Fox News: “Michael Vick Should Have Been Given the Death Penalty”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson followed the company's interesting tradition the other day by making one of the most distasteful and egregious comments in recent media history. Filling in for Sean Hannity, Carlson said that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick should have been executed for dogfighting.

"I'm a Christian, I've made mistakes myself, I believe fervently in second chances," Carlson said. "But Michael Vick killed dogs, and he did in a heartless and cruel way. And I think, personally, he should've been executed for that. He wasn't, but the idea that the President of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs? Kind of beyond the pale."

 

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Why Would Barack Obama Defend Michael Vick?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University –Scholarship in Action 

Anyone following the worlds of sports and politics heard about President Barack Obama's decision to congratulate the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles for giving the embattled Michael Vick another chance to shine. The president called Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to tell him that he condemns the crimes for which Vick has been convicted, but believes that those who've paid debts for their crimes deserve a second chance to contribute to society.

The symbolism of this moment can't be missed. Here we have an African American male going out of his way to express support for another black male coming out of the criminal justice system. While none of us knows Obama's true intentions, his public support for Michael Vick reminds us of the intricate connections that exist between many black males from all walks of life (Al Sharpton and I discussed thisvery same issue yesterday with regard to the arrest of the father of NBA star OJ Mayo): educated black politicians/doctors/lawyers who love sports have a great deal in common with athletes, who in turn have something in common with men in the criminal justice system, hip hop, etc. It's all connected at the end of the day (notice the close friendships between men like LeBron James and the rapper Jay-Z and the fact that many artists have friends who deal drugs).

 

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Ohio State Players Suspended for Selling their “Stuff”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Terrelle Pryor, the star quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, is set to be suspended for four games next season as a result of receiving improper benefits. He wasn't the only Buckeye kicked out for 1/3 of next season: Four other players were also suspended: Daniel Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas are among the guilty and condemned.
Adams is being asked to repay $1,000 for selling his 2008 Big Ten Championship ring and Heron was busted for selling his jersey, pants and shoes for $1,000. Also among the list of offenses being investigated was that the players received free tattoos in exchange for autographs.
When I read this story, I thought, "Here we go again, the NCAA participating in their typical sanctimonious and hypocritical behavior."

 

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Tiger Woods Allegedly Abandoned His Relatives

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Tiger Woods' brother, Earl Woods Jr., had some interesting things to say about the golfing superstar. Woods is the oldest of three children who came from the previous marriage of Tiger's now-deceased father. Tiger's brother now publicly claims that Woods has cut the family off and that he hasn't spoken to him since 2006. This is in stark contrast to the fact that they spoke quite frequently when Tiger was a young man.

It seems that, according to Earl, the trappings of fame, entourages and piles of money may have detached Tiger from that which matters most: those who love us. At the same time, we can't say for sure what happened in Tiger's family that caused the division to occur in the first place. Tiger's brother says that while they were invited to ride on Tiger's jet to the funeral of his father, the golfer barely acknowledged them during the trip.

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The Rise and Fall of Kobe Bryant: How His Career Has Evolved

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

This week it was announced that Kobe Bryant, star of the Los Angeles Lakers, is leading the nation in All-Star votes. Bryant has over 722,000 votes thus far and is on his way toward once again being America's favorite basketball player (well, he might already be there). He is more popular than his nemesis, LeBron James, who lost a bulk of his popularity after improperly orchestrating his move to Miami. At the same time, the criticism of James was inherently unfair.

What's interesting about LeBron vs. Kobe is that one guy has always been a team player and stayed out of trouble. The other one was being accused of rape just a few years ago and was also once known as a prima donna who wouldn't pass the ball to anyone other than himself. My oh my how times have changed.

