For Once I'm Not Rooting Against Tom Brady

For once I’m not going to root against Tom Brady. I see a lot of the Bears in the Buccaneers if they had a real quarterback. I know a lot of people didn’t think they’d get as far as the Super Bowl in just one season and surely not beat the Saints who I thought was the better team. This is also why I don’t gamble. However if you ask me who is going to win this year’s big game I have to pick Kansas City. Mahomes has proven he is the truth but they had to play in a number of close games this year. Basically the league has figured him out but he goes out there and finds ways to win. Although the AFC Championship game wasn’t close against a very good Buffalo team I think this game is going to be closer with the G.O.A.T on the field. If the ‘Bucs can keep him upright this could be a one possession game. I’m loathe to call Brady the G.O.A.T. with some of the greats that came before him. His success cannot be ignored and unlike others who have gone on to other teams and seemed to have tarnished their legendary status, ahem, Michael Jordan, Brady has taken a middling team and put them in the Super Bowl.

I’m not going to root against him like when he was in New England and considered a system Quarterback. With a few little touches here and there on offense including Antonio Brown (let’s hope he doesn’t get himself arrested before the game starts), and “Gronk,” it makes this game compelling. Not to say they’ll win but, compelling. I don’t believe this team is much better than this year’s Bears whom the Buc’s lost to and who tried to sign Brady. It shows how far the Bears’ Mitchell Trubisky needs to grow to be at least a good Quarterback and not in this lifetime. This is why the current Coach and Gm if not the GM Ryan Pace should either have been let go or his drafting privileges taken away. If he trades away another first round pick or any pick at all to get some half ass player it should be time for him to get out of Chicago. However this is not about Chicago.

 I don’t think if Brady was in last year’s Super Bowl it would have even been close because that was a pretty good 49ers team. And for that year Jimmy Garoppolo was a great quarterback who has all of a sudden turned into Carson Wentz. If you ask me for a final score I’d say Chiefs 35 Buc’s 27 with The Buc’s having the ball in the fourth quarter except Brady throws an interception to seal it for the Chiefs. But I predict Mahomes won’t see another Super Bowl as once again the league catches up to him with some good quarterbacks coming out of college. Or it could go the other way around in the season of Covid where we can’t figure if they benefitted from shortened seasons and we haven’t seen just how good or bad they can be as professionals. But I’m not going to root against Brady or for him. I think the fact we got this far is to be celebrated in a muted stadium with piped in sounds of cheers or boos and socially distanced fans for the few who are allowed to be there. I can’t forget to mention that this is the first time that is the first time a team is playing in its home stadium for a Super Bowl. With this bit of history how can I root for against anyone but take it in and remember where I was when it happened. My couch with a beer in my hand and the television up as loud as I can stand it.

 

 

 

Throughout the years since the forming of America we made the right choice to desegregate many institutions however painful it seemed. The military. Government. Academics and even Sports. I'd say we've still fallen way short of equality for equality isn't just about race but opportunity. Opportunity for men and women equally. I dare say that if women are not allowed to play men's sports then men should not be able to coach women's sports because they are taking away opportunities.. 

Opportunity includes race. In this case I am speaking about the HBCU's and their member conferences and schools versus what would be considered the white schools and conferences regardless there are more black players on the major colleges. We've argued to no avail about having a playoff system that is equitable for all schools in the major conferences as there is a cogent playoff system in the "lower divisions." So much for equality.

As there was and have been segregation in sports it seems to me that the HBCU's, like it was once said about MLB and the Negro leagues, if you let them play you might find it is about merit and talent of the individual and not his race. How many HBCU's get to play post season football regardless of division? Although there are some academic conferences who don't play post season football like the Ivy League and up until recently the Patriot League, they also don't have Historic Black Colleges on their schedule. Once again it is a matter of opportunity not only for players as there are a number of them in the HOF, Jerry Rice, Michael Strahan, Walter Payton to name a few but coaches as well since teams continue to hire retreads no matter what their coaching past is. 

Things are a bit different in basketball which is strange considering a number of powerhouse football schools are always looking for schools to fill out their schedules. Most HBCU's would love to fill that spot. However a number of them are division 1schools much like the powerhouse schools but they refuse to schedule them. In basketball most every conference has a representative in the National Tournament. And there is no getting around having to play these schools. 

