Quote: (05-13-2013 08:50 AM)Hotwheels Wrote:
Concerning Kosko's post;
From a white's point of view, Russell Wilson is beloved in WI not only for his prowess on the field, but the way he carries himself off of it.
He's a true leader of men while also remaining humble.
Perhaps more inner city youth should look to people like him for guidance in how to carry oneself.
Exactly.
This is a measure of a true man and it transcends race.
The African-American community has little ammo left because you see a huge crop of successful young men of colour coming up whom simply by being in a environment that helped foster their potential (stable home, stable upbringing) are achieving great things. Just like was maintained in the Clarence Thomas post nobody gives a shit what colour you are if you bust your ass and work hard.
But the Black community still is not happy, and constantly you see them throw cheap shots at these guys:
- Russell Wilson was criticized for talking funny and having a blue eye'd, blonde white GF.
- RG III was critiqued and questioned if he was "black enough" by the Coon-cartoon network ESPN.
I mentioned Drake earlier whom by being bi-racial and Canadian is basically seen as a homosexual alien to many inner city American-Black people as the way he acts and conducts himself is completely foreign to them.
Some how they think that if these successful people whom look like them -- but act differently than them -- its somehow a miss-step on their part when they can't see its themselves whom need to change. They only truly embrace folks whom gain "success" while still keeping the coon-cartoon meme alive and going. Their god is Jay-z whom at 43 years old still tries to live his life as a 26-31 year old man. He has been in a mid-life crisis for 10 years now and has not truly embraced his success and older years taking on a paternal role in his craft like lets say a Nas has done.
Successful people more or less share the same style and conduct in the way they act. This is not some alien thing, or something that is not "black" or race dependant its simply a style you get when you reach a level of success.
Sports is the great avenue because these people coming up like Wilson, Jones, RGIII are all around great men whom are smart and had many options presented to them. They would of been successful in whatever they chose to do be it business, other sports, or an Army career in which RGIII was destined to do.
People like Jay-z whom are successful still try to cling onto the street meme of decades ago. Jay-Z has probably not rock a ounce of crack since 1985 but yet he dances around with baggy clothes still projecting this fake meme:
If anything Jay-Z can learn more from these young Black athletes then they can learn for them.
Quote: (05-13-2013 09:08 AM)Timoteo Wrote:
I believe there is already an urban hockey program in NYC, but the sport requires a lot of money to play. Some sports just don't take in certain areas. I read a piece about Jones, mostly his dad describing how his kid ended up playing hockey. It was when Popeye was playing in Dallas, so he was an acquaintance of Dallas Stars players. His boys got interested in the sport, and he had the resources to give them what they needed to play. The pull to discredit blacks in hockey as not being black enough is a bit overblown. Just like the Williams Sisters, blacks that excel in non-traditional sports generally get support from black fans. It's actually white fans that hurl insults and invective at them. It's not the same phenomenon that you see in general society where a successful black student is shunned by other blacks.
A good friend of mine is the first cousin of George Laraque, who played many years in the NHL. He was voted the toughest, and one of the best fighters more than once by his peers. He dealt with some racism right in his own locker room. They are Haitian, but his family settled up in Canada. You'll find that kids play whatever sport is popular with their friends, or what they have access to. That's why Scott Gomez, who is of Mexican descent, ended up playing. His family settled in Canada (I'm guessing his dad moved the family up there to get work), so that's what he played. There have been a number of blacks that have been in the league at any given time (Jarome Iginla, recently traded from Calgary to Pittsburgh, is a top scorer and former MVP of the league. He's half-African), and others have been contributing players. Grant Fuhr was the goaltender for the great Gretzky Edmonton Oiler teams and is in the Hall of Fame. Ray Emery was in goal for the Ottawa Senators when they made it to the cup final, and is with Chicago now. Kevin Weekes had a long NHL career with several teams. Jones is unique in that he's the first #1 pick, but there have been other taken in the first round. I don't think it will bring more blacks as fans under the tent though. My brother watches hockey avidly, but I only watch casually, and usually only during the playoffs when the intensity level rises. The sport is still for the most inaccessible to American blacks, so just like with Tiger Woods, more people may watch casually and keep tabs, but not become avid fans. There's actually a book called "Black Ice" detailing the contributions of blacks that played hockey in Canada, and influenced what is now the NHL with their style of play: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Ice-History-...0965116867
This wiki page lists all of the black players in the league:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_black_NHL_players
The racism in hockey now a days has died down. I feel the timelines more-or-less follow the typical timelines of race relations in America, just maybe some years slower. It was a issue in years past, but no longer I feel. Now, especially in Canada, any kid whom is playing Junior A, or in a City will have one or more Black kids on their team. You start going into major Cities like Calgary, Vancouver, and the GTA and you will see Korean kids, Lebanese, Indian, etc. The NHL's biggest issue for sure is making the sport accessible as its costs have surged out of control to the point our appeasing Government is debating if they should put in place subsidies for equipment to ensure kids in Canada have access to the sport.
With Seth Jones I think the fact
he is American has a lot to do with his hype. USA HOCKEY really needs a defining figure it can put up as a poster child for the next generation of the program going forward. Seth Jones fits this profile as he grew up in a large suburb, is not the typical profile of what a hockey player "looks like".
I believe there was a big issue on if he was going to play in the NCAA or the WHL. USAHockey tries hard to define its NCAA College system as a suitable junior development league when the Canadian CHL (WHL,OHL,QMJHL) is far superior. USA Hockey wanted him to play in North Dakota badly and their was a issue surrounding this, but Seth Jones of course chose to play where the best competition is -- but its no coincidence that at the very least Seth remained state-side switching from Evertt, Washington to Portland, Oregon.
To me the big difference now is that you are seeing Black
excel in the sport as there have always been a good crop of consistent Black players whom had long careers. People like Iginla started the trend but now you are seeing it at a accelerated pace due to the generational shift that is happening now. For me growing up I always liked Anson carter and followed his career for a long time. I even thought of playing hockey as a child but was too poor to play and my parents were not fond of it. Rec Soccer was much cheaper as was baseball so I played those instead.