We've got a long way to go

There have been so much progress in terms of race in America.  We think of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War Era.  We think of the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King Jr and many others.  We think of the hiring of black coaches in college and professional sports.  However I can't help but wonder if we've really made headway.  It's not just a white people holding down black people kind of thing either.  Black people, sad to say, have been just as instrumental in the lack of headway.  In specific terms, I think of how quickly blacks are apt to mock one of their own for wanting to go to college, get good grades, work, or heaven forbid, use proper grammar.  White people aren't innocent in holding themselves down either. I don't know how many times a Caucasian is dressed in less than fashionable clothing and referred to as "white trash" or "trailer trash."  To call any person trash is ridiculously classless.  I question whether we've truly made an effort to improve race relations.  We can't say that we have when we can't even stop being racist towards ourselves.  I came across a video that I think the world should look at.  It concerns one of my favorite human beings on the planet and the backlash he gets on a constant basis.  This particular mindset had crossed my mind, however I didn't think anyone else noticed it.  I'll elaborate after:

Let me preface that I think very highly of Tim Tebow, and I believe that he is going to be a great player in the NFL.  However he has been given a lot more rope than a lot of quarterbacks that are pretty much exactly like him except that their black.  That's a deep video from the eyes of a man who lived through some pretty harsh times.  I agree with Kordell Stewart in that there seemed to be a lot more chances given to Caucasian quarterbacks as opposed to African-American quarterbacks in the NFL.  Now yes a lot of them have washed out and proven themselves to be lazy and not worthy of being in the league.  However it is very prevalent that some of the better African-American quarterbacks have been sent away completely for no really good explanation.   I can see the hurt in Kordell's eyes because as good as he was, he wasn't given a fair shake to prove himself.  My take is simple, there is so much racism everywhere, it sickens me.  Racism is the fault of pretty much anyone who doesn't do anything about it.  If you even think of someone as less than you, you're being racist, whether they're a different color or not.  With Martin Luther King Jr Day coming up, let's make a small attempt to respect everyone.  Make a small attempt to erase stigmas.  Be happy for someone who gets into college.  If someone is dressed less than fashionable, maybe they can't afford better clothes.  Buy them some nice clothes if it's so important to you that everyone in your race be fashion conscious.  If someone uses better grammar than you, try reading a book so you can communicate instead of calling him disparaging names.  If a guy makes money by getting a job, don't call him a sell out.  Ask him if there are any openings.  

Sorry all my blogs have been about some kind of sports thing lately, but sports is an easy way for me to get my opinions out.  I'll try to find better examples of my opinion.

Sour Grapes

So I'm watching television and I see that Penn State hired a new football coach finally.  They decided to hire a guy who has no ties to Penn State football.  He has no head coaching experience.  He's pretty much the most not-Penn State person you could have hired outside of me.  Actually, I have a Penn State jersey I bought for 2 bucks at a yard sale, so there's my affiliation right there.  The backlash from it is amazing.  Many of the best Penn State players ever are absolutely upset over this.  LaVar Arrington basically said he's denouncing his Penn State life completely because of the hire.  I'm sure there are so many that believe Joe Paterno shouldn't have been fired in the first place that are not too happy with this either.  All I have to say is this, shut up.  Do you understand what the ramifications of who you hire are?  Do you understand what the last regime put themselves and others through?  Did you forget that CHILDREN were hurt and abused and everyone was completely silent about it?  Penn State is a college first.  This is the mission of Penn State taken straight from their website:


Penn State is a multicampus public research university that educates students from Pennsylvania, the nation and the world, and improves the well being and health of individuals and communities through integrated programs of teaching, research, and service.


At no point in that statement does it say ANYTHING about hiring a football coach you like.  Penn State is about education, not football.  Yes, you have a tradition.  However tradition takes a backseat to CHILDREN being abused.  Football takes a backseat to justice.  The people who want your football program to succeed have a duty to provide a safe and truly moral standard for any student coming into that campus, NOT JUST THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS.  Sorry about all the caps, but this bothers me to no end.  To not take into consider at all the victims of these heinous, evil crimes is both selfish and ignorant.  These people have to understand that in order to get the prize recruits to become a prominent national power again, they're going to have to avoid any and all stigmas associated with the last regime.  As hard as it is to understand and accept, Joe Paterno failed to provide a safe and morally correct environment.  If someone from the last regime is there, you're pretty much going to lose any and all prize recruits.  The first question asked by a parent will be, "so what role did you play in this Sandusky thing?"  I'd rather hear, "I was in New England, coaching Tom Brady", as opposed to, "I was there, but I didn't know much."  You have to take everything into consideration with these kinds of things.  Have some respect for Penn State for going outside of the "family" to improve the well-being of not only the football program, but the college itself. Not just recruits for football were affected by the scandal.  I'm fairly certain that a lot of kids that wanted to go to Penn State before the scandal are pretty anxious about being associated with the school now.  Understand what everyone is dealing with before you spout off about family.  And while you're at it, think about the families hurt by the evil that happened.

