YourBlackSports is a place for brothers to talk about sports from a black perspective. This is not ESPN, this is Your ESPN. We see the analysts on all the shows talking this and that about black athletes, without a brother even being invited to the conversation. Well that doesn't happen at YourBlackSports, since this site is all about you!
Friday, June 26, 2009
BBall News: MJ’s Son No Longer a Baller
Jeffrey Jordan is Michael Jordan's son. That little proposition, as it relates to basketball, can not be an easy one for any offspring to undertake.
It's not just that your dad was a great NBA basketball player. Your dad was the single greatest basketball player who ever lived. Your entire life, you're not just a classmate to your friends. You're the son of their hero. Imagine that! For all of the sundry benefits of being Jordan's son -- the money, the basketball shoes, the unimaginably awesome toys you'd get as a kid -- the specter of anticipation, of "hey, that's Michael Jordan's son out there" would haunt you for as long as you played basketball.
"I loved playing for the Fighting Illini and appreciate the support I was given by my teammates, coaches and the great fans here," Jordan said. "But I have come to the point where I'm ready to focus on life after basketball. I will concentrate on earning my degree from the University of Illinois and the opportunities that await upon graduating."
The White House. A movie premiere in Maryland. A store opening in Harlem.
LeBron James is making the rounds this summer.
Fully recovered after undergoing surgery two weeks ago to have a benign growth on his jaw removed, the NBA's MVP is keeping a busy schedule.
On Monday, Cleveland's All-Star forward and a group of close friends visited President Barack Obama and were given a tour of the West Wing before attending the U.S. premiere of "More Than A Game," a documentary about the basketball star and his friends' rise to national champions while playing at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
Your News: Ex NFL Star Michael Stahan to Marry Nicole Murphy
Looks like Michael Strahan's post-NFL keeps getting better. Awhile back we announced that Strahan just signed a deal with FOX to star in his own sitcom this fall and now he'll be marrying Eddie Murphy's ex-lady, Nicole Murphy. The two have been dating for some time now and according to People Magazine, Strahan popped the question on a beach in the Bahamas. "I have a great relationship and she's a great girl," Strahan told People. "I don't like to talk much about my private life, but I'm really happy."
Kobe Bryant started his career with the LA Lakers as a tremendous athlete with a valuable brand. His stock rose like an elevator, as Madison Avenue loved him as much as Laker fans. Then life took a strange twist. First, there was the nasty departure of Shaquille O'neal, which instantly reduced Kobe and the Lakers to "also-rans" in the NBA playoffs. A man who was used to winning championships was reduced to simply playing for pay.
Off the court, things got even worse. In 2003, Kobe was accused of a horrifically embarrassing sexual assault, a case that was later dropped. But even though the charges were dropped, the case still had a lasting impact on Bryant's reputation: Sponsors ran the other way and everyone wondered if Kobe might turn into another "coulda, woulda, shoulda" black athlete.
But he persisted. The Lakers got a little bit better every year, with that improvement culminating in what some believe to be Kobe's first "real championship" this year; a title without the boost of a dominant big man. For the first time, the Lakers are champions under Kobe's watch. He has proven that he is more than a replica of Anfernee Hardaway.
“It’s a situation that we have been thinking about for quite some time,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We did our due diligence. We’ve been searching around the league and were looking for some interest as far as a trade.
“In the very end, we came to a conclusion that it was time. It was best for both us and Michael Vick to move on, to turn the chapter.”
The Falcons said several teams were interested in trading for Vick.
“But in the very end, without mentioning the teams, they just felt like it was not the right time to do it for them,” Dimitroff said. “We just decided to move forward.”
Dimitroff delivered the news to Vick with a personal phone call.
“He was accepting of it, as you could imagine,” Dimitroff said. “He was expecting it, I’m sure. He was upbeat.
“We respect him as an individual and as an athlete in this profession. It was the right thing to do. I’m happy that we had a conversation today.”
Vick remains suspended and would have to be reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
But his release allows him to negotiate with other teams. NFL franchises can sign suspended players, according to the league office.
PHILADELPHIA, June 12 (UPI) -- Philadelphia Eagles quarterbackDonovan McNabb has agreed to a restructured contract with $24.5 million guaranteed, his agent said.
The deal was announced Friday at a news conference attended by Coach Andy Reid.
Most likely riding a wave of emotion after the death of his daughter, Exodus, Mike Tyson married his girlfriend, Lakiha Spicer. According to the Associated Press, Tyson and Spicer, who is not the mother of Exodus, married at the La Bella Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas' Hilton Hotel-Casino.
Chapel owner Shawn Absher told AP that the couple came straight from the Clark County marriage bureau and got married around 10 p.m. This is Tyson's third marriage. His first to Robin Givens in 1988 lasted less than a year, and his marriage to Monica Turner in 1997 lasted five years.
Jason Robertson is a man of many gifts. As an young man, he was an All-American baseball player, drafted by the New York Yankees straight out of high school. He was also listed by Essence Magazine as one of the most eligible bachelors in America for his good looks and success. If that were not enough, Jason retired from baseball and re-invented himself as a leading, award-winning entrepeneur.
Besides being a model of success for his 3 sons and celebrating his engagement to fiance Marshawn Evans, Jason is on a mission to teach other young men how to make the transition from successful athlete to outstanding businessman. Black Voices got a chance to catch up with Jason.
1) What do you do for a living?
I own an industrial packaging company. We sell corrugated boxes, bags, films, pallets, and we also provide warehousing and storage.
As the Lakers and Magic prepped for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James was undergoing five hours of dental surgery to remove a benign growth from his right jaw. Which was less painful than the metaphorical dental surgery he had to endure later.
Yes, rarely has a man been so conspicuous by his absence as the King was before, during and after Game 1 at the Staples Center. In the days leading up to the championship series, James had been torched for walking off the court without shaking hands after his Cavs had been eliminated by the Magic in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, and compounding it by blowing off the mandatory media session.
Then, before Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday, commissioner David Stern announced that he had reversed his initial position and decided to fine James $25,000. Stern indicated that the walkoff and the media blowoff were both factors in the fine, but I don't buy that. James was fined for skipping the interview session, which is in keeping with precedent.
Don't you just love those Nike commercials that feature puppet versions of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James? Those are hilarious.
How can you not laugh at the overload of chalk due to LeBron's excitement for the postseason?
Tell me you didn't laugh at Kobe getting on LeBron's case looking for his championship rings. I dare you.
Whichever commercials you enjoyed, you have to think about how much Nike has been freaking out about the fact that the Kobe vs. LeBron final that everybody and their momma wanted is not going to happen.
