Defending Interracial Relationships, Angel Reese, and the wide Spectrum of Black Experiences in the wake of the RGIII versus Ryan Clark, F.D. Signifier, et al., debates on Angel Reese vs Caitlin Clark Situation. Discussions on Double Standards held over Black Men with White Women, Accusations of Fetishism, etc. by MRG Staff

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#angelreese #caitlinclark #ryanclark #rgiii #sports #race #interracial #families #logic

RGIII received backlash for comments, and I want to say they were about Angel Reese mostly. RGIII chimed in on the Angel Reese versus Caitlin Clark rivalry – which is largely manufactured by social media – by using themes to describe Reese with what many would call caricatures of black women. These are the allegations. Supposedly, RGIII even before this Angel Reese situation may have done some sort of caricature of black women, but I have not found anything, but who knows.

However, watching the following video by RGIII (the first video below), what he is saying is not bad at all. Maybe Angel Reese DOES hate Caitlin Clark, and if not a hate for her, but rather being associated with her? Even for the people supporting Angel Reese, just thinking about your personal life and think to a time where a person simply hated you because…they just did. These things exist. So, I do not see RGIII’s comments as being anti-black, though he his assuming things, but a lot of people turned it into RGIII being a “self-hating black man, notably because he has a white wife”. This of course unleashed psychopaths like Umar Johnson, whose only claim to fame is talking about race, and notably rallying against interracial marriages.

In the video, RGIII actually praises Aliyah Boston, who is a black woman, and even compares Angel Reese to NBA legend Isaiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons.

But let’s entertain that RGIII was being unfair to Angel Reese.

The idea goes is that Angel Reese’s competitiveness, attitude, and swagger is seen as being “ghetto” or “ratchet” behavior, which are often negative stereotypes applied to black women for simply participating in competitive spaces, where one could argue the most competitive space is the daily grind of life in general.

RGIII essentially used the “Shaniqua” trope to describe Angel Reese’s on-court persona, where this trope is often depicted as a very loud, in your face, and “unproper” person, where properness often centers around adhering to what some may consider the culture of the majority, i.e., white people.

This is why many black people defended Angel Reese and I will also defend her on these grounds.

Angel has gotten a lot of hate, and even if she is not the greatest player of all time, in a sport like basketball (which I played growing up), to be honest, some of the most iconic players were what we consider to be “goons”, i.e., the enforcers. Goons are a part of basketball culture and mythology, and even if Reese is not a standard “goon”, or maybe she is not that all, the truth is her style is a strategic part of basketball play. Intimidation is often as vital as skill on the court. Angel has won awards such as Rookie of the Month in 2024, WBNA Player of the Week in 2024, and won accolades for her play in the WNBA All Star Game.

This will sound overly intellectual, but Angel is being defended by black people because they see her being unapologetically black, because blackness has been seen as the traditional lesser position to whiteness within American or Western society, where American or New World societies of note where often built upon a racial-colorist caste system framework.

But even though it is good to defend Angel on these grounds, people also have to understand that people may not like her, and race isn’t a part of the equation.

Race aside, some people simply don’t like her. They may not like her face, her smile, etc. It’s petty but it is what it is.

Multiple things can be true at the same time and people not treating reality as such is what is annoying to be frank. (1) Yes, RGIII could have made a tacky commentary on Angel Reese by inserting the Shaniqua stereotype, though I don’t hear him doing that in his video, (2) Angel Reese regardless of race may not be very likeable to many people on factors that aren’t racial in nature, (3) Some people may be criticizing Angel Reese because of veiled racism, (4) people will defend Angel Reese regardless of her actions and may have blinders on her actions because they see themselves in her, etc. There are even more things we could probably think of.

I understand Reese defenders. Being black, bold, confident, or even cocky are not bad characteristics, and the irony is that these characteristics are often mythologized in other American cultures, for example the mythology pertaining to Americal rural, frontier, and county culture, cowboys, what have you. Sure, people will say such archetypes often presents a type of stoicism or the “strong and silent type” (which could be debated), yet still, being confident is a virtue in American life due to its history of homesteading, exploration, conquests, capitalism, etc.

People are defending Reese because they feel she is the victim of a double-standard and cognitive dissonance, i.e., by cognitive dissonance that being the phycological term that describes discomfort or tension a person feels when their beliefs, values or attitudes conflict with their actions or new information. Angel emulates values many hold dear but because they seem them in her they up feeling repulsed about those ideals or that they see her an unworthy cupbearer of those virtues.

America hails certain behaviors as virtuous but sometimes when black women and men emulate those very virtues we hold dear, black people are then turned into indicators of being dishonorable, or that black people can’t quite master the refinery of these virtues to the degree to approval as proscribed by the white majority as far as the United States goes (side note: such anti-black sentiments can be found in non-European cultures as well, but often Black Critical Theorists forget this since their main source of analysis is often framed against white supremacy).

I call it the Denzel Effect. Denzel Washington exuded a type of cool, cocky masculinity that wasn’t always appreciated in film, but those same virtues found in let’s say a John Wayne (a noted racist by the way) are perceived differently.

Regardless, despite the Angel Reese versus Caitlin Clark drama, where I feel both women are role models for young girls across the globe to be active in team sports, and I suspect behind closed doors that both women have a respect for each other, the fact still remains that RGIII is being accused of pushing this “Shaniqua” trope on black women. However, I can’t find much evidence of this.

It is made worst – visually speaking – to many Pro-Reese types, because of RGIII’s marriage to a white woman, so the perception of RGIII pushing “Shaniqua” tropes, instantly makes him a target, where he is attacked for “not being black enough” or a “sell out”.

People reduced his criticism of Angel Reese towards him hating black women, which does not seem to be THE CASE AT ALL, but it can appear that way.

People used RGIII’s comments on sports between Angel and Caitlin Clark to spin-off an adjacent conversation relating to interracial relationships, which seems unnecessary, but also boring.

I say boring because it is easy click bait, especially in black circles to talk about Interracial relationships. I feel we have better things to talk about (e.g., learning about AI, how to invest money, to use tools, studying art, whatever, etc.), but often lots of black pop cultural discourse revolves around…. drama, and not actually learning skills to improve our lives. The main topics of black discourse are (1) black men fighting with black women, (2) interracial relationships, (3) accusing each other of being gay, (4) racism, slavery, and white people, and maybe a good dose of (5) conspiracy theories. Seriously. It seems very black spaces only talk about these things.

This is where two people who will be central to this paper come into play. One being NFL Veteran, Ryan Clark, and the other being YouTube content creator, FD Signifier.

Ryan Clark (not verbatim) stated that RGIII has a fetish for white women as he learned from his locker room experiences with RGIII (e.g., RGIII allegedly calling himself “the Milk Man”).

Clark also made an affirmative claim that black men who date outside their race will never understand a black woman because they are not married to one.

Clark got some push back, just for him to later show a photo of his first-born biracial daughter he bore with a white woman, to show that he was not being prejudiced, but some people claimed this move was the equivalent of a white person saying something racist and then saying “I am not racist. I have a black friend”.

My rebuttal to Ryan Clark is that even if RGIII allegedly has a fetishism for white women, first off that is an RGIII issue and not indicative of other people and their interracial relationships.

Sure, Clark did not outright say this, and this may not have been his intent, but he needs to be aware that many people who are his fans will take his words to come to such a conclusion because they do not support Interracial relationships and will do anything to discourage them from happening.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. Even if RGIII was wrong for his Angel Reese opinion (which I do not think he is wrong), and even if he is being wrong about his alleged “white fetishism”, it doesn’t make it right to reduce the lived experiences of others in interracial relationships, knowing the hurdles that interracial couples often face.

As stated, even if that was not Ryan Clark’s intent, I am simply holding him to the same standard he held RGIII too.

For example, RGIII did not explicitly talk about black women in a negative light, but rather people went extra and beyond, and extrapolated that he was demeaning black women.

Basically, people read too deep into what RGIII was saying and turned into a larger intersectional, i.e., “woke” conversation about race, sexuality, etc. So, even though Clark did not explicitly say that interracial relationships are wrong, one could read deeper into his words, same as he read deeper into RGIII’s words, and come to the conclusion that Clark is helping promote hatred towards people in interracial relationships.

Let’s entertain the idea that RGIII did generalize, but Clark just turned around and generalized himself with this claim that “black men who date outside their race, can’t understand black women”.

I felt Clark said this more so to wink to “Black Twitter” (which is a real thing but also a euphemism for majority online black spaces) to rally to his call, knowing that there is already a pre-existing disdain for interracial relationships within certain elements of the black community, which are exemplified by the recent infamy and fame of figures such as Umar Johnson (where memes of Umar are often used online to show disapproval of black men with white women, i.e., “snow bunnies”).

