Category Archives: The World of Sports

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Best Female Athlete

I wonder if anyone has ever had as great a year as Candace Parker.  Coming off a National Championship at the University of Tennessee in 2007, Parker let the Lady Vols to a second straight title before being the top pick in the WNBA draft.  The Los Angeles Sparks went from worst to first and won the WNBA title in August.  But it doesn’t stop there!  Parker also led the US Olympic Team to an another undefeated record on their way to the Gold Medal. 

Since high school Parker has won all sorts of personal awards.  This year alone she was a Kodak All American, SEC Tournament MVP, John Wooden Award winner, ESPY Best Female Athlete, the WNBA Rookie of the Year and league MVP, and now AP Female Athlete of the Year.  Candace is also a very engaging young woman who earned the respect of such veterans as Lisa Leslie who is a former WNBA champion and MVP herself.  Normally a rookie that comes in with such accomplishments may not fit in as well as the veterans.  But Candace has done the opposite.  She can play with anyone and is a leader wherever she goes.

The future is bright for Candace Parker.  Congratulations to her and other female athletes who aspire to excellence!

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cmac on sports – pre holiday rants

I grew up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and as such hated the Dallas Cowboys. (Especially during the 80’s)  But I came to appreciate the 90s version with the likes of Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Jay Novacheck, Nate Newton etc.  A lot that love came for Irvin in particular because of my love for the U.  (University of Miami) That was my college team during the glory days.

Anyway – since then I always felt it was good for the league if the Cowboys were good.  And I haven’t liked or disliked them.  But I have to admit that since Terrell Owens, (T.O.)  is about to implode another team, I have come to root against Dallas. 

I was glad when Baltimore beat that ass the other night.  Now if the Eagles can do the same, I won’t have to suffer this child during the playoffs.

Some of this is Dallas’ fault too.  Not just owner Jerry Jones who totally empowers this ridiculous behavior, but guys like Tony Romo the quarterback who won’t tell it like it is – that T.O. is whinny lil BEEaach who throws teammates under the bus during tough times!  They continue to cover for this fool and it just feeds the monster. 

Jason Garrett the offensive coordinator allowed a clandestine meeting to be held with Owens, and fellow receivers Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams, where Owens accused Romo and his boy TE Jason Witten of plotting to keep him from getting catches.  This in spite of the fact that Owens leads the team in catches and touchdowns.

Former players Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders have never publicly called Owens out on his continuous team destroying tactics from calling Jeff Garcia gay when he played for the 49ers.  Nor for throwing Donovan McNabb totally under the bus, starting a fight with Hugh Douglas – prompting the Eagles to send him home and be relegated to drive way push-ups for cameras while agent Drew Rosenhaus postured for this pathetic cancer of a teammate.

Next came the sleeping pills incident. (he took too many of them obviously in a fit of depression) Instead of dealing with whats wrong with the cat, they all covered it up and glossed it over.  An example is in the aftermath of Pill Gate, his publicist said, Terrell has 25 million reasons to live.” 

Earlier this year I knew for sure that T.O. was a selfish jerk when I saw him yelling at an assistant coach after a Dallas victory over Green Bay.  It was a great win for the Cowboys, but Owens only had a few insignificant catches while other guys shined during a prime time nationally televised game.  That told me this would be business as usual for T.O.

GO EAGLES!  Please remove this dude from my sports page to begin the 09! 

Boston Bustin Out on L-7

Kevin Garnett Picture

I got to give it up to the boys from Beantown.  For any team to win a world title, only to come out and win 26 of their first 28 games including 18 straight!  Talk about NOT resting on your accomplishments.  This reminds me of the Bulls teams who won championships and managed to chase 70 wins the next couple years.  Kevin Garnett is a beast.. making plays and making teammates cry on the bench.  (Side note, I honestly think Garnett has this image of Hall of Famer Bill Russell looking at him evaluating his effort every night.  He wants to please Russell like a kid wants to please his father.  Garnett wants to live up to Russell’s standard.  I think this is fueling his intensity even more to never let up.)  Back to the rant…..

Paul “The Truth” Pierce ain’t lied yet, Ray is Ray – and Rajon Rondo looks like Tiny Archibald.  If he continues to play the way he is, pencil these cats in the Finals in June.  I got nothing but mad respect for the Celtics and the way they go about their business!

