“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

I am a sports junky. I love watching sports. The NBA, NFL, MLB, track and field, boxing, WNBA, the PGA (only win Tiger is doing well), and more.

I love to hear the crowd cheering after a tremendous dunk or long home run or a huge knockout or a long TD pass in the NFL or college football. But of course now because of COVID19, the fans are not in the stands and it hurts me and millions of others big time.

Today the Indy 500 was raced with no fans. 300,000 people usually pack the stands every year in May to watch the race. But this year it was shocking watching zero fans watching the race.

Of course the NBA playoffs are in Orlando playing in a so called bubble. To keep everyone safe. So no home court advantage for anyone. There are virtual fans in the arena. You can here the cheers of the fans from at home. I do not know how they pick the fans but that is going on.

In MLB, their is no fans in the stadiums. No virtual fans. Just cardboard cutouts of fans. When a player hits a long home run, no loud cheering from the stands. I have been watching boxing on ESPN and Showtime with no fans so when a exciting knockout happens, no loud cheers from fans. Unreal!!

Soon the NFL will start. Our Seattle Seahawks just announced that the first three home games at Century Link will be played with no fans. The Seahawks first game in Atlanta will also be played with no fans.

The NFL has announced their will be no pre season games this year because of COVID19. So very hard work has to be done by NFL coaches to pick their teams and who will get cut before the season starts. Very stressful times for NFL coaches and players also.

This year fans could not attend Seahawks training camp in Renton, Washington. Every year passes to training camp are gone in one day! I have been going to the Vmac in Renton for years to conduct short interviews with players but not this year because of COVID19. I know Seahawk fans are very very sad.

We know COVID19 is a terrible terrible nightmare. And it is a nightmare for sports fans who cannot attend games to cheer for their favorite team or player.

When will things get better? As of now, no one knows. Will just have to watch games with no fans and no cheering from the stands of arenas in the United States. We will have to pop some pop corn and drink your beer from home during game time. Most college football fans will not have teams to cheer for period. Well I should say the Big 10 and Pac 12 will not have games at least until the spring. Shocking!!

Well I can go on and on about this topic. The bottom line is because of COVID19 things are like never before for us in the media and for sports fans. And this is truly truly sad. It really is.

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“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

Ladies and gentlemen something terrible is going on in the NFL. And that is African Americans are not being hired for head coaching jobs in the NFL. This is real talk!!

Here is a question. WHY? Is it because their is not qualified African Americans to become head coaches? Heck no sports fans. There are PLENTY of African Americans who should be head coaches already truth be told. But they are getting passed over and it is just plain wrong. It really is.

Guys like our Seattle Seahawks Ken Norton Jr, Leslie Frazier, Jim Caldwell, Steve Wilks, Marvin Lewis, Kris Richard, Eric Bienimy are not getting the getting hired as a head coach in the NFL or another chance to be a head coach like Lewis and Caldwell and Frazier and others. This is unfair.

It is unfair because guys like Adam Gase, Kieth Kingsbury, Matt Laflour, Freddie Kitchens, Joe Judge and others who are not African American are getting a chance to be a head coach in the NFL.

There is this thing called the Rooney Rule where African Americans are suppose to be interviewed for a chance to be head coaches in the league. With ONLY three African American head coaches in the NFL, THE ROONEY RULE IS A JOKE SPORTS FANS!! The Rooney Rule is not doing what it is suppose to do.

Guys with much less qualification are getting a chance to be head coaches. Truth be told this upsets me as a African American and a sports fan.

I have to agree with guys like Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe and others who are angry that guys like Bienimy and Richard and others are not getting hired but guys like Kitchens and Judge and Gase and Kingsbury and others are given a chance. Something has to change. Or African Americans will never get hired as head coaches.

Another huge problem is the lack of African American GM’s in the NFL. There is a grand total of ONE!! Let me repeat…ONE!! One GM and three head coaches in a league that is 75% African American!!! THIS IS WRONG.

If the NFL is predominantly African Americans on the field but has ZERO African American owners and only THREE African American head coaches, SOMETHING IS VERY VERY WRONG. Everyone white or black has to agree with me sports fans. Something has to change.

At the time I am typing this article, their is only one more opening when it comes to a NFL head coach and that is with the Cleveland Browns. Kitchens was fired after ONE YEAR. Who will they hire? We will talk about it soon.

Let’s hope a African American will at least obtain one of these openings for head coaches in the NFL. As a sports fan and a NFL fan, it will make me very very happy.

