Politics as Usual
“Down to Maryland…all the way over there at Morgan State…” RZA – Ain’t Nothin’ Ta F— Wit
I love sports, because like our lives…anything can happen without a moment’s notice. On Wednesday, January 7th, the Morgan State University Bears, traveled south on the beltway to College Park, MD to play against the University of Maryland. What would eventually happen is something that brings joy, and pain.
unBEARable
During the days of racial tension and Jim Crow laws, black people in this country worked together to provide services, and opportunities for one another. For example, there were black business (hotels, laundry mats, newspapers, restaurants, mom & pop stores, etc.) that thrived in this country because of segregation…as this relates to institutions of higher learning and intercollegiate sports, they also enjoyed the success of high enrollment, and winning programs.
Once the integration doctrine was accepted, things changed within the black communities, as there was no longer a specific need to support one another…because a new integrated world had opened up. Traditionally Historically Black Colleges and Universities had the best of the best athletic programs…with Coach Gaines, and Earl Monroe at Winston-Salem State, Coach John McLendon at North Carolina College for Negroes, Coach Ben Jobe, Avery Johnson, and Bobby Phills at Southern University, and John Chaney at Bethune Cookman University, to name a few. Nowadays playing for an HBCU is second to the likes of the University of Florida, Duke University, and the University of Kentucky…so when the Morgan State Bears “upset” the Maryland Terps 66-65, it became BIG news.
I was watching ESPN as always on Wednesday night, when I saw the highlights from the game. I didn’t know what to think. Should I be happy because the Bears are getting some national recognition, or should I be upset because they don’t get enough attention?
As of this morning, I still haven’t decided, so I wrote this rather spirited piece. Last season MSU, under coach Todd Bozeman, won 22 games, good for 2nd best in the school’s history, if you didn’t already know that fact. I say that to say…MSU has a good men’s basketball program.
Last but not least, I went to Temple University…passing on Howard University…which makes me stop and think…was I apart of the problem that I’m writing about now…or did I stay home in Philadelphia because it was best for my family? The answer is…I wanted to attend UCLA because of the prominent black athletes that received their education there in the past…from Jackie Robinson, and Arthur Ashe, to Lew Alcindor, Flo Jo, Reggie Miller, and Pooh Richardson, so between that, and I really didn’t have a choice other than Temple and Howard. As the University of Maryland can attest…things don’t always go accordingly to plan, and that’s why the games are played.
Congrats to the Morgan State University Bears, all the best this season.
Photo: Carol Smith
Having gone to Morgan, it’s been wild reading the blogs in B-More from the day after up to now. People looked at the front of the jerseys and called this an upset, but upon further inspection, was it really? Here we had the University of Maryland, former NCAA champions, but have played in the NIT three of the past five seasons. On the other hand, you have Mogan State University, two seasons removed fron a 4-23 record, now defending regulaer season MEAC champions, also went to the NIT last season. Morgan won because they never quit when the Terps made their 6-0 and 8-0 runs. They kept grinding until Reggie Holmes took over down the stretch, hitting the game winning three-pointer. Todd Bozeman has taken the Bears to levels not seen since the days of Nat Frazier. If he stays at Morgan, he could be king of Baltimore. If he went to College Park, he could revive the Terps, who could use a spark.
Thanks for checking in on this story with some insight. I was hoping some Morgan alumni would read this, and add their take on things. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and yes I agree Todd Bozeman is a great coach, and he will become legendary once MSU makes some noise during March Madness.
Great column, AXG. I wasn’t aware of this “so-called” upset but as an alumnus of an HBCU and MEAC school, FAMU, I always like to hear about the schools getting some shine.
Nice piece AXG. This was a very good read.