Clark essentially went low, then called upon others to back him up, knowing they were going to back him up regardless because of a disdain towards white women in some black circles. Clark realizes that in our modern “Buy Black” “Support Black” this-or-that era, which has merit, that a lot of black people will support him regardless of any flaws in his takes. I want black people to succeed just as much as anyone, but I also want it to be based on rationality, rather than pure “you’re with us, or against us” passion and emotionalism.

Clark was being Machiavellian to a degree. I suspect that he sees RGIII as part of his competition in the sports commentary industry, so Clark to vanquish RGIII, pulled the race card, so that RGIII cannot talk on black issues. Clark basically said (without saying) that RGIII is not qualified enough to talk about this, because he doesn’t have something I have (a black wife), so listen to me, Mr. Clark, see – I have a black wife, and ignore RGIII. It was something that ruthless middle managers in corporations do with each other as they jockey for more influence. This is all complicated further by the viral nature of online culture with algorithms, etc., which at this point seem to incentivize toxic conversations.

ON FETISHES

But when it comes to words like fetish, people often use the word fetish as a derogatory attack on people to insinuate that their attraction is a type of mental disease, perversion, brainwashing, etc.

The goal of anti-interracial people is to create as much discomfort, awkwardness, shame, etc., to force social compliance to rigid racial hierarchies, boundaries, borders, etc.

Haphazardly throwing around the word fetish helps inspire bigots who’s only prerogative is to paint interracial relationship in a pejorative light.

Even if RGIII has an actual fetish (which should have remained confidential locker room talk between teammates), it does not mean that others do, but the truth is that many people who are against interracial relationships often WANT to push this “fetish” trope as the only reasons interracial relationships exists.

On a separate note, why isn’t Ryan Clark being called out for revealing confidential talks from the locker room? If Clark can reveal this, what else will he reveal about others, or what will we learn about Mr. Clark?

But, back to using the word fetish to describe interracial relationships, it is a form sex shaming people into compliance, and even though I do not have any empirical evidence, from my qualitative experiences, I notice the trope that “interracial relationships are fetishes” is often pushed by white men (patriarchs) and black women (matriarchs), where these two groups can be seen as the de facto leaders of their racial groups for various reasons, and feel entitled to own their sexual counterparts as something akin to resources.

I agree with Clark in his defense of Angel Reese, and sure, maybe RGIII likely has some sort of fetish, but even if he as a fetish, that is RGIII’s prerogative.

However, to go a bit off track, is having a fetish a bad thing?

It seems like a very subjective thing. I believe all humans have fetishes, however, we as a society do consider some fetishes to be antisocial, i.e., against the limits of what is tolerable and acceptable to humans, and interestingly our morals can be viewed through “property law”. For example, we consider certain things antisocial if they go against children, animals, the mentally delayed, those with physical handicaps, etc., because these groups, especially children, have limitations on consenting and have limitations within their development. We also consider things to be antisocial that are truly irregular towards conducive, safe and/or honest human interactions such as sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissistic personality disorders, etc.

In the context of sexuality, some people have slight fetishes (i.e., sexual attractors they can live without) one could argue, and others have deeply rooted, conscious or unconscious, and required fetishes (i.e., sexual attractors needed to function sexually or even socially outside of the realms of sexuality).

From women in fishnet stockings or yoga pants, to men with chest hair, to high heels, to even dimples, people have a wide swath of things that could be considered a fetish, and sure, race or color, could be a type of one. But why is that a bad thing even if so? And even if so, for others, it does not mean that desiring a person or loving a person of another race qualifies as a fetish, except for the fact that people can argue that everything is subjective, and others will simply throw out the word fetish to spite those in interracial relationships.

For example, let’s play a logic game. Let’s say that Ryan Clark (and, also FD Signifier who I will get to later) will only date black women. Ok. Nothing wrong with that. That is their preference.

I see nothing wrong with that as long as people are not verbally expressing some sort of disdain for people who do counter to this, even though it is a person’s free speech to express things in this way.

So, for Clark or FD Signifier, I am sure there is something about their spouses that they fetishize. All human desire has some level of objectification, even if their (i.e., people like FD Signifier, etc.) rebuttal to this claim is that what they are actually desiring is the “subjectivity” of a person.

Such rebuttals seem to insinuate that subjectivity respects the empowered agency of the target of desire, whereas objectification is about reducing such agency for the unilateral pleasure of the targeting agent. Getting lost in the objectivity versus subjectivity debate seems unnecessary, so I won’t waste too much there.

So… let’s say that Clark, FD Signifier, or anyone who doesn’t engage in “Swirling” (which is a quasi-black euphemism for interracial relationships) desire their black wives, then I am sure there is something about their wives they fetishize, whether it is an action or a physical characteristic.

For example, black women are known for having “large buttocks” or being more voluptuous as in relation to other women such as white women. This truth, stereotype, what have you, is something embedded into Americal cross-racial discourse, e.g., black women saying white women have “flat asses”.

So, let’s say black men who only date black women desire their black woman’s curves because they see it as something better than what is available outside of their race. Is this not technically a fetish? Even emphasizing a desire around “beautiful black skin” or “fair white skin” could be considered fetish.

Where I am getting at is that it seems people who don’t like interracial relationships are fine with “intra-racial fetishism”, but not “interracial fetishism”, but the fact remains that one could argue that all desire has levels of fetishism, since objectification seems intrinsic to human consciousness.

I am no expert on Continental Philosophy (more concerning existentialism, phenomenology, ontology, etc.) or Analytical Philosophy (often concerning cogitation, logic, and linguistics), but the human propensity for objectification has both existential implications as well as implications concerning the very being of human cognition itself.

Essentially there is a reason we objectify things, fetishize things, etc., and it can be explained in rational, empiricist, and scientific means as well as through metaphysical quandary.

I am defining “fetishism” as the “pornification of inquiry” where we as observant sentient beings, and as objects in a world of objects, create a relationship as an observer towards an object that is being observed, where the very object being observed and the action of observing the thing, whatever it is, creates a para-social relationship, to the point of being required for the observer to function.

A fetish is simply a curiosity of things that is metabolized or internalized so much so by the observer that the observer is assisted in functioning when performing a task, but the degree of assistance varies from person to person (e.g., some may not be reliant on a fetish at all, whereas others may be dependent upon it). Sexual intercourse is a task, hence why we put so much emphasis on studying sexual fetishizes, but my definition can be applied outside the area of sexuality to pretty much any other aspect of human existence. But I can admit my definition in debatable, and has gaps, I am sure.

But, back to Clark, RGII, FD Signifier, etc., there is another logical flaw in Clark’s rebuttal to RGIII which is that Clark made an affirmative claim that black men who don’t marry black women cannot understand black women.

This is problematic to me because not all relationships need to be sexual to understand a person.

There are fraternal, paternal, etc., types of relationships. I am no Freudian psychologist, but my understanding is that Freud argued that a child’s, notably a boy’s first love, is his mother, hence the concept of Oedipus Complexes, and for females the concept of Electra Complexes.

Regardless, saying that marrying a black woman is the only way to understand a black woman is a form of purity testing, because it allows Clark, FD Signifier, et al., the ability to take a higher position when it comes to discussing black issues (even if their logic is flawed in any arguments), since a lot of black conversation and debates requires a level of approval from black women.

Essentially, Clark praising black women is appealing to the biases and desires of black women, so they are more likely to support his claims even if there’s logical flaws in his arguments because Clark is essentially fawning them.

This fawning strategy can be applied to any type of debate. It is effectively a strategy in debate. You are greasing the crowd by appealing to their internal desires, so they are more likely to believe your arguments. Another similar tactic at winning debates or winning “buy-in” from audiences is to use self-deprecation to disarm an audience, garner sympathy, protect the egos of “Alphas”, etc.

But that aside, many black men have relationships with their mothers, sisters, co-workers, extended family members, classmates, etc.

Saying that not marrying a black woman prohibits a person from understanding black women actually reduces the impact of other non-romantic types of relationships, where I would argue the most important relationship, that of a mother, is something that most black men will experience and gain a lot of their understanding about black women from.

Even for men who marry black women, a lot of what we learned is from our black maternal-like figures, since our mothers and grandmothers were, and were conversing with, black female culture, be it their own lived experiences and towards what they preferred to watch in the media, etc.

Having marriage to a black woman be the prerequisite in having a say in black conversations, actually widens the gap between black peoples, rather than bridging them together.

And, what about single people? Do single black men or single black women, not have any say because they aren’t in relationships?

I am simply pointing out the gaps in Clark’s claim which are reductionist.

But, if Clark can say that black men who date outside of their race do not understand black females then, then why can’t we say it in reverse for black women who date outside their race?

