February 29, 2004

i thought so

I figured that I would receive a few nasty comments about my last post. I dared to use the forbidden "N-word" and I was called a piece of white trash in return. I expected that kind of reaction.

I give a shit, too.

When I went out for football, my daddy told me that I was a "natural" and that I could excel on the field. But he also told me that I was too weak, too slow and too small to play the position I wanted to play. He was correct. I started for four years on championship teams.

"Rob, the only way you'll make it out there is to play smarter, work harder and be tougher than the bigger guys. You've got to want it more than they do. If you can't do that, then your ass will ride the bench forever. You are not blessed with the physical ability to play the game as well as other people can. You have to outsmart them."

As someone once said on this blog, I had to learn to play "above my weight."

If my son were black, I would give him a similar speech. I would tell him that life ain't fair and life ain't easy. If it were, then any asshole could do it. But assholes don't succeed. Hard workers do. And when you start out playing against a stacked deck, the LAST THING you do is make matters worse for yourself by acting like some fucking moron at the drop of a hat.

Why don't so-called "black leaders" give the same kind of advice today? Yeah, son. Life is going to be tougher for you than it is for the rich white boy down the street. But don't bitch about that fact. Become determined to overcome the odds, work harder, be smarter and want it more than he does. You're never a loser unless you decide to be one. You can win if you believe that you are a winner. That's your choice to make.

I hate NBA basketball. I see too many thugs and hoodlums on the court showing their asses like monkeys for me to tolerate the game. But these pricks are the role models for young black men today. Fuck sportsmanship. Fuck controlling your temper. Fuck the fans. Fuck the game. Hoo-ray for you.

I don't like Tiger Woods, either, but not for the same reasons. Tiger is just so got-dam good that he has unbalanced the world of professional golf. When he is on the beam, no one else on the face of the planet can compete with him. I would like to see a more level playing field instead of one golfer standing head and shoulders above the rest.

But I'll give Tiger credit for one thing. He ALWAYS comports himself as a gentleman, he plays by the rules and you NEVER see him nigger-up and do something ghetto-like in either his personal or professional life. Do you think that, just maybe, he heard a speech from his father a long time ago a lot like the one my father gave me? "Yeah, son, you can do it. But it's an uphill climb. You have to try harder, work longer and want it more than the other guys do. But you can do it."

Why isn't that philosophy preached to blacks in this country today? Why can't someone stand up and tell them to stop walking around with their hands out, begging for something for nothing, and learn to walk with their heads held high?

Never mind. We do have people giving such speeches and they are roundly condemned by the black community. Clarence Thomas is a perfect example. That man came from Pinpoint, Georgia and made his way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Now THAT is an uphill climb. I know Pinpoint and I know what opportunities Clarence had to start with. He learned to play above his weight.

Anybody can do it. You just have to want it badly enough. Too many people don't.

And I brook no excuses for the crime, the unwanted babies and the crack-alley ghetto-behavior of far too many blacks. That's not a racist comment. It's goddam realism, and if you can't handle the truth, go to work for the government. You'll fit in just fine there.

I know the truth when I see it. Don't piss down my back and tell me that it's raining.

I would tell Quinton that he'll get some bad licks in life because of the color of his skin, but he can overcome that handicap by being smarter, working harder and being tougher than the bigger guys.