Pitino Pregame: St. John's Returns To The Garden Wednesday Night

 

Rick Pitino and his St. John's players before player introductions on December 6th. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm returns to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night when they take on the Providence Friars.

Books: "The Furies" By Elizabeth Flock

 

The Furies: Women, Vengeance, and Justice

By Elizabeth Flock

Harper; hardcover, 304 pages; $32.00; available today, Tuesday, January 9th

Elizabeth Flock is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years covering women in the criminal justice system, especially those imprisoned for defending themselves against an abuser. Every month, she speaks to dozens of women behind bars, and she has studied hundreds of criminalized survival cases. She is the host of the Blind Plea podcast, which is about a black mother in Alabama who killed her white abuser, filed a Stand Your Ground claim, and was instead given a blind plea, an option to take an unknown sentence in exchange for pleading guilty. It was #1 on Apple Podcasts and is the first journalistic look at the practice of blind pleas. 

The Furies is Flock's new book, an incisive account of three real-life women, in three different parts of the world, who have used violence to fight back against rape, domestic abuse, and the incursions of war. This brings about questions of whether women's actions fighting back help or hurt them, and if women can truly hope to effect societal change by pitting their own brand of violence against the systemic violence afflicted on them by their oppressors.

Flock reports that the public's view of such women is often distorted by the media and pop culture, which either castigates or exalts them as heroes or rebels. The truth is a bit more complicated, as she discovered.

The first story Flock examines is that of Brittany Smith, who was the subject of a New Yorker piece that went viral. Smith is a young woman from rural Stevenson, Alabama, who killed a man she said raped her but was denied the protections of the state's Stand-Your-Ground law. The second story takes place in Uttar Pradesh, India, where Angoori Dahariya, is leader of a gang dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse. Then, the reader is introduced to Cicek Mustafa Zibo, a fighter in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria.

Each woman chose to use lethal force in order to gain safety, power, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect them, including police, government, and the courts, failed to deliver. Each woman has faced criticism for their actions by those who believe that violence is never the answer.

Flock conducted research on the ground, as she embedded with families, communities, and organizations in America, India, and Syria, and tells their stories with the necessary nuance to give the complete picture. With a topic this complex, and with subjects in three vastly different societies, it is fascinating to see where there are similarities in their experiences.

A Conversation With Elizabeth Flock (provided by HarperCollins):

Elizabeth Flock.

Why have you chosen these three stories, in particular; what links them together? "As a culture we are obsessed with stories of female vigilantes (what the BBC in 2022 dubbed the 'ascent of the violent-and-yet-relatable female anti-hero'). I believe we are obsessed with these stories because we wish we could be them, due to the global epidemic of gender-based violence that exists in our homes, largely behind closed doors. Using that as a premise, I went looking for real-life stories of women who fought back against domestic and sexual violence, to better understand what happened when they did. Did their actions help stop the violence, or only breed more? And what happened to the women?

I spent years researching stories of women who defended themselves all over the world, from Senegal to Mexico to the UK to the Ukraine. I landed on the three stories I did - in the rural US, India, and Syria - because they took place in 1) deeply patriarchal places with 2) cultures of honor where 3) institutions are often inadequate and so individuals must stand up to protect themselves 4) in this case women and 5) I had access to study these women.

I wanted to look at the problem in both a macro and micro way (from the battlefield to the community to the home). It was important to me to report on this subject in my own country (the US), as well as far afield (India, Syria), to show how the problem of gender-based violence plagues us everywhere, from far-flung places to the reader's own backyard. It was also my intention to follow an individual (Brittany Smith), a group (Angoori Dahariya's Green Gang), and a larger system (Cicek Mustafa Zibo and the YPJ) of women who fought back, to understand female self-defense at multiple levels.

In all three stories, women violently fought back against gender-based violence perpetrated against them and/or their communities - at great personal cost to themselves.

