Showing posts with label Chad Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chad Johnson. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2008
Reason #440592 why I still love Ocho Cinco
Check out my man Chad "Johnson" Ocho Cinco at Best Buy before dawn.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Academic Break Pt. 2: The Black Athlete in the NFL
For the second part of the series, I’ll look at the NFL. This is a league that doesn’t seem to have a problem with a shortage of black athletes. In fact, this Jason Whitlock article is one of the few articles I’ve been able to find about this topic in relation to the NFL.
Jason Whitlock is a writer who frequently talks about race and is someone people either love or hate. He is especially critical of young black athletes and the hip-hop culture. However, his article does show that black athletes can even be replaced in the NFL and it also touches on some of the reasons why this might happen.
A lot of black athletes come with baggage. Some of this may be related to hip-hop, but a lot of it probably just comes from their background. The Michael Vick’s and Pac Man Jones’ of the world can’t seem to shake their past. Even though they are millionaires, a lot of players still behave with a street mentality.
This isn’t something confined to the NFL, it happens with a lot of black athletes. It’s not even confined to being poor. Larry Johnson, who is frequently criticized by Whitlock and others for his attitude, comes from a pretty well off family as his father is one of Joe Paterno’s top assistants at Penn State.
In the case of Johnson and people like him, what’s usually blamed in place of poverty is hip-hop. While the messages in mainstream hip-hop can have a negative influence on some, it’s difficult to judge any of these athletes without knowing them.
Ironically, it may the stereotypes that are prevalent in the NFL that keeps black athletes prevalent in the sport. In the NFL, blacks are perceived to be less cerebral than white players, but in a lot of cases bigger, faster and stronger.
While a lot of these stereotypes are dated and no one likes to talk about it (or race really), they clearly still have an impact. Look at the NFL’s rosters. Check the running backs, wide receivers and corner backs. They’re almost all black. Those are also positions where the perception is athleticism is more important than intelligence. Quarterback is the position most associated with thinking in the NFL. Coincidentally, it’s a mostly white position in a sport with a majority of African-American players.
Some of these stereotypes are currently being broken down in college football, where you see things like black quarterbacks, white running backs and receivers, etc. at a much higher rate than in the NFL. We’ll see if these changes have any true impact in the league.
Another thing that has prevented the black athlete in the NFL from becoming undesirable is the way the NFL is marketed to the consumers. We get to “know” very few of the players off the field. Those we do see in commercials and feature stories are usually the cleaner cut players, the Peyton Mannings, Tom Brady’s and LaDanian Tomlinsons.
Part of the reason we don’t really get to know the players is the way the game is played. Players are covered in equipment from head to toe. A few years ago, the NFL even banned players from taking off their helmet when scoring a touchdown.
We don’t see their tattoos or earrings, and during this past offseason the league considered banning long hair so we couldn’t see players’ dreadlocks either. This prevents the players from being judged on their appearance, like the NBA.
More NFL players probably get in trouble than NBA players, but which league has an image problem? Which league is full of “thugs?”
Without saying so, the NFL has been able to essentially hide most of its black athletes from the mostly white fans that fill its arenas. With the race of the players covered up, it becomes something you don’t think about as much as you would watching an NBA game.
So, interestingly enough, stereotypes and marketing tactics might be what keeps black athletes flourishing in the NFL.
Jason Whitlock is a writer who frequently talks about race and is someone people either love or hate. He is especially critical of young black athletes and the hip-hop culture. However, his article does show that black athletes can even be replaced in the NFL and it also touches on some of the reasons why this might happen.
A lot of black athletes come with baggage. Some of this may be related to hip-hop, but a lot of it probably just comes from their background. The Michael Vick’s and Pac Man Jones’ of the world can’t seem to shake their past. Even though they are millionaires, a lot of players still behave with a street mentality.
This isn’t something confined to the NFL, it happens with a lot of black athletes. It’s not even confined to being poor. Larry Johnson, who is frequently criticized by Whitlock and others for his attitude, comes from a pretty well off family as his father is one of Joe Paterno’s top assistants at Penn State.
In the case of Johnson and people like him, what’s usually blamed in place of poverty is hip-hop. While the messages in mainstream hip-hop can have a negative influence on some, it’s difficult to judge any of these athletes without knowing them.
Ironically, it may the stereotypes that are prevalent in the NFL that keeps black athletes prevalent in the sport. In the NFL, blacks are perceived to be less cerebral than white players, but in a lot of cases bigger, faster and stronger.
While a lot of these stereotypes are dated and no one likes to talk about it (or race really), they clearly still have an impact. Look at the NFL’s rosters. Check the running backs, wide receivers and corner backs. They’re almost all black. Those are also positions where the perception is athleticism is more important than intelligence. Quarterback is the position most associated with thinking in the NFL. Coincidentally, it’s a mostly white position in a sport with a majority of African-American players.
Some of these stereotypes are currently being broken down in college football, where you see things like black quarterbacks, white running backs and receivers, etc. at a much higher rate than in the NFL. We’ll see if these changes have any true impact in the league.
Another thing that has prevented the black athlete in the NFL from becoming undesirable is the way the NFL is marketed to the consumers. We get to “know” very few of the players off the field. Those we do see in commercials and feature stories are usually the cleaner cut players, the Peyton Mannings, Tom Brady’s and LaDanian Tomlinsons.
Part of the reason we don’t really get to know the players is the way the game is played. Players are covered in equipment from head to toe. A few years ago, the NFL even banned players from taking off their helmet when scoring a touchdown.
