Full Court Press

this "story" about Olsen participating in the raunchy rap song is making me laugh (or perhaps cry) while shaking my head in disbelief over how much of a "story" this is. I guess Carol Slezak had nothing to write about this morning. Front page?

Don Imus is a national broadcaster. He had a right to say what he did, however "dumb", but the people that pay his bills, and not so much the corporate entity but the advertisters that buy space on his program also have a right to pull their advertising, ergo de facto "firing" Imus.

Olsen is a football player. He's broken no law and what he sings in his private time is his own business, no matter how dumb. I personally think the pendulum will swing back from the constant use of b's and hoes simply because it's been so so overdone, it's pretty boring now.

Nature has a way of taking care of these things by itself. The political correctness police can go fornicate with themselves.

Roman responds: It's definitely a story, don't be silly. Where it's played in the paper is up for debate. And done in private? Please. It doesn't have the best production value, but it wasn't kereoke night at the U.
And there are a lot of female Bears fans out there, and maybe some will be offended. And coming on the heels of the Imus story makes it timely.
I'm interested in knowing what you mean by "nature has a way ..."

Let he/her who has never done something stupid in college cast the first stone. Can you imagine a college freshman getting caught up and doing something stupid due to peer pressure???
It's fair to give him a shot, but move on. Unlike rappers, Olsen came out and said it was a mistake and he regrets it. How many rappers have done that?

Roman responds: Let me play devil's advocate, the only reason he said he regrets it is because he knows he cost himself money. Thanks to cyberspace, that stuff is going to be around forever. If this guy becomes all-world, there will be sponsors who shy away because of those lyrics. And some rappers aren't just saying things to act like big men on campus, they're singing about their lives.
And Tom, if you'd like to critique Carol's column, please send the email to inbox@suntimes.com. Thank you.

I don't know about everyone else, but I did and said a lot of dumb things when I was in my late teens/early 20s (I'm 25 now). It probably would've been magnified if I had gone to a traditional college like a lot of other people do, because there would've been so many others acting just like me. Now I'm married and a father. I'm still pretty immature and I laugh at fart jokes a lot and things like that (and still will when I'm 80) but the things I did back then would be pretty out of character for me today. I didn't live my entire youth thinking "Oh my, I better stay self-disciplined, squeaky clean, and do the right thing all the time because someone in my future might judge me based on my past." It's pretty irrelevant now.

That being said I don't think this is a big deal at all, for that reason. It's something he did 3 years ago, and he acknowledged it was an ill-advised decision and apologized. If someone can't accept that, there's probably no getting through to them anyway and it's virtually impossible to not offend them, so there's nothing you can do.

And to put this in another perspective, I remember when I first heard this song. It was forwarded to me in an e-mail... by who? A female friend of mine who happens to be a U-M alum. She thought it was funny. Not everyone is offended and takes things like this seriously. Just a thought.

Roman responds: Keith, thanks for the reasoned, well-thought-out response. I'm sure many - if not most - people agree with you. I think my biggest problem is I didn't like guys like that in college and I don't like them now. I don't look at athletes as anything other than athletes, so I don't care about his moral values, I just don't like cocky knuckleheads.

From personal experience, thru myself and 4 siblings to date, your college freshman year has to be the widest door for idiotic decisions in ones life. That said let's move to the real topic here. Hypocrisy. My mother just adored watching musicals. I grew up with 2 older and 1 slightly younger sister. Music was their lives as kids. I was force fed dancing and music. My 3 oldest are girls. Round 3! 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's. Heard it, felt it, sang it, danced it, the latter probably helping me become an all around athlete. Until our society puts RAP MUSIC in it's proper place, who are we to judge this so called freedom of expression if execs of supposed highest standards are making hundreds of millions off of womens downgrading at an alarming rate. We should be front paging R. Kelly til' he gets his story right. It's one thing to sing about B's and H's but when you make a teenage girl bring your words to life the real Demons come to light. Do it once, shame on him/her --- do it for years, shame on us. SOME rap music has two eyes --- one black, the other turned. Until we get this pirate ship righted all together, let's not focus on ONE, but train both of our eyes on the WHOLE. Sorry if I strayed a little. I just havn't been dancin' much these days.

Agreed Roman - I can't stand those guys either. As I said in my first post I didn't get the "traditional" college experience most other people got, but if I did, I couldn't imagine them being too different than the ones I knew in high school. They probably thought they were "cooler" than me or looked down on me, not realizing the feeling was mutual.

For the record, where are most of those guys now? A couple are in prison, a couple got shot, a good number of them have grown up since then and live successful lives, but most of them are broke and are lucky if they can hold onto their low-paying jobs. Is that a coincidence? I think not.

