This shot by Roger Federer was by far the sickest shot I have ever seen in the game of tennis. Not only did he get himself into a position to hit the thing he also placed it in a place where it was impossible for his opponent to return.
Never seen a guy work a ball with the array of moves and motions like Roger. It’s no wonder he’s the best ever.
Hall of Shame Fame Induction Speech
I got to see most of the NBA Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. Congrats to some deserving new members. John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer are definitely worthy of their honors. I thought Stringer’s speech was quite moving and heartfelt. But I’ll be damn if Michael Jordan’s speech wasn’t the most unusual that I have ever heard in any sport.
On one hand as he sat there before being introduced and the video tribute played for him preceeding his introduction, the man seemed so humbled and out of his comfort zone. He knew this was the pinnacle of any player’s career and he was about the be crowned. When he got to the mic he was in tears as he tried to muddle through his first few words. But boy oh boy did he warm up with the rants regarding his competetors throughout the years such as Isaiah Thomas, Byron Russell, John Starks, and coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy. He covered just about every controversy on the court too. Well just about.
He talked about Thomas for instance freezing him out of that first All Star game in the mid 80s, but not how he in turn froze Thomas out of the 92 Dream Team. He talked about how then Knick coach Riley wouldn’t allow good friend Charles Oakley have dinner with Jordan during Oakley’s years with the Knicks, and how Van Gundy said Jordan befriended opposing players only to try to embarrass them on the court. He even talked about how Russell challenged him during Jordan’s baseball days saying that Jordan should come back to the NBA so Russell could guard him. Of course it was Russell who is immortaly posterized as the cat falling back as Jordan shoots jumpers on two separate occasions to win games over him in the NBA Finals.
Unlike some Hall of Famers who speak about family and friends who helped them get there, Jordan hit that only briefly. He used most of the speech to brag about his exploits. I thought it was funny. True to form. The only thing he said about his kids was that he didn’t want to be them. And he, the master of the Jordan brand that has paid him hundreds of millions of dollars even found time to bitch about all the thousand dollar apiece tickets he had to purchase for family and his lil trophy girlfriend to gain entrance into the ceremony.
I’m thinking to myself, ‘Damn MJ! You should have told the boys to watch it on TV! You blows a thousand dollars within the first 10 minutes of a casino visit. Your kidding right? ‘
Serena blows a gasket!
So what did y’all think of Serena Williams going off Saturday night? First off it seems to me that Kim Clijsters is on an amazing role as a new mother and she is truly shining at this years US Open. She not only beat Venus the other day, she had Serena all over the place too as the younger of the Williams sisters hit shot after shot into the net or out-of-bounds. It was obvious that Serena wanted some get-back for what happened to her sister the other night and it showed as she tried to out power Clijsters to her own demise. I knew it was a wrap when Serena slammed her racquet into pieces after losing a critical point. Kim was all in her head and that’s just the way it is.
In terms of the foot fault; well that was a bad call and I don’t think a foot fault is something that a judge ought to get wrong considering where she was positioned. Especially at such an important stage in the match.
That being said I am not going to pile on Serena for flipping her lid about it. Don’t get me wrong. It looked bad and I cringed as she kept going after the judge throwing on ‘F’ bomb after another. But on the strength of her overall resume’ and good that she’s been to the sport, I think she deserves a Mulligan because this is the first time I can recall this happening. If it doesn’t become a habit, it’s not a problem. Besides that, as I recall when I first started watching tennis back in the day, a certain fellow was notorious for throwing such fits on the regular. He is not only still revered in the tennis world, he happens to be the main broadcasting host of the tournament on both the men’s and women’s matches.
USC Does The Buckeyes
This just in from former USC fullback LenDale White. “Ohio State still suckes!
Yes the Trojans went into ‘The Big House’ and rolled the Luckeyes for like the 25th time. Whenever you get through with it, the Big Ten does not and will not be able to stand against the likes of the PAC 10 and the SEC. We see it every year in bowl games.
