According to a study by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, approximately 93% of armchair general managers are white. “I don’t know why that is, and it’s something I hesitate to speculate about,” the FSTA’s manager, Justin Cleveland, told me.
Next I dial up ESPN’s senior director of fantasy sports, Matthew Berry, a.k.a. the Talented Mr. Roto. “When you figure out the reason,” he says, “please let me know.” Will do.
But honestly, I’m not surprised to learn that so few blacks are among the 30 million people who participate in fantasy sports. I’ve always thought that a lot of these guys (and 96% of them are guys) are nerds desperately in need of more sociable leisure-time activities. Leisure time for black folks historically consists of direct interaction, the kind of experience you get at a family barbecue or hanging out with friends. Sitting in front of a computer screen pretending to be Bill Parcells? Sounds like work to me.
I’m in the 7%, but just barely. I actually have two fantasy teams, The Mighty Pork Chops, and The Notorious Pork Chops, but I’ve put all of 0 effort into it. The computer drafted The Might yesterday, and it’s gonna draft The Notorious tomorrow. Truthfully, I can’t be said to ‘play’ fantasy football, so much as I have fantasy football accounts. Stephen A’s assessment in the above paragraph is actually fairly accurate for me. But then, he fails to include one important variable: Madden.
In it’s own way, Madden is fantasy football, only the outcome is directly controlled by the owner/coach/player. That actually allows it to bridge the gap between elite fan and participant. While Madden is obviously a video game, because the players have the option to make trades and hand-pick their teams, it does bear a striking similarity to fantasy football. I would imagine that if Madden players were disaggregated by race, the numbers wouldn’t look so skewed.
What’s really got me scratchin’ my head is the way some of this election stuff is goin down.
Now, I like a good joke as much as the next guy, maybe more, but for an affiliate of a faith-based organization to even joke like he’s calling for rain to interrupt the other political party’s convention…well, that’s just not funny. Especially in today’s contentious political atmosphere. Especially when it seems to require a special dispensation from above for said organization to say anything positive about the people on the other side. I mean, for real, that almost seems like something I would see on a Saturday Night Live or Mad TV skit about Focus On The Family, rather than something ostensibly funny that they themselves did.
(I guess that brings up a side issue I may have to fool with at some other time, which is humor in the church. Like, when is it appropriate to make jokes about religious ideas and institutions. Cuz I don’t know that I would have been bothered had if this had actually been a skit on a sketch comedy show. Given the degree of FOTF’s partisanship, I don’t know if I would be all that bothered. They come across as more of a political organization than a religious one, sometimes. That definitely makes them fair game. Putting them aside for a minute, though, it’s a subject that necessitates some thought. But that’s later.)
No joke, when I first heard about it, I thought the report was on that Timex Social Club.
Then the other thing that’s got me going is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-as-a-Republican meme. I’m really scratchin’ my head on this one. When I first brought it up the other day, I only did so because I was sure nobody would take that at face value. I just knew that only the most partisan operatives would give that announcement any type of credence. So either I was wrong about people not believing it, or I underestimated the degree to which partisanship rules the day. I’m thinking it was the latter. It’s one thing for the NBRA to make the claim. Well actually, it’s a really bad look for them, but they gotta do whatever they gotta do, I guess. Only thing is, it got pickedup by others. With some of these blogs being all focused on exposing the truth, I’m flat-out amazed that they’re taking this at face value without putting even a drop of extra thought into it.
I’m generally loath to say what I already said, but in this case, it bears repeating. The truth is bigger than historical veracity. Even if Dr. King was a registered Republican and voted Republican in every single election he participated in, to conflate his down-with-Dixiecrat Republicanness with a 2008 ‘I’m-down-with-Bush ‘nem’ Republicanness is intellectually dishonest. What really gets me is that some of the people perpetrating this fraud are self-styled Evangelicals. Being that that’s the case, I think I’ll make a parallel they’ll be able to appreciate.