Can’t sleep on the Cavaliers though.  Damn does LeBron James ball now or what?  I haven’t been able to see ESPN’s First Take over the last few months but Skip Bayless may as well get up off of his nutsack cause dude is putting up MVP numbers.  I hear Bron Bron is up to 274 pounds of 100% man now – and by FAR he is the fastest most athletic cat in an NBA full of fast and athletic cats.  The Cavs are just waxing fools and Bron is putting on a rock concert not seen since dare I say…… MJ?  It will be interesting to see how well the team does after the new year and specifically how they fare after the All Star Break.  This is where we always separate the men from the boys in terms of who is seriously going to contend.  Will Lebron’s legs give out on him?  Remember he did spend the summer in Beijing winning gold.  Only time will tell – but I am a believer.

Derek Fisher, Anthony Johnson

Uhhhh which brings me to my boys the Los Angeles Lakers.  They won last night in Memphis thanks to Kobe.  My boy Blue drove his son down yesterday to see the Lake Show down 55 south, and will call me later for the details.  They have one more game on the 4 games in 5 days road trip tonight against CP3 and the Hornets before that Christmas Day match-up against the above mentioned Beast of the East.  They lost last Friday against the Heat and then followed that up with another uninspired performance against the Orlando Magic.  All and all we are probably playing like the worst 22-5 team in the history of the NBA.  I don’t have to talk about how bad the D is…  I will let Lamar Odom speak for himself. 

“It’s just like when we used to play against Phoenix two seasons ago.  “We always felt like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get back in the game. They are playing an offensive style of basketball.’  I think that’s how teams right now might be looking at us.  We’re not making it hard enough for teams, as far as around the basket, as far as our defense. At the beginning of the year, maybe the first seven or eight or 10 games, we had teams that quit.  It was like, ‘This is too hard. We know we can’t stop them.  And they’re making it hard for us on defense.’  Now, I feel like teams feel like we’re going to let them back in the game.”

Translation… Get the house in order fellas or you will be the Dallas Mavericks come playoff time.   

New Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia during his introductory press conference.

In the “Don’t hate the playa” category, I got to send love to CC Sabathia the pitcher who inked a 7 year 161 million deal to don the pinstripes.  I remember when we used to say that the CC stands for “Captain Cheeseburger” because of his weight.  Now it stands for Cha Ching!  The Yankees initially offered CC a 6 year deal worth 140 million, and it sat on the table for a month cause he really wanted to play on the West Coast – preferably for the Dodgers.  Team LA wasn’t even close, and Artie Moreno the Angels owner had his eyes on Mark Teixeira. (The Yankees signed Teixeira for 8 years 180 mil today – Maybe CC needs to have his deal re-worked!)  The Yankees then added another year with an even 23 million per.  (9 million signing bonus)  And please, spare me the economy talk.  Any one of us would take it if we could throw the rock like him and someone offered it to us.  I ain’t mad at you brother!

The Story of the Year!

This is the story that has me the most hyped for 2008.  No, its not Michael Phelps and his 8 gold medals.  That’s nothing compared to the feat the Gridiron Gang from Motown is about to pull off.  A PERFECT SEASON…. in reverse.  That’s right for the first time in NFL history a team is flirting with backwards perfection:  an 0-16 season.  Detroit is a tough town… the Pistons have rings, and Tigers have had their ups and downs but were in the World Series a few years ago.  The Red Wings dominate!  Now the Lions are about to make their mark.  Just one more tank job against the Packers this Sunday and its a done deal.

Memo to Lions Players:  Anybody can go 1-15.  That’s not what you’re after.  Finish the job.  I know you are not the worst team in football cause if you were playing the Rams you would smash them.  But still, this is no time for semantics and nitpicking.  Man down.  Roll over.  Make history! Quit for godsakes!  Remember what Kevin Garnett said after he finished his season….. “Anything is possibleeeeeeeeeeeee.

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The Golden Age for The Golden Boy

Oscar De La Hoya

Well it’s the end of an era for another boxer.  Oscar De La Hoya was dismantled in Las Vegas on Saturday night by the rising Filipino star Manny Pacquiao.  Though I have not seen the fight yet, everything I hear and read suggest that he was utterly dominated to the point of refusing to leave his corner for the 8th round.  This is now what we are used to seeing from Oscar.  For most of his storied career he has been the ring master.  Now it’s time to hang up the gloves and continue furthering his business ventures. 

