We're Talkin About Overtime??!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqyhkEZfGQE Did anyone else hear Donovan McNabb (quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles) say this??!! I have always been a fan of Donovan (which has been hard considering his Eagles are archrivals to my Cowboys) but I cannot believe he said this.

-First of all, I can't believe a 10+ year NFL veteran does not know that NFL games could tie.

-Second, if he didn't, why didn't he just keep it to himself?! Especially in Philadelphia where the fans are evil and already looking for a reason to throw him out of town.

-Third, when he said "I'd hate to see what happens in a playoff game or Super Bowl" I slapped myself in the face. I wanted to fly to Philly, find him, grab him and say "THINK ABOUT IT DONOVAN...HOW COULD A PLAYOFF GAME POSSIBLY TIE??!! OBVIOUSLY THE RULES CHANGE FOR THE PLAYOFFS!!!"

If you aren't a big football fan, basically Donovan McNabb, a saavy NFL veteran admitted that he didn't know there were ties in the NFL after his team tied the Cincinnatti Bengals last week. The event was honestly overplayed but it did make him look a little foolish. Here are the rules:

If an NFL game is tied at the expiration of 4 quarters, the game will go to an overtime in which the first team to score wins. If this 15 minute period goes without any points, the game ends in a tie. If it is the playoffs though, the teams will continue to play 15 minute overtimes until a team scores because obviously a tie would completely destroy the playoff brackets.

For anyone who didn't know this before...you now know as much about the rules as at least one NFL quarterback...maybe more.

I'm new at the whole poetry deal but I was kind of hit with some inspiration recently and this is what came out...please let me know what you think and any improvements/adjustments I could make for the future.

Death of a Gentleman

What has happened to the gentleman?
I fear for his extinction

Has he faded away, never to be heard from again, like an untold secret?
Or does he wait, like a parentless child, for his glorious reunion?

His love has been murdered, its blood spilt with no remorse
Killed by its own jealous sister: Lust

Gone is the day of men, reliable as the rush of the tide
Replaced by men not guided by their hearts but their own greed

Those few that remain are brushed aside, like bronze amongst gold
Left in the dust, neglected like a despicable chore

Does no one miss the gentleman?

For the woman, despairing in his loss- I say do not fret
For there will always be one gentleman,
I pray you know where to find him.

My President is Black...But What Does that Mean?

Last Tuesday was a historic day, and it is one that I will remember forever. As soon as I learned of Barack Obama's win in the election I ran outside yelling whatever came to my head. I ran into a couple of friends and we proceeded to act a fool. We loudly, and rowdily made our way to the AKA Sorority House, where a Election Watching Party was going on. As soon as we got there we were greeted with more screams, high fives and acts of foolishness. But as soon as President Obama (is it too early to call him that?!) walked out onto the stage to give his speech, the room went silent. We all knew we were watching history and did not want to miss a minute of it. As I listened to his speech the magnitude of the event really hit me, and I actually felt myself start to tear up slightly. At the same time, I realized how much pressure and expectation came with his position and i said a prayer for him. Once the speech was over, we took the foolishness up to a new level, running outside and jumping into upperclassmens' cars. For the next 20 minutes we drove around campus, blaring songs like "My President is Black" by Young Jeezy and just letting our emotions take us over. We eventually congregated in a parking lot where we continued in our celebration, dancing, taking pictures and just having a good time. It was one of the best nights of my life, and I will never forget it. It genuinely felt like Christmas had come early. My president was black, but what does that really mean?

Are the problems of all blacks now over? Will Obama get all of us off the streets and into schools?
The answer to these questions is obviously No.

The truth of the matter is, Barack is not running the United States of Black people, he is running one of the most diverse countries in the world. He has to do what is best for the country as a whole and African Americans must remember this. I am sure he will make a huge effort to aid the people of his race, but he has many other issues he has to work on. Also, with the damage done by the previous administration, our new president will have a lot of reconstruction work to do before he can even think about implementing his own ideas. This is why we as people (especially African Americans) must be patient with President Obama and not jump ship too early.

With this said, his election is a historic day and the importance is not lost on me. Though I have been blessed to not have to deal with racism on a large scale, I know both my father and grandparents did for much of their lives. I remember my dad telling me about how in high school he had once tutored a guy in a class only to find that the kid he tutored got a better grade than him on all the tests. He always told me that as an African American in his time you had to work twice as hard as the white kids just to get the same grade. The fact that he was able to overcome this and be the succesful doctor he is today is a great story right along with Barack Obama.

It is such a blessing that my first election is such a important and succesful one that affects me personally. The excuse that a black man can not be succesful will no longer fly. Racism still exists in this country but I can confidently say that as long as I work hard and continue to push for the best I will come out okay. I really hope that Barack Obama's election does not only improve the country but that it inspires a race to new levels of success that it has never had before. For once, we as young black men have a prominent black role model to look up to who is not a rapper or athlete. I of course have always had my father to look up to, but many are not as fortunate as me.