And big ups to Michigan too whooping up on Notre ShameDame! You see all that extra work does pay off! I was pulling for you HARD as I sat watching part of the game. The Wolverines were the most important team in the world to me at that time. Now that you have done The Domers, I care not what you do with the rest of your year. Your season is now complete!
Next week! My favorite team is….
wait for it……… that’s right! MICHIGAN ST. GO SPARTANS!
Saw the movie Inglorious Bastards recently and one of the first people I had to tell the movie about was my son Christian. You see Christian is a huge Pulp Fiction fan. I mean he’s probably watches it twice a week. Funny thing is he was watching the movie when I called him to report on this one. Imagine that! These were the points I had to make to my main man.
1) Definitely on the same level as Pulp but probably better!
2) Definitely the BEST Tarantino movie since Pulp.
3) The performances of Brad Pitt and Christopher Waltz definitely rival that of Travolta and Jackson! Pitt was great, but Waltz should win an Oscar he was so ‘off the hook!’
My boy wasn’t hearing any of this nonsense. Immediately he went to defend ‘his baby’ and accused me of outright blasphemy.
“Daddy, no way! Come on!! NO! It’s not!
I just told the lil cat to see the movie and bet back at me. I’m not the only one holding this opinion ya dig! I added this caveat,
” At the very least you will say, ‘its just as good as but the movies are different.’ But call me when you see the movie and give me my apology son. I’ll wait.”
” No daddy, I will see the movie, but you will be apologizing.”
Well finally, my man saw the movie on Wednesday. He called me on yesterday.
Boy did he hate to have to admit it.
“Yea daddy, it was definitely great. I’ll have to wait a few days to think about whether its better.”
When I brought up the acting comparisons, that really hurt him to admit.
“Your right.”
“It’s all good my boy, we’ll chat it up in detail more later. I got to get back to work.”
For Christian this is personal. But he’ll get over it. I was the one who got him hip to Pulp. So he should have listened to me!
On another note:
If you happen to be a Tarantino fan, for my money movies like Bastards and Pulp are pinnacle for the true sophistication of art at its best when it comes to script writing, character development and direction.
Movies like Kill Bill and Roadhouse are OK for smash and slash. But for theatre and suspense… Speaking of suspense I don’t know if I know a director that can stretch a scene out with the patience that Tarantino can as he illustrated with Bastards. The opening scene alone must have aged me by 7 years.
Inglorious Bastards is an instant classic! I will definitely own it when it comes out on DVD. And I’m thinking I’m going to have to see it again!
As far as which is better? Well I know they are two differnet movies and they both stand apart on their own. But I’m gonna talk Bastards on the strenght of Waltz’s performance alone. I consider it growth for Tarantino. Hopefully I won’t have to wait another 15 years to get another classic from him.
Finally! The NFL is back and I look forward to seeing how my Steelers react to the tall task of facing a tough division rival The Tennessee Titans. Last year they beat us pretty bad and my man LenDale White was seen stomping on the Terrible Towel. Hmm!
President Obama laid it out on last night in his speech regarding healthcare. I thought he did a great job of outlining the details and dispelling the lies out there that have been floating around by those on the Right. I especially appreciated that he called them lies and not some softer word as a way of being diplomatic. The so called death panels, abortion, insurance for illegal immigrants, etc., he shot them all down quite forcefully!
Now its up to us as citizens to put pressure on our elected officials to get the plan passed. I understand the health care lobby has spent a quarter of a billion dollars within the past 6 months to thwart reform. It’s obvious that the Republicans and some Democrats are making good use of that money. Republicans are even willing to play on their racist constituents to divert attention from the facts – AND the facts that most of these rural poor white people do or will have some issues with health insurance sooner if not later. They are cutting their own noses to spite their faces.
There was a lot of hate in that room last night. Many of the Republicans were so uptight I thought a few of them were going to have strokes. The more articulation brought forth to dispel their lies, the more they shook their heads in disgust or squirmed in their chairs.
Though he’s backing up and apologizing somewhat I am sure most of what he is sorry about is the backlash he’s gotten. He meant what he said and his propoganda is what many of his ilk have bought into which is really a personal thing against the president.
