With a nod to Soul II Soul: “Back to life, back to reality…”
***Here's hoping that everyone had a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. As the cliche goes, "life is short," far too short to spend time stressing out or being angry about this, that, or the third. In fact, I'm already listening to Christmas carols and looking forward to taking even more time off next month!
Thus, in that same spirit, I wish a Happy Hannukah to all of my friends and followers of the Jewish faith!
***So, Thanksgiving Day was amazing for Ol’ Hobbs until late in the evening when, as I put my head down to get that post-gluttony nap, my cousin Walter hit me up to confirm that his father, former Florida A&M President Emeritus Walter Smith, had passed away at the age of 86.
Well, with a nod to the old saying that “deaths come in threes,” I was also saddened to learn this weekend that the Angel of Death has silenced the Honorable Carrie Meek, a former Florida legislator who was among the first Blacks to enter Congress from Florida since the Reconstruction era in 1992, and Mr. John Haugabrook, a pillar of the Tallahassee and FAMU community; my fervent prayers are extended to the Meek and Haugabrook families in the days ahead.
May they rest in eternal peace…
***Kudos to Coach Willie Simmons and the Florida A&M University Rattlers for another outstanding football season! The Rattlers finished 9-3 overall, 7-1 in the SWAC, and earned a playoff berth for the first time in over two decades. With the core of the Rattlers gridiron team returning next year, and another stellar recruiting class in development, the countdown has already begun for a Labor Day rematch with the Jackson State Tigers in Miami!
One player who will not return is senior Markquese Bell, a young man that I have routinely heralded as the best defensive back in college football. I will surely miss watching his bone jarring hits on the collegiate level, but look forward to seeing him rattle ball carriers in the NFL next year!
***Nobody asked me but, fresh off of losing to LSU this past Saturday, Texas A&M University is doing no better in football under Jimbo Fisher than they were under Kevin Sumlin, the Black head coach that they fired (despite his winning record) to lure Fisher away from Florida State University.
What's crazier is that Fisher is sitting on a $100 million dollar contract because of the color of his skin—not the content of his coaching character; Coach Sumlin was 36-16 in his first 4 years at A&M, while Coach Fisher is 34-14 during his first four years.
And to think that some within the same mainstream media that scratched their heads about Michigan State paying Coach Mel Tucker, a Black man, $95 million dollars over 10 years last week, but still think that Coach Fisher is worth every dime despite having underachieved at A&M (and won only won championship at FSU), is telling....
***Last note on football: So, I have low key admired Big 10 football most of my life, and liked the Michigan Wolverines ever since the mid-90’s when I used to watch ball on Saturdays with my good friend, die-hard Michigan Wolverine (and current law professor) Daniel Dye during my grad school days at Florida A&M University. This past weekend, Michigan beat its arch nemesis, Ohio State, for the first time in like, forever—a victory that certainly pleased Wolverines nation! And yet, I can’t get out of my head the pictures of former Michigan football coach Glenn “Bo” Schembechler's statue being defaced, allegedly due to his covering up sexual assaults on his players for over 20 years!
In recent years, we have learned of numerous incidents of male sports staff members sexually assaulting young student athletes and professionals under their tutelage, and all that I can add is that since Joe Paterno was rendered an outcast at Penn State for turning a blind eye towards sexual abuse of boys during his tenure, so, too, should Coach Schembechler! I know that some will say, "but Hobbs, he is dead and cannot defend himself," but that is an excuse; as a former athlete, and as one who has coached youth sports and taught at the university level while helping to coach, mentor, and moderate quiz bowl matches, I cannot fathom how any decent man or woman can know that sexual abuse is being plagued upon their players/students and just sit idly by as such goes on for decades? Call it cancel culture if you want, but I call it consequence culture and, when people are raped and molested for decades by members of University staff, said person or persons are not worthy of having statues erected and buildings adorned with their names as sources of pride and honor.
***This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks in a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade; I'm predicting now that when the rulings hail forth in a few months, that Roe vs. Wade will no longer exist in its current form. Whether it will be a blanket reversal where abortion is totally illegal across the land or, a reversal that gives each state the right to choose what, if any, abortion measures can exist, remains to be seen. But again, for those abortion supporters who say "elections don't matter," I remind once again that the Supreme Court's conservative majority was a long time coming and finally accomplished through Donald J. Trump being elected president and appointing three pro-life justices who I suspect will lead Roe's reversal beginning this week.
Stay tuned...
***Well, we are now the at the Omicron variant, deep down the Greek Alphabet chart, a reality that reminds that the Coronavirus simply won't go away 😠.
Yes, it is frustrating and maddening, I know, but I once more implore my readers to get vaccinated, wear masks, and practice social distancing as these are the only effective ways to keep us safe!
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a great week!
That's perfect: Consequence culture. Spread that one!
They do indeed seem to come in threes. My condolences for your loss. 🙏❤️
Consequence culture 100%. People who allow that happen are equally as guilty, in my book.