar, writing for Yahoo Sports on Google, says the issue is how money from the Kansas STAR (Sales Tax Revenue) Bonds would be used for a three-billion-dollar stadium.

The Chiefs do not want to own the stadium; they want it owned by a public entity as Arrowhead Stadium is owned by the Jackson County Sports Authority and is leased to the team through 2031. The Chiefs operate and maintain the stadium. The bonds used to built both stadiums in the Jackson County Sports Complex have been financed by a 3/8 cent sales tax. But last April, Jackson County voters went 58% against a new 3/8 sales tax to pay for renovations of Arrowhead and a downtown stadium for the Royals. The Chiefs found Kansas a willing suitor and the Royals are still looking at something on this side of the border although Kansas is courting them, too.

Chiefs lawyer Korb Maxwell says the Kansas stadium proposal does not make sense for the Chiefs unless a public entity owns the stadium. He argues that providing bond money for a privately-owned stadium would mean the funding would not be on a tax-exempt status and 45 percent of those dollars would be taken in federal taxes, thereby killing the project.

While the Kansas governor and the team have announced the move, the Kansas legislature has not yet approved the issuance of the STAR bonds—and the Chiefs don’t want to be their own landlord.

The deal hasn’t fallen through but Missourians shouldn’t think that the Chiefs will stay on this side of the line after all, though.

(CHIEFS2)—The Chiefs hope Eric Bienemy can be magic again for them. He’s back as offensive coordinator, a job he held for five years when the Chiefs offense was high-powered and exciting in Patrick Mahomes’ younger days.

Bienemy was the running backs coach for the Bears in their just-finished season. The Bears were third in the NFL in rushing yards, led by D’Andre Swift’s 1,087 yards and in average yards per carry. He was the Chiefs running backs coach for five years before moving up the OC.

Bienemy’s return has Travis Kelce sound more as if he’ll come back for another year. It’s just enthusiasm without commitment right now, though.

(ROOKIES)—The elimination of the Los Angeles Rams from the NFL playoffs allow us to look at the season three Tiger NFL rookies had.

Harrison Meavis emerged halfway through the year as the Rams’ place kicker and he showed he belongs in the NFL.  He hit all 39 of his extra points and was 12 of 13 in field goals.

Luther Burden III started five of the Bears’ 15 games, caught 47 passes out of 60 targets for 652 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Brady Cook finished the New York Jets’ season as the starting quarterback after two guys ahead of him went down within injuries. In four starts (and a fifth game he finished), Cook threw for two touchdowns but seven interceptions, 738 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He had a 55.43 rating.

(ROYALS)—The Royals continue to be quiet. They’ve signed several players to minor league contracts but have yet to sign a major free agent or make anything near a blockbuster trade. Speculation that former Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader would be a good fit for an outfield slot has been blown up by word that Bader has signed a two-year $20.5 million dollar deal with the Giants.

(CARDINALS)—The Redbird’s news is about who is still on the roster versus those who have left, those signed to minor league deals, or those who have/have not gone into arbitration.  Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero are still on the roster although there’s more than enough speculation about St. Louis’ interest in trading them.

We’re two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting.

Speeding along on track and in the court:

(DAYTONA)—The first major race of 2026 has lasted 24 hours at Daytona and ended with the winner just 1.5 seconds ahead of the runner up.

Roger Penske’s Porsche team has become the third team to win the race three years in a row, joining rival Chip Ganassi’s team and the Wayne Taylor team. Felipe Nasr has been the lead driver for all three of the wins. His co-drivers this year were Julien Landauer and Laurin Heinrich. Their car ran in the GTP class, the fastest of several classes in the race.

One of the drivers of the second-place Cadillac was NASCAR phenom Connor Zilisch. Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou was one of the drivers in the fifth place car. IndyCar driver Colton Herta was part of the team for the car in sixth. IndyCar’s Scott Dixon and NASCAR’s A. J. Allmendinger were half of the team that finished ninth.

IndyCar’s Nolan Siegel was part of the team that finished 12th overall and third in the LMP2 class. IndyCar’s Christian Rasmussen was part of the 5th place LMP2 team (14th overall). Kyffin Simpson, a driver for the Ganassi IndyCar team, was in the 17th place (8th in LMP2). Former 500 winner Will Power, driving in the GTD Pro class, helped his team to second in class and 20th overall. Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe was in a Lamborghini that finished 24th overall, 6th in GTD.

(NASCAR)—It appears NASCAR might be losing one of its road courser races. The fall Charlotte race had been held on its “Roval” for several years—the road course that’s also part of the oval track—but NASCAR reportedly is ready to move it back to the oval.  The event would be one of the ten-race championship chase series.

(NASCARHOF)—Three new names have been added to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina—Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, and Ray Hendrick. Busch won the NASCAR Cup championship in 2004. Concussion problems after a 2022 Pocono crash sent him into retirement.

Busch ran the 2014 Indianapolis 500, a one-off event, and finished a solid sixth. His hopes of completing the 500 and the 600-mile race at Charlotte that same day ended when his car dropped out after 273 laps.

“Handsome Harry” Gant had 18 wins in the Cup series and 21 in the second tier series. He’s the oldest driver to win a Cup race (52) and the oldest driver to win his first Cup race (42). He won four in a row in 1991 and ran his last NASCAR race in 1994 at the age of 54.

Ray Hendrick only ran 17 Cup races but he raced modified stocks for 36 years and won 700 races. He was 51 when he died in 1990

(MCLAREN VS. PALOU)—The long-running breach of contract lawsuit by McLaren against IndyCar champion Alex Palou is a win for McLaren, but the company isn’t satisfied with the $12 million judgment against him. McLaren wants reimbursement of its legal expenses plus interest.

In 2022, Palou agreed to drive for the McLaren IndyCar team then backed out to rejoin Chip Ganassi Racing where he has won four IndyCar championships and last year’s Indianapolis 500. He says McLaren’s offer included a role as a reserve driver for the McLaren Formula 1 team with the possibility of moving F1 and driving for McLaren’s IndyCar team until then. But he said he later learned the Formula 1 opportunity would not materialize so he walked away from the signed contract to stay with Ganassi. Palou says he’s meeting with his advisors and is considering his options.

He will continue to drive for Ganassi in the IndyCar series.

(Photo credits:  Billikens—Amazon; Palou (shown at the Daytona 24 Hours), Michael L. Levitt/ Lumen via Getty Images; Kurt Busch at Indianapolis 2019—Bob Priddy)