In all, I wish Barack Obama the best of luck in office and truly hope and believe he improves the country we live in. I am proud to be an American and I salute our country for making the right choice!

"My President is Black" Music Video by Young Jeezy (Explicit***)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZAuY4ULNcE

Oh No You Didn't McCain!!

Though I do not support Senator McCain and think he would not be a good president for our country, I have respected him some of his actions. Unlike Palin, who ignores when people are screaming to assassinate Senator Obama, McCain has corrected people for speaking untruths about Barack. When one women called Obama an Arab, McCain defended his rival candidate, saying that Senator Obama was a "good family man". I really respected McCain for this.

But in the last debate, McCain said some things that I thought were incredibly irresponsible and innapropriate.

When a question was asked about the ferocity of the campaign, Obama took the high road; he said nothing about the screams urging for his assassination and just simply said that it was a tough election but the issues were what mattered. Senator McCain, obviously not taking the hint went on about how he did not appreciate comments made by some Democratic supporters.

Obama was finally forced into bringing up the assassination remarks, and McCain countered by describing some t-shirts worn by members at one Senator Obama's rally that he did not appreciate.

This made me a little mad...how could McCain compare screams of murder to T-shirts. I don't know what the T-shirts looked like, but can you really compare the two? I hate to bring this up, but it is true: it would be a different story if Obama was not black. Because the United States has such a memorable history of violence towards blacks, especially succesful ones, this issue holds a lot more weight.

Back when African Americans first got equal rights the Ku Klux Klan would use fear and intimidation to keep blacks ignorant. If an African American became to succesful or too influential, they would be beaten, tarred, have a burning cross put in their yard or even killed. This thing kind of reminds me of that. It's just another example of how we have escaped slavery but racism is still very prominent in our country.

I really did not like what McCain had to say there, but I will again state my respect for him in many other situations. I feel like McCain is atleast a good man who wants to win, but holds no personal grudge against Obama. It is amazing to see some of the ignorance and racism that still exists. It is sad that McCain is forced to defend his opponent. With that said, I support CHANGE and look forward to the first African American president in our history!!

Here is the full debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvdfO0lq4rQ

Here is McCain defending Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTMloaj6b68

Why Am I So Blessed?

Living on the sheltered and protected campus of SMU, you often forget that there is a world outside of it in which people are not living as well as we are. The same was true with my high school; everyone at the school pretty much knew that they were going to college and that they had sufficient funds to get in. I group up in a family that was by no means rich, but we always had pretty much all we needed and wanted and were able to pursue our goals academically without hindrance. I came from a family of highly educated people: everyone up to and including my grandparents went to college. So since I was born, I knew I would go to college, get a degree and get a job. This is not the case for a large population of the country, and I was reminded of this when I went to visited two schools in the Dallas Independent School District this week. I visited one through a mentorship program we have here at SMU through a club, Black Men Emerging. I visited the other school through my job, Group Excellence where we tutor kids and try to be a good role model for them. Both cases really showed me how much I should be thankful for. When I went to the school through the mentorship program, we just got all the kids together and talked to them about why they should go to college. We asked how many planned to go, and about half raised their hands. For me, this was unexpected as I had never met a kid who truly did not want to go to college. But for these kids, it was different. Many had no family members that had ever been to college, so why should they? Many thought they would not be able to afford it. After we talked to the kids for a while about how great college was, we had many more interested in going. The tragedy at schools like these is that the kids are not stupid, many of them being very bright. Unfortunately, the teachers are not competent and parents are not telling their kids that school is important. Kids are at these schools in their early 20's. The kids need someone to look up to that is in college and can show them the way.

One instance that really sticks out in my mind when I was at Group Excellence was when I was helping one kid with his work. He said he had to go to work in about half an hour, and another tutor and I gave him a hard time saying "awww nah man, you don't need to go to work; you need to stay here and do this TAKS packet". He responded "Okay, I'll stay if you guys help pay my bills"(We quickly assured him that he needed to go to work). This really sticks out to me because I grew up with the privilege that when I worked, I worked for myself. I realized then how many luxuries I really have and how many of them I take for granted. It made me even more resolute in my decision to help the kids at these schools. Many of them are probably smarter than I am, but they just were born into a less favorable situation than me. What made me so special that I got to be born into such a blessed life? As far as I am concerned, it is my duty to help these kids. I must spread what I have gotten so easily, without having to work barely at all. Many of these kids see college as an impossibility; they might not know anyone who has ever been. For them the chances of being dead or in jail are much more likely than college. They just need someone to show them that they can make it; I want to be one of the people to show them that.

