You Can Pull For Sha'Carri And Criticize Her, Too

The one thing about social media that a lot of us absolutely hate is that it makes people think that they have to choose a side.

Well, guess what?  You don't.  

It's perfectly okay to fall in the middle on things.  In fact, most of the times, that's the best place to be on most topics.  In a lot of arguments, there is truth and good points being made on both sides.  It's just a shame that our emotions drown all of that out and we leave so many debates without learning a single thing.

I'm a fan of Sha'Carri Richardson the track star.  Despite her flamboyant hair and nails and her brash attitude, I'm good with her.  I grew up on Muhammad Ali's trash-talking and got to enjoy Florence Griffith-Joyner's flashy style as well, so this is nothing new to my world.  Bravado makes sporting events that much more interesting to me.

Having said all of that, I was one of the people who criticized Sha'Carri for her last place 100m finish in the 2021 Prefontaine Classic.  Of course, a lot of people were upset with me because I didn't support a "black woman" who had a bad day.  A lot of those people probably don't watch sports very much, so their opinions are not necessarily informed ones.  It doesn't mean that they can't have opinions and that I can't learn from them, but I think that they were coming from an emotional place and not an informed one.  So, allow me to lend some context to the hype that built up to Saturday's disaster for Sha'Carri:

Just about everyone who is aware of who she is knows that she was suspended from the Olympics for testing positive for marijuana.  It was a very unfortunate situation, but she was dealing with so much at the time with the death of her biological mom.  I think that she was just trying to cope and got caught, but I thought that she handled her interviews on the morning talk show circuits very well and I looked forward to her return to competition after the Olympics.

Once I saw the first Prefontaine Classic commercial on TV, I got excited to see that she would finally get a chance to race against members of the Jamaican team which has been dominant in sprinting events for years.  Then a few hours later, I came across a video Sha'Carri posted showing the new blonde hair and a quote that said that she's "not playing nice".

Wait. What?  You're calling out the Jamaicans unprovoked?  Why?

Let's put some things in perspective here: Sha'Carri's official fastest time ever is slower than the fastest times that two of the Jamaican women have posted.  She essentially trash-talked women she's officially never run a faster time than.  That's like a boxer who has had 5 fights calling out Floyd Mayweather who is undefeated in 50 fights.  Yeah, there's a chance that you could win, but...

Again, I love trash-talking.  It hypes things up and makes the event that much more attractive.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the ratings for the Prefontaine Classic were higher than the Olympics just from Sha'Carri's presence.  Everyone wanted to see what would happen.  

I expected her to finish 3rd or 4th, but by no means did I ever think that she would finish dead-last.  Sha'Carri indirectly challenged the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medal winners into a metaphoric boxing match and her last place finish was the equivalent of a boxer tripping and falling on the way into the ring and knocking themselves out.  With that comes criticism, but it doesn't mean that everyone who criticizes her hates her.  The two are not mutually exclusive despite what so many believe.

We just expected her performance to match her bragging, that's all.  

As someone who watches track and field regularly, I've seen great sprinters have horrible performances before.  No big deal.  This wasn't considered an upset in the world of track and field anyway because very few who watches the sport regularly expected Sha'Carri to win.

But a lot of her critics got fuel for their fire after hearing her interview afterwards and argued that it was a worse performance than her race.  She was clearly upset (which was understandable) and cursed on national broadcast television.  She defended her poor performance by touting her previous events and saying things like, "you know what I'm capable of".

No, not really.  Not yet.  Dominating in college is much different from dominating as a pro against world opponents. 

None of the eight ladies who finished ahead of Sha'Carri were critical of her in their post-race interviews.  In fact, the Jamaican ladies who finished 1-2-3 wouldn't even comment on her when given a chance to rub it in Sha'Carri's face.  Why aren't they not getting any credit for being gracious winners?

Some people on Facebook were saying, "when's the last time you ran a 100m race?".  Uh, never.  But that's kind of an immature argument when you consider that most of us criticize things we've never done.  How many of us have opinions on politicians, but have never run a branch of government?  

