John McGraw, Andy Reid, And Black Quarterbacks

by with One Comment FeaturedSports

The 2019 National Football League season will go down as a very special football season for many years to come. It was the 100th season of the National Football League in which they announced their 100 greatest players in league history. Secondly, it was the first season in which several Black quarterbacks were amongst the league’s best. With Baltimore Ravens Quarterback, Lamar Jackson winning the NFL MVP and Mahomes being the second Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl MVP, the league showcased what sensible people knew all along: Black quarterbacks are just as capable of leading their teams to victory as White quarterbacks – a mindset that still lingers in some fans, and even worse, some front-office decision-makers. 

We’ve come a long way in American sports regarding race. We still have a lot more progress to make on race and gender issues in sports; however, this article will highlight how far we’ve come. 

I want to tell the story of a great Baseball manager, John McGraw, and how his story serves as an example of racial progression in sports. 

Most people have never heard of the legendary baseball manager John McGraw. McGraw, a man who died in 1934, is still considered “the best player to become a great manager” in baseball history. John played and managed his entire Major League Baseball career without ever having the opportunity to do so with any Black or nonwhite player. Unlike many of his contemporaries, McGraw did follow players and teams of the Negro Leagues. He did so up until his death, in which his wife found in his pocket a list of all the Black players he wanted to sign over the years. McGraw would never come close to being able to sign any Negro League players, for the league would not become integrated until the arrival of Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Unlike John McGraw, Andy Reid’s coaching career is most unique regarding race relations in sports. As mentioned before, the racism surrounding Black quarterbacks has kept hundreds of would-be good Black quarterbacks from being just that, quarterbacks. Which has led, up until very recently, in any given NFL season a handful of black starting quarterbacks. 

Since Andy Reid’s coaching debut in 1999 to winning Super Bowl LIV, for the bulk of those years Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Patrick Mahomes were his starting quarterbacks. In other words, in an NFL where only a handful of Black Quarterbacks exist, Reid has coached three of them over his entire career. Reid and McGraw are clearly alike, it should be about the players, not the politics. 

Hopefully, articles like this won’t be necessary in the upcoming years for the hysteria around Black quarterbacks simply won’t matter, only if he’s got it or if he doesn’t. More importantly, never again will a manager or coach have to go to their grave not being able to sign a player simply because of the color of their skin.

Similar Read: Will Black Quarterbacks Dominate the NFL in 10 Years?

(Pros in Area Codes) Outside of DC and Houston, Did the World Series Matter?

by with No Comment FeaturedSports

I’m dating myself, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers the Ludacris hit “Area Codes” featuring the late Nate Dogg. Ludacris raps about having women in different cities shouting them out not by their name or city, but by area code. 

The song was an instant hit, but the part that was special for each listener is when Ludacris dropped your area code or area codes you actually knew. (Remember, this song was released in 2001 before incoming phone calls displayed the area code of the caller’s city.)  

It’s been a long time since the single Area Codes was on the billboard charts, similar to another major hit from back in the day that hasn’t seen much love recently. 

And that hit… is literally about hitting… Baseball. 

Yes… in case you live in Washington, DC or Houston, Texas (202 and 713 respectfully) you probably didn’t care much about the classic 7 game World Series that took place between the Washington Nationals… excuse me… the WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS Washington Nationals (yes I’m still a DC sports fan while living in Texas) and the Houston Astros. 

That’s because like Luda’s Area Codes only being special for area codes you know… the once number #1 sport in America has now been reduced to a regional game. Meaning you’re likely only watching baseball if your team is playing, but not much else. 

Which is a shame, because baseball was still very popular around the time “Area Codes” was on the radio. The likes of Derek Jeter and Barry Bonds were household names equal to their NBA and NFL counterparts.

Not anymore. 

Spotify ain’t checking for Ludacris anymore and people aren’t checking for baseball either. 

Baseball for the foreseeable future will continue to distance itself from specifically younger non-white viewers. A trend that says more about the increasing cultural divide between generations and demographics. 

In victorious Washington D.C., viewership was the highest for any MLB telecast since 1998. However, the Game 7 World Series clincher marked the lowest-rated and least-watched Game 7 of the Fall Classic on record. The previous marks were the Giants-Royals in 2014. 

Outside the big markets/teams (Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers), MLB will continue to be the greatest example of an American pro sports league with exciting game 7’s… that somehow find themselves competing with meaningless NBA scuffles… in November. 

If MLB wants to improve their viewership and ratings, maybe they should try to appeal to younger generations and more demographics. If they don’t want to, then I guess they’ll continue to do what they’re doing. 

Similar Read: Candy Corn Sports… What Happened to Baseball?

A MAN WAS LYNCHED YESTERDAY

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

This weekend I experienced overt racism in Arizona.

400 years after the first African human beings arrived in shackles to the shores of the then English colony, Virginia.

162 years after a Chief Supreme Court Justice informed the plaintiff, a free Black man, that he could not try his case as he was not considered a person in the eyes of the American legal system.

72 years to the day after Major League Baseball allowed the first human with Black skin to play a professional sport in Brooklyn.

