Monday, April 16, 2007

Sagging

In keeping up with the proud history of the Minnesota Vikings, yet another player was arrested early Sunday morning in downtown Minneapolis. This time, it was Cornerback Cedric Griffin who was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. Here is the story from today's St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin has a Friday date in Hennepin County court after being arrested early Sunday in downtown Minneapolis on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. According to the Hennepin County Sheriff's jail roster, Griffin was booked at 2:05 a.m. and released at 4:45 a.m. after posting $50 bail. Two witnesses told KSTP-TV that Griffin was thrown out of the Spin nightclub for not pulling up his pants. The club has a dress code requiring that pants not sag below the waist. The witnesses said Griffin then scuffled with bouncers and police before being taken away in handcuffs.

Griffin, 24, came to the Vikings last season as a second-round draft choice out of Texas and started seven games. He made 42 tackles and intercepted two passes. He replaced Fred Smoot at right cornerback for the Nov. 12 game against Green Bay and is expected to open the 2007 season at that position. Griffin's agent, Brian Overstreet, said he had no knowledge of the incident. A Vikings spokesman said the team had no comment. Because this is Griffin's first arrest since entering the NFL, he likely will not face disciplinary action under the league's new personal conduct policy until after the case is resolved.

Arrested for "not pulling up his pants." Think about that. What we have here is an adult male (reportedly) who refused to pull up his pants in a public place of business. I learned today on the radio that this practice of wearing your pants low, halfway between your waist and knees is called "sagging." This exposes the boxers, which the chicks apparently dig. Now, I am not really up the latest hip-hop jargon or fashion, and I have always thanked God that I was too old for "sagging." Now, I lived through feathered hockey hair (some people call them mullets), preppy boat shoes, Member's Only jackets (I had a tan one), huge 80's glasses, etc., but "sagging" takes the cake. Sagging is generally associated with the inner-city urban hip-hop crowd. I wouldn't say it is race specific, or even location-specific. I've seen plenty of white kids from Woodbury with their North Carolina hats cocked sideways, slumped over while driving their mommy and daddy's $45,000 car trying to look "gangsta." That is nothing short of pathetic. So while it is not race or location specific, sagging is "stupid specific." But, I digress. Let's get back to Mr. Griffin.

The Vikings are living under the misconception that there is a "new code of conduct" on the team. Gone are the thugs like Randy Moss, but are things getting better? Where are the Vikings and the rest of the NFL, for that matter, finding their "talent?" It is a belief of mine that the NBA has gone insane, and the NFL is trying it's best to catch up. Check out the Vikings, ALL of the Bengals, Pac-Man Jones, etc. etc. etc. Speaking of Pac-Man Jones, he is Exhibit A1 of what happens when you actually combine players from the NBA and NFL. Pac-Man (NFL guy) was in Las Vegas for the NBA all-star game, and he almost burned the town down single-handily. Add the NBA players and their posse's and I surprised there is a building left standing in Vegas. Anyway, I'm digressing again.

Why, on average, are NFL and NBA players getting in so much trouble compared to the NHL and Major League Baseball? Not to say players from those sports are 100% innocent. However, hockey and baseball players are getting into trouble FAR less than the NFL and NBA. Well. here is one thing that I don't see as a major factor - race. Race is far too convenient an explanation, and discredits all of the outstanding minority individuals in sports who provide an excellent example of character for today's youth. Torii Hunter, Dave Winfield and Alan Page are great examples of this in Minnesota. There are good and bad people of all races. Then what is it? Why are NBA and NFL players getting in so much trouble compared to the other sports. Here is what I think:

1. The hip-hop and rap culture. This is not just "music," it's a lifestyle. Many of these players in the NFL and NBA are raised in this lifestyle. Rap glorifies violence, guns, drugs and crime. Live fast, die young. Why, I'd even go so far as to say that rap is more dangerous and detrimental to inner city youth (and whoever else subscribes to this lifestyle) than Don Imus (sarcasm). What happens when you give a 21-year old from the rap lifestyle millions of dollars overnight? Pac Man Jones happens.

