USA Soccer Has Major Unrealized Potential

This may come as a surprise to some Americans but the most popular sport in the world is football, or as Americans call it soccer. Soccer comes in with an estimated total of 3.5 Billion fans while American Football and Basketball is estimated at only 800 million fans combined. The two don’t even add up to 30% of soccer’s popularity. In most world sports such as the Winter Olympics Games or the Summer Olympics Games the USA has long asserted its athletic dominance. However, when it comes to soccer the USA has been the laughing stock of the rest of the world.

Why? First of all, America has its own favorite sports. Americans would much rather watch the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals over the World Cup. Many Americans don't find the possibility of a 0-0 tie game to be entertaining to the least bit. A non-scoring game does in no way fill a sports bar with excitement, at least not in the US.

For reasons above, soccer has not been a widely played sport in neighborhoods and schools across America. Beside the typical middle class soccer mom's family, soccer is not a household sport. Soccer is only practiced and played by the vast minority of American citizens. America has never focused sufficient resources into the sport of soccer to establish a team that could challenge the best in the world because of its low participation rates. For the US to even qualify and compete exceptionally in recent World Cups has been a major accomplishment within itself with such miniscule participation.

Other than commonly stated arguments against soccer, what is soccer’s biggest failure in the US? Soccer's target demographic plays the biggest role in its lack of success. Soccer is often looked at as America's middle class sport. The parents of our soccer youth are often the middle class soccer moms or the middle class hard working fathers who want their kids to learn the values of hard work through sport. Often for these kids, playing soccer is not their own choice. Some of these children are forced to pick a sport by their parents at a young age. With the brutality of football as a deterrent and a plethora of highly skilled youth in the sport of basketball, it's no question why baseball and soccer are often the sport of choice for middle class youth. Nevertheless, there are also many kids that choose soccer for their love of the sport. Soccer is undoubtedly an enjoyable sport to play. Even so, it is not enough to simply be a sport that is fun to play. For the widespread success of any sport in a country there has to be more draw to the sport than being a fun game to play. This is where soccer fails to succeed in America and until soccer meets a few other criteria its potential will remain unrealized.

Many don't see the potential of USA Soccer as it comes off a bit blurry. Once the fog is cleared though the potential can be seen very clearly. Think about it... America arguably has the best athletes in all of the world. The only reason this is even arguable is for the reason that the US stinks so terribly in soccer which many consider to be the World's sport. In the World's sport, the US has always been a notch below mediocrity. This casts a great big shadow over the true athleticism of the USA. In most other sports it would be a sin to even question America's athletic dominance. With such athletic talent present, the potential of USA Soccer is very clear. America has the potential to be the most dominant soccer country in the world.

How does America go about realizing its potential? The answer is very complex but to sum it up into a short statement, USA soccer needs to target a different demographic. One can look at any sport in the world and it will be found that in every sport the best athletes of that sport are the athletes who needed that sport to survive. For example, most kids stricken by poverty in Latin American countries see soccer as their only way out of poverty. As opposed to a middle class child with little financial struggles, soccer is not just a fun game to play, it is the only way their families will eat. These young Latino boys will out-train, out-practice, out-sweat, out-bleed anyone else in the world to ensure that they take their families out of the ghettos in which they survived as a child. The same goes for popular American sports. These athletes have the hunger to make it before everyone else and that hunger drives them to be the best. In a capitalist society such as the USA that drive for gold becomes even greater. Sure you have your typical Stephen Curry's who grew up wealthy and simply had access to the best training possible but the dedication of Steph Curry to athletics is something that is very rare among the peers Steph grew up with. Regardless, most of America's great athletes come from a poverty stricken past. The same could be said about baseball. There is a new wave of baseball talent coming from the Dominican Republic and Cuba who see Major League Baseball as their only way out. No matter what sport or where you look in the world, the best athletes are the kids who grow up with nothing else to lose.