I can’t let Oscar go out the door however without giving it up to a great champion.  Oscar was the best thing in boxing overall since the Muhammad Ali/Sugar Ray Leonard era in my opinion.   Since the Golden Boy won Gold in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona,  he has fought the best of the best and has never ducked anyone.  I can remember some suspect decisions that I thought he was the beneficiary of.   Pernell Whitaker and Ike Quartey come to mind immediately. Still De La Hoya defeated 17 world champions and won 10 titles in 6 different weight classes.  He also generated more money than any boxer in the history of the sport.  Because of his good looks, charming personality and million dollar smile, Oscar De La Hoya fights generated more women Pay Per View (PPV) subscribers than men.  That kind of exposure was good for the sport which has suffered from too much greed by promoters and too little exposure to great fights without fans having to shell out big bucks for PPV.

Speaking of promoters, Oscar started his own, Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. for the specific purpose of giving boxers more options and independence from the suspect promoters that have helped down the sport.  Oscar owns the major shares of the business,  partnering with other boxers who were also his rivals such as Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley.  Though Mosley and Hopkins are in the twilight of their respective careers, putting the business of boxing into the hands of boxers who put in the training and hard work to provide the matches is something hardly ever seen in the sport.   Many of their fights are on cable TV, where someone with HBO or Showtime can see them without paying extra.

I grew up loving the sport of boxing.  One of the greatest moments of my life was meeting Muhammad Ali.  He and Ray Leonard were a couple of my hero’s as a kid.  I remember when an up and coming  Mike Tyson would fight on ABC’s Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons.  There are so many great boxers I can’t name them all on this post.  The sport has a lot of work to do if it wants to maintain an edge in this competetive market while guys like me get older and young people flock to Mixed Martial Arts, (MMA)  With no commissioner in the sport to regulate things and help to establish health plans etc.,  it’s guys like Oscar De La Hoya that give the sport a hope for the future. 

I for one appreciate that.

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A Salute To Coaches

One of the most important names a man/woman can be called is, “coach.”  At first glance a coach merely looks like a guide or a teacher of sporting fundamentals, teamwork, competition and sportsmanship.  But often they are so much more.  They are mentors, and are often looked upon by players as people who can help them accomplish something important. 

I’ve followed and participated in sports all of my life in some form.  I’ve played for some coaches I adored and some I abhorred.  This had nothing to do with whether a coach was a hard liner or an encourager in terms of style.  I am talking about other areas that make the difference.  These are the two questions I ask of my coaches.

“Does Coach know anything about the sport he/she is trying to teach me? ”

“Is Coach in this for me or for him?”

I could always tell on the first day of practice what the answer to these questions were.  And that determined my experience on the team. 

A coach can have a tremendous amount of influence on a kid.  The right coach can get a player to do things he never imagined he could.  He can help the player to learn some terriffic lessons in navigating in life through sports.  On the other hand a coach can be a horrible influence and teach young people the total opposite of how to handle situations or themselves.  I have seen both sides of these.  And one thing I cannot tolerate to see is a coach who works with young people for the sake of his/her own ego and sense of glory.  One of the coolest thing to see is a coach who loves the kids he/she works with. 

As a basketball official, I see coaches all the time.  Many of them I’ve worked often. 

A case of knowing a coach is in it for the right reasons is one that I ran into recently at a tournement.  This guy is a two time Missouri High School Coach of the Year and won a state championship.  Certainly he is one of the most respected basketball coaches in the state.  His players go to Division 1 universities and some have gone to the NBA.  When I officiated one of his games recently I would have expected to see high school teens getting ready for the upcoming season.  What I saw instead was a group of 5th graders learn at the hands of one of the best.  From the tip off to the final buzzer this guy taught, instructed and encouraged his players to an easy victory.  His team was calm, seem to feel no pressure and really enjoyed themselves.  This wasn’t the first time I saw a coach who could coach pretty much anywhere he wanted take time for younger underdeveloped players.  Though I don’t care who wins the games I officiate, it felt good to see adults who understand the importance of taking time out for our youth – and who can handle this great responsibility correctly.  Some of these coaches are nuts and shouldn’t be around young people at all.  Most of them (even the ones that don’t seem to know anything about the game) are caring and compassionate towards our future leaders of society.

