CFN's preview of Rivalry Week...

[big daddy russ]

...the writer's choices for best, most overrated, most underrated and most heated rivalries. (http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/TQ/Tuesday_Question.htm)

[big daddy russ]

Plus the best write-up I've seen yet on the Fisher DeBerry topic...



Q: Should Fisher DeBerry be fired?

A: Absolutely not. In fact, he should be commended for having uncovered this startling revelation. Just think – he must have spent the better part of the last 21 years conducting studies, compiling data, and crunching numbers to come up with this cold, hard fact. Most of us have been pondering it for decades, but last week Fisher DeBerry made it official: The black athlete runs faster than the white athlete. It’s amazing that someone hadn’t discovered this sooner. Can you say Nobel Prize?

Oh, sure. DeBerry’s theory may seem like a generalization, but we’ll let it slide. After all, Coach DeBerry obviously spent thousands of dollars in U.S. Government research grants to be able to command the finality of such a statement. So, we’ll look the other way when fact-doubters crawl out of the woodwork to refute this claim, and point out the possibility that Landon Donovan’s 40-time may be slightly quicker than Cedric The Entertainer’s.

Geez (big sigh). Can’t anyone speak honestly anymore – even if it’s not the brightest thing to do? Look, DeBerry made a stupid comment. Stupid – not malicious. And the stupidity of the comment really doesn’t even revolve around the race issue. The stupidity revolves around a coach’s failure to recognize how sensitive this country has become towards political correctness (or incorrectness). Why couldn’t he just have stated something similar to the following remarks: “Members of the media, I admit that the Air Force Academy’s football program has somewhat struggled this season, but I assure you that I plan to recruit more speed in the coming years. It’s obvious that we’re getting beaten to every spot on the field, so I plan to rectify those problems by spending the 2005-06 off-season in an attempt to lure quicker athletes to the Academy – especially on the defensive end.” There, was that so bad? No harm, no foul. Plus, you imply that you’ll be recruiting more black players without actually coming out and saying it. Heck, Howard Cosell could have made those comments in his sleep. Let the media make its own ignorant assumptions. That’s what we dumb-asses are here for.

The first amendment prevents DeBerry from being thrown into a legal caldron, but some way-too-serious liberal stone-throwers have already sentenced him to death for simply complimenting a minority race (albeit, in a back-handed manner). Get over it, all you Christine Brennan wanna-be’s. There’s nothing to see here, and life’s too short to spend looking for holes in the ozone.