Jim Irsay appeared out of thin air.

Through a cracked-open side entrance at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, I saw a police escort pull up, followed by an expensive-looking RV that might house a billionaire who sometimes cosplays as a rock star. A few camerapeople opened the door wider, presumably hoping to get a shot of the man of the hour. A few minutes passed, and Irsay’s handpicked ragtag band of rock-and-roll legends, including R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Heart’s Ann Wilson and 86-year-old Buddy Guy — plus Indianapolis Colts great Edgerrin James — meandered to the nearby designated press conference area. 

And then poof — Irsay was on stage, like he’d done a Gob Bluth-style illusion. Did he come through the side door or somewhere else? I have no idea.

“I know my mind is sometimes hard to follow,” Irsay began, leaning hard on the podium. “I have trouble following it too, but if you just take a shot of Patron and settle in, I think you might understand what I’m about to talk about.”

I was already a drink deep. 

The stage area prior to the concert as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

SantaCon ruled the daytime hours in the city on Saturday. The night belonged to SantaCon attendees’ spiritual, and literal, predecessors: late Gen Xers and boomers who love Bruce Springsteen and our Founding Fathers.

Irsay, the 63-year-old goateed owner of the Indianapolis Colts, provided a gathering space for his chosen people at Bill Graham, the eighth leg of the Jim Irsay Collection tour (prior stops include Chicago, Nashville and New York City). There’s no possible way to succinctly describe the range of artifacts on show. It’s a free-of-charge fever dream combining Irsay’s expensive taste in sports memorabilia, musical relics, timeless American literature and concerningly indispensable historical pieces (the only signed copy of the Atlantic Charter!), followed by a totally separate hour-and-a-half concert featuring Irsay on the vocals that will leave you saying, “Goddamn, Buddy Guy is still shredding.”

Muhammad Ali’s boxing robe on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

Rocky Balboa’s boxing shoes on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

Irsay has valued his collection, which he takes from city to city as a traveling personal museum of sorts, at roughly $100 million. That’s an impressive amount, until you consider Irsay’s net worth has ballooned to an estimated $3.4 billion, almost entirely via the always growing valuation of the Colts, whom Irsay inherited from his father Robert, an air-conditioning magnate. 

John Lennon’s glasses on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

By the subterranean standards of NFL owners, the younger Irsay can be something of a breath of fresh air, if you filter it just right. A few months ago, at the league’s annual ownership meeting, Irsay tossed Worst Person Alive Dan Snyder under the bus, an obviously correct tactical move that no other owner had been willing to make. 

Irsay also frequently and openly discusses his past drug and alcohol addictions, and Saturday was no different as he ripped through cigarettes, cowboy hat on his head, while singing his favorite songs. Some people even find him endearing. 

“Maybe I’m a bit of a contrarian, but Jim himself, just the legend of Jim, I think he’s a lovable guy” is how Nick, a Colts fan and Indianapolis transplant, described him to me.

I could see it, if I squinted hard enough. His charm offensive honestly left me dumbfounded. Irsay’s name doesn’t crop up much in the parlor game of celebrities and billionaires potentially running for office, but why couldn’t he be a richer, more battle-scarred Matthew McConaughey?

Jim Irsay performs at the Jim Irsay Collection event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on December 10, 2022, in San Francisco. 

Steve Jennings/Getty Images

Before the press conference, which Irsay was an hour late to — an outcome his PR team warned was inevitable — I checked out his collection of expensive s–t. There are clear pockets of interest for Irsay: bluesy white guys, beatniks, JFK and Abe Lincoln. Some of the items, like Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” scroll, are visually impressive. Others, like the pricey U.S. bank notes he had on display, were hilariously out of place. Here is a broadside of Edwin Stanton’s telegram announcing President Lincoln is dead. And here is a rare $2 bill. Here is Harry Truman’s top hat from his inauguration. Here is a rare Topps card.

President Harry Truman’s top hat worn during his inauguration, on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

Edwin Stanton’s telegram that Abe Lincoln was shot and killed, on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

I made it back to the press conference room with plenty of time to spare. Irsay apparated and captivated his audience. “When Bob Dylan came in and wrote ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ it was basically to England, telling them, how does it feel, you know, you tyrannical sons of bitches?’” Irsay said early on. 

The rest of Irsay’s speech garnered multiple applause breaks, including from the media members in the row in front of me, one of whom was legitimately moved by what she was hearing and kept throwing her pointer finger up in the air like she was hearing a church sermon. Her preacher was Irsay, doing a line-by-line annotated reading of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” Here’s a typical rumination: “To me, the song is so powerful when it talks about the soul and the spirit as the reasons that we exist. I talk about it all the time: Being up here, spiritually, and I think it’s really important, what we do, we do together. And what we do, we have to do with individual courage as well, to support each other. Because in the end, it’s about that feeling of a higher power of that love, of the bigger love. And that’s what brings us together and keeps us together and keeps us sane. But there’s a lot of insane people on the streets today. And I look at it as all of our responsibilities.” 

