Do Former Slave States Produce More & Better Talent?

#26
#26
GAVol said:
I heard a guy talking about this the other day. He called it the "Up the Middle" theory and said that basically as sports evolve, they integrate from the outside in and the positions closest to the middle of the court/field take the longest to integrate completely.
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History shows that to be absolutely correct. The closer to the ball, the more control. Those in power will always relenquish it slowly and grudgingly.
 
#27
#27
hatvol96 said:
It takes a long, long time to break down invisible, yet deeply held, preconceptions about people's "roles." Compare the number of African-American head coaches and QBs today to the same number for 1970. Then, imagine =what those numbers will look like in 2050.
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John Lennon thanks you.
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#28
#28
Jaytrain5 said:
Another provocative question.

I've never given it much thought, but I'll toss this theory on the table:

Just as Afro-Americans are naturally better-equipped for running, jumping, fleeing, etc., is it not logical that whites are better-equipped for QBing and coaching due to the aptitude, leadership, and cognizance required in those roles?
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That'll always be a tough question to answer because the reasons some are faster and stronger than others are easy to see. There really isn't some way to look and say "Hey, that guy has a cranium of a certain size. He's a leader."
 
#29
#29
hatvol96 said:
It takes a long, long time to break down invisible, yet deeply held, preconceptions about people's "roles." Compare the number of African-American head coaches and QBs today to the same number for 1970. Then, imagine what those numbers will look like in 2050.
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Good point.

Would you say that these preconceptions directly resulted from those stereotypes which arose from slavery, or is it purely coincidental?
 
#30
#30
Tenacious D said:
How do you explain the predominance of white QB's and coaches?
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One could argue that the QB position doesn't require elite athletic ability, whereas the other positions do, in fact, require the superior genetic makeup with which African-Americans are typically equipped. The lack of African-American head coaches could be attributed to a number of things. First, there could, possibly, be a near ubiqitous stereotype and/or prejudice amongst NFL owners and college ADs that African-Americans are better suited for the field- as opposed to running the operation. This, of course, could remind some of the iniquity of slavery. Another hypothesis is that African-Americans reject the positions of coach and GM in favor of other interests, for they don't deem the positions as rarefied, sacred, or goal-worthy, whereas caucasion folks typically revere them.

Of course, the simpletons among us could simply deride the collective intelligence of African-Americans, but plenty of successful and highly-shrewd African-Americans (e.g. George Washington Carver) have proven this to be an erroneous assertion based upon prejudice, bigotry, and enmity towards said race. Others would point to those like Carver as merely the exception. If there was evidence that suggested bigger people were less intelligent, it would be shrewd to say the slave owners, directly or indirectly, bred them to be intellectually inferior. However, no such evidence exists. The preceived genetic differences in intellectual fortitude could also be attributed to generations of mistreated African-Americans who came to deem certain things, such as family, music, food, etc. more important than education, or, it could be attributed to poor teachers and schools. The majority of inner-city children are African-Americans. The inner-city schools perpetuate the careers of subpar teachers with the help of the, you guessed it, unions.
 
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#31
#31
Tenacious D said:
Good point.

Would you say that these preconceptions directly resulted from those stereotypes which arose from slavery, or is it purely coincidental?
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It was purely a product of the slavery mentality. "They do the grunt work, we do the thinking." It was perpetuated by years and years of African Americans being denied equal treatment in the public education system. If you don't allow one race the opportunities to learn that you do another, chances are that the first group is not going to appear as "intelligent."
 
#32
#32
If you guys have never seen the mockumentary "CSA", you ought to go find it on Youtube. It's basically a sometimes provocative/sometimes tongue in cheek look at what would have happened if the south had won the Civil War.

Somewhere in the mid- 1900s, they had Canada rising to world athletic dominance because all the abolitionists had fled north.
 
#37
#37
What's the over/under on number of times somebody clicks on this thread, all the jokes fly over their head and they hit the report button?
 
#38
#38
GAVol said:
What's the over/under on number of times somebody clicks on this thread, all the jokes fly over their head and they hit the report button?
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Who's joking? Blacks-ballers; whites-thinkers.
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#39
#39
GAVol said:
What's the over/under on number of times somebody clicks on this thread, all the jokes fly over their head and they hit the report button?
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You presume everyone was joking. That may not, fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your point of view), be the case.
 
#41
#41
US0047.GIF
 
#42
#42
Similarly, why do most of the best hockey players come from north of the Mason-Dixon line? And why are most of them white? Dudn't take a lot of intelligence to hit a puck with a stick.
 
#43
#43
IBlvNTmWrk said:
Similarly, why do most of the best hockey players come from north of the Mason-Dixon line? And why are most of them white? Dudn't take a lot of intelligence to hit a puck with a stick.
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I'm not sure how much intelligence that requires.
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#44
#44
N'est-ce Pas said:
That's a very interesting, thought-inducing, and conversation-igniting response, saintsjerseys. It seems there are a wide variety of teams for which you root. Are you, by any chance, a spammer? Pardon my frankness, but your username is atypical of a Vol fan on a Vol-dedicated message board.
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Your username is typical?
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#45
#45
this is an interesting thread, especially the population maps. however, i'm not reading any of the axion jaxion posts.
 
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#47
#47
doozer said:
this is an interesting thread, especially the population maps.
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Indeed.

A Caribbean map would be very interesting, as well. The baseball players in the Dominican, etc. share ancestry with African-Americans. As everyone knows, Latin Americans, most of whom are Dominican or natives of other islands in which the slave trade took place, rival caucasions in terms of number and quality of players.
 
#49
#49
Tenacious D said:
I wonder what correlations exist between the number of great athletes (D1 level, pro, etc.) produced by a specific state, and the number of slaves which that state or region once held?

Anedoctal evidence seems to somewhat suggest it, as the southeastern US - where the largest and most long-standing slave populations were held - also routinely produces more and better talent than all other areas, despite their sharing of many other similiar (and more obvious) factors such as socio-economic hierarchies, climate, urban infrastructure, etc.?

If the correlations exist and are of sufficient strength, could an argument be made that the SEC's athletic supremacy is most strongly and best attributed to the heinous and reprehensible institution of slavery, and its aftermath? How is this significant, if any at all, if true?

Given that the vast majority of those who occupy positions of authority and influence across the SEC (i.e. Commissioners, School Presidents, AD's, head coaches, etc.) have always been, and continue to be white males - while many more African-Americans continue to be required to produce and freely provide their athletic skill and dexterity (manual labor) for the sole profit of those whites possessing near absolute power and control.....how is this a remarkably different institution from slavery, itself?

I have no larger agenda or intended argument, whatsoever, but rather, simply hope to pose the question for consideration.

I would welcome your thoughts and or comments.
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:zeitung_lesen:
 
#50
#50
Would American Indians, with their history of bow and arrow hunting, be more adept at hitting moving targets with projectiles as those gifted with such a skill would be less likely to starve and more desirable to mates? Would they therefore have a genetic advantage as quarterbacks? Does Sam Bradford have a little Indian in him?
 
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