McNabb's Black and White Issue

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Philadelphia Eagles' QB, Donovan McNabb sat down with HBO's James Brown to interview for "Real Sports," and started professing the same song and dance: that black quarterbacks receive more pressure than his white counterparts. Someone get this man a tissue because he just cannot seem to stop crying, whining, and blaming everyone else.

As a credit to McNabb, he does have the Eagles' success (and failure) on his shoulders. I will give him that one, but under no circumstances would I even consider that as a black quarterback he receives more pressure. Yes, McNabb receives a lot of pressure and not because he is black, but because he is playing in Philly. That is a tough market to play in; the fans have a bit of a reputation of being relentless. Eagles fan (like most NFL fans) believe that every year is their year for success and every game is open for a win. That is pressure.

However, perhaps, the greatest amount of pressure that McNabb is feeling is because he is so talented and capable of performing so well on a consistent basis. If there was a black quarterback that posted mediocre numbers, then I do not think that he would feel the same amount of pressure that McNabb feels. I truly believe that he feels the pressure because he is expected to produce. The franchise has built him up to be their saving grace and that has nothing to do with color.

Spy games

After hearing the news that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided to spy on the New York Jets by videotaping their defensive signals from the sideline, I only have one question: "Why?" I immediately follow that up with "What an idiot!"

Why would a coach, who most believe has the best team in the NFL, cheat? Bill Belichick is a great coach with great players and since the camera was reportedly confiscated prior to the end of the first quarter and the Pats still embarrassed the Jets, it was clearly unnecessary. This form of cheating, however, is common enough that VP of Football Operations, Ray Anderson, wrote a statement to coaches and GMs right before the start of the season.

The part of this whole thing that just sickens me is the fact that this has tainted Belichick. He definitely was making his path to the Hall of Fame and now I am not sure how easy it will be for voters to erase this from their memories. (If this is common practice, then how many other Hall of Famers are cheaters?) If Belichick is able to lead the Pats to the Super Bowl and win, then it will be completely lackluster no matter what.

Living in San Diego, this is a story of Biblical porportions. The Chargers and all their fans have not stopped crying foul since their loss last year. If you remember correctly (and I do because like I said they have not stopped talking about it), then you will recall that the Chargers called the Pats cheaters and unethical back then.

Let's take a look on Sunday and see how many coaches call plays with something covering their mouths...

Bowie 2.0

Everyone knows the saying we avoid making future mistakes by learning from the history. Apparently, the Portland Trail Blazers need to catch up on their history because as it seems they did not learn from the 1984 NBA Draft. If you were unsure on the exact happenings of this draft that occurred 23 years ago, then simply reading recent news about Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden would clear everything up for you.


In 1984, the Trail Blazers had the second overall draft pick. After Olajuwon was taken, Portland had two top prospects: Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan. Of course, the Trail Blazers took Bowie over Jordan and the rest is history. Bowie's first four years at Portland was plagued with injuries. Now, in 2007 it seems as if the past is roaring back with a vengeance. Oden, the number one NBA draft pick coming out of Ohio will miss his entire rookie season. Things are starting off poorly for the seven-foot tall center who has experienced injuries before he was ever drafted but things intensified after that draft day in June.

For whatever reason, the Trail Blazers decided not to pay attention to him missing a few games while at Ohio State. They decided that it was not that big of a deal that he needed surgery to remove his tonsils and to repair his wrist. The Trail Blazers also seemed to accept the fact that he had to pull out of the Olympic tryouts due to exhaustion. Well, they cannot disregard Oden's injuries anymore. He is only a 19 year old rookie and already he walks around as if he had a long career and is now retired. The only positive for the Trail Blazers and Oden at this point is that he is able to take a year off and possibly take some of the pressure off. The other advantage is that with the injury to Oden, the Trail Blazers will almost certainly be in the same situation as last year and possibly have a top draft pick. Maybe when Oden returns and have a new draft pick, the Trail Blazers may be able to begin to build a better team.