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HS BBall Player Attacks Referee

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

A player from Desoto High School in Florida is in hot water after attacking a referee during a basketball game. Apparently, the player wasn't happy when the ref ejected him for hitting another player. It was then that the player hit the referee, eventually slamming him to the ground.
The game ended when the refs refused to continue officiating.
Obviously, this incident should lead to a serious punishment for the young man involved. Referees should not, in any way, feel that they are physically threatened when making unpopular calls during an athletic event. What I hope, however, is that we don't somehow conclude that the young man who made this mistake is some kind of irreparable social deviant. My interpretation is that there was plenty of testosterone flowing in the game and it simply got out of hand. Young people, often unable to handle hormonal changes, can sometimes do things that they regret. In fact, during college, I once threw another player to the ground in the heat of competition. After the incident, I immediately left the court and went home so I could cool off.

 

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Michael Vick’s Financial Woes Keep Him Living the Simple Life

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University Scholarship in Action 

Oh what a tangled web we weave with our choices. A man with one of the most tangled financial webs in America is Mr. Michael Vick. Vick has re-positioned himself as one of the leading quarterbacks in the NFL, and I’m sure a massive financial offer is forthcoming at some point. But don’t expect Michael to be rolling pretty for quite a while, since I haven’t seen this many financial problems since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Where do we begin? Let’s start with Vick’s stellar salary with the Philadelphia Eagles. Michael brings home a cool $4.1 million, which might seem like a lot of money for a man who didn’t just file bankruptcy while serving time in prison. A condition of the bankruptcy is that Vick doesn’t get to spend nearly any of the money he earns for anything other than absolute necessities. So, that means no Cristal at the club, no ‘blingin, flossin', shinin' or stuntin’ allowed, which seems to be the mandatory calling for far too many African American athletes.

 

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Tiger Woods Update: Another Tiger Mistress Says She Was Paid to Keep Sex Tape Off the Market

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Devon James is both a porn star and yet another woman who claimed that she slept with Tiger Woods. She is also a person who may be delusional, at least if you ask some of her friends. While it might be old news by now that Tiger likes to spend quality time with porn stars, the not-so-old news is that James claims that Tiger paid her a significant sum of money in order to avoid releasing their sex tape. By the way, she is also the one saying that she and Tiger have a love child.
James and her husband have been selling pre-orders for the tape for $19.99 through a website. The orders were to be shipped on December 1 of this year, but never arrived. There were also no explanations regarding why the tapes were never shipped. James says it's because she and her hubby were waiting for a settlement to come through from Woods' team, and that the settlement finally arrived (perhaps Tiger, like Obama, wanted to make sure that those in need received their benefits before Christmas).

 

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Black Love Gone Bad: Antoine Walker Sued for Taking another Man’s Finacee

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Former NBA star Antoine Walker is being sued for $5 million dollars by a man who claims that Walker stole his fiancee. Kevin Jenkins says that he caught Walker and his fiancee in an "intimate moment," and confronted Walker about it. He said that Walker laughed in his face to deliberately cause him emotional distress.
Jenkins then says that he became so emotionally distressed that he thought about killing himself.
To date, I haven't heard of anyone being sued for cheating with another person's fiancee. However, I do know that in some states, you can be sued for cheating with someone else's spouse. These "alienation of affection" lawsuits are legal in several states: Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

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Former Colorado Coach Says New Coach Hired Because He’s Black

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Jon Embree is a former tight end for The University of Colorado. He is currently an assistant coach for the Washington Redskins. The rumor mill has it that Embree may soon take the next step of becoming head coach at his alma mater.
Typically, such a bold move by a university to give an African American coach a chance might be applauded. In this case, heads are turning because of confusing remarks made by former Colorado coach Bill McCartney.
McCartney, who was one of three finalists for the job as of Wednesday night, shut down speculation by stating that the university had informally offered the job to Embree. He also went as far as stating that Embree was offered the job because he is African American.
"It was never about me doing it again," McCartney told the Denver Post. "It was about setting the table for a black man to come in (as head coach). And he (athletic director Mike Bohn) hired one. Now, give him a chance."