For everyone who takes time to coach and guide our youth the right way… I salute you!

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BBG C-Notes – Week Ending Sept 12-4

I know there has been a mostly serious tone in the house lately.  So let’s lighten it up a bit for the weekend while “still keepin it real.” 

First I have to give love to those in the gulf coast especially in Texas.  Thoughts and prayers to you as Ike approaches.  And now… the C-Notes.

** Memo to Orenthal – I know that up until this point you have practically been superman!  You’ve rolled like the man of steel.  You’ve been bulletproof!  But you may want to strike a deal with the prosecutor for that sting operation you pulled last year to get your gear in Vegas.  Do a lil jail time, feed the wolves and go about your way.  These white folks are NOT going to let you skate again.  The squeeze is on Juice.  Take a knee on this one.

** I am a huge Lance Armstrong fan!  Loved his book and found it quite incredible and inspirational.  Winning all those Tour De France titles was legendary – even amid all the doping speculation as well as the utter hate by the French.  You’ve won man – you proved your point!  No need to get back in the game now.  Don’t get me wrong, if anybody can do this it’s Livestrong!  But its clear that even cyclist who achieve greatness often stay a bit too long tarnishing their legacies.  This is an example of American arrogance.  Leave it be Lance!  Between your age and the fact that the whole nation will be holding fort at the airport with syringes when you get there… no way this goes good for you. 

*** Had a conversation the other day and was reminded how sweet this time of the elections would  be if Tim Russert were still with us.  He would not be letting this election distraction of Palin get by.  He would question her record and without missing a step keep John McCain’s feet to the fire.  Remember as horrible a selection as Palin is, the more people talk about her the less they talk about McCain.   He has been able to skate by on his lack of substance by putting her in the bright lights.  Many Americans are falling for this misdirection play.  Talk about lipstick on a pig….! 

***GAS GRASS (Coke) & ASS

So did you hear about the scandal involving several oil company representatives and the people they are working to have off shore drilling approved?  It seems that an investigation found that these oil executives where doing, (ahem) their own brand of off-shore drilling to the same people whose agencies offer offshore drilling leases and collects royalties.  Talk about partying like rock starts!!!  Apparently the cats at Chevron, Shell, and Hess among others really know how to “get down” with the MS Chicks!  Well at least you know why your gas prices are so…. uhhh “high”. 

*** I still can’t help but to be saddened by the fall of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  I was proud when he got elected.  I was rooting for him!  Got to see him during my one visit to Detroit and found him quite impressive.  This article from the Detoit Free Press does a good job of detailing a balanced perspective.  Kwame has flavor and charisma, and he rose at a very young age.  But the young brother got caught up and I don’t know that he can ever come back politically from this.  Stay close to your family brotha.  They will help you find peace and then pick up the pieces.

*** Big game in college football this weekend!   

logo.szuper.info.hu/pic/logo/o/ohio_state_athletics_78153.jpgVSwww.doubleqcountry.com/artman/uploads/usc_logo.jpg

Who ya wit?!!!

“I got Southern Cal – them Big Ten teams are too slow to hang with this killa squad!”

Have a blessed weekend family~

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BB&G C-Notes Week Ending Aug 22-25 – Politics And More

Whats up family!  I normally do this blog by myself.  But recently I ran into an old school mate, (actually he’s a bit older than me) named Charlie Bubba.  Charlie is an old school cat from the East Side.  I used to watch him shoot hoops when I was a kid.  Great guy!  I mean, he was not just some neighborhood bum.  He didn’t have much, and if you look at him it would seem with his old rags, baseball cap and missing teeth, this southern fried cat didn’t look as if he would have anything to say worth listening to.  But I tell you what… Give this guy a 40 and just sit down for a minute and he has a way of kicking the philosophy down like the ghetto Langston Hughes or something.  Hmm.  I sat down with Charlie Bubba, and asked his opinion on the Obama campaign.  Here’s what he had to say.