What impression do you want to make on the reader upon finishing The Furies? As a society, we pretend to be peace-loving, but a closer look suggests a state - and a masculine - monopoly on violence. This is clear any time the police use excessive force, a corporation destroys the land, or we carelessly drop bombs abroad. When a violated woman fights back, however, it is another story. Women's claims of self-defense do not get the same treatment as men; in many places around the world, for example, women are twice as likely to be convicted of a crime if they defend themselves with lethal force.

The central argument of this book is really a series of questions: If there is a global epidemic of gender-based violence, yet women are not able to defend themselves against it, have women really made true progress? Why, if we profess to be pacifists, do these women's uses of violence feel so necessary? Is an insistence on nonviolence really just the purview of the privileged and the safe?

Why are we so shocked when women are violent? It is one of the oldest steretypes or myths in the world that women are peacemakers. As political scientists Caron E. Gentry and Laura Sjoberg put it, 'Gender and development and even feminist discourses suggest that women are necessarily more nurturing and peace-loving than men - and that, by extension, there is something especially troubling about women whose behavior transgresses these.' As a result, we feel uncomfortable with women who are violent. We want them to pacify, to mediate, to nurture, to rise above."

Are women and girls becoming more violent, or is it just that we've never confronted it before? No, I don't think so. Despite the fact that we have long assigned women as the more peaceful gender, our mythologies and histories are rife with tales of violent women, from the goddesses Athena, Kali and Inanna to the biblical Judith to the ancient queen Boudica, from the paintings of Artemesia Gentileschi to the contemporary Lorena Bobbitt. I just think we have not, in our modern era at least, confronted the idea that female violence may be necessary.

Would you agree that in each of the three stories, each woman becomes powerful, without gaining any power? Each woman in the book gives agency by actively instead of passively responding to the violence perpetrated against them and their communities. They also gain a voice. But I wouldn't say they became more powerful. In fact, while they arguably gain more power for the women around them (Brittany for other Alabama women, Angoori for her Green Gang members), and Cicek for her fellow fighters), they do so at great personal costs to themselves. They are victims of the systems they tried to challenge - but not for nothing.

Can you expand on what you mean by the book's last line, "If only we could all fight so hard"? We are living at a time of many crises: from the epidemic of gender-based violence to rising income inequality to religious wars to environmental catastrophe. Many of us feel that we cannot do much to change these circumstances. I believe this is fundamentally untrue, and that these women and their challenge to entrenched systems are a testament to that. Fighting back is often damaging personally but can have a large impact systematically. I wish this book to be a call to arms to all of us to, in response to these crimes, do something.

Can you expand on what you mean around "their failings are, in part, a response to living within damaging cultures of honor"? Do you think these are very specific cultural stories relating to female violence, or are there broader more universal themes that can be applicable to women's (lack of) status everywhere? Brittany Smith struggled with addiction in large part because of the domestic violence she endured. Angoori Dahariya searched for power because she had none as a poor, low-caste woman. Cicek Mustafa Zibo was looking for an ideology to grab onto because being relegated to the home as a housewife made no sense to her.

But of course these cultures of honor don't just damage women. They damage men as well, who feel they must be violent to be powerful. 

Michigan Wins College Football Playoff, Honored With MacArthur Bowl

 

Michigan's Blake Corum scoring a touchdown. Provided by NFF.

The Michigan Wolverines won the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, as they beat the Washington Huskies, 34-13, at NRG Stadium in Houston. 

This is Michigan's first national championship since 1997, the completion of a 15-0 season, the best in their illustrious history, and the first for Head Coach Jim Harbaugh.

Michigan running back Blake Corum was the Offensive MVP, as he ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and defensive back Will Johnson was the Defensive MVP, as he had an interception on the first snap of the second half when Michigan was clinging to a 17-10 lead.

In addition to Corum's 134 yards, Donovan Edwards ran for 104 yards and also had two TDs, part of a 303-yard rushing output for Michigan, a CFP title game record. 

