SNYDE REMARK

If only a generation ago; your family was being marked by discrimination, would you grow up to do the same. Prejudice is American and our nativity scene…

The Associated Press named Jim Thorpe the greatest athlete of the first half of the century. Do you think of him as an Olympian, Football Player or Indian.

Dan Snyder is being put on the hot seat and is receiving a lot of bad press. But maybe that is exactly where he wants to be; what he is accustomed to.

The Washington Redskins won’t be able to hold their trademark forever. It took 30 years after his death for Thorpe to receive his gold medals. Dan Snyder made his money in Marketing and being a Jew he knows he is over matched. Though you can bet; he is going to bring more than bows and arrows to this gun fight.

INDIAN SUMMER

Dan Snyder; Redskins Owner

CONSTANT CONTACT

Derrick Thomas didn't get to grow up with his dad and Veterans Day only fell once on a Sunday during his hall of fame career. Barry Sander's was never the best in his father's eyes. Tony Gwynn didn't hit for power; he just hit and that’s why they call this hall of famer, Mr. Padre.

IT IS EASIER TO RAISE A BOY

Robert Thomas taught his son that it’s not always about being there but being there. On that Veteran’s Sunday Derrick set the single game sack record that still stands today. William Sanders taught his son loyalty is of the utmost importance. Tony Gwynn taught his son; if you do all the small things right, you will have an opportunity for the big things.

THAN CHANGE A MAN

24 years to the day; after Tony Gwynn’s first major league hit; his son followed in his footsteps with his own matching double. Barry Sanders wasn't Jim Brown but he too played for only one team in his career and his Heisman Trophy sits on the mantle at his fathers house; right behind a helmet of his dad's favorite team. Robert James Thomas set the path for his son; though they would only have a short 5 years together, as Robert lost his life during the Vietnam War. In Operation Linebacker.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

FAMILY RECIPE

Coleman Cousins; 1996

Remix; 2013

I don’t know about yours; but my family revolves around food. Food has never been just about it’s nutrition but more about how food has grown our family. When someone asks you; where did you grow up, why do you respond with your home town. As I grew up at the dinner table…

When I think of grapes; I think of my grandpa. When I think of salmon; I think of my dad. When I think of macaroni and cheese; I think of my cousin, followed by my aunt, my other aunt and originally my grandma. When I think of a steak; I think of the first weekend in May. When I think of Egg Mac’s; I think of the 3 best Saturdays of the year. And when I think of corn; I think of my family.

I started and ended a relationship because of food. I have introduced people to food they have never tried; from fresh too fast. Food got me through college. Fed a baseball team and sponsored a muck. Even our family reunions are named after food. Food has never been just food; it’s a memory bank.

I am not a food snob; though I will pay top dollar for some charcuterie but my vice is a hot deli. If you are coming to our home for the first time; you’re getting Flank Steak, with cheese potatoes and jalapeño bread. If I am going to answer that question; it will be a Southern Hot Dog for my last meal; expenditure: $0.78.

Do you have a relationship with your first cousins; your seconds; thirds? I do. Because of Food. You can be sure to bet if there is charcoal preparing; everyone is going to know about it. We too have our standard dishes that get served at every family event but they are not our family recipe.

The dinner table was the manner in which I learned to cook. To this day; I have never ordered a steak; because a steak isn’t just about the steak, its about the 45 minutes, the 2 beers and the taunting of the cousins, while the charcoal gets ready. I don’t cook to eat.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

ROLE MODELS

We all look up to them and especially when we are young. The onslaught of media in today’s culture no longer allows us to just glorify our favorite athletes; we must now magnify…

To win an NBA Championship you need a lot to go your way and all the clichés to be true. But as we know now; even the greatest need help. The role player has become the key to success but it is when success comes that the role player goes.

Basketball has become a sport of individuals and isolation. Media seeks out this glory of victory; the dunks, the 3 ball and the block. They don’t care about the extra pass; the pick and roll, the close out or the block out. They overlook the right pass with the no look. As if they were to look; they would realize the game is still fundamentally fundamental.

The role player still proves this. A team with out role players will lack in some fundamental area and a good team will exploit it. A role player will have his niche, his specialty, his position on the team.

The San Antonio Spurs; what can you say that hasn’t all ready been said. The core has been together for 13 years and are the epitome of team, a team and team basketball. A team consisted of players who know their role.

It’s ironic in a time where media likes to magnify individuals but they won’t do the same about a team. If they would; they’d find a team with foreigners playing traditional American basketball. What happens with a team made entirely of role players. All I know is they are positioned for success…

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

ARE YOU CUBAN

You are walking down the street by yourself; you notice a shady character on the sidewalk, so you cross the street…

It’s not red or yellow but black and white that is the most common color scheme for warning in the animal kingdom. For those who don’t see color; see contrast and for those, life is literally a black and white question.

Though we are not color blind; we employee the same tactics as we too are a part of this kingdom of animals. Though Red and Yellow are used in the entire kingdom it is when a warning escalates to danger when we go to black and white. And there is a standard symbol used in all cultures for danger. What color is the Skull & Crossbones...

I am not telling you that you should be or shouldn’t be racist; I am telling you why you are. Mark Cuban answered the question; he just proposed the wrong question. It doesn’t matter if it’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender it is the contrast that arouses your senses. That shady character on the sidewalk; what shade was he?

STRANGER DANGER

SOCIAL STUDIES

 The Kegger; it gets a lot of different names but we all had those high school parties. It is either in the woods or someone’s house; while the parents are out. But it all ends the same; cops, running, driving, Darwin’s Theory…

If you are a kid of the 90’s; you remember POGS because you probably still have them. As fast as they merged on to the scene; they crashed. What was really unique about POGS is they had no apparent value. You created the value purely with your interest as they were worth mere pennies.

 

If you are a boy and a fan of sport; you too, still have a collection of Trading Cards. Shoe Boxes, Binders, Protective Sleeves; how ever you stored them, you knew exactly where each card was. You knew your Portfolio from the inside out and you would eagerly check every week for the market price.

I learned in school that policy can control the market and true value is greater than perceived. I learned how to manage a book of business; the art of the sell, the details of a trade, how to manage conflict and risk. Why not test the market when you have nothing to lose.

In Germany; the Keggers happen during elementary school as the parents know you are closer to playing with hot wheels than getting behind the wheel. I didn’t learn about history, psychology, poly sci, economics or business in the class room; I learned it at recess.  

RECESSION PROOF

STORY PROBLEM

We all did it; we all asked it, it was our standard way of deviating. What are the odds of us using this in real life…

As much as we like to think we-don’t care about what other people think; at some level we do, at some level we have to. You need to know where you stand. Have you ever been offended? You weren’t. You were probably just put in to place; repositioned. We are creatures of habit; we like stability, including our place in line. Do you care what people think or say; or do you think you have to care.

Arithmetic; then Algebra, Geometry and finally Calculus. It wasn’t until I was in college that I had the opportunity to study Statistics. Why isn’t statistics the foundation of math. Aren’t all life choices based on the understanding of chance and probability?

People in today’s society are becoming too easily offended. If I would have taken statistics; I would have been able to answer that question in math class. Why do you care what the average person thinks; the odds are, they are the root of the problem.

MEAN PEOPLE