A Lost Art

Apparently my campaign for honesty isn't reserved to just me.  Today I'm watching ESPN (after a well deserved nap), and I'm seeing a big story about current New York Jets QB Greg McIlroy and recent comments made by him.  Now he's basically been on injured reserve since the beginning of the season for a thumb injury.  He did an interview in Alabama and they asked him about his time in New York.  Greg pretty much said that the Jets were a very torn up locker room with players with no heart or desire to win.  He said that some of the players seemed to be there for the paycheck and nothing else.  There has been a lot of backlash about his comments.  Most of them seemed to be of the "you need to shut up" variety.  Former players, current players, and the vaunted "experts" all say that he shouldn't have aired dirty laundry in public.  Here's my take, oh freaking well.  I mean seriously, if someone asks a question, you have a duty to be honest with the person asking the question.  I know it's not good etiquette to share some bad things about your team, but the Jets in particular have made a habit out of talking with little to no results.  They shouldn't be upset that one of their players said what was actually happening.  I played sports; I think being honest about your feelings makes your team better.  People should take these criticisms into account and make changes to make the team better.  I'm talking about cutting guys who are cancers to the team dynamic.  We always whine, cry, and complain about how dishonest politicians are.  We get so upset when a guy on Maury fails a lie detector test.  However when a sports star says what he honestly feels about a situation on his team, he's some kind of turncoat.  He should just nod and say the right thing.  Last time I checked, the truth is always the right thing.  Mark Twain said, "If you tell the truth, you never have to remember anything."  I've seen so many people backtrack and fumble over words and paint themselves into a corner simply because they didn't tell the truth in the first place.  McIlroy just did what anyone with any decency should do in life, told the truth.  Sometimes the truth hurts.  Even if he's never played in a regular season game, he was there with everyone else and didn't like what he lived through and shared his feelings.  This could get him cut from the team and blackballed, but I respect the man for being honest with himself and with people on the outside about what life was like for him.  Maybe the Jets should take this as the thing that makes them a Super Bowl team instead of a Super Talk team.  And we all know that talk is cheap when it's not honest.

What Happened to...

I'm sure most of you are aware of the results of last night's Sugar Bowl.  Now I playfully pick on the teams that made it there.  I'm still a believer that Boise State and Kansas State should have been in that game before Michigan and Virginia Tech based on season results. I'd throw Arkansas in the mix, but that whole 2 teams per conference in BCS bowl games messes that up.  However, those facts don't take away from the fact that the game was absolutely fantastic to watch.  Two teams did everything they could to stay ahead of their opponent. The game went back and forth.  Players gave their hearts.  There was a pretty controversial play in overtime.  It's pretty clear that either way was going to cause controversy.  I truly believe that the referees and replay officials weren't going to be right to everyone in that situation.  However, that wasn't the troubling thing.  The troubling thing was all the posts, comments, and thoughts broadcast on my facebook page.  Some of these posts were very troubling because there was blame shifting, accusations of referee payoffs, and belief that there is a bias against a college.  To actually think that an entire institution like the NCAA would be so against your school that they would cost you a game on purpose, it's not asinine, it's not asi-ten, it's not asi-eleven, it's asi-twelve (thank you Stephen A. Smith).  To think that a school would have the gall to pay off a set of referees to cost you something; risking career, livelihood, family, and possibly freedom?  Come on, man.  Look, I understand that being a fan means sometimes having an emotional attachment to a team, but to act like a 4 year old and throw tantrums on the Internet because things didn't go your way makes sports so unwatchable to some people.  I love sports and sometimes I do become emotionally invested, but I never get to a point where I believe in fixes and rigging of games.  If your favorite team loses, it's because the other team scored more points.  You look at the things you did wrong and reduce them for next year.  You look at the things you did right and do that more.  I'm sure I'm offending a lot of people, but I don't care.  You all offended me with your pettiness. You annoyed me with how you took a bunch of 18-22 year old men, deified them, and then put all this undue pressure on them to win a football game that pretty much NONE of you have any stake in outside of bragging rights.  Unless of course you put money on them, then you're an idiot.  You put hard earned money on people who think that the Jersey Shore is a philosophical masterpiece.  Point being, just enjoy the game.  Be sad if they lose, but don't blame the referees, the replay booth, or any other entity.  The coach of your favorite team wouldn't do it, won't let his players do it, and would rather his fans not do it either.