2. The instant gratification of the NFL and NBA. Kids realize early on that to reach the NHL or Major League Baseball, you most likely have to go through the minor leagues. You get to play in Iowa, or Nebraska, ride buses, and you get $9 dollars a day meal money. And, you play in front of a couple hundred people each night. Television? Probably not. In the NFL, "kids" are drafted earlier and earlier and given immense signing bonuses right off the bat. Many basketball players stay in college for a year or two before turing pro, or just go straight from high school. The minors? Hell, no. How about starting on opening night on national television! The trouble is, many of these kids don't live up to the hype and fail miserabley (J.R. Rider). They have quite a bit of money to blow, however. What happens then? Pac Man Jones happens then.

3. Now, I realize that an easy answer to this is that hockey is a very expensive sport to play, and generally not played in the inner city. However, baseball is not that expensive. Why aren't inner city youths playing baseball like they used to? This is an ever-growing question that is the subject of a book by Dave Winfield. Once again, baseball is not as sexy or high scoring as basketball. Why not as sexy? See # 1 and #2.

To me, these are the biggest reasons for the issues in the NBA and NFL today. They are not the only reasons, however. Let me know what you think. In short, the older I get, the more I find myself moving away from pro basketball and football. It has nothing to do with wins or losses - I can't identify with the players anymore. Maybe if I bought me a North Carolina hat and started sagging.......

Peace,

Jeff
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The thug culture has completely permeated the NBA and the NFL. I honestly believed that the day Ray Lewis was acquitted and reinstated without a blink by the NFL, things just went downhill. Kudos to Roger Goddell for trying to get it right.

And on a footnote, I'd give real money to see you "saggin'" while your chain hang low.

Apr 16, 2007, 11:23:00 PM
Jeff said...

Phil - next time I'm out in Townsend, I'll sport the look!

Apr 17, 2007, 7:49:00 AM
tony8489 said...

I am sure I will get flamed for this, but I don't care, because I am not politically correct. guess what: it is a race thing. since upwards of 75% of black babies are born to single family mothers, are you going to tell me that these kids even have a chance? throw in the hip-hop culture, drugs, glorification of bitches and hos, coupled with a culture that calls young black youth that want to better themselves "uncle toms", and just blame whitey, I mean, come on. how about some personal responsibility. no matter what is said, and believe me, I have heard it all, you are responsible for your life. black, yellow, red, green, pink, blah blah blah. no matter what color you are, take control. I was in las vegas the week after the all star game, and the people were still in shock. 450,000 of the finest gang bangers in the country. they nearly destroyed the town. hardened cab drivers were still reeling. and guess what gang? they were all black. stop the pc nonsense. it does not get us anywhere. as long as black youth continue to define themselves through a "prison culture", they are fu..ed, pure and simple

Apr 17, 2007, 9:07:00 PM
tony8489 said...

everyone-if you can stomach one more column on the imus thing, please read this. it won't be a waste of time.

MMENTARY
Imus isn’t the real bad guy
Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.
By JASON WHITLOCK
Columnist

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

The bigots win again.

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

Apr 17, 2007, 10:13:00 PM
Jeff said...

Tony 8489 - thanks for the comments. The point that I was trying to make about "race" is that I do not believe it is the major determining factor on how these atheletes are behaving. Now, it may be a major factor in whether or not an individual "buys in" in to the rap/hip hop culture that we both spoke about.

Then again, make a trip to Maplewood Mall and check out some of the caucasion kids who are trying their best to buy in to this "culture."

Also, I'm not sure if the NBA all- star game in Vegas is a great place to get a gauge on this. It would be like attending a KKK rally in Georgia, noticing all of the participants are white, and assuming all white people are right-wing extremists.

My point is that there are good and bad people off all races, and the reason they become good or bad is based on a lot of other factors. Parenting (which you mentioned) is huge.

By the way, thanks for adding the article on Imus. I read this in the Sunday paper and I agree 100%. There seems to be a double-standard here, in which some comedians are fired while others are glorified for making virtually the same comments.

Apr 18, 2007, 8:14:00 AM
Anonymous said...

Sagging? I thought that's what happened to my wife after the birth of our second child. I gotta get out more.

Apr 18, 2007, 3:24:00 PM
Jeff said...

I'm with you Freealonzo, I'm with you....

Jeff

Apr 18, 2007, 8:37:00 PM

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