Marvin Lewis calls out his players

[83-Steelers-43]

Hats off to Mr. Whitlock. A voice of reason. It's refreshing to hear. Thankfully he will be able to keep his job after that article. That definately would not be the case with (insert any white columnist name here).

Keep up those double standards!!!

[rbryan]

I hope they never get rid of Johnson or Lewis. The longer they stay the better chance we have of winning the division. One less team to worry about.

[TackleMeBen]

Originally Posted by rbryan

I hope they never get rid of Johnson or Lewis. The longer they stay the better chance we have of winning the division. One less team to worry about.

that is a good point.

[Elvis]

Now, I have been raised in a little town called Cashiers, NC and there is pretty much No African American people in our town. But I have always been taught by my mother and father to love everyone. Now, I have to admit.. it is kind of scary for me to go into a crowd of black people... I am intimidated by it... why?... I dont know... I just know that I can almost garentee you that if a black man or woman stopped in our town and asked directions somewhere or came into our restaurant to eat.. they would be treated just like any white person in the place. We have a young man working with us that is Black and he will be the first one to tell ya that he feels very welcome in our town.. but he drives atleast an hour to get to work.. he lives in Asheville, NC and it is pretty much dominated by black folks. And he says he is scared to death at times over there when he feels very comfortable here in our little town.
Love thy neighbor No Matter What Color They Are Please.... Jesus Does!!!

[X-Terminator]

Not to turn this into a political issue, but I've been saying for YEARS that if black people want to gain credibility and move forward, we MUST reject the hip hop culture. It is nothing more than a path to oblivion. The problem is that as soon as someone criticizes it, he or she is immediately smacked down, even if the person is black. Kudos to Whitlock for speaking up and telling the truth - we need MANY more like him to do so if we're ever going to change our image and our culture.

[revefsreleets]

Not to go off on a tangent, but the "hip-hop culture" definitely has a place. MTV is a great example. But I remember an SNL spoof a few years ago called "Spot the black person" and it was set at an NBA game. A camera pans through the crowd at the Garden and through thousands of fans, every now and then there's be a beep! and a red circle would point out a black person in the crowd. It was literally 1 in a thousand. Of course when the camera panned down to the court it was beep! beep! beep! beep! beep!

Beyond the irony, there was a deeper point. Although the crowd was filled with middle-aged white men, I guarantee the only music played that night (and very loudly I'm sure) was hip-hop.

The point is that the NFL isn't minding it's demographic. I've long been a harsh critic of these random acts of selfish jackassery committed by players like Chad Johnson, and I find it remarkable that so many people rush to his defense. Why does the NFL glorify these guys? A player like Warrick Dunn should be getting 5,000 X the pub and love these idiots are. The very fact that 99 out of 100 people (and probably almost everyone who reads this here)have no idea why that might be proves the point. The fact that he pretty much just tosses the ball to the ref after a TD is just the tip of the iceberg. More importantly, he's a model citizen off the field, and I mean an inspirational type guy. Compared to a guy like Dunn, Chad Johnson is a pile of of dog shit as a human being, yet the hype rolls on and he's beloved by millions of nitwits for his antics.

If you want a role model for the black community, Chad Johnson ranks right above OJ Simpson and Maurice Clarrett, but he's on Sportscenter every week for ALL the wrong reasons.

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

Not to go off on a tangent, but the "hip-hop culture" definitely has a place. MTV is a great example. But I remember an SNL spoof a few years ago called "Spot the black person" and it was set at an NBA game. A camera pans through the crowd at the Garden and through thousands of fans, every now and then there's be a beep! and a red circle would point out a black person in the crowd. It was literally 1 in a thousand. Of course when the camera panned down to the court it was beep! beep! beep! beep! beep!

Beyond the irony, there was a deeper point. Although the crowd was filled with middle-aged white men, I guarantee the only music played that night (and very loudly I'm sure) was hip-hop.

