Kaep's Civil Rights Movement

I have to chime in on the Colin Kaepernick situation.

It’s happening in my backyard.

It’s happening on my team.

So here are my thoughts.

The Endgame

What’s the endgame here?

How does sitting for the national anthem create social change?

I have no idea.

He wants to bring awareness to the racial dynamics in America?

Was it a secret?

It’s on the news all the time.

In fact, I would go so far to say that if you are walking around, completely oblivious to the racial dynamics in this country, one, you are either not observant or not paying attention, and two, a backup quarterback on a (hopefully .500) ball club is not going to bring you to the intended epiphany Mr. Kaepernick is shooting for.

Awareness? Seriously? Maybe he hasn’t noticed all the riots, shootings, reactions to shootings, etc. that have been a constant for the last two years.

Ferguson?

Baltimore?

Good thing Colin is sitting down before a game, or the world may never have been aware of this issue.

Hallelujah!

What is sitting going to do? We were talking about racial tensions every day. Now all we are talking about is you sitting, not the racial tensions you are “bringing awareness” to.

Bravo.

Obviously a well thought out plan.

For Those Of You That Are Offended

I have to admit. I am one of them.

Colin’s actions really do bother me.

The sitting down part?

Hell no, his QB play the last 3 years.

It offends me.

Adjust my man!! Learn the defense! Holy s***.

For everyone else that is offended, you all are idiots. You can’t be offended unless you let yourself be offended. Remember that. What Kaep does or does not do should have no effect on why you are as patriotic as you are.

Did Kaep standing make your “American” experience better? Hell no, so neither should his sitting. 

Stop being such a p***y and enjoy the game.

Your family served in the military? Good for them.

You are a cop? Good for you.

What the hell does that have to do with the backup QB for the 49ers? Absolutely nothing, unless you let it.

He is not a terrorist (although, if he keeps growing his hair and beard out I am certain of a “random” NSA check at the airport in his near future). He is not saying he hates the country. He is saying he doesn’t like where we are racially at this point. It’s not like there aren’t racial tensions. It’s not like there isn’t racism. It’s not like he is wrong about what is wrong in this country. And just because I don’t see how sitting down is going to do anything to solve any of those issues, his points are valid.

If you don’t see that, you are mentally retarded.

If you are letting this one dude get you pissed off, you are a dumb-dumb.

There are much more important things to get mad about.

Like his accuracy.

Like his decision making.

Like his pocket movement.

You know? Important stuff.

Rodney Harrison

He said the worst thing you can possibly say to any mixed race individual, you are not black (or black enough).

Ouch.

Way to help the ‘ol racial tensions there Rod.

He is technically fighting for your “team.” The least you could do is not take a s*** on his head.

Kaep is black because society says he is. Does he have a white mom, yes (whom he needs to forgive and meet. I think 90% of his issues come from that. Get some closure bud. Move on). But he is black because in America you are either white or black.

Black mom, white dad? You’re black.

Black grandma? You’re black.

Why? Because of the “one drop” rule (from the 1800s, way to evolve America!!). One drop of “black” makes you “black.”

As much as Rodney thinks Kaep doesn’t know what it is like to be a black man in America, he does.

I guarantee he has been called a n***er.

I guarantee when they read Tom Sawyer in middle school, every time they said n***er they looked at Kaep.

He may have been just Colin when he was younger, a mixed kid, but society made him black. It is an identity because “we” force that identity on people. He can’t just be a person. He has to be either a white or black person.

So, he is not white, and what happens on the other end? You get dicks like Harrison that say you aren’t black, or black enough either.

“So what team am I supposed to be on? No one wants me.”

You end up making race part of your identity because race has been made a part of your identity.

How does this manifest?

You stop being a person and you start focusing on your race.

Instead of Colin, you become The Black Guy Colin, or, The White Guy Colin.

If you let guys like Harrison get to you, you get pulled out of being just you, something special and unique, and you start trying to be “white” or trying to be “black.”

What the hell does that even mean?

How do you “be” black?

How do you “be” white?

That’s when you start grasping on to stereotypes. You start imitating whatever your interpretation of whatever you are trying to be is. You are all over the place. You are not you. You are the created identity of you. You are what you want your identity to be.

That’s a strange place to be.