Others came at me on Facebook saying that I criticized a black woman and that was foul.  I'm not sure where the argument of "not supporting a black woman" comes into play when every woman in the event was a woman of color.  Criticism of a braggadocious behavior knows no color.  Sha'Carri can't sell wolf tickets and then be surprised when wolves show up.  

It's unfortunate that this was the time she ran one of her worst races as a professional.   We all have bad days and don't perform well at something, but we're fortunate that it's not usually on a national stage.  However, here comes the "but"...  Sha'Carri made the spotlight even brighter by putting her confidence on display for the world to see prior to the event.  She did some things that could be deemed as being disrespectful to her opponents and that comes with a price if you can't back it up.

I remember when Muhammad Ali lost to Leon Spinks in the late 70's.  It was a devastating and humiliating loss for him, but he bounced back.  And that's what made Ali so great.  He always bounced back from a defeat.

I think that Sha'Carri will, too.  I fully expect her to be a medalist in the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris.  I also expect her to be much more competitive in the next match up against Jamaican runners.  She just needs to mentality get back in the game and the improvements will happen.  She was the second-youngest person in the event, so her ceiling is still high.

I will continue to pull for her, but if she runs her mouth and doesn't back it up, I'll continue to criticize her for it as well.  Because we all need to held accountable for what we say and do.  Unfortunately, most people on social media don't understand that which makes them incapable of separating someone's actions from the fact that they personally like the person.

Teach Your Sons How To Be Men

If parents would teach their sons how to handle their responsibilities when they are young, then someone else's daughter won't have to do so when they are grown. 

Boys who are not challenged and have not accomplished anything turn into immature and irresponsible adults. They will usually shy away from anything they deem difficult from a good job to a good woman.

Ladies, you don't have to date a man like that. And you definitely don't have to have a baby by one. 

Ladies, if you are in a relationship and find yourself being a mom more than you are being his woman then something is wrong. If the same Christmas gifts you bought your dude could also make your 12-year old son happy, then doesn't that tell you something? It doesn't mean that guys can't enjoy gaming consoles and sneakers, but if that's what he's all about then ma'am, you have a son! In just a couple of generations, we've gone from dads getting a tie, some socks, or tools for Christmas to shopping for your dude in the same stores that you shop for your son. 

Do you know why some guys are bad boyfriends, husbands, and dads? Because no one told them that they sucked as a person before they became a boyfriend, husband, or dad. They kept getting their way and having things done for them until they grew into overgrown children. It's hard to reprogram someone who has never had to be held accountable for his actions.  Parents are supposed to teach and guide along with providing shelter and entertainment.

Blame the moms and dads who didn't teach their sons how to be a caring and responsible person. Don't get me wrong.  You can't make a guy be responsible. He has to want to do that. However, you can instill some values in him when he's young that may he may adopt into his lifestyle as he grows older.  

How many of you parents out there, man or woman, have had conversations with your sons about the importance of doing well on the job? Regardless of the type of job. How many of you have taught your sons not to leech off of women? How many of you have taught your sons that their responsibilities come before their hobbies? 

Only you know the truth to those questions. And some of you are not hitting the Like button because you know that I'm talking about you. That's okay. You don't have to like what I say as long as you consider what I'm saying. 

Some of you ladies are raising the same men that you despise.  Running around talking about, "this is my king".  Buying him $200 sneakers and the boy is 14 years old and reading on a 4th grade level.  He knows the lyrics to every song by Lil Uzi, Lil Shotgun, Lil Glock or whatever "Lil" is rapping these days, but has to move his lips when reading a Dr. Seuss book.  Talking about your son is going to be a "heartbreaker" with the women and then you wind up a 32-year old grandmother because you never taught him how to respect relationships.  

And some of you dudes are not raising your sons at all. You're not present. And when you are present, you aren't teaching him anything that can help him develop into a man. You think that playing him in Madden fulfils your duties as a dad.  No, it doesn't.  

