So last night me and my drankin' buddy Ed aka Ed Rock decided to hit up one of our favorite drankin' (The Hopleaf) spots to do some drankin'. So we're enjoying some interesting conversation and some even better brews when a table of 3 sits down right behind us. No huge shocker here: it's a bar, it's Friday night, looks like 3 friends going out to do the same thing Ed and I are doing. Then the fourth member shows up...and it gets weird. The woman sits down, greets everyone at the table and then immediately shoves her tongue down the throat of the guy sitting next to her. It's a bar, no big deal. But the kiss goes on for about 3 minutes. There is lots of lip smacking, caressing, and things of the like going on that, for some odd reason, is really starting to become distracting to my conversation (the couple were about 7 inches away from my face fyi).
Look, public displays of affection are cool. Everyone in a relationship will probably dabble in a little PDA from time to time. Turning my Friday night into a snapshot of your pre-coital adventure is a totally different story. The biggest problem is they weren't the only people. In the course of yammering about this that and the third, I noticed about 5 couples about ready to hump it up on the bar. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, true. Does it have to lower your class? And don't these people feel odd? Here one minute you are standing next to some couple who are looking at each other with THAT look in their eyes, the next minute you're watching a porn shoot.
If you wanna jump your partner in the middle of a bar please just be aware that not everyone in the bar came to see a live sex show. Kissing your partner in public is totally acceptable and kinda awesome if the two of you are feeling each other like that. The line has to be drawn when you and your partner start feeling each other like THAT.
I know some people are gonna see this and say "Here is another person who is completely conservative and stuffy about PDA." To those people I ask, when was the last time you saw a couple you didn't know mobbing each other right next to you and felt comfortable enough to completely ignore it? Not ignore it in the sense that you tongue-lash (pause) your friends for being so adverse to it, but ignore in the sense that you don't talk about it, don't acknowledge it, and continue along with your day as if it never happened. Never! Thanks for your time.
*WARNING: SPORTS RELATED MATERIAL TO FOLLOW*
I was just watching 'Inside the NFL' and I heard to great comments about the New England Patriots head coach
1. "He needs and emergency personality transplant"
2." Bill Belichek is so arrogant that he stole a copy of Tony Dungy's playbook and sent it back to him with corrections"
Classic
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Race Card Has Two Faces
Jemele Hill over at ESPN.com wrote a outrageously interesting article today on the media and their coverage of Barry Bonds as opposed to their coverage of Rick Ankiel which you can check out for your own enjoyment at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070911 . I'm sure you're all familiar with the Barry Bonds situation so I won't go into that, but Rick Ankiel has been pretty much the opposite of Bonds this year. He came into the major leagues several years ago as a pitcher, failed miserably, was out of baseball for a few years, and has returned this year as an outfielder to much fanfare and excitement as the feel good story. Then it was found out that Ankiel received 8 shipments of HGH, a substance banned in baseball, back in 2005...whoops.
The main issue that Ms. Hill addresses (and that I agree with)is the reason why Ankiel is STILL being heralded as a feel good story while Mr. Bonds is still viewed as a cheater and an insult to baseball could have a lot to do with the skin tones of the two principles. Ankiel being white and Bonds being black is not an issue that people are willing to address in this situation and I think, as does Jemele Hill, that it needs to be. I won't go into further detail about the Ankiel/Bonds comparison (Jemele Hill does a great job of that already), but I do want to discuss the underlying issue a lot further.
Let's step outside the world of baseball and into a little known place I refer to as reality. In reality, white folks hate it when black people "play the race" card. To some extent I can agree with them because race has popped up in a LOT of situations where it shouldn't have and it gets old after a while. On the other hand, sometimes the race card is a valid game piece that no one wants to recognize. As a black person in America, we live under the "guilty until proven innocent" umbrella and we're always on the defensive because of it. Sometimes being black is all the damaging evidence that is needed. It is very hard for most whites to understand how black people can rush to the defense of an O.J. Simpson or a Michael Vick (or to a lesser extent Barry Bonds) when that person seems to be guilty as charged. But for every O.J. there is a Jena 6 or an Amadou Diallo or a Sean Bell that make it hard for us not be skeptical of the charge.
Most people in this country tend to give a larger amount of credibility to their own kind than everyone else. Some people do call it down the middle regardless of ethnic, racial, or religious bias, but there aren't many who do. The comments to Jemele Hill's article are proof that people will persuade themselves to believe what they want to serve their own interests. I read many an excuse on why what Ankiel did was just fine and what Bonds did was deplorable, but the one thing that kept coming up from the Ankiel defenders was their dislike for the writer's use of the "race card" which to me kind of eludes to some layer of guilt over having played it themselves. Blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, and every other race in the world plays the "race card"; black people are just more vocal about it. Sometimes (and I know this is hard for some of you to swallow) race is an issue and does represent the basis for unjust bias. You can't discredit the use of racial bias in certain situations just because you don't want to give credit to your own racial biases.
The main issue that Ms. Hill addresses (and that I agree with)is the reason why Ankiel is STILL being heralded as a feel good story while Mr. Bonds is still viewed as a cheater and an insult to baseball could have a lot to do with the skin tones of the two principles. Ankiel being white and Bonds being black is not an issue that people are willing to address in this situation and I think, as does Jemele Hill, that it needs to be. I won't go into further detail about the Ankiel/Bonds comparison (Jemele Hill does a great job of that already), but I do want to discuss the underlying issue a lot further.