Rappin About Slavery

Tonight I was hoping to be at the Lupe Fiasco concert, getting crunk and all that...ya'll know what I'm talking about...Anyway, instead of going I was forced to stay on campus and do some work because I had so much I needed to get done. As you can probably guess, I was not too happy about this, but believe it or not I ended up getting a lot out of the night. I read the autobiography of Olaudah Equiana. He was an African who was kidnapped and sold into the African slave trade, eventually making it all the way to the U.S. I was really affected by his story and all that he had to go through at such a young age. It really put things in perspective for me. While Lupe Fiasco is known for his real, meaningful lyrics, Equiana lived a life with more hardships than Lupe and definitely more than me. Being separated from his family as a child and then being forced to a completely different country on a filthy, crowded boat with cruel, evil men was incredibly overwhelming for me to take in. It once again reminded me of all the hardships of my ancestors and the responsibility I have to get an education because so many of them were unable to do so.
I noticed several things while reading the autobiography that interested me. First of all, I noticed the definite inferiority Equiana felt to the whites that was a part of the time period. He starts of by apologizing and then apologizes later for talking about his homeland. The second thing I noticed was the contrast in styles the African and White owners believed in. Equiana was never beaten badly in Africa, and was often treated pretty well. Once he was under control of the whites though, he was beaten for simply not eating. The white men even beat some of their own on the journey from Africa. I believe this is because while Africans enslaved other Africans, they didn't feel as if the other African's were inferior, they were more just like prisoners. On the other hand, the whites felt like the blacks were inferior because their skin color was different than theirs. Don't think I am in any way condoning the enslavement of Africans by other Africans, because slavery, no matter who enslaves who, is wrong. I just felt it was interesting to see the differences in styles, most likely caused by difference (or lack of difference) of skin color.
So basically, instead of being at the concert of my favorite rapper, I am in the library noddin' my head to some old school Will Smith (Men In Black, don't act like you don't love that song), and I am almost happy I didn't go to the concert...Almost.

Don't Even Have Time for This Blog

Now when I finally seem to have the college lifestyle under control and I feel like I have a routine, my days are about to change greatly. I have so far enjoyed easy days of going to class, working out and studying. Nothing else, all on my schedule. Now though, I have seemed to take on a million different tasks at once. I now have a job, Group Excellence, where I will tutor and mentor high school students. I also was recently elected Community Chair of one of my clubs, and will also be involved in a mentorship program with another one of my organizations. On top of that I need to still find time to workout regularly so I can have a better chance at walking on to the football team in the spring. Then I am going to have to find at least a little time to study in there...that's not on the top of my priorites of course (joke...that was a joke). And after all of this I still have to find time for the females, the reason I came to college (that was only half joking there). So basically I am going to have much less free time in the coming months. Don't get me wrong, I'm not just some kid whining because I actually have to do some work...I just am a little stressed over how I am going to manage my time. I honestly look forward to working because it will allow me to help people who really need it and that is one of my passions. Anyway, it felt good to get this off my chest and put it on a blog...I would write more but I have some Sociology reading to do...(Note of Advice: don't take sociology! Way too much reading!)

Real Talk

I recently saw that Josh Howard, an extremely talented forward for the Dallas Mavericks, is being criticized for comments he made in a YouTube video. In the video, with the National Anthem playing in the background, Howard says “…I don’t celebrate that s***, I’m black…” This is not the first time the Maverick’s star has made controversial comments: Before a pivotal playoff game this year, he admitted to using marijuana and claimed many other NBA players smoked as well.
I have always been a Mavericks fan and more in particular, a Josh Howard fan but his comments frustrate me to no end. As an African American I already have to deal with the many stereotypes associated with my culture and don’t appreciate someone from within the race adding to these negative perceptions. I can guarantee that Howard’s comments confirmed the ideas of many ignorant people throughout the world. Let me say now though that NOTHING HOWARD SAID REPRESENTS THE MAJORITY OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.
First of all, let me address his comments on the national anthem. I know several black people that do “celebrate” the National Anthem. The most obvious being those African Americans who give their lives defending this country. The name Barak Obama also comes to mind…The more hurtful aspect of Howard’s comments is how they can be perceived. It could be interpreted that he is essentially saying black people do not care about politics. Once again this is untrue, as I personally know many blacks who not only care about politics, but are extremely knowledgeable in them. His comments are an insult to all African Americans, especially those who are active in our government.
Secondly, his candid comments on his own marijuana use are also extremely frustrating. It goes along with the growing stereotype of African Americans as thugs, smoking chronic in the back of SUVs with tinted windows, on the way to bust a cap on some hood who is actin’ a fool. Once again the actions of some cannot be a reflection of a race in its entirety. I am really disappointed in Josh for endorsing a stereotype that needs know help in being spread throughout the world. I don’t know how many times people have given me weird looks when they find out that the brotha doesn’t smoke. Rarely has it been a black person that has asked me…Some people truly believe that all black people actually smoke weed. In my family, every person up to my grandmothers generation has not only been clean of drugs, but have gone to college and gotten very successful jobs.
In short, I am really disappointed in Josh Howard, a former hero of mine who seems just to not get it. Maybe he felt his comments were accurate, he was just keepin’ it real, but that is not the point. He needs to understand that because of his fame as an athlete, his comments are taken as a reflection of the race as a whole. To those who think Howard’s comments reflect my race, let me say this with one hundred percent certainty: there are many more African Americans who disprove his comments than those that prove it… Now that’s real talk.