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“One Man’s Opinion” Gordon Curvey

Our Seattle Seahawks ( I am in Seattle, Washington) in a huge move will pick up three time Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney from the Houston Texans.

In exchange the Texans are obtaining a 2020 third round draft pick plus DE/OLB Barkevious Mingo and LB Jacob Martin. Clowney is one the best pass rushers in the NFL. The Seahawks lost Frank Clark signed with the Chiefs who was a very good rusher.

Clowney who is only 26 years old finished the 2018 NFL season 47 tackles, nine sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. And he has 53 tackles for a loss over the past three seasons.

It is important to know that Clowney who was the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft has had a lot of knee injuries early in his career and missed 15 games in his first two seasons. He has also had wrist and elbow injuries. But the good news is Clowney has missed just one game over the last few seasons.

Also Clowney chose not to sign his franchise tender this offseason which is worth almost $16 million as a linebacker. The Texans could have offered Clowney $17 million as a defensive end but decided not to.

Clowney played most of the past season as DE. This pickup by the Seahawks is the second big pickup for the Seahawks from Houston. Seahawks obtained tackle Duane Brown in 2017. He is a very important member of the Seahawks O line.

Mingo for sure was on the bubble for the Seahawks. Truth be told he did not do a overwhelming job last season and also during the pre season that just ended.

And Martin who is the other player Houston will obtain had three sacks as a rookie in 2018. Martin only played 225 defensive snaps and was second in special teams snaps behind Mingo with 279. So let’s see if they will hang on with Houston or get released. In the NFL you never know.

WELCOME BACK TO “SPORTS INNER CITY ONLINE”!! News and views about African Americans and people of color in the sports world.

“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

In my opinion their are many many problems going on with the sport. Here is my opinion on a few issues.

The game is just too damn slow. For some reason, their was a 20 second clock for the pitchers in spring training but when the season started no 20 second clock.

I do not understand this at all. If you are not going to make this permanent then why have it during spring training.? Crazy to me. 20 second clock is BADLY needed in MLB!!

Commissioner Rob Manford wants to make changes to MLB to get young inner city kids interested in baseball because the NFL and NBA have grabbed the young kids attention big time.

Most African American kids do not give a damn about baseball. For sure inner city African American kids love football and basketball. They turn away from baseball by age 12.

Inner city kids do NOT see MLB players on TV doing commercials for Burger King or Buick or Nike or McDonald’s or Adidas or Beats by Dre etc. I have discussed this before on social media but I have to continue to bring it up because local sports radio KJR and 710 ESPN refuses to talk about it.

Why? Because their is not a African American regular host on 710 So they don’t care. But I am going to do a story coming up very soon on sports radio here in Seattle. I do want to give KJR credit for having former Seahawk player Cliff Avril on the air on a regular basis and recent

KJR has brought back “The Barbershop” with Tru and Terry. 710 ESPN here in Seattle has work to do. No diversity on their regular on air staff PLUS they cut “The Professor” John Clayton’s Saturday talk show. It is beyond me why.

I do not understand why MLB has not tried to reach the “hip-hop generation” like the NBA has and the NFL has with their star players doing marketing of products. But then again it is not up to MLB to see that their stars do commercials etc. I guess it is up to the McDonald’s and Burger King’s to decide who they want in their commercials.

And they see most MLB players have ZERO personality. Have you listened to a interview with a MLB player? They talk like their dog died or they sound depressed.

Locally here in Seattle, I do not understand Seattle Mariners player Dee Gordon is not doing any commercials for local businesses or hell for national products. He is one of a few MLB players who have a personality. It is beyond me why Gordon is not doing commercials for somebody. If Chris Carson of the Seahawks is doing commercials why not Dee Gordon? I don’t get it.

Bryce Harper is a MLB superstar and he is not doing to many commercials. Matt Kemp or Mookie Betts or Jackie Bradley Jr. or David Price or Andrew McCutchen no commercials. I just do not understand.

But of course we see NFL and NBA current/ ex players doing commercials. Players like Odell Beckham Jr, Von Miller, Aaron Rodgers, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Chris Paul, Payton Manning, Brett Farve, Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson, Draymond Green, Shaq, Charles Barkley, Damian Lilliard and more are doing marketing of products.

MLB is stuck in 1948. With “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” or “America The Beautiful” being played during the freakin 7th inning stretch. Give me a break!!! By the way the average age of fans attending MLB games is A WHOPPING 57 YEARS OLD!! Proof that MLB has work to do to grab the attention of inner city young kids.

