Tag Archives: Basketball

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Got To Do Better Than This!

And fools can’t hold us

Every chance we get – we’re hittin up the rollers

Coming up short on the green guys

And I might start slinging bean pies

Or the bootleg t-shirt of the month

With, “you can’t touch this” on the front   – Ice Cube

Street Begging Kids

This is a sensitive subject matter for me.  I waited to blog about it because I didn’t want anger to ruin my point.  After months I am finally at a place where I can discuss this reasonably.

You know, in this world we all have to get our hustle on some kind of way.  I don’t care what kind of job it is.  You can be a teacher, a preacher, a cook or a CEO.  In the basic sense it’s a hustle.  In this case the definition of a hustle is simply, ” making a way financially to obtain or sustain.”  I don’t mean it has to be anything illegal or immoral.  Back in the day, the word hustle indicated aggressiveness and drive.  That is my definition in this post in the basic sense, but in no way is this  the only meaning. 

 For instance, for some people a hustle may be standing on the corner soliciting donations.  Some have signs that say they want food or employment.  The game plan is that they want drivers to give them money as their cars pause at a traffic light.   I’ve challenged some this way.  There have been people that asked me for money on the street in order to “get something to eat.”  And I’ll say something like, “Sure man.  What do you want?  There is a Wendy’s right around the corner.  Let’s go.” 

There have been times that the person was grateful and indeed honestly wanted a meal.  It blessed me to be able to provide one.  Other times they just wanted the money instead of the food.  I’m intelligent enough to guess why, but I won’t go there.  I don’t judge cause Lord knows I understand I am just a circumstance or tragic event away from being on the street.

That being said: One thing that just gets under my skin and burns me up is when I see little kids on the corner begging for money for their “fill in the blank sports teams”. 

For those who don’t know already, I live in St. Louis and in this town there are busy intersections where often people stand waiting for a large group of cars to gather at a stop light so they can hit them up.  Some are for churches or ministries.  They approach the car and say something to the effect of, “Would you like to donate to the homeless ministry.”  A person holds out a bucket and if you give them something they give you a Tootsie Roll or something in return.  Some have printed information about their organization. 

If you were to travel to Kingshighway and Natural Bridge on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, you may see cats from The Nation of Islam selling their Final Call newspapers or bean pies.  The above picture was taken on West Florissant and Dunn Rd., an intersection with a large daily flow of traffic stops. 

These little dudes were approaching cars asking people to give them money for their basketball teams.   Not pictured was an adult male standing at a safe distance as the little ones did his whoring.  The hope is that the citizens will see these cute little kids and have empathy to come out of their pockets.

Now there are two reasons why this is whack – Flat out despicable!

1) It’s dangerous!  There are too many cars doting for position in these crowded intersections.  The children are small and are in danger of getting injured or worse.

2) It’s begging when begging is not necessary. The example set by the adults who put these kids up to this is beyond reprehensible.  The children want to play basketball.  Great.  The finances are low and there is a need.  Understandable.  Instead of having them stand on the corner begging, put them to work.  It doesn’t take much to sell candy, or hold a fundraiser by having public car wash.  Find a place where you can get buckets, soap and towels and provide a service.  Teach them how to earn money and you may create an entrepreneur.  Show these young people with their God given abilities and potential that if they provide a service, he/she can earn money by providing that service.  Raising money with a producer’s mentality as opposed to a beggars can revolutionize a person’s outlook on life.

Look!   I can go to Los Angeles right now.  And some of my Mexican brothers will be on the corner selling flowers.  At the next block you can buy an NBA Finals Lakers T-shirt.  It may be authentic.  It may be a knockoff.  There are hundreds of streets and boulevards where this scenario is going on.  The buyer decides the value.  Everything is negotiable.  You can’t negotiate begging.  If anything people tend to resent beggars and people who stand on corners asking for something but offering nothing in return.  We don’t know where that money is going.  I hate to see the few black men in St. Louis sending these youth the wrong message.  I don’t give them a dime.  I refuse to support this shameful venture. 

Shake yourself you lazy and unimaginable adult!  Teach your youth to fish,  not to beg for fishes!

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Basketball Jones and Hoops Junkies Week; Day 4

Seattle,

You are looking at pictures from a Seattle highway in the middle of rush hour.  But there are hardly any cars on this normally packed section.  It seems that Brackethoopolus has taken over this region and many of the regions across the nation.  Thousands upon thousands have called in sick.  It’s an epidemic!  It is predicted that many who do show up will take extended lunches or leave work early. 

Corporate work production will be lost in the billions.  But bars and pizza parlors are expecting a large windfall.   

Welcome to the NCAA Basketball Tournament!

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Basketball Jones and Hoops Junkies Week Day 3

Tuscon,

Reports are coming in that workers are moving very slowly today.  What seemed like slight cases of flu like symptoms have really gone to a new level.  Sneezes and coughs can be heard from office to office.  Alka-Seltzer and Robitussin are stocked in many cubicles.

In another strange twist.  Workers are scrambling with long pieces of paper that look as if they have some sort of cryptic maze on them.  Money is being passed around quietly and according to sources, sport handicapping sites are being dinged at as high a rate as any other time of year. 

Las Vegas gambling guru Lenny Grimes says the last time they have had this many calls and hits on the web site, it was the Superbowl. 

Something strange is happening.  I wonder if workers will make it in on Thursday.

Tomorrow we will wrap up this series in Seattle. 

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Basketball Jones and Hoops Junkies Week, Day 1

 

 

It’s that time of year again.  Beware!

There is a strange germ in the air.  It usually hits the nation on Selection Sunday when the NCAA selection committee fills the field of 64  65 to decide a national champion for college basketball.  By Thursday, this infection will hit it’s peak causing millions to miss work. 