After winning a franchise record 66 games, it looked as if the Cleveland Cavaliers were on their way to a potential NBA championship. I repeat: potential—as in it may not happen.
When I first saw the Vitamin Water commercial in which people are debating over who is better between the two players, I knew something was going to go awry.
Tennis Star Serena Williams Goes Off on Her Opponent
PARIS – Serena Williams was sure the ball went off her opponent's arm, a no-no in tennis. The opponent, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, insisted the ball went off her racket.
Williams accused Martinez Sanchez of "cheating." Martinez Sanchez thought that was a "stupid" thing for Williams to say.
Then consider that the point in question helped Martinez Sanchez win the first set of their French Open match Saturday. Oh, and that Williams had a coughing fit during a third-set changeover. All in all, what eventually became a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory for Williams stands as the latest example of the athlete/actress' penchant for theatrics.
"I'm, like, drama. And I don't want to be drama," a hoarse Williams said, straining to get the words out. "I'm like one of those girls on areality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don't want to be that girl."
Lebron’s Got Crazy Numbers, but Cavs Still Not Winning
He is averaging an outrageous 42.3 points in the Eastern Conference finals while shooting 50.9 percent with 7.3 assists -- numbers that exceed his MVP season. So what more is LeBron James supposed to do?
"Just try to win ball games," he said less than two hours before he contributed 44 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to Cleveland's loss in Game 4 at Orlando, stranding the Cavaliers with a 3-1 deficit heading into Game 5 here Thursday night. "Just try to win ball games and put our team in a position to win every game. I've been able to do that."
But the Cavs have wasted those chances. Despite his gaudy numbers, James hasn't been blameless, as he acknowledged after committing an unusual seven turnovers in the final 12 minutes of regulation and overtime in Game 4. Those mistakes were forced by a Magic defensive strategy that is enabling LeBron to score while limiting opportunities for his teammates. The failure of those teammates is the story of Cleveland's series. Knowing that he can't outscore Orlando by himself, and wired as he is to make plays for others, James was forced to take risks in hopes of rallying his team.
James dropped a 3-pointer from the top of the key over Orlando’sHedo Turkoglu(notes) as the final horn sounded Friday night to give the Cavaliers, their season a heartbeat from major trouble, a 96-95 victory over the Magic that evened the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.
From 23 feet—matching his jersey number and Jordan’s—James hit a shot that will go down as one of the defining moments in a career that’s just hitting its stride.
“That guy is not in the league any more,” James said of Jordan. “The other 23 is on the good side now.”
NFL teams looking to hire general managers may soon be required to interview at least one minority candidate.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday the league's owners discussed expanding the Rooney Rule -- which already applies to coaching openings -- during the final session of their two-day meetings in South Florida. No vote was taken, though Goodell indicated any changes could be made soon.
"It's a judgment I will make with the diversity committee," Goodell said.
The Rooney Rule is named for Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was not at the meeting for a good reason: He's at what Goodell described as "ambassador school."
Rooney, a lifelong Republican, was picked by President Barack Obama earlier this year to be U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
We'll go ahead and file that one under "headlines I didn't anticipate typing today."
It's a bizarre statement. It's a bizarre subset of people to hate, even if you insist on hating a group of people. And it's a bizarre thing to say to an African-American athlete from Notre Dame when meeting him for the first time.
But according to Tim Brown(notes), that's exactly what Al Davis did. Brown was interviewed on WCNN in Atlanta, and here's what he had to say about the first time he met Al. From SportsRadioInterviews.com (audio is available at the link):
“Meeting Al [Davis] was pretty unique. I found out five or ten minutes after my first practice there that he hated African-American athletes from Notre Dame. And they literally told me that. They literally told me that because we’re known for using our education more than our athletic ability that he thought that I would be one of these guys that would basically take the money and run. I don’t know if that was a ploy to get me amped up, but it certainly worked.”
Jason Taylor returns to the Dolphins for chump change
Jason Taylor's newest step has him back where he started. The dancing linebacker signed a $1.5 million, one-year contract Wednesday with the Miami Dolphins.
Taylor played his first 11 seasons with Miami before being traded a year ago to the Washington Redskins -- a fallout from his stint on the TV show "Dancing With the Stars." He was released by Washington in March after one injury-plagued season.
The New England Patriots courted the 34-year-old Taylor in recent weeks, but he wanted to return to South Florida, where he still lives. He will make $1.1 million in base salary and $400,000 in easy to reach incentives.
"My heart has always been in Miami, and so I'm truly excited to call myself a Dolphin once again," Taylor said in a statement. "I was presented with a number of different opportunities, but in the end the combination of this being the best situation for my family, my love for this community and my tremendous loyalty to a great organization made this an easy decision."
Taylor made the Pro Bowl six times with Miami and was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.
Electronic Arts, the second-largest video-game publisher, circumvents the rules by allowing customers to upload player names directly into games and creating images that closely resemble student athletes to increase sales and NCCA royalties, according to the complaint filed by Sam Keller, a former quarterback for Arizona State University.
The practice is sanctioned by the NCAA and a licensing company for the association, Keller said in his complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Oakland, California. Keller seeks to represent all NCCA football and basketball players featured in Electronic Arts’ NCAA video games.
‘Full scholarship’ can leave college athletes with as much as $30,000 in expenses
With the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball tournament heating up, the National College Players Association (NCPA), formerly known as the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), released results of another significant study revealing the estimated shortfall between college athletes’ full scholarships and the actual cost of attendance at each Division I university.
The NCPA asserts that, by and large, universities have been deceiving recruits, many of whom are under the age of 18 and from disadvantaged backgrounds, into unknowingly being responsible for paying thousands of dollars while on “full” athletic scholarship.
“The fact is, coaches fill high school recruits’ heads with promises of free rides and full scholarships, when in fact no such things exist. The NCAA designs full scholarships to fall short of the advertised price tag of a school, leaving recruits scrambling to make ends meet,” stated United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard.
Black News: Ex Nets Star Jason Williams Reportedly Violent and Suicidal
Officers stunned a drunken and agitated Jayson Williams with a Taser at a swank Manhattan hotel Monday morning after reports that the troubled ex-NBA star appeared suicidal, police said.
Police were called to the hotel in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan around 4 a.m. after a report that the former New Jersey Nets star was suicidal, authorities said.
When officers arrived, there were empty bottles of prescription drugs strewn around the disheveled hotel suite of the 6-foot-10 Williams, police said.
Emergency Services Unit police, an elite team trained to deal with emotionally disturbed people, responded and stunned Williams with a Taser, handcuffed him and took him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Williams played nine seasons in the NBA with the Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers before retiring in 2000.
