Pratical Politics

In the midst of all the political drama swirling around us all, there are still many other cliff-hanger situations going on. This is either the most exciting time in modern American history—absent the covid scare—or surely at least a time certain to be memorialized in thousands of historical essays.
Part of this historical period is surely the coming of Mr. Deion Sanders to the big-time football coaching ranks, swagger, huge personality and his abrupt take-it-or-leave-it personality and all. With many and varied doubters, “Prime Time” was hired as the full-time college football coach at the University of Colorado in Boulder-Denver in 2022.
He came in loud, rough and feisty, willing to mix it up with all the inevitable doubters of his ability to captain the ship at this new, very high level, after having only a limited but highly successful career as a football coach in the Black collegiate league, the SWAC. There, he had indeed come in like a wrecking ball and had helped rescue Black collegiate football from the doldrums and the ill repute that had become ingrained in that brand. As coach of the Jackson State University football team, he helped to bring real respect back to the very idea of Black collegiate football programs in the U.S.
Being hired into the major college football program of the University of Colorado a few years later was looked upon by many commentators as either one of the dumbest ideas in the field, or as a brilliant chess move to breathe life into a football program that was dead and headed for the ancestral grave. Colorado’s football program was hapless.
In came Prime, and his in-your-face , urbane personality clashed repeatedly with the staid population of the University of Colorado family (not otherwise known to be racially progressive or aspiring to be). He seemed especially egregious and a major problem when he quickly rushed in and essentially fired the football team that was then wearing the school colors—telling the gathered lads that they should all test out the college transfer portal system that would allow them to transfer quickly to football programs at other colleges and universities. In effect, he reamed out the program as it then existed, bringing in his own sons and other new recruits to represent the Colorado Buffaloes on the field (two of whom are now on the list of possible Emmy awards this season) .
The hit pop song, “I Came in Like a Wrecking Ball,” fit Prime’s new situation. That the criticism of his choices was thunderous, nasty and even a bit racist, goes without saying. But somehow, someway, he crafted and coached a new team for 2023 that (for the first time in a very long time) beat two major archrivals of the university on the field and that finished the season 4-8 (the previous season, before Prime, the team had won only one game). It wasn’t vindication of Prime’s presence, style and competency—but it did signal real promise for next season and the future of the school’s team. After Prime’s first season as head coach,the Colorado Buffaloes were no longer the Big 12 conference doormats and reigning conference joke.
Well, next season is upon us, and Prime’s team is currently at 6-2, having beaten some very good football teams, and is looking like it could become bowl-eligible with one more victory. It is now, amazingly, a ranked team in the college standings. There are still at least 4 or 5 more games left in the regular schedule, so there is no final assessment that can be made yet. But a loud-mouthed, in-your-face, big-time personality like Prime has shown so far that he is much more than merely a mouth.
Most of us have grown up with at least one individual in classes or our neighborhood who was so mouthy and irritating that we just wanted to shut him (or her) up with our fist in his mouth as he kept taunting us at the same time he kept beating us at sports, cards, whatever. In politics and in life, such individuals still help to make our days.
Well, Prime and his college team now seem on the verge of possible greatness, and it has come quickly, vindicating those administrators who took a real risk in bringing PrimeTime Deion Sanders in and giving him the keys to the college’s future football prominence. No, the story is not yet written—the team could collapse miserably in the next two weeks—but, we wouldn’t bet on that.
Prime needs to make it big—we all need to see another Black John Henry character in our midst. As much as very many of us want Kamala Haris to become the next POTUS, Black culture needs Prime Time Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes football team to play in a post-season bowl this year, too.
Our culture and our sense-of-pride in ourselves need a real boost this year, and both Mrs. Harris and Mr. Sanders are part of those vibrant possibilities.
2024 can be a prime year yet !!!
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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