Daily archives: October 24th, 2009

Owners of Original Mother’s Bar Urged to Apologize After Blocking Black Students

Some people say even bad news is good news, because any news means free advertising.

I don’t buy that. One Gold Coast bar in Chicago has some powerful civil rights groups creating bad press all around.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Two Chicago civil rights groups on Friday called for formal apologies and retraining for employees at a popular Gold Coast bar, citing allegations that six black college students were prevented from entering last weekend because their pants were too baggy while white friends with similar clothing were admitted.

The Anti-Defamation League and the Chicago Urban League made their request in a letter to the owners of the Original Mother’s bar at 26 W. Division St.

"We strongly suggest that Mother’s re-examine its dress code, conduct immediate retraining of all employees to avoid any future racial discrimination or appearance thereof, and issue a formal letter of apology to the six students who were denied entry," the letter read.

A public apology would be the best thing right now. This part of the story is especially interesting:

The black students offered to change clothes in their hotel, but the bar told them it wouldn’t matter, students said. They also said a white student traded pants with a black student and got into the bar without trouble.

Ouch. A white student got into the bar without trouble? Dressed like that?

Ouch.


Crosby Skins Hide Off Panthers; Penguins Improve to 9-1

Honestly, I thought this one was all over at the end of the first period. The Florida Panthers were sitting on a 2-0 lead, both by Steven Reinprecht. The Panthers succeeded in frustrating the Pens through the second period which was a drab scoreless twenty minutes for both teams. So, would the Penguins’ second loss of the season be so bad?

Sidney Crosby had anything but losing on his mind for his 300th game in the NHL. He made all goals for the Penguins.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The Penguins came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in a shootout tonight at Mellon Arena, extending their winning streak to seven games and their record to 9-1.

Sidney Crosby, who was playing in his 300th NHL game, had a huge game. He scored both Penguins goals and the was the only player to score in the shootout — all after Florida had taken a 2-0 lead.

The Penguins were playing without defenseman Sergei Gonchar for the first time since his wrist was broken.

Florida’s Steven Reinprecht scored twice in the first period.

At 12:39, he slid the puck past Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson from the near bottom edge of the right circle for a power-play goal.

Reinprecht gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead at 15:16 when he knocked in the puck from the crease after Nathan Horton’s shot squired just behind Johnson.

After a scoreless second period, Crosby scored to cut the Penguins’ deficit in half with a power-play goal at 2:14 of the third period.

Crosby later tied the game at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal at 16:41 of the third period, and it was pretty, converting a feed from Evgeni Malkin, slamming the puck home right behind Panthers’ Tomas Vokoun. It was the first short-handed goal of Crosby’s career.

The game went to a shootout when neither team scored in OT.

From the AP:

In the shootout, Crosby moved in slowly on Vokoun and made three moves to his forehand before finally tucking it into the net as Vokoun dove to his left.

Crosby improved to 3-for-3 in shootouts this season with his 10th career game-deciding shootout goal.

Crosby has 407 career points.