Quartetback J.J. McCarthy threw for 141 yards, as he completed 10 passes, and he rushed for 31 yards. Defensive back Mike Sainristil led Michigan with eight tackles, and he sealed the win with an interception which he returned 81 yards with 3:53 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

This was the third straight season that Harbaugh led them to the College Football Playoff, and the first time they reached the championship game. He has led them to a 40-3 record the past three seasons, and an 88-25 mark since taking over in 2015.

Michigan became the recipient of the 2023 NFF MacArthur Bowl National Championship Trophy for the second time. Its name will be etched among the champions of college football, including the 1997 Wolverines, on the trophy, which is housed at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

The MacArthur Bowl has been presented to every college football national champion since 1959. The trophy was the gift of an anonymous donor, who commissioned Tiffany & Co. to craft it from 400 ounces of silver, in honor of early NFF leader General Douglas MacArthur. It took eight months to make, and the trophy features MacArthur's famous quote, "There is no substitute for victory."

Twenty-four different schools have won the trophy at least once in its 65-year history. Alabama has won it the most, 10 times, while Notre Dame is second with five, followed by Ohio State, Miami, Southern California, and Texas, with four. The trophy is a replica of a football stadium, and it features archways with space to engrave the names of 100 teams and miniature goal posts.

NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell said, "On behalf of the National Football Foundation, our 12,000 members, our Board of Directors and Chairman Archie Manning, we are extremely proud to recognize Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines. 

"This trophy was started in 1959 by General Douglas MacArthur, the great sportswriter Grantland Rice and legendary coach Red Blaik, and etched on the side of this stadium replica in all silver are all of the subsequent national champions. As the keepers of the history and the legacy of the sport of football, we are exceptionally pleased to maintain this unique tradition by etching the 2023 Michigan team on its walls."

NFF Announces 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class

 

In what has become a tradition, the National Football Foundation announced the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class ahead of Monday night's National Championship game between Michigan and Washington.

There will be 19 players inducted, including Randy Moss, Warrick Dunn, and Larry Fitzgerald, and three coaches, including Mark Dantonio. 

2024 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS:

PLAYERS:

Justin Blackmon - WR, Oklahoma State (2009-11)

Paul Cameron - TB, UCLA (1951-53)

Tim Couch - QB, Kentucky (1996-98)

Warrick Dunn - RB, Florida State (1993-96)

Armanti Edwards - QB, Appalachian State (2006-09)

Deon Figures - CB, Colorado  (1988, 1990-92)

Larry Fitzgerald - WR, Pittsburgh (2002-03)

Toby Gerhart - RB, Stanford (1006-09)

Dan Hampton - DT, Arkansas (1975-78)

Steve Hutchinson - OG, Michigan (1997-2000)

Antonio Langham - CB, Alabama (1990-93)

Randy Moss - WR, Marshall (1996-97)

Julius Peppers - DE, North Carolina (1999-2001)

Dewey Selmon - NG, Oklahoma (1972-75)

Alex Smith - QB, Utah (2002-04)

Kevin Smith - CB, Texas A&M (1988-91)

Chris Ward - OT, Ohio State (1974-77)

Danny Woodhead - RB, Chadron State [NE] (2004-07)

COACHES:

Mark Dantonio - 132-74 (64.1 winning percentage): Cincinnati (2004-06), Michigan State (2007-19)

Danny Hale - 213-69-1 (75.4%): West Chester [PA] (1984-88), Bloomsburg [PA] (1993-2012)

Frank Solich - 173-101-0: Nebraska (1998-2003), Ohio (2005-20)

St. John's Vanquishes Villanova In Signal This Is A New Year

 

Brady Dunlap draining a three-pointer. @StJohnsBball.

The St. John's Red Storm went down to Philadelphia and scored a decisive victory over the Villanova Wildcats, 81-71, on Saturday afternoon.

St. John's improves to 11-4 overall, and 3-1 in Big East Conference play on the season. It was the first time they won at Villanova in nearly five years, dating back to February 7, 2018, during Shamorie Ponds' late season run that year.