This issue is too important to our nation to be distracted. We need better healthcare options for all Americans. I don’t care whether you lean towards the left or the right. We need to make it happen.
Great motivational speech to the students of the nation by our president. It’s too bad that many racist parents, principals and teachers kept their students from hearing it. Worst of all, too bad that they are teaching their children to think as they do. Some of the comments I heard from racist folks were ridiculous. They really think the president is their enemy. Their ignorance tells me they should have heard the speech when they were kids.
I am also happy that President Obama took that speech nation wide as opposed to what had been done before, which was to speak about responsibility and accountability to black audiences only as if black folks are the only ones needing to hear that message.
I look forward to what he says about healthcare tonight.
After watching the first half of pre-season football, I tuned in to the US Open, probably my favorite tennis tournament. Venus played a Russian girl, Vera Dushevina who almost took her clean out the tournament in two sets. The way Venus was playing making mistake after mistake, I thought she was a goner!
But she flipped the script and just dominated Dushevina as if she were an amateur. It was clear after consecutive aces and wins off the serve that Venus was all in her head.
Venus also has tendinitis in one of her knees. That doesn’t get better over a tournament, only with weeks of rest. Will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple weeks. Regardless I know there is some exciting tennis on the horizon on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Talked to my mother on Sunday and she told me she can smell the smoke at her home in Inglewood. Her home office is here downtown. I am always saddened when this happens it seems every year in Southern California. I don’t know if it’s been as bad as it is now. But I sure pray some serious rain from that Hurricane down south can make its way there. That is, if the wind doesn’t make it worse.
I haven’t heard but did someone start this one on purpose?
Godspeed to the firefighters! I hope they don’t lose anymore of them.
It’s not that I haven’t had much to say these days. I have just been busy as all get out. So I will attempt to burn on a few things while I’m here. I miss communicating with the readers and other bloggers. I look forward to catching up on whats been on your mind. Meanwhile, here’s what’s been on mine.
First and foremost;
Rest In Peace Senator Kennedy
Once he got over trying to be president he became one of the greatest public servants ever. Much respect!
The Healthcare Bill,
Been watching this one a while. Overall I’ve been silent and a bit discouraged to talk about it for a few reasons. Number one, all of the outburst at the town hall meetings where folks act a damn fool. Two, the misinformation from people like the Governor turned quitter who said that there would be “death panels’. I mean be for or against the bill but to lie about it is just ridiculous and really speaks to how most politicians really are not interested in serving, let alone democracy. Three the clear racism within the debates. It’s still the elephant that folks don’t want to talk about. But Representative DAVID SCOTT (Democrat, Georgia) broke it down recently in an interview on NPR. Here is some of what he had to say about opposition communication he has received:
“These are things I’ve been getting in the mail. First is a picture of Obama painted up to look like the clown from Batman, the Joker, from Batman. On his forehead is a sickle. Underneath it is said, death to all Marxists, foreign and domestic. You know, where that’s getting at, from the (unintelligible) reference. Then it says, to nigger David Scott. You were, you are, and you shall forever be nothing but a nigger.
The Ethiopian cannot make himself white – taken from Euripides. And then, here’s another letter: Congressman David Scott, regarding the government health care legislation. First, you are a member of the Congressional bank caucus. You’re a racist, because whites don’t have membership. Secondly, you should not be re-elected next year. You’re going down to defeat and any of your colored constituents ain’t going to stop it…..When you’ve people making claims, I want my America back, they weren’t saying that before.”
Exactly! What they are saying is that they want a white face in the White House. Period. And then when you look at some of the stupid folks who talk; like the guy who said, “I don’t want the government in my medicaid.” How stupid is that? I am utterly convinced after watching this thing go on that for most of the detractors it’s simply an issue of race. A black man can give them salvation but they be hard pressed to take it if it came from him.
I also take issue with the Obama administration taking a step back from the public option. That’s what this has all been about in terms of what was promised. I’d rather see him go down like a soldier than to put a weak bill into play in order to garner enough support from republicans who will curse him regardless.
