@AdrienBroner Will Never "Run" Boxing, And Floyd Mayweather knows it!!

 

Power isn’t complicated, but it is to those who will never come close to achieving it. If it is “given”, it’s counterfeit and can easily be stripped from you-which are why men who really want it see the “giver” as an impediment to be eliminated. Kobe Bryant is powerful because he vanquished Shaq, if he hadn’t he’d never be perceived as he is now; as a Don. Our laws are written by the powerful, and many of these people made the hard decision to take what some told them to wait for- if you can’t make that decision then you weren’t meant to be powerful in the first place.

In music the most talented step away from lifelong friends and family members to take power, ever heard of a dude named Michael Jackson? Powerful people look at their watches and the same time is always displayed 24/7 and that time is now- it’s a timezone unshared with the powerless. Floyd Mayweathers watch is always on now, and when you operate in that reality there’s a good chance there is no tomorrow for the likes of Adrien Broner.

In this buildup to a fight Broner should be applauded for taking the Cincinnati native did everything in his “power” to let you know he will be handed something from Mayweather. Something nobody else inherited, something many have had to hurt idols and friends to achieve. Muhammad Ali had the power despite his former sparring partner being heavyweight champion of the world, and even though Holmes felt deeply for the champ he had to take what was his or forever take crumbs. Rocky Marciano’s handlers knew it best, they knew he’d never be “that guy” unless he mugged Joe Louis and with that crime came financial power.

Boxing is the roughest business in sports and entertainment so it baffles me that Adrien Broner, normally an objectionable personality would be so soft in this of all matters. Did he not do his dirt on the streets like he claims? Did anyone ever “pass down” a slab of concrete to him and his crew? Especially if that concrete was the only place to get money?. What are the chances Floyd Mayweather retires and Adrien Broner collects even a 20 million dollar payday in his next fight?, only powerful people know someone of much greater financial stature has to be destroyed for this to happen.
John Gotti knew it, in fact so do most Monarchs.  

Being the best pound for pound fighter in the world is fluid and everyone is eligible, but being the money man is something contingent on lowering the financial viability of other money men. In organized crime “bosses” are routinely murdered and the wisdom from law enforcement went as such; if you want to know who killed the boss all you have to do is find out who the new boss is. Oscar De La Hoya was the boss, and Floyd Mayweather (already the superior fighter) knew then that his financial future rested on beating him on a huge stage. Adrien Broner is talented (like Floyd) and may be as obnoxious but how will he convey that on a bigger stage when he believes it will be handed to him? At this rate Floyd will leave with the stage and Adrien will remain a bitter facsimile of his mentor wondering why things aren’t unfolding as Floyd said they would. What if Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia don’t become big enough foils to reach the kind of financial solvency he believes he deserves?

Being associated with powerful people is healthy, and trying to mimic their formula (like Broner clearly does) is intelligent but believing they can bestow power upon you is what welfare recipients do. Broner pointedly tells us nobody ever gave him nothing but in the same breath believes Floyd and a volatile, unpredictable marketplace will. Having a shoulder roll and a shitty demeanor isn’t the formula for PPV success, the power will have to come from defeating a handful of recognizable names starting with Floyd himself. Zab Judah was Floyd’s best friend at one time and now he’s a footnote in Mayweathers quest for power, because the path to power isn’t easy and it is littered with broken relationships and friends. Adrien Broner is still young, still surrounded by people he feels he owes and relationships mean a lot to the young- until it’s time to pull your pants up and be a man. Young black men are often cursed with this over-emotionality in spades and sometimes they never grow out of it enough to become pragmatic, powerful people. It’s not in Floyd’s nature to share power let alone “pass it on”, because he knows that betrayal on all levels lay behind every substantial fortune.

Will it take a jail cell to make this young man see that rich and powerful are two totally different things? He says he’s “just being young and having fun” but Broner is a “live dog” to get himself in something that Mayweather the powerful could easily get himself out of. Mayweather is a proven stimulus program for Nevada so if he goes to jail there his power is a factor in the legal proceedings. Broner isn’t valuable to any local economies, at this time he’s an addendum to the Mayweather deal, a protégé or “spin off” act like Tha Dogg Pound or G-Unit -whether he can flourish outside of Mayweathers brand is yet to be seen. Real stars aren’t content with being called anyone’s “little brother” no matter how talented the older star is, and I’ve never seen a real star contented being with a cheap knock off. The only time someone is content with this distinction is if deep down they know they aren’t of the big brothers caliber, so they’ll gladly take whatever they can get from the association. If there is any hope of Broner being the face of boxing there must be underlining tension and ambition, because he’ll never reach his destination under Floyd Mayweather.

The only way to get there is over Floyd’s prone body.

 

 

Boxing: Where the Customer is Always Wrong



On Monday the WBC did something that Alphabet Organizations always do, they ranked Manny Pacquiao as Floyd Mayweather #1 challenger and mandatory defense. Now In the old days (Pre Twitter) there would be an outcry about the organization itself, their ranking practices and the arbitrary, political way they go about their business-back then the makers of the trinkets were uniformly challenged by fans at every turn. But today, if you are an alphabet crew life must be good because there’s a new villain in town that nobody ever counted on arriving-the boxing fan. Yep, the fan aka “the customer” have shown themselves to be undeserving of an organized coherent fight game because they’ve broken every cardinal rule in the book when it comes to being a paying customer.  They’ve started to identify with the very people who ask them for premium costs in exchange for a defective service.

For one, paying customers don’t personalize the people behind a given service especially if those people are committed to providing “pieces” of a service. When you pay a PPV price in 2013 it is complicity understood that you are only watching ½ of what the promoter can offer you in a particular weight class, and yet they demand inflationary prices when most of your salaries have flat lined. If you pay a cable subscription fee and buy PPV’s from both premium networks you are not out of your sorts to demand these entities work in conjunction (with one another) to provide the customer the best Boxing has to offer-YOU’RE THE CUSTOMER.

The NFL is a conglomerate of megalomaniacs who agree to a schedule and provide packages of content to several networks for billions of dollars but none of it would work if the customers weren’t provided competitive conclusions. You can see any team on one of 4 different networks throughout the season and everybody makes sure these megalomaniacs profit equally from providing a product that consumers trust. This is why a football ref makes a bad call and has to consider relocating while Steve Smoger can sleep like a baby after almost letting Glen Tapia get his career shortened on live television.

Boxing fans allow two programmers and two promotional teams to pick sides and refuse to do business with one another- this refusal is akin to colluding together in order to put promotional interests ahead of providing financially vested consumers a reliable product. Not only will these two firms refuse to enter into negotiations to provide the best programming to the customers who pay at the gate and through PPV they work in monopoly to assure no outside promoters try to answer the demand of the marketplace. The sad part is boxing fans now work in conjunction with these firms, pitting sides amongst themselves and defending the destructive polarization and the players who provide the limited services they receive.

Even the Mafia understood war was bad for business, and they often killed one another for the right to take your union dues to build casinos. Union members didn’t bicker with one another over which Mobster had the most swag or deserved to exploit them-the ones who knew what was happening to their dues didn’t glamorize the likes of Bugsy Segal.