And I think Olsen was just a product of the crowd he was hanging around - high-profile athletes who tend to be the cocky knuckleheads you were talking about. And I believe him when he says he's moved on and matured since then. He'd almost have to, or we (or the Bears, or the rest of the NFL) would know about it.

Roman respnds: Ok, I buy that.

Romo - First, how do you know his reasoning for apologizing? Second, he's already been drafted and his salary and bonus are essentially slotted based on last year so your reasoning for his apologizing doesn't make sense. If you were right, he would have been front and center before the draft standing up and apologizing considering this happened 3 years ago. Third, I'll bet anyone a lot of money that if he makes any plays at all, he'll make a ton of money off the field since advertisers have a very short memory (see Kobe Bryant, Mike Ditka, etc). Finally, I'm not sure why your blog is so sensitive about Carol. Is that a rule that we can't critique one of your colleagues?

Roman responds:
First: I never said I knew. I said I was playing devil's advocate.
Second: I didn't say it affected his draft status. He fell a lot lower than most experts anticipated, but I didn't say that had to do with this song. Of course he wasn't going to stand front and center before the draft, he only apologized when asked about it at Halas Hall.
Third: Kobe was accused of rape. Olsen's just accused of being a punk kid, at least for one day. That said, corporations haven't had a short memory with Kobe. Despite his amazing feats on the court, he hasn't regained all of his sponsorships.
Lastly, as far as taking shots at my colleagues, there is a forum for that. It's our weekly letters-to-the-editor section. I'm not going to call them so they can defend themselves. Sometimes I have included comments about them, but I'd rather not. If it's compelling enough, I will.

I’m simply amazed at the two articles today in the Sun-Times bashing Greg Olsen. Give me a break. When this song was made, Olsen was a twenty year old kid who played football at the University of Miami. Have we all forgotten what it is like to be in our early twenties?

And I love how Carol Slezak sounds off on how these players portrayed these girls, as if they are “victims” in this. Believe me, if you are a college girl and you make a habit of hanging out at the football dorm, there is only one thing you are after.

Roman responds: Those are two different arguments. I'll give you the first one, but the second one is pretty disturbing. That whole "she got what she deserved" mentality has been used to justfiy criminal behavior.

**That whole "she got what she deserved" mentality has been used to justfiy criminal behavior**

Olsen has now broken a law? And what would that law exactly be?

Roman responds: Jon, you're the one who said girls who hang out at football dorms are only after one thing, and I think that's a very disturbing mentality. I said the only thing Olsen's guilty of is being a cocky knucklehead, at least for one day.

I had a strong feeling my response wasn't gonna make it thru the door. This is a very touchy subject in my life. I actually had to wait a few minutes to tone down my thoughts. Probably could have worded a few things differently to avoid confrontation, but you know where I'm coming from. Grew up in a tough neighborhood that I frequent now and then to see a close knit group of friends. One night at the local bar a couple of young gangbangers were shooting pool while listening to a heavy worded rap song. Next thing you know the song lyrics start flowing thru their veins and they become so-called world beaters. What an ugly sight to follow for the next 5 minutes or so. Almost lost a friend to a cheap shot mug. Unfortunately I did lose a close buddy to the inner circles of jealousy, hate, and greed of the business no one hears about. A promising young Latino producer gunned down at a barber shop on Roosevelt because his client chose him over another (married to family, know inside story well). This along with countless other stories just jacked me up for the moment. You're right though about it possibly affecting Olsen's future. Ever since Jimmy The Greek going down, there's no protection to words gone awry any longer, I should know. Later.

"I said the only thing Olsen's guilty of is being a cocky knucklehead, at least for one day."

Exactly right Romo - and the University publicly condemned this 3 YEARS AGO! I'm guessing he felt a lot worse 3 years ago when his family found out that he was part of this. So since he is a Bear, we have to make this news again? What did he do that was illegal? Stupid...yes. This is nothing more than attention grabbing headlines to sell papers...go figure.

Hopefully Carol Slezak protests the Bears' selection of Olsen by promising never to write another column about the Bears!

OH COME ON. The guy does a stupid dumb thing as a freshman. Why is the media obsessed with tearing down anyone who enjoys any level of success in life? Does that make you all happy?

This is one of the most ridiculous abuses of media capabilities I have seen in a long time. Crucify the guy for something done while a freshman in college? Give me and the rest of Chicago a break.

Media people should have every detail of their lives splashed all over the front pages. If you are going to do this to others, you should have it done to you. Never seen a bigger bunch of whining crybabies and losers than the writers for the Sun-Times, and that especially includes Jay Mariotti. Ridiculous.