Player Skips Senior Year of High School to Play in Europe
The reaction to the news of California high schooler Jeremy Tyler's plan was as predictable as it was tired. The New York Times reported Thursday that Tyler, a 6-foot-11 junior at San Diego High, plans to skip his senior year in high school to play professionally in Europe. In two years, when his high school class is one year past graduation, he'll return to the U.S. and enter the NBA draft.
The tongue-clucking was deafening. You'd think the Book of Revelation had been revised to include skipping a year of high school to play pro basketball right between the sun turning black and the moon turning red. This will kill college basketball, some said. This kid is throwing away his future, others said.
Since no European newspaper sports editor offered me a six-figure salary to skip my senior year of high school, I don't feel qualified to rip Tyler's choice. I've never walked in his high-tops. But I do have a few questions for the folks who consider Tyler's move an abomination.
Former Chicago Bears defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry is in serious condition at a South Carolina hospital, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Perry, 46, was hospitalized to deal with complications from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a chronic inflammation disorder of the peripheral nerves, the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune reported.
Aiken Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Melissa Summer declined to give additional details Tuesday.
Perry’s nephew, Purnell Perry, told the Sun-Times his uncle was admitted more than a week ago but was expected to recover.
Black Sport News: With KG gone, do the Celtics Have a Chance?
1. What are the Celtics' prospects if Kevin Garnett is unavailable for the playoffs?
Ian Thomsen: They were able to stave off Orlando for the No. 2 seed without Garnett, so at the very least they're still one of the top three teams in the East. At best, they can exploit the home-court advantage to win a second-round series against the Magic, who have no latter-round experience in the playoffs. But I don't see how they'll be able to win a game or two in Cleveland's building unless Garnett miraculously returns or the Cavaliers themselves are weakened by injuries over the month ahead.
Jack McCallum: Garnett is their spiritual leader, and not just because of his over-the-top primal screaming. Playoff series are always partly about defensive schemes, figuring out how to stop a big scorer, like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, over the course of five, six or seven games. Garnett keys the Celtics' schemes, and, without him, I don't think their defense is strong enough to get them to the conference finals. If he plays, I like them to beat the Magic and give the Cavs a test before going down.
Black Celebrities: Does Allen Iverson Have a Gambling Problem?
Allen Iverson has gone from being a one-man economic stimulus plan for the city's downtown casinos to persona non grata. He has spent a ton of money down there, but recently he's been banned from both MGM and Greektown casinos.
The NBA is looking into a disturbance at Greektown that involved one of Iverson's body guards. Iverson may have been trying to act as a peacemaker but his body guard was involved in some kind of tussle.
Black News: Lebron James’ Victory Dance Breeds a Few Haters
NBA Commissioner David Stern refused to put his foot down when it comes to the dancing Cavaliers.
During a pre-playoff conference call with reporters on Monday afternoon, Stern was asked about the Cavs' celebratory performance during Sunday's blowout victory over visiting Boston.
According to a transcript of the call, Stern was asked, "Is there some way of dealing with LeBron James, who danced on the sidelines yesterday? It was an embarrassment toward the Boston Celtics, and approaching the playoffs where emotion tends to run high?"
Is it Bad or Good? Usain Bolt Admits that He Tried Weed as a Kid
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt tried marijuana as a kid, according toBild newspaper.
Bolt, who set world records in the 100 and 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics and was part of the Jamaican team that broke the world mark in the 400-meter relay, made the admission in an interview published online Sunday.
Your Black Sports: Paul Williams Can’t Find an Opponent
Paul Williams hasn't been able to pick a fight with anyone in his preferred weight class, so he's moving up again Saturday.
The career 147-pounder, whose last two bouts have been at junior middleweight (154), is climbing to middleweight to face Winky Wright in a non-title bout (HBO, 10 p.m. ET).
"Forty-seven is my weight class, if I can get anybody to fight me at '47," said Williams, who stands 6-1 with an 82-inch reach, after a recent training session. "The only reason we're going up is to get people to fight us."
Wright, 37, is the former undisputed champion at junior middleweight. His last fight was against Bernard Hopkins, but that was two years ago.
That unanimous-decision loss was Wright's first loss in eight years. Not noted for his punching power, Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) — like Williams, who is also a southpaw — is known for having a high work rate, a steady jab, a solid chin and a tight defense.
College sports fans, be careful of the company you keep on Facebook.
You might get yourself -- and the program you support -- in trouble.
That was the lesson this week for Taylor Moseley, a North Carolina State freshman who expressed a common-enough opinion on campus when he started the Facebook group called "John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!"
More than 700 people signed up for the group encouraging Wall -- a local standout and the nation's No. 1 basketball recruit -- to pick the Wolfpack by national signing day next week.
But the NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.
Moseley got a cease and desist letter from N.C. State's compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of "further action" if he failed to comply. In an interview Friday, Lee said that people who act as boosters but fail to follow recruiting guidelines could face penalties such as being denied tickets or even being formally "disassociated" from the athletic program.
Your Black World: Hypocrisy Engulfs Plaxico Burress Controversy
Burress and the Bloomberg
By: Dave Zirin Reprinted From Edge Of Sports
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week: all Plaxico, all the time. There's nothing like an NFL player shooting a hole in his own leg in a packed nightclub to become our latest walking, talking weapon of mass distraction. Why ponder the global economic meltdown, two wars, and rising unemployment, when millionaire black athletes like Plaxico Burress walk among us... with guns?
Don't think that this is a defense of the New York Giants star wide receiver. Having a loaded gun in your pants, with no safety, in a crowded club, is about as smart as using a toaster as a bathtub toy. In fact, shooting yourself in the leg is really one of more preferable outcomes. Now Burress faces three and a half years in prison for carrying a loaded handgun in the city.
Right on cue, the moralists are slithering onto their soapboxes to hiss at the latest athletic bogeyman. Hypocrisy reigns supreme.
There's the now-suspended emergency room physician at New York Cornell Hospital, who was persuaded to treat Burress under a phony name and failed to notify the authorities of the shooting incident as state law requires.
There's the New York Giants organization: New York police officials say the Giants let at least ten hours elapse before reporting the shooting. What were they thinking--that the cops wouldn't notice the wall-to-wall coverage on TV?
Next, the Giants self-righteously suspended Burress for the rest of the season "for conduct detrimental to the team"--easy to do when Burress has played next to no role for the first-place team. Suspending Burress is easy. They even did it earlier this season. But there is no talk of suspending Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce, who was with Burress that evening, drove him to the hospital and is alleged to have hidden the weapon from police. He was set to explain to police today exactly why he didn't report the shooting either. But Pierce is also an indispensable cog in the team. Suspend Pierce? That might affect their Super Bowl chances.
