The bill is due

[feltdizz]

Good post Flippy.

I was debating a few people on another board.. lol, no seriously.. and some said Black coaches had their chances and failed. Its also implied that white coaches are smarter or students of the game. Especially if they are offensive coaches.

What’s crazy is Black head coaches win at the same rate as white head coaches in the NFL since Art Shell was first hired.

Black HC’s avg 7.75 wins
White HC’s avg 7.71 wins

so its not that Black coaches are failing to live up to a standard or falling short.

Also, I think when people say Tomlin wasted Ben’s best years it implies that Tomlin should’ve won 3 or 4 SB’s and that isn’t realistic. Outside of NE no one has been that successful recently.

[flippy]

Good post Flippy.

I was debating a few people on another board.. lol, no seriously.. and some said Black coaches had their chances and failed. Its also implied that white coaches are smarter or students of the game. Especially if they are offensive coaches.

What’s crazy is Black head coaches win at the same rate as white head coaches in the NFL since Art Shell was first hired.

Black HC’s avg 7.75 wins
White HC’s avg 7.71 wins

so its not that Black coaches are failing to live up to a standard or falling short.

Also, I think when people say Tomlin wasted Ben’s best years it implies that Tomlin should’ve won 3 or 4 SB’s and that isn’t realistic. Outside of NE no one has been that successful recently.

Sometimes I feel like a knuckle dragger not figuring some of this stuff out sooner.

I don't think anyone has bad intentions in any of these conversations really and sometimes we all end up talking past each other because (this is my guess) we haven't experienced or even contemplated some of the things others have.

I was listening to the Flores interview with Brandon Marshall and Ocho Cinco in the background this week and some of their experiences hit me differently this time. The whole white coaches are smarter thing isn't something I've ever even considered. And I know people have probably said it before but it didn't register. I know black people that are smarter than me and some that aren't. I never gave it a second thought cause clearly Tomlin is on a level way above all of us, so I wouldn't even really think it had merit. But perception is reality. And I really do try to see things from everyone else's point of view.

I'm probably more sensitive to this stuff cause I have mixed family. Most of us probably do by now. And I know perception is reality and I worry more about these perceptions for future generations. Not a lot is changing for the old folks in the family. We're just gonna be opinionated and drink to put up with one another like most families But I got little cousins, nieces, nephews that i worry about. I don't think they experience anything close to what past generations have gone thru, but sometimes I hear these things and wonder what they think about this stuff in the quiet times or in the thoughts in their heads. And I don't want to see this stuff eat away at the kids. I think they're mostly well adjusted and none of my fam is in poverty which might make some differences and kind of puts us in a different bubble than some. But watching the interview with Flores and Marshall/OC, I noticed that was one of the few times I've noticed Flores smiling and at ease. A lot of the other interviews I've seen of him, he's usually serious and almost scowling a lot. And it made me think even though some of this stuff isn't out in the open, it's still there in the background and the one experience I could think of that makes it really noticeable is church. The difference between white church and black church is night and day different and got me thinking about how Flores probably acts different around white people vs black people in some ways and they all specifically mentioned in the locker room, race doesn't exist. And that hit me, I'm living my life in the NFL locker room. And it's probably good for all of us to collectively work thru this stuff. The police stuff/BLM was an insane eye opener, but there's this other side of race related issues that are just as real even though we mostly don't notice them. (I should say I don't notice because I'm sure for a black person some of this stuff is ridiculously obvious and it literally just doesn't cross my mind because I don't directly experience it daily)

So as to not get too depressing on this stuff, I think SouthPark in the last week may have painted a picture of more hope for future generations re: race when they revealed Token's name is Tolkien after JRR Tolkien and everyone knew except for Stan. Stan (and the audience) were the only ones that thought he was the Token Black kid and they ended up blaming Cartman for making a Tshirt with Token on it because he didn't know how to spell Tolkien even though he claimed he and everyone else except Stan always knew it was Tolkien. I think most people live in this post racism world, even the ones like Cartman who seem the worst and there's only a handful of remaining Stans out there. I see this as hopeful cause SouthPark generally has the pulse on society like few others.

[feltdizz]

First time I had a Black coach was 9th grade basketball and it was awesome.

I saw a clip of the video you are talking about and Brandon talked about hair. Not sure why but hair really upset a lot of white coaches back in the day.

Walk into practice with your hair braided or a fresh funky fade and white coaches would get uncomfortable. “Why do you wear your hair like that? I don’t like it”

Walk in with the same hair with a Black coach.. not a word said or maybe a “ok, you got a fresh cut, that line up needs a little work but I see you”

Just being able to be yourself and not get attacked for it is huge when you are a young man.

and this isn’t to say Black coaches cant be awful or bad at their job or all white coaches are awful.

One of my favorite coaches was Italian. But he also was a great player and grew up with our parents and our peers so he could relate to us and we trusted him because our parents and family friends and older athletes knew him personally.

I’m rambling..

but one thing I disagree on is that everyone is innocent. Some people know exactly what they are doing when they imply Tomlin is a fraud or that “anyone” could do what he has done in his career. Those people will turn right around and call a new head coach a genius.. lol.

[flippy]

The hair thing is a weird one that I have heard before. And to this day little kids get called out on it.

I don’t know if it’s right or not, but dreads kinda bug me sometimes but not always.

I know they’re fine and look good and neat on most people, but the one guy I knew in college who had dreads and who’s hair was always dirty/stinky put it in my head that dreads are dirty even though I know it’s not true.