Why are you setting your sons up for failure? Why are you not teaching him to not just to seek book knowledge, but also knowledge of self?  Why are you not teaching him how to get and keep a good job?  Why are you not instilling the importance of ownership and an excellent credit score?  

Why are you not teaching him to establish himself as a man first and then find a woman. And make sure that he is capable of handling that woman. 

Guys, your son is a reflection of you. I don't care if he lives with his mom, a son is a reflection of his dad's teachings. If you don't make the effort to have those conversations with your son then who do you think will get the blame if he grows up to be a sorry dude?

I Hate Social Media Oversharers

West Coast fans have it bad thanks to social media.

(steps on soapbox)

I'm sick of it to the point that I have to blog about it..

Stop it... Just stop it...

Stop thinking that what you have to say is somehow more important than anyone else. 

Stop thinking that putting something on Facebook or Twitter somehow turns you into Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow. 

Wait. You may be confused. Let me explain:

First of all, when I say "overshare," I'm not talking about the people who put too much information on their timelines. TMI is a problem in social networking, but it can usually be ignored easily. Besides, seeing an older co-worker discuss increasing the fiber in his diet doesn't really impact me.

The people that I can't stand are the spoilers. The people who watch sporting events, movies, and/or TV shows and choose to disclose every single plot point or game score on their timeline. Those are the people that I wish I could ship off to a remote island with no cell phone signal or Wi-Fi.

The reason that I hate them is because they force me to live in a bubble because they can't keep their mouths closed! They're so selfish and arrogant that they feel as if they have a right to reveal information to you and ruin your experience! They're too self-centered to ponder if you may want to watch the show and enjoy the revelation of each storyline just as they did. No, you don't get to have that luxury because they typed out the entire show on their timeline!

(takes a deep breath)

The perfect example of this is the ABC hit show, "Scandal."  If you don't watch that show as it airs, then you may as well turn off every electronic in your home until you do.  Everywhere you look, someone will post important information about the show that will ruin your viewing experience.  "Fitz got shot!"  "Mellie got raped!"

Dag, at least give me a week.  SMH.  People on the West Coast must really hate the time difference because they literally have to disconnect from social media for two hours prior to any relevant show.  If not, they will have someone spoil the show appear on their timeline.

Another example is sports.  There were two college bowl games that I wanted to see this week.  One on Monday and one on Tuesday.  Both came on in the mid-afternoon prior to me getting off of work.  To be able to go home and enjoy the recording of the game, I had to eliminate Facebook and Twitter from my afternoon.  Despite the fact that I don't follow ESPN or any TV sports personalities on social media, I still have to disconnect because everyone else on my timeline doesn't care if I want to enjoy the game or not.

I failed to make it home both days without knowing the scores to the game.  Despite the fact that I disconnected from social media, an associate felt the need to "share" the score with me and ruin my evening.  Although I chose to avoid Facebook and Twitter, she didn't.  And with all of that technology at her finger tips, she couldn't wait to reveal the score of the game as if I had some sort of appreciation for it.  As if I had no way of ever being able to watch the game once I got home.  Like DVR's haven't been invented.

I came home both evenings and deleted the recordings of the games without watching them.  Why would I watch?  I already knew the final score.  What's the point?  The opportunity to watch the game unfold was taken from me by some selfish individual.

Look, I get that watching TV with a bunch of followers/friends is exciting.  I chat during shows, too, but I never reveal anything in my tweets because I don't want to ruin it for anyone.  Social media has options for people to create private groups in which to discuss things.  Why not create a private group so people who are watching the show live can chat it up with you?  Wouldn't that be better than spoiling it for people who have to work or maybe live on the West Coast?

Then again, if you do that, then that would mean that you actually have to put forth an effort to consider other people's feelings, huh?  Please just choke yourself to sleep.  Wake up.  Repeat. 

(steps off soapbox)