Rhoden: Don't fire Randolph for Mets' collapse, etc.

Ben_Hecht · Oct 3, 2007

Boom_70 said:

Acceptance Still Lags for Black Quarterbacks
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Published: January 7, 2007
Glendale, Ariz.

Ohio State’s Troy Smith and Florida’s Chris Leak do not know each other. They have seen each other in passing, have exchanged hellos, but they do not really know each other.

â€œI’ve just followed him and what he’s accomplished through the years,â€ Leak said Friday when asked about Smith during media day for the Bowl Championship Series national title game. â€œJust watching him maturing as a quarterback, what he’s been able to accomplish, winning the Heisman Trophy. He’s had a great career.â€

Leak and Smith will be central players in the continuing evolution at the quarterback position. Tomorrow night’s championship game will be the first time in B.C.S. history, and only the second time in the history of the Associated Press poll, that black starting quarterbacks have met in a game involving the No. 1 and No. 2 teams. In the 1994 Orange Bowl, Charlie Ward’s Florida State defeated Tommie Frazier’s Nebraska.

Earlier in the season, Smith told reporters that he felt the African-American quarterback angle was a dead issue. â€œWe’re way beyond it,â€ he said. â€œIt’s not significant at all with quarterbacks. That’s a moot point. We should stay away from that.â€

He added: â€œI don’t see color, I see people in any situation. I disliked it so much when they said Warren Moon was the first African-American quarterback inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s a quarterback. I didn’t appreciate that.â€

With all due respect to Smith, the Buckeyes’ senior quarterback, if you respect Moon, you must appreciate the arduous path that took him from Los Angeles to Edmonton to Houston to Canton. Moon helped clear the way for Smith to flourish in Columbus and for Leak to survive in Gainesville. Someone cleared the path for Moon, and earlier generations cleared a path for that pioneer.

There was a time when African-Americans were not allowed to play the game at all, and once allowed in were largely blocked from playing quarterback. The deeply entrenched stereotypes held that African-Americans could not think under pressure, lacked courage, lacked leadership skills.

Tomorrow night’s national championship game is a milestone that should be celebrated, not shunned, embraced as yet another marker of progress and triumph in the meandering history of race and sport in America. Never forget the history.

We are not talking ancient history. Michael Vick, possibly the most dynamic player to set foot under center, continues to be ridiculed. Last year at this time, legions of Vince Young’s critics said he lacked the necessities, the mechanics; some even suggested he might be a better receiver or running back. Young was recently named the offensive rookie of the year in the N.F.L.

Louisiana State’s JaMarcus Russell turned in a dominating performance in the Sugar Bowl, a game in which the announcers were singing the praises of Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn while soft-pedaling Russell. When it became clear that Russell was going to lead L.S.U. to a rout, they changed their tune.

Leak watched some of the game and heard the broadcast. â€œThat’s the world we live in,â€ he said.

Leak and Smith represent a historical threshold of African-Americans playing quarterback. The writer Malcolm Gladwell might call them the sports equivalent of â€œThe Tipping Point.â€ Today, having a quarterback who moves, and moves with speed and purpose, is not a luxury, and that is the essence of the revolution at quarterback. On Friday, Florida Coach Urban Meyer talked about his requisites for the position, which were the ability to get out of trouble and to turn a bad play into a big play.

It is fascinating to observe how tenaciously so many in the news media cling to the old standard of quarterback, as if it were the last preserve of culture and civilization.

Will the quarterback position become as Africanized as, say, the defensive secondary or the receiving corps in the N.F.L.?

The Eagles’ Donovan McNabb expressed his doubts in a recent interview, saying: â€œI don’t think so. A lot of organizations — they may not say it — but that’s not what they want. I don’t know if they really want a true leader, an African-American, to be the face of their team.

â€œThey’re billionaires. It’s all about making money. So they won’t have an African-American quarterback be the face of their team.â€

During an interview in Jacksonville earlier this season, Byron Leftwich of the Jaguars said: â€œI think it all depends on how much the quarterback position changes. If you can still win by throwing the ball in the pocket, no. But if the game changes, where that man behind the center has got to be able to run around in order to win, then I think you’ll see that change, because that’s just what’s going to happen.â€
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boots said:

slappy4428 said:

You are entitled to your opinion. Stop telling me what to do with mine.
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I didn't. I just asked for you or anyone else to tell me what is this race card. I play cards regularly and have never seen one.
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Just one . . . of so, so many . . .

boots · Oct 3, 2007

WHAT IS THE RACE CARD?

21 · Oct 3, 2007

boots said:

WHAT IS THE RACE CARD?
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You didn't ask correctly. You have to say, 'I'll take WHAT IS THE RACE CARD FOR $150, ALEX.' Otherwise they don't know.

boots · Oct 3, 2007

21 said:

boots said:

WHAT IS THE RACE CARD?
Click to expand...

You didn't ask correctly. You have to say, 'I'll take WHAT IS THE RACE CARD FOR $150, ALEX.' Otherwise they don't know.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you are right.

TheSportsPredictor · Dec 15, 2014

boots · Oct 3, 2007

Nice graphic. So that's the race card?

TheSportsPredictor · Oct 3, 2007

Looks ike it!

heyabbott · Dec 15, 2014

boots said:

WHAT IS THE RACE CARD?
Click to expand...

boots · Oct 3, 2007

Ok, so what does it mean when you say people play it?

markvid · Oct 3, 2007

I'll take Jap-Anus Relations for $200, Alex.

heyabbott · Dec 15, 2014

heyabbott · Oct 3, 2007

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Rhoden: Don't fire Randolph for Mets' collapse, etc.

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Rhoden: Don't fire Randolph for Mets' collapse, etc.

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