"I just don't like cocky knuckleheads". Sounds like you're jealous of a guy who plays football.

And how do you know he is a cocky knucklehead now? He made one mistake at Miami and you people in the media get to rip him to shreds? Why do you get to do that? Why do you believe it is your job to tear people down? Why?

This is patently ridiculous. Leave the kid alone. Give him a chance to be a good player for the Bears.

A certain someone once said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Would all of you in the media want your personal lives and everything you have ever done all over the front pages? And why shouldn't that happen?

Why does one mistake that a kid makes when he is 18 deserve front-page coverage in the Sun Times? Is political correctness this far out of control? Ridiculous. I hope all of you small people at the Sun Times enjoy taking shots at everyone for a living. That is a disgusting way to earn a living - why don't you go out and produce something, create something, rather than just reporting about things other people do? Why is that a worthwhile living?

Ridiculous.

Roman responds: Jeff, take it easy. You wrote the exact same thing 9 minutes ago. Take a breath.
You keep taking things out of context. I said at the very least he was a knucklehead for a day. If you disagree with that, listen to the song again.
I have no idea how he is now. I've never met him and I haven't tried to portray him as is now. But I will tell you one thing, you don't know him, either.
As far as ripping us for "reporting things other people do," um, that's how you learn about your beloved athletes. We write about the good stuff and the bad stuff.
As far as me being jealous of a football player? Congratulations, you found me out. Damn, I thought I was covering it up so well. But you're right, quite right, I'm a 43-year-old, 6-2, 195-pound NFL wannabe.

Roman, this is more political correctness run amok. Looks like the media's favorite game is now "gotcha"...An easy game to play... target any public figure, athlete, actor...and dig through their history to find any dirt you can and then pile on..That's a disgusting as the rap song!

This was a vulgar one-time immature act by a freshman football player, who I'm sure was goaded on by upperclass teammates to be "one of the guys"....There is no story, not even close to Imus, yet you media types just take it and run with it to sell newspapers.

More disturbing to me is you admitting you don't like athletes, because some of them may have picked on you in high school..That didn't affect your words now did it? Methinks it did. So you have it in for "cocky" (your words) athletes and Carol Sleazak hates men (I've already responded to Carol via her e-mail address)....So that gives you both the right to trash a young man's reputation before he even sets foot in it?? Shame.....

I bet you were hoping the Duke lacrosse players were guilty too....Another case of political correctness run amok in society.

Roman responds: Ok, I admit I actually laughed at the beginning of this. I never said I don't like athletes, I just said I don't believe it when GMs or agents tell me how great they are as human beings. We just don't know, and we're around them a lot more than you are. I actually have liked many - actually, almost all of the athletes - I've covered. From Notre Dame to the Bulls, almost all of the guys were nice enough. But I don't know what they were like when they weren't around me. And a lot of guys have one face for the media and one in private.
And when did I ever say I got picked on? The truth is I was an athlete in high school and my buddies and I probably were too cocky. But we never recorded a rap song.
Lastly, how do you know he was goaded into it?

No one who has commented so far (and from what I can tell, they appear to be all men) thinks this is any big deal. What would you think if the song was degrading blacks instead of "just" women?"

Romo - You are right when you say this is a story, kind of.

It broke 3 years ago. Look it up. It was too sensational then. But now it's front page news? You make a good point about it being "timely" with links to Imus, player character issues, and so on. But it's a TREND STORY at best. If the Sun-Times can't make it out of the red with tripe like this, how about trying out responsible journalism. (That one goes out to Slezak and Mariotti)

We can't wait to see this guy play ball, but I guess doing a story on that doesn't cut it as sports section material.

PS - Didn't Royko used to work for you guys?

Roman responds: Royko did work for us, why do you ask?
Michael, I'm not defending putting it on the front page. I'm not sure what got knocked off to put it on there, and I know it's three years old. But here's the rub, everyone is talking about. Papers do like to generate discussion. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who never heard the song before. I didn't know that much about this kid, so now that he's here, I want to know about him. This is part of that educational process. Agree?

First let me say that G-Reg is the stupidest rap name I've ever heard. Sounds like a naive young boy made it up. Everyone in this world has done things for which they are not proud (probably especially in college) and everyone makes mistakes. Peer pressure is a tough obstacle, and being on the Miami football team probably doesn't help with that.

However, that being said, the song Greg Olsen recorded is completely disgusting and offensive and you can't get away with doing things like that anymore. Hard to tell exactly what it will cost him, aside from respect. Respect is something that has to be earned back once lost, and it's going to be hard for me to respect a person that would say those things. Even though he said the song was written for him, he still recorded it voluntarily.