What is most disturbing about the debate is how there are so many Americans without a lick of health insurance, who can’t afford to see a doctor and whose only option is the emergency room, standing up fighting against something in their own best interest for racial reasons. But that’s the thing about race. For many it trumps even the most basic and fundamentals of common sense. Just think about it, as the economy went sour and all these folks were losing their jobs, the very politicians who were in charge of the coffers and NOT offering them anything, those who cut unemployment benefits etc. are now rallying them against having at least some options of health care regardless of the amount of money they do or do not make.
I tend to agree with someone else I heard on the radio recently who broke it down this way. Newt Gingrich said so long ago that if the Democrats were to pass a successful health care bill that the Republicans would basically be toast. For many republicans I believe this is how they feel and they may be right to a degree. One thing I know the republican party, regardless of the reasons, they are perfectly willing to rile up racist to sing the rhymes. And for America thats a sad thing.
QUICK HITS
I know it’s old news but I have to catch up right?
Were you buying what Rick Pitino was selling? I’m not judging the man’s character at all. I mean I have made my share of personal blunders. What gets me however is the way these cats often try to cover things in the media the way they do. The man impregnates a woman that he’s not married to in a restaurant! Hits it another time or two and then gives her money for an abortion. But he can’t really just admit that. Oh no his attorneys want us to believe he dropped 3 Large on her for health insurance. Hey, it’s a distinction without a difference!
And what is up with this crazy ass woman? In strict ghetto terms she had Pitino by the balls initially, (no pun intended) and could have gotten a thing or two out of it. But to demand all the things like a house, two cars, college tuition for kids that the coach didn’t father, a monthly treasure and then to finally say, “Oh what the hell, just give me $10 million and call it a day..” This is what you call STUPID! He did the right thing by going to the FBI. She thought she was going to be in his pocket terrorizing him for the rest of his natural days. Now she’s going to jail. DUMB! Greed is a mother for ya!
The Saga Continues
Ok, so I don’t give a damn about Brett Favre. But I will watch and hope he gets his ass kicked. It’s not that I don’t think dude should play. He is just such a Prima-Donna. He sits out camp and just shows up with this BS story about how Brad Childress called him the other day to give him one more chance to come back – and THEN he had the never to invoke his daughter in the decision. Basically he said, “I don’t fear lineman chasing after me, but when my little girls walks up to me crying and saying, ‘Daddy, I want you to win one more Super Bowl, that moves me.”
What? Man just do what you do. Show up, chuck the ball all over the place, throw pics, divide the locker room, cash the check and take your ass back to Mississippi and do another Wrangler’s commercial. See ya next year Brett!
And really, I don’t blame Brett as much as I do Brad Childress. He is all but holding Brett sausage for him when he takes a leak. It’s pitiful how he put his coaching career not to mention the whole team’s future into Brett Favre.
Ok, my final burn – Lebron “Not The King” James
I used to be such a big Lebron fan. I traveled by car for 6 1/6 hours to Columbus, OH to see dude play in high school. His NBA career has been stellar and I am still amazed by his talents and physical presense. But his head is just too damn big nowadays. Before he was polished, corporate and a downright bull on the court. Now he’s arrogant and I think he really thinks he is a king.
It took me a while to come to this conclusion on James. The first episode was the time he played a preseason game in Rochester N.Y. (look it up I don’t have all the time to site everything today- it’s there) Anyway, folks spent all this money to watch him play in a non NBA city. Not only does Lebron NOT play, he gets up during the game and walks to the scorers table, and as the crowd stands and claps in anticipation, shrugs his shoulders and sits down laughing. That was weak – not the way you treat fans!
The second was the whole handshake gate after Orlando bounced the Cavaliers out of the playoffs. He still continues to act as if it was OK not to shake hands. But he knows that’s BS and yet he refuses to even man up on that.
