The NFL, The Great Society, Byron Leftwich and Condi Rice...

Ah, I love the parallels of Sport to Life!

Randall Cunningham, Dennis Green - Affirmative Action; certainly both were competent but always at the backs of their minds..... were they REALLY top shelf or did they just get the chance, because...

Byron Leftwich, Marvin Lewis - Equal Opportunity

Now bear with me here...

I picked Leftwich because there's no one who watches the game that would put him in the mold of Cunningham or Vick or Donovan McNabb.

Racking my brain for a comparison, the closest I come is Doug Flutie.
I AM NOT saying that Leftwich doesnt owe his chances to Cunningham's pioneering efforts... what I am SAYING is that Randall may have got where he got, partially by affirmative action but NO ONE drafted Leftwich with that even remotely in mind.
And you'd have to consider, also, that he sure doesnt match up to the black QB stereotype. He's judged on his abilities to read defenses and his durability alone.

And he owes his chances more to Chad Pennington's success than he does Cunningham's.

Now we come to Marvin Lewis...
Go to a library in Cincinnati and read up on the recent history of both the Bengals and the city, itself.

If you are at ALL a fan of the NFL, you dont need reminded of the hate, distrust and contempt of the Bengals fan toward the Bengals FO management which consists mainly of the Brown offspring. This began when Sam Wyche was let go because he was threatening to Mike Brown's authority to run the team.
While Brown WANTED the team to be successful, he thought he could do it by the book. In doing so, he forgot about the mistakes of his father when he retired from coaching the team.

About the city... all the non-Ohioan hears about race and the city is that there seems to be a constant bickering, sometimes blooming to near warfare of the white and black populations.

And certainly, the rabid white Bengals fan would have to be counted among the bigoted troglodytic faction.. wouldnt he?

Why, then, would these bohunks cheer when they heard the news that Marvin Lewis was being considered as the new head coach and the hope of turning the team around? I mean LOOK at him! He's BLACK!

In my conversations with other Bengals fans, many of those that DIDNT especially favor Lewis brought up a candidate they thought was a better choice, and was available.. and THAT person was - gasp- Dennis Green!

But Marvin Lewis WAS hired.. and as we Bengals Exiles hoped and prayed he would.. he insisted on, and was given, unparalleled {for the Bengals} control of the team. ESPECIALLY considering he had never been an NFL head coach.

But we didnt want him because he was black.. we didnt want Green because he was black.

Some wanted Green because he had much of the traits of Forrest Gregg; but Green has a problem... he -rightfully- believes that he's getting most interviews because he's black and has a chip on his shoulder because of that. While, in reality, when he's not hired it's because he's like Forrest Gregg. But how is Green to know which is the case?

Lewis, on the other hand, owes much to Green's pioneering efforts but his head is clear of those niggling doubts. He was hired because of his abilities and promise, his skin color was not a factor.
Unless you want to propose that he was only STILL untried because of it.

Well, he has done it.. he has turned the franchise around... and he hasnt done that by 'being black' he has done it because he is a natural leader and innovator and knows his football and how to manage his players.

And his assistants and players will know that their selection is based purely on merit not their color. The fans know that too.

Which brings us to the point: while Affirmative Action had its day and needed to be tried to prove the points it did, its day - like that of integration by bussing- is OVER.

Those that come behind, whether they be athletes or lawyers or teachers or administrators NEED the peace of mind in knowing they got where they did SOLELY on their own.

Affirmative Action WAS a good thing, continuing it makes it a failure in what it was meant to accomplish.

And THAT, gentle folk, explains Condi Rice and Janice Rogers Brown and JC Watts... and explains why the more the Al Sharptons, Jesse Jesse Jacksons and that mouth-foaming mad dog who's heading the New Panthers spout their drivel, the more black voters come over to the Republican/Conservative side.

And the more the Libs claim that Bush black appointees are turncoats and only there as mouthpieces.. the MORE thinking white liberals will turn away in disgust.

Denial and diatribe only extends so far, before it becomes buffoonery.

And speaking of FORMER buffoons, the BENGALS ARE BACK!