The potent Florida A&M University Rattler brand

Thursday Thoughts!

For my friends and Hobbservation Point followers who have inquired about yesterday's major news that Florida A&M University Athletics Director Kortne Gosha had resigned effective immediately, to be perfectly honest, I do not have enough information about the facts to render an informed opinion about his departure—or the administrative process—at this time. 

AD Gosha (right) pictured with FAMU Head Football Coach Willie Simmons, his wife, Shaia Simmons, and legendary former FAMU Football Coach Rudy Hubbard last year.

What I can opine about are the results of Gosha's three year tenure, and the facts that from facilities upgrades and major corporate endorsements, to navigating the transition from the MEAC to the SWAC (while garnering the respect from coaches, student-athletes, and alumni/supporters), that AD Gosha seems to have had a tremendous impact on the Rattler Brand worldwide. 

The Lebron James apparel deal was brokered during AD Gosha's tenure

Historic Bragg Stadium is nearing completion of $10 million in renovations begun under AD Gosha's tenure…

So, at this juncture, all that I can say is that my sincere prayers are for the continued success of Florida A&M University in both the scholastic and athletics realms! The past decade has witnessed some of the most bitter moments in school history, including a revolving door in the AD's suite, coaches suites, and in the University president's office. I can distinctly remember in the years after Drum Major Robert Champion's tragic death, that morale hit an all time low as the "Incomparable" Marching 100 was suspended from performing, the FAMU football team stopped winning games, and attendance severely lagged during home games. No one, and I do mean NO ONE, wants a return to those tough times on "the Highest of Seven Hills" in Tallahassee, Florida. 

AD Gosha (center-right) and FAMU President Larry Robinson (center-left), pose with Col. Greg Clark (left—FAMU Alumni Association President) and SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland (right) last year. Both Col. Clark and football Coach Simmons expressed their strong support for AD Gosha prior to yesterday's resignation…

I also remind that stability is so very crucial for any college or university, and with HBCU's enjoying a renaissance, FAMU, the #1 public HBCU according to U.S. News & World Report, must remain stable and at the vanguard—as it has for almost 135 years!

Further, with a Florida governor who is tempestuous, and a Republican dominated legislature that's partisan, petty, and in its recent attacks on the Walt Disney Company due to its standing up to the governor, vindictive, the last thing that FAMU needs is even the hint of instability or lack of institutional control! That key phrase, "institutional control," is not only critical for accreditation, but a perceived lack of control could give those politicians who range from hostile to indifferent to the University's mission an excuse to cherry pick programs—or renew calls for merging our beloved Florida A&M with nearby Florida State.

Lest we forget...

Child detained for stealing potato chips

Earlier this week in Syracuse, New York, an eight-year-old Black boy was detained by Syracuse PD officers for the alleged crime of stealing a small bag of potato chips from a convenience store. (See below)

As the debate is waged on social media as to whether the police officers should have called the child's parents instead of forcing him into a patrol car, the matter reminded me of an incident in my distant past that could have ended quite poorly for me! 

On a Saturday afternoon back in 1983, I was hunting squirrels with my Daisy pellet rifle in the woods near Pineview Elementary School on Tallahassee's Southside. The Pineview school was in my neighborhood, and I was about 200 yards or less from my house. A police officer, who was rather friendly, pulled into the adjacent parking lot near the basketball courts and summoned me over, so I approached and he asked for my pellet rifle; after inspecting it, the officer then told me that such was illegal for kids my age.

Now, I didn't know whether such was true or not, so I told the officer I would take it home and pointed towards my house. The officer then told me that he would take me home; perhaps he thought I was lying, I don't know, but at 11 or 12, I didn't know that unless I was being arrested, that I didn't have to comply with his command. But I did comply, and he put my pellet rifle in the front seat and me in the back (no cuffs). I got a little nervous when I realized that there was no handle to get out the backseat 😆, but the ride to my house took less than a minute and when we got there, he walked with me to the front door, introduced himself to my father, and then told him that I was too young for a Daisy .880 pellet rifle. 

Pop very firmly introduced himself as Lt. Colonel Charles Hobbs and with a whole mean mug on his face, frankly told the officer that he didn't know what he was talking about regarding the age requirement—and that he had bought the weapon, instructed me on use and safety, and given me his permission to use it!

The stare on my father’s face as he addressed the officer was similar to this portrait that has hung in the FAMU ROTC building since 1983…

My father then told me to come inside, after which he bid the officer “good day” and closed his front door 😆. Pop then told me that he didn't want any trouble for me from anyone, so he instructed me to use the pellet rifle in our yard or in the even deeper woods in the western part of our neighborhood near my cousin Lee Williams's house—woods that were far from any police patrols. 

The next year, I upgraded to hunting with rifles and shotguns, so I knew fully well to only use those when on the hunt with my father or my older male cousins when we were way out in the country. To date, fortunately, that was my only time in a squad car and indeed, it was a frightening 30 to 45 seconds! 

Still, that part of me that realizes that 1983 was almost 40 years ago knows that under today's caustic culture, that the cop might have shot at me for having a pellet gun that looked an awful lot like a .22 caliber rifle. I also realize that in reviewing the video, I don't think that the Syracuse PD meant the child harm, but I do wish that they had just sat there with him until his parents could arrive to pick him up and discipline him themselves. 

What say you? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the chat or shoot me an e-mail!

Remembering the late Prince R. Nelson

June 7, 1958—April 21, 2016

Six years ago today, the legendary artist known as "Prince" died at his home in Minneapolis; he was only 57 years old. That day, I was heading to the Suwanee County Jail in Live Oak, Florida for a meeting when my mother called me with the breaking news; stunned, I pulled over to the next rest stop on I-10 and in a short 20 minutes, penned a retrospective that was published the next day in The Grio. 

An excerpt: "....The first song, ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend,’ described friendship between a man and woman—with no limits—as the true path to deeper intimacy. As a young man whose dad often reminded me that 'men don't cry,' to hear Prince ask 'would you let me comb your hair, could I make you breakfast sometime, maybe we can just go to a movie and CRY together,' that was one of my early WTF moments. Cry? At a movie? With a girl? If Prince said such was cool, then it must be ok! Ditto for ‘Adore,’ the most hauntingly beautiful R&B love ballad ever written, where the refrain 'love is too weak to define, just what you mean to me' inspired my belief that true love is far more meaningful than a roll in the hay..."

To read more of my old Prince tribute, feel free to click on the following link!

Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful Thursday!