Third was “dunk gate” when the college kid dunked on him in camp, only to have Lebron have the Nike cronies seize the tape. Of course TMZ (those media vampires – that’s another blog) got a hold of the tape. It wasn’t even a big deal. But Lebron is so interested in keeping a rep that he tries to not allow the kid his place in the sun. As Jim Rome often says, the cover-up is mostly always worse than the crime. Part of Lebron’s hype as a younger man was via the Internet. If something another kid does helps him out, let it be. But nooooo can’t do that! And if he thinks Shaq is going to help him land a ring… in the words of Senator Clay Davis from The Wire…. ‘Sheeeeeeet’
While Kobe is in someones gym working on his game, Shaq is touring the nation doing reality TV. As Chad Ochocinco would say, “Child please.”
You know sometimes my life is so busy, (well most of the time) I have quite a few things that I would like to burn on that I don’t get the chance to. Most of the time it’s because I am a writer. Instead of wanting to give a quick headline with a photo, I’m more inclined to giving a more detailed take on something. If I don’t have time to write in detail, usually I just let it go even if I really wanted to delve in. Well so many things are piling up I just decided to do an overall quick hit thing with topics that have caught my eye. I’m sure I will miss some things that I thought blog worthy, but let’s just see how much I can eeek out.
CELEBRATING A LANDMARK DJ
Let me give a shout out to my man Casey Kasem who founded America’s Top 40 over syndicated radio some decades ago. He recently retired and it made me think of my Top 40 memories with Casey.
The program used to come on my local radion station ‘WRBR’ in South Bend, Indiana when I lived there on Saturday mornings. I hate to date myself but I remember Casey playing, “Love Will Keep Us Together” by The Captain and Tennille. What I got into the most was the personality of the host (Casey) and how he would wove stories about the artist or people like me who loved the music and how it effected us. This was told most illustrated with his Long Distance Dedication portion of the program. This is where Casey would read someones letter about some couple who were in love, had hundreds if not thousands of miles between them, and no matter what the problem was, if Casey would play a particular song that would make it alright. When Casey got through reading the letter, you almost wanted to cry sometimes. One of the songs that got a lot of Long Distance Dedication play was Samantha Sang’s Emotion.
This one hit wonder was released during the hey day of “The Bee Gees.” The brothers wrote, produced and sang back up on the song and as a result it sounded just like one of their own. The song is still a classic if you ask me. That thing was number 1 for a while! Anyway, like many Americans I looked forward to Casey Kasem’s voice on my radio every weekend. It was just as much of a ritual for me as going to school or church. He was a great DJ.
Enjoy the remaing years!
STANDING UP FOR W!
I never thought I would see the day that I had to get the back of George W Bush. But I am a principled man. My beefs with Bush were never unwarranted nor unjust. I only need two words to sum it up; Iraq and Katrina. That being said I find his bumbling vice president to be even more hideous in his back stabbing of the president. Dick Cheney has a memoir coming out. I mean just step back for a moment and take that in. “Dick Cheney has a memoir coming out.” I mean what kind of shit is that? This gansgter of secrecy and deceit is writing a freaking book? Oh yea I’m sure it’s going to be forthcoming, right? Right! And I saw Osama Bin Laden at McDonald’s trying out the new Angus Burger. Get a load of what this guy let fly out of his mouth recently concerning the president, his boss. According to a story on the washingtonpost.com,
“In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him,” said a participant in the recent gathering, describing Cheney’s reply. “He said Bush was shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took. Bush was more malleable to that. The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him, or rather Bush had hardened against Cheney’s advice. He’d showed an independence that Cheney didn’t see coming. It was clear that Cheney’s doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times — never apologize, never explain — and Bush moved toward the conciliatory.”
What is really scary in this statement, “He’d showed an independence that Cheney didn’t see coming.” This confirms what many of us knew from the beginning. Cheney was running the White House. Bush was a miserable follower who allowed himself to be strong-armed into Cheney’s Mussolini like policies that put the nation at risk. Later in his second term, Bush manned up some and did some things differently. Perhaps he reflected or whatever. It ain’t like Bush was going run again. No since in trying to win public points. Perhaps it was just that, reflection.