Boxing fans piggyback the juvenile stances and statements of warring factions as if they are paid to do so, because (now) the argument over who deserves to fight whom is more rewarding than the actual fight. The players have worn the fan down, and through Stockholm syndrome the fan now identifies with the business entities who blatantly tell them “YOU WILL NOT GET THE PRODUCT YOU PAY FOR”. Customers should never allow themselves to be treated as oppressed victims unable to do something about current conditions, boxing isn’t the NFL folks-it’s a poorly built house of cards, and it would be catastrophic to any PPV to come up 500.000 buys short of projections. These are numbers the NFL picks its teeth with and yet they care about what you think, because they know if they give you “your” football it’s like a license to print money. Unlike the “old boy” network in boxing who can only feast on short sighted bank robberies. If people can use Twitter for Global Protest they can certainly use it to #OccupyBoxing. Twitter tricked fans into thinking these people “know” them and thus they’ve become fantasy managers, fake assed Al Haymons and spokespersons for entities who do nothing but fleece them- and if you point this out to them in the most objective terms they regurgitate worn out slogans (Courtesy TMT) and call you a “hater” – another term that should be stricken from adult discourse. It is a disturbing trend when “men” are willing to blindly give their money to a polarized system and accept a false Cold War scenario as a reason fights can’t be made- and nobody blinked when Big Bad Bernard Hopkins used the “term” to rationalize calling out a man 25 lbs. lighter than him. In a just system he wouldn’t be viable, in a just system he’d have to prove he’s an “Alien” by facing a “Superman”…. or go home.

When a man spends his money for something empathy for the seller should be a non-factor, do you have sympathy for the poor schmuck who served you cold French fries yesterday? Hell no you don’t.  Then you shouldn’t have feelings one way or another about men who are supposed to bring you a damned sport- stop advocating for Floyd Mayweathers “business” and handle your own finances with discriminating taste. Twitter has revealed fight fans who are more fans of the cold war than of boxing, grown men who think it’s cool that Mayweather ( after 4 years!) can say “Pacquiao who?” while telling you Amir “Chinny” Khan is up next for your 75$. Men don’t allow someone to tell them “I don’t want to make Bob Arum any money” because MEN know that ultimately before it becomes Floyds or Bobs “money” it was theirs!. The answer to Manny who? Is Manny “Better than Amir Khan” Pacquiao that’s who, men don’t sit around gossiping over the fucking details if they have no direct involvement in them- men say “work it out” or you get nothing. Since when did guys feel it was their job to play school yard insult games over two guys they’ll never meet? Since when did men think gossiping over another guys finances and who deserves what in a fight was even manly? There are websites devoted to keeping these ridiculous "divisions within divisions" going, actual propaganda jackals who parrot men who don’t want to provide unified champions in every weight class in exchange for your dollars.

And you visit them every day looking for the silly next put down you can retweet to your friends.

Manny Pacquiao is a boxer, a fine one who I’d rather see fight Floyd Mayweather on May 3^rd 2014 than anyone else- I’m too busy as an adult worrying about filling out my own tax forms than to worry about his. In fact, I don’t care about Vegas getting the fight nor who “needs” whom- like any smart consumer I know that all parties involved need me not the other way around. If you ever noticed Boxing is the one sport that mirrors our two party political system where palms are greased and nothing ever gets done. Sports are supposed to deliver us from that, which is why mainstream sports fans will always choose the socialism of the NFL over the corporate fascist dictatorship of boxing. Sport is supposed to deliver you into a purely merit driven matrix where Champions are people who have defeated all capable challengers through direct confrontation- Boxing used to be the purest expression of this principle. Being the paying customer can either be an empowering experience or one of manipulation and subjugation and it’s clear which path fight fans have chosen. We are more informed than ever, but now we’ve developed a habitualized taste for minutiae and bullshit, we’ve replaced the great addiction to action fights with a “jones” for press releases and company warfare.

Smart men of Arum and Schaefer’s ilk have often known the true path to domination is by subjecting less smart people to a chaotic environment. Through sleight of hand we’ve all lost track of the ball (the truth) and now focus only on the shell game played by a mere handful of people. Middle Class fighters have no choice but to sign on to this paradigm because they know the market will not fund nor facilitate a competing model to what we have now. The misguided will sign up for this farce the same way obscure, unsigned rap groups enlisted to shoot at one another back in 1996 on the behalf of two millionaires. I was there, and I saw people get hurt that were never afforded the dignity of a documentary of compilation CD. I am a conscientious objector to the “Cold War” in Boxing, I am not an apologist for Mayweather or Pacquiao- I am a customer and I refuse to say a foul word about either man via social media.  I deserve to see the best fighters in each division face one another (within a reasonable period of time) no matter the network or Promotional Firm In exchange for my (monthly) subscription dollars. I don’t care about any of the ancillary issues surrounding the promoter’s “job” to create a PPV star; if those issues interfere with providing the customer with a valuable product then customers should divest themselves until said party does. Instead of defending the self-interest of Floyd Mayweather fans should try imitating it, your budget will look a lot better and you just may exude a little more self-respect in other parts of your life.

And if you choose to do nothing at all, at least have the decency to stop rooting for people who mean you no good.

Camacho Whitaker Doubleheader

If Richie Incognito is an Honorary “Black Man” what does it say about Brotha’s?

It was fishy from the start, and as the black Dolphins kept opening their mouths the possibility of something truly unsettling began to manifest. The NFL is a bottom line business, productivity is king and guys like Richie Incognito sprinkle the league like undetected maggots. To make matters worse the league is largely black, and many of those brotha’s saw far more violence in their neighborhoods growing up than what they’ve seen on this here “job”. This reality breeds a certain ethos, a culture not dissimilar to that in jail or Hip Hop, a funhouse mirror where ethically everything is blurred-in other words there are no good or bad guys. The concept of “good guys” is something they sell in commercials, something that salves the consciences about what it is we are truly addicted to watching every Sunday. Controlled, State Sanctioned assault.

Unfortunately Good Guys would probably get exposed as weak if they are not so willing to sacrifice humanity and brain cells- like Jonathan Martin is being exposed now. Real intellectuals don’t participate in the high speed collision of bones, tissue, ligaments and brain matter-warning: the men who take this on for an occupation aren’t privy to your idea of what is civil nor politically correct.

And this is often at odds with the billion dollar partnerships and corporate largess curried by the suits in New York.

It’s Gladiatorial, and men like Incognito are insulated and preferred to men like Jon Martin. And there will be jackasses like Incognito in the future; as long as Football “is” what it is you will need the Richie Incognito’s of the world to be human battering rams for our entertainment. You will also need him to scapegoat when every team probably has two of him, that’s 60 (if you’re counting) douchebags folks. What I have a problem with is the racial aspect of this hazing story, the fact that Incognito was given honorary black man status and sanctioned by black teammates in his slurring of Jonathan Martin.