After the press conference, I wandered around the venue. The line to see Irsay’s collection was ridiculously long. The upper bowls of the auditorium were pretty full. Since Irsay was late to his press conference, the concert was delayed too. I made my way to the ground floor of the auditorium, jotting down some notes about our future president, when a man in his 50s or 60s approached me and pointed at my media pass. “That looks like a liquor pass to me. They’re only serving beer and wine out here,” he said, gesturing to the auditorium. Another boomer putting on a charm offensive. I went to the VIP area and got him some tequila on the rocks, per his request. He asked me what I was going to write about and made it clear he hoped this would be a complimentary piece, because Mr. Irsay is a generous and good man. 

Guitars formerly owned by famous musicians on display as part of the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

Around 8:40 p.m., the lights dimmed, and the show began. A spotlight shined on Irsay, seated in the middle of the stage, who fittingly led off with a slowed-down “Born to Run,” minus the tangents. Next was Irsay’s own rendition of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” a song that seemed to have some personal meaning. He then wisely ceded the stage for a while to his assorted musician friends. Wilson, 72, performed a moving tribute to the late Christine McVie; later on, Buddy Guy put on an entrancing show. Other big names made appearances too, including John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Once again, the person who commanded the most attention was Irsay, who led an intermission of sorts where former Colts players tossed footballs into the crowd. When that was done, Irsay delivered another incomprehensible speech about drug addiction that nevertheless seemed to register hard with the crowd. 

Legendary musician Buddy Guy performing during the Jim Irsay Collection at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

“If you’re on molly, it’s OK by me,” he joked to the crowd at one point, attempting to contrast responsible recreational drug use, which he condones, with drug addiction, which requires an intervention. He transitioned from that riff by singing “Hurt,” the Nine Inch Nails song covered by Johnny Cash. It wasn’t bad. I was admittedly distracted by the older man standing in front of me, wearing a feather cap, who had successfully wooed a fellow attendee he had met a few songs earlier. They swayed back and forth when Wilson came back on to sing Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” A couple of older Deadheads were laying on the floor with their shoes off, soaking in the vibes. 

The Jim Irsay Collection concert at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on Dec. 10, 2022.

Alex Shultz/SFGATE

I left the show toward the end, maybe a few minutes early. It was a damp, cold evening in San Francisco. On the Muni bus back, I revisited another part of Irsay’s stream-of-consciousness press conference.

“I think that we have a responsibility in this country to give back what we’ve earned,” the billionaire who inherited a pro football team said to an adoring audience. “… At this point in my life, I try to be of service. It’s not being noble or because I want to be a saint; it’s because, you know, when I see a human being suffering, it gets to me.” 

The salt-of-the-earth routine seems earnest. Who knows, maybe that’s enough to take the Jim Irsay Experience into prime time. I had a nice night at Bill Graham, and I found Irsay to be disarming and fascinating. He’s had eminently relatable personal struggles. He’s certainly not hateable in the Bay Area like, say, Elon Musk.

On Saturday, Irsay acknowledged that he’s wealthy enough to hypothetically “spend $1,000 a day since Jesus Christ was born” and not run out of money. (Jim had clearly broken out the calculator for that one, as by my calculations, it would take until 2739 to run up a billion-dollar tab that way.) His broader point was that other billionaires aren’t doing enough to give back, and he’s different — hell, he’s blessing you with the contents of his very expensive man cave. 

I’m not so sure he took the right message from “Like a Rolling Stone,” though. The tyrannical England interpretation is novel, but parts of the song are straightforwardly about the ultra rich fetishizing the rest of us. “You never turned around to see the frowns / On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you / Never understood that it ain’t no good / You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you.”

Irsay might want to listen to that verse again.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Dec. 13 at 1:59 p.m. to note that Nine Inch Nails first released “Hurt,” which was later covered by Johnny Cash. We apologize to Nine Inch Nails for the error.

