"Never... an Everybody" - Discovering UBER - A Sylvia Update

“Never an Everybody” – Discovering Uber – A Sylvia Update

The World HQs of Golden Corral and BobLeeSays are located within a mile of one another. GC Store #1 is just a few blocks up Glenwood Avenue… and I frequent it infrequently. Visiting an All-You-Can-Eat develops either self-discipline… or gluttony.

NOTE: There is A Sylvia Hatchell Update waiting below… Also, that picture of Bugs Bunny has NOTHING to do with anything in this column. I was wasting too much time selecting an appropriate Top Picture so just went with Bugs…

One pays upfront at GC… as I was doing so with a debit card, I asked the cashier to not ring me up until I was sure I had a few bucks for a tip. “Got to be sure I have enough cash $$ for a tip” I noted.

The cashier looked at me smiling… “I wish everybody thought that way”. In a split second of Divine Inspiration, I replied…

Never mistake Me for an Everybody…

Our eyes met… the GC cashier was stunned by the simple genius of the comment. GC cashiers are not “stunned by the simple genius” of customer comments as often as one might think. I, too, was stunned by the simple genius of the comment… looking around to be sure I had been the humble vessel to give life to that phrase.

I sent myself an E-mail so that Never mistake Me for an Everybody would not be lost to humankind. Thoughts of copyrights… t-shirts… bumper stickers et al were quickly dismissed… settling instead for “I gotta share this with the BobLee Buddies & Babes”…

… and now I have.

Last week Blondie and I were in far-away Wisconsin with “The Two You Know Whos” and Kid & Pastor Danny. The Polar Vortex is just an unpleasant memory… the weather, especially Easter Sunday, was ideal.

“Twinkle & Scooter” are both world-class walkers now… along with being lethally cute. Leaving only “Talking” and “Long Division” as Life Skills yet to be mastered.

Speaking of Life Skills, I used this visit to check one off of my Things I Can Now Do All By Myself… List. I used UBER for the first time.

For all of you rolling your eyes who’ve been doing UBERing for several years… there are others – in addition to Prince Albert – saying “WOW, BobLee is really brave to do UBER… whatever UBER is!”

Kid & Blondie helped me install – lock – load the UBER App. I used UBER at least a dozen times in Madison with zero glitches.

Which Came First UBER or GPS Satellites? I’m sure it was the latter. Otherwise…

Lewis & Clark coulda just typed in The Pacific Ocean in the “Where do you want to go?” box. UBER would answer “Jason driving a red Hyundai will pick you up in 5-4-3 minutes”. A map woulda popped up showing a little red Hyundai maneuvering it’s way towards them. Wood River IL to Astoria OR woulda cost more than the $8-10 of my trips but I’m being hypothetical.

Of my dozen UBER experiences only one involved a driver of Middle Eastern heritage with limited English fluency. All my rides were very pleasant. All $$ is handled on-line via one’s UBER account including the “tip” I, of course, always added.

Under comments, I added Never mistake Me for Everybody which I like to think made someone at UBER’s World HQ smile.

I warned there would be More to Affair de Hatchell over at UNCCH.

HatchellNation also known as “LFOS” – Loyal Friends Of Sylvia; has responded with dozens of not-especially-kind letters / e-mails to UNC Officials… of the HOW DARE YOU variety.

HatedRivalNation also supported the now-retired Hall Of Fame coach. They could not care less about Coach Hatchell but saw an easy opportunity to besmirch AD Bubba Cunningham and UNCCH in general. … Paraphrasing former Obama advisor / former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel – “Never let an unfortunate personnel scandal at a hated rival go to waste…”

The Fascinating Question being asked by many …

Would Roy Williams be treated differently in a similar circumstance?

Given the EXACT same set of circumstances… the options for UNC Officials might have been as limited with Roy as they were in this case. Granted that:

(1) Around UNCCH, Sylvia Hatchell being known as “A Fine Christian… ” is “a burden” that would not apply with Roy Williams. Roy’s only spiritual influencer being Dean Smith.

(2) The level of interest in UNC WBB is statistically insignificant. For UNC MBB the media / public interest would be Interplanetary in scope. To the degree that Roy would likely go KABOOM within the first 24 hours, leaving UNC Officials no choice but to vacuum up the ooey gooey mess and move on… sans Roy.

What’s left of McClatchey’s financially imperiled regional newspaper – The N&O – joined HatedRivalNation by DEMANDING that UNCCH release every intimate detail of the Parker Poe Investigation. … Anyone wondering when N&O Opinion Editor Ned “DWI” Barnett will join the Former N&O Employee Club? The answer is Not Yet… but probably soon.

UNC Officials officially responded to The N&O’s DEMAND with No Response… and unofficially with “Go pound sand you insufferable hacks…”

Which leaves What BobLee Thinks as the only significant question left…

As I noted in my earlier column I have no direct personal knowledge of (1) what Coach Hatchell said / did not say regarding “racially insensitive remarks” or (2) any harassment of players regarding their ability to play thru injuries.

I DID see where the UNC MD – Dr Harry Stafford – who oversees UNC WBB has been cleared of any malfeasance in this issue. I also saw that he is of AfAm persuasion.

In a rational world, a sports medicine doctor’s racial identity would be irrelevant.

“In a rational world”… innocent use of the word “hung” or “lynched” would also be irrelevant.

America checked out of The Rational World Hotel several years ago… leaving no forwarding address.

Those who know Coach Hatchell Very Well have assured me for many years that she is A Fine Christian Lady. That description, as noted, has become controversial around UNCCH. I still hold “it” in high regard as no doubt many of you do also.

For the past two+ decades the vast majority of Coach Hatchell’s players have been African American. As are the majority of college basketball players in America. … If one had even latent “racial prejudices” one could not survive much less be successful in that environment. Coach Hatchell has been very successful for 30+ years.

I am comfortable that Coach Hatchell’s unfortunate use of the term “hung” / “hanged” / “lynched” or whatever had no intended racial implications. That she did indeed use the term however innocently is, apparently, a crime in America 2019.

In retrospect should Coach Hatchell have adapted her motivational techniques to a rapidly evolving “Gotcha” society? Yes, of course… as should anyone in a high-profile position especially in a the ultimate GOTCHA environment of a radical ultra-liberal academic institution… which UNCCH is the pent-ultimate example. In one’s 60s, “adapting” can be difficult.

Had Coach Hatchell used “the N-word” or even “You People” that would be inexcusable. She did not do that.

Any charges of Sylvia Hatchell being “a racist” and whether she has any “racist bones in her body” are – IMO – erroneous cheap shots. More evidence of what a Total Cluster **** society we are living in.

The “injury harassment” charges are more complicated. A senior UNCCH medical official – not involved in this case – has assured me that the WaPo article had numerous errors regarding the injury issues. I trust him more than I do some WaPo journo-hack looking for “clicks” for his story… or a gang of anonymous helicopter parents. NOT to say that unfortunate mistakes may indeed have been made and, if so, must be reconciled.

I maintain that Sylvia Hatchell should have retired several years ago following her bout with Leukemia. Thinking she could rebuild her program from the Boxill Mess and the multiple transfers was an error with consequences on her part.

She was NOT fired, albeit “retirement” was likely her only option. She has a substantial pension after 30+ years at UNCCH. Adapting to this new phase of her life is up to her. She has the support of LFOS.

IMO, Sylvia Hatchell is indeed “A Fine Christian Lady” who stumbled into very unfortunate socio-cultural quicksand. She is neither the first nor last high-profile individual to do so.