I won’t take an angle that will make it easy for you to dismiss me as an old dude, because I too have had white friends that I considered “honorary” but not for their propensity for degeneracy. No, it’s the standard I’m bothered by, and the fact that this clown being an honorary brotha says everything about the brotha’s that granted him such distinction. In segments of the Black Community we have this irrational need to delegitimize intelligent (or sensitive) blacks as inauthentic and then wonder why said target isn’t comfortable. If Martin was “soft” and unproductive there’s no way he would have avoided being out of the league soon, but I sense his black teammates wanted him gone sooner and Incognito was the instrument they used to facilitate that.

When the inept, faceless Coordinator masquerading as a coach went to Incognito to “toughen” Martin up he knew it could get ugly but what he didn’t know about is the low cultural standards of his black players. Many black players come from troubled backgrounds and the low self-esteem is dripping off of them like HGH, you can see it the way they act on the field and some of the stupid shit they get themselves into off the field.

What kind of person would look at a scumbag like Incognito and see a kinship? Someone from a screwed up environment that’s who; and the NFL depends on screwed up places for natural resources. We created the culture of envy in our music, relationships and language; remember it was black folks who introduced the concept of “hating” to the lexicon. Money is not a cure all for the broken psyche and if you are broken you gravitate to other people who are just as broken as you be they any ethnicity creed or religion-enter trash like Incognito. The Black Community is essentially fatherless, and that’s a whole lot of broken young men gravitating to sports for identity and masculinity. Men like Incognito are the kind of white peers you find in football, his story isn’t emotionally threatening to brotha’s but Jonathan Martins can be viewed as a deep source of envy.

The father teaches you to be a self-respecting black man first, this may encompass standing up for yourself but being cartoonish “hard” is something embraced mostly by the fatherless. Jonathan Martin was an outlier, a Stanford man in a locker room of black men who went to Football factories, his “Cosby Kid” background was so resented by the black men he worked with they looked the other way while Incognito called him a Nigger. Which speaks of brotha’s willing to prioritize being gladiatorial over being a self-respecting black man.  

I repeat, if he couldn’t “ball” he wouldn’t be there long anyway, but it was the self-hatred of his black teammates that turned this into a hate crime. We’ve struggled with it in our community long before Football became a haven for the descendants of Slaveries “eugenics” programs. We struggled with it when W.E.B Du Bois was calling Marcus Garvey a “monkey” and when Malcolm X called Martin Luther King a “House Negro”. ESPN struggled with it when Hugh Douglass, the big, tough “real” brotha attacked light skinned Michael Smith with the same slur. What does it say about us when we identify louts like Incognito and say to ourselves; “you know, that dude reminds me of a black man” I think I’ll give him honorary distinction.

Why wasn’t Ryan Tannehill, a seemingly great guy (who ran a 4.6 40 yard dash) and family man given “black guy” distinction? Is it because he’s too well adjusted? Why don’t Brotha’s give Payton Manning that distinction? is it because he’s authoritarian and black men don’t see themselves that way?. Too organized? What do you think of yourself if you think Richie Incognito is black?, I’m pretty sure there’s many Italian Americans who wouldn’t spit on his ass if he was on fire!-  because they  have the good sense to decry trash like “Mob Wives” while “we” love us some “Basketball Wives”.

Had Jonathan Martin killed Incognito’s “whole family” as his text message suggested would he then be black enough? “hard” enough to garner the respect of “real” brotha’s in the locker room. Do those African American “brotha’s” understand what the term (brotha) denotes? Do they understand what brotha’s have had to do in order to create an environment for them to showcase their talents for white consumers who idolize them? Real Brotha’s boycott the 1965 AFL All Star Game in New Orleans because local merchants called them “niggers”-how would Richie fare in that locker room?. Real Brotha’s like Jim Brown said things with conviction to the white establishment, and ruled a locker room that was 90% white finally retiring abruptly when Art Modell (and the Cleveland Media) addressed him as if he were chattel because he didn’t  report to camp when they wanted him to. Real Brotha’s are on some regal shit, and “Incognito’s” stay clear of them. Real Brotha’s made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame from small, Historically Black Institutions where young MEN were trained in every way (Mentally, Physically, Spiritually) to crush guys like Incognito. Real Black Men don’t frivolously associate with empty bullies, and they certainly don’t make him feel comfortable enough to do what they do and say what Incognito said. Real Black men don’t follow someone who is obviously mediocre; because real men can see for all his bluster this “guy” has never been a part of a dominant offensive line-he’s a clown. But then again I’m referring to real black men, while the Dolphins have shown themselves to be Nigga’s and Nigga’s are all about some substandard bullshit.

 

Open Letter To Adrien "Raw Dog" Broner: If You Really Had a "Big Brother"

 

 



I’m alone on this topic, but I feel I make enough valid points that people understand because we’ve all had complicated, duplicitous friendships-we all have had experiences with loved ones who want us to succeed on very limited terms. Mr. Broner, I’m not writing this in judgment of your conduct because I was once young, dumb and destructive like you-however I wasn’t young in the digital age. Also, I wasn’t rich, or semi (sorry kid) famous and I certainly didn’t have someone of Floyd Mayweather's caliber advocating and kinda pulling for me. A lot of young brotha’s have nobody, we come from poor family structures and the few of us with talent (like you) end up not having the skills to step out of destructive patterns of behavior into “responsible” wealth. By then Homies become dependents, and parental figures end up brushing our hair as we say things on TV that make us look like the sexually irresponsible savages bigots make us out to be- no I get it, it’s all “WorldStar” right?. At some point realize your mimicking what you “think” your “idol” did to get rich (flushing 20 dollar bills)  and now all of a sudden you find yourself boning a couple of skanks on somebodies cellphone. Did Floyd, you know your idol tell you he’s been there, done that? did he point out that most brotha’s don’t really get to his level without his with sex tapes?.

Did he even bother to tell you before you leaked it that Ray J went back to the Chitlin circuit after going that route? That the whole purpose of the tape is useless if you’re not banging an heir of some sort?

His Daddy (Mayweather Sr.) doesn’t know you like that, and the old man had no problem saying you aren’t exactly his son-in fact most view you as a knock off from the waist up. Not between the ears. When Floyd was your age he probably didn’t have a manager that could shove him down the throat of programmers and force him into PPV in his mid-20’s- do you honestly think you are working as hard as he did?. I mean how many older people take a liking to a cheap imitation (of themselves) who won’t have to work as hard to get paid-how old were you when your big brother was seriously at risk of becoming another underpaid black defensive specialist who can’t draw flies?. Do you think he really wants your career to be easier than his? so you can do this?.  He created the climate that allows you to coon for WorldStarHipHop, but acting like your Big Brother for a couple of years don’t guarantee you’ll be around as long. Do you know how many “next Michael Jordan’s, Michael Jacksons and Oscar De La Hoya’s” have come along? Hell Floyd has beaten about 4 of them. Do you think annoying black males benefit from sextapes the way pretty white girls do? You do know porn is about women right?, that no man of any real substance shows his face in these things, while Kim Kardashian took off Ray J became one of Floyds male groupies-kinda like you. These are things a Big Brother says to you, have you even noticed that as the zero’s added up on Floyd’s checks  his conduct (before camera’s) mellowed? It’s called “Covert Corporate conduct” little brotha.