In the Bible, it says that David and Jonathan, his brother-in-law, loved each other. More than that, it says that their love for each other surpassed that of women. While some folks have tried to take that to suggest that there was some man-on-man action going on in the Old Testament, most biblical scholars would hold that the pro-homosexual reading is more esigesis then exigesis. However, the text says what it says. Which means that when questioned, the person defending the orthodox interpretation would have to include evidence from the societal context in order to justify his reading. Otherwise, if you just look at the words on the page, it means whatever you think it means. Same principle applies here. The word Republican is the same, but the 2008 Republican party is not the same as the 1958 Republican party. Especially for a Black man who lived in the segregated South. Come on.
There’s veracity and then there’s truth. If somebody’s gonna claim to be about the latter, they shouldn’t just rely on the former.
Beef and Broccoli - Immortal Technique Remind Me - Patrice Rushen Misunderstood - Common Mind’s Playin’ Tricks On Me - Geto Boys No Particular Place To Go - Chuck Berry No Head, No Backstage Pass - Funkadelic Under Cover of Darkness - Living Colour Party on 4th St - Black Nasty War Pigs - Black Sabbath So Sharp - Dyke and the Blazers Flexi With The Tech - Artifacts Givin’ Up The Nappy Dug Out - Ice Cube Jungle Jazz - Kook & The Gang Beat Street - Melle Mel I Smell Trouble - Ike & Tina Turner Fool Get A Clue - Digital Underground Dumb Girl - Run-D.M.C. So What - Miles Davis
I’m all for artists making money on their intellectual and creative property, but as my pops once said, the RIAA has been on the wrong side of every technological innovation since the 8 Track. I’m just waitin for the day they try to shut down record stores, since they don’t get a cut of that money.
Chad Johnson…oops. My bad. Chad Ocho Cinco…nevermind. But if you’re gonna change your name to a number, wouldn’t it at least make sense to make it a grammatically correct number? But I guess that doesn’t matter so much.
Sticking with football, I guess as far as things that boggle the mind go, Chad Johnson (cuz I can’t believe he’ll be Ocho Cinco for ever) is mildly interesting, but not that serious. It’s the type of thing that gets people talking, but it ultimately of no consequence. The Shawne Merriman situation, on the other hand, is something significant. Dude has two damaged ligaments in his knee, with doctor after doctor telling him that playing this season could potentially end his career, but he’s decided that he’s gonna go ahead and play. Yeah, it’s his body, but that’s not a wise decision at all. For all Chad Johnson’s foolishness, it’s just that: something to laugh about. That Shawne Merriman thinks this season is worth the potential of all other seasons is borderline tragic.
*****
I guess I’m on ‘yeah, ummm’ status about John McCain’s selection of running mate, too. While I definitely think it’s a bold pick, and has gotten him a lot more attention than somebody like Tom Ridge, I’m curious about what it’ll mean in the long run. For a candidate who was going to try to use his opponent’s lack of experience against him, it’s very curious that he would select a running mate who brings that very weakness to the ticket. In McCain’s case, however, it might even be a little more significant, since he’s getting up there in age. But I like the moxy of the pick. He’s all on some Game ON!
What I guess I’m really ‘ummming’ is the initial reaction. Really, I guess it’s what I should expect. Partisan cheerleading. Picking Palin is a bold play, but it’s not a slam dunk by any means. Because I’m cynical about politics, I’m almost expecting Palin to play the foreground for a while and then something will come up and McCain’s real choice will come forward. Not saying that it will happen, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it did.
I got a couple records I forgot to take out of the car and they got warped. Anybody know how I might be able to straighten them out? They’re both playable, but if I can get them straightened out before I convert them to mp3, it would be much better.
This is the first, and probably the last political event I’m gonna live blog. The only reason I’m doing it is the historical element. Even I, as much as I can’t stand politics, I can’t not-watch the acceptance speech of the first Black nominee for POTUS.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Joe Biden? Not a good look. I’m absolutely not thrilled by that pick. While I definitely think there’s wisdom in having a running mate who balances the ticket, I don’t know that Joe Biden brings that balance. I don’t watch enough politics to be able to say who would’ve been a better pick but I can definitely say that when I saw that, I was all like, bleh.
10:13. He’s on
With profound gratitude and great humility…there’s a phrase I’ll put in my pocket, should I ever need it.
10:24
He’s goin’ in on McCain.
This is actually the first time I’ve seen him give a speech. Dude’s pretty impressive. His pacing is impeccable. I’m hesitant to use the term ‘orator,’ because I know all politicians have speechwriters, but no matter who wrote the speech, I can’t imagine that too many people would do a better job of delivering it. Whatever else this dude is, he can speak
10:33
Cut taxes for 95% of working families
End dependence on foreign oil?