Well I’ll tell ya what C… I been watchin this young cat Boma.  And I have to say that up until this point, he has shown the smoothest pimp game I ever saw.  I mean damn!  I never thought I would see the day when a brotha man really had a chance to paint the White House black you know what I’m sayin… But Chicago got it goin on.  I have to give him props.  First he ran for the senate and made a damn fool outta that punk ass Alan Keyes.  Next thang ya know, homie is upstate announcing he’s running for pres.  Shiiiit!   (As he takes a puff of the Budda) After that he runs a pimp ass program against Bill’s wife.  And you know, his shit was still on point during some crucial challenges.  He gave the speech about race, which was pimp – Amerikka tried to argue wit it but you know them Fox watchers can see a nigga shine and gone always try to throw shade on him.  He shook off his preacher which normally would be a death sentence to the black community.  But I mean we got past that cause the Reverend showed his ass at the press club.  So he played the game the way he had to… smooth.  He has to be that non-threatening vanilla ass brotha so he wouldn’t scare middle America white folks away. 

Now that shit was smooth then.  But a nigga need to know when there is a change in the weather you know what I’m sayin?  He needs to change the game a bit and get with the program cause vanilla got him this far but he’s gonna have to flip the script now if he wants to be the man – cause that soft ass ambassador shit ain’t gone get it with this nigga McCain.  I mean look C, he did what he had to do with Bill’s wife.  Shit that gal did damn near everything in the book to break a nigga down.  And he had to smile for the most part cause he couldn’t be seen as too harsh on Miss White Pantsuit lady.  Oh hell 2 the naw America wasn’t gone stand for that.  So he smiled and gave her the olive branch, acted all diplomatic and shit.  He was smart enough to know that Luda could call her a bitch but he couldnt.  And it got him through.  But this nice shit done got the nigga lookin weak now.  I mean Bill ain’t calmed his ass down since the primary’s, and him and his wife got prime time spots in the convention next week ya dig?  I can see he want her voters, but damn how much is he gone kiss that ass?  Now McCain is all in his ass about his patriotism and comparing him to them skank hoes on TV.  And there is Boma sayin, “Well I ain’t gone question the man’s patriotism and shit. He’s a great American”  Hell fuck that shit.  Look man Boma needs to come with it cause this nigga McCain’s numbers are coming up and its cause he’s making Boma look like a punk.  See this here’s the big show.  And hell McCain and the ‘publicans playin for keeps!  Shit.  I know he’s been trying to avoid looking like the angry negro, but hell at some point he needs to show America that he got some nuts.  McCain’s been belittlin his ass from the git go.  Makin fun of him and shit.  Time for Boma to show that nigga he is from the South Side of Chicago and get gangsta with that ass.  (politically speaking of course) 

See that calm negro shit was cool before – hell necessary cause else they-da did him like he was Sharpton or Jesse and shit.  But that being said, even niggas like me now a days want a president that I know will kick a little ass if he needs to.  I am sure the rest of America wants to see that too.  And lets face it C, – look at what Boma dealin with.  McCain ain’t like Bush punk ass AWOL from the National Guard gettin coked out and listening to The Stones.  His ass was a fuckin POW!  Maybe he don’t know how many cribs he got, but shit this nigga used to eat lizards and bugs and shit to survive in the fuckin’ Ming-Cong jungle!  You think he won’t do any and everything to Boma’s ass to get in the White House?   Sheeeeet!  (Takes another swig from the 40)

I say he needs to go back to the cinema and put some of them old movies in his VCR-a to know how to deal with white folks like him.  Look and see how a real nigga acts.  He’s done enough Sidney Portier.  Nigga needs to go Jim Brown, “Dirty Dozen” on that ass!  Show them he can shoot the biggest guns, run the show and screw Raquel Welch at the end like it wan’t shit!  Then he may be able to finish this shit off in November. 

On that note I gave a dap to Charlie and told him later.  Before I hopped in my Jetta though I asked him if he’s watched any of the Team USA Basketball olympic coverage since I know he’s a big hoops fan.  He smiled with his toothless grin and shook his head as if to say, “Of course!”  Then he dropped his last bit of knowledge.

Yea I think them niggas gone win the gold and shit.  Hell if they don’t Shaq gone make a new record!  “Team USA couldn’t do without me!  Hey Dream Team, tell me how my ass taste!”

Charlie is a real character.  He’s always got a fresh perspective I’m not used to hearing.  Back to my thoughts now.