Are we really going to say that Venus Williams, who was crip walking at the Super Bowl during Kendrik Lamar’s performance, where Williams is from Compton California, is somehow not black for marrying a white man? Are we really going to argue that Eve from rap group Ruff Riders, is not black for marrying a white multi-millionaire? Are we really going to say that Alfree Woodard, known for playing black matriarch roles such as in Spike Lee’s Crooklyn does not understand black men because she is married to a white man? No.

The truth is that there is double-standard applied to black men because the truth seems to be that all groups on planet Earth, black women included, have some problem with black men due to the depictions and de-humanization of black men, first through white supremacy, but later though the hegemonic spreading of global capitalism (rooted historically in white supremacy) that spreads negative images about black men, where black men don’t control the mediums that spread negative images about them.

This double-standard of black men with white-women as opposed to black women with white men, or any other race with members of other races, can also be considered patriarchal, because what many people are saying, notably black people who don’t approve of interracial relationship, are insinuating that black men should be controlling their sexual opposites.

This type of patriarchy against interracial relationship can be observed in many black nationalist movements, where women often take a secondary role to patriarchal men. Better put, many advocates against interracial relationships, notably in black nationalist politics, are against interracial relationships because they feel men should be dominating their sexual counterparts of the same race.

This sentiment can be seen in the resurgent movement of polygamy within black nationalist circles, where such polygamist circles are often adjacent or firmly within Right Wing Men’s Rights (i.e., The Manosphere, or Red Pill) communities. For example, Umar Johnson, a known advocate against interracial relationships, and Brother Nathaniel, the leader of the black nationalist group, Israelites United in Christ (IUIC), advocates for polygamy, but notably for Brother Nathaniel, it is based in his interpretation of Biblical patriarchy over women.

The rebuttal to my arguments concerning this double-standard that falls more harshly on black men with white women, can be seen loosely in rhetoric by FD Signifier where he will say, “Well, black men date more disproportionately outside of their race than black women do. It’s not even close”.

My rebuttal in turn is that black men have been more so victimized by white supremacy because black men are seen more so as a physical threat to it, so black women actually with white men (which I support) can actually amplify the effects of white supremacy.

So, if white supremacy and patriarchy are the main culprits of most black inquiry, notably based on a dialectical way of thinking (i.e., analysis based on opposites, contradictions, etc.), then a black woman with a white man actually amplifies white supremacy, more so than any black man with a white woman.

But I don’t hate on black woman with white men. If anything as a black man I almost give a nod of “cool” approval, because that white man has shown himself as possibly loving, thus seeing as equal, the black community. I never see black women with non-white people as being “treasonous”, an act of betrayal, etc.

Being consistent to the logic of most black Critical Theory, I do have a point.

The truth is that white supremacy does not want black men with white women, whereas if a white man is with a person of another color, it is almost an exercising of white privilege because white men are often given a pass.

Even if a white supremacist does not like that a white man dates outside his race, they will not do anything about it because that white man is still exercising a type of privilege that other types of men of other races are denied. White supremacy is an ideology of power that is indifferent to equality. It is not based on fairness or equality but power. The white supremacist does not care so as long as the privileges and preferential double-standards of their system still favors them.

I hate to compare modern interracial relationships to slavery, because this a bad habit many modern Critical theorists have, but to make an example, think about a white plantation owner with a black woman, versus a black male slave with any white woman regardless of class. The penalty for the black man was always going to be castration, death, etc., whereas there was no consequence for white men.

I like to say that white men have free reign to “colonize p-ssy”, which historically is the case from black females’ slaves, native Africans such as those modern day South African (which created the mixed-race Colored demographic), to Asian woman, Indigenous Aboriginal Australians, etc. White men have doing whatever they want forever, but if black men do it, not only do they get shamed (or, killed) by white supremacy, but also by their sexual internal counterparts give them grief, etc.

Black men were literally killed for being white woman, whereas the penalty has never been the same for white men.

So, even if black men currently do date outside their race at higher levels, per Left Wing logic, the structural impact will never be the same as that of a black woman, essentially emboldening white supremacy and patriarchy.

Which is why it dangerous to reduce people’s love, emotions, etc., to intellectual frameworks. People simply use intellectualism to make their personal hates sound smarter than what they actually are.

For example, in media, black men with white women are often used to shame interracial relationships, by reducing black male-white female relationships to comically absurd fetishes. There is also the racist slogan of insinuating that white women with black men will be raising children in single parent households.

For example, there is the famous meme of Piper Perri, a pornographic actress before a group sex scene with black men, being used by various people to caricature female desires because most male insecurity involves female sexuality, so shaming women is a means of protecting the male ego, or “id”.

The meme or memes like them are about shaming women, black men, etc., but done so in a sinisterly playful way that gives the person who uses it plausible deniability that they aren’t insecure, because “it’s just a joke”, harmless fun, or postmodern pastiche.

This meme is often used not only to “make fun” and reduce black male-white female relationships for the benefit of male egos, but notably the male egos of non-black men in general.

Even the show Family Guy has made fun of white women preparing to be “gangbanged” by a group of black men.

At a certain point the use of such tropes tells more about the fears of society, with that being (A) black male sexuality being seen as more masculine, thus it poses a threat to the deification of white male honor, thus black male sexuality has to be shamed as naturally “evil”, “diseased”, “wild”, or degenerate, and (B) a fear about female sexual choice, where patriarchy reduces women to simple sexual objects for male use, but notably as incubators for sustained racial majority, i.e., ensuring more “pure white babies” are born to maintain racial dominance.

The irony is that white men, notably in the porn industry, have privilege, such as models being paid more to have sex with black men because of the perceived taboo and fears of hurting a woman’s career. However, such issues have been addressed or at least talked about as being problematic by many adult performers, so this issue is nothing new, and the adult industry seems more inclusive of non-white male voices than it did previously.

A person could easily make a meme of white men preparing to gangbang a black, Asian, or Hispanic woman, but you often don’t see these being shared throughout the zeitgeist, where part of our zeitgeist, does involve your run-of-the-mill (mostly non-black male) online trolls (for example, 4Chan or 8Chan culture, where these Chan-sites are often associated with Alt-Right and white supremacist politics).

These memes are even used by black people often within the Right-Wing oriented Manosphere, where figures such as Fresh and Fit of the Fresh and Fit Podcast, or even more moderate figure such as Aba and Preach, use tropes of “gangs of black men having sex with white women” to shame feminism, but also promote an irrational fear in young men that their women are likely to cheat/commit adultery on them.

Many people use memes of black men with white women to socially shame people, but white men in the same scene get a free pass.

Interracial relationships between black men and white women if utilizing a Left-Wing framework is actually a revolutionary act one could argue by subverting white male patriarchy considering all of the historical violence and effort exercised towards preventing black male-white female relations. Thus, more interracial relationships is a sign of progressive change in society at large, even if intra-racial relationships are still the majority.

More irony is that the more accepting people are of interracial relationships, it could be argued as an acceptance of blackness overall, because the divide between seeing black and white as polar opposites is reduced.

More irony to the situation is that many tenants of Black Liberation politics which uses Left Wing frameworks often dissuades from positively acknowledging interracial relationships, because certain schools of Left Wing thought advocates for “Self Determination” – often as an extension of Anti and Post-Colonial thought.

Essentially, Left Wing thought can promote racial segregation, but instead of it being based on Right Wing “top down” hierarchal modes of segregation between races, the Left-Wing version of segregation is “flat” “non hierarchal” “intersectional”, etc.

Who would have thought that the Left Wing promotes…. Separate but Equal?

FG SIGNIFIER AGAIN PROVES HE’S INTERESTED IN AGITATION RATHER THAN GROWING AS A PERSON

FD Signifier for example in his video titled: “What are we going to do about these Coons“, to me expresses this yearning within certain Left Wing, notably Black nationalists’ circles. This video, FD chimes in on the RGIII comment drama, which to me isn’t much of drama at all, but goes to show how some black people will jump on anything to talk about race.

FD Signifier uses this recent video to segway back towards an earlier video with other creators he was on which alleged that you could tell if a black man dates a white woman by how well their hair is maintained, i.e., how fresh their cut is.

Somewhat funny, the truth is that FD was actually purity testing by trying to insinuate that only corny black men date outside their race, so he, of course is somehow naturally better?

I commented on his page that if you can judge a person’s hair cut as them being more likely to date a white woman, then can I say that you as a slightly pudgy black man, who looks like my mother with braids, can be predicted to be a Communist?

First off, as a black man, calling another black a Coon is absurd, but for people who are not black, I need to stress that certain things about black culture may seem like “anti-matter” to you. Black people often use these terms, which were and are still used by white supremacist/anti-black people in general (who can be non-white) against black people, as a means of black people reminding other black people they see as too comfortable with their dialectical foe (white people) that they are still black.