The post An odd San Francisco evening in Jim Irsay’s touring man cave appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Jim Hartman

By Jim Hartman

Saturday, June 18, 2022

You can’t make this up: The San Francisco Unified School District is dropping the word “chief” from all job titles (“chief technology officer, “chief of staff,” etc. ) for its 10,000-employee workforce because – you guessed it – the word is associated with Native Americans.
According to spokesperson Gentle Blythe, “While there are many opinions on the matter, our leadership team agreed that, given that Native American members of our community have expressed concerns about use of the title, we are no longer going to use it.”
While the word “chief” can be used in connection with American Indian tribes, it also appears in many phrases that have no connection, including “chief of police,” “chief executive officer” and “sorry about that, chief.”
No substitute for the word has been determined, which suggests how little thought was put into the decision.
Blythe quickly noted dropping the word does not reflect “a downgrade in job status.”
The district didn’t indicate whether it advocates President Joe Biden be called something other than “commander in chief,” or whether John Roberts should renounce being “chief justice.”
What’s particularly amusing in this attempt at progressive sensitivity: While the English language has many words that can be traced to Native Americans, including “chipmunk,” “barbecue” and “hurricane,” they don’t include “chief.”
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “chief” has no connection to Native American languages. Instead it derives from the Old French word (chef ), meaning “leader” and originally from Latin (capus), meaning “captain.”
The San Francisco school district is still learning, apparently, even after the city’s liberal Democratic voters ousted three school board members in a special recall election in February.
The school district appears to be a parody on “woke” excesses of political correctness. Will they next ban books by Laurence Tribe?
Parents were outraged the school board kept schools shut through the entire 2020 school year based on teacher union demands even as San Francisco Mayor London Breed pressed them to reopen. High school students returned to school for a single day in May 2021 so the school district would qualify for $12 million in state aid.
Many parents had already voted against the board by removing their children from district schools. Enrollment declined by 3,500 during the pandemic.
School board members had also indulged their “woke” progressive obsession by seeking to rename 44 schools with allegedly sexist or racist designations, such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
The school board recall was a landslide, with Alison Collins (79%), Gabriela Lopez (75%) and Faauuga Moliga (72%) losing overwhelmingly. Successful recalls are rare. It takes real effort to lose by 3-1 margins.
The recall was a populist groundswell supported by fed-up parents and liberals, including Breed.
That’s San Francisco where Republicans are only 6% of the city’s registered voters and where 85% of voters supported Joe Biden in November 2020.
Breed noted “the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else.” Amen.
On June 7, San Francisco voters also sent a national message on crime by recalling the city’s far-left district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in another landslide (60%-40%).
Son of convicted felon Weather Underground domestic terrorist parents, Boudin was elected district attorney in 2019 advocating “decarceration” of jails and ending cash bail. He refused to enforce criminal laws, sharply reducing felony prosecutions.
Crime has taken off. In 2021 homicides in San Francisco were up 36% from 2019 and 222 people were killed by gun violence in the city compared to 137 in 2019. With shoplifting an epidemic, Walgreens closed 11 stores there since 2019.
Homelessness and drug use are rampant on San Francisco streets. There were 640 drug overdose deaths in 2021 — more than COVID deaths.
Recalling Boudin is a start in cleaning up crime in “The City.”
Email Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.

The post Jim Hartman: San Francisco colleges ban the phrase ‘chief’ appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

IRVING, Texas & SAN FRANCISCO – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), today announced that Jim Rose has been named vice president and general manager of its San Francisco (DMA # 6) operations. TV (MyNetwork), KRON4.com and KRONOn.TV, the first local 24-hour digital streaming news application available anytime, anywhere to viewers and users in the Bay Area. Mr. Rose will begin his new role on May 17, reporting to Matthew Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of the Broadcasting Division of Nexstar Media Inc.

Mr. Rose brings more than 30 years of broadcast management, programming, research and sales experience to his role at Nexstar. Over the course of his career, he has steadily increased sales and profitability by identifying and cultivating positive, non-traditional revenue through a variety of innovative cross-platform marketing initiatives and sponsorship opportunities. Through his leadership, Mr. Rose has successfully demonstrated the importance of developing unique and innovative strategies for advertising and marketing clients and connecting local businesses to nonprofits to achieve mutual reach and local service goals.

Mr. Rose has held a number of senior positions over the past two decades, including serving as President and General Manager of KING 5 Media Group in Seattle, WA (DMA # 12) overseeing KING-TV (NBC) for the past five years. , KONG-TV (Ind) and its associated digital and social media channels. During his tenure, KING 5 expanded its local news, created or expanded several significant partnerships with major Seattle advertisers and community organizations, and increased its commitment to local initiatives, such as KING-TV’s partnership with Northwest Harvest, to address food insecurity in the United States to decrease metropolitan Seattle.