Joel Soriano led the way with 20 points on 7-10 shooting, with eight rebounds and three assists. Daniss Jenkins had 18 points on 7-17 from the field, including 2-5 on three-pointers.

Brady Dunlap got the start in this one, and he made the most of it, as he had 15 points on 5-8 shooting, with 3-5 from behind the arc, with two rebounds.

St. John's opened the game with a dunk from Soriano, the emphatic start of a 10-0 run that opened it up. 

Even though Villanova cut it to six points, 34-28, at halftime, the Red Storm opened the second half with a 10-2 run capped by a Glenn Taylor layup at the 16:02 mark.

That put St. John's up 44-30, and it felt like they maintained a 10-point edge the rest of the way, bulking the lead up to 17, at 67-50, when Jenkins got a layup with 5:26 left.

Villanova responded with a 7-0 run, but Dunlap then drained a corner three at the 2:44 mark that sealed the win.

St. John's next game will be against Providence on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Red Storm Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the win, and he opened with this: "Obviously it was a great road win for us. Offensively, we were very efficient, especially in the first eight minutes of the game. We never relented because we kept attacking the basket, which was beautiful to see, and we played great defense, by in large we did an outstanding job there. [Joel] Soriano and Daniss [Jenkins] have been playing fantastic basketball. Joel is so much fun to coach because probably, there isn't a more likable human being on Earth. He is so much fun to coach because his attitude is tremendous, it's always about winning. It's never about him, it's always about the team. We had to bring in new players and thank God he stayed, because he is the captain. Daniss is as good as it gets, with the exception of the play these two guys ran where DJ took on the big guy. Other than that, it was an awesome performance from our guys."

On the win over Villanova: "You know it's a great win for us because we are getting better. I try to make sure we don't get too high, but celebrate a great victory. We don't get too low after a loss. It was a really good win. I don't look at the past too much. I've always believed that the past you both cherish and you learn from it, but you don't live in it and the future will take care of itself if [Joel and Daniss] keep playing like that. We just take care of this game and now we have a tough Providence game. I'm just proud of our guys. Totally focused in on beating Villanova.

On the improved defense: "With the exception of [Daniss Jenkins], we recruited all offensive basketball players, and we are trying to teach them defense. It's really difficult when you have all defensive players, and you try to teach them offense. When you have gifted offensive players, the defense is just hard work and paying attention to scouting. Now, they are all becoming a good defensive team. They are mixing up their zone with their man. They are mixing up their presses. They are an intelligent group."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Makes First General Election Ballot

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. From his Facebook page.

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a press conference on Wednesday that he is officially on his first general election ballot, in Utah.

Kennedy celebrated with dozens of volunteers who rounded up more than double the necessary threshold of 1,000 signatures to gain ballot access in Utah.

This is the culmination of a battle that began when the Kennedy campaign won a ballot access victory on December 7 when Lt. Gov. Henderson moved Utah's unconstitutional ballot access deadline from January 8, 2024 to March 5, 2024. 

The Kennedy campaign showed its tremendous momentum as it still made the original deadline, as they were able to submit the required signatures within the original timeline.

"Our ground team and volunteers in Utah pulled off an incredible achievement by collecting thousands of signatures in just one week," RFK Jr. said. "We didn't know whether the court would uphold our challenge to the January 8 deadline, so the volunteers had to hurry. They showed the country the depth of commitment on this campaign."

Stefanie Spear, the press secretary for Kennedy 24, said, "We're ready for whatever comes our way. We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters, and strategy ready to get the job done. One down, 50 to go."

That is a reference to the Kennedy campaign's aim to make the ballot in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

St. John's Bops Butler To Begin Big East Sprint To Finish

 

Joel Soriano slams one down. @StJohnsBball.

The St. John's Red Storm welcomed the new year with a rousing 86-70 win over Butler at Carnesecca Arena, colloquially known as The Lou, on Tuesday night.

