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Editorials/Columns
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The Joy May Come Tomorrow
ootball has become one
of the most popular sports in the world. Football starts with the millions of youngster in the Police Athletic Leagues, high school, college or the high paid professional. The game of football is one of the most exciting sports you can watch.
To illustrate that point, ask yourself have you ever seen an 80-yard kickoff return. What about a 50-yard over the shoul- der touchdown catch or a bone jarring to the chest tackles?
Man you are seeing some dynamite football. Players may celebrate those plays by beat- ing their chest, leaping in to the air, doing a dance or by screaming and hollering.
Fans usually get their joy as the play is happening, but the
player’s real joy may not come until tomorrow, if then. You see, football is a very danger- ous sport. A vicious hit may put a player out of action for the rest of his life.
These injuries have their say over whether a footballer’s joy will come. These injuries aren’t as dangerous as the dreaded brain injuries. These injuries are so devastating that parents no longer want their children to play the sport.
Folks are talking about out- lawing the game. That includes doctors and coaches. Football is a multi-billion dollar busi- ness and football people cannot have that kind of talk. These people are spending billions trying to make football a safe game and they have not been successful yet. Maybe while the
search goes on for safety con- tinues, maybe some additional rule changes may help and I would like to suggest some.
The first rule would be the head gear should not be used to avoid a tackle, to make a tackle, to make a block or to use the head in any way to make a play shall be a fifteen yard penalty. There shall be a first down and a two game suspension to the guilty player.
A player will be suspended one game, the opposing team will be awarded a fifteen yard penalty and award an auto- matic first down if a player blocks in the back, if more than two defensive players pile on an offensive player.
In cases of fumbles, the rule does not apply. These simple rules may help. We sure don’t want to get rid of football. But we don’t want to let football keep messing up the lives of so many young people. We may as well face the fact; there is too much money in the sport to stop playing it.
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Mayor Buckhorn Goes To New Hampshire
eading about Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn stump-
ing for Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reminded us of movie star Jimmy Stewart in his classic role and the movie named after his character, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Except, this time, our “Mr. Smith” (Bob Buckhorn) isn’t heading for Capitol Hill (well, not yet!), but is on his way to the Oz-like Wonder- land of the New Hampshire Primary.
We wonder, should we preempt his trip with a warn- ing, “Lions and tigers and bears, Oh, My,” or should we pat our Mayor on the back and in our best Dr. Seuss ren- dition, simply whisper, “Oh, the places you’ll go and the people you’ll see?”
It’s good that Mayor Bob lays to rest any suspicions of hanky-panky by letting skeptics know he’s footing his own air-travel and billeting costs, just as it’s also refreshing to see the leader of one of America’s most progressive cities not being afraid to champion the leadership of his pre- ferred political party.
Promises Buckhorn on Hillary’s behalf, “I will do whatever they ask me to do.” Indeed, his “can-do and will- do” spirit has made him “a man to watch” on his own po- litical and personal future.
Therefore, we say to Bob Buckhorn, “Dream big and do well! Who knows ‘what places you will go and what people you will see” on your way to and from New Hamp- shire?
Get Money With Bobblehead
ere we are two days be-
fore Super Bowl 50 kicks off and I'm beginning to wonder if they should even go ahead with the event. I mean, from what I've been hearing, it seems obvious that everyone already knows who's going to win.... Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers by a whole bunch over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
So the question is why bother playing the actual game and wasting everybody's time? Just give Cam the trophy now and have people tune in Sun- day for the 30-minute halftime show starring Coldplay, Bey- once and Bruno Mars.
Of course, I'm only half-jok- ing. Consider it my way of mocking the hype that's doing a great job of helping Las Vegas fatten the cow for the slaughter.
This is the kind of game that bookies salivate about. The kind where everybody and their mothers are going for the same team.