For years people have made an issue about black men playing baseball since Jackie Robinson. I can speak to that one easily. Most black men do not want, no matter how much money you're paying them, to stand on a baseball field in pants in 100 degree heat waiting for someone to hit the ball to them. Football and basketball allow for quicker rise to the professional ranks than having to languish in the minors and never getting to see the field unless your name is Michael Jordan and you happen to have a good relationship with the owner of the Major League Club. 

Also most baseball leagues are in the suburbs much like soccer which is why even from little league you will see most of the players are white and strangely it is almost a badge of dishonor for a black kid to play a sport like baseball, or soccer or hockey long considered white sports that even people of color will look down on their brethren for playing these sports which is why you see most soccer moms are white. If these sports were of import in the urban areas that would change quickly. We all know corruption in the NCAA is rampant. It takes away from the idea of student athletes as the schools make so much money off of these sports. Why not let all the schools get in on the money. There are a number of HBCU Conferences that don't play post season football either but is that because of conference choice or is it because of segregation now and segregation forever? A number of these schools are in the south and are historic for more than sports like producing figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. If HBCU's were given the opportunity to shine as they've already shown they can be above the best. Instead of making a bunch of black kids from the south side of Chicago see how hard they have to fight to show that baseball isn't just for white kids.    

 

'It's unacceptable:' Deion Sanders rants about uneven playing field at Jackson State, HBCUs

Deion Sanders isn't in the NFL anymore. He's not even at Florida State anymore. He's in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, where he's discovering that all football programs are not created equal.

Sanders addressed the media at SWAC Media Days Wednesday for the first time as Jackson State's football coach. The NFL and college football Hall of Famer was asked about his first impressions about coaching in the SWAC at a historically black university, and Sanders said the big adjustment is realizing that Jackson State doesn't have the same resources as the major power players in college football.

"The playing field is horrible," Sanders said. "It's not a level playing field. It's unacceptable. Thank God that God called me to change the game, to open their eyes, to open the door. Not just for Jackson State, but for everybody."

Forget billionaire boosters and 100,000-seat stadiums for the moment. Sanders says the real disadvantage for smaller schools comes in the details. Rickety training tables. Uneven practice fields. Outdated helmets, pads and practice equipment.

Resources aren't equal. And to Sanders, that's holding schools like Jackson State back from matriculating players into the NFL.

"Some of the things that I've seen thus far early in my tenure are truly unacceptable," Sanders said. "It causes a kid not to dream. It causes a kid to not have that passion because he don't see no end result that's promising for him."

Sanders said he has had to take a proactive approach to combat this inequity. Jackson State has been the recipient of some big-money donations since his hire. But Sanders has also helped coordinate the apparel deal with Under Armour. He has had meetings with Golden Corral about giving him a place to bring his players when they want to eat off campus.

He says he's doing what he's doing for the sake of his players. Sanders says he isn't coaching for himself. If the goal really is to help his players get to the NFL and achieve the same dream he achieved more than 30 years ago, he has to start by giving them every advantage a player in the Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference would have.

"I'm doing this for these babies, man," Sanders said. "They deserve it. The look in their eyes when they get a whole new sweatsuit just to wear back to the durn dorm. Shoes and looking the same when they get the helmets and the uniforms and all that stuff plays a tremendous role.

"You know my quote. If you look good, you feel good. That's the durn truth."

 

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 'It's unacceptable:' Deion Sanders rants about uneven playing field at Jackson State, HBCUs

 

 

Olympic Gold Medalist Klete Keller Identified In Video from U.S. Capitol Riots: Report Sean Neumann

Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller has been identified as having taken part in the U.S. Capitol riots last Wednesday, according to reports.

Keller, a swimmer who won two gold medals on the U.S. relay team along with Michael Phelps, was identified by former teammates and coaches via social media images showing him inside the U.S. Capitol, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The 38-year-old was not seen committing any violent acts in the images, which were taken during the pro-Trump siege on the Capitol building that left five people dead. Video on social media shows a man that appears to be Keller wading in a crowd of rioters who were being pushed out from the Capitol Rotunda by law enforcement, inside the building.

The Times reported a number of Keller's former teammates and coaches identified him in a video posted on Twitter by a reporter from the conservative news outlet Townhall.

Keller was identifiable, according to the report, because he was wearing an U.S. Olympic team jacket and that his protective facemask — meant to be worn to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) — was not covering his face.

The video had reportedly been shared widely among the swimming community and the Times reported that "several people" alerted law enforcement after viewing the clip.

