The Blackest Friday
The Blackest Friday
Hey e’rybody,
Seems like it’s been so long since we last talked…it’s been a crazy holiday season, capped off with the Turkey day, and the subsequent jailbreak called Black Friday. Before I tell you guys about my run-in with those that escaped Arkham Asylum, I have a little mix of relevance and irrelevance that I like to call:
The Irrelevant Relevance (something like the most known unknown, so in an attempt to stay fly-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah [hope I didn’t miscount] )
1) If you take the members of D4L, and the members of Dem Franchize Boys, and you change them around, will you know the difference or not?
2) There is a distinct possibility, folks, that George W. Bush will be doing Fireside Chats in reference to the war in Iraq. By the way, Bush doing Fireside Chats is like Michael Irvin being a spokesperson for D.A.R.E.
3) Terrell Owens might be from Alabama, but he’s not a seamstress, he doesn’t even ride the bus, and he dang sure won’t be the catalyst for a modern-day civil rights movement. So why did the Rev. Jesse Jackson go to visit this cat in the midst of Owens’ arbitration woes with Eagles management? Again I say, fricking opportunist(s).
Before I get to the heart of the matter, I just want to say about T.O….look man, they promised you 49 million dollars over 7 years. Yes, you may be worth more in the grand scheme of athletics, but trust me, I would gladly take your 49 million dollar contract and split it amongst every person who’s ever been to the site PERIOD, and I think I’ll still be pretty ok with myself financially. Also, that’s not counting the fact that no one supports athletes like Philadelphians. Seen a Reebok commercial lately, a Campbell’s soup commercial lately? They LOVED YOU after last year’s Super Bowl dude, all you had to do was just come back, keep it real with Young Don, and you were set. But I’m off T.O…I actually feel sorry for dude, because he had a crappy childhood, and coming up in the league, dude seemed uncomfortable in his own skin (brother cried when he made a game-winning catch with the 49ers against the Packers). Still, no excuse for how thangs went down. Aiight, now to…
THE BLACKEST FRIDAY
Well, first I have to start with Thursday night around 11 p.m. I was at the Aiken Standard, finishing up Thanksgiving leftovers and the paper for deadline. I know, I know, why was I working for Thanksgiving? Hey hey, it beez like that sometimes. Anyway, I figured that since I wouldn’t leave the paper ‘til late, I might as well pull the all-nighter and stay up, just so I could hang out with the Black Friday crowd, maybe get a steal on a less than $400 laptop, or something of that sort. Just some things that I wasn’t thinking about at that point:
1) ‘Black Friday’ is a term made up by media types (not like myself) to get you to go out and spend your money. And why does it have to be Black Friday?!?!?! Are you media types not like myself implying that it’s ‘black’ when you go out before the sun comes up and go out looking for a hustle (don’t answer that). Is it ‘black’ when people line up for miles around a store just to save 50-75% off a material item? (Ok, so maybe Aaron McGruder is better suited for this particular soapbox at this point. Sorry guys.)
2) The people at Black Friday are REALLY CRAZY. Did you hear about the good folks in Florida fighting over the laptop? And did you see those people in Michigan trample that lady? I mean her wig came off like a football helmet (she got jacked up!) All jokes aside, those people are really crazy. I mean, I’m sure some of those people got up from the thanksgiving table, and in continuing Thanksgiving tradition, got up from the Pilgrim table and set up tepee shop in front of Best Buy, with Virginia Slim and Kool being smoke signal sponsors.
(Note to reader: I’m sure some of you regular readers are saying to yourself ‘wow, he seems really loose with this particular post’…guys, I can’t really call it, I’m just chillin’. Don’t be mad ‘cuz I’m having a little fun guys, just a little :-> )
3) Oh yeah, and there are two types of people that stay up for Black Friday a) my beautiful, wonderful ladies that stayed up Tuesday and Wednesday nights cooking just to get it crackin’ for Thursday…not only that, they cleaned up the football mess and the table on Thursday…apparently for you beautiful women, the chaotic melee of people hunting Xbox 360s seems like a walk in the park. b) Detroit and Dallas football fans that are tired of their teams losing EVERY year at Thanksgiving, and need to tackle a few customers just to balance the weekend out. Fear not Lions and ’Boys fans, we’re just as tired of seeing your teams lose every 4th Thursday of November. Texans, anyone?
