el Tigre Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I know alot of you guys might disagree with me on this but hear me out. Lynch grew up in a real rough environment,the projects in Oakland,from what I've read. When you grow up around that it's almost impossible to quickly separate yourself from it. I was raised in a somewhat similar situation here in South Stockton. Not as rough as Marshawns upbringing in Oakland but somewhat similar. When everyone around you is doing drugs,stealing and getting involved in other illegal activities it warps your perception of what's acceptable behavior. Even if your own home and family is straight and moral it's still tough to live up to the behavioral expectations of those not from a similar environment. Of the guys I hung with in my high school days only a few of us went on to lead productive,"normal" lives. The rest are dead or have been in and out of prison and generally have crappy lives. It takes years to slowly separate yourself from that life,and Marshawns only 22. My feeling on Lynch is that he is basically a good kid who's going thru that process under a microscope. I'm not saying that every thing he's doing is right,only that I think I understand it and I'm rooting for him. I hope that he can find that separation quickly enough that he doesn't ruin his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endzone Animal Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Marshawn is the victim of a society that judges rather than empathizes...same goes for the poor moslem who beheaded his wife. Sure people make a mistake or two, but don't we all make mistakes? Look, we have to realize that people grow up differently, with different kinds of friends, different economic situations and different types of cultures. Why must we be so hard on people for simply being human? We should stop being so critical of others who aren't perfect and learn how to support people who are vulnerable to making unfortunate choices. We should take this unwelcome situation and turn it onto an opportunity to learn about making the world a better place. Compassion stops crime, not an unforgiving public that enjoys tearing people down. It's time for us to all unite in support of Marshawn, and any others who find themselves making imperfect decisions, until the entire world realizes that we all can make humanity better one hug, one pat on the back, one tussle of the hair, and one smile at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poland Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I really don't worry about what he does. I think the best thing the Bills can do for the team is to just trade him, let him seperate himself from his past (not that I buy into that bleeding heart excuse ) playing for some other team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poland Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Marshawn is the victim of a society that judges rather than empathizes...same goes for the poor moslem who beheaded his wife. Sure people make a mistake or two, but don't we all make mistakes? Look, we have to realize that people grow up differently, with different kinds of friends, different economic situations and different types of cultures. Why must we be so hard on people for simply being human? We should stop being so critical of others who aren't perfect and learn how to support people who are vulnerable to making unfortunate choices. We should take this unwelcome situation and turn it onto an opportunity to learn about making the world a better place. Compassion stops crime, not an unforgiving public that enjoys tearing people down. It's time for us to all unite in support of Marshawn, and any others who find themselves making imperfect decisions, until the entire world realizes that we all can make humanity better one hug, one pat on the back, one tussle of the hair, and one smile at a time. The liberals tried all that pollyanna crap in the 70's with convicts. It backfired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 How many Lynch threads do we need? This one makes 8 just on the first page right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordByrd Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 You can take the boy outta the hood, but you can't take the hood outta the boy. I still don't care if Marshawn is carrying around guns and hitting people with his SUV, he's one of the few beasts we have. I know a guy like Keith Ellison isn't carrying any guns, but he blows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantstopbeastmode Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I really don't worry about what he does.I think the best thing the Bills can do for the team is to just trade him, let him seperate himself from his past (not that I buy into that bleeding heart excuse ) playing for some other team. We would lose even more than we already do, bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I happened to grow up in Amherst, New York. I didn't particularly like the place but I did have a nice home and family, decent schools, and a generally benign environment that gave me lots of advantages in life. I had lots of playgrounds, skating rinks, libraries, etc. Part of the advantage of living on a former swamp is that there were lots of opportunities to have tree forts and there were lots of bike trails through the woods so that part was great. I'm nearly 50 years old so I've seen a few things although I don't claim to be particularly wise or insightful. Regardless, here's my observations as far as how and why people judge others: There are many people who judge (and I mean criticize) others more harshly than they judge themselves. They hold others to a higher standard than they hold themselves. I think this partly stems from the inability for people to be empathetic and to imagine themselves in the circumstances of others and to appreciate how fortunate they themselves are. I'm not particularly religious but I ask myself all the time why it is (and should definitely thank God) that my soul was born to the parents that I have and not to some parents in a much worse circumstance. People too often assume that the reason others fail or stumble in life is due to some weakness of character. To me, when I hear some of the stories that we hear as sports fans about where some of these guys came from (bad neighborhoods, broken families, constant context of drugs, violence, bad schools, etc) it's amazing to me how many of them actually achieve any level of success in their lives at all. I am a very average person who enjoyed the benefits of good fortune in my childhood. I can't imagine how I would have turned out if I grew up in Marshawn's neighborhood or James Hardy's neighborhood. In rebuttal to what I'm saying you get the judgmental people saying "well, so and so grew up in a bad situation and he turned out alright." And they're missing the point. So and so is the exception, not the norm. So and so is the person we all wish we could be. So and so overcame great adversity and succeeded because so and so is 1 in 100 (or in 1000) people. So you have people who are not capable of or willing to imagine themselves in the shoes of others. Then you have people who are not necessarily being honest about how they would fare if their situations were reversed with that person they feel worthy of judging. And finally I think sometimes people have to judge (criticize) others to make themselves feel better about themselves. It reminds me of in high school how the kids from some neighborhoods used to mock the kids from North Amherst, calling them "farmers." It would be great if people tried understanding others instead of judging them. It would also be great if people would hold themselves to higher standards than they hold others instead of the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 How many Lynch threads do we need? This one makes 8 just on the first page right now... True. I posted on this one because it seems less like another brainless football argument and more of a philosophical discussion. Agreed though. We need to move to another subject. Thank God the combine and free agency are almost here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 [This is an automated response] This subject matter is being currently being discussed or has already been discussed in a previous thread. Please consider using the "search" function before starting new topics. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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