It is a reason why black people use the N word, though the N word is often used – allegedly – in an “endearing” way. Black people have coopted white supremacist language and some of it like the N word are used in endearing ways while other words are used to shame people as a means of reminding black people that they are black. Using such words equates to the linguistic form of the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, i.e., a culture that “chops people” don’t to size so they never feel more special than that of the collective. For reasons across the spectrum, some petty, and some that could be based on some type “intellectual pragmatism”, are used to keep black people in their place.

FD Signifier, as a Black Nationalist, has a lot of blind spots in this analysis of black culture.

For example, in his video FD talks about how black military brats often get messed up and insecure about their race and turn into RGIII. This is partially true, but also debatable. Black children may suffer from issues of identity if not in an environment that affirming and accepting of what we consider to be traditional black culture, but FD almost has their belief that growing up in black environment guarantees you may wind up “messed up”. He seems to believe growing up around white people is the same as Native Americans forced in schools where they were forced to assimilate. His assumptions often seem to erase nuance and complexity.

Black children may feel the dilemma of fitting in with their more segregated black counterparts because they have been exposed to other cultures (fashion, music, lifestyles, subcultures, etc.), have more economic certainty, and live in statistically safer environments, etc.

What FD doesn’t understand as he tries to oversimplify things is that black military brats still have black parents who are often still connected to their black roots, with many having been enlisted from urban inner city black communities or rural black communities.

FD signifier talking about military brats, has some merit, but it also diminishes the truth that many black families in the military as still connected to their roots.

But F.D. not having served, having been a military brat, not being a two-parent household, and not living in a truly multiracial environment…assumes things.

As a person who served myself, grew up in the military, and is around the same age group as FD himself, I can attest that the military is…. pretty black.

That’s well known. The military often recruits from the poor classes and statistically, black people as far as wealth are in near last place (though we can argue about what is wealth, how studies were conducted, etc.).

Many black officers are from Historically Black Colleges and Universities which have esteemed ROTC programs such as Tuskegee with US Air Force ROTC or Morehouse with Navy ROTC.

Many black military members are also involved with Black Fraternal and Masonic organizations. FD when talking about RGIII did talk about anything of this because HE DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS.

He assumes a lot of things, but his target audience are what I call “White liberals searching for black authenticity” with what I call “Take Me To Your Leader Mentality“, and woke – sometimes but not always black – people who more addicted to woke frameworks of thinking, which at this point as devolving in online shame culture to suffice for the fact the woke Left has failed in making actual real-world structural change. Something of course that FD has said he is incapable of solving or fixing.

And I say this as a military brat from a two-parent black household with an inner city raised mother and country “rural” raised father.

FD Signifier who seems to emphasis qualitative research like most Left-Wing sociologists, but I suspect that FD already has his conclusions in minds and wants his work, video essays, etc., to moonwalk or back up into those conclusions, so he has to have a degree of blind spots in his analysis to justify his preconceived presuppositions.

If I had to explain FD, he is a race-realist, dialectical materialist and Critical theorist, who has a palatable platform enough to not be relegated to the fringes of black nationalist discourse. A lot of what FD would say on race, I suspect a lot of white supremacists would agree with, because if self-determination means not being around black people, then they are for it. This is no different than George Lincoln Rockwell of the American Nazi Party working with the Nation of Islam, and even helping give seed money to N.O.I., black only farms in rural Georgia.

If FD can make an assumption on black military brats or black suburbanites, then I can make an assumption about his.

Coming from a single female parent household in the Chicagoland area, which is an area known for its history of Northern based racial segregation – when analyzing a person such as RGIII, Mr. Signifier has a propensity for assuming what it must have been like to have not been raised in explicitly black spaces.

FD deeply wants to believe without saying it directly that black people who aren’t raised in explicitly or majority black spaces like him seemed to be lacking in purity or authenticity, yet purity and authenticity are subjective things.

The irony is that he as a Leftist, would espouse ideas such as “everything being on a spectrum”, yet, when it comes to black lived experiences, he seems to not understand this, and even if so, his own personal biases make him uncomfortable in admitting that his vision of blackness is not the entire vision of it. I can hear it in his voice.

It makes you think that maybe even certain aspects of Left Wing (what we consider as liberal) politics are just a different shade of the same thing but used by those who actually controls things to create disunity amongst the general population. For example, Black Lives Matters is a concept I support, because I always understood that it meant “Black Lives Matters too”, and not “Black Lives Matters only”, yet the effects of BLM, for an array of incalculable reasons, did help re-solidify white supremacy, because such a bold slogan was seen by many people as explicitly a dismissal of their own misery, lives, etc., which weren’t in black bodies.

Even though the Left Wing is good intentioned in brining topics such as cultural appropriation, white privilege, patriarchy, imperialism, environmental racism, and gentrification to forefront of discourse, the Left Wing is also very bad, if not unapologetic, in the adverse effects of their messaging campaigns. Maybe this is because human emotion and feelings could be argued by some extreme Left-Wing voices (such as Marxist voices) as being…. bourgeoise and counter revolutionary. For such as theoretical person, feelings and emotions are often the constructs helping to prop up systems of oppression by prioritizing individual emotional comfort over the needs of the collective proletariat. And, let’s say, sure, this argument has merit, the fact still remains that it has consequences.

Despite the Far Left having pushed the needle forward in many good ways, and I would argue the Left Wing has “elevated consciousness” (notably a popularization and normalization of socialist analysis in American life), they have also enabled a complete opposite and dialectical reaction. MAGA for instance is essentially pro-imperialist, gentrification, and white identity politics, and the Left is now in a malaise, still arguing about if it is wise to go the intersectional route or the class-consciousness route. I would argue we’ve had enough intersectional conversations and should go to class consciousness because it seems the only method left in bringing on structural reform.

Better put, we have never truly tried a racially blind and unified, class-oriented movement, largely because of the infighting of the “intersectional-ist” faction. And many people may cringe at the words “racially blind”, but I am not saying “unaware”, i.e., unaware of the importance of applying intersectional analysis towards alleviating oppression, but rather…. we’ve talked enough already, and talking about identity politics has only given us heightened awareness, but not structural change.

I wouldn’t be surprised for example if Clark, FD Signifier, Umar Johnson, etc., were explicitly told by their black mothers to not date outside of their race. If so, then I guess they learned something about black women without needing to be married one.

End Notes

Disclaimer: I am tired of talking about race. However, there are many people online whose identities and career are explicitly based around race, and these people often need to be challenged. I consider myself something akin to a “radical abolitionist”, i.e., who is a Left-Wing progressive, however, I am cautious about the over usage of intersectional frameworks, however, as a person of color (but even if I were not one), I see value in intersectional thinking. However, ideology aside, on a person-to-person level, I think that many hateful or “troll like” figures hide behind ideology to sound smart, but really these are just…racist, prejudiced, etc., and some of these people can be on the Political Left, be they “Far Leftists” (Communists, Marxists, etc.), or milquetoast “Center Leftist” liberals. Ideology often veils desires, insecurity, biases, and people’s selfish will-to-power. We have to be honest that we all do this to an extent. I support Black liberation, empowerment, etc., because black people…deserve it considering how we as a people were literally designed to be the “Ying to the Yang” of white people (a concept I have talked about before), i.e., we as black people were manufactured to be an internalized foe to help justify, inspire, and motivate white supremacy as an ontological construct. We were designed to be hated and having been incubated in hatred (literally within the equivalent of prison conditions for centuries), we as a community do have deep rooted trauma, which we even as black people towards black people hurt each other with.

To really understand what I am saying in this post, we have to ask, “What is America to me?”. This will sound “brainy” or quasi-intellectual, but I think it will make sense to you.

The United States is built upon a post-colonial, psycho-sexual racial caste system, which emphasizes “racial dialectics” as a means of controlling and organizing the population in a way the serves the interests of the capitalist class. The capitalist class – once called the aristocratic and gentry class, but later euphemistically called “the one percent” – uses psychological warfare, notably around agitation-propaganda to create intersectional division, so economic class consciousness can never take hold to threaten the wealth of elites. For example, figures such as W.E.B. DuBois spoke about how the white poor often defended the white rich, because the white poor were given a “wage of whiteness”, i.e., social privileges above others, even if the white poor were voting against their own economic interests by supporting elites. Separately, what I mean by “psycho-sexual”, is not in some Freudian sense about childhood development, but rather a psychological system built upon sexual insecurities that are nuanced along racial lines, where the awkwardness created from this system helps to veil and protect the power and privileges of white patriarchy within European colonial nations. The USA is built upon a fear of black male sexuality and the control of white female sexuality. These two groups pose the largest threats to the existing white patriarchal order (side note: I am not hating on white men, but rather a system catered towards their needs at the expense of others), which is why there was so much historical emphasis on shaming and preventing these types of relationships. Ironically, within certain left-wing circles, more visually seen within Black Liberation politics, there is constant theme of talking about black male-white female relationships, which one could argue is about a fear of cultural erasure or “appropriation”, but in essence these types of Leftists are perpetuating the same hatred towards black male-white female relationships that are existent within white supremacy. Even though the arguments are coming from different angles, vantage points, ideologies, etc., the similarity is that both sides want to limit and discourage such relationships.