Swimming news website SwimSwam was first to report the news on Monday. The site reported that Keller's social media accounts have been deleted but he was an "outspoken supporter" of President Donald Trump, according to his past posts.

Neither Keller or his family responded to PEOPLE's attempts to reach them for comment. Keller has not made any public statements regarding his reported involvement in what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell later denounced as a "failed insurrection" attempt.

USA Swimming also did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Law enforcement officials from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations gave a stern warning Tuesday that rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol would be tracked down and charged.

"Regardless of if it was just a trespass in the Capitol or if someone planted a pipe bomb, you will be charged and you will be found," said Michael Sherwin, the Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Keller attended USC before making the Olympics team, swimming on behalf of the U.S. in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 games.

He won five medals during his Olympic career, including two gold medals as a part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay team, which included Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay. The team won the gold in Athens in 2004 and again four years later, in Beijing.

More recently, Keller was an employee for the commercial real estate firm Hoff & Leigh in Colorado Springs, Colorado, The Washington Post reported. In a statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday afternoon, Hoff & Leigh said Keller resigned from the company.

Keller's former teammates also confirmed the 6-foot-6 swimmer's identity to The Post, based on images from the U.S. Capitol riot.

 

 

Steve Sarkisian's Defense of 'The Eyes of Texas' Won't Sit Well With His Players

Ryan Phillips

Steve Sarkisian stumbled out of the gate during his introductory press conference at Texas. The 46-year-old head coach fully jumped into the turbulent waters surrounding the song "The Eyes of Texas" and may have drowned his tenure in the process.

That's going to go over like a lead balloon with his players.

Remember, over the summer, Texas' athletes came together and called for major changes to the university's athletics department. That included removing "The Eyes of Texas" as the school's signature song. The song has a history rooted in racism and players did not want to be associated with it, let along be forced to stand for and sing it after football games.

At one point during the 2020 season, Texas' players were forced to stand during the song after games, though many refused to sing and didn't look thrilled about it. In the weeks before that, some players had stayed on the field for the song, while others went to the locker room.

The fact that Sarkisian went out of his way to energetically support the song instead of allowing his players to make the decision was a massive misstep on the first day of his tenure. An easy solution would have been saying he was willing to listen to what his players and leaders at the university had to say before making a decision, etc. Or even just dodging the question by saying he needed to look into it more deeply. Instead, he stepped into a huge pile of sh*t during his first day on the job.

The fact that Sarkisian said his team is going to "sing that proudly" is disturbing, especially given the racist history of the song. It won't be long before he wishes he could take those words back.

 

Bears Need A Quarterback

The Bears Need A Quarterback

I'm sick of people making excuses for Trubisky and the acquiring of Nick Foles through a trade. Ryan Pace should not be allowed to make trades considering he traded up to get a signal caller who cannot throw an accurate deep ball. I want the Bears to pick Kyle Trask of Florida but by the time the Bears get to daft he'd probably be off the board. 

I've never been a fan of Florida quarterbacks, (hello Tim Tebow). Particularly the Steve Spurrier years as Head Coach. I know that you cannot compare passing yardage and touchdown in the NFL versus college but I believe in one season Trask has thrown for more yards and touchdowns in his college career than Trubisky has thrown in his whole college and pro career thus far. 

The Bears need a quarterback who can throw deep and be able to score touchdowns in the red zone. Trubisky is not that guy. I must say I give Ryan Pace credit for not taking a bite of the poisonous Andy Dalton apple. He and the Cowboys deserve each other.

I agree the defense could use some upgrades at certain spots and I believe we should keep Pagano as Defensive Coordinator. I feel for the defense when they are constantly relied upon to keep the Bears in the game while the offense is stagnant. It’s like a Major League pitcher who goes out and throws a bunch of scoreless innings but his hitters can hardly scratch out a hit or a run. Stop calling out Kalil Mack for his lack of sacks or tackles. After a while you have to understand that a member or members of your team sucks.

I don’t think Ryan Pace and Mike Nagy should be fired. The Bears are still within striking distance of being a quality football team. At the same time the Bears did not play a challenging schedule and still ended up .500. The toughest team they had to play was the Green Bay Packers whom I could have told you they had no chance against. Especially when you end the season against them in Lambeau South.

As the bowl season winds down I’ve looked over almost every quarterback on every team win or lose. Sure that there has to be at least one that is better that Trubisky. I just believe that Trask is the best of the bunch and mainly because he can do what Trubisky cannot which is throw the deep ball.*