The black-and-gold paint scheme immediately
caught my eye, like grandfathers’ fraternal bond in the Divine Nine. Even though
the school wasn’t HU-You Know, at least another HBCU was center stage in February
for one of the nation’s biggest sports events, the Daytona 500.
I typically pay the same attention
to that race, “The
Super Bowl of NASCAR,” as any other – roughly none. But when the NY Racing Team
rolled up in that sweet ride, with homages to Grambling State University emblazoned on
the hood and doors, looking away was impossible. Learning that team owner
John Cohen is a Grambling alum who played for legendary coach Eddie Robinson only
increased the intrigue.
That was three months ago, back before
I had ever watched a NASCAR race from beginning to end. Since then, I’ve taken the
sport for a spin and found it super cool. It’s also way Blacker than imagined,
leading to a new favorite Facebook group, deeper interest, growing knowledge,
and lingering disbelief.
“Hi. I’m Deron, and I’m a Black NASCAR fan.”
Shoutout to Cohen, who’s been in
the game since 2007. His ongoing partnership with HBCU League Pass has paid off
in national TV shine for Norfolk
State University, Florida
A&M University, Stillman
College, and Morehouse
College. “It’s a way to move the
needle on my team and highlight HBCUs,” Cohen said in a phone interview. “We’ve
gotten really good feedback and all the schools are getting a lot of press
now.”
I know a lot of Black folks haven’t rocked
with NASCAR, understandably so considering its history with good ol’
boys and the confederate flag. But bear with me. There’s reason to
reconsider.
In 2017, NFL coach Pete Carroll raved
about Colin Kaepernick’s ability to play, but the quarterback has remained
unemployed. This week, NFL owner Mark Davis said he’s not opposed to Kaepernick
joining the Las Vegas Raiders, but no news yet.
For the trifecta, we just need a general
manager who loves him … and doesn’t face pushback from the coach and owner.
“(Kaepernick) deserves every
chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League,” Davis
told NBC Sports Bay Area. “I still stand by it. If our coaches and general
manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I
would welcome him with open arms.”
The coach is Josh McDaniels and the general manager is Dave Ziegler, both hired in January. We won’t hold our breath waiting for their assessment, though Kaepernick on the Raiders would make perfect sense.
Unlike the NFL and its belated,
faux embrace of social justice, the Raiders haven’t used diversity and civil
rights as virtue signals. They’ve been
on the front for a while, including receipts for hiring the NFL’s first
Latino head coach (Tom Flores in 1979) and first Black head coach (Art Shell in
1989). The franchise also made Flores the NFL’s first Latino starting QB (1960),
and made Eldridge Dickey the first Black QB drafted in the first round (1968). And,
oh yeah, they made Amy Trask the NFL’s first women CEO in 1997.
We’ve come a long way from the
days when being “a real man” meant any signs of weakness were forbidden.
Lessons were learned early. Skinned
knees are painful for all children, yet little boys were told to suck it up
while little girls got kisses on the boo-boo. Boys who were teased for crying became
men incapable of expressing their feelings (besides anger). Being tough on the
outside and hollow on the inside created chronic cases of toxic masculinity, a threat
to women, children, and sensible men everywhere.
Thankfully, we’ve moved toward
embracing and affirming men’s need for self-care and emotional support without
calling them soft.
But we might be overcompensating
in Ben Simmons’ case.
The Brooklyn Nets guard is trying
our patience, tempting us to lose compassion for whatever’s going on in his
head. ESPN
reported that Simmons, a day ahead of his planned season debut, said his
back was sore and he can’t play in Monday’s must-win playoff game against the
Boston Celtics.
Who said his back only hurts because he lacks a spine?! That’s just wrong!
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
some folks only concentrate on MLK’s dreams while ignoring his denouncements.
King wasn’t just about fighting systemic racism. He also spoke forcefully
against poverty and the Vietnam War, topics that endangered his life more than
singing kumbaya with Klansmen.
But whitewashing King’s legacy
makes the status quo easier to maintain.