The Red Storm improved to 10-4 overall, and 2-1 in Big East Conference play. They concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule when they beat Hofstra, 84-79, on Saturday afternoon at UBA Arena, so every game from here on out will be against a Big East opponent.

St. John's controlled this game from the start, as they led 45-38 at halftime. After Butler got a couple of three-pointers early in the second half, St. John's reeled off a 9-2 run capped by a pair of Joel Soriano free throws at 16:35 that put them up 56-46.

That lead would expand to 17, at 74-57, with 6:19 left when Daniss Jenkins buried a couple free throws. Butler responded with an 8-0 run, but the Johnnies would be back up 12, at 80-68, when Chris Ledlum made a layup with 2:30 left. A Nahiem Alleyne jumper with 41 seconds left really sealed it, as St. John's went up 85-70.

St. John's was led by Daniss Jenkins, who had 17 points on 6-for-12 from the field, including 1-5 on three-pointers, with seven assists and five rebounds. Joel Soriano had a double-double with 14 points (6-10 shooting) and 12 rebounds, while R.J. Luis also had 14 points (6-15 FG), with three rebounds and an assist. Chris Ledlum had a double-double with 13 points (6-10 FG, 1-3 threes), 11 rebounds, and one assist. Brady Dunlap had 13 points on 5-7 shooting, including 3-5 on threes, with a pair of rebounds off the bench.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the rousing win, and he opened with this statement: "It was a great win for us. I hate to see [Butler Head Coach] Thad [Matta] get ejected form the game because he's a great guy and a great coach...We did some really good things and we did a lot of things we got to get better at. We still don't understand the matchup zone yet but that takes time. I thought overall we were very intelligent on offense. We didn't turn the ball over and I thought our pressure was very good as well. We did a lot of really good things. Happy with the guys. We have a big game coming up against Villanova (in Philadelphia on Saturday) and every game you get a little bit better."

On Brady Dunlap: "He practiced well, both in player development sessions as well as practice. We weren't getting rebounds from the one, two and three-spot and tonight there were a lot of loose ball rebounds we had. Brady, although he may be physically weak, he gets in there and is not afraid of contact. I wanted to play him and I wanted to certainly play [Simeon Wilcher] more, but it's very tough when [Daniss Jenkins] is such a glue guy for us that it gets tough taking him out of the game. But we did play really well without him tonight when he went out...

"We have great confidence in him. I was planning on starting him in the game, but [Chris] Ledlum was ready. If Ledlum wasn't ready, he was starting because of what he did in practice. I have the utmost confidence in him. I'm not afraid to put him in at any point in time. His stamina has to get better, but he works his butt off. He is a heck of a player. I've said that from the moment we got him. He is going to develop into a great player. I'm not going to tell you he is going to be Chris Mullin, but he is going to be a great scorer at St. John's with the likes of a Chris Mullin. He's only a freshman, but he is going to be a great one. So is [Simeon Wilcher], Sim is going to be a great one."

On his team's improvement over Big East play: "I think Joel [Soriano] is so much better than he's playing. You look at his numbers around the basket, he's like number one in the country, but he's still nowhere near his potential and that's a great thing. I think [Daniss Jenkins] is a very good shooter, he's not showing it necessarily, but he's a very good shooter. I've been with him for two years and he kills the drills, but Joel can get a lot better, [Jordan] Dingle can get a lot better. I thought [Naheim Alleyne] played a really good game tonight and I thought [Chris] Ledlum deserved a lot of credit. He's only about 70 percent back and he said, 'I'll play for you coach.' He's out of shape, he hasn't practiced and he has a tough ankle. Our trainers did a great job in getting him ready, but he gutted it out and we needed that. We are improving, we still need to get better in our matchup zone. They are starting to get scouting much better, which is a good thing."

On the environment at Carnesecca Arena: "We want to thank the crowd. The crowd was great tonight. Late in the game, the crowd was great. I'm going to miss playing at Carnesecca. It was a great crowd and we are very thankful for our fans."