We don’t see their tattoos or earrings, and during this past offseason the league considered banning long hair so we couldn’t see players’ dreadlocks either. This prevents the players from being judged on their appearance, like the NBA.
More NFL players probably get in trouble than NBA players, but which league has an image problem? Which league is full of “thugs?”
Without saying so, the NFL has been able to essentially hide most of its black athletes from the mostly white fans that fill its arenas. With the race of the players covered up, it becomes something you don’t think about as much as you would watching an NBA game.
So, interestingly enough, stereotypes and marketing tactics might be what keeps black athletes flourishing in the NFL.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Quick Hits 4/22
As my college career winds down, I’ve been grinding like crazy. That said, I pretty much missed all the basketball this weekend. I haven’t watched a single inning of baseball, and I probably won’t do another mock draft before this weekend.
In the City of Philadelphia, this weekend is Penn Relays weekend. My chapter, the Delta Eta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, is holding all sorts of events. Between that and our NUPE Week for the rest of the week, I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have to devote to sports.
Of course this is devastating to a guy like me; I’m definitely going through some sort of withdrawal. That said, lets get on with the show.
NFL
I’m normally a Chad Johnson supporter. However, I think that he should ride it out in Cincinnati. I hate to see guys try to jump ship when it’s sinking. When they were on the rise, he was Mr. Bengal. Now he wants to play for a better team. You can call it Jermaine O’Neal syndrome. Like Chad, O’Neal got his paper from Indy and was the face of the franchise when they were good. Now they suck and he wants out.
That’s a little backwards to me. However, Cincy is dumb for turning down two 1st round picks for Chad. They need all the help they can get. Although I think he should stay, if I was Cincy I’d milk whoever wanted him for as many picks as possible.
On another note, I’m glad Miami seems to be leaning towards taking Jake Long. He is a sure thing. I’m not really sold on Chris Long, who was expected to end up in Miami at some point. I think a lot of his hype comes from the name, but I’ve been wrong about things like that before.
MLB
I really have no idea what’s going on. Baseball just isn’t really an interest of mine right now. I was really turned off by all that Mitchell Report stuff during the offseason. It overshadowed everything that the baseball offseason is usually about; trades, free agents, teams/players to watch, etc. Maybe I’ll start watching it in May.
NBA
I’m really excited about the NBA playoffs. This year’s playoffs have the potential to be one of the best playoffs in recent memory. That said, don’t be surprised if the top four seeds in each conference advance to the second round.
In the East, Boston, Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland are clearly superior to the teams they’re facing. I know Detroit lost to Philly the other day, but they’ll probably get it together and win four in a row.
Washington would normally be a challenge to Cleveland, but I’m not sold on the health of Arenas, Butler, and even Jamison and this point. Too bad, as this might be the last time these two teams face each other with LeBron and Gilbert as the lead acts.
In the West, the Lakers, Hornets and Jazz have pretty easy matchups. The Suns and Spurs will probably go down to the wire. When Phoenix made the Shaq trade, I was very critical to the point where I didn’t even know if they would make the playoffs. If they don’t get past the Spurs, a team they made this trade for, Steve Kerr will start taking some heat again.
Regardless, I plan on watching every game as soon as I get that kind of free time, which will likely be next week.
In the City of Philadelphia, this weekend is Penn Relays weekend. My chapter, the Delta Eta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, is holding all sorts of events. Between that and our NUPE Week for the rest of the week, I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have to devote to sports.
Of course this is devastating to a guy like me; I’m definitely going through some sort of withdrawal. That said, lets get on with the show.
NFL
I’m normally a Chad Johnson supporter. However, I think that he should ride it out in Cincinnati. I hate to see guys try to jump ship when it’s sinking. When they were on the rise, he was Mr. Bengal. Now he wants to play for a better team. You can call it Jermaine O’Neal syndrome. Like Chad, O’Neal got his paper from Indy and was the face of the franchise when they were good. Now they suck and he wants out.
That’s a little backwards to me. However, Cincy is dumb for turning down two 1st round picks for Chad. They need all the help they can get. Although I think he should stay, if I was Cincy I’d milk whoever wanted him for as many picks as possible.
On another note, I’m glad Miami seems to be leaning towards taking Jake Long. He is a sure thing. I’m not really sold on Chris Long, who was expected to end up in Miami at some point. I think a lot of his hype comes from the name, but I’ve been wrong about things like that before.
MLB
I really have no idea what’s going on. Baseball just isn’t really an interest of mine right now. I was really turned off by all that Mitchell Report stuff during the offseason. It overshadowed everything that the baseball offseason is usually about; trades, free agents, teams/players to watch, etc. Maybe I’ll start watching it in May.
NBA
I’m really excited about the NBA playoffs. This year’s playoffs have the potential to be one of the best playoffs in recent memory. That said, don’t be surprised if the top four seeds in each conference advance to the second round.
In the East, Boston, Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland are clearly superior to the teams they’re facing. I know Detroit lost to Philly the other day, but they’ll probably get it together and win four in a row.
Washington would normally be a challenge to Cleveland, but I’m not sold on the health of Arenas, Butler, and even Jamison and this point. Too bad, as this might be the last time these two teams face each other with LeBron and Gilbert as the lead acts.
In the West, the Lakers, Hornets and Jazz have pretty easy matchups. The Suns and Spurs will probably go down to the wire. When Phoenix made the Shaq trade, I was very critical to the point where I didn’t even know if they would make the playoffs. If they don’t get past the Spurs, a team they made this trade for, Steve Kerr will start taking some heat again.
Regardless, I plan on watching every game as soon as I get that kind of free time, which will likely be next week.
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