SpursFanSinceNovember2017
Superstar
Jason Whitlock's latest take on black QBs:
The information bubble is the No. 1 obstacle/hindrance for black NFL quarterbacks.
This bubble creates delusion, erodes self-awareness and unwittingly undermines a black QBs chance of sustaining success.
Cam Newton is a victim of the information bubble. Robert Griffin III is the bubbles next target.
Let me explain. Were in our political season. Democrats and Republicans both have their respective information bubbles, MSNBC and FOX News, respectively. They can lock their televisions on a single channel and avoid hearing their perspectives challenged in a credible way and hear their critics lambasted. Its comforting. Its polarizing. Its unhealthy for intellectual growth and our democracy.
Black sports fans and black pop-culture media (not sports media) have created a loosely-formed-but-influential social-media and talk-radio information bubble for black QBs. This network of groupthink roars on sports-talk radio, black-owned radio stations, Facebook and Twitter, pumping out the message that Newton, Griffin and others can do no wrong and any criticism of them is rooted in racism. Fear of backlash from this network of well-intentioned enablers causes many mainstream sports analysts (media and fans of all colors) to avoid being totally honest about black QBs.
Thats how a career-killing, information bubble is formed.
White QBs dont have to deal with this. In Kansas City, a group of fans paid for a banner to be flown over Arrowhead Stadium that called for owner Clark Hunt to bench Matt Cassel. Kansas Citys backup quarterback is Brady Quinn, the Cleveland bust. Hes not a solution. But he was named the starter on Monday.
Imagine the uproar if Eagles fans took similar action against turnover-machine Michael Vick? There would be riots in the streets. Philly fans would be labeled racist.
Information bubbles are destructive, whether in politics or sports.
Cam Newton is being ruined. In the aftermath of Sundays loss to the Cowboys, Newton, once again, handled the postgame news conference horribly. He not-so-subtly criticized his coaching staff. He flippantly quipped that he wanted to bring a suggestion box into the news conference. He condescendingly called a female reporter sweetheart.
He sounded like a crybaby and a loser. The black information bubble immediately leaped to Cams defense, claiming Cams critique of the offensive strategy was accurate.
The accuracy of his complaints is irrelevant. A quarterback is in partnership with his head coach and offensive coordinator. Their disagreements and criticisms should be handled internally and not referenced at a news conference by the QB.
What does RG3 have to do with any of this?
Well, informational bubbles are often uninformed. Along with being insecure and defensive, they can also be overly enthusiastic out of ignorance.
RG3 is off to a very nice, promising start. But football is not basketball, a quarterback is not a small forward and RG3 is not LeBron James. You could see LeBrons ability to dominate the NBA when he was a junior in high school. Within 10 games of his NBA career, you could tell James would own the league one day. Basketball is the 100-meter dash; the sprinter that gets out of the blocks quick has a huge advantage. Football is a marathon with multiple variables, especially for a QB.
Its way too early to anoint RG3. The information bubble has already decided the Colts made a mistake taking Andrew Luck ahead of Griffin. Thats ridiculous. We dont know yet. Theres not nearly enough information. RG3 has the benefit of playing for a highly experienced head coach. Luck is playing for a new coaching staff that is dealing with the loss of its brand-new head coach.
Furthermore, in reaction to fear of the black information bubble, the mainstream media seem intent on pitting RG3 vs. Newton. On Monday, rather than individually deal with Cams immature postgame news conference, ESPN spent the day comparing RG3s postgame comments to Cams.
Why?
It wasnt a conversation about their playing styles and ability to scramble and throw. It wasnt a conversation about Cam and RG3 both winning the Heisman Trophy. It was a conversation about Cams lack of leadership as a second-year starting quarterback. RG3 has nothing to do with that. ESPN is afraid the information bubble will call ESPN racist for pointing out Cam is a poor leader so the Worldwide Leader protected itself by portraying RG3 as the ultimate leader. We dont know if Griffin is a great leader. We wont know until he deals with some real NFL adversity. I suspect hell handle adversity quite well. He might be the Ray Lewis of adversity (Ray might be the best leader in sports history). But we just dont know yet.
Compare Cam to Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Jeff George talented QBs who struggled with leadership or compare Cam to his second-year QB peers, Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert.
But dont drag Griffin into Cams problems. Its not fair. Its not right. Its a consequence of the black information sports bubble.