Rest in Peace Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones 1949-2008

and former NFL great and NFL Players Association President Gene Upshaw 1944-2008

Go to fullsize image

The last couple weeks have been tough on black folks. 

On a happier note congratulations to my Aunt Eleanor who celebrated her 65th birthday last weekend.  She is a great matriarch and a family treasure.

 

Peace~

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An Olympic Shout Out for East St. Louis Native

Olympics Dawn harper gold at finish line

Sure I am as ecstatic as anyone who has witnessed the dominance of Michael Pehlps.  Usain Bolt is literally destroying the competition with Carl Lewis like command.  The Redeem Team known as USA basketball is ready for the medal rounds and they look fantastic.  But I got to pause to give some love to home girl Dawn Harper.   Today she won the gold medal in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. 

This marks the first time an East St. Louisan has won Olympic gold since my home girl Jackie Joyner-Kersee, arguably the greatest female athlete of all time.  Her brother Al also won Gold in 1984.  The other commonality linking Joyner-Kersey and Harper is that they shared the same high school coach in Nino Fennoy.   Fennoy is an international track and field coaching legend.  His teams have won 15 Illinois State Championships.  When I attended East St. Louis Lincoln high school in the mid 80s, the girls track team were in the midst of an 8 year state championship win streak.   Keep in mind Lincoln was a rather small school (my class graduated 357) and they had to compete against school from Peoria and Chicago.  Fennoy has kept the tradition going winning the girls state title this year as well at East St. Louis Sr. High School.

The connections don’t stop there.  Harper’s current coach is none other than Bob Kersee.  Harper also attended college at UCLA, following in the footsteps of Jackie who met Bob while attending UCLA.  I am happy for Ms. Harper and for all the kids in East St. Louis who can look at these accomplishments and know they can achieve anything they choose to as well.

Congratulations Dawn!

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BBG C-Notes Week Ending Aug 15-17

Peeps, I know its been a week.  I have been on a bit of a sabbatical lately.  So i have not been able to post.  Thanks for sticking around.

We Will Remember:

Black Moses (Isn’t that redundant?)

And Bernie (I want my milk and coooookies) Mac

 

Rest in peace brothers!

Olympic News – (In Bad Taste)

What the hell were the Spaniards thinking about when they decided to pose with the “slanted eyes?”  Their poor excuses were not fooling anyone either.  Pau Gasol (who played Pau Gasoft when I last saw him foshizzle fizzle against the Celtics while wearing my beloved purple and gold of the Lakers) said, ““It was supposed to be a picture that inspired the Olympic spirit.”  What Olympic spirit would that be Pau?  Hey if the Olympics were ever in Africa, maybe they can all wear blackface!

Speaking of black faces, I tend to agree with USA’s Jason Kidd who pointed out that if that were the Americans, specifically the black Americans who pulled such crap they would be on the first plane smoking back to the States.  David Stern would be on the war path suspending players and condemning them left and right.  The world would have reacted and the powers that be would be ready to give up some American booty.

Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number 

At least the Chinese Olympic Team doesn’t think so when it comes to the age limits.  They sent Jr. High schoolers to do their deeds and win gold.   I mean just look at these girls!  Do they look 16 to you?  I know how sometimes a child looks older or younger than they really are – but practically the whole squad?  They look like they should be watching Spongebob!  Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press Sports – Tuesday’s With Morrie) said it best: “What did you expect? Any country that would lip-sync out a 7-year-old singer because she wasn’t cute enough for the opening ceremony wouldn’t hesitate to use underage children to capture gold medals. That’s a no-brainer.” 

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Thats the Chinese government for you though.  Rules only apply when they are the ones making them.

On The Upside:

Suffice it to say it DOES NOT SUCK to be Michael Phelps does it?  This dude is cold smashing cats globally in these games.  How about starting off with 6 golds with 6 world records! (12 total in his career and counting)  I read today that this cat puts away 12000 calories per day during training.  DAMN!  I bet thats a record too for a world class swimmer.

Memo to the USA Olympic Committee: How could you be so stupid as to not invite Mark Spitz?

Michael Phelps

I guess that ASS whoppin that USA Men’s basketball put on defending gold medal team Greece sent a clear signal that this isn’t 2006.  They may have gotten Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) out of his game.  But Coach K’s is a coach who truly believes in beating opponents into submission.  Before the game he showed the team a tape of Greece celebrating on the court aftet the game two years ago.  Needless to say, they got attitude.  Especially the ones who played on that team.  Spain!  Your next!