There's former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, who has made a call for all NFL players with handguns to be suspended without delay. Ditka, who calls himself an "ultra-ultra conservative" and hosted rallies this fall for Sarah Palin, clearly finds the Second Amendment expendable when exercised by these ungrateful... athletes. Here are his comments to ESPN:
"This is all about priorities. When you get stature in life, you get the kind of contract, you have an obligation and responsibility to your teammates, to the organization, to the National Football League and to the fans. He just flaunted this money in their face. He has no respect for anybody but himself. I feel sorry for him, in the sense that, I don't understand the league, why can anybody have a gun? I will have a policy, no guns, any NFL players we find out, period, you're suspended."
But no one is deserving of more scorn than New York City Mayor-for-Life Michael Bloomberg, who excoriated Burress for violating city gun laws. On Monday, Bloomberg seemed to channel Vincent Bugliosi: "Our children are getting killed with guns in the street. Our police are getting killed. If we don't prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, I don't know who on earth would. It makes a sham, a mockery of the law. And it's pretty hard to argue the guy didn't have a gun and that it wasn't loaded. You've got bullet holes in and out to show that it was there."
All right, Mayor Mike. But there are a few people--including ESPN columnist Jemele Hill--who detected more than a whiff of hypocrisy in the mayor's rant:
"Why wasn't the mayor as willing to stand on his soapbox when New York City police officers shot and killed Sean Bell?" she wrote. "Bloomberg called for a 'thorough' investigation at that time, but he didn't damn those police officers the way he did Burress. (All three officers were acquitted earlier this year.)"
Rage as he has against Burress, Bloomberg displayed no such anger in 2004, when police beat and jailed protesters by the hundreds at the Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden.
Bloomberg's friends on Wall Street have helped precipitate a crisis which we will spend a generation digging ourselves out from. But there have been no sermons on the greed and lawlessness of the financial sector heard from the mayor's bully pulpit.
There's no defending the stupidity of bringing a loaded gun to a place where people party. And so far, Burress hasn't given much of an explanation about his motives. But contributing factors are obvious--growing up in the slums of Virginia Beach, Virginia, he saw plenty of violence. And athletes make easy targets: Giants teammate Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint just a couple of weeks ago. And it's a terrible irony that the Burress imbroglio happened almost a year to the day that Washington football all-pro Sean Taylor was shot to death in his home by an intruder.
Far too many players feel like they have targets on their backs, and they refuse to surrender their freedom to walk the streets of the country where they are told they are living the dream. Hiring bodyguards or staying home just aren't choices many players want to make.
Guns can't protect professional athletes from real or imagined harm, especially when the gun owner has no clue how to use them. But three and a half years in prison for Burress hardly seems like a solution either. We need less moralistic prattle and more serious discussion about how we have gotten to this point. Too many athletes are like gated communities with legs: fearful, isolated, and looking over their shoulder.
Your Black World: Eddie Jordan Fired, Everyone Outraged
Eddie Jordan Fired... But Why? By: Tolu Olorunda Staff Writer - YourBlackWorld.com
On Monday, Nov. 24, The Washington Wizards fired veteran coach, Eddie Jordan, who helped transport the Wizards to the playoffs four years in a row. Over the last few days, however, many fans/sport columnists, pundits, and even coaches have expressed their regret over this brash and unexpected decision. Here are a few reactions:
We've all seen this movie before: A general manager stocks his roster with a dysfunctional mixture of players, but since he's the one who procured the players he thinks they're better than they really are. Eventually the team loses, and the coach is canned — because it's easier to fire the coach than to fire the players, and because the GM is certainly not going to fire himself. This is approximately what happened to Eddie Jordan in Washington. [...] Since he's been in Washington, Jordan has done a magnificent job with this team even though Arenas and Etan Thomas have been periodically down and out — repeatedly leading them into the playoffs.
When a team struggles out of the gate of a regular season, the fans harboring the fringe of the team's fanbase always begin hollering for a change of leadership.Some franchises are mature enough to disregard the cries of the extremists, however, others are as weak-minded as stormtroopers—easily influenced by forces beyond them [thank you, Obi-Wan Kenobi.] From the firing of Eddie Jordan and his assistant Mike O'Koren, the Washington Wizards have proven to be the NBA's weakest franchise as of this moment for the 2008-09 season and, perhaps, the next couple of seasons to follow. Moronic is not even a strong enough word for this debacle. Travesty is a better word. Abortion! Now, that is the best word for this fiasco...abortion! Disgusting, inhumane, immoral, stupid! [...] This decision to fire Eddie Jordan was not moronic. It was not a travesty. IT WAS AN ABORTION!
"I'm very, very disappointed, not just because he's a close personal friend, as well as Mike, but when he came to Washington (they) hadn't been to the playoffs in like 20 something years," Frank said, "(and they) go there four straight years and to do what he did last year, where you could have made a very easy argument that he should have been the coach of the year, or at least co-coach of the year along with Byron (Scott). [...] It wasn't like they were losing by 40 points a game. He was doing a hell of a job, so it's very, very disappointing he won't finish out what he started."
- New Jersey Nets Head Coach, Lawrence Frank at a Press Conference
So what was Eddie Jordan supposed to do? [...] Jordan has nursed the Wizards to the playoffs four years in a row despite dealing with, at different times, significant injuries to Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. Now, this year, Haywood is out and backup point guard Antonio Daniels is sitting, too. [...] Don't forget, when the Wizards hired Jordan, he was one of the most sought-after assistants in the league, and his dedication to the Princeton offense makes him a unique asset. Just about every team in the league has stolen from Jordan's playbook[.]
Your Black World: Houston Police Accused Of Assaulting Donald Driver's Dad
HOUSTON — Three Houston police officers under investigation for allegedly beating the father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver have been taken off patrol duty.
The decision was welcomed by Marvin Driver Jr.'s family members, who said they now want the officers fired and brought up on charges.
"We just want justice," Michael Driver, Marvin Driver's son, said after a news conference Friday outside his father's home.
Officers Bacilio Guzman, Gilberto Cruz and M. Marin have been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said in a statement Friday.
Hurtt said he made his decision after receiving a preliminary briefing late Thursday.
"We take allegations such as these very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and be transparent in our findings, whatever the conclusion," Hurtt said.
Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said he did not know how long the investigation would take to complete.
Family members of 56-year-old Marvin Driver claim he was arrested early Monday morning outside his mother's home, where he also lives, for outstanding traffic warrants. But before arriving at a Houston jail, they say, he was taken to a gas station, where he was beaten by at least two officers and had something forced down his throat.