And he won’t tell you about it.

Floyd Mayweather is not your mentor, if he were this video wouldn’t be out there, in fact he didn’t get to be where he is for so long keeping future threats from destroying themselves. You may learn this too late, you may learn this when your lifestyle catches up to you and you’re an old 30 while he’s still a pristine 42 with no reason to step down. By then you’ll realize what I’m saying now, and you’ll be bitter but unable to do anything about it, if Bernard Hopkins can do what he’s doing your "Big Brother” (with “help” you can’t afford) is more than capable of pulling the trick.

Payton Manning gave his little brother everything he has between the ears even at his own expense; do you think Eli could get away with acting the way you act today? Even with 2 Super Bowl rings? Not a chance. In fact the function of a Big Brother is to keep you from making some of the mistakes he made, sort of like a father without the lingering guilt of wanting to make him proud. How can Floyd be a Big Brother when he’s not really far removed from the same kind of chick? only a lot smarter. The only thing he can teach you outside of the ring is how to go from skanks with lay away tattoo’s to swapping DNA with Ray J (The Godfather of SIMPIN) through a “dime piece” who sets you up to be robbed while you’re in the ring.

Ever think of Giving B-HOP a Call?

Adrien, the best thing you can do is seek out older men who have made the transition from the hood in more than just money, because there’s nothing more detrimental than the lingering taste for trash. Your Big Brother won’t tell you he’s seen cats like you come and go, it’s not his job to stop you from playin yourself, but he will have a job for you washing his cars if you waste your talent chasing hood rats. He will help you when you’re washed up and no longer a threat and you can be his next Ishe Smith (no offense) at the rate you’re going. You see Adrien 17 years is a long time bruh, longer than Hopkins at middleweight and Joe Louis at Heavyweight, being a champion right now may be fitting but being immortal is completely different- and it isn’t a birthright. But I’m sure Floyd won’t tell you that, that’s right! Because he isn’t your big brother- he loves you like he loves any other flunky, from a distance. If he has imported anything to you it would be to get your money, and you little brother are really not good at that since he is clearly the “Boxing Bank”. He knows the longer you’re “at large” you won’t wake up to the hard cold facts, he also knows as long as you remain too stupid to walk through the front door of a bank (as he did in 2007) but willing to go around the block (literally and figuratively) for a beastie you will ultimately get what you deserve.

Nothing.

 

 

LeBron James Commercial: Further Proof We Have no "FACE OF BOXING"

My perspective is boxing, my sentiments are boxing, and as a sports lover I view other sports with my Boxing goggles on. As a niche sport we draw the eyeballs and interest of the sports world twice a year in correlation with the self-ordained “Face of Boxing” Floyd Mayweather's "Mexican stimulus plan". It’s a great gig for all of those involved but when you see LeBron James’ latest commercial you realize how far we’ve fallen in relevance-and this is relative to the overall lack of a real face to keep the sport in the more acceptable segments of our society. Actually we haven’t had that kind of figure since Ray Leonard, so even party animal Oscar De La Hoya failed to put a civilized face on the fight game.

Consider this, LeBron James circa 2010 was a pariah due to his exit from Middle America and now he’s in two of the most heartwarming commercials on air today! The commercial that highlights LeBron playing with his sons while his wife records them with the new LG Galaxy smartphone is one of the more humanizing pieces of propaganda I’ve seen in years. Mind you, he’s tattooed, he “knows” rappers and he wants his money the same as Floyd Mayweather- he just chose to not make these traits a significant part of his persona. Our guy markets himself on it not realizing elite products “whisper” exclusivity- Floyd could have easily been in Diddy’s vodka commercials but he exudes the kind of wealth classy wealth avoids .LeBron can actually sell his character, and thus the brand as well as his sport, even in Football season. We have a “face” with a rather contentious relationship with women (aka “family), a man who loves his kids (like any parent) but most of his private footage is filled with stooges and blank faced booty models staring at their phones. Just a bunch of people sitting around listening to him talk shit. If there is anything likeable about any Boxer Madison Avenue wouldn’t know it, LeBron’s “family” commercial made me think of Andre Ward who isn’t anonymous due to style alone. He’s also in a sport that sends the clear message that black boxers have to be jackasses to get merely noticed, something resorted to by Floyd- because black folks are NBA fans.

When Floyd tells you “Boxing isn’t a gentleman’s game” he’s right but that isn’t the point, and it certainly isn’t an excuse for why he isn’t in that damned commercial- he isn’t marketable because he’s unlikeable. And believe it or not, that makes Boxing unlikeable- commercials often lie, and we don’t even have representatives smart enough to lie to people who want to be lied to.

Once upon a time(more like 1981) an African American BOXER smiled and did a commercial for a soft drink that is still on the shelves at your local grocery store. His then adorable son made the commercial iconic by answering kids who called Sugar Ray Champ “no, that’s just my dad” and it worked-so much so that LeBron James and Samsung used the formula today. Money don't make you the face of an industry, in fact if that industry is marginalized and you are the “face” you shouldn’t brag about it. Even the President is experiencing some shame due to the Affordable Health Care Act bearing his name, if he was a Boxer he’d be bragging about the shit. Floyd Mayweather is the leader in boxing generating earnings, nothing more, to be the “face” of something you have to be an ambassador and we haven’t really had one since Sugar Ray Leonard. In terms of endorsement, our sport resembles the Dave Chappelle skit “When keeping it real” goes horribly wrong- and with Adrien Broner “on deck” look for this trend to continue into the foreseeable future.

Basketball gets cute Family Commercials, We get Sex Tapes.

 

 

Mayweather vs Canelo Post Fight Press Conference EXCLUSIVE

CANELO: IN OVER HIS HEAD; UNTIL HE ISN'T, BOXING AND PRODIGY

Flunky De jure Leonard Ellerbe would say the former, that the red headed Mexican is yet another version of “insert Latin opponent here” and many of you agree. Picking Floyd to win at this stage in his career isn’t the mark of “knowing some shit about boxing” as Uncle Roger would say; it would merely be seen as a sign of playing it safe. But where’s the imagination in that? And what can be more exciting than seeing a young man grow into himself before your eyes? History would illustrate that Floyd Mayweather (despite the issue of size) is as safe a bet as a primed Mike Tyson or Sonny Liston, but time tells us conventional wisdom is often offset when a prodigy arrives. We can plan on reliable veterans like Miguel Cotto putting on a great show, but we never know when a youngster decides he is more than what you’ve labeled him as. Canelo asked for Floyd, and Floyd “asked” (no I’m not buying it Leonard) that he chop off a leg which is telling given the fact that Floyd reminds us that he beat De La Hoya “at his weight” of 154 lbs. That concession alone is foretelling, evidence that Mayweather wasn’t too secure against the unforeseen, that unpredictable element a prodigious youth can provide.

Floyd is a genius at messaging, but the trait we love and hate about young folks is that they don’t listen. Canelo is famously serine, a byproduct of being thrown into an adult setting so young like many Mexican greats.