That guy smoked a lot too so he probably woulda been stinky even if he kept his hair clean.

[feltdizz]

The hair thing is a weird one that I have heard before. And to this day little kids get called out on it.

I don’t know if it’s right or not, but dreads kinda bug me sometimes but not always.

I know they’re fine and look good and neat on most people, but the one guy I knew in college who had dreads and who’s hair was always dirty/stinky put it in my head that dreads are dirty even though I know it’s not true.

That guy smoked a lot too so he probably woulda been stinky even if he kept his hair clean.

yup.. that one guy was one guy. I bet if he had a different hair style he would’ve still smelled. Some people don’t like water.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

[QUOTE=WindyCitySteel;874554]The Steelers "Last Run at a Title with Ben" (try not to laugh as you read that) came at a cost. Instead of facing reality in 2021 and getting their cap in order, the Steelers signed multiple players - none of whom had a big impact - to voidable years contracts, which accelerate all of the future cap hit to five days after the Super Bowl.

That day is today. This article focuses only on Ben and Juju, but Ebron was another and not the only one. All tolled, I believe the Steelers lost $25M of 2022 cap space to go 9-7-1 and get humiliated in yet another playoff game. Was it worth it?

Frankly, I rather would have sat through a 5-6 win year and be sitting on all that cap space with a top ten draft pick, but I've been told that makes me a bad fan.

>>> At the end of the day, I'd take a top 10 pick than being in the playoffs and getting bounced. We were lucky to make the playoff. We would NOT under the old 6 team format and lucked out that Jackson was hurt.

[flippy]

[QUOTE=Joel Buchsbaum;875804]

The Steelers "Last Run at a Title with Ben" (try not to laugh as you read that) came at a cost. Instead of facing reality in 2021 and getting their cap in order, the Steelers signed multiple players - none of whom had a big impact - to voidable years contracts, which accelerate all of the future cap hit to five days after the Super Bowl.

That day is today. This article focuses only on Ben and Juju, but Ebron was another and not the only one. All tolled, I believe the Steelers lost $25M of 2022 cap space to go 9-7-1 and get humiliated in yet another playoff game. Was it worth it?

Frankly, I rather would have sat through a 5-6 win year and be sitting on all that cap space with a top ten draft pick, but I've been told that makes me a bad fan.

>>> At the end of the day, I'd take a top 10 pick than being in the playoffs and getting bounced. We were lucky to make the playoff. We would NOT under the old 6 team format and lucked out that Jackson was hurt.

It's an interesting debate. Should you tank or not?

Miami ownership sides with you.

Flores seems to side with the Steelers way.

I lean more toward trying to win as many games as you can because it sets a standard and a mindset. And once you start losing, it's an inertia a lot of teams can never seem to escape.

So many teams are consistently drafting in the top 10 year after year after year. So that really doesn't seem to work of for them either.

Would be interested in the data. How many teams have successfully turned themselves around with a top 10 draft pick to go on to win a SuperBowl vs teams that don't have high draft picks.

[NorthCoast]

[QUOTE=Joel Buchsbaum;875804]

The Steelers "Last Run at a Title with Ben" (try not to laugh as you read that) came at a cost. Instead of facing reality in 2021 and getting their cap in order, the Steelers signed multiple players - none of whom had a big impact - to voidable years contracts, which accelerate all of the future cap hit to five days after the Super Bowl.

That day is today. This article focuses only on Ben and Juju, but Ebron was another and not the only one. All tolled, I believe the Steelers lost $25M of 2022 cap space to go 9-7-1 and get humiliated in yet another playoff game. Was it worth it?

Frankly, I rather would have sat through a 5-6 win year and be sitting on all that cap space with a top ten draft pick, but I've been told that makes me a bad fan.

>>> At the end of the day, I'd take a top 10 pick than being in the playoffs and getting bounced. We were lucky to make the playoff. We would NOT under the old 6 team format and lucked out that Jackson was hurt.

It wasn't worth it but the owner wanted his HOF QB back for one last season. Besides, they were going to have to pay the piper at some point anyway with all the pent up restructures. What they ended up with is dividing the pain between a couple of seasons rather than put one season on blast.

[feltdizz]

[QUOTE=Joel Buchsbaum;875804]

The Steelers "Last Run at a Title with Ben" (try not to laugh as you read that) came at a cost. Instead of facing reality in 2021 and getting their cap in order, the Steelers signed multiple players - none of whom had a big impact - to voidable years contracts, which accelerate all of the future cap hit to five days after the Super Bowl.

That day is today. This article focuses only on Ben and Juju, but Ebron was another and not the only one. All tolled, I believe the Steelers lost $25M of 2022 cap space to go 9-7-1 and get humiliated in yet another playoff game. Was it worth it?

Frankly, I rather would have sat through a 5-6 win year and be sitting on all that cap space with a top ten draft pick, but I've been told that makes me a bad fan.

>>> At the end of the day, I'd take a top 10 pick than being in the playoffs and getting bounced. We were lucky to make the playoff. We would NOT under the old 6 team format and lucked out that Jackson was hurt.

I’m not the type to tank or not try to win but I can see how not wanting to resign Ben can be seen as wanting a 5-6 win season last year.

I think the franchise was put in a tough spot when Ben said he would take a pay cut. We could’ve simply said no but I think the FO gave Ben the chance to leave on his terms.

Its hard to move on from the best QB in Steeler history. Thankfully he didn’t pull a Favre and try to come back again.