- 10:16 AM
- 04/19/24
I don't think it's an absurd hypothesis. If I wanted to defend it scientifically...
1. Does the average person from the same region of Africa, from which the American slave trade descends, have the same athleticism, on average, when compared to their American counterparts? I can't answer this one. Perhaps someone more travelled than myself can enlighten.
2. Is it possible that selective breeding had an impact? Absolutely. The duration of slavery, coupled with highly selective breeding as well as the intense selective pressure of daily life could have had a huge genetic impact.
3. Is it possible that the region of Africa from which slavery descended was already athletically advanced? Definitely. If we assume that life in that region had already put intense selective pressure on the genetic population over the course of millennia, then surely a dramatic phenotypic and genotypic response would be realized.
Now, can any of this be genetically proven? Not likely. Not because there is no substance there but rather because athleticism is a highly quantitative trait. Meaning, there is no single "athletic gene" but rather a quantitative effect of countless genes. Though we've made tremendous strides in molecular science, including its application to physiology, quantitative traits are still too complex to be pinpointed.
And, on a side note, "race" is a misnomer as we are all of the "human race". Ethnicity would be the appropriate term.
Cheers.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 10:16 AM on July 27, 2012
I watched that one. The Falcons D had been shutting the Saints down in the 4th and OT. Big Mo was on their side; the Saints offense was stalling.
Most fans won't knock a coach for the aggressive call but, in this case, it was without question the wrong one.
While I'll agree, you'd like to think your team could line up and get ONE yard when necessary, you've got to punt there. At best you get the opportunity to go 70 more yards. You don't get it, you've already lost.
Inside your own 30, in OT, AT HOME, with your defense playing well? There's no decision to make.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 07:52 AM on November 15, 2011
I would take Harbaugh, hands down.
Agreed. Did anyone else happen to notice how much more aggressive Schwartz got once he had a few people BETWEEN Harbaugh and himself?
the most confusing part about Schwartz's behavior is that he didn't immediately spin and pop Harbaugh in the mush once the backslap came in
I think the above comment explains that one.
I can't figure out the Cowboys. They were good enough to beat the Jets and Patriots and had the Lions beat, but managed to drop all three.
I'm honestly ready to quite watching. You see those ads on ESPN where everyone's jumping and celebrating in their living rooms while watching the NFL? Garbage. It's absolute misery in my house every weekend, NFL and NCAA. I wish I could quit caring; I really do.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 02:28 PM on October 17, 2011
Conservative Christian, right wing Republican, straight, white, American males. Gay bashin', black fearin', poor fightin', tree killin', regioal leaders of sales Frat housin', keg tappin', shirt tuckin', back slappin' haters of hippies like me.*
So....no then?
Though, to be clear, I'm obligated to identify with straight, American male, and sometimes keg tappin' and, when occasion dictates, shirt tuckin'.
Be sure to thank Todd for the representation.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 09:22 PM on September 05, 2011
Anyone who attempts to turn personal tragedy or community issues into political hay
And do the "Jesse Jackson types" you were inferring about qualify? Does Al Sharpton?
Are you deliberately being obtuse?
Answering a question with a question (one that doesn't give an answer to the original), brave indeed.
Does it matter? Either phrase makes it a racial issue
Precisely. And yet, you chose to highlight only one side of the debate.
What are you trying to say?
I'm trying to say it's much safer to speak about a group of people when the group is comprised of white males than when it contains anyone else. That it's more....politically correct, gasp!
what do you think is interesting about it?
That only a slur made by the resident "white males" was highlighted, the one made by the accuser was conveniently omitted. But, these types of topics often lend to quotations of convenience.
It's an observation based on years of watching certain people
I ask again, do your observations include anyone other than "white, middle-class males?"
How else is it used, except to complain about issues of ethnicity, race, gender, or sexual preference?
You yourself just provided three examples of "how else". But, considering race is a misnomer used to define ethnicity, I'll consider it to be only two.
Yes, you do.
No, I don't. I'm merely offering my own assessment as to why situations pertaining to the article and the original discussion will continue to elicit this type of debate. Thank you, though, for proving my point.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 08:44 PM on September 05, 2011
Okay, since you've moved the goalposts, you can no doubt provide a large number of citations of such "political correctness". Or even a small number.
In fact I can, I would point to the outrage sparked over the recent legislation passed in Arizona regarding the ability of the police to ask for proof of citizenship after having legal contact with a given person. I might cite Jalen Rose paraphrasing the law on ESPN without fully disclosing the content in its entirety. That, of course, would make his point useless.
Moreover, I couldn't help but notice your reference to overwhelmingly white, most often male as well as grum's referral to white, middle-class, males. I might ask whether or not your keen insight is so penetrating as to reveal other observations made concerning ANY OTHER group of people but I suspect the laws of political correctness will prohibit you from expressing, or even acknowledging that such observations exist.