Ultimately the “Money Team” got around to letting all opponents know they aren’t used to being “under the bright lights” and they are in over their heads. Usually this may be a fact with anyone giving up huge advantages in Big Fight experience and skill, except in the rare case of the prodigy, something Floyd knows all about. He may be comfortable with “the stage” but the stage will always be in concert with nature, when the time has come it (the stage) will send no notice. Floyd himself was “the kid” all the way back in 1998 when he stepped in against Genaro Hernandez and looking back on it we forget the common wisdom that he was moving a bit too fast. What we didn’t know then and still don’t know now is the exact time a “would be” prodigy blossoms, but when they do it is always at the expense of an All Time Great. Could “All Access” or “24/7” have been able to capture a hint of anything in 1964 when Cassius Clay bloomed into a big, athletic postmodern heavyweight? I doubt it, because even Clay wasn’t as sure as history leads you to believe. We only see the prospect being “moved” (Mayweather points out Canelo’s presence on undercards)  with expertise up a ladder but we never see any hard evidence of greatness, Canelo like most is a “subject” of projections-even Floyd himself contends he’ll be “great someday”. We however tend to be like Floyd, watching and calculating based on data  (analyzing past performances against common foes)  so we have to remain cold and analytical about something that really isn’t when youth is involved. Ever notice men raising daughters always find out too late she’s developed into a young woman right under the same roof? because we look at hard evidence like birth certificates-we don’t do day to day.

In Boxing a youngster coming of age can be extremely dangerous to elders.

Young people have the benefit of contempt for authority and “order”, a 30 year old is more likely to start mentally spending his money when Floyd Mayweather starts whipping counters over his jab than a prodigy who inherently is willing to die. When faced with assured destruction an experienced “man” (Cotto, Guerrero) knows how to subdue his internal adrenalin just enough to lack urgency- while young George Foreman did what he “did” to Joe Frazier because he was scared shitless. Even Bernard Hopkins had to learn which youngsters it was ok to mess with, Mayweather just might be messing with the wrong kid.

Cotto didn’t think he was conceding, because only a 23 year old version of himself can tell him this. Alvarez in his youth is less likely to “think” Saturday night and I applaud this because it’s the “thinking” that gets Mayweather opponents in trouble. Floyd’s father can predict fatigue with a world of credibility but since when has he or his son been 23? Do they even remember what that sense of immortality feels like? Floyd’s underrated chin is rarely checked, and when it has been it has been at the hands of “men” like Judah and Mosley who either peeter out or admire their work- Canelo is a boy and vicious boys break things.

There is no prodigy (Tyson, Chavez Sr., Louis etc.) in the history of Boxing you wanted to “see” at 23 regardless of “who” they were facing-the only question is will Canelo join this group.

“If” Canelo is a prodigy he will be childlike, precocious and destructive, unaware that he isn’t “supposed” to be doing what he’s doing- because revolutions are always initiated by the young. Most of Boxing’s vandalism is committed by young men hell-bent on letting you know they “exist”, what better way to announce this than to piss on a monument?. 30 year olds succumb to chess players like Floyd, but a prodigious 23 year old may just have the balls (and youthful clarity) to flip the damned chess board over. It never crossed Wilfred Benitez’s mind he was only 17 when he did what he did to Antonio Cervantes in 1976, and given what followed he didn’t have any reverence for the feat afterwards. He thought he’d do stuff like that forever, but age taught him that forever is written in blood.  Canelo is so young that he (like Yusiel Puig) can do a lot of things “wrong” but end up doing the big things right, like most new music genres that coincidently always kill off  superior musicians with guts and intensity alone.

It’s up to Canelo if he is to be Johnny Rotten, Kirk Cobain or Grandmaster Flash. And it will be our pleasure to lie about it 10 years from now (as we do with Floyd) and say “I told you so”.

Floyd playing the “Resume Card”

Floyd likes to hold his resume against every opponent reminding them of his legacy and all of the great fighters he’s defeated. 21-0 in Championship bouts is worthy of a TMT T Shirt but it too can be debased in a blood sport like Boxing, if Canelo is committed to putting Floyd on his ass there’s no piece of paper in the world that will save him. Mayweather's confidence (and comfort)  is well founded because 17 years is a long time, so long that his critics can’t even talk to a whole segment of his fan base  who were 10 years old  in 2002-many of them (like Canelo) are 23.

Let’s play a little “name game”, what do Doug Jones, Andy Price, Pete Ranzany and Tony Pep all have in common? These were all guys who faught Ray Leonard, Cassius Clay, and Floyd Mayweather before they “became” who they are and none of them were of the caliber of Austin Trout. In fact none of these men have a victory over a fighter the caliber of Miguel Cotto before facing the 3 prodigies listed above.

Canelo may suffer from our perception of what a prodigy “is” because we generally associate this moniker with athletic, slick boxers. Prodigious fighters simply have to be talented and mature beyond their years, had Cotto (32) punched in the combination (and variation) of a “green” Canelo in his 2012 bout with Floyd he may have again been the opponent this past May. Even Shane Mosley warns not of power (Floyd has seen it all) but maturity, the kind of “grown man” skills that won’t tip his hand so early in a fight like older contemporaries. When Floyd was young legendary trainers spoke of subtleties and nuance unseen since the 1940’s and Canelo (if prodigious) may possess some of the same intricacy. In terms of confidence Floyd may be looking at the closest facsimile of himself (between the ears) since he started his bankable run as Boxing’s PPV star.

Prodigy is not of our making, and seeing one emerge is one of the more magical aspects in Boxing because they come along so rarely. Canelo Alvarez “is” in way over his head, until he isn’t; and that alone is why this is not just another fight.

This is The One

 

A Mafia Primer For Billie Jean King

By all accounts the late Bobby Riggs was a hustler, the kind of guy who was neither above throwing a tennis match nor taking it to the grave. Given what the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match symbolically meant to our society we seemed to be alarmed by this despite claiming we’ve “matured” as a country. As a proud father of a beautiful young woman I could care less if the match was (unbeknownst to King)  “fixed”; there are far more egregious crimes that have over time led to unintended positive outcomes- like the original eugenics based aims of Planned Parenthood for example. The only thing I find disturbing is how adamant and defiant King is all these years later, as if the revelation would somehow erase the irrefutable progress women have made as a result of this landmark event. Her response is so naïve that it serves as a primer in what wrestlers used to call “living the bit” and King dare I say is taking  her role as female trailblazer to extreme levels of tunnel vision. So, in the spirit of history and as a little education for my feminist friends who may not be so aware of the Organized Crime resume allow me to present a few of the Mobs “Greatest Hits”.

