Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "Instant Regret! Leftist BLASTS John Madden Moments After His Death \u0026 Gets DESTROYED By The Internet" video.

  1. Heh. Too much time on my hands.
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  2. I think you can make a case for exploitation at the collegiate level. What those guys give and the revenue they generate is not aligned with what they receive. I'd be far more kindly disposed towards collegiate football if they gave those guys an extra year or two or three AFTER their eligibility to play ran out, and reality sets in that they are NOT gonna make the NFL. Speaking as a professor, just let me at those kids when the distractions of playing a major college sport are behind them, and they're HUNGRY for what I'm spitting out, with the time to really sink their teeth in. What the NCAA does is bring in kids who are good at the sport, without much regard for their level of preparation for college-level work. Even when they have remediation programs for athletes, it's really hard for somebody to get to a completed degree if they're still learning remedial math and English skills their first year or two in college, and all the college-level work they do takes them a lot more time and effort. I wouldn't mind if they admitted they're just farm teams for the NFL and paid those kids semi-pro salaries, like the minor-leaguers they are. A huge chunk of the money that colleges and universities make off those players is "dark money," in the sense that alumni donations to the alma mater are very closely tied to glory on the gridiron. You could make a case for exploitation at the collegiate level and question the whole "We're giving an opportunity for young athletes to achieve their academic goals" nonsense. Most of the players don't pursue very meaty degrees, and are indifferent students. The team places a lot of demands on their time, and as "kings on campus," the social distractions for these kids is off the charts. Again, as a professor, my sense is that they're at least as bright as their peers in the classroom, but their intelligence and effort are bent towards excelling in the sport. And you can't be stupid and excel on the gridiron. It's just a matter of tapping into that intelligence, which requires motivation, and elimination of distractions. But for the few who make it to the NFL? Absolutely living the dream. Absolutely a boon to racial harmony and equity. A true meritocracy in which blacks thrive, and the tradition of giving-back to the community is very strong. I'm just not too keen of all the inner-city literacy, Christmas gift-giving, etc., really moves the needle. The best thing for at-risk kids is to get 'em OUT of the city. Buy up some cheap land out of town, and teach those kids some ranching, farming, gardening, and permaculture. There are so many privileges you could put in front 'em, like access to the remuda. You wanna ride horses? Here's how to take care of them. Put in the work, you get the privilege. It doesn't have to be all Oliver Twist, but more like a normal, middle-class thing, where there's an XBOX, but hours on XBOX have to be paid for with the chores that keep everybody warm and fed. I'm saying this as a lifelong townie, who grew up in dairy country. There was always some honest scratch for kids with a little gumption. I don't see that in the city so much. In town, every little old lady had grass to mow, leave to rake and snow to shovel, in season, for us townies. Also in season, there was wage competition amongst the farmers for the kids who could buck a hay bale from the wagon up to the loft, and do it all day. I was never top-paid, but I TRIED, and I made SOME scratch. But because I was so small compared to the job (as a 7th and 8th grader), I learned how to work as hard as I COULD all day long, even though it HURT, I knew I wasn't getting INJURED. That stood me in good stead my whole life since, even though I sucked. But pushing a mower all day was within MY envelope, so I made sure I was the fastest, longest-lastingest behind a push-mower, and Father Gallagher across the street hired me to mow in the cemetery. His brother, Joe, watched me mowing OUR lawn plus the parkway clear out to the bridge, 200 yards off the end of our property, and that was enough to pay for things I wanted but didn't dare ask for from Dad. "You want a pole? Here's the cheapest f*****' pole I could find. You're welcome." Heh. I wanted Garcia-Mitchell spinning and Zebco spincast was all that was on offer if you wanted it for free. You knew it would tangle, and you knew you were weeks away from any more fishin' line. Heh. Anyway, when I see kids in at-risk situations, I wanna see them next to my younger self, buckin' hay, sloppin' pigs, muckin' out the barn, ... Those are some of my best memories. It smelled like cow shit, and you worked hard, but you got 3 really good meals, and when the chores were done, the farm kids I was visiting had TOYS, like horses, tractors, dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. Guns, too, for that matter. My first experience with a shotgun was 7th grade, up on my buddy's farm in fall bird season, before deer season. I think about kids with guns in places like Philadelphia, and I think "There's a LOT of Pennsylvania countryside where the folks would appreciate more hunters thinning out the herd!" Keeping white-tail out of the corn is problematic in parts of the NorthEast. Down South? Take those kids out pig hunting! Teach 'em survival from the ground up and get 'em away from the artificialities of city living that make a lot of illogical things seem totally logical. But a ranch run in the spirit of Monty Roberts? That would've been perfect for me. ---- The thing about Madden that I haven't heard much in all the eulogizing is how many misfits he brought in and turned into great players. "I don't care what people say about you. Show up to work on time and do your job!" I was on the KC side of the KC-Oakland rivalry, so I hated his guts for a long time. It pissed me off that his Miller Lite commercial was so good! Then I got over myself. Madden and Summeral in the early years was really good. Summeral was a little TOO laconic as time went on, and Madden went off on moree tangents. He still KNEW the x's and o's, but felt less obliged to stick to that, if he was on a roll. But when they first hooked up, Madden talked about the trenches like nobody before or since. I thought Madden's tangents with Al Michaels' impeccable play-by-play was maybe the best of both worlds. "Aikman under center. Trips left. Smith the lone setback, deep. Irvin at the top of your screen. Novaçek in motion from left to right. Denver's showing blitz from their right. Irvin's open! Aikman's got time!..." By comparison, Summeral would say something like "Aikman takes the snap. Touchdown Irvin!"
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