BayouBengal
Active Member
Hey everyone, not a Colorado fan and don't live anywhere near Colorado but obviously this entire ordeal has become a National story and as someone who is considered as a 'person of color' and as someone who works in some capacity for sports media in the state of Louisiana, I thought I'd share a little with you all of my feelings and what I plan to put out in my next column on this matter.
I do believe people of color, and that doesn't just include African-Americans per say, are not given the same chance off the bat as many of their white counterparts. Statistics don't lie. There's not enough and not enough who are even considered and as Jon Embree alluded to, none of which are given that second chance. It's unfair. It sucks but it is reality. It'll get better, just like it did in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers organization really spearheading that whole effort forward. Someday it'll be better not only for the Karl Dorrell's of the world (whom I believe was a decent coach) but also for the Norm Chow's and any other 'person of color,' not just blacks, who demonstrate the ability to coach at the highest levels but get stick into what so many see as 'terrible' jobs.
I've read and listened to the articles put out by many former Buffaloes and the former HC of your once proud program, Bill McCartney. I've always had respect for coaches like Bill, didn't always agree with certain statements or things he'd out to the press and really, this dates back even to his early days in Colorado, with his name being out there again for the first time in nearly 20 years, even some of my colleagues were snickering a bit.
For my article I've done extensive research on your program dating back to when they lost National relevance which really started I'd say around... 2003 or so. Obviously it was worsen by the allegations in the mid 2000s and now seems to have taken yet another major PR hit.
All this being said, what is really lost in this entire situation is just how bad the on the field product was for you guys. I've really never seen anything like it. Granted, I live in SEC country where the standards are insanely high for the upper echelon of the conference, even our bad teams throughout the years, the Vandy's, Ole Miss', Kentucky's.. etc, nothing touched what the Buffaloes had this year. I really couldn't believe it. Then news broke that you guys parted ways with quite frankly, someone who could have and probably was the worst D1 Coach in the Nation. It wasn't a surprise until.... the allegations of racism.
Now again as a person of color, I know the sting. If you've never experienced it, you'll never quite know the feeling. There's nothing like it and I don't wish it on anyone regardless of color. However, for someone that I had so much respect for in Bill McCartney, albeit a man of European ancestry, I don't find it offensive as a person of color that Embree was dismissed, as McCartney believed I should. I find it MUCH more offense that someone like Bill McCartney, and many others, former black players included, would not give me or anyone else of color the benefit of the doubt that we could decide on our own accord that it was the atrocities on the field that left to Embree's firing, not his color. I applaud Colorado for having hired a man with Embree's qualifications or rather, lack thereof, regardless of his race. LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, etc. would NEVER do that. A TEs coach to HC. That's an amazing jump in itself that no one in the National media, or atleast any I've heard, is picking up on. Colorado set record lows in almost every statistical category imaginable. Teams weren't just beating you guys, they were taking mercy. This was the Varsity scrimmaging not against the JV team but rather the the Junior High team.
I know this is a long read and I'm sure too long for many but I just wanted to put out an opinion and give a little insight into the column I'm writing. I also wanted to put it out there that what men like Bill McCartney and too many others, blacks included, do is try to lump all minorities into one group. As if we have no brains to think for ourselves or no vision for what we see. Crying racism is all too easy if you don't have the facts or knowledge.
To wrap this up, as a person of color, I'm more offended by Bill McCartney's belief that I should be offended by Embree firing due to the color of my skin rather than by the knowledge in my head or the eyes that I can see with.
Take care CU fans and keep hope for brighter days. They will come.
I do believe people of color, and that doesn't just include African-Americans per say, are not given the same chance off the bat as many of their white counterparts. Statistics don't lie. There's not enough and not enough who are even considered and as Jon Embree alluded to, none of which are given that second chance. It's unfair. It sucks but it is reality. It'll get better, just like it did in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers organization really spearheading that whole effort forward. Someday it'll be better not only for the Karl Dorrell's of the world (whom I believe was a decent coach) but also for the Norm Chow's and any other 'person of color,' not just blacks, who demonstrate the ability to coach at the highest levels but get stick into what so many see as 'terrible' jobs.
I've read and listened to the articles put out by many former Buffaloes and the former HC of your once proud program, Bill McCartney. I've always had respect for coaches like Bill, didn't always agree with certain statements or things he'd out to the press and really, this dates back even to his early days in Colorado, with his name being out there again for the first time in nearly 20 years, even some of my colleagues were snickering a bit.
For my article I've done extensive research on your program dating back to when they lost National relevance which really started I'd say around... 2003 or so. Obviously it was worsen by the allegations in the mid 2000s and now seems to have taken yet another major PR hit.
All this being said, what is really lost in this entire situation is just how bad the on the field product was for you guys. I've really never seen anything like it. Granted, I live in SEC country where the standards are insanely high for the upper echelon of the conference, even our bad teams throughout the years, the Vandy's, Ole Miss', Kentucky's.. etc, nothing touched what the Buffaloes had this year. I really couldn't believe it. Then news broke that you guys parted ways with quite frankly, someone who could have and probably was the worst D1 Coach in the Nation. It wasn't a surprise until.... the allegations of racism.
Now again as a person of color, I know the sting. If you've never experienced it, you'll never quite know the feeling. There's nothing like it and I don't wish it on anyone regardless of color. However, for someone that I had so much respect for in Bill McCartney, albeit a man of European ancestry, I don't find it offensive as a person of color that Embree was dismissed, as McCartney believed I should. I find it MUCH more offense that someone like Bill McCartney, and many others, former black players included, would not give me or anyone else of color the benefit of the doubt that we could decide on our own accord that it was the atrocities on the field that left to Embree's firing, not his color. I applaud Colorado for having hired a man with Embree's qualifications or rather, lack thereof, regardless of his race. LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, etc. would NEVER do that. A TEs coach to HC. That's an amazing jump in itself that no one in the National media, or atleast any I've heard, is picking up on. Colorado set record lows in almost every statistical category imaginable. Teams weren't just beating you guys, they were taking mercy. This was the Varsity scrimmaging not against the JV team but rather the the Junior High team.
I know this is a long read and I'm sure too long for many but I just wanted to put out an opinion and give a little insight into the column I'm writing. I also wanted to put it out there that what men like Bill McCartney and too many others, blacks included, do is try to lump all minorities into one group. As if we have no brains to think for ourselves or no vision for what we see. Crying racism is all too easy if you don't have the facts or knowledge.
To wrap this up, as a person of color, I'm more offended by Bill McCartney's belief that I should be offended by Embree firing due to the color of my skin rather than by the knowledge in my head or the eyes that I can see with.
Take care CU fans and keep hope for brighter days. They will come.
