Carol City Football was Everything: The Dynasty that Never Happened

By:Jimbo Brown 

It's the 1st day of summer practice at Miami Carol City High School and your a freshman trying to find your way on a talented JV roster. The year is 2005 and I was that freshman in high school who didn't know nothing about Carol City football besides they won state a few years earlier. If it wasn't for my mom I would have been at Miami Northwestern. Schools outside of Carol City was the landing spots for most of its talent from 2005-2012. Due to the old school mentality of legendary coach Walt Frazier and the dictatorship of his predecessor Harold Barnswell,  the football program at CC hasn't returned back to their once elite status. 

From the class of 2009 and up Carol City has seen talent come in and out of the school and having success in other programs. NFL stars such as Kayvon Webster and Stedman Bailey both were freshmans with me. Webster who later became a dual threat for Pace was tricked into helping the team by being stuck in a position he didn't want to play. This lead to him transferring to neighborhood rival Miami Norland. Norland that year and helping them end our 6-year streak of undefeated seasons. Stedman on the other stayed at CC until the end of his incredible sophomore year. He left to join Geno Smith at Miramar High School, a school that inherited a lot of the talent from Carol City. The youth had a bad stigma about CC that made them run away and find homes elsewhere.

If I told you guys that we had Teddy Bridgewater for a hot minute, would y'all believe me? Yeah he was practicing but because of an executive decision from moms he headed to Northwestern where he became arguably the greatest quarterback in their history. That happened a lot with the talent at Carol City. Either the off-season workout was too much for them, the philosophy was to demanding or other schools was a better destination. A big part of the problem was that Carol City wasn't putting their players in college. Even the talented ones who stayed was looked over because the coaches didn't do their jobs. 

For the pass decade Carol City football program has been in the middle of the pack. How potent of an offense we would have had with Teddy at QB with Sted and Allen at receiver. Or think about how many shutouts we would have had with Kayvon and Robert Sands on our defense. Class of 2009 had the best chance to make some noise but was oust from the playoffs by one of the luckiest catches in football history. Carol City is heading back in the right direction. With the help of the flakey business with Miramar head coach. Talent will be returning back to its home and hopefully we can get back to a national powerhouse. Chief Pride! 

One Night in Magic City

By: Jimbo Brown

About a week ago “A week ago”, Ray Rice was living good. He believed everything that happened in the Atlantic City casino elevator was in the past. As the saying goes “What happens in the dark, must come to the light,” is exactly what happen when the video from inside the elevator was released Monday by TMZ.

There are several issues that I feel need to be addressed that stems from this situation. The first issue is domestic violence, how the NFL glosses over it and the severity of Ray Rice new punishment. 

Domestic Violence is something that is present in all cultures and walks of life. Even though the man is most likely to be punished for the crime, the women can become the attacker too. A man or woman shouldn’t engage in any physical altercation, whether they are married, boyfriend/girlfriend or just friends. In the case of Ray and Janay Rice, it could be said that Janay provoked him to deliver the knock out blow. In his press conference, Ray stated that wasn’t the way he was raised, meaning he knew better and could have been the bigger person. His actions are still looked down upon. 

Ray Rice was suspended for a mere 2 games before the new video was released. This means Rice would have attended practice this coming Friday. This suspension was criticize by many professionals. It felt odd seeing him get much less time then a Josh Gordon. The NFL doesn’t care about Domestic Violence when 2 other players suited up Sunday with pending domestic violence cases: Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy. The indefinite suspension and release of Ray Rice was strictly a PR move.

The NFL was put in a predicament Monday when the footage was released. Already being criticize for sweeping this issue under the rug, I believe the media and society forced the NFL to deliver an even harsh penalty to make up for the backlash. Ray Rice is suspended indefinitely and was released by the Baltimore Ravens for a issue that he received rehab for. Ray and Janay had already moved forward with their lives. Janay expressed her feelings in a Instagram post Tuesday morning. 

Ray Rice actions were inexcusable that night in the elevator and it still is. Its not cool to punish someone two times for one mistake, especially when the person is remorseful and has taken the necessary steps to move forward. It’s not his fault the NFL didn’t get it right the 1st time. I hope that Ray and Janay Rice keep fighting for him to get back on the field sooner then later.