The Colorado Golden Misfits
The Vegas Golden Misfits are my team. Watching Colorado’s band of castoffs made me immediately think of the new nickname
After 3 days I am still trying to wrap my head around the Colorado/Prime Time story. I mean it is just one game. They could go out this Saturday and lose to Nebraska and the story changes. Was last week the football equivalent of the mother on adrenaline lifting the car off her kid? Will there be a crash this weekend? The safe thing to do is wait and let it play out before making wild pronouncements. But I don’t like playing it safe and when I want to write about a topic, I have to write about the topic. OCD r us. There are so many levels to this story that I am struggling on how to format this. So I think I am just going to wing it.
There is absolutely no way to remove the Race aspects of what is happening with Colorado and Deion Sanders. As with all things its not that simple though. When Deion started talking about coaching almost everyone snickered. All the people who did look pretty silly now don’t they? In January 2022 this is what I wrote about what was happening
“look, what Deion is doing at Jackson State is only changing the face of College Football. Thats all. Either the rules will be changed by next year (in which case the Courts will pound the NCAA down again) or Jackson State opening up in Texas Stadium vs Florida State on National TV in 2023 is going to be one of the highest rated games ever.
I am sure the money being tossed around for NIL deals is huge and more power to the players, coaches, and Teams taking advantage of the new rules.
And if it puts HBCU in the spotlight and sends some of that TV money their way, I am here for it”
Well Deion left JSU, but he did take a team to National TV in 2023 like I predicted. Unfortunately for the HBCU its Colorado and not JSU, but the effect is the same. The face of College Football has changed. But why did people snicker? I think we all know the reason. Deion was and is a flashy black man who never once did the things necessary to be a coach. You see you have to be an intern first, then grad asst and work your way up because that’s how all the other gym rats like Belichick did it. But whatever the fantasy these folks have of the right way to do this, well Deion wasnt doing it that way.
What Deion did do however was immediately connect with every other young black man who was told he was too flashy or didn’t do things the way it was always done. It was the perfect storm. Deion coaching at a HBCU with all the same flash that made him Prime Time. But if you were actually watching, the man was working the system better than everyone else. NIL and the Transfer Portal were new. The old guard was still fighting the last war. Recruiting the old way. Immediately Deion starting flipping big time athletes using NIL, TP, and his personal magnetism. Succeeding at JSU was a foregone conclusion unless you had a stake in the old way.
When it was time to move up again so many scoffed. Colorado had the vision to do this. Schools like USF will be haunted by their failure to hire Deion in the same way the Portland Trail Blazers were for drafting Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan. Almost immediately he disrupts the old rules and fires his players. Many, myself included, railed about the injustice. But Deion didn’t care. He was not interested in the old way. He added 86!!! new players. Only 1 player stayed from the Defense. He is a white guy. He made one of the biggest plays of the game with an interception. Why does this matter? Because Deion kept the players who mattered. Race had no bearing on that decision.
At that moment I said to myself…wow…Deion can really judge talent. I also said every 5 star athlete in the country is pulling out Deion’s card right now. At the same time I remembered the reaction by Lee Corso, who I love, who spitefully picked TCU to cover because Deion isn’t doing it the “right” way. Thank you Coach for making the point of my post relevant. Pat McAfee on the other hand is a flashy white guy. I called him a shock jock…i really don’t like him…but he saw the same shit I saw. Deion is ahead of the pack. He is changing the game. PM picked Colorado to not just cover 21 points, but win. ESPN Gameday was a visualization of the Deion Factor and why I truly believe, this was an historic game could be remembered as a turning point for College Football.
I guess it all depends on whether Colorado beats Nebraska :-).
#shootershoot