How’s everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
Monday presented one of those ‘where were you when it happened’ lifetime moments.
I was leaving my gym when the red “breaking news” banner flashed on the television screen with the words “Northwestern fires Pat Fitzgerald.”
Never thought it would happen. I can’t think of a figure in America more synonymous with any business or university than Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern. “Fitz” was both personable and irascible, a local Chicago area kid (from the south suburbs) who became an All-American linebacker and coach at his beloved alma mater. It’s the stuff from which Hallmark sports movies are made.
The backstory—all of its throwback Midwesternness–– is what makes the events of this week so gobsmackingly stunning. Regardless of personal feelings towards the university––most non-alums are likely neutral or cynical––it’s impossible to be impartial about Fitz. He embodied the American ideal, lived his truth and through force of personality, took us along for the ride.
(I’ve interviewed Fitzgerald numerous times over the years in group settings and a few one-on-ones. Engaging and curious, he always let you know how he felt. If you asked what he thought to be a dumb question, you knew it. And he wanted you to know how he felt about your dumb question.)
If we isolate the emotional connection to the central figure, we have the other unique aspect to this story.
It’s the first grievance-induced firing in modern college football history.
Here’s what we know: for six months, the university conducted an incandescent investigation in response to hazing allegations. After much expense and allocation of resources, the school announced on July 7—in a classic late Friday news dump––it would suspend Fitzgerald for two weeks (this at a time when most coaches are on vacation anyway). Slight vibration but mostly worthy of a smart phone swipe up. Go Cats and see you in September!
But over the weekend, the student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, published an interview with an anonymous source where details were shared about the hazing allegations. As soon as that story hit the internet, mainstream media outlets jumped in with their reporting, and by Monday, Fitzgerald was toast.
Northwestern President Michael Schill (newly inaugurated in June) admitted the source from the student newspaper article was interviewed by school investigators. They had corroborating testimony from other players.
So if university officials were so outraged by what they knew from the initial report, why did they not fire Fitzgerald July 7? If they had the same information then, what changed in 72 hours?
Here’s what: The Grievance Industrial Complex kicked into high gear. Ex-players, contacted by ESPN, CNN and other outlets that traffic in such matters, shared stories about the environment in Evanston and were quoted when describing their time playing for Coach Fitz using terms like “enabling racism” and “microaggressions.”
These are trigger words of the GIC, meant to stoke fear in their intended targets—institutional leaders. Once Schill heard this labeling about Fitzgerald and the football program, regardless of its veracity, he acted as scaredy-cat, weak-kneed public education administrators often do: bend the knee to the mob, and do as the $2,000-per-hour lawyers instruct.
Schill fired Fitzgerald because it required too much courage not to. He let go of the best ambassador in the history of the school not because of hazing (if that were the reason, he would have fired him July 7) but because the velocity and force of the GIC was becoming untenable.
That’s scary because if it can happen to Pat Fitzgerald, it can happen to anyone.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Who’s Afraid Of Moms For Liberty?
One positive development to come out of Covid Hysteria is the growth and now, political sway, of grassroots organizations advocating for parental choice. None more influential than Moms For Liberty, a non-profit that started in 2021 by two Florida mothers and now has 285 chapters in 45 states. The Free Press attended a recent M4L conference in Philadelphia and provides this report. The event was such a big deal that GOP presidential hopefuls Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Donald Trump all spoke. From the article: “It’s an astonishing display of political drawing power, considering Moms for Liberty didn’t even exist three years ago. The candidates have all come to pay obeisance to the animating idea that has galvanized these women: that parents—not the government—should be in charge of how their children are raised and educated.” Pretty compelling mission statement. But a bit of advice for those in charge: never use a Hitler quote in marketing copy for any reason. State-sponsored media will never forget or forgive.
2. Foes With Benefits: Governors Reap Rewards In Troll Wars.
Remember that time, in 2015, when fresh Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump started using nicknames to refer to rivals? Marco Rubio was “Little Marco” and Jeb Bush was “Low Energy Jeb.” Later, Trump got more hard-edged with his monikers (“Crooked Hillary”) and the put-down trend started by the former president has evolved. Politicians today are downright shitty to each other and if feeling especially frisky, ship migrants to other states (as Ron DeSantis did earlier this year) and do so to serve two purposes: to troll a ideologically opposing governor and make a symbolic political point in the process. Politico with a good piece on the strategy behind the Troll Wars.
3. The Titan Submersible: An Accident Waiting To Happen.
The story of Stockton Rush’s single-tracked attempt to explore the ocean’s depths in a shoddily constructed submersible and his dismissal of the many people warning him of the errors of his ways would be downright funny, if we didn’t know the tragic ending (five deaths). The New Yorker puts together an exhaustive account of how the failed Titanic voyage happened in the first place.
4. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s War Of The Rośe.
This lengthy investigative effort from Vanity Fair is absolutely bonkers. At the center of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s marriage—and breakup—is Miraval, a family retreat in the French village of Correns that became a lucrative commercial enterprise, producing olive oil, a skin care line and a signature wine, Miraval Côtes de Provence rosé, with revenues exceeding $50 million in 2021. In an email to Pitt in 2021, four years after she filed for divorce, Jolie wrote that she had always assumed Miraval would be the place where she would happily grow old. “But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family.” Pour yourself a deep cup of coffee, this one’s going to take awhile. But worth it.
5. Inside The Alabama Baseball Betting Scandal.
Back in May, Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired after being tied to bets placed against his own team on a night when his ace pitcher was scratched and he sent out a lesser pitcher to take the mound. Bohannon, in one of the dumbest decisions by a college coach ever, directed someone else—a man named Bert Eugene Neff, Jr.––to place the bets and was easily found out because there was not much action on the game and the bets stood out. From the article, via Sports Illustrated: “His (Neff) texting was indiscreet, to the point that the book’s video surveillance cameras were able to zoom in on the details of Neff and Bohannon’s text exchange, making Bohannon’s name visible later in screenshots.” Easy investigation for authorities due to the incompetence of the offenders. No one has heard from Bohannon since the incident but I’d like to hear this man explain why he ruined his career and reputation with one unfathomably stupid act.
6. Street Tacos, Mexico City Style.
Breaking news for Tex-Mex guacamole lovers across the U.S.: Chipotle has introduced a guacamole prep robot (Autocado) to take over the job of slicing, coring, and digging out the good stuff from avocados. Humans still smash up and guacamole by hand and yeah, you’re still paying extra for that labor (every time I go to Chipotle, they charge a few more pesos). This development made me pine for the real thing: for Six readers who have visited Mexico City (count this author in that category), there is no better place on the globe for street tacos and authentic, farm-to-table guac. This video takes us to the streets of MC and features the most famous taco in the world, the yummy al pastor. Tacos every day! That’s living our best lives.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.