Nightly news

As has been noted previously, except for baseball and weather I rarely watch TV. So it was interesting to watch the Nightly News last night while visiting my brother in the nursing home where he lives in New Jersey. Two stories caught my attention:

1. This cat-call video thing that apparently has gone viral. Some young woman in NYC was secretly taped and recorded walking the streets. The whistles, hoots, and leading and inappropriate comments by sleazy men were numerous, sickening and really not all that surprising. I will address this topic in a moment.
2. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie calling out and yelling down a protester at a press conference, telling him to sit down and shut up. I loved this! I'm not into politics, and Lord knows Christie's politics have been highly questionable at times. But as a Jersey Guy at heart, I gotta love a fat, brash dude from Mendham (Christie) yelling at a rude protester. Classic. 

Now. Getting back to the cat call losers. There have been two occasions in recent weeks in which the protective father/coach in me has had to channel my inner Christie when our athletes have been the subject of such things.

1. One of our female distance runners was waiting at the stop light by the north entrance of Marist, to cross the street for her midday run. She was standing right in front of those "labor protesters" whose presence makes no sense to me. I happened to be in the van, waiting to turn left en route to an off-campus practice. Said "labor protesters" (who have nothing better to do but huddle around their phones and, apparently, stare at college students) were making obscene gestures and faces at our dedicated student-athlete. So, I did what I had to do. I rolled down the van window and, in my best Christie voice, yelled out: "Hey. Dude. Get a LIFE!" Oh man. You KNOW I wanted to say more. But alas ... I did not. Thankfully for all involved, the light changed and we went on with our day.
2. One of our female distance runners was cooling down after a workout at Bowdoin Park. She was running solo, near one of the pavilions by the ballfields. You know what's coming next. The derelicts that often hang out at Bowdoin acted like the cat callers on the NYC video. Stupid comments. Faces. LOSERS. Again. I wanted to do and say many things. Instead, I stared at them. I said nothing. I stared at them. I watched them as they walked to their car. As they walked to their car, I dramatically made note of their license plate, typing it into my phone. They yelled at me, "Hey, you got a PROBLEM!" I smiled, saying nothing and pretended to make a phone call while again staring at their license plate. They sped off into the sunny afternoon.