(As I’m typing this, I realize that Detroit fired their head coach today. Like Steve Mariucci was the one who drafted 3 wide receivers in the first round the last 3 years. Guinness drinkers did not say ’brilliant!’ after that one, sorry guys.)
Long story short, those were the types of people I was in line with. And those crazy people…at least until 5 o’clock, were some of the nicest, kindest, everyday people you’ll ever meet, willing to talk to you about anything and everything. I had more laughs with them in 30 minutes than I had with…oh wait, trying to keep my job. Sorry.
So I leave this overrated occasion, headed home to family, then headed 3 hours (because what’s a Kenton day without work) to cover the Friday night football affair between my hometown alma mater Aiken Hornets and…
BYRNES HIGH SCHOOL
Not that the three-time defending state champs that beat us at home in the playoffs 56-29 impressed me or anything, didn’t really scare me, it’s just the fact that…they’re a fricking machine. I mean, going up there was refreshingly depressing on so many levels. First of all, a high school team that reminds me of the New England Patriots just ticks me off, because I mean, I really don’t like NEP. (I don’t like BEP either, but I’m starting to digress. ‘My humps’…wow, what happened Will.I.Am? Comm.er.cial? BEP is the acronym for the Black Eyed Peas, for those of you guys sleepin’. But wow am I digressing…)
About this school…they had the fan support that I’ve always dreamed of. Every 3rd down, whether on defense or offense, ALL THE FANS are standing up, cheering their team on. You look around the field, it’s draped in the school colors. It was around 25 degrees, and cold weather games are a staple for any playoff atmosphere. The thing that clinched it for me was the advertising; how all the local businesses had billboards up in the stadium. Now, I know everyone loves a winner, but it’s nice to see this town helping to build this ‘empire’ of sorts, and I can imagine that it helps academics as much as athletics. Ideally speaking :-)
Anyway, Aiken lost. We played with them for a quarter, which lulled me into a sense of believing that we would make all the right plays throughout the game. Second quarter: Byrnes scored 21, we scored jack squat, and that pretty much tells the tale. 42-14, Byrnes over the good guys.
The saddest thing to see, guys, let me tell you, is a dream deferred. If you’ve never read that poem by Langston Hughes, it’s a bittersweet symphony of sorts. It also chronicles the feeling one gets when he/she has worked for maybe a week, a month, a year, or a decade on something, only to see that dream dissipate like a dandelion bloom. More specifically, I went on the field after the game, and a lot of the guys had tears in their eyes, especially the seniors. One of the young guys, who was terrible with an interview I tried to conduct with him during the season, just walked away; didn’t even acknowledge me. Not that I wanted to interview the kid, it’s just that I don’t like to reason with youthful contempt. It saddens me, to say the least. Not as much as it saddened me to see Romon Williams, sophomore running back and in my opinion, the ONLY DUDE TO SHOW UP TO THE GAME FOR AIKEN HIGH SCHOOL. He finished with 128 yards on 20 carries, and in this case, stats don’t mean diddly squat. Dude was crying like he was a senior, and looking at him, I could only think of Cal. You guys know Cal, the South Aiken QB that had those same tears in his eyes just two weeks ago. Back to Romon though, I dapped him and gave him a hug post game, and the moment itself was just kind of surreal to me, on a lot of levels. (Might explain later if you guys really want to know). I will say this though, I think down the road, we all will hear a lot more from Romon Williams and Calvin Fuller.