Furthermore, I think it's interesting that grum pointed out the phrase:
one of the men yelled "We asked for whites, not niggers."
while failing to mention that it was precluded by this comment:
"short d--k white boys,"
made by the accuser.
I mention the disease of political correctness and you assume it must be tied to issues of ethnicity when in reality it's much more complex and far reaching than that. The fact that one makes that assumption without considering any alternative is telling. But I welcome the discourse, so long as it's honest, logical, and insightful. I have no agenda here.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 07:01 PM on September 05, 2011
Who exactly does "certain undesirables" refer to?
posted by SooperJeenyus at 03:08 PM on September 05, 2011
My favourite part about people who use "political correctness" as a derogatory statement is that the majority of them are white, middle-class, males who feel that it hinders their ability to express themselves the way they want to.
Maybe that's the "elephant" in the room?
Excellent! Now we're getting somewhere. A valid point and no doubt that occurs. My issue is not nearly as much with individuals, though, so much as it with governemt entities, corporate catering, and various media outlets. As to your second comment:
Can you show me an example? I'm curious to see where "Jesse Jackson types" showed up after a brawl and insisted there were racial overtones without any being reported by the press or police.
I don't have a dog in that particular fight, and it isn't necessarily a brawl, but I'll play devil's advocate:
How about Al Sharpton calling for the crucifixion of the Duke lacross team?
posted by SooperJeenyus at 01:35 PM on September 05, 2011
Yea, political correctness = simple decency the way cutting off your testicles = birth control. But don't worry, my guess is the mojority will preach, and may actually believe, the same message you're sending. Status quo.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 12:06 PM on September 05, 2011
Wow. Well, let me say that when I first read the headline, I immediately thought of all the sporting events that I've attended in which I've wanted to do the exact same thing. It did not immediatlely occur to me, however, that this would be a youth sporting event.
That said, I did not assume anything regarding the racial makeup of the participants in the clip I had yet to watch. Truth be told, if anything, I probably pictured a white population prior to watching. After seeing the clip, the alluded to "elephant" was pretty damn obvious. I believe there's a very good chance that anyone claiming not to have noticed it at all is most likely lying. That's not to say one couldn't watch and not consider this aspect, but the chances are fairly remote.
Now, "Dales" attempted (and I'll be optimistic or naive, your choice) to present a "perspective" based on factual data (unfortunately not shown) regarding societies feelings of security when presented with a given scenario. "brainofdtrain" took exception with the conclusions drawn from the supposed data and while I will agree that, yes, many factors other than ethnicity (socio-economic background, education, familial status, etc.) can likely all correlate to the behavior in question, those same factors can generally be found to have a strong correlation with ethnicity. As for my own beliefs, I'm of the opinion that ignorance begets ignorance and can be found across all ethnicities. Back to Dales scenario, the first thing that occurred to me when I read the conditions of the "group" were: how are they dressed? How are they acting? What is their age? If I see a group of middle-aged black males in business attire, I'm not very likely to feel threatened or alter my course. Conversely, if I see a group of unkempt white males wearing wife-beaters and trucker caps, having loud unintelligible discourse while downing Milwaukee's Best...well, you get the idea. Again, in my opinion, the bottom line is ignorance.
Regarding censorship, if it can be avoided, it should be. That's not to say there will never be a need to restrict comments of a given nature, however, I haven't seen it get too ugly on this particular site.
The idea of "political correctness" is always mentioned when having a discussion of this nature. I may be on my own here, but I believe it is a cancer that has all but completely destroyed the possibility of open, honest, rational, logical, discourse. Admittedly, I'm not extremely well travelled, but I can't imagine any society, other than America, being so dictated by what someone may percieve as offensive. Political correctness now trumps common sense. We've become so intent on NOT having any ethnic bias that we continue to perpetuate that very thing. Why do feel the need to pretend that we are "all the same" in every way? We aren't, and that's OK. We should be celebrating that which makes different and unique instead of ignoring our differences or pretending they don't exist.
Sorry for the sermon, but until we can have open dialogue without the blanket of political correctness we will continue to spin in this same, fruitless cycle.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 11:22 AM on September 05, 2011
Football ain't aspirin. And, two-a-days are not an essential part of football.
I'm not a coach but if I were, and my livlihood depended on preparing teenagers who haven't done anything remotely active for an entire summer let alone practice football since the previous fall, I might disagree.
Can you expand on this point?
Gladly. Water has the highest specific heat value of any compound known to man. Meaning, it requires more energy to raise or lower the temperature of water than other substance we know of. This is the reason the earth is inhabitable. Because our planet is covered in water, the temperature of our planet is stable enough to sustain life. The recent lack of moisture across the state is undoubtedly tied to the elevated temperatures.