At the time of “The Battle of the Sexes” the Mob controlled most aspects of human activity in this country through the takeover of unions. In fact you couldn’t do anything in New York including building a skyscraper without paying a Mob Tax. Even the tennis outfit on Kings back had to be transported somewhere, and the Mob controlled the trucking via the garment district. If they chose to squeeze the manufacturer of Kings Garments she wouldn’t receive them no matter how much she was able to pay or the apparel company that endorsed her. All illegal gambling was still being controlled by the mob in 73’, and they probably had their tentacles into the unions of the cameramen who recorded the event. The Chicago Mob shut down the movie industry back in the 40’s by way of union, and even Francis Ford Coppola ceded editorial approval to gangsters when making “The Godfather” only 2 years before your match. That’s right Billie; if Vinnie in Yonkers isn’t satisfied with a kickback the event never happens, and maybe Title 9 is pushed backed 5 years. In fact if certain factions of the Mob wanted you to play the match in Sinatra’s backyard we’d have timeless footage of “Ole Blue Eyes” serenading you with “The Lady is a Tramp” after the match. Your selling them short if you think they couldn’t fix a tennis match in 1973 especially one involving a compulsive gambler who ended up working at the Tropicana ( A Vegas Mob joint) when he couldn’t swing a racket anymore.

The Mob was commissioned during World War Two to protect the New York Harbor from the Germans, imagine the most powerful country in the world needed Lucky Luciano- a guy already in Prison for “Compulsory Prostitution” to flex his street muscle on the waterfront. The Mob also had boots on ground in the “Bay of Pigs” because they lost millions in Cuba when Castro took over; do they teach this history to tennis prodigies? Santo Traficante and Carlos Marcello (mentioned in ESPN’s Outside the Lines piece) are alleged to have had an interest in killing President Kennedy due to that “Bay of Pigs” fiasco and Bobby Kennedy’s dogged persecution of Mob bosses. They also succeeded in “whacking” Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in 1938 and he was sitting next to President Roosevelt when they did it! By lone “nut” of course, your match was just another easy score Billie- not even outside of the realm of “daily chores”.

They are rumored to have fixed the elections of 1948 (Dewey Defeats Truman!) and 1960 so fixing a tennis match is not a problem. The Organization worked on the outer fringes of the criminal world and worked with the CIA for the better part of your life Billie, don’t think for one minute that what you were doing for women was too “big” for men who have taken aim at Political figures foreign and domestic.

But let’s get back to Sports.

Ever heard of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal? Who do you think fixed that series? Arnold Rothstein, the Godfather of illegal gambling-also a man who viewed athletes as “rubes”. The ran the “action” in horseracing and often fed J Edgar Hoover “winners” that he gladly cashed in at the ticket booth, later he would stalk any movement pushing for civil rights. What about that little 1951 College Basketball point shaving scandal that entangled Adolph Rupp’s “holier than thou” Kentucky basketball machine?- ask Connie Hawkins if the mob was prevalent in sports during your time. The Mob ran Boxing when Don King was in diapers (or jail) from the 1930’s through the rise of Cassius Clay- I’m sure you were old enough to remember when “The Greatest” knocked Sonny Liston loopy with a slap to the head. Unlike you he had the termerity to yell "Get up you bum, aint nobody gonna believe this!”  

Sonny Liston didn’t even get a shot at the title until he was well past his prime, he was a union leg breaker for the same kind of men who wouldn’t give a rats ass about the social implications of your tennis match Ms. King. In 1960 the Senate Subcommittee convened an investigation into Boxing and determined Liston should severe ties with the Mob, and they still may have fixed both of his fights with Ali- someone we’ll talk about 100 years from now. If you were “in” to these guys as Bobby “The Happy Hustler” Riggs was the impetus would be to get out of the red before something bad happened, something a lot of sheltered, self-congratulatory hippies don’t understand.

I only hope this little primer can enlighten and serve as a little slice of reality to those who are so “cause” oriented they lose track of harsh truths that will never be changed. Bad men sometimes profit from much needed social change, in fact they often fund it for ulterior gains. The Prophets of the 60’s and 70’s were merely human; many of them were brave but were too young and powerless to control the swirling corruption that surrounded them.

If Gloria Steinem can cash a CIA check Billie Jean King can be victim of a gambling coup, the bottom line is my daughter is better for both women having “done their thing”. Ms. King you should be contented in the fruits of the game not the game itself, because without the game the world would be a much different place for millions of women. You my dear are unforgettable, and the shadowy men who may have impacted that particular event are relegated to Biography Channel documentaries and hackneyed Mob movies. History is written by the winners, but we no longer have to blindly take their words as truth, isn’t that what your generation was about? Your victory was much bigger in the prism of history but in 1973 the Mafia was “King”- accept your long-term contribution with the grace and dignity the manicured greens of tennis enforce, you have nothing to be ashamed of Billie.

Love, Set, Match….King

 

Johnny Football: Still Wanna Cast him As Antibellum Saviour?

It’s been a while since black Sports writers have floated the Plantation terminology to describe the NCAA hustle as defacto minor leagues without the pay. The truth is somewhere in the middle because minor league baseball players and D-League “tweeners” don’t travel like the SEC. Colin Cowherd, these guys are working the glue gun at the Nike Factory and I find it hard to believe the average BMOC is somehow “exploited” as he climbs from beneath his hottie pyramid just in time for practice. Jalen Rose won’t talk about the free Nikes, the test takers, lifelong contacts nor the groupies magically appearing in C-Webb’s room- because it would cramp his image as Freedom Fighter. Today we’ll see someone we love to see in the second half of the Texas A&M vs. Rice Football game and I wonder how my fellow brotha’s and sista’s feel about casting him as the one to free all of the slaves chained to the training table.

One Half Suspensions, he’ll be back in the game for I run a spellcheck on this bitch.

When “we” (Black Folks) want to drop napalm we use language to paint endless rows of cotton and an overseer’s whip, we use it to make a point but when things go sideways we back away from it- because it wasn’t fair in the first place. But since the NCAA is a Plantation/Slave labor system lets have some fun, let’s play this shit through and talk about what just happened in the case of the “white slave” that basically let “Massa” know by way of class “they’ll be no whipping here boss”. That’s right, Black and Progressive Sports journalists were quick to cast Manziel as anti-establishment and today proves once and for all he is “establishment”. How do you "Fight the Power" when your daddy “is” the power? I find it imposable that Sports writers are too sheltered to know that if Big Oil can dictate to a President ( and participate in killing one) they give a shit about a bunch of low level crooks like the NCAA. From day one the kid was going to do what he wanted to do, the “whipping” post are for African American athletes who don’t come from “Fuck You” money, sorry Dez Bryant it was never gonna be “fair” and you should know that.

Texas A&M’s Coach Kevin Sumlin certainly wasn’t going to take a lead in this fiasco; his only choice was to be emasculated by the process by a 20 year old who can buy him if he wanted. The NCAA can barely hire Black Coaches let alone allow one they just paid hush money to “be” a moral leader in the vein of a Bear Bryant, in the Plantation system Coach Sumlin was just happy to be there. In ways the handling of this is a reflection of our legal system which is why “Lil Football” never as much as broke a sweat, he’s 20, you think he don’t know there’s different rules for the white and rich? The NCAA will “Stop and Frisk” the poor and the black while telling them they should be thankful they’re giving the brotha a chance to make them money-Manziel knows better. He’s so blatant he often appears on ESPN wearing Bohemian Grove ( a creepy conference for right wing “elites”) apparel- he’s nobodies “slave” he’s from a class of people who view people making $100,000 a year as slaves. All the brotha’s on his team have to kick ass today if they have any hope of getting out of the hell they’ve been subscribed to by birth. All Johnny has to do is make sure he don’t kill his damn fool self in coming years and he’ll be fine, there’s nothing to escape and the world is his plantation.