They know that there's little chance of all these individuals, some of whom were born on top of broken mirrors and under ladders, being right. And that slim probability has the potential to produce a huge payday for those taking the bets.
Right now, you could prob- ably walk into any barber shop or beauty salon and hear 10 people tell you how badly the
Carolina Panthers are going to beat the Denver Broncos. And I'm willing to wager that, even in this paper, there's a story a few pages down where all of the readers, who've been asked for their Super Bowl predic- tions, have chosen to ride with the Panthers.
The main reason for their al- legiance, the guy playing quar- terback who they call “Black Superman."
In gambling circles this is what is commonly known as bandwagon weight. Too many people, who don't watch foot- ball and who know very little about the sport, taking the side that appears most popular. And, just as it is with planes, ships and elevators, when there's too much weight on board, bad things tend to hap- pen.
Sure, when you compare Newton and Manning's play this year, it makes perfect sense to go with the young gunslinger with the Colgate smile. Newton is stronger, faster, quicker, more elusive and looks, basically, unstop- pable. There is absolutely no way that an old, slow, decrepit, fractured-neck and weak armed Manning should stand a chance against his energetic adversary on the world's largest stage.
This has to be easy money, right? Not necessarily.
If I haven't learned anything else over the years I've learned
that so-called "sure things" don't exist. And when you take into account the amount of money Vegas stands to lose if Carolina (the clear favorite) wins, along with how much the NFL loves to award its most beloved players with champi- onships on their way into re- tirement, it's almost a guarantee that these two enti- ties will do everything within their collective powers to en- sure that Manning rides off into the sunset victorious.
I know. You love "Killa Cam." What's not to like about "The Dab" and the gen- erous way he gives the kiddies free footballs after touch- downs?
Everything he does is great. But, unfortunately, none of it means squat to the people writing the script.
Look, I wouldn't mind see- ing Cam hoist the Vince Lombardi either. But another thing I've learned in life is that, when you throw your money behind your heart, your pock- ets suffer the consequences.
So, with that being said, I'm placing my perfect record for picking Super Bowl winners over the last three years on the line and going with Papa John's life-size bobble head and the long-shot Denver Broncos. Like I always say, there's a reason why Vegas is always able to build beautiful hotels.... They seldom lose the big one.
Doing the dab is cool. But I'd much rather get paid after the game clock strikes zero.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company. Any- one wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com.
TPD: From Bicycles To Seatbelts
et’s talk about something that isn’t readily known by
the public (or readily admitted by most law enforce- ment agencies). By and large, it’s almost impossible to drive more than a short distance without committing a traffic violation. Things like not stopping behind white lines, not putting on your signal lights when changing lanes, or committing split-second rolling stops come to mind.
No doubt, even if they wanted to do so, most local law enforcement outfits couldn’t keep up with all such infrac- tions.
But in Tampa, what started as an imbroglio between police officers and Black bike-riders, has somehow blos- somed into another cactus called (for want of a better phrase) “the possibility of discriminatory ticketing for non-use of seatbelts.”
Now, everybody knows that speeding, or failure to wear a seatbelt is unlawful (amen?). But according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Tampa’s Finest has taken this minor infraction over the line by stopping and presenting Black drivers with twice as many seatbelt citations as have been given to any other group. Police are up in arms. But statistics don’t lie, says ACLU.
However, to his credit, TPD Chief Eric Ward stands by a request for a federal review of his department’s seatbelt ticketing records. Announcing, “We are going to be ag- gressive about education and aggressive about enforce- ment,” TPD spokesman Stephen Hegarty explains,
“because just this year, somebody lost their life because they weren’t wearing a safety belt.”
Nevertheless, discrimination in any form is an imbalance on the scales of justice and must be corrected lest protection becomes persecution.
In the meantime, we send out this friendly advice to all our readers: “Riding with an unfastened seatbelt is NOT a constitutional right. It is downright stupid . . . And racism doesn’t have a darned thing to do with it.”
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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