The establishment and growth of MLS has done much for tapping into the minds of our future athletes. Still, soccer is a long ways away from being a main sport played by poor kids from the ghetto. There is still only limited opportunity for fame, brandability, endorsement deals, shoe deals, high paying contracts, or becoming an American household name through soccer. Kids in America don't see the profitability in soccer and to be frank soccer's profitability in the US is higher than it's ever been but still very limited. There is no reason for a kid to want to make a few million dollars playing soccer when he can invest all of his time and practice and make hundreds of millions playing basketball. USA Soccer's potential athletes are on display right now in more profitable sports. Imagine an athlete with the capabilities of Kyrie Irving instead of wanting to learn how to dribble a basketball as a kid wanting to learn how to dribble a soccer ball. Imagine an athlete like Odell Beckham Jr using his amazing ability to catch as a goalie instead of as a wide receiver. For other countries to even try and compete against the US wouldn't be fair. USA would be a lock to win the World Cup every four years. 

It’s amazing to imagine but right now it is only just a dream. Until soccer is seen as viable means for these little poor boys and girls to move their families out of the ghetto, until then America will never reach its soccer potential.

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The Game Disses Meek Mill

Thursday night at Story Nightclub, rapper The Game went on a verbal assault against rapper Meek Mill. Game stated that this was all stemming from an incident between his entourage and Meek Mill's entourage some time earlier. Allegedly this incident led to police showing up at The Game's home unannounced. The Game strongly believes that cops were at his door due to information Meek Mill had given to them. In a nutshell, Game is calling Meek Mill a snitch. The Game went on to challenge Meek Mill to a fight where he claimed he just wanted to beat Meek Mill’s ass “no guns,” and it would be over with.

The Game at Story Nightclub, video courtesy of TMZ:

According to TMZ, as The Game went on his tirade at Story Nightclub Thursday night, his entourage was targeted in a Miami Beach shooting just a few miles down the road. At the moment, it is unclear if the two incidents are related.

Friday the next morning, Meek Mill seemed to have sent a cryptic message of his own on Instagram:

We ain't rapping fam handle ya biz......... I love this shit lol

A photo posted by Meek Mill (@meekmill) on Sep 16, 2016 at 2:19am PDT

Also Friday morning, on American syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club, The Game escalated the beef releasing a diss record titled "92 Bars". On the diss record, Game went on to say that he wants to have sex with Meek Mill's girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, and that he would be at Meek's door at 4 am with his crew loaded with guns. "All Lives Matter except this nigga."

“92 Bars” on The Breakfast Club:

Neither Meek Mill nor The Game are new to rap beef. However, The Game's approaching album release date, October 7^th, leaves some to believe that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Meek Mill goes on to reiterate the thoughts of others that The Game is an industry cat looking for attention:

Real Beef or Not? Well that's still to see. We will keep you updated on the issue.

#MexicanIndependence Twitter Celebrates Mexican Independence Day

For those of you who do not know, September 16th represents Independence Day for Mexicans. On this day 206 years ago, there was a Great Cry uttered from the small town of Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico. Mexican Independence Day is known as Dia de la Independencia and is a major Mexican holiday to commemorate the great "Cry of Independence" that took place on September 16th, 1810 when the Mexicans revolted against the Spaniards. This event is considered the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. Since October 1825, the anniversary of the event is celebrated as Mexican Independence Day.

Twitter comes together to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day:

Y al mismo tiempo viene con #mexicanindependence from Spain.... #HispanicHeritageMonth coincidence? pic.twitter.com/kXwVYtNOZc

— Tigrespost (@tigrespost) September 16, 2016

#MexicanIndependence for those of you who don't understand, Cinco de Mayo is not our Independence Day🙄

— Iliana Lopez (@ilianalopez_1) September 16, 2016

happy #MexicanIndependence to my mexican brothers & sisters! 🇲🇽

— m. (@jesyfeminist) September 16, 2016

The Place I Love The Most. ❤️💚 Mexico Lindo Y Querido 🇲🇽#MexicanIndependence #VivaMexico #PuroJalisco pic.twitter.com/1xdOKNJvEG

— Virginiaa (@___Virginiaaaa) September 16, 2016

#MexicanIndependence we Get lit today my fellow brown people. 🇲🇽 órale cabrones

— Alexys (@PettyHowden) September 16, 2016

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American Slavery: More Than Just HiStory

As 21^st century citizens of the Americas do we honestly see slavery as more than just a story? Do we realize that it was something that happened to real people? When reflecting on the past it becomes easy to take a tragedy lightly. There are so many of tragedies in our world’s history and many we can no longer relate to. Times change and owning or being a slave is something many can’t imagine in the 21^st century. The only way to truly understand the severity of 250+ years of slavery is to take a step in our ancestors’ shoes.

Imagine if your mother came and told you that she was a slave as a child. She told you her father was sold away as she was young and she never saw him again. She was raped repeatedly and you are the child of the rapist, her slave master. To the common man or woman this would both enrage you and break your heart. So why then does it not break our hearts to hear the same truths of our ancestors or others’ ancestors? Do we take it seriously?

Imagine foreigners coming into your neighborhood with weapons you have never seen before. They proceed to kill your mother and they kidnap your brother FOREVER!! In a quick second your family is split and taken to different worlds and you never get to hear joy in their voices, feel their love, or see them smile again.

Imagine being thought of as less than a human being. You're nothing but a Nigger now. You have the same status as a pet dog. Being imprisoned, beaten, chained, starved, tortured, are constant activities and this goes on for the rest of your life. There is no escape. Your innocence is irrelevant.

To hear your sister raped by your master every day or to watch your father be killed for trying to do something about it, it’s unimaginable. Working 10-15 hours a day, Hard Labor, Every day, for the rest of your life and not being paid a penny. While trying to survive on the insalubrious scraps of meat from the filthiest animals. You routinely watch your friends try and escape to a better life and they are chased by hounds then amputated for their disobedience to Master. All of these things and more were real life situations of the time.

To read about slavery in our history books and never dive into the callousness of it would be a mistake. Slavery had to be a real Hell on Earth and real people were forced to suffer through it in the Americas for over 300 years.

The Baseball Hall of Fame and The Steroid Era

Should a baseball player who used performance enhancing drugs to increase production in his career be admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? This includes Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and any other player caught using PEDs. Do these players deserve Hall of Fame status even though they had an unfair advantage? Many say "No!" seeing that their stats were padded. Critics against the idea of these players making the hall of fame argue that cheaters of any sport should be penalized harshly and the Baseball Hall of Fame will be more honorable without them.

When a baseball player uses performance enhancing drugs he seizes an unfair advantage over other players in his time as well as players from previous eras. As a result, these players are capable of accomplishing feats never before imagined in the history of Major League Baseball. Many players in recent history have chosen to take the PED route and they have tarnished legitimate hard-earned records because of it. It's a disgrace to Major League Baseball, plain and simple. PED cheaters should never be mentioned among Hall of Fame electors like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron who accomplished everything in their career through pure talent, skills, and a hard work ethic.

One must realize that these drug cheats were only so incredible because they used steroids and performance enhancing drugs. PED cheaters would not be as incredible as their padded stat sheets show them to be had it not been for the shortcuts they chose to take. What about the true players of the game who played the game fair and square? Honorable men who took the high road were given a role in the shadows. They were never given the opportunity to shine. MLBs clean players of the modern era were never truly given the spotlight in MLB games, practice, recruiting, endorsements, or the media. It is unfair to continue to keep that spotlight away from baseball's honorable mentions.

Let us examine baseball's steroid policy, it's a joke. Baseball's conviction for use of prohibited substances, first offense: 15 to 30 day suspension and/or a fine of up to $10,000. In other sports there are much harsher penalties for athletes who are caught using steroids. Not long ago, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his 7 tour titles, his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics, and all his other titles, money, and awards from 1998 onward all for being accused of using steroids. Pretty harsh don't you think? Marion Jones gave back the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics and agreed to forfeit all other results dating back to Sept. 1, 2000, admitting that she was a drug cheat. Is a 30 day suspension really that ghastly when compared to other International sports? No. Prohibition from the Hall of Fame would be an equal and fair punishment for Major League Baseball players.

Some baseball fans may contend that so many players used steroids in baseball's recent era that there are too many players the Hall of Fame will have to overlook. However, being overlooked only applies for players who have been caught using PEDs. Other players who had only been accused would continue to be eligible. To expand on the issue, it does not matter if every player did it. Every drug cheat should be penalized to the highest extent by their respective sports. Any candidate to be inducted to the Hall of Fame should be judged by their dedication to the game and their hard work against all odds. No one who took a shortcut should be honored among the greats.

At the end of the day, whether you like them or not they went against the rules of baseball. Some of these players have great stories and are very likable but this should not bypass their accordance to the rules of the game that made them who they are. The only way baseball will deter future cheats is by being strict with their discipline and sticking to it.

16th Street Baptist Church Bombing 53rd Anniversary

September 15th marks the anniversary of a terrible tragedy in our history. On this day fifty-three years ago, during a service at the 16th Street Baptist Church titled, "The Love That Forgives," members of the KKK set off explosives that killed four little girls: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair.

In honor of their memory, the NAACP asks that you, people of all color, pledge to register 16 new voters on Friday, September 16.
Click the link below:

http://action.naacp.org/page/s/pledge-to- register-16-people-to-vote

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the NAACP. Any views or opinions presented on this website are solely mine and do not necessarily represent those of the NAACP.

Is Gentrification The New Manifest Destiny?!

Manifest Destiny, What is it? Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief of the colonists that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable. Colonists believed that it was God’s ordained wish that all of North America from ocean to ocean, including Mexico and Canada, soon belong to them. This was used as justification for US Domestic Policy towards the Natives while moving west. It was used as justification for violently seizing control of California and Texas from Mexico. It was also used as justification for invading and attacking Canada after 1812, which many Americans were never taught about. It would seem a tad bit harsh to compare this to gentrification you think?

Many see gentrification as the revitalization of poor inner city areas into thriving middle class urban communities. However, when it’s examined with a closer lens one can see that gentrification and revitalization are not quite the same. Gentrification comes with a price. Gentrification is the process in which high income investors buy into low income urban neighborhoods in an attempt to capitalize on low property values. This process results in an inflation of property values which displaces the low income inhabitants who all in entirety can no longer afford to live there. It also displaces the culture and character that bonded the community together. Displacing the people and erasing the culture of entire communities is the price of gentrification.

It would be a mistake to look at gentrification as a racial issue. Those who mention gentrification as the reversal of 20^th century “White flight” do not quite have a complete understanding of the issue. However, due to fact that the low-income urban neighborhoods being gentrified are most often filled with Black and/or Hispanic inhabitants and replaced with middle class White inhabitants, race does make its way into the issue. Race removal is a result of gentrification but not a cause or reason for its initiation. Racism is not a heavy factor when it comes to the issue. Blacks are often on the opposition of gentrification for the reason that their neighborhoods & cultures are being erased and dispersed through it. Neighborhoods like Harlem, Washington D.C, Brooklyn, and Atlanta are losing their Black population as we speak. As well as so many other inner cities.

I’m an Atlanta native myself and I can recall around 2008 when the city forced thousands of Black families to move out without providing an alternative option for low income housing. They were simply kicked out and told to find somewhere else to live. Housing projects like Bowen Homes, Bankhead Courts, etc. were emptied and bulldozed down to the ground. Their plan was to turn the ghetto of Atlanta, Bankhead (a long highway in which these housing projects were located), into a middle class neighborhood by the near future. The city even changed the street name from Bankhead Hwy to Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy to make it unrecognizable to those who knew it as the rough an unsuitable side of town. Instead of building up poor communities for the less fortunate who live there public and private investors are building neighborhoods up and forcing the poor who live there to find another home somewhere far away.

How does this change the culture of Atlanta? Simple, Atlanta for the last 20 years has been known as the “Black mecca” of America, much like Harlem was known during the Harlem Renaissance of culture. Atlanta has also been known as the international headquarters of this new music called Rap and Hip Hop, also much like Harlem with Jazz during the Harlem Renaissance. With the current gentrification trends it’s sad to say that this will not be the case 10 years from now. Atlanta's Black population in 2000 was 61.4% and dropped all the way down to 54.0% by 2010 and is still dropping. In 2009, Atlanta was 714 votes short of electing its first non-black mayor since 1974. Intown Atlanta neighborhoods are being gentrified, such as East Atlanta and the Old Fourth Ward, ghettos are replaced with upscale homes. Whites are moving into these upscale homes & this causes a movement of displaced blacks into rural cities and adjacent suburbs. Atlanta’s Black hip hop culture will be unrecognizable maybe even non-existent in the coming future.

What’s even more devastating than losing a culture is the disinvestment that is soon to come as a result of gentrification. We can take a quick view at history and it will give us insight on our near and far future to come. In the mid-20^th century Blacks began to move away from the south and into inner cities looking for jobs and better opportunities at the American dream. This was the cause of “White flight” which was a migration of Whites out of racially mixed urban areas. As a result, disinvestment began in the racially mixed inner city communities. This was the time, as Spike Lee says, where the trash wasn’t picked up every day and the police didn’t make sure the communities were protected.

Now, through gentrification these neighborhoods are being reinvested in and they are protected and have daily trash pickups but the poor no longer live there. The poor now are either homeless or are being moved to suburbs and back to the south. As a result of such focus on inner city communities suburban and rural areas are being disinvested in and this will be the trend for decades to come. The suburbs will now become the ghettos with high crime and poor schools who get no investment from public or private sectors. The same maltreatment of the poor continues simply in a new location. It’s important to understand this. Gentrification is doing no good for the low income inner city families it claims to be helping.

What about the few households who don’t rent, the urban homeowners? Does not the property value increase benefit them? Before investors can rebuild a neighborhood there has to be a plan in place years ahead of time. These years before the matter is usually the time investors spend buying out the property in planned area. The majority of the property owned by the natives of the area is bought out before the gentrification even begins. The stubborn last minority are the ones aware of the property value increase soon to come. However, what also comes with the higher property values is higher prices on everything else. Gas, clothes, groceries, property tax, bills, even daily lunch becomes more expensive while income stays the same. They find themselves in a situation where they can no longer afford to live in the area and the property is sold before the full potential of the property value increase is met. Not even the minority of inner city homeowners benefit from gentrification.

What does all of this mean and how does it tie in with manifest destiny? As I stated before gentrification is not a racial issue although it may seem that way to many in America. It’s more of a western ideology problem. Gentrification is happening all across western civilization. San Francisco, East London, Berlin, Soho, Barcelona, Rio, Portland are just a few other cities to name. Many call this problem an effect of the “Columbus syndrome”. When you so-called discover something that the natives there already knew about you have Columbus syndrome. Symptoms of the Columbus syndrome include infiltrating the land in which the natives of that area live, forcing them out, making it your new home, taking things from their culture and calling it your own. If you experience any of these symptoms call your doctor. In all seriousness, it sounds a lot like what happened to the Natives of our country. At the same time, it sounds a lot like what’s happening via gentrification. Manifest destiny was the coherently evil and violent removal of inhabitants of newly found land. Gentrification is the incoherent economic removal of inhabitants of reinvested land. In this way the two don’t compare but the similarities are striking. I’ll leave you with this question. Do the benefits of gentrification outweigh the consequences? If not, let us fight to regulate the gentrification process.

A video, not affiliated with this blog, explaining gentrification in NYC:

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