What's more disturbing to me are the comments from Jon and bogey. I can't even justify a normal response to Jon's implication of girls at football dorms only being after one thing. That's a pretty big supposition, but then again, I never hung out at football dorms when I was in college. I didn't have to because there were guys everywhere on campus who were only after one thing.

And bogey, are you saying that the incessant use of derogatory terms to describe women in rap songs is going to make those terms okay to use? I hope you never feel it is okay to refer to a woman as a "b" or an "h." Those (and other) words are not okay to use in everyday life to describe people - human beings just like you - who are moms, wives, daughters, NFL team owners, etc. Rappers can do what they want, we have a choice whether or not to listen to their songs. We all have a choice in our personal vocabularies as well. Mother Nature is quite tolerant of us humans, but she will never agree with you. And I'd watch my back for that pendulum.

If it’s just a youthful indiscretion from three years ago then it should be forgotten since he admitted it was wrong and apologized. If he truly has matured then there shouldn’t be any more problems. If he displays this type of behavior in the future then he should be dealt with according to NFL rules and the Bears should deal with him too in some appropriate manner. Olsen has a great opportunity here to set a good example for all of us. I hope he does. It would be nice to see today’s youth look up to and emulate a good guy instead of the typical trash talking, disrespectful, selfish, athletes and entertainers that the media gives the most attention to for their own selfish reasons.

Btw, Julie... almost every single rapper name out there is by far more stupid than Olsen's.

I agree with you on the "learning curve"

As far as Royko goes, it was a tongue-in-cheek remark, and perhaps a stretch, in retaliation for the whole scandalous nature of this being front page material, a la "No self-respecting fish would be wrapped in a Murdoch paper."

I know the Rupert days are long since over for CST, but the front page G-reg story seems soooo Fox News. I'm glad there were no "somali ham sandwiches" referenced in G-regs lyrics, or this would have been REALLY timely.

Unless... Julie meant that his rapper name lacked the stupendous stupidness of virtually all other rapper names then I could see where it would be stupid because it wasn’t nearly stupid enough for the rap industry.

Roman responds: BBB, I had you pegged for a country and western fan.

On the day we have immigration marches and President Bush expected to veto a Iraq pullout bill, you guys lead with this? A rap recorded by Olsen four years ago? You guys at the Sun-Times are a total disgrace to Chicago. It's like Murdoch and Conrad Black never left.

Coming from an outsider of the Bears organization and not a huge fan of the team I am not sure what to think of what happened. You can look at it a few ways.

He was obviously an adult because this happened in college so he should know not to disrespect woman the way he did in the song.

I also think in College you do some stupid things while having a few cold ones with your boys but come on after the smoke clears you dont need to post it on your myspace page do you?

You can not blame the alcohol at that point.

We can go a lot of ways with this story I mean you can go back to his past and where he learned this from, where are the parents, is it the music, video games, etc. Do we need to? I dont think so.

Roman responds: BBB, I had you pegged for a country and western fan.

Way off. It's my second least favorite.

Kate, your comparison between this degrading women and degrading blacks isn't really a fair one, and it's apples and oranges.

Racism, obviously, is an issue in and of itself, and I don't think I need to explain what I mean by that. So hearing a bunch of testosterone-crazed young males bragging and joking about exaggerated sexual exploits is something altogether different. It's not that it's "just" women, not at all. It's "just" what happens when irresponsible teenagers get together and get out of control. Believe me, this is not out of the ordinary as far as things young guys talk about when there's no girls around (or at least ones they don't know). I mean... college guys think about doing dirty things to college girls... there should be no surprise there. Nobody is trying to downplay women's issues here. Not at all.

And by the way, Julie, not that I'm saying that the lyrics to this song are okay in any way, but in my opinion they obviously don't apply to you do they? What's to be upset about if you're not the type of woman they're talking about in the song? (I can't elaborate on that thought any further without upsetting some people.)

Roman responds: Keith, I think Kate's point is valid. How would you have responded if the lyrics were offensive to blacks? Some college guys also talk like that.
I was talking to a colleague about this, and she made an interesting and obvious point that is getting lost here. Maybe this discussion can at least illuminate the subject that many men think of women as nothing more than sex objects, and even less. It's almost like they consider women to be animals. Is it OK if 18-year-olds think like that? When do you address it?
I think it's worth discussing. And I also think this publicity will make sure the next athlete at a big-time program with hopes of playing on Sundays will think twice before pretending to be a rapper.

Hey, "the-spamszone.net"

You're rambling. Do you have a point, or are you trying to drive traffic to your site?