Marvin Driver's family initially said he was only able to communicate with them through handwritten notes.
Michael Driver, 26, said his father, who earlier in the week had been in critical condition, was in good condition on Friday and his health was improving.
Doctors have told family members the injuries were the result of blunt force trauma and that he suffered head injuries and has bruises in his abdomen area from being kneed to the stomach, Michael Driver said.
Hurtt said investigators are awaiting medical reports on Marvin Driver to determine what injuries he sustained.
In his statement, Hurtt said that Marvin Driver, after being arrested during a traffic stop at about 1:30 a.m. Monday, was taken to a city jail. At the facility, a doctor found him unresponsive and he was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The Internal Affairs Division of the Houston Police Department is investigating the family's claims.
Your Black Politics: Did Tiger Woods Pave Barack Obama's path?
Did Tiger Woods pave Barack Obama's path? Are you joking?
By: Dave Zirin
Originally Appeared In NY Daily News
It's always dangerous, but never boring, when a newspaper sports columnist uncorks a political thesis. Enter Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. Bianchi thinks that there are some unsung heroes who deserve credit for helping put a black man in the White House - and they are athletes. "If you're searching for tangible reasons why it became possible for Barack Obama to make his historic run at the presidency ... look no further than the golf course, basketball court or football field."
Bianchi believes that, since sports have conditioned white America to accept African-Americans as heroes and leaders, black sportsmen deserve a pat on the back. He wonders: "Where else but sports can you go to Amway Arena and see 15,000 mostly white fans cheer and celebrate the accomplishments of a team that is mostly black?"
Sounds lovely. But it happens to be embarrassingly wrong - and an insult to the reason that millions waited on long lines to cast their vote.
For more than a century, masses of white audiences have cheered black entertainers and athletes. And for most of that time, blacks struggled mightily to climb the corporate or political ladder. Why? Because being wowed by the ability of blacks to perform on a field or stage is not in the same ballpark as accepting their political leadership. Not even close.
More to the point, the rare black athletes who have dared to make waves have been pilloried for not knowing their place. After men like Jack Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos got too political, the phrase "just shut up and play" emerged - to smack down future jocks for trying to do more than entertain.
This is not just a hypocrisy of the musty past. On Thursday, Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught the winning touchdown pass against the Cleveland Browns. He then - horror of horrors - wanted to take out a black and white glove to make a statement. "I wanted to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me, our multicultured society," he later said.
But we will never know how the public might have received even this tame message because teammates, led by Brandon Stokely, put the kibosh on him. Commentators then came down on Marshall like blitzing linebackers. ESPN anchor Neil Everett said, "It's not about you and what you think. It's about the team."
Our sport-mad culture has hardly softened the ground for black political leadership. If anything, it's produced a value system that prizes material gain and the almighty scoreboard over any kind of collective responsibility.
Bianchi writes, "the two most successful product pitchmen of the modern era - Tiger and Michael Jordan - are both black men who won over white corporate America." But at what cost? These are also the two most aggressively apolitical athletes to ever walk the earth. They live by the creed that taking serious stands gets in the way of good business. If anything, Obama has had to overcome the racial landscape these two have charted, which says you must wear the cool mask and betray nothing.
Dungy is a different case. One of the most respected coaches in the NFL, he is also an evangelical Christian who has raised funds for the Indiana Family Institute. IFI organizes anti-gay marriage initiatives and takes part in the process of what's called "praying the gay away."
In fact, when you think about it, Woods, Jordan and Dungy - signifying respectively disengagement, corporate greed and the right-wing side of the culture wars - hold the values many voters wanted to repudiate.
No doubt, black American athletes unafraid to be political will be part of charting us out of this wilderness. But it will not be those content to be money-making sideshows when the main stage is a real-world battle for change.
Your Black World: No Obamamania For Brandon Marshall
No Obamamania for Brandon Marshall
By: Dave Zirin
All Brandon Marshall wanted was the opportunity to be part of the moment. The Denver Broncos wide receiver wanted to feel connected to the thousands who have flooded into the streets and the millions in a state of shock and awe around the world, celebrating the election of Barack Obama.
Marshall's plan was to score a touchdown on Thursday night and then take out a black-and-white glove and hold it up to the sky. "I wanted to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me, our multi-cultured society," he said after the game, choked with tears. "And I know at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico,Tommie Smith and John Carlosraised that black glove in that fist as a silent gesture of black power and liberation. Forty years later, I wanted to make my own statement. I wanted to make my own statement and gesture to represent the progress we made."
Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened, or how the crowd would have reacted. We will never have that image of a football player bringing politics to the field. Marshall did score a touchdown, but as he removed the glove from his pocket, his teammates stopped him.
The problem was that Marshall's touchdown came with only one minute and twenty-two seconds left to play, putting the Broncos ahead, 34-30. His teammates--particularly fellow wideout Brandon Stokley and tight end Tony Scheffler--saw what he was about to do and stopped him, fearful of an automatic fifteen-yard penalty for "unsportsmanlike conduct."
One can be charitable toward Stokley and Sheffler, given the moment in the game--although the image of two white players surrounding a black player to block his political statement is the antithesis of the very ideas Marshall was attempting to communicate.
Yet the reaction from ESPN was even worse. The first talking head back at the SportsCenter headquarters took a shot at Marshall's emotional press conference saying, "Well, the sentiment is exactly right, even if the speechwriting needs some work." His partner then said of Marshall, "It's not about you or what you think. It's about the team and what they need to do." Ex-player turned broadcaster (and sometime soap opera star) Mark Schlereth called it, "The best play of Stokley's career." The Sporting News' Chris Mottram quoted Cleveland based blogger Vince Grzegorek,who called it "Marshall's Moronic Touchdown Tribute to President-Elect Obama."
Grzegorek then wrote of Marshall, "He's not bright, or flat out selfish, or a combustible mixture of the two."
There is no question that Marshall was taking a risk. There's no question he could have cost his team the game.
His coach, the stone-faced Mike Shanahan, has a written rule about not bringing politics into his all-business locker room.
Marshall could have risked the ire of the NFL, known as the No Fun League for cracking down on any hint, any whiff, of individuality on the part of players.
But maybe Marshall thought that the moment was more important than the game. Maybe he looked at basketball players like Kevin Garnett, who had the slogan "Embrace Change Vote '08" written on his sneakers, or Carmelo Anthony, who said that he would score forty-four points Wednesday in honor of the forty-fourth president. Marshall wanted to be part of the energy that has inspired more pro athletes to take part in this election cycle than ever before.