Whitlock: Information bubble hurts black QBs like Cam Newton - NFL News | FOX Sports on MSN
The information bubble is the No. 1 obstacle/hindrance for black NFL quarterbacks.
This bubble creates delusion, erodes self-awareness and unwittingly undermines a black QBs chance of sustaining success.
Cam Newton is a victim of the information bubble. Robert Griffin III is the bubbles next target.
Let me explain. Were in our political season. Democrats and Republicans both have their respective information bubbles, MSNBC and FOX News, respectively. They can lock their televisions on a single channel and avoid hearing their perspectives challenged in a credible way and hear their critics lambasted. Its comforting. Its polarizing. Its unhealthy for intellectual growth and our democracy.
Black sports fans and black pop-culture media (not sports media) have created a loosely-formed-but-influential social-media and talk-radio information bubble for black QBs. This network of groupthink roars on sports-talk radio, black-owned radio stations, Facebook and Twitter, pumping out the message that Newton, Griffin and others can do no wrong and any criticism of them is rooted in racism. Fear of backlash from this network of well-intentioned enablers causes many mainstream sports analysts (media and fans of all colors) to avoid being totally honest about black QBs.
Thats how a career-killing, information bubble is formed.
White QBs dont have to deal with this. In Kansas City, a group of fans paid for a banner to be flown over Arrowhead Stadium that called for owner Clark Hunt to bench Matt Cassel. Kansas Citys backup quarterback is Brady Quinn, the Cleveland bust. Hes not a solution. But he was named the starter on Monday.
Imagine the uproar if Eagles fans took similar action against turnover-machine Michael Vick? There would be riots in the streets. Philly fans would be labeled racist.
Information bubbles are destructive, whether in politics or sports.
Cam Newton is being ruined. In the aftermath of Sundays loss to the Cowboys, Newton, once again, handled the postgame news conference horribly. He not-so-subtly criticized his coaching staff. He flippantly quipped that he wanted to bring a suggestion box into the news conference. He condescendingly called a female reporter sweetheart.
He sounded like a crybaby and a loser. The black information bubble immediately leaped to Cams defense, claiming Cams critique of the offensive strategy was accurate.
The accuracy of his complaints is irrelevant. A quarterback is in partnership with his head coach and offensive coordinator. Their disagreements and criticisms should be handled internally and not referenced at a news conference by the QB.
What does RG3 have to do with any of this?
Well, informational bubbles are often uninformed. Along with being insecure and defensive, they can also be overly enthusiastic out of ignorance.
RG3 is off to a very nice, promising start. But football is not basketball, a quarterback is not a small forward and RG3 is not LeBron James. You could see LeBrons ability to dominate the NBA when he was a junior in high school. Within 10 games of his NBA career, you could tell James would own the league one day. Basketball is the 100-meter dash; the sprinter that gets out of the blocks quick has a huge advantage. Football is a marathon with multiple variables, especially for a QB.
Its way too early to anoint RG3. The information bubble has already decided the Colts made a mistake taking Andrew Luck ahead of Griffin. Thats ridiculous. We dont know yet. Theres not nearly enough information. RG3 has the benefit of playing for a highly experienced head coach. Luck is playing for a new coaching staff that is dealing with the loss of its brand-new head coach.
Furthermore, in reaction to fear of the black information bubble, the mainstream media seem intent on pitting RG3 vs. Newton. On Monday, rather than individually deal with Cams immature postgame news conference, ESPN spent the day comparing RG3s postgame comments to Cams.
Why?
It wasnt a conversation about their playing styles and ability to scramble and throw. It wasnt a conversation about Cam and RG3 both winning the Heisman Trophy. It was a conversation about Cams lack of leadership as a second-year starting quarterback. RG3 has nothing to do with that. ESPN is afraid the information bubble will call ESPN racist for pointing out Cam is a poor leader so the Worldwide Leader protected itself by portraying RG3 as the ultimate leader. We dont know if Griffin is a great leader. We wont know until he deals with some real NFL adversity. I suspect hell handle adversity quite well. He might be the Ray Lewis of adversity (Ray might be the best leader in sports history). But we just dont know yet.
Compare Cam to Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Jeff George talented QBs who struggled with leadership or compare Cam to his second-year QB peers, Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert.
But dont drag Griffin into Cams problems. Its not fair. Its not right. Its a consequence of the black information sports bubble.
Whitlock: Information bubble hurts black QBs like Cam Newton - NFL News | FOX Sports on MSN