 

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How Race and Basketball Interact

As the great David Halberstam often observed, the racial politics of professional basketball have always been rather delicate. The sport, after all, sells the talents, style and power of mostly young black men to a largely white audience — and these uncomfortable racial dynamics have a tendency to bubble to the surface in strange ways. This summer, after LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami in a showy power grab, the move unleashed a tsunami of bile. According LeBron, the backlash was at least in part caused by the “race factor,” and it spawned a heated debate about the role of racism in the NBA.  For people looking for some perspective on the issue, ”The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History,” from the people behind the FreeDarko basketball blog, is a great place to start. The book is a collectivist account of the NBA’s racial, labor and cultural reverberations — with occasional jaunts into graphic novel format. “TUGTPBH” co-author Bethlehem Shoals is a primary contributor to FreeDarko, a site with a reputation for thought-provoking takes on the basketball world. Salon spoke to Shoals over the phone, about the LeBron controversy and the changing nature of race in the NBA.

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Study: College Basketball Players Have Lower Graduation Rates than other Students

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A new study by The College Sport Research Institute at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has revealed disturbing information about the academic hurdles of college basketball players. According to the study, the graduation rates for NCAA Division I men's basketball players is 20 percentage points less than the average for full-time male students.
The study goes on to show that the gap grows even further in top-ranking conferences. The authors present evidence that there is a 30.8 percent graduation gap when leading conferences are considered separately.
Women are better off than men in the study. Female basketball players find that their graduation rates are still worse than their peers, but the gap is not as great as it is for the men. For women, there is a 6.2 percent differential overall and a 14.6 percentage point differential in top conferences.

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Michael Vick Dominates the Redskins – He’s a Player Again

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Last night, Michael Vick was the man. Vick became the first quarterback in NFL history to record more than 300 passing yards, over 50 rushing yards, four or more passing touchdowns and two or more rushing touchdowns, all in one game. Not only did he give what some are arguing to be the greatest quarterback performance in the history of the NFL, he did it on Monday Night Football, one of the biggest NFL stages other than the Super Bowl. Vick led the Eagles to franchise records for total yardage (592) and points in a half (45). They were leading 28-0 at half-time, which is the most for any road team since 1950. It was amazing.

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Three College Football Players Shot at U. Mississippi

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

This weekend there was a fight in a bar in Hattiesburg, MS. Three football players from Southern Mississippi University were involved in the fight, and all three were shot. The three players are in fair condition at a local hospital.
Martez Smith, Tim Green and Deddrick Jones were shot shortly after 3 a.m. There have been no arrests and police say that the shootings may have been gang related.

Allen Murray, spokesperson for the Hattiesburg police, said that the fight started inside the club and spilled out into the street. That's where the players were shot. The incident occurred a few hours after the team defeated Central Florida.

 

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NCAA Wants to Fine Its Players

NCAA Wants to Fine Players Who Get Extra Benefits

12:45 AMOct 26

Source: BV on Sports

The NCAA is working with various groups to find ways to keep college athletes from receiving benefits from sports agents. Most recently, there have been proposals put forth that would fine players for violating the rules. The penalties may even ... Read More

USA Today Author Says College Athletes Should Be Paid

by Dave Meggyesy

The question of whether colleges should pay their revenue-producing athletes — football and basketball players at the NCAA's top 120 college programs — is a no-brainer.

OUR VIEW: When student-athletes cheat, corrupt adults escape blame

The amazing reality is that these athletes, the hired help whose performance generates hundreds of millions for these top programs, don't get paid. Who wouldn't want a business where the cost of your product is virtually zero? The performance of college athletes is the product!

Yet, as a marketing ploy, the NCAA defines college-revenue athletes as "student-athletes" and the games as contests among amateurs, creating a huge distortion. In these "big time" college programs, even the term "athlete-student" would be a stretch; athlete-employee is more accurate, young men and recently young women who work year-round at jobs and don't get paid.