10:38
Now is the time. Hearkening back to the I Have A Dream speech. More on this in a minute.
Government cannot make your child turn off the television. That’s powerful politickin’.
10:45
What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose. Now this part right here? This is some fairly good politickin right here too. All of the most difficult items, he mentioned both sides without actually coming down on a side. That way, he gives lip service to the “other” opinion, while not veering from his record.
10:53
He’s good. I ain’t even gon’ lie. If I wasn’t so doggedly apolitical, I could probably get siced up about this. I can’t necessarily say I agree with all his ideas as represented by his senatorial votes, but the man can make a stirring speech.
after
This presidential race seems to be kinda like the last, in that one candidate has the full support of his party while the other candidate seems to be more of a ’somebody to run against their guy’ type choice. Maybe it’s because I just watched him deliver a speech, which is by all accounts, his element, but Obama seems to be a strong horse. In Bush-Kerry, neither was a thoroughbred, but Bush was a better horse than Kerry. Right now, and I’ve thought this generally, I think Obama is a stronger horse than McCain. This assessment has nothing to do with policy, just as candidates. If I was about politics, and I had to pick one of these dudes to represent my platform, I’d pick Obama. Based on that, I think Obama will win.
This is by FAR my favorite version of Mannish Boy. (YEAH!) Muddy on here feelin the FIYAH! BTW, anybody know why he called his last album Hard Again? ($B, I’m lookin at you.)
Ever wonder what you’d take out of your house in an emergency, provided you had enough time to grab stuff? Well, I know. It’s about 0:20 and my building’s been evacuated. I took my ipod and the laptop. Everything else can ride.
Not that it’s a major structure fire. I smelled a little somethin and all that, but it ain’t even no flames jumpin out a window. If it had’a been a real fire, I would’a made sure to get the power cord too. And my controller so I could be playin’ some Madden right now.
I don’t even rep political parties like that, but one of the things that drives me crazy about some Black Republicans is the apparent need to claim historical figures, as if that’s somehow significant now. The party of Lincoln. While it’s true that Lincoln was a Republican, I think the historical antecedent argument misses on a couple fronts.
First of all, I guess I hafta reiterate the fact that it’s only some Black Republicans who do it, because others are of the idea that the Republican Party shouldn’t really do anything to appeal to Black voters. It should stand on its own merits and values; if you favor lower taxes, personal responsibility, smaller government, etc., then the Republican Party’s for you. Republicans from that school of thought chafe at the idea of the Republican Party doing something specific as “outreach” to Black voters. Now granted, that doesn’t seem to be an especially large proportion of Black Republicans, or of the Republican Party as a whole — or else, it’s just not something they’d say out loud. Still, there seems to be an element of political cognitive dissonance within the historical appeal.
The other, bigger turnoff for me is this: It’s 2008. How you gon’ make an appeal to Lincoln? The Party of Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln? The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln? Civil War Abraham Lincoln? 1864 Abraham Lincoln? 144 YEARS AGO Abraham Lincoln? That’s supposed to sway somebody? Or else, putting party claims on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While he may, in fact, have been a Republican in the 1950’s, you ain’t gon’ tell me that he would’ve been in the same party as Nixon and Goldwater in the 60’s. Seriously. And even if I could suspend my disbelief enough to imagine a party with an umbrella for King and Goldwater, I still don’t know what that would have do do with why voters should pull that lever today.
Politics, like football, is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport. If we’re supposed to vote Republican because of Lincoln, we might as well vote Whig. He started out Whig, after all. For me, it’s not a question of whether Black folks should vote Republican. Black folks should vote their conscience and their interest just like everybody else. It’s not even a question of whether the Republican Party should court the Black vote. There’s nothing wrong with Black folks having a say in the Republican platform, same as other groups do. To claim historical figures as Republicans and argue that present-day Black folks should vote Republican because those dudes were Republicans is a cheap way to go about getting anybody to vote. In fact, for me personally, it’s more off-putting than inviting. Don’t give me no decades-old political celebrity endorsement, tell me what’s in it for me right now today.
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