5 Replies to “#Blexit”

  2. You may want to keep off topic posts for Reader Tips. I’ll be deleting these if it happens again.

  3. I can only watch 1/2 of this, but liked the moment at 24-25 minutes where he speaks of getting the phone call to come into the police for an interview after he’d had an argument with his wife… thinking, hey that argument wasn’t that big a deal!

  4. What THE HOLY HELL!? He was smoking blunts at … 8-years OLD!!! And his dad’s a firefighter, now chief!! Sorry. But THAT is one fudged-up “culture”.

    Next, the dopers will come on and tell me how “medicinal” ganja is …for 2nd graders …

  5. Ha! I got to the part where his white police partner said he was the “black whisperer”. … that he could reach the angry black folk they encountered. Too funny. And absolutely true, I imagine.

    I’m gonna do something shocking here. I’m gonna compare my own life to Tatum’s. Yeah, yeah I know, I’m white, so I can’t possibly compare myself to his life. Well, yes and no. Some things in life, transcend race and culture. I have shared (probably too much) about my shitty childhood. Divorce, alcoholic father, abandoned by my mother (legally rescinded all parental rights … in court), growing up with (literally) no food in the house – my father drank the grocery money. By the time I reached HS, I was a pretty angry young man. I would fight anyone for looking at me the wrong way. And football was my life (despite me having no speed, no height, and no mass). But football gave my life desperately needed structure.

    While in HS, I was invited by a football buddy to attend a HS-based Youth Group called Young Life. In fact, I recall EXACTLY how Dave V. “invited” me. He said that he’d “open the gates” on me in tomorrow’s football practice, if I didn’t go … meaning he’d tell the whole team to take cheap shots at me in practice. I went. And it changed my life. First, there were lots of cute girls there (which kept me going), and the adult leader of the group became a very close friend. A friend who mentored me, and on whose Rugby team I ended up playing-for. And with whom I’ve drank more beer than humanly possible. Somewhere along the line, I invited Christ into my life, and began going to an intense bible study hosted in the home of an ex-Oakland Raiders football player. My entire life changed.

    Just as Tatum described a 180 in his life, so too was mine instantly changed for the better. I became friends with REAL people. Loved where Tatum said there are only two kinds of people in the world: Real, and Fake. I experienced some very, very, painful lessons about FAKE people … most shockingly, from my own head football coach. But he was offset by dozens of REAL friends, mentors, and advisors who GAVE to me in ways I could have never imagined. I had grown up soured on humanity in general, only to discover the Goodness in so many people. I know, many of you will say that the Christians you know are FAKE and pious and whatnot. That’s truly unfortunate if that’s been your experience (trust me, I’ve met those types too … including the woman who did her level best to “welcome” me to her church by pressuring my wife and I to become one of her AMWAY salespeople … unreal).

    But, without a doubt, God changed my heart and changed my life … just EXACTLY as Tatum described. I wasn’t a poor black kid growing up in a HS where it was considered “white” to respect women, and “white” to study hard and get good grades. Nope. I went to a HS, where 97% of its graduates go to college. I grew up hungry and poor, right in the middle of a supremely wealthy suburban enclave of white people. But there’s ONE thing that Tatum and I share in common – God/Christ changed our lives irrevocably for the better. God transformed me as a human being. Literally MADE me into the man He knew was lurking inside that bitter shell of disappointment and resentment.

    I’m sorry. I’m not really a proselytizer by nature. I’m more of a beer-drinker. But hearing Tatum’s story, and seeing/hearing what an incredible human being he is , just touched me. And reminded me of my own journey, and how my life was put on such a solid track by listening-to and learning-from the Word of God. I recall my best friend (our football team qb, and rabid Joe Namath fan) telling me on HS graduation day … how I’d changed. He said that he literally didn’t believe people could CHANGE like I had. From my Sophomore year to my Senior year, Chuck said that I wasn’t even the same person. He said he actually “liked” me now … ha! Typical best friend thing to say.

    Here’s an irony … I would effing LOVE to have a beer with Brandon Tatum. Barrack Obama? Not so much. At all. Ever. Even though Obama claims he’s a Christian. What’s that thing Tatum said about REAL and FAKE people?

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