Well, Friday was really black, but if you know anything about my ebony-based perception(s), you already know that Friday was a very beautiful day. Happy holidays e’rybody, and stay safe.
The Good Doctor
*If you want to get an e-mail when I update the site, just leave a comment or e-mail to blackloveonegrowth@yahoo.com. Take care all.
Hey e’rybody,
Seems like it’s been so long since we last talked…it’s been a crazy holiday season, capped off with the Turkey day, and the subsequent jailbreak called Black Friday. Before I tell you guys about my run-in with those that escaped Arkham Asylum, I have a little mix of relevance and irrelevance that I like to call:
The Irrelevant Relevance (something like the most known unknown, so in an attempt to stay fly-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah [hope I didn’t miscount] )
1) If you take the members of D4L, and the members of Dem Franchize Boys, and you change them around, will you know the difference or not?
2) There is a distinct possibility, folks, that George W. Bush will be doing Fireside Chats in reference to the war in Iraq. By the way, Bush doing Fireside Chats is like Michael Irvin being a spokesperson for D.A.R.E.
3) Terrell Owens might be from Alabama, but he’s not a seamstress, he doesn’t even ride the bus, and he dang sure won’t be the catalyst for a modern-day civil rights movement. So why did the Rev. Jesse Jackson go to visit this cat in the midst of Owens’ arbitration woes with Eagles management? Again I say, fricking opportunist(s).
Before I get to the heart of the matter, I just want to say about T.O….look man, they promised you 49 million dollars over 7 years. Yes, you may be worth more in the grand scheme of athletics, but trust me, I would gladly take your 49 million dollar contract and split it amongst every person who’s ever been to the site PERIOD, and I think I’ll still be pretty ok with myself financially. Also, that’s not counting the fact that no one supports athletes like Philadelphians. Seen a Reebok commercial lately, a Campbell’s soup commercial lately? They LOVED YOU after last year’s Super Bowl dude, all you had to do was just come back, keep it real with Young Don, and you were set. But I’m off T.O…I actually feel sorry for dude, because he had a crappy childhood, and coming up in the league, dude seemed uncomfortable in his own skin (brother cried when he made a game-winning catch with the 49ers against the Packers). Still, no excuse for how thangs went down. Aiight, now to…
THE BLACKEST FRIDAY
Well, first I have to start with Thursday night around 11 p.m. I was at the Aiken Standard, finishing up Thanksgiving leftovers and the paper for deadline. I know, I know, why was I working for Thanksgiving? Hey hey, it beez like that sometimes. Anyway, I figured that since I wouldn’t leave the paper ‘til late, I might as well pull the all-nighter and stay up, just so I could hang out with the Black Friday crowd, maybe get a steal on a less than $400 laptop, or something of that sort. Just some things that I wasn’t thinking about at that point:
1) ‘Black Friday’ is a term made up by media types (not like myself) to get you to go out and spend your money. And why does it have to be Black Friday?!?!?! Are you media types not like myself implying that it’s ‘black’ when you go out before the sun comes up and go out looking for a hustle (don’t answer that). Is it ‘black’ when people line up for miles around a store just to save 50-75% off a material item? (Ok, so maybe Aaron McGruder is better suited for this particular soapbox at this point. Sorry guys.)
2) The people at Black Friday are REALLY CRAZY. Did you hear about the good folks in Florida fighting over the laptop? And did you see those people in Michigan trample that lady? I mean her wig came off like a football helmet (she got jacked up!) All jokes aside, those people are really crazy. I mean, I’m sure some of those people got up from the thanksgiving table, and in continuing Thanksgiving tradition, got up from the Pilgrim table and set up tepee shop in front of Best Buy, with Virginia Slim and Kool being smoke signal sponsors.