Focus On Being You

You can’t let people tell you that white people don’t do this and black people don’t do that.

We are all people.

Do what you like.

Ignore stereotypes.

Love yourself.

Be yourself.

You can sit, or you can stand, but if you are always looking out, you are never looking in.

Joey

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The Downfall Of The NFL

I love football.

The start of the new season feels like Christmas morning to me.

I love everything about it. It’s the smartest, most physically taxing sport out there. Execution is everything, just like life. You need to outsmart your opponents. You need to out-work your opponents. It’s a complex and beautiful thing.

For the record, I am a die-hard 49ers fan. I can’t wait to see what Chip does. Anything would be better than last year, so my expectations are pretty low.

As much as I love it, I realize it has weaknesses. It could be the next baseball. Using TV contracts to fool itself into thinking it is still as relevant as ever. Live sports are the only thing television stations can hold on to (nice work on that one NBC with your Olympic coverage, #poop). Of course baseball will get huge contracts, it’s all TV has right now. But the numbers don’t lie. Less kids are playing. Less people are attending (even with a million games during your season). They don’t get it. Maybe they never will.

Will the NFL be the same?

They are certainly more proactive than MLB. They know how to create stars, excitement, and own the media throughout the year.

But do they have an Achilles heel?

Concussions, health, and safety, right?

Less kids will play because of the inherently violent nature of the sport.

That’s the downfall of the NFL, right?

I say no.

To me, it will all come down to money.

The average career of an NFL player is 3 years.

During those 36 months, at any point, their contracts can be nullified, and they are out of a job. Based on what? Whatever the team wants.

With the new NBA CBA, NFLers are looking like a bunch of suckers. Basketball players are making more than ever. MLB has guaranteed contracts. Hell, Bobby Bonilla is still getting paid by the Mets and he hasn’t hit a baseball in almost 20 years. In the NFL? Your favorite player could get cut tomorrow. Bye bye.

Why would world class athletes put up with that? They are world class. Football is not all they can do.

Why not play baseball? Why not play basketball, soccer, anything else?

It will be easier on your body, and your career could be twice as long.

It’s not healthy being as big as these guys are, pro football sized. They are too big for their bodies and then play a game where they are slamming in to someone else every Sunday that is too big.

People are not supposed to be 300 pounds. I don’t care if you are big boned or not.

Linemen in the 80’s are the size of linebackers in the 90’s are the size of running backs in the 00s. It’s crazy, and it’s unnatural. That is not easy on your body. That is not good for long term health.

So why play for relative peanuts? In an unhealthy environment? With the stress of being let go at any point?

I think the next CBA is going to be huge for the NFL.

Ramon Foster has it right, “Save your money for the 2021 lockout.”

It’s going to happen. And if the players don’t save their money, and get desperate, they will be right back in the situation they are in now.

Owners make a TON of money. A TON.

And in case you are wondering, I don’t think college players should get paid anything.

People are too caught up in money, and not enough in value. College players don’t make the schools, or make the programs, coaches do. Get your degree, or not. Play for a nationally relevant school, or not, and then go pro, or don’t. Getting paid to be put on a national stage, with a chance to get an education, is payment enough. Look to value, not dollar signs. Don’t be so short sided.

On the flip side, there is a whole lot of money being collected by the NFL, and the players do make the league. You can pick one or two players that change the whole dynamic of any team. Put all those guys together, and the league changes without them. What if Brady played baseball? What if Tony Gonzales played basketball? What if Terrell Suggs was in the WWE? Where is the NFL? These are intelligent, world class athletes we are talking about. Football is not all they can do.

What happens when they decide to do something else?

It won’t be because of concussions.

They slam their heads all day. They know it’s dangerous. It’s like smokers. You can’t really sit there and tell me you thought it was good for you. Seriously? They know. We know. And they choose to do it. More power to them. Which is why injuries will not hurt this league. But money will.

If the NFL is smart, they will start to remedy this sooner rather than later. And by later, I mean 2021.

The money is there. The NBA is making you look bad. MLB is making you look bad. Pro soccer (outside the U.S.) is making you look bad.

In America, football is king, and the players are the peasants.

Do what is right.

Joey

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Is Johnny Manziel Better Off In Jail?

His dad thinks so.

A lot of you think so too.