The United States is a post-colonial nation, however, we in contemporary times often have a hard time truly understanding that, largely I suspect because of our economic success which has even overpowered that of our previous colonial masters in the British. However, the same way how we in the West and USA understand that certain African nations are troubled because of the divide-and-conquer systems applied by the British, this same sort of divide-and-conquer mentality is too fundamental to the United States.

Main Ideas by Quinton Mitchell: (1) People try to reduce interracial relations to fetishes, but those same people are fetishizing within “intra-racial” relationships. For example, people will try to hate on black male-white female interracial relationships by calling them fetishes, however, if a person hails a “Black Queen” in for example a white male-black female relationship, then people often don’t use the fetish accusation. Further, people advocating for explicit intra-racial (same race) relationships, ironically use fetishes themselves. Further, I bring up the idea that all humans fetishize things and fetishizing may be central to desire to varying degrees. (2) Left Wing concepts such as Self-Determinism under Post-Colonial frames of thinking can lead to a flattened “Separate but Equal” type of segregation, that is not much different than the hierarchical “top down” segregation found on the Political Right. Which alludes to the idea that Left Wing and Right Wing ideologies, can both be used as systems-of-control to maintain pre-existing systems such as racial segregation (3) Tiger Woods Syndrome, a term coined by me, Quinton Mitchell, which is the social phenomena of black people to consider and shame things that are perceived as white, but then later incorporate these things into black culture once popularized by black cultural leaders (4) “The Colonization of P-ssy” (however, crude that may be, where the intended crudeness is meant relate to online colloquialisms, urchin speak, etc.) is a term I coined writing this which is about how white males don’t get criticized as harshly as non-white men, notably black men, for interracial relationships, and this privilege that white men have dates to the Age of Discovery, the colonial era, etc. (5) The Denzel Effect is a term that may not be original but one that I thought of out of the blue to talk about how black confidence is often seen as dishonorable, whereas white confidence can be seen as honorable. However, this effect doesn’t obfuscate from that the fact that people of any race can simply rub people the wrong way and color is not a factor. (6) Take Me to Your Leader Mentality, is a term which may not be original, but I came up with out of the blue when writing on subjects relating to race, so if this term does exist, I created it in a type of “no original idea really exist” type of randomness. However, I intend this term to mean how black intellectuals often consciously or unconsciously winds up being seen as the “de facto voices” of the black experience, but these leaders, often to forget to explain, defend, and champion different black lifestyles which aren’t seen as the standard type of black culture. White liberals for example try to find what they consider to be intellectually and aesthetically “the blackest” person they can find to explain things, while not realizing the cultural complexities within black culture, and these assigned “black leaders” often have their own biases, gaps in understanding, etc., when it comes to black lifestyles which aren’t their own individually speaking.

Deep Dive into the University of Washington Huskies Football. Hope for the Future. Numbers, Business, Theories Strategies by Quinton Mitchell

1. Introduction

Washington has lost a third of its team, but I think there’s oddly…hope…? This me rambling, free flow thinking, note taking, etc.

One team I have followed is the Washington Huskies since I went to middle school, college, and then later settled down here as an adult in Washington State despite all my moves, my own military service, etc. I have seen them play Oregon when Oregon had Johnathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon, Arizona when they had Rob Gronkowski (Husky fans call this game the Immaculate Interception since UW won on an interception that deflected off another player’s foot), and then later Auburn when they played UW in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium. I would say that I have followed their recruiting (with some lags in recent years) probably since I was a sophomore in college around 2007 when I was attending a small college in Washington State. This was the era of Jake Locker and Keith Price under center.

The University of Washington Husky Football program (The Purple and Gold) is in a precarious position despite having a rich history.

Washington is a sort of one the public “Ivy” schools as far as academics, and UW and Michigan are just two of many teams that harken back nostalgia to the “gee golly jeepers” days of early twentieth century football notably from the Roaring 1920s to the end of World War II (i.e., when Army or Notre Dame mattered, Harvard vs. Yale mattered, or when postcards depicting trolly lines on the way to the Pasadena Rose Bowl in a still rural Los Angeles metro-area mattered, etc.). They could be considered a part of the Norman Rockwell nostalgic teams of college football.

However, (1) coach Kalen DeBoer is leaving for Alabama, which seems a little odd because he seemed so reserved as a coach with Washington as compared to the old-school, chew you out, Bear Bryant-esque style of Nick Saban within the deep-rooted football culture of the SEC. (2) Today, for the Huskies, one third of the team is gone. (3) Their AD Jen Cohen, who was on the CFP Selection Committee, left of USC and was replaced by Tulane’s AD Troy Dannen. (4) They’re going to a new conference, thus with the help of USC, UCLA, and Oregon are helping to severe decades of regional tradition, which to me reminds of what happened with the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers when they too joined the Big Ten after leaving the Big Twelve and were never the same since then. (6) Recruits and transfer prospects are changing their minds, etc.

Source: https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/10/07/university-of-washington-appoints-troy-dannen-as-director-of-athletics/

2. Bad Mojo in the 2024 CFB National Championship, Purple Reign and the Theory of Aesthetics

This is going to be a weird section.

It is sort like me pretending to be on a marketing team or something. Thinking outside the box about what are the “aesthetics” of UW.?

The superstitious and cynical/realist/realpolitik part of me, with the latter encompassing a very business, marketing, aesthetics, Las Vegas gambling spreads, TV rights, etc. – viewpoint, knew that UW was likely going to…lose.

What I call the “mojo” (throwback to Friday Night Lights and having been born and partially raised in the Southern U.S.A) was…off.

The Cinderella Stories were more so favoring Michigan with Jim Harbaugh needing to win as to not feel like a total failure in his coaching career (with him currently being partially embattled in alleged recruiting violations and a call-stealing scheme), and if his brother John Harbaugh can win the Super Bowl with AFC win-leader the Baltimore Ravens, this would be the first time in history that brothers have won the NCAA and NFL Championships in the same season.

JJ McCarthy, who seems like a good kid, is – from my “realist viewpoint” – being prepped to be some sort of Tom Brady like Irish American golden boy QB, because to be honest, and to be respectful, most Americans have Irish ancestry and Irish-ness has permeated the popular culture lexicon with the stereotype of being jovial and fun but tough, pious, hardworking, and honorable. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if the Patriots with their dismal QB situation brings on players such as JJ McCarthy from Michigan and to pay a nod to nostalgia for receivers Wes Walker, Danny Amendola, etc. such as potentially drafting Ladd McConkey from Georgia, etc. The McConkey selection may not happen, but it’s not too far off considering Ladd was injured at UGA, so other teams may overlook him and in perfect Patriot fashion where they seem to be good at getting “bargain buys”, a Ladd pick up may not be out of the ordinary.

All I am saying is that the NFL is in part a story, a movie, etc., and it seems teams such as the Patriots notably try to input players that resonate within their community for nostalgia purposes such as the city being define by Irish Americans, Jewish Americans (traditionally from around the Brookline area. Players like Julian Edelman. Boston has a deep-rooted Jewish community, e.g., Benjamin Netanyahu worked at Boston Consulting Group and attended MIT and owner). Italian Americans (the Patriots tried with Jimmy Garoppolo), African Americans (typically in RB, OL, and Defense positions, but the organization did try with Cam Newton and Jacoby Brissett at QB), and Anglo-Americans. You can even throw in a few the fact that Boston and Massachusetts/Rhode Island, etc., have a strong Portuguese, Cape Verdean, and Caribbean population.

Aesthetics and marketing matters to a degree. In the NFL we can stereotype the Seattle Seahawks, especially when they had Russell Wilson as being marketed as a type of backyard football, video game, Bill Gates and Paul Alen Microsoft tech money, grunge, neon signs, smoothe jazz, rainy, drizzling, coffee drinking but with a low-key wealthy and cultured vibe, with a few hard drinking Scandinavian fish eating sailors or every-day Raymond Carver blue collar workers. Thow in a little black soul or hip-hop culture spanning from all the way South to Lakewood, WA all the way to the Hill Top (crypt gang territory back in the 80s-90s) neighborhood in Tacoma and all the way up to the Rainer Valley and Central District up in Seattle, which permeates through all communities but notably the black, Asian, and the pacific Islander community.

Of course we have to remember the Native Americans where the Puget Sound area has many reservations and successful native American tribes.