(Note to reader: I’m sure some of you regular readers are saying to yourself ‘wow, he seems really loose with this particular post’…guys, I can’t really call it, I’m just chillin’. Don’t be mad ‘cuz I’m having a little fun guys, just a little :-> )
3) Oh yeah, and there are two types of people that stay up for Black Friday a) my beautiful, wonderful ladies that stayed up Tuesday and Wednesday nights cooking just to get it crackin’ for Thursday…not only that, they cleaned up the football mess and the table on Thursday…apparently for you beautiful women, the chaotic melee of people hunting Xbox 360s seems like a walk in the park. b) Detroit and Dallas football fans that are tired of their teams losing EVERY year at Thanksgiving, and need to tackle a few customers just to balance the weekend out. Fear not Lions and ’Boys fans, we’re just as tired of seeing your teams lose every 4th Thursday of November. Texans, anyone?
(As I’m typing this, I realize that Detroit fired their head coach today. Like Steve Mariucci was the one who drafted 3 wide receivers in the first round the last 3 years. Guinness drinkers did not say ’brilliant!’ after that one, sorry guys.)
Long story short, those were the types of people I was in line with. And those crazy people…at least until 5 o’clock, were some of the nicest, kindest, everyday people you’ll ever meet, willing to talk to you about anything and everything. I had more laughs with them in 30 minutes than I had with…oh wait, trying to keep my job. Sorry.
So I leave this overrated occasion, headed home to family, then headed 3 hours (because what’s a Kenton day without work) to cover the Friday night football affair between my hometown alma mater Aiken Hornets and…
BYRNES HIGH SCHOOL
Not that the three-time defending state champs that beat us at home in the playoffs 56-29 impressed me or anything, didn’t really scare me, it’s just the fact that…they’re a fricking machine. I mean, going up there was refreshingly depressing on so many levels. First of all, a high school team that reminds me of the New England Patriots just ticks me off, because I mean, I really don’t like NEP. (I don’t like BEP either, but I’m starting to digress. ‘My humps’…wow, what happened Will.I.Am? Comm.er.cial? BEP is the acronym for the Black Eyed Peas, for those of you guys sleepin’. But wow am I digressing…)
About this school…they had the fan support that I’ve always dreamed of. Every 3rd down, whether on defense or offense, ALL THE FANS are standing up, cheering their team on. You look around the field, it’s draped in the school colors. It was around 25 degrees, and cold weather games are a staple for any playoff atmosphere. The thing that clinched it for me was the advertising; how all the local businesses had billboards up in the stadium. Now, I know everyone loves a winner, but it’s nice to see this town helping to build this ‘empire’ of sorts, and I can imagine that it helps academics as much as athletics. Ideally speaking :-)
Anyway, Aiken lost. We played with them for a quarter, which lulled me into a sense of believing that we would make all the right plays throughout the game. Second quarter: Byrnes scored 21, we scored jack squat, and that pretty much tells the tale. 42-14, Byrnes over the good guys.
The saddest thing to see, guys, let me tell you, is a dream deferred. If you’ve never read that poem by Langston Hughes, it’s a bittersweet symphony of sorts. It also chronicles the feeling one gets when he/she has worked for maybe a week, a month, a year, or a decade on something, only to see that dream dissipate like a dandelion bloom. More specifically, I went on the field after the game, and a lot of the guys had tears in their eyes, especially the seniors. One of the young guys, who was terrible with an interview I tried to conduct with him during the season, just walked away; didn’t even acknowledge me. Not that I wanted to interview the kid, it’s just that I don’t like to reason with youthful contempt. It saddens me, to say the least. Not as much as it saddened me to see Romon Williams, sophomore running back and in my opinion, the ONLY DUDE TO SHOW UP TO THE GAME FOR AIKEN HIGH SCHOOL. He finished with 128 yards on 20 carries, and in this case, stats don’t mean diddly squat. Dude was crying like he was a senior, and looking at him, I could only think of Cal. You guys know Cal, the South Aiken QB that had those same tears in his eyes just two weeks ago. Back to Romon though, I dapped him and gave him a hug post game, and the moment itself was just kind of surreal to me, on a lot of levels. (Might explain later if you guys really want to know). I will say this though, I think down the road, we all will hear a lot more from Romon Williams and Calvin Fuller.