New Respect

I don't know if you've read the story or heard about it, but the Pittsburgh Steelers did something that makes me smile and proud to be a football fan.  They are benching one of their best players to save his life.  Safety Ryan Clark has a rare blood disorder associated with sickle cell.  Due to this condition, he is at high risk when he plays football to begin with.  It heightens when he's in high altitudes, such as Denver, Colorado.  Denver is the site of the Steelers' Wild Card game.  Imagine having to go without one of your best players when he's perfectly healthy and can move just fine.  Coach Mike Tomlin says that it's just a football game, and that a man's life is not worth a game.  I wish more people thought this way in life.  I've seen parents and coaches of high school and even younger players take games like this with such seriousness, that you'd think it's a matter of national security.  I used to live in a city where adults would absolutely lose their minds, blame referees being paid off, and pretty much bet their children's college funds on a HIGH SCHOOL football team.  They expect to win every game, and if they didn't, there was a weird black cloud that kind of floated above the city.  What happened to "for the love of the game" that people preach so much about.  I hate to brag about myself, actually no I don't, but when I coached youth basketball I promised myself that it would be about the kids having fun.  I made it a purpose to have my teams smiling and happy to be on the court enjoying themselves.  I know that professional sports is a different animal in that paychecks are a big part of how you play or don't play people.  That's what makes what the Steelers did all the more awesome.  To care about a person's life more than a game just tells me that Mike Tomlin gets it.  He understands that this man has a family that loves him.  A family that wants him to be around when he's retired.  High class Pittsburgh.  Kind of makes me feel bad that my Packers whipped you in the Super Bowl last year.   Actually, no that was still awesome.

Toilet Humor

I will say that in my 29 years and 35 months of living on this planet, one thing I've noticed is that women are perceptive.  They have insight and intuition that would make you wonder if they're psychic or have some kind of magic window into the future.  If a woman has a suspicion that her husband or boyfriend is cheating on her, she's usually right.  If a woman sees a man from about 100 feet, they can tell by how they walk whether or not the guy is worth dating.  Women know when to go out, when to dress up, what side the salad fork goes, and other things that makes you think, "Lady, don't you have anything better to do?"  However there is one thing that for some reason, they can't figure out.  One thing that no matter how many times they get nailed by it, they continue to complain about it.  For some strange reason or another, it eats away at them.  Women for some reason, don't know whether a toilet seat is down or not.  You don't know how many times I hear women complain about the toilet seat being up.  I wonder if these women back up like a semi-truck without looking at the toilet.  It's the one time that they just can't believe that the seat is up.  Women have the best perception of any creature on the planet, yet they can't be bothered to check something.  It's not really that hard to do either. The seat isn't that heavy.  In fact, I can pick up a toilet seat with my pinkie.  Don't want to, but I can.  Putting a seat down is even easier, you have gravity to help you get it down.  Seriously, this bothers me.  Way back, George W. Bush and the U.S. military had a devil of a time finding Saddam Hussein.  All you have to do is tell a woman that Saddam Hussein was trying to steal her man at about 8 o'clock in the morning, she will have found him by 8 o'clock that night.  However, she can't tell whether a porcelain oval is 9 to 11 inches away from  a big hole?  Confuses me to no end.  And don't tell me about it being too dark to see.  You'll turn on every light in the house to make sure your purse matches your shoes, yet you won't turn on a light to see where you're peeing?  Priorities, people.

Fresh New Year

Every year around this time, people set these New Years Resolutions.  You know, these things that are supposed to help you change your life and become a better person.  I realized that if I'm going to become a better person, I first need to figure out who I should be better than.  Well if you believe the way I believe, then you're in a 6 to 7 billion way tie for worst person ever.  Yes there are some nice people in the world who do some marvelous things.  My family is pretty awesome if you ask me.  However we all fail in comparison to the Ultimate Better Person, Jesus.  Yeah I know that trying to be as good as Jesus is an endeavor that 9 times out of ten, we fail miserably at.  And of course that tenth time, it's just downright embarrassing.  Hmm, so what do we do?  Pretty simple really, just keep swimming.  Isn't that what that little blue fish said in Finding Nemo?  Never stop trying to improve.  However never forget that the best person to compare yourself to is not that lousy neighbor with the loud kids or that co-worker who smells like they've been working really hard.  You should compare yourself to the only person worthy of being called The Better Person, then you'll see that you have a long way to go.  And then you'll keep trying to do better and better.

My New Years Resolution

Here's my resolution, it's simple.  Be honest.  I'm usually honest except for when I try to tell people how I'm doing.  I never tell the truth.  I always say that I'm fine, or I'm not sure yet because it's 6 in the morning and I haven't had any coffee, tea, or contact with direct sunlight.  This year, if you ask me how I'm doing, you had better be ready to get a good long explanation about my mindset.  You're not getting all the gory details, but you will get a pretty good answer to a question that most of the time is dismissed.  And if you do try to walk away before I actually tell you how I'm doing, I will tell you how I'm doing loudly.

My Other New Years Resolutions

First, I'm going to work on this blog a lot more.  Seems like I dismiss this blog and forget to share my thoughts more.  So, I'm going to try to do this every day.  Second, I'm going to finish my kids' book.  It's at the last chapter, I just haven't thought about finishing it.  I know that this book could be a fun read for upper elementary kids.  Maybe I can make some coin and go on a date with the recently single Katy Perry.  The rest could go to singing lessons for her.