View From The UpperDeck #1

Today at Kind of Like Sports we introduce a new weekly piece called “View From The UpperDeck”. This is where basically different things that we notice in the sports world get discussed here. There will not a lot breakdown of scheme and strategy but more of a look how sports and our society intersect.

People seem to love bashing the idea of the new College Football Playoff Committee. Do I believe a 4 team playoff is acceptable? No, it won’t be real until there are 8 teams in the mix but the current set up is a start. Most of the critiques I see of the playoff are not about the layout but more of the members of the committee. It seems like when this group of distinguished individuals is attacked it all is aimed at former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. Apparently everybody thinks they could take her place on the team and always attempt to challenge her legitimacy for being selected.

Not sure if this is rooted in sexism, racism or a mixture of both. I mean am sure a woman with a PhD that has sat in on Middle East peace talks is more than capable for figuring out who should play a football game. Sure maybe she wasn’t All-American free safety but she knows a lot about college football and intercollegiate athletics as a whole. As Provost at Stanford University one of the departments that reported to her was the athletic department and she over saw the budget and recruiting. Being the only woman on the 12 person panel and of two people of color it seems like she is just the easy target for people in the world of sports talk radio who need to question credentials.

This week at the Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon got tired of Brad Keselowski after a Sprint Cup race. Things got heated after Keseloswski clipped one of Gordon’s tires and it got physical between the two pit crews. Punches were thrown and people were pushed there was a lot of commotion. For the most part the fight has been replayed on various media outlets and characterized as some men with a disagreement and it got a little out of hand. Things like this tend to happen in NASCAR and boys will be boys right?

Just watching the fight I get the idea that sometimes when the adrenaline is pumping things can get physical. The thing is that is Jeff Gordon was Jamar Gordon and this was a basketball court he would be called a thug or a hoodlum. We would be having some kind of conversation about how young men from the inner city need to learn how to control their tempers. Apparently young black men don’t get the luxury to be “boys” and let off some steam. Now I am not saying that Jeff and Brad should be branded as criminals but can the guy with cornrows playing basketball get the same freedom to just be a man who overreacted.

Keith B. Holt

Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr