Former apex NFL predator, Ray Lewis, who has killed more black men than Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson combined, has a statue outside of the M&T Bank Stadium, where his corporate masters have designated white Baltimore expatriates may come and worship beneath his howling visage.
After killing a smaller, weaker, black man with a knife, and being saved from the justice system by a white chauffer who lied on the stand for him, Ray Lewis became the favorite adopted son of sissy Maryland whites, who behaved in every game as if they were plantation masters sending their big negro buck out to beat up rough white boys and other negroes for their viewing pleasure. Lewis raised theatrical rage to new heights on the gridiron—before games—with a trademarked rage display.
However, counter to his belligerent-hero image, Ray remained ever the simpering bully. Many Baltimore area martial artists personally know a man who was at a downtown bar one night when Ray—millionaire, 260-pound athlete—was bullying a small, older, pale patron who merely asked for the honor of speaking with the criminal. It was a shining moment in the Baltimore combat arts scene when an old school man punked-out the bully Lewis and sent him packing with a word without even having to beat the goon down.
Ray Lewis:
Coward,
Criminal,
Bully,
after saying he would not take a knee as a way of spitting on the flag of the nation that has made him wealthy, took two knees, last Sunday.
This enraged many Baltimore Ravens fans so much that a petition to remove his statue has been signed by tens of thousands and purple paint has been splashed on his rageful image, prompting the Baltimore City Police to—at tax paper expense—protect this sacred image of anarcho-tyranny nightly.
My brother and brother-in-law, both military veterans, have sworn never to watch an NFL game again.
My employer no longer permits NFL gear to be worn by employees on game day—shirts for sale have been removed from display.
My boss, a season ticket holder, who leads a 60-person bus of tailgaters to every home game, says that today, after the national anthem is played, they will file out of the stadium.
It remains to be seen how much damage to the worship of angry negro millionaire ball-players has been done by Trump's master stroke of antagonizing these behemoth brats to show their ingratitude for the nation that permitted each and every one of them to surpass the African kings of yore and the dictators of today in wealth, prestige and companionship.
One thing is for certain, we will know exactly how many die-hard consumer slaves are in each and every American city this Sunday afternoon, when they take their seats to worship at the dual altars of pale guilt and dark criminality.
The Lies That Bind Us
The Foundational Falsehoods of the American Dream
Of Lions and Men
I hate Ray Lewis with a passion ! He had the audacity to come to GA. and kill a couple of our dindus and get away with it.
Petition to remove Ray Lewis' statue from the front of your stadium:
change.org/p/baltimore-ravens-remove-the-ray-lewis-statue-in-front-of-ravens-stadium
Thank you, Shep.
Also, I was wondering, in light of my harsh words about American football, if you or another who now more about the institution, might be able to offer a chronology of how this sport that Rush Limbaugh once called "the religion of football" came to be hijacked away from its cultural base. I understand, from reading The Last Head Bangers, that crafting the rules to favor the passing game was a marketing decision.
I'm wondering if, football—which I noticed was such a moral center of gravity for the people I visited in Utah, who do not bother following the pro game—has a series of clear watermarks charting it's fall into commercialized thug worship.
James, that is an excellent question (and an important one, for more reasons than one). I think it deserves a better response than I can give, so I'm going to forward it to a friend of mine who writes a blog that is 50/50 football and social commentary. He is literally an "old pro", since he has coached at the high school, college, and pro levels, and I think it is a topic he could really do justice to.
However, since I can't resist...You are correct about the importance of the rule changes to favor the passing game, particularly the rule allowing blockers to extend their arms and place their hands on their opponents. I gag every time I see modern blocking techniques. This allowed a de-emphasis of the running game, which was based on power and precision, and vastly upgraded the importance of the passing game, which is all about speed and ball skills. Power and durability were traits more evenly distributed, while short-burst speed and vertical jumping are skills concentrated in a certain demographic. College recruiting and pro drafting came to reflect this emphasis when selecting personnel, and once the pros set the tone, the lower echelons of football followed suit.
(Come to think of it, all the sports that those stale, pale males invented were far more power/durability-centered in their early incarnations than in the modern version. For instance, in your specialty, the London Prize Rules certainly selected for a different type of fighter than today's boxing rules. Tippy-tap run-and-hide showboaters wouldn't do too well against Sullivan or Kilrain.)
The NFL and D1 drive to "open up the game" is always explained as a way to "increase fan interest", but there were plenty of football fans at all levels prior to 1990. What they actually mean is "attract more FEMALE interest", so that more accessories can be sold and more of the advertisers' products can be sold. Women were less interested in dissecting the fullback vs. middle linebacker matchup (which used to be the key confrontation in the game) than they are in watching pretty passes arching through the sky, followed by an amusing minstrel show as the wide receiver celebrates his own success post-touchdown. Hence, you get the "chickification" of football, which reaches its apogee at the Super Bowl, when only 1/3 of the public interest is focused on the game, with the other 2/3 of the emphasis placed on the advertisements and the halftime burlesque.
IMHO, this is of major cultural significance, because football used to be THE rite-of-passage for American boys. Not only did old-school coaches inculcate those white-bread Middle-American virtues in their players, but the game provided a proving ground for the warrior virtues, much the same way as lacrosse did for the Iroquois. Just for fun, go to Badassoftheweek, and read the bios of men like Robin Olds and Slade Cutter (yes, that's his real name).
Would the flag-dissing, pass-catching pretty boy kneelers of today be likely to emulate these warriors in a time of national peril? To ask the question is to answer it.
Obviously this is a topic near and dear to my heart, because the SJW's and the corporations, working together, have made a travesty out of something that I used to love and that I thought would remain unsullied by the bullshit of modern day-to-day life. I used to be a huge fan of pro and college football (and basketball), but it's impossible to enjoy these things now when every game seems to be a matchup of the Crips vs. the Bloods.
Thanks, Shep, I'm totally unqualified for this subject, not having the right mindset for the game and team structure and having had most of my teenage fights against football players. I quit football three times, the last time after threatening the coach. It is a strong source of bias on my part, with an old enemy feeling coming anytime I consider a football player.
I will use your response here as an article under your tag.