Monday, October 4, 2010

Another Example of Race(ism) in Sports Commentating? (Refined)

(Refinement) Today, Oct 15, Ritchie demonstrated what I like about him: truth-telling. The problem with the Dallas Cowboys lies with their head coach, who, if you haven't noticed, is white. But it's not just that he goes after a white coach, cause what he says would be true even if the head coach weren't white.

Like I say below, I normally wouldn't even have written about his commentary on Batch and Kolb had I not been working on a new page already. And yeah, you'd think Batch would be ahead of Kolb, but at the end of the day, they were both rusty. That's what kind of stuck in my craw about Ritchie's commentary. I do wanna be clear that I don't think of Ritchie as a "racist" as defined by the mainstream. Just as a former football player who may not be completely divorced of his white-identity and racial-frame, but is significantly better than the typical white guy.

Generally, I like Jon Ritchie of ESPN. And definitely I ordinarily wouldn't be writing this because I'm usually doing something else about this time. I'm already working some a new blog page which is why I'm already here. But I can make this point very easily.

You can't on one hand criticize Charlie Batch and excuse Kevin Kolb for the same thing: being rusty. Just a few minutes ago (cause I'm doing sort of a "live blog") Ritchie asserted that Batch essentially caused the Pittsburg loss yesterday against Baltimore by not standing strong in the pocket. I think he used the phrase, "a deer in headlights," at some point. Then, hardly a moment later, Ritchie declared he couldn't blame Kolb for the Philadelphia loss because had had been benched (for a game, I'll note) and hadn't gotten the practice and snaps he needed to be prepared.

But would that be the same cause for Batch's dancing feet? Batch had only been the named started for a little over a week. Batch is a veteran, which I guess would be Ritchie's "I read Playboy for the articles" excuse, but he hadn't had any real game-time play since 2007. So what's the difference between him and Kolb?

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This isn't too complicated. If you disagree with me, I'm more than happy to have an honest discussion. I'm quite open to learning new facts and ideas. I'm dying for a conservative to explain their ideas in a sensible way.

But, I do have rules, and they also apply to those who agree with me. They just get the benefit of my already knowing the fact they'll be referring to.

So, here're the comment thread rules:

1 - Use facts.
2 - Refer to policy.
3 - Don't rely on theories and conjectures. Show me how, for example, a public health insurance option will lead to "rationing" of health care.
4 - No unfounded attacks on any entity.

If you break those rules, I will edit your comment to my own whimsical satisfaction.

Lastly, perhaps most importantly, I'm not going to entertain too much pro-white/racism-denying discussion. I want this to be a space to discuss strategies to fight racism, not space where I have to fight racism. I want anti-racists to be able to come here for a mental respite. If what you're interested in doing is attempting to demonstrate the fallacy of anti-racism by repeating the same ole comments and questions and accusations we hear all the time, please do that somewhere else.

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But Don't Jack My Genuis