Business…here’s a look back at Eddie Robinson through the lens of the role HBCUs play.
Two thoughts, totally unconnected to one another.
1.  I honestly can’t think of a single time in ’07 I’ve been excited about an album or more than intrigued buy a song on the radio.  I’ve avoided jumping on the “music just ain’t what it used to be” bandwagon, but it’s getting hard to do.  Music has been at the center of my life for a long time.  Now, it’s not, and it’s kinda sad.
2.  The Duke Basketball Report recently decided to say a couple of things about me, which is their right.  I’m not keen on using this site to respond to what people have to say about me–I criticize for a living, so I’ve gotta take it–but I do take umbrage with what was written.  To save you time, I’ll excerpt the part about me.

ESPN also employs Bomani Jones, who could moonlight at the Nation Of Islam blog with statements like this:  “without question, I’d say that Duke is a white supremacist institution.”In fairness to Jones, he goes on to say that every college is a white supremacist institution, including traditionally black colleges.  Al Featherston had some words for Jones as well when Jones called Christian Laettner’s “stomp” “one of the most vile things ever done on a basketball court,” terming it” unforgivable. 

First, it’s worth noting that I watched a bit of the Selection show with Al Featherston, and this never came up.  I don’t hold that against him.  There’s a chance he hadn’t read the piece by then.  Further–and even more likely–he had no idea who the hell I am.  For that, I don’t knock him.  I’m pretty anonymous and don’t complain about it.
As for my statement that Duke is a “white supremacist” institution, I said that on this site a year ago today.  You can find the post here.
That line was taken as a statement of my Duke bias and place as a radical rabblerousing Negro.  Pretty funny stuff to me.  For one, I always laugh at how people limit the definition of white supremacy to include terroristic acts instead of looking at it as a mindstate.  Guess I shouldn’t expect people to look at it on that level.
I can, however, expect people to responsibly extract quotes if that’s the route they’re going to take.  This is what I said.

Without question, I’d say that Duke is a white supremacist institution. It’s hard to imagine such a concentration of rich white people–or rich any people, really–without there being a palpable air of white supremacy. But Duke shouldn’t feel too singled out. I feel the same way about the University of North Carolina, a school that I attended and that also has slave owners and Klan supporters’ names on different buildings on campus. And I’d say that many black colleges suffer from white supremacy, with their curricula frequently more about teaching black people how to do things instead of cultivating their students’ ability to think and create new scholarship.
White supremacy is everywhere, folks, lurking deeper than most people are willing to look. It’s in white people, it’s in black people, it’s in everybody. It’s so insidious and it is an unavoidable characteristic of American life.
And Duke is not immune.

Not quite me pickin’ on poor ol’ Duke, now is it?
As it relates to basketball, I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I don’t like Duke.  It’s fun stuff, really.  That’s what sports are, the way I see it–fun stuff.  That said, I think I’ve always been pretty fair to the team and its players.  You can read what I have to say about the team and see that I don’t bag on them when it’s not warranted.  I give them props when they’re earned.  I treat them no differently than I treat Carolina or any other school.  I think my archive page backs up that assertion.
So let’s be real about things, shall we?
Oh, and I sure as hell think Christian Laettner putting his foot on someone was unforgivable.  If you grew up in my house, you would feel the same way.  To me, that’s about as disrespectful as spitting on someone, and I think that’s unforgivable.  There is no circumstance where putting your foot on someone prone is cool.  It is foul as all get out.  I dont’ care if Timberlake got up clapping or not.
That ain’t bias.  Let Dean Smith or anybody else come up to me and put his foot on me.  You’ll see just how vile I think it is.