The Departure Board

The SEVEN
April 10th, 2011


I. Glenn Beck to leave FOX News

This week it was announced that Glenn Beck's FOX "News" program will come to an end by the end of the year...although they failed to announce that his outlandish and racist statements led to the mass exodus of advertisers from his broadcast. When thinking about Beck's none-too-soon departure, I am reminded of the words of William Shakespeare from "Macbeth":

Out, out, brief candle
Life's but a walking shadow
A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more.

Good riddance!

II. Cathie Black to leave NYC Schools Chancellor Post

Actually she has already left the position she should have never held. Having a successful career in publishing does not make you qualified to walk in off the street and run the largest school system in the nation. Make better decisions, Mayor Bloomberg, in this, your final term.

III. Kevin Boyle to leave St. Patrick's

Kevin Boyle, the legendary New Jersey high school basketball coach and three-time national coach of the year who has coached players such as Sam Dalenbert and Al Harrington, is leaving his Elizabeth, NJ powerhouse St. Patrick's HS
to take a similar job at Montverde Academy near Orlando, FL. Good luck to him!

IV. Kyrie Irving to leave Duke

Another superstar player previously coached by Kevin Boyle is Duke's star freshman Kyrie Irving, soon to be an NBA rookie after the announcement that he will be entering the NBA draft and - to that end - hiring an agent. Irving, due to injuries, played a total of eleven games during his one year at Duke. Wow...even Julius Erving stayed three years at UMass.

Hey, I've never had any issue with athletes going pro at whatever age they feel is right - and, of course, hardly anyone says anything about tennis players - but there are only so many players like Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James - people who can step into the NBA as stars with one or less years of college. Hope it works out for Kyrie...but really wish he wouldn't hire the agent so that he could have the option of changing his mind and returning for at least one more year.

V. Morris Twins to leave Kansas

Speaking of collegians leaving early, Marcus and Markieff Morris of the University of Kansas have also decided to leave school, forgoing their senior seasons to enter the NBA draft. For my take on that, see number four...I mean, I know Markieff and Marcus were the leaders of the Big 12 conference in field goal percentage, but I remember a young lady from one of my favorite movies saying "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." I can envision them saying that as they go up against the big men of the NBA. Markieff averaged 13.9 in college; is there the thought that that will become 23.9 in the NBA?

VI. Manny Ramirez to leave MLB

I remember picking up a New York Times and reading of a local high school senior from Washington Heights who was a phenomenal baseball player...and I've been following the career of Manny Ramirez ever since. What a career it has been - and what a shame it comes to an end under the cloud of a banned substance. Whether you were a member of Red Sox Nation, Yankees Universe, or a general baseball fan, those years he spent in Boston were among the greatest in the storied Yankee-Red Sox rivalry.

"Manny being Manny," as the saying goes, should have been enough to punch his ticket into the Hall of Fame...and I'm truly sorry that probably will not be the case.

VII. Taking leave of his senses...

What you may have seen leaving the building are the brains of Donald Trump, as he supposedly flirts with a run for the presidency while joining the ranks of the "birthers." Or maybe he just enjoys hearing himself speak...or is it that he wants to try to spike the ratings of "Celebrity Apprentice?"

Who knows...and quite frankly, it's almost like who cares...but in the event that he really intends to seek the Republican nomination, I would share the following with him:

Most Americans look for a certain level of common sense and ability to reason in elected officials, especially in the President. So when someone questions whether President Obama was born in the United States, what they are essentially saying is that in 1962 - at a time when African-Americans were unable to vote in several southern states; unable to get hired in numerous situations; unable to live in certain neighborhoods and just becoming able to attend integrated schools in many areas - there was a group of civil servants or bureaucrats in Kenya and Hawaii that felt that this baby named Barack Obama needed a Hawaii birth certificate, and conspired to get him one. Could they in 1962 have forecast all of the varied events - over 46 years - that would lead to this Black man's run for the presidency in 2008?

If this was true, and the Kenyans saw such potential in young Barack, why would the newly-independent country have wanted to pass his citizenship on to the United States?

I couldn't even go to Canada last year without proper documentation; what would make anyone think that in this post-9/11 era someone can easily create that type of document? The bottom line is that anyone whose powers of reasoning are no better than those folks screaming "birther" theories at town hall meetings is not qualified to lead our nation. And no one whose racism leads them to scream such theories should lead our nation. So Donald, I'd leave that line of questioning alone were I you. Otherwise...you're fired.