For example, back to my JJ McCarthy “aesthetics theory” in relation to the Cinderella stories leading up to the UW vs Michigan game, I think back to the early 2000s when the Boston, as the stereotypical hub of everything Irish American, and by proxy…white American, you had the Boston Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox dominating but in the pop culture sphere you had Boondock Saints, The Departed, Mystic River, and even HBO’s Entourage produced by Boston native Mark Wahlberg. Boston pop culture and Boston sports helped produced the primordial ooze that gave us American Pie throwback frat-boy gamblers like David Portnoy of Barstool Sports.

Also, Blake Corum at RB was featured in pre–National Championship coverage detailing his backstory, etc.

As far as the Cinderella pre-game stories lines – which do a play a role in shifting public sentiment- I didn’t notice the same thing with the Huskies. It is almost as if the entire media was slightly hiding us from who Michael Penix really was as a loveable down-to-Earth player, despite the media obviously showcasing his insane throwing stats. But, being in the Puget Sound region, it did not seem as if the rest of the country really cared. Michigan, Harbaugh, McCarthy, fight songs like Victors, and the Big 10 just mattered more.

Winning is not only about game play but business, marketing, TV rights, etc., because that all equates to money and money separates good programs from elite programs. I can’t even imagine the levels of alumni engagement that schools such as Michigan and Ohio State have.

Washington is an elite academic institution but because of its location nestled in the far corner of the lower-48 states, as compared to the generally deep history of the Midwest and East Coast, its fanbase and alumni are known but not really on the insides of “institutional power”. How many alumni from the Big 10 as high paid government officials, sit on corporate boards, are high ranking military officials, etc.?

Sure, football is just a game but it’s also a billion-dollar industry.

University of Washington had a great PR campaign that still is in existence called Purple Reign, i.e., a spin on the school colors, the fact it rains so much, and the goal of UW wanting to be a major player in national CFB. It is a cool campaign that seems to touch on the coolness of Jimi Hendrix, the suave of the Artist Name as Prince, etc.

The Seattle area has had two major spikes in popularity in recent times.

The first was the mid-1980s through 1990s dominance of Microsoft based in Kirkland, Washington in the upper middle class suburbs northeast and true east of Lake Washington. This era coincided with the grunge movement of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, etc.

Secondly, there was the early twenty-teens era that was refined by Paul Allen’s influence where he bought the Seattle Seahawks in 1997 and during his tenure as owner, the Seahawks made the Super Bowl three times following NFC Championship victories (2005, 2013, 2014), and won Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014. Seattle by the late 90s had already established itself as a tech hipster hub but by the 2000s this was solidified. Music wise, Northwest indie was the rave with the Postal Service from Bremerton, WA, and Modest mouse for Issaquah. There were also Seattle hip hop groups such as Blue Scholars.

Yet, in the 2020s, Seattle is different. High prices have removed the traditional working-class neighborhoods. Drug abuse in the homeless population is rampant, especially in the wake of anti-cop brutality protests. Inflation is high. Culturally, there’s no big…spark making Seattle stand out on the music, fashion, or arts scene. Seattle is either transplants renting or hanger-ons who were lucky to inherit a house who walk with a level of coolness in that they can stake claim in the older days of the city. Also, lots of real estate was bought up by Chinese or foreign investors causing a housing crisis. In other words, Seattle is in a flux transition, but often from these tough times comes creativity, but I am still waiting to see what that is or looks like. But this is happening all over the country as cities are more and more expensive, younger people aren’t starting families because of student loan debt/housing shortages, stocks are super expensive, and the cost of living in high as businesses offload increases onto consumers.

3. The web of corporate media, money, broadcasting, etc.

Washington going to the Big Ten is more about money it seems, even though UW is a good academic school, arguably better than schools such as the University of Nebraska.

According to the Associated Press (2022) which was posted by CNBC, the Big Ten’s new $7 billion media rights deal will string the conference’s top football games across three major networks each week, creating an NFL-style television schedule on Saturdays. The Big Ten announced Thursday it has reached seven-year agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC to share the rights to the conference’s football and basketball games (Associated Press, 2022).

The deals go into effect in 2023, expire in 2030 and eventually will allow the conference’s soon-to-be 16 member universities to share more than $1 billion per year, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press (Associated Press, 2022).

UW going to the Big 10 means they will get a chuck of this pot of money and get a larger audience that spans both coast and hits major media markets such as New York, Chicago, and LA.

UW is also benefiting from its Adidas deal, even though culturally speaking Nike still retains dominance but we still associated Nike with basketball, etc.

Yet, UW making it to the national championship means they were the first Adidas sponsored team to making it to the National Championship. This means Adidas is very happy.

Source: The deal includes $5.275 million annually in cash, $5.58 million annually in product, and $1.1 million annually for marketing; https://www.si.com/fannation/sneakers/news/adidas-celebrates-washington-huskies-historic-win

Further, in 2015, UW entered into a $41 million over 10 years contract with Alaska Airlines, so the airline could call the playing field Alaska Airlines field. Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/uw-alaska-airlines-agree-to-naming-rights-deal-for-husky-stadium/

The below Excel depicts the largest advertisers on CFB. Source: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2021/12/03/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/Allstate.aspx

4. But let’s go deeper. Business genealogy.

Disney owns 21st Century Fox (not be confused with Fox Corporation), but also via Disney’s Entertainment division, they own ABC. ABC in the past procured ESPN, thus Disney is also the parent of this. Further, HULU was initially shared between 21st Century Fox, Disney (ABC ESPN), and Comcast NBC Universal (Peacock), but Disney now owns all majority shares via their 21st Century Fox acquisition and NBCUniversal selling their shares.  Yet, Fox Corporation (no longer owns 21st Century Fox) with the Big Ten jointly own Big 10 Network, but Big10 Network can be accessed via Hulu…owned by Disney. In other words, all roads in a way lead back to…Disney.

The Big 10 is essentially rubbing off on all major networks with the Disney (ABC/ESPN, 21st Century Fox. Hulu, Disney+) …. Fox Corporation (Fox Sports and the Big10 Network – where the Big 10 can still be access via Disney’s Hulu. Fox also ownsTubi Streaming…. NBCUniversal Comcast which includes Peacock, and Paramount Global, i.e., CBS Viacom (who own Paramount and CBS but has an agreement with Warner Brother’s Discovery which owns MAX, i.e., formerly HBO Max which as an apps holds rights to TNT, TBS, etc. Paramount Global also owns PlutoTV and FuboTV – with FuboTV’s share ownership still be undisclosed). Big 10 Network can likely be accessed via satellite companies such as ATT – DirectTV and Dish Network (owns Sling TV) as well.

Side Note: Fox is confusing. Old New Corporation was divided into “new” New Corp (more for publishing such as the New York Post, Wall Street Journal) and 21st Century Fox (more for entertainment and film – though not of the same name, 21st Century Fox was the de jure legal successor to old New Corp, i.e., its spiritual successor more focused on TV, film, etc.). Yet, when Disney bought 21st Century Fox (media like The Simpsons), the remaining assets were organized and listed as simple Fox Corporation. So, Fox “holdings” today is New Corp and Fox Corporation, stock symbols NasdaqFOXA NasdaqFOX (where Fox Corporation owns Fox Broadcasting i.e., TV shows, Fox Sports that includes Big 10 Network partially, Fox News, Tubi, etc.).

** Disclaimer: This is not investing advice and I hold no financial title or fiduciary responsibility.

5. Where are We? Wait, what just happened?

After going undefeated in the 2023 season and playing (but losing) in the 2024 College Football Playoff Championship, it feels like the Huskies left a lot on the field. The game was generally off all the way around. From weird punts giving Michigan decent field position, to Penix overthrowing on plays he’s made to beasts like Rome Odunze on a regular basis, to Penix overlooking receivers, to missed opportunities such as a painful drop by Will Nixon, to the offensive line with RT Rosengarten getting bullied, to UW penalties that were caught, and Michigan penalties that were not caught.

The game overall wasn’t the high flying, potential overtime thriller that many expected.

I knew going in that this was a battle of two different philosophies. UW with their Air Raid offense that lacks defense but can score quick if the QB is given time has no pressure versus UM with their more balanced run, grind, and hope to bust a long run philosophy mixed with aggressive defensive play, where McCarthy at QB was more of a dual threat game manager focused on minimizing personal mistakes, going down his reads, and if need be using his legs. UM also highlighted they had more depth such as Michigan substituting their QB and RB. If UW didn’t make those mistake, I think that UW’s kicking game would have been more of an X-Factor considering they have one of the best kickers, if not the best kicker in college football, with

They left a lot to be desired. I am an interesting college football fan because I was raised a miliary brat, so I grew up in many areas where I would follow the local college teams, but I also had my family teams or just teams that fascinated me because of their rich history despite, maybe, having fallen from grace in recent times.