Chris Bosh

On To Politics:

Memo to Kwame Kilpatrick- Brotha stay in D Town.  Don’t be tryin to crash the Dems convention in Denver.  Take a page out of the John Edwards handbook!  This is not about you!

Memo to geographically challenged brothers and sistas – While Russia has invaded the capital of Georgia, Atlanta is Ok.  You can still drive down Peachtree!

Memo to bitter Hillary Clinton Supporters: Get over yourselves.  Your girl lost!  The Obama camp has bent over backwards to accomodate the Clinton’s ego all summer.  The convention is coming up in two weeks.  Please don’t go there and show your asses.  You just look bad not to mention its an invitation to insert John McCain.  Its like free advertising.  Of course some of you don’t care.  And you tend to look like racist in the meantime.  Check this quote out from Will Bower, co-founder of the Just Say No Deal Coalition, a rabid Clinton Supporter.  “I have been voting Democratic for 18 years. I only voted for Democrats, from dog catcher to president and everything in between.  I will be voting for someone other than Barack Obama come November.”

You mean to tell me that Obama and Clinton’s policies proposals are that different?  Can you be any more obvious?

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First Blood: Chinese visa rejection should open floodgates for dissent

 

US Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek

When asked the other day if USA Basketball players should speak out on human rights issues in China, Kobe Bryant said in effect that he and other players are not politicians but are there to “play the game.”  Normally I would say that’s a big cop-out!  After all, we know the power of the dollar these days and how much marketing makes a difference as players follow the “Jordan Rules” for remaining race and issue neutral on all things that do not pertain to promoting themselves or their brand.  I could site LeBron James’ reluctance to speak out about Nike sweat shops as an example. 

For sure the days of the concious athlete, i.e. Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, John Carlos and Tommy Smith, hell Billy Jean King are gone for the most part.  The rare exceptions for example are basketball players like Adonal Foyle, Dikembe Mutombo, and Etan Thomas.  Craig Hodges the former sharpshooter for the Bulls during the early Jordan years gave a letter to the president at the Rose Garden during their championship visit.  The letter talked about poverty and brought up issues that Hodges and others were concerned about that rarely ever get presidential attention.  He was blackballed by the league after that.  These people are conscious of not just their personal benefit and consumption from the sport, but of community and world affairs.  I don’t expect Kobe Bryant to know or care much about Tienanmen Square in 1989.  I don’t know that he is familiar with the issues regarding greater Los Angeles.  I would rather those speak who do know the issues so that the” stars” don’t make fools of themselves or degrade the cause.

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And so it goes with these Olympic games in Beijing.  I didn’t expect athletes with monolithic perspectives to chime in on weighty issues such as the Chinese human rights policy or the geopolitical stand of The Dali Lama.  Too bad the Olympics are in China in the first place, but perhaps we could just play nice and get through the games.  NOT!  Not now that the Chinese government has revoked the visa of Olympic Gold Medalist skater Joey Cheek.  Cheek is the founder of Team Darfur, a group of 70 athletes whose goal is to raise awareness of the human rights violations taking place in the Darfur region of The Sudan as told by Yahoo Sports.  China has many military, economic and diplomatic ties to The Sudan.

Again, initially I understood the modern athlete’s reluctance to get into political discussions during the games.  After all, it takes all one has just to prepare to qualify to compete with the best in the world on the world’s biggest stage.  The Olympics only happen once every four years.  Many American athletes have toed the line and not made any political statements regarding Chinese human rights issues and have focused their energies to promoting the games and making them attractive to fans, who may not otherwise know them.  However, China has thrown down the gauntlet two days before the opening ceremonies themselves.  American athletes should respond likewise by voicing their disdain for the way the Chinese have decided to treat Cheek.  They should use every opportunity especially during the medal presentations to make it their business to rally around a fellow American.  Talk about patriotism!  This is not a time to be politically correct but to make a morally definitive statement in supporting another American’s attempt to make the world better.  With the treatment of a great American like Cheek, it is unacceptable for any athlete to say with a straight face that it’s “just about the games.”  Damn the endorsements – speak truth to power!