Dexter's Vantage Point!

Are you ready for some football?! I think this Super Bowl will be very exciting and intriguing. It should be a great game and I’m looking forward to Sunday to see it all unfold. I hope it lives up to the hype. To play championship football a team must play solid defense, run the football effectively, and avoid turnovers. If you look at all Super Bowls played up to this point the teams that did the latter hoisted the trophy. The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers are ready to do battle. I’ll chronicle what I believe each team must do to win before I’ll let you know who I think the winner will be. The Pittsburgh Steelers: Everyone knows the strength of the Mike Tomlin led Steelers is their defense. They are giving up just 14 points per game entering Super Bowl Sunday. They have Troy Polamalu and James Harrison anchoring the defense. To win the defense must force Kurt Warner out of the pocket in hopes of disrupting his rhythm. This will be best accomplished by blitzing Warner, ...

Some critics believe President Obama’s inauguration speech was somber and simplistic. Is there some credence to this? Obama’s speech on race in Philadelphia was filled with substance. His acceptance speech in Denver was on point and the one he gave in Chicago after beating John McCain was short and effective. Obama’s inauguration speech was average at best when one considers the gravity of the occasion. I was prepared for a riveting speech that never came. The President merely restated most of his rhetoric from his campaign: he left out items that should’ve been addressed while he had the world in its collective seat. I think his speech should’ve gone something like this: “For centuries people who look like were largely excluded from pursuing the American dream. Not anymore. Only in America could my dreams manifest. As look out at all you beautiful people here today I’m blessed. Nothing worthy of lasting accomplishment can be done alone. As I stand before you as your President of the U...

Jan 20. Barack Obama was sworn in as Americas 44th President of the United States in front nearly 3 million people in Washington D.C. Jan 21st Obama began the monumental task of restoring America while simultaneously embracing history in becoming the first African American ever sworn in as President. I was blessed to be in attendance. I had a great view to watch history unfold while fighting the bitter cold for six hours. This event was so vast it temporarily paralyzed my ability to write: the experience filled my brain with a litany of thoughts. I just kept thinking how could I give this historic moment it’s just due? I hope I can pull it off. My journey to witness history began at 6:15 a.m. As I encountered hundreds of thousands of people during my journey I kept muttering to myself, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” In preparing this commentary I suddenly arrived at a conclusion: I’ve never seen anything like this before because there hasn’t been anything like this before...

Monday Tony Dungy confirmed the speculation that he’s retiring from coaching. After seven years as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts Dungy has decided to he’s had enough. Dungy, who lead the Colts to the Super Bowl title in 2006, will leave coaching to pursue other interests which include spending more time with his family and engaging in endeavors that will hopefully make a difference in the mainstream. Dungy is noted for being the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl. He marched his team past the Chicago Bears in 2006 who was coached by Lovie Smith: it represented the first time two African American head coaches squared off in sports biggest spectacle. Dungy has built a winner in Indianapolis. He has set a standard of excellence few coaches can lay claim to today. Dungy will walk away only to hand his head set over the very capable Jim Caldwell. It’s the first time an African American coach has built an organization in the N.F.L. while anointing another African America...

Roland Burris arrived in Washington D.C. to take his Congressional seat amongst his peers only to be denied entry. The successor to President-Elect Barack Obama’s vacant seat, Burris was met with resistance and told no go. Burris stated he was told by Congress his paperwork wasn’t in order. Burris said the, "credentials are not in order and will not be accepted." Yeah right. To me Congress didn't have the right to block Burris from doing something he's been legally appointed to do. Congress simply created away to not seat Burris. Also, Illinois Secretary of State Bill White is partly to blame for the latter. White has refused to sign off on Blagojevich’s selection of Burris and has made his feelings known publicly that he thinks Blagojevic should step down. As many know Blagojevich has been accused of attempting to sell Obama’s seat in Congress to the highest bidder. To date they are mere allegations. Blagojevich hasn't been indicted or charged with a crime yet he...

Out with the old and in with the new. The year 2008 is gone with the wind and 2009 is here. Thank goodness. 2008 represented a year of economic turmoil, political history, athletic persistence, and change. From an economic standpoint America is in shambles. Government spending is up, consumer spending is down, foreclosures are rampant, yet big businesses continue to get bailed out with taxpayer money. Bill Clinton planted some of the seeds for this current turmoil but it thrived under the incompetence of the Bush's administration. We’ve suffered a lot on Bush’s watch. Now he’s free to walk off into the sunset without being held accountable for anything. Hypocrisy at it’s finest. Barack Obama securing the Democratic Nomination and being voted as the America’s first African American President is at the top of my list. Obama’s presence on the political front has encouraged people to dream and embrace change. Obama dealt with the media effectively. He pulled the plug on race and opened...