“Jim is an exceptional broadcast, sales and marketing manager with an impressive career spanning more than 30 years,” said Rosenfeld. “Together, our linear and digital media platforms in San Francisco produce more than 122 hours of locally produced weekly content for viewers and users in the Bay Area. Jim fully understands the breadth of KRON 4’s commitment to excellence and has the experience required to lead the station’s talented staff. Jim has a long track record of creating unique local content, expanding local audiences, and effectively developing appropriate linear and digital advertising solutions to meet the needs of advertisers and marketers. I am confident that his extensive broadcast, content, sales expertise and dedication to localization will enhance the leadership of our operations in San Francisco, build on the accomplishments of the KRON 4 team, and strengthen our overall presence on the West Coast become. ”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Rose said, “I am very excited to join the Nexstar team in San Francisco. KRON 4’s impressive commitment to quality journalism and its strength in broadcasting, digital and social media for audiences and advertisers in the Bay Area are competitive. I’m particularly looking forward to working with the talented staff at the local Bay Area news network. Nexstar’s unconditional commitment to quality, hyperlocal content, and omni-channel delivery sets new standards in our industry, and I couldn’t be more proud to join Nexstar and the KRON 4 team. ”

Mr. Rose received his BS in Communication Media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later received the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award. He is an active participant in industry-related groups and was the chairman of the Washington State Broadcasters Association. He is also an active member of a variety of community organizations and is vice chairman of the King County chapter of the American Red Cross and a board member of ArtsFund, a nonprofit that supports the region’s not-for-profit arts sector.

Mr. Rose and husband Eric have been together for 27 years and will move to the San Francisco area. You have a grown son, Isaac.

About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company using the locality to deliver new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. The wholly owned operating subsidiary Nexstar Media Inc. consists of three business areas: Broadcasting, Digital and Networks. The Broadcasting Division operates, programs, or provides sales and other services for 198 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 116 markets, or approximately 39% of all US television households (reflecting the FCC’s UHF rebate). The division’s portfolio includes the major subsidiaries of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. The Digital Division operates 120 local websites and 284 mobile apps that deliver hyper-local content and industries to consumers and advertisers. Viewers can choose where, when and how to access content and create new revenue opportunities for the company. The Networks Division operates NewsNation, formerly WGN America, a national news and entertainment cable network that reaches 75 million television households, the multicast network Antenna TV and WGN Radio in Chicago. Nexstar also has a 31.3% stake in TV Food Network, a world-class cable company. Further information can be found at www.nexstar.tv.

The post Nexstar Media Inc. Appoints Jim Rose as Vice President and Normal Supervisor of Its Broadcast and Digital Operations in San Francisco, California appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

To sign up for our daily newsletter with the latest news, goss and other things that should interest you, go HERE. Follow us on Twitter HERE for an ongoing feed with all of our stories. Or bookmark the PEDESTRIAN.TV homepage which you can visit if you need a newsfix.

Puppy That was fast.

The San Francisco 49ers wasted absolutely no time lowering the gavel after the charitable conclusion of their disastrous 2015 NFL campaign.

Though head coach Jim Tomsula managed to knock out the St. Louis Rams in their final game of the year, he couldn’t even leave Levi’s Stadium with a job intact – the 49ers announced that Tomsula had been relieved of his duties after just one season at the helm .

The season record for the Niners 5-11 is almost flattering and shows an utterly chaotic season in which they not only ended up dead in their division, but also Colin Kaepernick – the man who led the team to a Super Bowl appearance two seasons ago led – losing his boast and ultimately his job as starting quarterback for the team.

The plot thickens when you consider that it was Tomsula who convinced Jarryd Hayne to sign with San Francisco – rather than the Detroit Lions – when he made the biggest code jump in Australian sports history.

Tomsula’s experience in the NFL’s European Feeder League, particularly guiding athletes from other sports through the transition to American football, was why Hayne made the leap over. Hayne himself confirmed this during the media circus that followed.

Of course, the NFL is a breakneck business at the best of times – far more than our local soccer codes, which new coaches are more likely to give new coaches a grace period of at least a few years – but the Niners were absolutely a team dumpster fire in 2015. And not a ton of play from a Ragtag Australian (no matter how phenomenal he may be) could have fixed it.

Tomsula joins the growing number of laid-off coaches from 2015, including Mike Pettine (who was banned from the Cleveland Browns after two seasons), Chip Kelly (who issued his marching orders from the Philadelphia Eagles after three years) and the longtime New York Giants leader Tom, Coughlin is believed to be on the brink of retirement, and big question marks hang over the future of Jim Caldwell of the Detroit Lions and Dan Campbell of the Miami Dolphins.

Soccer. It’s one hell of a gig, friends.

Photo: Michael Zagaris / Getty Images.

Source: Fox Sports.

The post San Francisco 49ers Swiftly, Mercilessly Sack Head Coach Jim Tomsula appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.