The point is that the NFL isn't minding it's demographic. I've long been a harsh critic of these random acts of selfish jackassery committed by players like Chad Johnson, and I find it remarkable that so many people rush to his defense. Why does the NFL glorify these guys? A player like Warrick Dunn should be getting 5,000 X the pub and love these idiots are. The very fact that 99 out of 100 people (and probably almost everyone who reads this here)have no idea why that might be proves the point. The fact that he pretty much just tosses the ball to the ref after a TD is just the tip of the iceberg. More importantly, he's a model citizen off the field, and I mean an inspirational type guy. Compared to a guy like Dunn, Chad Johnson is a pile of of dog shit as a human being, yet the hype rolls on and he's beloved by millions of nitwits for his antics.

If you want a role model for the black community, Chad Johnson ranks right above OJ Simpson and Maurice Clarrett, but he's on Sportscenter every week for ALL the wrong reasons.

That is an excellent point. But it is the sports TV media glorifying jerks like Chad (ESPN and Kornheiser fawning over Chad's "celebration" in the Ravens game was shameless) not the NFL. Goodell knows who his target demographic is for game time advertising and season tickets (age 25-54 upscale males) and is cracking down on aberrant behavior by Vick & Pacman so the NFL does not become the NBA in cleats.

But ESPN & Sportscenter skew to a younger target audience (teens to 20s males with less disposable income who buy shoes, beer & soft drinks) and are going to glorify "rebels" like Chad & Vick who keep it real and appeal to adolescents of all ages.

The best example I can cite of that sick dynamic was when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape and some said it might help his street cred to sell more shoes & jerseys to teens and young adults.

[revefsreleets]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

That is an excellent point. But it is the sports TV media glorifying jerks like Chad (ESPN and Kornheiser fawning over Chad's "celebration" in the Ravens game was shameless) not the NFL. Goodell knows who his target demographic is for game time advertising and season tickets (age 25-54 upscale males) and is cracking down on aberrant behavior by Vick & Pacman so the NFL does not become the NBA in cleats.

But ESPN & Sportscenter skew to a younger target audience (teens to 20s males with less disposable income who buy shoes, beer & soft drinks) and are going to glorify "rebels" like Chad & Vick who keep it real and appeal to adolescents of all ages.

The best example I can cite of that sick dynamic was when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape and some said it might help his street cred to sell more shoes & jerseys to teens and young adults.

Great points all. And the last rang some bells. THAT is indicative of the problem. I'm a white guy who doesn't suffer from the self-imposed white guilt we are all supposed to feel for acts committed by dumb rednecks from different places and earlier times. I feel just as qualified to comment on the state of the black community as I am on who the next President might be. Why? Well, while I am not black and never will be, what the black community does affects me greatly. And the same goes for being President, except to a far lesser degree.

Anyway, there is a real problem and it's getting worse. I don't have any real answers, but I feel like I'm ahead of all the people who should be coming up with solutions since I'm at least willing to look the problem straight in the eye and talk about it.

[onthebus36]

I don't think it's a race thing at all. There are plenty of idiots in the NFL who aren't black and plenty of character guys who are.

While I agree with the overall point of the article, that selfishness, undermining coaches, and foolish and criminal behavior are bad for the game, breaking teams down racially is a really slippery slope and something I'm not comfortable with.

Some things to think about:

1- implying the Colts and Pats are "whiter" than other teams implies some level of racism in hiring players, does it not? This implies their rosters are "whiter" by design and not because their players happen to be one race vs another.

2- In order to get to the percentages he talks about, you have to count latinos and Pacific Islanders and "white." I'm not sure those guys would consider themselves white.

3- How about mixed race players? Is Hines Ward black, Asian, or 50/50? Once you get to that level, aren't you pigeon-holing guys? Hines isn't black or asian, he's both right?. It reminds me of the census in the days of slavery when a slave was less of a person than a white man. Do you guys see the slippery slope here?

How about a simple article holding a few players accountable for their actions. A criminal is a criminal and a good man is a good man and race has little to nothing to do with it.