Capel tells players to take election seriously
Capel tells players to take election seriously
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83
By Scott Wright
Published: July 4, 2008
NORMAN — Ray Willis just happened to be sitting in the office of Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel when Willis' mother called from Atlanta.
She was calling to find out what address to send her son's absentee ballot to. She wanted to make sure Ray — an incoming freshman on the OU basketball team — had an opportunity to vote in this fall's presidential election. So with Ray sitting across from him, Capel took the opportunity to talk about a passion that runs deep for Capel — a black man's opportunity to vote, especially now. "Young people now, they don't understand the importance of voting — being a black man and being able to vote,” Capel said. "There are people who fought and died so we would have that right. And here we are in 2008 and we have a black man in Barack Obama who maybe has a chance to be president.” Capel, 33, wasn't alive during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, but he feels like he was. His grandfather, Felton Capel, was at the heart of the movement in his hometown of Southern Pines, N.C. So now, when he gets a chance to share those thoughts and feelings with the young black men he coaches, he takes advantage of it. "During one of the presidential debates, he sent us a text about Obama, telling us how much the world has changed,” said junior guard Tony Crocker. "He tells us about how important it is to vote, because our grandparents and great-grandparents didn't even have a chance to. Now we have that chance, and coach tells us how important it is to use that, no matter who you vote for.” Capel isn't one to try to impart his political views on anyone else, but he exudes a great amount of pride in seeing a black man so close to the presidency. "This race takes on a different excitement for me because of the possibilities, not just because a black man could become president, but because it's important for our country,” Capel said. "Look where we are. Look at gas prices. I don't want to get too heavy with all this, but it's a really important time for our country and it's important that people really pay attention and pick who they feel is the best candidate.”
Related Topics:
Basketball, Sports, Politics, U.S. Politics, College Basketball, College Athletics, Elections and Voting, U.S. Presidential Election

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Have yOU ever heard of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Jim? That's supposed to be OUr defense against hijacked planes and things of that nature. They intercept planes flyin off cOUrse more than 10 min with no response from the cockpit. Prior to the morning of 9-11 NORAD had successfully intercepted 70+ planes withOUt incident flyin off cOUrse in less than 15 min since the program began. yOU know who was in charge of runnin NORAD on the morning of 9-11, Jim? Dick Cheney. How is it that many hijacked planes were allowed to fly arOUnd the cOUntry, some for over an hOUr with no air force fighters liftin a finger til it was too late?
The twin towers (and building 7) were destroyed by controlled demolitions. Listen to the engineers that built the twin towers Jim. They said that the buildings were designed to withstand multiple hits from a 707 (which were the biggest commercials planes in existence when the towers were finished in 1973). No plane ever hit building 7, so how did it buckle and fall like the other 2 towers Jim? Listen to first hand eye witness accOUnts (cops, fire fighters, civilians and even Fox News reporters) speak of explosions in the basement of the towers, prior to the buildings falling. Look @ the video yOUrself and yOU will see the detonations as the buildings were falling, Jim. No wonder bush and cheney refused to testify under oath before the 9-11 Commission (which took a year and half before they even formed it), Very strange in deed.
I see speakin to someone of yOUr intellect is like talking to an infant. yOU can't come with solid facts, so yOU resort to name calling and ignoring truth and facts! I'm sure by now yOU have googled me and seen my pics of me doin my thing all over the world and wonder how this guy does all these things on a '7-11' salary? Anyway, Jim I really pray that yOU wake up to realization that the Bush cartel (rockerfellers. rothchilds, morgans,etc) is the most dangerOUs grOUp of people in world. America is not a nation, Jim. It is a corporation run by an international banking cartel that controls every facet of government and in essence OUr lives. Its obviOUsly yOU know very little other than what Fox has told yOU so it's pointless to waste such vast amOUnts of wisdom on someone too blind to see the truth. The fact that yOU ask me things like how Bush is linked to Hitler and the cOUntless other ignorant questions and remarks yOU have made lets me know that yOU know very little OUtside of the controlled information yOU receive from the so-called liberal media, so I won't waste anymore of yOUr time. I just hope yOU truly educate yOUrself 1 day, because to me and everyone that has read yOUr posts yOU seem like an idiot that knows very little abOUt what's really going on here in america or abroad.
And what muslim school did Obama attend again, Columbia Univ and Harvard Law School, oh ok. Is it his fault his parents gave him a non-tradional american name? He's named after his father who is from the african nation of Kenya. I'm sure his parents were thinkin that this child of bi-racial decent born during the height of the civil rights movement just might be president one day, so let's make sure he has the right name. many of the names like Jim and Toby were forced on Africans during the slave trade! did yOU know that? well over 90% of division 1 coaches in football and basketball are white and a great majority of their players are black, so many coaches may not feel comfortable talkin abOUt politics and race with a kid that doesn't look like them or have the same issues or struggle as them. ask Stoops if he's ever asked his players to vote. And since Fox is so far and balanced, how much positive coverage have they given Obama, versus their love for mcCain? I never said Obama was the golden child, but up against mccain he's lookin more presidential everyday. what can mccain offer the poor and people of color, More $5 gas? mccain's home state of Arizona is one of the most racist OUtside of Mississippi and Okkklahoma. I bet yOu didn't know that okkklahoma has more registered klansmen than any other state in america,but I'm quite sure none of em ever post comments on this site. Arizona was the last state to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day. so please tell me, wayne what does mccain have in store for the poor and people of color, because if he does have something good for us, i sure as hell can't tell by his 20+ year voting record, but i guess I'm the one who is confused, so pay me no mind. :-))