51 years after a reverend with a peaceful dream was gunned down on a balcony in Memphis.

2 years after sixty-three million Americans got dressed, left their homes, and cast a vote for the sitting President.

1 year after a Lynching Memorial, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, opened in Alabama.

I, a Black American, experienced overt racism in an upscale Arizona restaurant in the year of our Lord 2019.

I’d love to tell you the full story but I refuse. Short of being referred to outside of my given name, the story unfolds in just the way you’d imagine it would.

I shared the story with my Black friends and they responded with a Bran Stark level of surprise.

I shared the story with my White friends and they responded with a Jaime Lannister level of shock.

It’s a tale as old as time. One that Black folks are all too familiar with and one that White folks are all too unfamiliar with.

As if I had forgotten, I was reminded that my blackness is still not welcome in American dining establishments. As the incident was unravelling, I quickly assessed what was happening and it felt like time began to slow down. The moment Black folks fear on a daily basis was actually happening.

This was not a drill. Man your battle stations. We are under attack.

I remained calm, composed, and graceful in navigating our group out of the situation. Not because of anything that I actively train for but because my DNA is hardwired for survival in these moments.

I always walk away from these incidents feeling like I cheated death. Like a victorious warrior in the Roman Colosseum, you almost want to let out a primal roar. However, I moved on clutching to my dignity, my pride, and knowing that my ancestors are always guiding me.

Then minutes go by, then hours, and then days and you struggle to breathe because you still smell that foul odor all around you.

It’s like stepping in a massive pile of dog shit. You look to wipe your shoes in the nearest puddle of water. You find a stick to pick out the particles of shit that are in the grooves of your shoes. You slide your shoes back and forth on the pavement hoping to remove any last bits that remain. You ask people around you if they smell anything funny. But everywhere you go all you can smell is that lingering smell of shit following you everywhere.

Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day on every April 15. Every team and player that plays on Jackie Robinson Day has to wear my favorite number, 42. I always try to attend a baseball game to see all the jerseys adorned in that beautiful number and honor Jackie’s lasting impact on my life.

It’s not lost on me that today is Jackie Robinson Day.

22 years after the inaugural Jackie Robinson Day and I am still yearning for the day that Langston Hughes once wrote about in his classic poem I, Too in 1926. The day that, “They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed.”

Because, honestly, I’m tired of this shit.

Similar Read: A Peak Inside American Sports: Cheers & Protests

Candy Corn Sports… What Happened to Baseball?

by with 9 Comments FeaturedSports

Possibly the most popular, unpopular thing in America is Baseball.

Every year around Halloween, polls are conducted on what’s America’s favorite candy to eat. Oddly, a frequent top choice is candy corn. Candy corn, in my anecdotal experience, is eaten only during Halloween, and after which, mysteriously is absent from the stores and consumption from people. Candy corn is also not a candy in which the masses draw too or crave. It’s not a very popular candy, yet during Halloween, it’s everywhere. You will never see a kid skipping down the street eating candy corn in July, not a chance. So how is it so popular? The same way baseball is popular, it’s ingrained into Americana, but not by choice, by circumstance. I’ll explain.

Circumstance.

Baseball by and large is played without much interruption from other sports. Baseball is synonymous with summer, which is the time of vacations and overall group activities. From work outings to student five dollar night, baseball is an excellent option for group outings on the cheap. For most, that’s about as good as it gets. Unless you’re 55 and a White male, which is the current average demographic for baseball. Football average age demographic is 47, and basketball… 37, basketball is also the second most popular sport in the world, but that’s for later.

Though baseball is still very much popular, it’s not very much liked. The Major League Baseball All-Star game is this week, and more news and attention has been dedicated to Lebron joining the Lakers and where disgruntled San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard might get traded. The sport has become candy corn. Something only good for the special moment – the more enjoyable venture takes precedence once the moment is gone. Just like candy corn is taken off shelves as soon as November 1st hits, baseball is put on the backburner to football as soon as the calendar hits September. The patriotic sport with the most history has largely taken a back seat to the more popular sports of football and basketball.

How did this happen?

  1. Baseball has not embraced the Latin culture of its Latin players.
  2. The pace and the length of the game is the slowest and longest ever in baseball history, aka boring.
  3. The biggest stars of baseball are virtual unknowns outside their respective markets.
  4. Baseball doesn’t even generate funny internet memes.
  5. Baseball is largely absent from talks on social media to the workplace water cooler.

But unlike candy corn, which is relevant for only its “once a year” glory, baseball still has the distinction of being the most successfully solely Black run enterprise in America… the Negro Leagues. Baseball is also a much safer sport than football, and as previously stated a much more cost appropriate sport than basketball to see live.

But with all that being said, baseball has a decision to make… either be candy corn and marked 3 bags for five dollars and liked only as a niche market, or become relevant again and be embraced. If not, all it will be is a place for sales professionals to have “team building” ventures, and while there, only buy expensive beer and talk about if Lebron can lead the Lakers to a championship.

America’s changing… is baseball in fear of being left behind?

Similar Read: A Peak Inside American Sports: Cheers & Protests