Instead of derision, Marshall merited our respect--sports fan or not-- which should actually be exponentially higher since he was willing to take this risk when the game was on the line. The image of a pro football player raising a black-and-white hand to the skies forty years after Smith and Carlos and two days after the election of a black president in a country built on slavery could have echoed through the ages. Someone should tell the suits and ESPN: some things are actually more important than sports.
The trade was confirmed by a basketball official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg declined to comment, and messages were left for a Nuggets spokesman as well as for an agent representing Billups and McDyess.
The blockbuster deal comes two games into the season for Detroit. The Pistons have been a model of consistency in recent years, but they were determined to change their core following a third straight exit from the Eastern Conference finals last summer.
The Pistons play at Charlotte Monday night. The Bobcats are coached by Larry Brown, who led Billups and the Pistons to the 2004 NBA title and also guided the Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers to a spot in the finals in 2001.
Billups returns to familiar surroundings—he was born in Denver and played in college at Colorado. McDyess also will be enjoying a homecoming of sorts, having been a Nugget from 1995-97 and 1998-02.
Your Black World: Judge Says Michael Vick Must Appear In Person
A judge reportedly denied a request by Michael Vick's lawyers to allow him to plead guilty to state dogfighting charges via videoconference from federal prison on Thursday.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday that Surry County Circuit Judge Samuel E. Campbell denied the request during a hearing in Sussex County court. Vick's attorneys made the request so that the disgraced former Atlanta Falcons quarterback would not have to leave prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is serving a 23-month sentence for a federal dogfighting charge.
The state's attorney objected to the defense's request, and Campbell agreed, as there is no allowance in Virginia law for someone to plead via videoconference, according to the paper.
Vick is facing two state felony charges -- dogfighting and animal cruelty -- in Richmond. The judge set November 25 as the date for Vick to enter his pleas.
The state and federal charges against Vick are related to a dogfighting ring he funded at a property he owned in Surry. He is slated to be released from federal prison and into a halfway house on July 20.
Your Black World: Isiah Thomas Overdosed On Sleeping Pills?
New York, NY (Sports Network) - Police were reportedly sent to the home of former New York Knicks head coach and president Isiah Thomas early Friday morning in response to a call that Thomas had overdosed on sleeping pills.
WCBSTV in New York reported Friday afternoon on the overdose. The television station said that Thomas was rushed to a White Plains Hospital for treatment, but his condition is not yet known.
Thomas was fired by the Knicks on April 18 by new president Donnie Walsh, ending his disastrous two-year tenure as head coach. The Knicks went 23-59 last season, giving Thomas a record of 56-108 in his two years after replacing Larry Brown.
Walsh, who took over as president on April 2, kept Thomas in the organization as a consultant, however.
The Knicks made the playoffs just once with Thomas running the basketball operations, losing to New Jersey in a first-round sweep in 2004.
Following the tumultuous 2005-06 season with Brown, Thomas took over the head coaching duties in 2006-07 and had the Knicks within striking distance of a playoff spot at 29-34 when he was rewarded with a contract extension. The Knicks went on to win just four of their final 19 games.
Thomas' tenure with the Knicks was also marred by the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders.
A Hall of Fame player with the Detroit Pistons, Thomas also spent three years as coach of the Pacers and has a five-year record of 187-223.
Your Black World: Stephon Marbury Politicks With The Homeless
Stephon Marbury watched the final presidential debate in the common room of a homeless shelter on the Bowery with a bunch of guys he met at Two Boots pizza. He kept his eyes on the tiny TV, laughing and scoffing along with the residents as McCain spoke—Marbury does a pretty good imitation of the senator—and smiling when it was Obama’s turn. “Look at Obama,” Marbury said, pointing at the screen. “You feel him. We feel him. You can feel his spirit when he speaks.” At one point, when the debate turned to the economy, Marbury snorted. “Middle class? We don’t have a middle class anymore.”
As the millionaire said those words, the homeless agreed. “I love Starbury,” an excited resident said, referring to Marbury’s affordable sneaker and clothing line. “I can get hot shoes for like $30. Jordan wants me to pay $100.” Others gave him career advice. “Hey, you know, I see you doing good in the sixth-man role,” one resident offered. “It’s just a game,” Marbury answered, pointing at the screen. “There’s more to life.”
Your Black Brothers: Black Men and Boyism: From Politics to Sports
Black Men and Boyism: From Politics to Sports
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com
“These weekly insults to Black manhood that we have been programmed to believe are entertainment and not direct racist warfare, further reinforce, perhaps in the unconscious thinking of Black people, a loss of respect for Black manhood while carrying that loss to ever deeper levels.”
Sen. Obama’s astronomical rise to political stardom has been fascinating for any number of reasons, but most especially, helpful in decoding the underlying racist perceptions of Obama, held by neo-liberal, otherwise known as, “well-intentioned” Whites. Renowned poet and activist, Amiri Baraka, once described this group as “little liberals who think Obama is just some trendy new-flavor.” These “little liberals,” are no doubt, fully responsible for the overt commodification of Obama by big-business enterprises. More saddening, however, is the reality that Sen. Obama, a Black man, is increasingly being perceived by this specific class of White liberals, as more a boy than a man.
Barack Obama is treated – by these White liberals – as a pet-project who can only function within the confines of an accepted model. The emergence of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright on the national stage, earlier this year, fully confirmed my suspicion. A broad swath of Sen. Obama’s allied White-base were aghast and appalled by the revelation that a man as militant-minded and pro-Black as Dr. Wright, had, once upon a time, had a profound impact on Obama’s life. Most of his White supporters had invested in the mythology of Obama as the “one Black friend,” who could be tolerated as long as he/she functioned in a non-threatening manner. NPR host, Farai Chideya, echoed this sentiment in an appearance on CNN, earlier in the presidential race. Speaking of the sense of betrayal many White neo-liberals felt after learning of Obama’s past-associations with Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Ms. Chideya noted how “Christopher John Farley of "TIME" magazine once wrote an essay about the magical African-American friend, which is the idea in movies often, that there's this nice black man who's my black friend, and he's not like other black people. He's so nice.And I think that some people, some supporters have put Senator Obama in the magical African-American friend box. And therefore, for them there's a double high standard, which is not only that he has to be squeaky clean as it relates to other politicians, but he has to be sort of this super-nice person.”