 In Closing

During indentured Servitude Whites and Blacks new to this country banded together and went at the landed gentry-we had numbers and they knew it. Race and the purgatory of slavery was created to separate us, it also gave poor exploited whites something (white supremacy) they could hold onto despite being hungry as hell. Johnny Manziel was never a poster child for reforming the NCAA system; he’s an outlier, a rich white kid who can play some damned ball. He was never going to make a big sacrifice to change anything; he’s the product of the kind of men who create such a sweet hustle. It’s not slavery, it’s a racket and American Rackets with staying power are carried out by white men in suites-those carried out by black men in saggy jeans (or Italians in Fedora’s) eventually expire. Reckless behavior will always be about “who” is doing said reckless behavior, Tyrell Pryor’s “reckless” is that of a streetwise borderline criminal “adult” while Manziels Pro styled signing session is the folly of a cute kid. Before Black people giggle at Manziel's attorneys “yeah but can you prove it?” swag understand that if he were black and poor he would be living under a more circumstantial standard of proof. This is true of his teammates who can’t possibly want to follow someone who threw a hurtful reality in their faces, one they always knew was there but nothing they wanted to see in their Quarterback.

Who wants to pick Cotton next to someone who can walk on and off the Plantation at will? And how would William C. Roden and other critics of the NCAA “frame” this. This story was always a class story, another reminder that institutions are put in place for the benefit and protection of the rich not the soon to be rich. Johnny Manziel can openly brand himself and profit from his fame because Oil Money trumps the lightweight money the NCAA mob is making off of the “Black Gold” in poor neighborhoods. Black folks love them some Johnny Football and the fact that he will kick it with LeBron because he can but never forget when LeBron exercised his right to "brand" in Miami after honoring a contract his former owner damned near called him a “runaway”. Manziel may be too small and erratic to ever be a pro, or he may be in the tradition of Drew Breese and Russell Wilson-but one thing he’ll never be is “property”.

He was Never going to be anybody’s “Boy” because he’s a future “Good Ole Boy” in shoulder pads.

HUGH DOUGLASS EXITING STAGE LEFT AFTER BLACK ON BLACK SLUR

ESPN is a corporate media giant who I do not resent; in fact if there was any corporate behemoth I would allow to RSDI chip me it would be them-fuck Facebook. But ESPN is refreshingly augmented by websites like Deadspin who call them on their shit and force them to do stuff that in their usual cold corporate matrix they’d rather keep from you. Colin Cowherd dismisses it as “gotcha media” but what he’s missing is some “gotcha” is extremely important and can lead to much larger discussions on society and ethics. In fact, you almost have to have video evidence of something occurring or monoliths like ESPN will kill the story with the astonishing frequency-it are what they call “the good old days”. Can anyone explain how the network was “posted” up at Eagles training camp to document “racial controversy” when they had one in their own house? They chose Riley Cooper oversaturation, and it’s unfortunate because there wasn’t much anyone outside of the Eagles locker room could learn from it.

What Hugh Douglass said to Michael Smith at the Black Journalist Convention was a slur, but it was in a controlled setting filled with super smart folks who don’t pull out the IPhone when something bad happens. Hugh Douglass was drunk off his ass, and threatening but ESPN is using the fact that his conduct didn’t go “viral” as an invitation to go “old school”- when institutions hid everything from the ignorant masses because they could. But since it was important for us to grow up a little and realize that “Good ole Boys” can be NFL wide outs why shouldn’t we be mature enough to discuss “what black people do to other black people”?

Not one Black ESPN “on air” personality known for intellectual invectives took aim at Hugh Douglass last week- you see it’s much easier when the target for outrage is external so this matter was deemed “internal”. The personalities all “seem” like they are socially conscious African Americans who feel deeply for the community- and yet all of them agreed to a gag order from on high. Michael Wilbon can take on “the” Roger Goodell for not suspending Riley Cooper but not Hugh Douglass for perpetuating the worst in Plantation psyche jobs devouring the mentality of black folks?. Some of us grew up hearing “Uncle Tom” and “House Nigga” from people we knew more than hearing what we heard from “goobers” like Riley Cooper. For all we know many of the black on air talent probably didn’t believe Rob Parker deserved annihilation for his silly RG3 statement, but unlike Douglass Parker’s nonsense was disseminated by millions on air. “Cornball Brotha” is merely code for what Douglass actually said to Smith, something no black man should have to take from another, Smith was within the code of arms to “square up” against Douglass as reported and he shouldn’t have to hold his tongue about it. If ESPN can talk extensively about the N word they can open up the Outside the Lines studio for one black man calling another Black Man “Uncle Tom” and “House Nigga”. The Philadelphia Eagles as a brand didn’t matter enough to spare when the story had social relevance so why the hypocrisy when it’s the ESPN brand?

Douglass is gone now, fired unceremoniously, nothing to talk about here folks, besides if blacks stopped hating one another who knows what might happen.

I know I’m talking foolishness; it’s a “dog eat dog” corporate environment where nobody is in the business of showing their own warts to elicit “conversation”. Douglass just kind of disappeared and all that’s left is Smith doing one hell of a job of not mentioning him on a “His and hers” (Aug. 8^th) podcast on the topic of “forgiveness” as it pertains to Riley Cooper. How he could talk about forgiveness for racial slurs while not even hinting in the slightest how he may have some forgiving to do? It must be hard to swallow; until direct deposit kicks in. Listening to @LebatardShow on “790 the Ticket” last week was a tsunami on race, from Riley Cooper to why the white leprechaun “Johnny Football” is the face of NCAA reform despite brotha’s being vilified for the same acts for years- and not a peep about Hugh Douglass. Lebatard admitted it (Manziel) was a “blind spot” and brought in the brilliant Bomani Jones to add black perspective on the topic and it was magic, that is if you like cringe worthy stuff like “race talk”. And yet even he whiffed last week on Hugh Douglass, the one host in Sports Radio who revels in pointing out racial dynamics, the Cuban American who mourns the death of “journalism” has no idea what happened at a journalism conference where most of his friends where.

Such is the nature of “Uncle Tom”, liberals don’t know what to do with the things we do to one another, despite the fact that some of them have endured the same kinds of hazing. Michael Smith wasn’t hearing this for the first time, and had Barack Obama grown up in Chicago instead of Hawai’i he would have surely heard it from some idiot at school. ESPN as a publicly traded company has every right to protect their corporate perception, but you would think a network that has the balls to put on a roundtable regarding race would allow people of color to speak honestly about the ugliness of what Douglass said. Many of us hated when Bill O’ Reilly took the gloves off and called us out on our unwillingness to confront those who destroy our community head on- and he’s right.

God forbid we say anything to Lil Wayne, he’s paid son!