When I conduct interviews at T-Mobile Park here in Seattle, I see Mariners fans heading to the game. 99% of them are white. I barely see ANY African Americans or people of color. It is like I am in Salt Lake City, Utah or a city in Vermont or South or North Dakota. It is just amazing.

Next time you are watching MLB game, when the TV cameras takes a shot at the fans, look and see how many black fans you will see. They will be VERY VERY hard to find. These are facts.

Finally, I am extremely bothered by the lack of African American managers in MLB. Readers there exactly ONE AFRICAN AMERICAN MANAGER IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AND THAT IS FORMER GUEST ON “SPORTS INNER CITY TV” THE DODGERS DAVE ROBERTS (pic of Roberts on our program above).

This is a severe problem. Bo Porter (pic above) was fired by the Astros, has not been hired. no Willie Randolph and no Dusty Baker (pic above) Baker was fired by the Washington Nationals after winning TWO DIVISION TITLES IN A ROW AND THE TEAM WINNING MORE THAN 90 GAMES THE TWO SEASONS!! No former Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon.

How could the Nationals treat Baker like they did!! There was six opening for managers during the off season. No African American was hired. Why not Baker who has a wonderful record as a manager? Since the Nats fired Baker they have had problems winning games. Ummm I wonder why?

Also keep in mind there are only one or two MLB GM’s that are African American. So readers, MLB has a problem when it come to race. NO ONE can deny this. It is a problem. The question is what is going to be done about the almost total lack of African American MLB managers.

What is going to be done about the lily white fans at games. What is going to be done about reaching inner city kids to stay interested in baseball after age 12. We will have more stories on this topic here on “S.I.C Online” and “Sports Inner City TV” webcasts and podcasts.

Oh yeah shout to pout to my friend and one of the nicest fellas I have met since I started in the media game more than 27 years ago, Seattle Mariners lead broadcaster and one of only a few lead African American broadcasters in sports on radio and TV, Dave Sims for winning “Sportscaster Of The Year!! Sims is a fantastic role model (like I try to be) for young African American kids who have dreams of being a broadcaster!!

Comments: gcurvey@yahoo.com or via FB at facebook.com/gordon.curvey or Twitter at twitter.com/gcurvey

“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

I am a hoops junky. I love watching the game of basketball. I loved playing the game growing up and into my adulthood. I have not played a game of hoops since I loss a good section of my right lung due to pneumonia a few years ago.

My doctor said it is OK for me to get in shape and play some half court but I am afraid. I have had dreams of myself playing hoops. I was a very good shooter. Not the fastest cat around but a very good shooter. After being cut in high school, I kept playing and playing and getting better and better. I was a good long range shooter. Which leads into my story here on SIC.

As a fan of the NBA and college hoops and even high school hoops, I am watching too many three point shots. It is making games very very hard to watch and really enjoy. Something has to be done. What I do not know. What can be done?

Truth be told players throwing up 3 pointers all over the place has got worse since the Warriors star

DALLAS, TX – JANUARY 24: Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets shoots the ball against Kyle Collinsworth #8 of the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on January 24, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Steph Curry came into the NBA and became a assassin from 25 to even 35 ft!! Hell Curry is dangerous when he crosses half court for goodness sake!! Real talk!! Now because of the popularity of Curry, young inner city kids get their basketball and go to the gym and practices 3 after 3 after 3!!

Loving the game of hoops as I do I just do not like watching players wide open for a mid-range 15 to 20 ft jumper and passing it up to throw it out a teammate for a long 3. I just do not like it. I wonder how many of you hoops junkies like watching a game with players tossing up 3’s all over the court. I mean I am watching big centers jacking up 3’s. Unless you are Kevin Durant of Anthony Davis or a few others, a lot of players need to take their ass inside for a possible lay-in or a mid range shot.

Hope I am not sounding like a old timer but I like watching the game of basketball. I don’t like watching players just throwing up bad percentage 3 point attempts all over the court.

I want to see team work and movement of the ball inside and out and back inside. If a 3 is needed then fine. But not just cats firing at freakin will. Why are coaches allowing this? Of course in college the 3 point line is not as long as in the pros but in my opinion a long 3 is a long 3 in pros or in college. Time after time I have seen a big fella in the post for a 10 ft jumper or a mid range shot and the big is passed over for a long 3 or like I said the big will pass it out to the 3 point line.

Ladies and gentlemen and sports fans I want to see good hard playing basketball not players coming over half court making a pass or two and then a player tosses up a 3. In my strong opinion…this is not basketball.

Comments: gcurvey@yahoo.com