Barack Obama’s charisma is often mistaken, by many White liberals, as an opportunity to diminish his manhood. Bill Clinton ran the first leg of this prestigious relay race with his initial comment that Sen. Obama’s candidacy was nothing but a “fairy tale.” President Jimmy Carter, widely hailed as a newly-branded Humanist and activist, grabbed the baton and fell into this entrapment in a self-revealing appearance on PBS, during the Democratic National Convention. President Carted suggested that Sen. Obama’s acceptance as Democratic Presidential Nominee was not only emblematic of significant racial-progress, but it had “sent a wave of approbation and admiration in many countries around the world, just knowing that this black boy who grew up with just a loving mother and grandparents -- and that was about all he had to start with -- does now have a chance to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for president.” One wonders if President Carter would call Barack Obama a “boy,” if he happened to be non-black. Jimmy Carter is not alone, as Television Host and Comedian, Bill Maher – running the third leg –, has also expressed similar sentiments regarding Sen. Obama. In an interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, whose obsession with Black Women boggles the mind, argued against Obama’s eloquence, stating that “Our boy needs to be a little more forceful…Don’t you think he needs to jab a little bit? He seems a little too professorial.” John McCain – anchor leg – wasted no time in confirming his disregard for Obama as, “that one.” Late last week, CNN host, Campbell Brown, attempted to make a case against the accusations that Sen. McCain hurled a racially-inflamed insult at Obama by characterizing the Democratic nominee as, “that one.” Speaking in defense of McCain, the fairly-liberal pundit stated: “Some people have interpreted that comment, 'THAT ONE' as having racial undertones. Give me a break. I can hear my grandfather talking about one of his kids or grandkids as "that one." He used it a lot. Maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe it wasn't a term of endearment the way it was when my grandfather used it. Maybe McCain did mean to be disrespectful. But racist? I don't think so.” Following Ms. Brown’s logic, Barack Obama would have to be a grandchild for McCain to successfully call him “that one,” and be devoid of any racist or vituperative intent. Thanks for buttressing my point, Campbell.
In sports, the infantilizing of Black Men appears to be more overt. Last week, Dallas Cowboys cornerback, Adam “Pacman” Jones, was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for violating NFL “personal conduct policy.” NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, took great pride in publicly remonstrating against Jones. In a letter published for the world to see, Goodell passionately wrote that, “It's terribly disappointing to me that we're dealing with this again and that he's reflecting so poorly on all of the players in this league, which they don't deserve.” In a demeanor comparable to a parent reprimanding a child, Goodell furthermore explained to Adam Jones that he had temporarily terminated his contract because of a noticeable “disturbing pattern of behavior,” which was “clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL.” Whether Mr. Jones indeed violated league policy remains irrelevant at this point. More disturbing is the fact that Roger Goodell, and the higher officials in the NFL, would seek to make an example out of Jones in favor of waging the “weekly insults to Black manhood,” of which Dr. Welsing spoke.
From politics to sports, the “game” remains the same. If Sen. Obama is lucky enough to convince the requisite amount of Whites to vote for him, what would the end result of his presidency amount to? That of a Black man, or a Black boy?
Your Black World: Sarah Palin’s Extreme Sports - By Dave Zirin
Sarah Palin's Extreme Sports
By: Dave Zirin
Ever since Andrew Johnson welcomed the New York Mutuals to the White House in 1867, presidential politics has exploited professional sports. It's a foolproof way for politicians to show voters they enjoy competition, fair play and are salt-of-the-turf Americans.
Sports signifies different things to different voters. Football (JFK) and baseball (George H.W. Bush) are good. Windsurfing (John Kerry) and hunting "varmints" (Mitt Romney)--not always so good. And no candidate should ever bowl in a necktie, unless he can seriously roll.
Barack Obama's game is basketball. He shot three-point baskets with the troops in Iraq and his high school b-ball videos have become a YouTube sensation.
During the campaign Obama has appeared on sports radio, including a cameo last week on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning. He earned cheers from co-host Mike Golic by saying, tongue-in-cheek, "I would have my attorney general investigate the possibility of instituting a college football playoff system through executive order. I'm tired of this nonsense at the end of every college football season."
A month earlier, John McCain made his own ESPN appearance. He's also known to work the crowds at NASCAR events. But no one in this election uses sports like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. At times on the campaign trail, sports is her primary form of communication with voters outside of her narrow, Christian fundamentalist base. Communication is critical for Palin, since she mangles the English language so consistently that she's become the subject of ridicule. Talking sports--whether as a mom on the sidelines of her kids' hockey games or a as an outdoorswoman who loves to hunt and fish--gives her the opportunity to seem genuine, friendly and accessible.
Palin's politics may be beyond the fringe, but her sporting interests are effortlessly mainstream. In this sense, she resembles the current occupant of the White House. George W. Bush built his public persona as the owner of the Texas Rangers. When asked for an example of a political mistake, he would speak with a smirk about trading Sammy Sosa. The press and the public let him get away with this blather and the country has been worse off because of it. Palin has the most extensive sports resumé for a politician since former Representative Steve Largent. But unlike Largent, an NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver, Palin's sporting bona fides are more style than substance.
Palin was introduced to the country as "Sarah Barracuda," the former high school point guard who led her team to a state championship, a fact McCain actually uses as an argument to tout her experience.
She is, as Fred Thompson said at the RNC, "The only candidate who can field dress a moose." She worked as a sports reporter for KTUU, Anchorage's NBC affiliate, and once dreamed of being a reporter for ESPN (although according to the campaign, her daughter's name, Bristol, is not in fact a tribute to ESPN's Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters.) She told Katie Couric that her favorite movies were the sports flicks Rudy and Hoosiers, although she claims she only loved the endings. She likes to shoot caribou from a plane, a fact that made Chris Rock wonder why she walks free, while Michael Vick is in jail.
Sarah Palin has made every effort to embody all that is rugged and real. It turns out she is a breathtaking fraud.
Palin speaks about being Joe Six-Pack when in reality she's Jane Champagne, with a net worth over $1 million. As the Washington Timesreported, "A check of financial records...shows the Palins live anything but a common life when compared with their fellow residents of their hometown of Wasilla. Their combined income of nearly a quarter-million dollars last year was five times the median household income for Wasilla's 7,000 residents. They own a single-engine plane, two boats, two personal watercraft and a half-million-dollar, custom-built home on a lake that is worth three times the average of other homes in town."
Palin spoke at last Thursday's debate with a collection of folksy "you betchas," but, as conservative Obama supporter Andrew Sullivan pointed out, "Just compare this recording of Palin in Alaska in 2006 to what you heard last night. Ask yourself where the folksiness is. See how many "times she says 'doggone' in 2006. Or 'betcha.' Or 'Joe Six-Pack.'