We won’t confront anyone within the community who hurts the community; because our outrage is selective and we nurture a climate that leads to silence in the face of blacks who hate other blacks. Can you imagine if black folks went after glorification of sex and criminality the way they went after Stand your Ground? Hugh Douglass was no drunker than Riley Cooper and his destructive words were more hurtful because many of us have to deal with that pathology in our own damned families. Many of us have to deal with pent up resentments from people we love about aesthetics we can’t control like skin color and diction - it would have been nice to see sports “once again” do what society often can’t. Many of ESPN’s talent had to endure having their authenticity questioned growing up; many of them were surrounded by ignorance just like that shown by Douglass- they deserved to speak their piece last week. If ESPN can ‘kill” this story to the point where nobody can even discuss  “what black folks do to one another” shouldn’t they forfeit the right to sensationalize what others may (or may not) do to us?.

Who was safer, the security guard 20 feet from Riley Cooper surrounded by cellphones or Michael Smith face to face with a 290 lb. ex-Football player and a room full of “company men”?.

 

 

The Devil and Riley Cooper, A Letter of Thanks

Dear Riley,

First off I’d like to send my condolences and prayers to you Riley because you will need them in these unforgiving times. I also send them to the poor woman who was merely trying to do her job on the day she was unfairly slurred by you. We live in a time when technology has robbed us from the opportunity to endeavor perspective and nuance, and the right to take a fully developed picture of a situation and give it context. Sound bites can tear through a person’s humanity and 140 characters can ruin a lifetime of goodwill- Riley, you will have a long fight ahead of you and for that I wish you emotional stamina and a true conviction for change. I don’t have to look at your video more than once to put myself in your shoes; and I’m sad to say there are anonymous MILLIONS old enough to be your parents who may be in your shoes at some bar tonight.

It is part of a sick irony that technology now gives us tremendous access to people we would have never been able to access in the past and yet we are no closer to people like you. I’m sure right now part of this bubble you live in makes you recoil in horror because there has to be something evil about the worst moments of a person’s life being uploaded and “shared” in perpetuity-something the devil had to have made. And yet in your darkest moment I do offer this shred of light, you may have provided some black people clarification on a word that seems to keep us all hostages due to its complicated, and mystifying contextual history.

The Word NIGGER

You see Riley your young enough to be my son and Black folks your age grew up hearing the word from people they admire, Rappers who have money and access to a larger culture-people who can afford to be “Nigga’s”. A lot of them can’t speak well, have over-tattooed their bodies conspicuously and can hardly make it through an interview but them view the word as a benign replacement for “friend”, “male” or “person”. They aren’t to blame Riley, and I’m sure you’ve sweated and bled with a lot of “Nigga’s” yourself, those 20 something’s were born that way based on what “we” of Generation X led them to believe. We “OG’s” had little regard for our parents struggles when we were coming up in the 1980’s and we took full advantage of the right to be ignorant, aimless and unobligated to history. Black people in the 80’s were hell-bent on transcending race so we left the word and it’s context to the young who (in typical rebellion) commoditized it and made it “chic”-you know like a pair of Jordan’s.

There was more actual racism back then, and frankly the way you said that “word” reminded me of the way I used to hear it (old school) from the Corvettes that patrolled the white neighborhoods in my Midwestern hometown. It never seemed to soften then, and we had little respect for the fact that we had the “right” to confront those guys in the Corvette once we saw them again- we didn’t realize 20 years previous we’d have died for even thinking about retribution. We were a generation full of inconsistency and hypocrisy Riley, we’d hunt those white boys down while at the same time poking fun at any older person who actually “lived” through Jim Crow. So I thank you for saying it with malice and vicious (yet fitting) intent, the way the word was always meant to be said because at this unique time in our history in America we needed to hear it.

 

Limousine Liberals and intellectuals can talk until they’re blue in the face but nothing is more effective than the darkness WE ALL have in our human spirit. We all have prejudices and hang-ups and they come up when we’re “letting off steam”. They come out when we are amongst the tribe that “trendies” at MSNBC tries to tell us no longer exists, our racial tribe. They also come up in Black barbershops as quickly as they do at Kenny Chesney concerts, vile words come up when we are comfortable. I would assume you have a lot of “steam” competing in a violent competitive game, and playing a position that is stereotypically played by blacks- welcome to the “not so welcome” minority Riley. I’m sure in your environment you’ve seen all kinds of “darkness” and yet Football gives you all (like Mike Vick) a chance to grow and work together for a common cause, despite some of the faults and prejudices you’ve picked up along the way. No wonder some view Football as the one true “religion” in America. Black folks are far from an NFL team, because an NFL team is intolerant of any lack of unity and focus- “Nigger” is one of the hundreds of things we can’t seem to agree upon, and if we were a “team” we’d be 8-8, talented yet often our own worst enemy. You grew up around “us” I’m sure of it, so there’s no doubt our conundrum about identity confused you in some way indirectly. I’m pretty sure our hang-ups about the word only contributed to the antilocution you experienced growing up around your white peers, we may no longer be “strange fruit” Riley, but we are still a strange people.

Just look at a former Eagle Hugh Douglass, and how easily alcohol caused him to use hurtful slurs towards another black man, words that date all the way back to Bullwhip days.

I forgive you Riley, and I know your contrition will aide you in your sensitivity moving forward even though I don’t believe one can be trained to be politically correct at all times. If we could all be cured of hateful words (and attitudes) in 4 days we would all be mandated under compulsory service to do so, in my case the 12 day package would suffice.  Life isn’t politically correct and I’m sure NFL locker rooms can be the least “correct” places in the world so hopefully your teammates practice some empathy like they do “special teams”. Forgiveness is a subjective art, and I’ve made the decision to view what you did as not uncommon and certainly not out of the realm of youth- but I don’t to trust you to hold on to the ball either. I choose to focus more on viewing your viciousness and tenor as a “gift” to the confused community I hail from; a reminder that nothing inherently ugly can ever be spruced up to resemble something beautiful. Thanks to you the lipstick put on this “pig” by countless Rappers and 2 apathetic generations will never make that “pig” anything more than a pig. You aren’t a Rapper, nor did you rationalize what you said, you were one drunk pissed off dude who went for the vilest thing you can say in a moment of rage and I can totally relate to that.

I can also relate to how disgusted you are in yourself right now; and all of your real friends will see that and honor it-trust me I know. However I can’t relate to power, the kind that stems from being white, male and wealthy like yourself- I have more in common with the security guard you yelled at and like her I won’t forget. I also won’t forget that your mistake can be a “teachable moment” for us all, and we never get too old for self-examination. Instead of hating you we should see this as a moment of catharsis for ourselves,  a moment too valuable to put a value on, and we all know Rappers don't do anything for free. Apathy is the opiate for a myriad of sins, and without apathy the devil is never able to do his “work”, in other words evil isn’t something you play zone against- and for too long Blacks have played “Cover 2” on this word while you proved we should always be in “press cover man to man”. And for this we (who see this for what it is) thank you and I for one wish you nothing less than redemption.

Sincerely,

A Black Man