Let's step outside the world of baseball and into a little known place I refer to as reality. In reality, white folks hate it when black people "play the race" card. To some extent I can agree with them because race has popped up in a LOT of situations where it shouldn't have and it gets old after a while. On the other hand, sometimes the race card is a valid game piece that no one wants to recognize. As a black person in America, we live under the "guilty until proven innocent" umbrella and we're always on the defensive because of it. Sometimes being black is all the damaging evidence that is needed. It is very hard for most whites to understand how black people can rush to the defense of an O.J. Simpson or a Michael Vick (or to a lesser extent Barry Bonds) when that person seems to be guilty as charged. But for every O.J. there is a Jena 6 or an Amadou Diallo or a Sean Bell that make it hard for us not be skeptical of the charge.
Most people in this country tend to give a larger amount of credibility to their own kind than everyone else. Some people do call it down the middle regardless of ethnic, racial, or religious bias, but there aren't many who do. The comments to Jemele Hill's article are proof that people will persuade themselves to believe what they want to serve their own interests. I read many an excuse on why what Ankiel did was just fine and what Bonds did was deplorable, but the one thing that kept coming up from the Ankiel defenders was their dislike for the writer's use of the "race card" which to me kind of eludes to some layer of guilt over having played it themselves. Blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, and every other race in the world plays the "race card"; black people are just more vocal about it. Sometimes (and I know this is hard for some of you to swallow) race is an issue and does represent the basis for unjust bias. You can't discredit the use of racial bias in certain situations just because you don't want to give credit to your own racial biases.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Mike Vick...I'm tired of seeing you
Mike Vick went from Superman to idiot faster than his 40 time. I was a big Vick fan, no matter what the critics said about his throwing arm I always wanted to see him succeed in the NFL because if for no other reason the dude was just gangsta on the field. The Ron Mexico herpes scandal didn't move me. The secret compartment water bottle ain't faze a brotha. Hanging dogs in the back yard...man, 3 strikes. At first I was not worried about the dog fighting scandal because it didn't really seem that serious. Being from Mississippi, I always knew people who had pit bull fights and no one ever really flinched at the idea. Then the details of the incident came out and when I heard he was hanging and drowning dogs who didn't perform I almost threw up at the idea. But you know what disturbed me even more? The waste of talent and potential.
I grew up in the projects in poverty so to see someone make it and get rich like Vick did is special to me. To see him, and countless others, throw it away in the dumbest ways possible makes me a little more than peeved. I wish I could say it was an isolated case, but it's not. I've seen it time and time again; and Michael Vick I'm tired of seeing you.
I'm tired of seeing the same story in Maurice Clarett who went from talented freshman at Ohio State to running from the cops with an AK on his lap. Or how 'bout being arrested for robbing 2 people with a .45 over a $150 dollar cell phone. Clarett, like Vick had all the talent in the world and threw it away.
When Rae Carruth was arrested for conspiring to murder his ex and their unborn baby I was in shock. I was in shock of the crime and in shock over how Carruth could throw away an entire career over a family that he made more than enough money to support.
Tank Williams, Pacman Jones, Jamal Lewis, and even Hall of Famer Michael Irvin have had more than their share of run ins with the law. What is the problem? You got it all, yet you wanna let it all go to Hell over some of the dumbest shit to ever cross a human being's mind. Get it together, for real, or you're gonna start to see NFL teams pass on great players with troubled pasts because their investments will spend more time in the courts than on the field; which doesn't help anyone in the process. The players, teams, owners, and fans all suffer when idiot players can't be happy living in multi-million dollar homes , having women throw themselves at them, and rolling around naked in their money. I'd take that life over a PMITA prison anyday.
I grew up in the projects in poverty so to see someone make it and get rich like Vick did is special to me. To see him, and countless others, throw it away in the dumbest ways possible makes me a little more than peeved. I wish I could say it was an isolated case, but it's not. I've seen it time and time again; and Michael Vick I'm tired of seeing you.
I'm tired of seeing the same story in Maurice Clarett who went from talented freshman at Ohio State to running from the cops with an AK on his lap. Or how 'bout being arrested for robbing 2 people with a .45 over a $150 dollar cell phone. Clarett, like Vick had all the talent in the world and threw it away.
When Rae Carruth was arrested for conspiring to murder his ex and their unborn baby I was in shock. I was in shock of the crime and in shock over how Carruth could throw away an entire career over a family that he made more than enough money to support.
Tank Williams, Pacman Jones, Jamal Lewis, and even Hall of Famer Michael Irvin have had more than their share of run ins with the law. What is the problem? You got it all, yet you wanna let it all go to Hell over some of the dumbest shit to ever cross a human being's mind. Get it together, for real, or you're gonna start to see NFL teams pass on great players with troubled pasts because their investments will spend more time in the courts than on the field; which doesn't help anyone in the process. The players, teams, owners, and fans all suffer when idiot players can't be happy living in multi-million dollar homes , having women throw themselves at them, and rolling around naked in their money. I'd take that life over a PMITA prison anyday.
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