6. Crisis Mode – Crunching Numbers and a future crash on offensive production.

Washington’s top three wide receivers have declared for the NFL with Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillian combined in total for 3,358 yards. If we add Senior Jack Westover who accounted for 433 yards, our new total is 3,791 yards.

The top three WRs accounted for 27 touchdowns and if we add Jack Westover (TE) the new total is 31 TDs.

Think about this, Michael Penix threw for 4,903 yards so his top three receivers who are now going to the NFL accounted for 68.48% of his total yards, and if we focus on his top four receivers that number increases to 77.32%.  

Michael Penix threw 36 TDs total. His top three receivers thus accounted for 75% of those TDs but his top four receivers in total accounted for 86% of those TDs.

So, Washington is losing their 4K+ yard passing “super senior” QB in Michael Penix, so thus losing anywhere between 77%-68% of what made up their passing production and losing 86%-75% of what made up their passing TD production. In other words, UW (U-dub) is a heavy passing offense who loses most of what made up their offense production. I didn’t count TDs considered to be rushing TDs by Receivers in these stats, so even more of UWs offense production is going away Polk, McMillian, Odunze, and even Westover accounting in total for another 4 total TDs.

Ironically, this over emphasis on pass production concentrated among seniors or NFL eligible receivers has left the Huskies with a Wide Receiver crisis, where younger receivers aren’t as proven or battle ready.

Further, on the running side of the ball, Dillon Johnson (Junior RB), their leading rusher with 1,195 yards on 233 carries and a whopping 16 TDs. Out of the top three RBs which includes Will Nixon (33 carries for 201 yards and 1 TDs) and Tybo Rogers (44 carries on 184 yards with 0 TDs). The top three in total accounted for 1,580 yards in which 1,195 was attributed to Dillion Johnson, so with Johnson declaring for the NFL, that’s 75.63 or roughly 76% of rushing production now gone. Dillion Johnson out of the top three accounted for 75.2% of the rushing production on carries. In summary Dillion Johnson leaving the Huskies is taking away around 75-76% of running offense production.  

This means that UW this season was operating in a “make it or break it” “the stars must align” season, where they put so much offensive production on seniors or NFL eligible players, that if UW didn’t win it all, which they didn’t, then they would have a massive drop in offense going into next seasons. We must remember that players like Penix, Polk, Dillon (three years at Mississippi State), etc., are transfers into the program, so some of their development was developed in part outside of the Husky system. Will Nixon in 2023 had 201 carries, being number two in that category. Dillon who as freshman back at Mississippi State had rushed 51 times for 225 yards, yet Nixon as a sophomore only touched the ball 33 times for 201 yards, yet, this means Nixon is capable of averaging 6.1 yards, which interestingly was average 1 yard more than Dillon. In other words, UW fed the ball so much to Dillon who is now leaving, when Nixon in theory should have seen more action. It’s all hearsay and in the rear-view window now, but if UW had employed a more balanced approach in its RB core rather than over-relying on Dillon, the Huskies would have had more opportunities to assess Nixon’s ability to carry the team and work out bad habits going forwards.

6b. Crisis Mode – There is no loyalty in business. New Coach.

So far as I write this, DeBoer heavily relied on players (who were seniors, super-seniors [seniors who had been redshirted earlier in their careers, i.e., 5 or 6 years or more on the team], COVID waivers and traditional transfers, and/or NFL eligible players across any category) without adequately grooming the next crop of younger players. [See: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/everything-you-need-to-know-about-redshirting-ncaa-s-rules-and-regulations-on-eligibility/ar-AA1iLODq]

Depth is what in part separates good from elite teams. A potential rocket-rise and a potential rocket fall.

But I don’t think Husky fans saw it this way because they were so excited to be winning the way they were that why would you question?

Based on DeBoer habit of resume-building, typically serving no more than two years in any position, it seems that DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb were sort of worrying more about their future job potential than the longevity of the Husky program overall.

However, this would not be the case if Washington naturally promotes Grubb to Head Coach so he can keep the culture that he and DeBoer built together. Yet, there is the issue of can Grubb as a personality attract the attention to garner a reputation as an “elite coach” or legendary coach.

However…Grubb may be joining DeBoer at Alabama.

DeBoer used the Huskies as a launch pad towards a more prestigious coaching job, and the OC was likely hoping to either replace DeBoer or get an opportunity somewhere else as a Head Coach of OC at a more elite team. It’s just the nature of the business of the game. It’s not about loyalty per se but climbing to the top and this is an important lesson that we can all take to heart in our careers. This is how people earn more than others, i.e., they take the higher paid positions when they open and see no long-term loyalty since organizations see no long-term loyalty to you.

As of breaking news on Sunday 1/14/2024, UW has hired Arizona’s coach Jeff Fisch

I am not sure how I feel about it.

My idea was to hire a well-connected coach with personality. Pete Carroll, he considers Seattle home now, still embedded with the Seahawks. His NFL ties would attract prospects. His son is OC, Brennan Carroll under Arizona HC Jeff Fisch. Pete could have been a sort of publicity filler role (who is also a great coach) to help fundraise, be a local media darling, inspire kids, and be a good connection for NIL players who want a direct plug for NFL scouts. Pete could also continue close ties between the Seahawks and Huskies organizations.

It’s a stretch but by doing this Pete would have been the first person to coach a Seattle NFL team and college team. Since he has one Super Bowl, in theory could compete for a National Championship which never has been done in my opinion as far as a head coach. Sure, this is unlikely considering the Husky’s current roster woes.

Pete Carroll is a part of the Seattle community and I think he wants to coach still. Even though is over 70 years of age, he could be a sort of nice filler coach to attract talent and raise up the new crop of assistant coaches who can then compete for the head coach. He was links to help players get scouted by the NFL. Seattle also has a habit of recruiting Huskies.

To me the two best scenarios would have been1) Have Pete Carroll be the filler role for no more than two years, use this for an aggressive marketing campaign, and bring over Brennan Carroll to be OC, thus prepping Brennan to take over as HC after Pete retires. This would give Pete the rare stat of having coached the Seahawks and Huskies. But mainly leave the Huskies coaching staff intact, or (2) Outright hire Brennan Carroll for HC instead of Jeff Fisch.

Brennan Carroll enters his third season with Arizona in 2023 after being hired as the Wildcats offensive coordinator and offensive line coach by head coach Jedd Fisch on January 1, 2021. Carroll joined the Wildcats from the Seattle Seahawks where he spent the previous six seasons as running game coordinator and offensive line coach following a decade in the college ranks at USC and Miami.

In his second season with Arizona in 2022, the Wildcats averaged 461.9 yards of total offense per game to finish 22nd nationally. Arizona passed for 318.4 yards per game, representing the 8th ranked passing attack nationally. The Wildcats development and growth on offense was historical as quarterback Jayden de Laura threw for 3,685 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2022, which ranked sixth and third respectively in program history for a season.

[Source: https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/brennan-carroll/5327]

6c – Crisis Mode – Big losses on Defense, the Linemen corps, and Tight Ends corps.

Defensively, UW is losing LB/Edge Bralen Trice who led the team with 7 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, and 1 Fumble Recovery to the NFL. Also, going away are Zion Tupuola-Fetui is a senior and likely going to the NFL with him as the number two leader in sacks with 3.5 sacks. Faatui Tuitele (FL) is retiring from football.

Further, leading CB Jabbar Muhammad (who spent three seasons at Oklahoma State) with 14 Pass Deflections and 3 Interceptions is going to the NFL.

Also, Junior Safety Mishael Powell, a local kid from O’Dea High School who turned down scholarships to Ivy League schools to be a walk-on red-shirt freshman a few seasons ago is transferring and he had 3 interceptions.

Cornerback Jaivion Green at 6-foot-2, 207-pound is leaving too.

Super Senior, Cornerback Dominque Hampton with 101 Total Tackles and 2 Interceptions is going to the NFL since he’s maxed out his eligibility.

Super Senior, Edefuan Ulofoshio whose name means “Unafraid of War” with 94 Total Tackes, 1 Interception, 2 Sacks, 1 Fumble Recovery, 3 Pass Deflections, and 1 Defense TD has maxed out his eligibility.

On the Offensive line, LT Troy Fautanu and RT Roger Rosengarten are going to the NFL.

6d – Crisis Mod – Bye Bye Walk ons and Starting TEs

Walk-ons Griffin Waiss and Austin Harnetiaux, a tight end and a linebacker are leaving (Dan Raley, Sports Illustrated, 2024).

Senior TEs Devin Culp and Jack Westover, the first from Spokane, WA and the other from Bellevue, WA are done, unless they can get one more year of eligibility in some sort of graduate status.

6e – Crisis Mode – Loss of a Starter, loss of two QB Transfers, loss of a QB Back up, etc.