Well, Friday was really black, but if you know anything about my ebony-based perception(s), you already know that Friday was a very beautiful day. Happy holidays e’rybody, and stay safe.
The Good Doctor
*If you want to get an e-mail when I update the site, just leave a comment or e-mail to blackloveonegrowth@yahoo.com. Take care all.
posted by The Good Doctor at 7:13 PM
6 Comments:
Welcome back Ken! Glad to hear that your Thanksgiving was fun and I hope everything else is good with you! Now, down to business, lol...
1. They call it "black friday" because it refers to the hopes of many retailers that the increased discounts will drive up sales to bring their numbers back into the positive, or the black!
2. T.O., no matter how good he is, has to understand that he's not the only player on the team, and without the rest of them doing their jobs, he wouldn't be able to put up the numbers and performance on a consistent basis as he has done in the past! The Eagles are a good time, and in time they will be more than a formidable Super Bowl contender! But for him to talk bad about and be disrespectful to his teammates is completely unacceptable, and if it was me, I woulda benched him for the longest amount of time that I could to prove that point to him!
3. It is too bad that they fired Steve Mariucci. But isn't that always the case, the hire-ups make bad decisions and then blame the management under them when the results turn out bad! No doubt, though, he'll get a coaching position with another team!
On a side note, just gotta say GO COLTS! And no, I'm not on the bandwagon, been cheering for them since last season. I actually wanna see Peyton finally win one! Nxt year, I'm expecting big things from the Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger is one bad dude!) Then, I think Michael Vick really deserves a win, and I'm giving the Dolphins a few years before they finally get their stuff together and go out there wrecking shop!
But anyways, wanted to leave my two cents, but I'll drop a dime instead (go ahead laugh, you know that was funny :-p)
Peace!
Hey Ramone,
Thanks for leaving a comment...just wanted to holla bout some things...
--I actually learned about the 'black friday' concept when i was at radio shack...obviously, retail stores are hiring more folks around the christmas season, and i heard oh so much about getting back positive gains.
--It's safe to say that enough has been said about T.O. At this point, I'm hoping the brother gets a grip on his life, before it's too late for him...I think he's running out of patience.
--Mooch didn't deserve to get fired; and if so, Matt Millen should've been sent out the door right after him. That's how sports is, though, and Steve was relegated to scapegoat duty. It's all good though, Mooch will fall on his feet.
--Right now, it's looking like a Colts-Panthers Super Bowl. Prediction date was 11-29-05, so don't sleep when it comes to pass in January. Take care Ramone,
KJM
Man you enjoyed yourself on this one :)
T.O. is an idiot. The Lions' management is one idiot. Dre Bly is mean...but he's a Tar Heel so I let it slide. The basketball Illini cheated. And the Steelers have no bandwagon anymore(fickle people), so they can play almost as stress free as the under-the-radar Panthers.
Oh, and yeah the skinny white girl from BEP is crazy(what humps?), and the rest of them are officially Cleezeated from Hip-Hop. Vibe Awards are a collective idiot for saying "the biggest names in Hip-Hop! Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani..." I boycotted it.
I'm your biggest fan. I know you are into the whole "living right" thing. But, if you need someone to have your love child -- I would be honored to do the honors.
ruffian@eng.fsu.edu
I don't know Ken...I'm calling a Colts vs Giants SuperBowl, only cause I wanna see the two Manning Brother's go at it! But the Colts will still come out on top, of course!
Oh, and to Brother Iceman...
First of all, I think that 'My Humps' song is hot! And secondly, as much as black folks don't want to admit it, a lot of the white folks are coming up in hip-hop and r&b music, and even though their music might not be strictly along those genre lines, they still get respect from the other artists, as well as fans! But maybe that's just how I see it, cause I can get down with just about any type of music, even a few country songs!
Post a Comment
<< Home