And Myspace? Greg Olson is not in control of said page. ANYONE could have posted that. Just look up Obama on there and you'll find dozens o' pages with his general info, some fan pages, some claiming to be him...

BTW, thanks for your response earlier, Mr. Modrowski.

Over and out.

4 you negative talkers, hush your mouth. This might b the best draft we've ever had. Olsen is an offensive weapon, think of shockey and winslow, but more humble. Get ready to bow down to these draft picks my fellow bear fans.
Posted by: Pierre JOhnson | April 30, 2007 08:23 PM

Mr. Pierre, you want to take these words back or still stand on them? He is quite vulgarly offensive that I can agree with you about, but humble and bow down to??..I THINK NOT!!
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I notice today Roman has responded back more often then he usually does to posts. (I wonder why?) I want every White male to comprehend your privilege in this society, and stop acting like you do not have it. Matter of fact some of you have attack Carol Slezak which displays your sexist behavior. Remember she is a woman or do you think Mr. Olsen was not including white women in his rap diatribe?

It is amazing when young white males do illegal activities the excuse used is "Well he was a YOUNG college kid." But when Black males are accused of illegal activities they some how become GROWN men at the age of 14,15,16,17 and 18. Do thy eyes deceive me or do thy White brethen play make believe only when it is their children accused of devious acts and call grown men in college children?

White males, life is not nor will it be hard for you at least another two centuries. If white people were living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, the people would be in homes again, not wandering like nomads. The city would have been rebuilt COMPLETELY! White males, this is why Jesse and Al have platforms because of the discrepancy in how the law is dispense unevenly majority of the time.

White males, think Tank Johnson and how you have vilified the guy. He is only 25, a kid in my estimation. Also, think Lance Briggs, he has been disparaged because he wanted to be paid the going rate of 2007 free agents. It had less to do with Mr. All-World Urlacher, as many of you claim him to be. But here we have Mr. Olsen and LOOK at the rush to DEFEND him and attack not only Carol Slezak, but Roman as well.

Chicago Bears organizaion, the football is in your court or is it in the White Opinion of White Males. The irony, isn't this the same thing?

How about you Roman? Boy George, Prince, Michael Jackson... nailed it didn't I?

Roman responds: See, just when I think you're not a smart ass, you prove me wrong. Although I do admit, I like some of Prince's stuff, and I'm not talking about Raspberry Beret. I thought he was really good at the Super Bowl. I guess my all-time favorite band is Santana. Also like the Stones, Zeppelin, etc.

The people running the Suntimes lead with a "story" like this and then they scratch their heads each quarter and wonder why their circulation continues going down.

Roman responds: And what's your theory about why every other paper in the nation, including the other one in this city, is suffering declining circulation as well?

Like I told you before, go with the opposite of what you believe and you'll be correct much more often. Just joking, I prefer to be friendly. Your C & W comment wasn't appreciated.

Roman responds: It wasn't meant derogatorily (as far as you know). I like some C&W, maybe a few Johnny Cash songs and "Crazy."

Roman, I hurl chunks each time I hear someone is "offended" by something and that's mostly because in this day and age almost everyone is offended by something.

How about if we told some of these people that no one really cares that you're offended? you'll be fine. As Peyton Manning might say in a commercial .... just rub some dirt on it.

if women as whole were overwhelmingly offended by such words and the lyrics of the rap genre, there is a SUPER EASY solution to the problem. I call it the "Lysistrata strategem", which you may remember from ancient Greece. If these rappers and people who use such words couldn't get laid because their potential mates would be offended, they would quickly stop using such language. Trust me on this.

what I mean by nature taking care of itself and the use of such words in music is the following. Frankly the use of those words now is so so so overplayed I think it's losing its appeal. It used to be nasty.. raw. Now you barely hear a lyric without it, hence I suspect its appeal naturally will diminish.

Julie I personally almost never use those terms..(but I believe in free speech, as well as "consequences" to such) though I will use the term of the female dog variety when in exclusively male company and referring to a group of them I strongly dislike. I'm sure the girls in the little girls room have similar terms for us guys when they get together to "powder their noses".

If we're going to judge EVERYONE by what they did in college, I think we're in trouble.
If this was Greg Smith, hired by IBM who made a rap song in college, nobody would be the wiser. Why in the world should we hold this guy to a higher standard than the average person who acted like an idiot in college (most do) except that their prospective employer would never know it.
Finally, let's face it, the all american pretty white boy makes for much better cover having used these words.

Roman responds: Because nobody cares about what Greg Smith did in college. Everybody cares about what the Bears' top draft pick did in college.
And what did your last line mean?