 

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Black Athletes to Get Featured on New HBCU Network

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

NewsOne.com is reporting that there are plans to launch a 24-hour network dedicated to HBCUs. The network is set to be focused on "edutainment" and lifestyle for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The company behind the platform, C3 Media LLC says that the network is set to fill a niche within the cable industry that has barely been reached in the past.

Much of the programming will also feature various sports teams sponsored by black colleges all across America. "The idea and vision behind the creation of the HBCU Network is to preserve and celebrate the African American colleges and universities, while also providing opportunities for their growth and further prosperity," CEO Curtis Symonds told NewsOne. "At the same time, we are passionate and excited about building a strong media brand and network from the ground up."

 

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Black Athletes Must Prepare for the NFL Lockout

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

For NFL fans and those who have teams in their cities, there's something you should know. Like a dark cloud hanging in the sky on a bright, sunny day, a pending NFL lockout is waiting on the horizon. A lockout is sort of like a strike, but the workers aren't the ones calling for it. Instead, team owners are the ones calling for a halt in NFL activities, where the league will be shut down and games cancelled. Even if games aren't cancelled, we might be forced to endure another season of tacky replacement players, and nobody wants that.
The AFL-CIO has decided to put it's power behind the NFL Players Union in this battle with team owners. The organization sent a letter to the owners of NFL teams, warning them that a lockout could have a powerfully detrimental effect on workers and fans in cities all across America. They also warned that cities could lose $140 million in revenue.

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Reggie, You Didn’t Need that Heisman Anyway

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

I am not sure if Reggie Bush has ever read a word I've written. But after I mentioned last week that I felt Bush should give the Heisman trophy back, I was proud to see that he gave it away. Again, I am not one to say that he gives a you-know-what about anything I might say in public, but I can certainly say that I am proud.
Bush gave the Heisman trophy back this week after rampant speculation regarding whether or not he received inappropriate benefits during his time at USC. The speculation was bothersome to me, primarily because Reggie Bush was a human highlight film who earned millions for the NCAA and the university. The idea that they would even consider taking his Heisman Trophy after he'd given the NCAA so much was nothing short of offensive. If a man earns millions of dollars for you and you get angry because he took a few thousand to give his mother a place to live, then you've clearly got a problem with your value system.
Bush's statement about giving the Heisman back is below:

 

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No Black Athletes to Follow Venus, Serena and Tiger: What’s Going On?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

Most of us can appreciate, on one level or another, the tremendous achievements of Tiger Woods, Venus Williams and her little sister, Serena. They have all been, in one way or another, a tremendous source of pride for the African American community. Much of the reason we are so proud of them is because they've dominated like no other in sports that are not typically played by "us." I am personally more impressed with the Williams sisters than with Tiger, in large part because they've made it into a family affair, and seem to more directly embrace the idea of making their success into a "black thing." Tiger, on the other hand, seems to want to make his success into a "Caublinasian thing." I admittedly can't get with that.

 

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Black Athletes and Their Complex Relationships

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

One of my favorite films of all-time was "War of the Roses," starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. In the film, a divorced couple starts down a dangerous and hilarious path of mutual destruction, where the goal of each is to make the other person's life miserable. At the end of the movie, both parties find that while it was their goal to destroy the other person, they actually ended up destroying themselves. Just for the record, each character dies at the end.

I think about "War of the Roses" when I see the custody battle between NBA star Dwight Howard and his ex-wife, Royce Reed. Of course I don't expect anyone to end up dead, but it's already clear that Royce and Dwight have made each other's lives as miserable as possible. Royce recently called the cops after Dwight picked up her son from daycare at a time when he was not scheduled to do so. Before that, Dwight had filed a lawsuit against Royce for referring to him as a "douchebag" on the TV show, "Basketball Wives.

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Gilbert Arenas—No License, But Still Strapped

NBA star Gilbert Arenas didn't have a license to possess the guns he stored in his locker in D.C.,law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Arenas could be charged with “CPWL", carrying a pistol without a license.

Uh oh!

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