Regardless Cheney in addition to being one of the most significant GANGSTERS of American crime history in that he made so much money on American misery ala Iraq and Katrina within his company Haliburton, tortured many around the world, lied and pontificated from on high a panic that some American still believe in. If that were not enough in the words of boxing promoter Don King he is also “a practitioner of rat-finkism! He throws W under the bus! A man who put him on in the first place. I honestly don’t think I have ever witnessed a more arrogant self obsessed narcissistic person in my life! And to think, the Republican Party is wondering why it has to resort to disrupting town hall meetings to try to find a voice in America. It’s ridiculous.
WHY DOES AMERICA CARE WHAT SARAH PALIN SAYS?
Speaking of “death panel lady” herself; why is she still on the news? Think about it. Before John McCain picked her to be his running mate, how many people outside of Alaska knew who she was? Once she got on the campaign trail, what did she do or say of significance? Since she lost the campaign, what has she said or done of significance? I’m talking about stuff that would make her relevant and worth listening to within a leadership perspective since she wants to be a national player. Even the job she had she quit! I don’t think I am oversimplifying at all here. Is the party so poor now with choices and ideas, that the standard is Sara Palin? I would think hard core conservatives would think she was some Affirmative Action case at best. Every time she opens her mouth its a disaster in that either she says something stupid or you don’t understand what the hell she just said. If Michelle Obama talked like her, she and the president would be the laughing stock of the nation. For me, it goes back to racism. For all the stuff white folks say about excellence, qualifications or the lack thereof when it comes to black folks, Sara Palin is the ultimate trump card when it comes to what these same racist whites are willing to accept.
Speaking of racism – that’s all I can think of when it comes to many of the reactions I see regarding Michael Vick. Let me explain. Vick’s transgressions have been well chronicled. So there is no need to break them down further. But this is a nation that talks out of both sides of their mouth.
How many times do people say, “Do the crime, do the time?” – Vick did the crime and the time.
How many times do you hear people acknowledge that we live in forgiving nation of second chances? – And yet so many believe Vick should not play in the NFL.
When someone says he deserves a second chance. I’ve heard many say “I’m not saying he can’t have a job. I just don’t think it should be in the NFL. What does it say to the kids?” .. and all that dumb stuff. What they are really saying is, “That nigger shouldn’t make millions in the NFL while I struggle to make my mortgage.” So they want the man to be punished the rest of his life or live a life free of getting paid to do something that the average Joe can’t do. That’s just good ole fashioned haterism!
Then I see these people on TV with their signs. “Hide Your Beagle, Vick’s An Eagle.” I laughed at it myself. Cause obviously they thought it was funny! I saw one lady with a sign who posed for the camera while smiling. Is this a joke to her? Obviously it ain’t that serious except that Michael Vick when he was on top was a dark skinned black man who made a ton of money and carried himself with a lot of swagger. Some whites in America hated that. I live in a town where our defensive end killed a woman in a drunk driving incident, then drove drunk again. He’s black as well, but he’s low key, humble, and is on his way to a hall of fame career. These fans in Philly are hypocrites. They pick and choose. I used to hear it said all the time, “It’s not about the crime, it’s about those who stand accused of the crime.” Yea we are a forgiving nation alright. Just depends on who needs the forgiving.
The same folks who want Vick, a convicted felon to get a regular job have no problem with a convicted Rush Limbaugh making over 100 million a year to spout hate on the radio.
And best of all.. this is a Christian nation right? These same people who preach the bible and can forgive David for impregnating the wife of one of his top soldiers Uriah and then killing him to try to cover it up and can’t forgive a man for his own sins against animals. Uhhhh Ok… Amen.
And what is up with Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie. I can understand the man being an animal lover. I share that same love as I had dogs as pets most of my childhood life. I can understand him not wanting to be burned by Vick off the field. But he obviously thinks he can help him on the field or else he wouldn’t have signed him. But the statement he made, “I needed to see a lot of self-hatred in order to approve this.”
Say again? You want the man to be repentant of his criminal actions or to hate himself? Do you hate yourself for your sins Jeffrey? Whatever. If Michael Vick scores touchdowns and helps the Eagles get deep into the playoffs this year or next, Philly fan will be riding Vicks d*%#.
That’s all I got for now… be back later with takes on Pitino and LeBron.
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