Stephen A. Smith says Trump needs to stay out of stuff like this
Hear ye, hear ye, emperor “Trumpulus Bullcrapus” has issued another life-draining and morality-straining decree. On this occasion, the emperor has put on a new robe as he embarks on what is strictly a public relations mission to create the superficial imagery that he has empathy for and cares about the welfare of the players and the public. He has been misled by his handlers because they have convinced him that putting emphasis on the Army-Navy game will justify sending our young men and women into harm’s way to satisfy his ego.
It appears at least to me that Emperor “Bullcrapus” has returned to his Mister Rogers playroom to kill time between wars: thinking that he can hone his ”General Rickshaw” skills by playing with the “trains and boats and planes,” in his oversized dollhouse, otherwise known as America.
By profiling the Army-Navy game skirmish, he simply wants to create a temporary platform to showcase his military prowess or lack of. His current goal is to place the “crown of omnipotence” on his troubled and orange-stained brow in order to fake allegiance to those that he may sacrifice in his quest for power. The time has come that we cannot comfortably watch a game, any game or sport from the comfort of our homes, without fearing that the event will be interrupted by “an invasion of the Sharpie.” Magic markers never had it so good.
Brandon Conte posted a story on msn.com: “Stephen A. Smith blows a gasket over Donald Trump’s Army-Navy executive order.” Conte writes that Smith said: “Every single time I try to be fair and fair-minded to this president, he pulls some BS like this. Who the hell does he think he is?! If the Army-Navy game is on NBC, Fox and CBS should be excluded from having its own content on its networks? Because the president issued some executive order that he doesn’t want anything competing with Army-Navy, that he wants the focus of the sports world on Army-Navy. Well, what if they don’t want that?! WHAT IF THEY DON’T WANT TO WATCH ARMY-NAVY?!”
The “Emperor” and his loyal “bone spurs brigade” are now on a mission to invade every nook and cranny of our daily lives. “Big Brother” or should I say, “Little Brother” is truly watching.
The “Emperor” insists on spending billions of dollars to ensure that people who live thousands of miles away from the sacred shores of America in a country that the “Emperor” despises. Nonetheless, he insists on shedding the blood, sweat and tears of Americans to guarantee the rights of those citizens to protest. On the other hand, he will send soldiers and police to brutalize and murder his own citizens if they attempt to exercise their right to protest. He is facilitating a war to assist those whom he hates, to establish a democracy, while simultaneously attempting to create a dictatorship here at home. Don’t forget that sports is one of the few sanctuaries to which we can retreat to find refuge from the madness.
He had another ploy in the can. He also attempted to force the NFL to invalidate the rights of NFL players and to fire any players that dared to protest the unequal treatment of players of color, by choosing to kneel on one knee during the singing or playing of our national anthem.
The “mouth from orange” had the audacity to say the following in 2018 during the player’s protest: “You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there, maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”
Why when it comes to a debate or a disagreement should people of color, no matter how many generations that they have been American citizens, continue to have to worry about being displaced from their homes and communities along with their families?
Before I leave “yinz” guys, I’d like to talk about the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft and business opportunities or the lack thereof, for people of color. But before I go there, first, many of the construction projects are still not completed. Is Pittsburgh ready for prime time? Many local folks are eternal optimists with their decisions based solely on emotions without evidence. Their primary motivation is just to be a part of Pittsburgh history.
As far as the economic impact on people of color is concerned, the planners of the 2026 NFL Draft had and continue not to have a comprehensive plan to include people of color. The NFL is 106 years old. The draft began in 1936. The previous occasion that the Draft was held in Pittsburgh was in 1947. At that time, we may safely assume that the only pathway for many people of color to capitalize on it was to perform manual labor. So, it shouldn’t be too outrageous to assume that a few of us might not be in the land of the living to propose a toast to the Steel City when and if the next Draft is held in the steel city, somewhere around the year 2126.
During the past five decades, I have been forced to witness the efforts to equalize the opportunities for fairness throughout the world of sports and society in general: and my mind always wanders back to the late Billy Preston song, “Will It Go Round In Circles.” An excerpt from the lyrics of the song goes something like this: “I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody, I’ma gonna sing it to my friends. I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody. I’ma gonna sing it to my friends. Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?”
Throughout history, some folks find themselves flying high as a kite, when a so-called “first” is accomplished by a person of color. But when the smoke from the illusion of progress clears, many people continue to run around aimlessly, singing the same song. At that point, I often ask myself the million-dollar question. Is anyone, at any time, continuing to listen?