April 15 marks the 75th
anniversary of Robinson smashing Major League Baseball’s color line when he
debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. His entry in 1947 started a
ripple of integration across sports and portions of society (e.g., the military
and public schools). After six All-Star seasons in an 11-year career, he
retired and eventually was enshrined in the
Hall of Fame.
And that’s where his story ends … unless you pay attention and reject any sanitized version of history.
To everyone who wondered how Tiger
Woods can remain sports’ most unimaginable champion, 25 years after bursting
onto the scene, he just dropped bars like Roy Jones Jr.: “Y’all must’ve forgot.”
As for those too young to fully appreciate
the phenomenon that still overshadows golf’s grandest tournament and top players,
Woods went full-on Biggie Smalls: “If you don’t know, now you know.”
He won by teeing off on Thursday,
a simple feat that seemed impossible after the events of Feb. 23, 2021, when
a near-fatal wreck of his Genesis GV80 caused injuries that had doctors
contemplating amputation for his right leg. “I wish I could tell you when I’m
playing again,” he
said two months ago. “… I’m still working on the walking part.”
He won by limping around Augusta National and shooting 1-under par in his first competitive round since the horrific accident. The performance left him tied for 10th place, four shots off the lead. Woods never would’ve bragged about that 20 years ago, but he knows what his leg looked like. “To see where I’ve been … to get from there to here, it was no easy task,” he said afterward.
I don’t know what’s happening within
the Grambling State University athletics department, but someone needs to
request a wellness check on them.
Did they fall and bump their
heads? Is something in the water? Have they gotten ahold of bad edibles?
Whatever the case, those folks are
straight-up tripping.
First, they hired Art Briles as an
assistant football coach in February. None of the NCAA’s other top 260 colleges
has touched the former Baylor coach for six years, since a blistering,
51-page report said his “incurious attitude toward potential criminal
conduct by his student-athletes was deeply troubling.” The ensuing howls of
protest surprised exactly no one except the administration, and Briles resigned
four days after being announced.
Evidence beforehand suggested that
new athletic director Trayvean Scott might’ve brought a clown show to town. (The
day before announcing Briles was hired, they claimed any such talk was just
a rumor.) But the latest goings-on have convinced undecided jurors and the
verdict is in:
Grambling’s athletics department
is crazy AF.
New women’s volleyball coach Chelsey
Lucas has
cut the entire team. All 19 players, just like that. No more practice, no
more competition, and no more scholarship. We can’t determine the worst part of
this situation because everything about it is foul.
The clowns have morphed into the
Three Stooges – Scott, Lucas and GSU athletics communications director Brian
Howard. “I hate to say out with the old, but in with the new a little bit,” Howard
told KSLA-TV. “… At the end of the day, Coach Lucas has a goal, has a
vision.
“We have a goal as an institution
and a vision as well to win, and that’s first and foremost,” he said.
Either he can’t hear himself or he’s tone-deaf. Surely, he’s literate, but he can’t read the times.
The 24-hour news cycle is an
unrelenting beast that never gets its full. Constantly on the hunt to feed an insatiable
appetite, it regurgitates the smallest morsels and makes them resemble sumptuous
meals for our consumption.
We’re then left with a daily choice:
Dive in and gorge on every offering of junk food? Or turn down our plate and
wait for more substantive fare?
Among the items on Sunday’s menu were
headlines out of Los Angeles. One had “Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar criticizes
some of LeBron James’ actions.” Another entrée included a quote atop the dish,
noting Abdul-Jabbar’s contention that James “should
be embarrassed” about some things.
I don’t know about you, but those sound
like fried Oreos to me.
The NFL has tinkered with its policies
and tweaked its practices on minority hiring for over 20 years now. Yet the
league finds itself in the same position today – a couple of Black head coaches
– as in 2003 when the
Rooney Rule was implemented to increase diversity.
Sure, all 32 teams are now
required to have an offensive assistant coach who’s a minority, meaning “a
female or a member of an ethnic or racial minority.” But some teams already
have one or more coaches who fit that description, and we see where that’s
gotten us. Black candidates went 1-for-9 in landing head coaching jobs this year.