As far as transfers, QB Will Rogers from Mississippi State University committed but is likely to re-enter the transfer portal. This is a big deal because with Penix now gone, the back up to Penix, Dylan Morris had announced that he was transferring to James Madison in the FCS (D1-AA). Also, according to Dan Raley (2024) the Huskies are also losing one-time San Diego State transfer and sophomore Will Haskell (back in the portal).

About Will Rogers, Raymond Lucas, Jr., of 247Sports (2024) stated “He threw for 8,713 yards and 71 touchdowns in Leach’s final two seasons at the helm. His numbers regressed under now-fired coach Zach Arnett this past season, throwing for 1,626 passing yards with 12 passing touchdowns and four interceptions in eight games. One of his top performances of the season came when he threw for a career-high 487 yards during a 37-30 loss to South Carolina Sept. 23.”

Dan Raley (2024) of Sports Illustrated stated, “The biggest concern is the quarterback position where the Huskies have just 17-year-old Austin Mack and Demaricus Davis, presumably 18, holding down the spot without any college game experience.” At the same time, Mack, an incoming freshman, provides hope for the Huskies’ future. Originally a 2024 recruit, Mack decided to reclassify and enroll early, demonstrating his enthusiasm to contribute to the team.

Mack went to the same school as Jake Browning at Folsom High School

The remaining quarterbacks on the roster include walk-ons Tyson Lang (Sophomore), Camdyn Stiegeler (Redshirt Freshman), Teddy Purcell (Sophomore), and Alex Johnson, a junior transfer (Karley Sibert, 2024). So if we add Demarcius Davis from Raley (2024), we now have Alex Johnson (JR), Tyson Lang (SO), Camdyn Stiegler (Redshirt FR), Teddy Purcell (SO), Demarcius Davis (FR), Alex Mack (Green Shirt, i.e., Early Enroll FR),

7. Some Good News

However, transfers DL BJ Green from Arizona State, WR Jeremiah Hunter from UC Berkley (Cal) seem to be still committed to Washington.

No. 1 center and second-team All-Pac-12 selection Parker Brailsford, offensive guards Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow, linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala and cornerback Elijah Jackson (Dan Raley, Sports Illustrated, 2024).

Junior CB, Elijah Jackson, who made the game winning pass-deflection on Adonai Mitchell in the Texas vs UW game, is likely to come back and he had 61 Total Tackles this season.

8. UW’s Historical Recruiting Woes and Accomplishments

I would say that the Huskies in my opinion on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars is a 3 star on average team. They always have NFL caliber players, but they are often the only ones carrying the team, it’s very cyclical in their on the team, etc. In other words, they’ll have one player on each side of the ball that is going pro but it’s not a deep roster of NFL talent. Many of the guys on the team will graduate and go onto live normal professional lives, etc. To an extent that is honorable. Football isn’t just what makes UW special.

UW traditionally has a strong basketball program with plenty of NBA draftees, many locally sourced from the Seattle Tacoma metro area. Seattle is a basketball town. Doug Christie, Jamal Crawford, Dejounte Murray, Kevin Porter, Jr., Nate Robinson, Terrance Williams, Marjon Beauchamp, Brandon Roy, Tari Eason, Will Conroy, Jaylen Nowell, etc. And this isn’t the entire list.

Washington does a decent job of retaining in-state top talent but also does lose some highly recruited kids often to Nike’s money/facilities at Oregon, the sunshine and glitz of Southern California, and even powerhouse schools such as Ohio State.

But Washington outside of the state often recruits well from the Inland Empire, LA Area catholic schools such as the Trinity League which features schools such as St. John Bosco, the South Bay region of LA, Sacramento, the San Francisco-Oakland East Bay Area, etc.

Also, Washington has done a decent job of recruit some kids from Texas, Louisiana, etc.

Washington is often a three star out of five star average team

For Washington to continue to do well in recruiting it has to A) keep in-state talent, period, B) focus on the top schools in adjacent states such Jesuit HS from Portland, Bishop Kelly HS from Boise, etc., C) Continuing to recruiting kids from the Pacific Islands D) utilizing the Transfer Portal and JUCO system E) Continuing to do work on the Strength-Conditioning Front F) Invest in Defense and Run Game

Since the 2000s onward…

Notable In State Talent: Jermaine Kearse (Lakes High School), Buddha Baker (Bellevue HS), Desmond and Marcus Trufant (Wilson HS), Cade Otton (Tumwater HS), Bishop Sankey (Gonzaga Prep), Austin Seferian Jenkins (Gig Harbor HS), Jake Locker (Ferndale HS), Myles Gaskin (O’Dea HS), Kaleb Mcgary (Fife HS), Danny Shelton (Auburn HS), Kasen Williams (Skyline), Austin Sefarian Jenkins (Gig Harbor HS), Drew Sample (Newport HS)

Notable In State Loses: Johnathan Stewart (Lacey, WA but went to Oregon), Myles Jack (Bellevue, WA but went to UCLA), Zac Banner (Tumwater WA but went to USC), DeAndre Coleman (Garfield HS), Leon Jackson (Pasco HS but went to Nebraska/Hawaii), Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State), Tre’Shaun Harrison (Garfield HS), etc.

Currently, On the recruiting side, In-state talent and Five Star recruit LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale from Bethel High School in Bethel, WA has de-committed from University of Washington.

Yet, Washington’s future doesn’t seem entirely dead. It will be very difficult to rebuild but these are who the Huskies signed before this recent season. You can exclude Jabbar Muhammad. See: https://gohuskies.com/news/2022/12/21/uw-announces-25-new-signees-for-2023-football-team.aspx

9. Sources

Scott Eklund (published 12 January 2024) Husky DB Mishael Powell Enters The Transfer Portal. 247Sports.com. Source: https://247sports.com/college/washington/article/washington-huskies-football-husky-db-mishael-powell-enters-the-transfer-portal-225239421/. (Date Accessed: 13 January 2024)

Dan Raley (published 9 January 2024) UW Season Didn’t End Well, But Ulofoshio’s Career Was Big Success. MSN via Sports Illustrated. Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/uw-season-didnt-end-well-but-ulofoshios-career-was-big-success/ar-AA1mHDpS (Date Accessed: 13 January 2024)

Dan Raley (10 January 2024) Huskies’ Jaivion Green Enters Portal After Playing in His Hometown. Sports Illustrated. Source: https://www.si.com/college/washington/football/huskies-jaivion-green-enters-portal-after-playing-in-his-hometown

Dan Raley (12 January 2024) Washington Huskies Have Lost Third of Football Roster in Month. Source: https://www.si.com/college/washington/football/huskies-have-lost-third-of-football-roster-in-month

Raymond Lucas Jr., (published January 2024). QB Will Rogers enters transfer portal: Intriguing landings spots for Washington enrollee. 247Sports.com. Source: https://247sports.com/college/washington/longformarticle/qb-will-rogers-enters-transfer-portal-intriguing-landings-spots-for-washington-enrollee-225317336/#2346815 (Date Accessed: 13 January 2024)

Max Vrooman (10 January 2024). Faatui Tuitele Announces Retirement from Football. UWDogPound.com. Source: https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2024/1/10/24034002/faatui-tuitele-announces-medical-retirement-uw-washington-huskies-football (Date Accessed: 13 January 2024)

Associated Press (18 August 2022) Big Ten lands $7 billion, NFL-style TV contracts. CNBC. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/big-ten-lands-7-billion-nfl-style-tv-contracts.html (Date Accessed: 13 January 2024)

10. About Author:

Other teams besides the University of Washington Huskies I follow either due to family, having been a military brat or just general love of college football tradition are the University of Georgia Bulldogs (though the Dawgs are an elite program so it’s fun to root for teams who need help, i.e., the Dawgs with always be great but I never really felt like I fit into the “Southern” fanbase, so I’d say they’re my 3rd favorite team). University of Kansas Jayhawks (my mother was an alumnus and I only care about Kansas BB but I do follow their football, so I’d say really, it’s a time between UW and KU for my favorite teams).

University of Miami Hurricanes (my mother is from Miami). Florida State University Seminoles (my father grew up not far from Tallahassee). University of Central Florida Golden Knights (my mother worked in the student health clinic for some time). Kansas State University Wildcats (before my mother was accepted to the University of Kansas Nursing School, she and my father took undergraduate classes at Kansas State University. Manhattan, Kansas is not too far from Lawrence, Kansas, and both not far from Kansas City, KS/MO). For HBCUs I would say Florida A&M (had two cousins who went there), Bethune Cookman (had one cousin who went there), and Grambling State University was my paternal grandmother’s favorite team. Other teams I like because of tradition or being a kid playing NCAA Football by EA Sports are the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers as my favorite Great Lakes region team (since they had one of the best college running back duos with Marion “The Barbarian” Barber and Laurence Maroney) and Boston College Eagles (my favorite Catholic football program). I do also like the Montana Grizzlies for an FCS Team.