I don’t know if I’m jaded or if the lens through which I view the world is particularly different, but some things are just surprising to me.
Take, for instance, the fact that an interracial couple was denied a marriage license by the Justice of the Peace. While that on it face surprises me a little, I think what really surprises me is that there are people who are stupefied by it. Seriously. People are surprised by an expression of racism? If it’s that surprising, then I would imagine it means they need to get out a little more. Is that type of egregious behavior less-prevalent than it was in times past? Absolutely. Does less-prevalent mean altogether gone? Under no circumstances. A lot of me thinks that type of surprise has more to do with political brand identification than it has anything to do with an individual person’s life experiences.
Speaking of political brand identification, I think I am genuinely surprised at the level of outrage over Rush Limbaugh’s being dropped from an investment group looking to buy the Rams. Rush himself, and many of his supporters want to point the finger everywhere else but at Rush’s previous statements about the NFL. Really, who cares whether the man is a racist or not — at least in terms of his ability to be an owner in the NFL? Who knows what the majority of League owners feel? Whatever they feel, they have the good business sense to limit their comments to things that aren’t going to damage the NFL brand. Limbaugh knows no such boundaries. He’ll say whatever comes out of his mouth — I was gonna say whatever he thinks, but I’m not even convinced he actually thinks everything he says. He’s a provocateur. He might be in it partially for the ideology, but he’s in it mostly for the attention. As such, I really can’t take anything he says very seriously — and that’s just not good business. Especially for a product that’s very likely to go international in the near future. But jokers runnin around and actin like it’s some grave miscarriage of justice? C’mon son. Especially Black folks. C’mon son.
(And as an aside, I’m straight confused by folks who will try to argue that Limbaugh was right about McNabb. Are you serious? Yeah, the Eagles D was excellent back then, but the season before homey opened his mouth, the Birds had just dropped 415 points. Come on. Aaron Brooks was in the League and he came at McNabb? And jokers to this day are defendin Limbaugh like what he said was accurate? I’m sayin. If he had’a said somethin about Aaron Brooks, what argument would there really have been? Even Vick, at that point, would’ve been a better target than McNabb. And that really gets to my point that Limbaugh says what he does for attention. One of those other dudes might’ve been more accurate, but that wouldn’t have gotten people all lathered up. He went for the target that would get him the most attention. What’s more, he say, ‘McNabb is overrated,’ he said ‘The media is conspiring to make people think a Black quarterback is better than he is.’ As if that’s not standard behavior with a successful quarterback. C’mon, son.)
I think I’m still surprised at sports haters. Obviously, most of my friends from high school are rooting for the Phillies in the MLB playoffs again. But then there are those other jokers who are rooting against the Phils, just because. LIke, it’s one thing to root for your team. But to root against another team? That’s corny. Unless that team is one of your team’s archrivals. Then I can understand it a little. Or if it’s the Cowboys. 