Instituting a mandate for assistant coaches won’t change owners’ hearts and
minds when it’s time fill the top spot.
Adding so-called “quota hires” to
the pool isn’t the answer.
The notion of hiring coaches based on race, ethnicity or gender is troubling, which isn’t to say the individuals are unqualified. Two things can be true. One can have impeccable credentials and receive preferential treatment.
Conflicted feelings are a part of
life and two of my extreme cases involve sports.
I root for the hometown New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in football, which is crazy because they’re division rivals who play twice a year and potentially can meet a third time in the playoffs. But I was a child when those allegiances formed, not understanding the dilemma they’d create.
Regarding basketball, I’m torn in a way that fellow Brooklyn native Spike Lee is not. Any team that reps my beloved borough is automatically my team, too – even if the Brooklyn Nets didn’t arrive until 2012. Yet, there’s no way to forsake a lifelong love affair with the New York Knicks.
As long as they play other teams, no
problem. But when they face off, it’s a no-win situation. I feel like Richard
Williams watching Venus and Serena play against each other, unable to fully
rejoice in either child’s success. When forced to endure inevitable matchups of
Giants vs. Cowboys, or Knicks vs. Nets, I simply assume the fetal position and
wait for the pain to end.
Which brings us to Kyrie Irving
and the coronavirus vaccination.
The Nets fan in me is ecstatic
that mayor Eric Adams lifted
the vaccine mandate for athletes and performers based in New York City. Irving,
arguably among the NBA’s top five guards, missed the Nets’ first 35 home games
because he refused to get vaccinated. Putting him on the court with Kevin
Durant, perhaps the league’s best player, gives Brooklyn a potent duo that
could lead to a championship.
Either way, Irving’s wizardry with
a basketball is spellbinding entertainment for hoops fans.
On the other hand, I hate that some
observers paint this as a victory for Irving, who presented himself as a martyr.
As a believer that everyone should take the vax, I kind of wish the mandate
stayed in place. Now “Uncle
Drew” is free to roll up and rescue the Nets as they struggle to improve their
playoff position.
But he’s not a victim and he’s not
a hero.
He’s just a selfish and irresponsible teammate who’s supremely talented.
A 21-second clip can teach you a
lot about the NFL, even if it’s only a player working out in shorts.
Prior to Friday, University of
Michigan linebacker David Ojabo was considered a possible top-10 pick in next
month’s draft. Then he suffered
a devastating Achilles injury while performing exercises in front of NFL scouts
at his school. Suffice it to say he’s no longer viewed as a top-10 pick, thanks
to a chilling moment captured on video.
Ojabo goes down about eight
seconds into the clip and grabs his lower left leg. As he rolls on the ground, wincing
and writhing in pain, only one onlooker makes a move. That dude walks ever so slowly
toward Ojabo … before veering to pass him and retrieve the football. He slowly walks
past Ojabo again, barely looking at the 6-foot-5, 225-pound young man who’s in
obvious distress.
If you didn’t know, now you know. That
short video sums up the NFL’s sensibilities and reminds anyone who forgot.
“I know the NFL is a cold business
but watching the lack of concern or empathy from the scouts, coaches and
observers following David Ojabo’s injury bugs me,” tweeted Bucky
Brooks, an NFL broadcaster and former player. “Perhaps someone should’ve
checked on him instead of grabbing the ball and moving to the next drill. Just
a thought.”
Not surprisingly, a former team
doctor totally
missed the point, believing that only trained professionals can be of
assistance. “I get this is a bad look,” tweeted David J. Chao, who once worked for
the San Diego Chargers. “But the NFL is so specialized, it is the job of the [Certified
Athletic Trainer] to run check on him. That is what happens to star players on
game day too.”
Doc should keep a low profile based
on his raggedy past. The Ojabo lesson isn’t about whose “job” includes checking
on an injured player. That’s not listed among teammates’ responsibilities, yet
they’ll comfort a fallen colleague on the game days that Chao mentions.
Like the coaches and scouts who
didn’t make a move, most of us aren’t doctors or trainers, either. But we would’ve
responded to Ojabo’s pain for a simple reason.
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