There's a difference between that and "high school football practices".
High school football practices have been held during this time of year for decades. You don't think, possibly, the recent attention given to these events is somehow correlated with the increase in sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and overall decrease in the physical fitness level of America's youth, do you?
I'll bet that if every team in the country did that during that kind of heat, not everyone would live.
Agreed. In fact, I'll bet we can come up with a tremendous list of activities that, if everyone in the country participated in, would result in negative consequences or even death.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 10:45 AM on August 05, 2011
This is unfortunate, no question, but let's not start labeling high school football practices as "insane" acts. The heat this year is undoubtedly tied to the more significant climactic anomaly: the drought.
That said, these temperatures are not uncommon for this area during the summer. I went to school in a small town in central Texas and can recall a year where, due to renovations, the start of school was postponed for two weeks. Consequently, 2-a-days lasted for the entire month of August. The heat index that year was, on many occasions, in excess of 110. We lived.
It's a sad event, but hasn't our society created enough restrictions (that affect the greater majority) designed to target the smallest segment of the population? Let's not take aspirin off the shelf because 1 in 100,000,000 has an allergic reaction.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 11:20 AM on August 04, 2011
Top 10 maybe, Top 8 no.
Rodgers, Brees, Vick, and maybe Ryan, I'll concede, but you can have Cutler, Freeman, Eli, and McNabb. I'll take Romo over that lot.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 03:07 PM on July 12, 2011
He was an ankle tackle from overcoming the problem of slick balls.
Or perhaps Grammatica could have done ANYTHING to even minutely disrupt the defenders path. Anything at all. Give him a high five, sneeze on him, blow him a kiss, fall on his face in that general direction.
As a lifelong Cowboys fan, I've had more than my share of Romo irritations. But to say he's not in the top 10 in the NFC alone is pure illogical bias. Nothing more.
And, my God rcade, how dark were those "dark years?" You failed to mention Ryan Leaf. Aweful. Just aweful. If you didn't realize the importance of stability at the QB position before then, you damn sure knew it afterward. And THAT'S why I'll take Romo today, despite his occasional embarrassments.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 11:32 AM on July 12, 2011
120 if he takes a bit off it) and a lob wedge (58 degrees, which he can hit 100 yards if he hammers it,
So what does he use for 110?
because I much prefer carrying a light bag to pulling a heavy one on a cart
Where do you keep the beer cooler?
It's a novel idea and if it works for him, great. Personally, I like having options. That's part of the allure of golf; you are limited only by your imagination. There are pratically infinite ways to hit a golf ball and I like to have all of them at my disposal when I'm out.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 02:02 PM on July 01, 2011
None of this is going to matter until American athletes decide to choose soccer. That's the problem. Our best athletes don't play the sport. Imagine if some of the freakish talents we see in the NFL and NBA had chosen soccer instead of thier respective sport. Can you see Chris Johnson (RB, Tenn.) as a forward or LeBron James and Calvin Johnson (WR, Det.) as midfielders? How about Randy Moss in goal?
posted by SooperJeenyus at 10:14 AM on June 29, 2011
LJ's just playing patsy for David Stern. That way, the two can make for more drama in subsequent games, get better ratings, and baby Bron can get more praise when Stern calls for Dallas' demise in game 6 or 7.
Business as usual for the NBA!
posted by SooperJeenyus at 09:04 AM on June 08, 2011
Absolutely, positively HATED Shaq while he was with L.A. Admittedly, he seems like a great guy and is probably great to hang with. For a number of years he could have been voted the MVP every single year and no one could say he didn't deserve it. Still...hated him.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 11:05 AM on June 02, 2011
I don't know that Dallas is seeing a lot of "benefit" as home team in this series.
I don't know that Dallas will EVER see a lot of benefit from being the home team in any playoff series that matters so long as David Stern is commish.
posted by SooperJeenyus at 05:34 PM on May 22, 2011
Slave Genes Myth Must Die
I also think it is possible to discover that certain qualities in the human body that are found more often in black people contribute to success in sprinting or some other athletic endeavor
True. My contention is that we can't classify them, genetically, on the molecular level. We cannot pinpoint the specific genes responsible. This one is not a point of debate.
First and foremost, you have the social factors
I think the debate, however, is genetic predisposition to athleticism occurring over several generations.
measure particular athletic traits not measure athletic achievement (e.g., the ability to build muscles)
I don't disagree here. But this would not identify anything on a genetic level.
The slaves themselves had no say in the matter
Precisely my point. And the slave-owner need not be "all that scientific about it". The eye test would suffice. Who is the biggest, strongest, displays the greatest endurance, etc.
Weaker individuals died, sure, but harsh conditions such as malnutrition have generational as well as individual effects.
All examples of selective pressure.