Palin uses sports the same way she uses her looks and language, which have turned the blog corner at National Reviewinto something like thePenthouse Forum. The simple truth that Palin is Bush with lip-gloss, the only difference being that she was a better athlete than the former Yale cheerleader. She is still the same person who was the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at her high school. FCA is a group whose stated mission is to "use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ." Substitute "politics" for "athletics," and we have Palin. But it isn't just about spreading the word of God.
It's about the right-wing edge of the fundamentalist movement that uses sports to mask a political agenda of creationism, bigotry, environmental catastrophe and deregulation. And if that leads to the "end-times," then so it was written. If sports teaches us anything, it's that you can disguise a lousy competitor for one round, one quarter or one inning, but the truth has a way of making itself known. There is a reason Sarah Palin hasn't done a press conference. In every conceivable way, she belongs in the minors: strictly Bush league.
By L.A. Batchelor sports.yourblackworld.com labatchelor@blackathlete.com
NC-I am so sick and tired of the media bashing Manny Ramirez! First it was the Redsox and the media, then the Redsox players and fans, now Tim McCarver. Did McCarver not learn from ripping Deon Sanders back in the day when he called him selfish for playing in the NFL and MLB and got a champagne shower when Deon finally had to see this judgmental coward? Where does he get the audacity to criticize Manny Ramirez for the last two months in Boston and accuse him of dogging it and faking injuries. Was he in the clubhouse with Manny? Is he Manny's trainer? Was he in discussions and conversations between Manny, the other players and management? The answer is a resounding HELL NO! Instead, McCarver arrived at his opinion the same way everyone else outside the team: through Redsox talking points and propaganda. I heard McCarver say "we as reporters have to report the facts". Since when did McCarver become a reporter? Baseball analyst, barely, reporter, NEVER!What do you want mainstream media? When we come across as angry, we are too militant, when we are happy-go-lucky, we are considered lazy. You can't have it both ways but in your eye racist main stream media, I guess you think you should.
McCarver needs to shut up and stick to analyzing the NLCS and shut up. By the way, McCarver may wanna bring an umbrella when he goes in the locker room when the series is over because the Dodgers will win and Manny may want to shower him with champagne like Deon did.
Your Black World: Vince Young And The NFL's Depression Denial
Vince Young and the NFL's Depression Denial
By: Dave Zirin
Your sports page may have recently induced an unpleasant sense of déjà vu. A pro football star, by all accounts, seemed caught in a spiral of depression. Friends and advisers were worried enough about suicide to call the police. After an ensuing public-relations fracas, the player and the team assured us that it was all a grand misunderstanding.
Two years ago, this was the story of Dallas Cowboys star receiver Terrell Owens. Less than 24 hours after Owens had sleeping pills pried out of his mouth, his PR flack said that the police report was a fabrication and "Terrell has 25 million reasons to be alive" — an ugly reference to the dollars he was due in his contract.
This month it was Vince Young, quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. During a Sept. 7 victory over Jacksonville, Young threw two interceptions, sparking a chorus of boos from the home crowd. Then he seemed to be refusing to re-enter the game — and was injured shortly after he did return. The following night, when he didn't return calls to his cell phone, the police were sent to find him. He had apparently uttered the word "suicide" to his manager, and perhaps a team therapist, and made clear that he was in possession of a gun.
But now Young and the team say that this is a whole lot of noise about nothing.
"I'm fine. I'm good," Young said. "I just needed (time) ... to get through some things. But now I am OK. I was never depressed; I just hurt a little bit. ... When it happens again, I'll know how to handle it."
The response by many columnists and bloggers has been repellent and elucidating. This is why athletes keep these issues under wraps. Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star used this moment to write: "I'm going to do my best to avoid turning this into an I-told-you-so column. But the truth is, I told you before the 2006 draft that Vince Young was primed for NFL failure."
In the NFL, there is no worse sin than failure, and players are expected to shake off losses, injuries and criticism. In football, it is well understood that performance-enhancing drugs, legal and otherwise, are part of that process — just not antidepressants.
In such a high-pressure sport, where contracts aren't guaranteed and any play can be your last, depression lurks like a blindside linebacker. This shouldn't surprise anybody. Studies show that repeated concussions are linked to depression. One 2007 study that examined more than 2,500 retired NFL players found that those who had suffered at least three concussions had triple the risk of clinical depression compared to teammates. Those with one or two concussions were one-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
And yet the NFL is selling a fantasy about professional football: It's all perpetual adolescence and a nonstop frat party. Fans don't want their star players to be human.
As Mike Messner, professor of gender studies at the University of Southern California and author of Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports, said to me: "Therapists will tell you that it's much harder for men than for women to recognize the signs of depression, and then to ask for help. Quintuple that for a famous man. Being an NFL star is like being put on a national stage as the ultimate man: tough, decisive, invulnerable. Superman isn't supposed to get depressed, so depression gets viewed as a source of shame, like failing at manhood. ... In failing to discuss and deal with the very human reality of men's vulnerabilities, it seems to me the football establishment is once again giving boys and men a very unhealthy message."
In other words, team and league executives don't want to be upfront about Terrell Owens or Vince Young. And they certainly don't want to talk openly about the story of Shawn Andrews. Andrews, of the Philadelphia Eagles, missed days of training camp in August because, as he told reporters, he was depressed. "I'm willing to admit that I've been going through a very bad time with depression," the two-time Pro Bowler said. "I've finally decided to get professional help. It's not something that blossomed up overnight. I'm on medication, trying to get better."
But the Eagles didn't see Andrews' mental health as a legitimate medical problem and fined him $15,000 for every practice he missed. That wouldn't have happened to a player with a sprained knee. Andrews is now back on the field. After Young's episode, Andrews told reporters that depression is the silent scream of many NFL players.
"When we faced the Patriots, those guys were really concerned, and when we played the Jets, a couple of guys were inquiring — told me if I wanted to talk or needed to talk (to contact them)," Andrews said. "A lot of guys, you'd be surprised, are going through what I'm going through and don't admit it. I think guys are sensitive to it. If they haven't been through it, they know somebody who has."
Surely many fans know someone who has endured the darkness of depression as well. But the NFL, rather than take the opportunity to educate fans about a disease millions of men face, just pumps up the music and gets back to the big frat party. Let's hope more people like Andrews break the silence before tragedy strikes.
Jeffrey Jordan is Michael Jordan's son. That little proposition, as it relates to basketball, can not be an easy one for any offspring to undertake.
Most likely riding a wave of emotion after the death of his daughter, Exodus, Mike Tyson married his girlfriend, Lakiha Spicer. According to the Associated Press, Tyson and Spicer, who is not the mother of Exodus, married at the La Bella Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas' Hilton Hotel-Casino.
