NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Rice

Ah, I love the parallels of Sport to Life!

Randall Cunningham, Dennis Green - Affirmative Action; certainly both were competent but always at the backs of their minds..... were they REALLY top shelf or did they just get the chance, because...

Byron Leftwich, Marvin Lewis - Equal Opportunity

Now bear with me here...

I picked Leftwich because there's no one who watches the game that would put him in the mold of Cunningham or Vick or Donovan McNabb.

Racking my brain for a comparison, the closest I come is Doug Flutie.
I AM NOT saying that Leftwich doesnt owe his chances to Cunningham's pioneering efforts... what I am SAYING is that Randall may have got where he got, partially by affirmative action but NO ONE drafted Leftwich with that even remotely in mind.
And you'd have to consider, also, that he sure doesnt match up to the black QB stereotype. He's judged on his abilities to read defenses and his durability alone.

And he owes his chances more to Chad Pennington's success than he does Cunningham's.

Now we come to Marvin Lewis...
Go to a library in Cincinnati and read up on the recent history of both the Bengals and the city, itself.

If you are at ALL a fan of the NFL, you dont need reminded of the hate, distrust and contempt of the Bengals fan toward the Bengals FO management which consists mainly of the Brown offspring. This began when Sam Wyche was let go because he was threatening to Mike Brown's authority to run the team.
While Brown WANTED the team to be successful, he thought he could do it by the book. In doing so, he forgot about the mistakes of his father when he retired from coaching the team.

About the city... all the non-Ohioan hears about race and the city is that there seems to be a constant bickering, sometimes blooming to near warfare of the white and black populations.

And certainly, the rabid white Bengals fan would have to be counted among the bigoted troglodytic faction.. wouldnt he?

Why, then, would these bohunks cheer when they heard the news that Marvin Lewis was being considered as the new head coach and the hope of turning the team around? I mean LOOK at him! He's BLACK!

In my conversations with other Bengals fans, many of those that DIDNT especially favor Lewis brought up a candidate they thought was a better choice, and was available.. and THAT person was - gasp- Dennis Green!

But Marvin Lewis WAS hired.. and as we Bengals Exiles hoped and prayed he would.. he insisted on, and was given, unparalleled {for the Bengals} control of the team. ESPECIALLY considering he had never been an NFL head coach.

But we didnt want him because he was black.. we didnt want Green because he was black.

Some wanted Green because he had much of the traits of Forrest Gregg; but Green has a problem... he -rightfully- believes that he's getting most interviews because he's black and has a chip on his shoulder because of that. While, in reality, when he's not hired it's because he's like Forrest Gregg. But how is Green to know which is the case?

Lewis, on the other hand, owes much to Green's pioneering efforts but his head is clear of those niggling doubts. He was hired because of his abilities and promise, his skin color was not a factor.
Unless you want to propose that he was only STILL untried because of it.

Well, he has done it.. he has turned the franchise around... and he hasnt done that by 'being black' he has done it because he is a natural leader and innovator and knows his football and how to manage his players.

And his assistants and players will know that their selection is based purely on merit not their color. The fans know that too.

Which brings us to the point: while Affirmative Action had its day and needed to be tried to prove the points it did, its day - like that of integration by bussing- is OVER.

Those that come behind, whether they be athletes or lawyers or teachers or administrators NEED the peace of mind in knowing they got where they did SOLELY on their own.

Affirmative Action WAS a good thing, continuing it makes it a failure in what it was meant to accomplish.
Consider that the NFL, in continuing Affirmative Action.. despite the number of successful black coaches in the league... STILL causes Dennis Green sleepless nights!
And THAT, gentle folk, explains Condi Rice and Janice Rogers Brown and JC Watts... and explains why the more the Al Sharptons, Jesse Jesse Jacksons and that mouth-foaming mad dog who's heading the New Panthers spout their drivel, the more black voters come over to the Republican/Conservative side.

And the more the Libs claim that Bush black appointees are turncoats and only there as mouthpieces.. the MORE thinking white liberals will turn away in disgust.

Denial and diatribe only extends so far, before it becomes buffoonery.

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

You might want to stick to topics where you have some knowledge and understanding. Race relations clearly isn't one of them. I'm not sure about football.

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

Point taken... and ignored.
Notice it was inconvenient for you to specifically rebut any of that.

Keep on drinking that kool-aid, Dan!

:wink:

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

Wow... if there is one topic a white middle-American should stay away from its this one...

I do think Denny Green only got most interviews because he was black. I think Cunningham got his chance because he was dangerous, easily the Mike Vick of his day. Marvin Lewis got a chance because he built an insane championship defense and won a superbowl. I do believe Denny Green never won... um... anything of importance. He did however get bounced around the vacancy interviews because of his race, but not simply because he was black, but because the NFL taylor made the DUMBEST affirmative action remeniscent rule for interviews ever.

As far as politics, it funny how you identify with the mouthpiece theory, and the hoarding of the black vote. Yet your still a republican.

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They SHOULDA NEVER GAVE YOU NIGGAZ MONEY!!
-- Rick James

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

Who identifies with the mouthpiece theory?

The whole piece is about that and why I dont. Dunno how I can make it any clearer...

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

Perhaps if you wrote another chapter in your novel about clarity...

 

RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi Ric

Perhaps if you THOUGHT about what you are really saying there.

I think I used small enough words.. maybe if it was double spaced?

 

Re: RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Condi

I'm not the one telling blacks what is good for them and who to follow - you are. I can't figure out what makes you think your opinion has any validity but by all means go ahead and keep aggravating us with it. I wouldn't deny you your fun.

I think it's been a long time since race was a factor in who goes on to the field in the NFL.

That's not true of coaches where some loser like Dave Wannstadt could get multiple jobs by being part of the old boy network and having the right connections. The league acted themselves to try to break that up, which is as it should be. The problem is that the NFL is basically socialist, with the majority of the money being split evenly. Winning is optional for an owner - they will make plenty of money even if they lose - so if they feel like hiring a hack they can get away with it. Give bigger shares of TV money to the teams that win and that will change real fast.

 

RE: Re: RE: NFL, Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and C

I'll just remind you that the reason what I say seems to be shocking - noting that NO REPLY actually Rebuts my point- is that NO debate on such is allowed under rules of Political Correctness.
My REAL point, of course, is that it's time for African American to emerge from "Victimhood" and they've done that in the NFL.
- - - - -- - - - - - -- -
I dont agree on ALL of that... though you were right.
Esp about the 'old boy' recirculation. This is what I pointed out in talking about the Bengals' malaise. When Paul Brown retired, he brought in two successive nebbishes that he KNEW would "yessir' his directions from the background.
Forrest Gregg was PB's capitulation, Sam Wyche was chopped because he wanted more say..
Then MIKE Brown, having learned nothing, brought in Dave Shula and several other "old-boy assistants". I pointed out WHY Marvin has been successful, didnt I?
- - - - - - - - - - -
Ancillary revenues rise and fall sharply based on performance, and THOSE revenues are the owners' gravy. And the Bengals are the perfect case on point.

One of the reasons Brown gave up was he was losing that revenue... there's misleading stats out there on Bengals attendances during the terrible years... but tickets sold is NOT same as fans in seats... and there were a LOT of empty seats. And for every one of those there is potential revenue lost; in concessions and jersey sales, to mention two.
Not to mention that pure percentages in ticket revenue doesnt count, it's operating on the threshold concept... say the LAST ten thousand seats sold are pure profit.

And I dont know how the TV revenue is split but the fact that Bengals were very rarely on MNF, SNF or National games- surely couldnt have helped.

No... I think the current NFL model works pretty well compared to other sports.