But would Johnny Manziel, aka Johnny Football, aka Johnny 8-Ball, be better off in jail?

It makes sense doesn’t it?

That’s what you do with people who break the law and can’t seem to control themselves.

Jail fixes people like that, right? All they need is some time away, in an uncomfortable environment, 

for some hard core rehabilitation. It totally works. Right?

I mean, just look at the recidivism rate, it’s only 65% nationwide.

Oh wait.

65%?

You mean, they re-offend?

Uh. Yeah.

That’s not very good.

Uh. Nope.

Why Jail Will Not Help Johnny Or Many Other People

If I were a bumper sticker I would say, “Jails Don’t Fix People. People Fix People.”

If you are not in the right mindset, jail won’t do a damn thing for you. 65% return rate for criminals is embarrassing. Our “rehabilitation” system should be ashamed of themselves. Piss poor at best. If it’s just a “time out” call it a time out, don’t call it rehabilitation. And before you get the wrong impression, I think every single person who has been to jail or prison more than once is an idiot, fix your shit, but I am not the one calling my business rehabilitation. Prisons and jails are supposed to take the idiots, and make them not idiots. Right?

And as bad as it is in general, it is especially bad for substance abusers.

Anyone who has been to AA or NA or any other thing with an A after, knows that the substance is not the problem, it is the solution to the problem.

What’s the problem?

Who knows?

I’m not a shrink.

And neither are prisons and jails.

The HUGE Misconception

Separating Johnny from alcohol, drugs, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Coachella, Cabo, and Bieber won’t do anything because those things are not the problem, especially Bieber. Unless they are egging houses, then it’s definitely Bieber. Hooligan.

And why is that exactly?

Because the substances, or people, or whatever are Johnny’s issues, will be replaced if needed. Meaning, if it’s Bieber on the outside, it’s Ray-Ray on the inside. If it’s vodka on the outside, it’s pruno on the inside. No cocaine in prison? Think that will cure him? It will just be replaced with snorting Adderall, or Vicodin, or whatever else he can trade for soups.

It’s not the problem, it’s the solution.

Just a couple of examples, things I talked about in my book: Prison Diary(a) — A San Quentin Comedy, Kinda (#plug). Dudes that smoked on the outside were rolling up loose tea and smoking it on the inside. Or taking used chewing tobacco from the guards, out of the trash, drying it out, and then smoking that. Whatever pills were being handed out in medical, were being traded on the yard, crushed, mixed with water, and shot in to their veins with a stolen syringe.

It’s not the problem, it’s the solution.

Johnny doesn’t think he even has a problem. How do I know this? We hang out. Just kidding, it’s because the fool said he would start it July 1st!! (TODAY!!) But he said it a few days ago!!!

Come on man!

If you are serious about getting something done, you NEVER START TOMORROW. With Mr. Football, it was worse than that, it was 3 days after tomorrow. The dude is not going to change. Not right now at least. He probably thinks he can sober up for July, be on a team by August, and back in the league by the start of the season. He is delusional.

Jail will do nothing for him.

The only separating that can help him is from himself.

Real Change

People do not change until they want to.

Have a drug addict kid? Begging him to stop? Crying all the time? Guess what? He won’t change until he wants to. Give him support if he comes around, pay for rehab, never stop loving him, but nothing will change until he wants to (or she, girls can be drug addicts too).

You can’t care about them more than they are willing to care about themselves. I mean, you obviously care about them more than they care about themselves, they are killing themselves, but it will do nothing until they want to change.

You can’t force them.

Jail won’t do it.

Prison won’t do it.

Nothing will until they are sick of themselves, sick of messing up, sick of being a loser, and ready to change. That’s when all your love and support should flood in, wrap them up, and help them rehabilitate.

Johnny is the problem. Jail is not the solution.

I am praying you brother.

There are plenty of ex-NFL players that would love to help you out. Start with Chris Carter. He cleaned it up and became a Hall Of Famer, you can too. Well, let’s be honest, probably not the HOF part, but the cleaned up part (#brightside).

Please take a hard look in the mirror.

Please see the truth.

You are failing.

You are losing.

Because your “friends” won’t tell you this, I will be a better friend than all of them combined.

Stop being such a f***ing loser, and get your s*** straight.

Love,

Joey

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