Scientist (called Bracketologist) have named this  strange infection and it’s commonly known now as Bracket-Hoopollous.  BB&G currently have correspondents all over the nation tracking this phenomenon.  And we will report on this very predictable infection as it spreads across the nation.

DAY 1

Brooklyn NY,

Many are starting to feel slightly under the weather.  It’s nothing serious mind you.   The men and women with these symptoms mostly say it could be allergies with the weather changes and the greenery around starting to bloom.   A sneeze here, a cough there.  No real cause for concern.  Just something to keep an eye on. 

Not leaving anything to chance, they put their vitamin C on their desk cubicles so that the boss can see it. 

That’s it from Brooklyn.  Tomorrow we go to Nashville to see if this infection is the same in the Midwest. 

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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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What Are We Talkin About?

It was just a couple weeks ago that the Detroit Pistons acquired Allen Iverson in a trade.  The veteran All Star guard talked about wanting to “do whatever the coach wants me to do on the basketball court.”  When Joe Dumars (President of Basketball Operations) jokingly asked even if it meant “practice,” the laughter exploded throughout the room.  The joked stemmed from years ago when Iverson, then a member of the Philadelphia 76ers fell out with his coach Larry Brown for not embracing the practice concept.  (See Practice Rant)

Iverson it seemed was a changed man from those days.  That is until yesterday when he decided that he didn’t want to go to “practice” on Thanksgiving.  Coach Michael Curry wanted the team to have practice more so for the sake of Iverson developing chemistry with his new teamates.  Though there were other players who also wanted the day off, they all showed up with the exception of the new guy.

Iverson will be fined, and won’t start tonight’s game.  It’s possible that he may not play either depending on what the coaches and team decide.   Perhaps we will see the new rant for the 08.  “What are we talkin about?  Practice?  On Thanksgiving?”

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RIP Mc Breed! One of the best!

I just saw this on a fellow blogger’s site.  I remember when I first heard his kidneys were bad a few months ago.  He will be missed.  I was just banging my Best of Breed combinations in the ride a couple weeks ago!

My favorite Breed jams – “Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin’,” and “I Gotta Get Mine, You Gotta Get Yours,” with Pac.  These are both Hall of Fame worthy for Hip Hop!

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My President’s A Baller!

obama-baller

People may think that Barack Obama just likes to play ball for the heck of it.  But the game of basketball is a thinking man’s game.  And there are many metaphors between the game itself and life.  I am sure that his ability to understand the game, teamwork, and strategies will help him lead his administration as he plays the most important role of his career.

Still I’m wondering… if you play ball with the president, can you argue a foul call with him?  If you foul him too hard will the secret service take you to jail?  If you steal his ball or dunk on him, will your life as an American be toast? 

I’m just saying… I notice no one is trying to block that shot!  Hmmmm……

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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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Gender Discrimination or Soclialization

In light of the primary elections with the Democrats, I can’t help but notice how Hillary Clinton vacilates between strong fighting woman and sensitive woman depending on when it serves her needs.  Sometimes she makes a point of coming off as the “fighter” when challenging Barack Obama on some issue within a campaign speech.  Other times like in New Hampshire or during a particular debate she plays the “woman card” in displaying forms of emotion that would allow especially women voters to feel sorry for her – thus rallying them to the poles.  Women face enough struggles as it is without doing things that complicate and confuse the average cave man.  And Hillary’s behavior reminds me of an experience I had with mixed female signals.  I’ll explain.

 

A few years ago I was playing some pick up basketball on a Monday evening.  Normally on those days, if no one else came to the gym I could count on Mack (male) and Sabrina (female) to show up to participate.  One this particular day Sabrina came to play but Mack didn’t.  This left Sabrina and me to go one on one.  Sabrina is a very good basketball player.  She played Division I in college and currently plays in several adult leagues around the metropolitan area.  I’ve seen her play on several occasions.  She has good ability and is highly competitive.

 

I am also a highly competitive player.  And sometimes in a competitive setting, the game of basketball can get physical.  However, I could hardly avoid treating Sabrina differently within the context of the game in terms of the physical contact of the sport. My social education told me that no matter how good a woman can be at basketball, she’s still a woman and shouldn’t be treated harshly by a man.  When I guarded her defensively, I tried to avoid as much contact as possible.  I really tried hard not to foul her hard, or get too physical with her.  Although some contact is inevitable, I did my best to play with more finesse.   

 

However, whenever she could push, shove, or poke an elbow at me to gain an advantage, she didn’t hesitate. Because she is such a good player, her style of play plus my intention to avoid using my muscle to influence the game helped her to get a few wins against me.  I hate to lose, but I had a hard time playing too physically against Sabrina.  That had nothing to do with her ability to play the game, neither my respect for her abilities.  I just couldn’t ‘treat her like any other guy.” 

 

As the evening went on I was starting to evolve a bit.  First: I didn’t want to lose to Sabrina because I didn’t play the game correctly and as best I could.  I also didn’t want to denigrate her by trying to play “soft.”  I felt that in order to best respect Sabrina, women in general and the game of basketball I should really try to play as normal as possible.  As I turned up my intensity and focused on Sabrina as the “opponent,” my performance was noticeably better. I began to score more points and show her that I could play the game too.  On one particular play, as she was about to shoot I reached out in an attempt to block the shot and fouled her.  She sort of gave me a surprising if not questioning look.  I couldn’t be sure what she meant by the look.  Sometimes when I play with guys, they act surprised if they get fouled on a play, or act as if they should be allowed to do as they please with little or no contact.  That could have been what she was thinking.  I couldn’t help but think however, that maybe she thought that I was treating her harshly or that I had crossed the line.  Since I knew that she was a hard-core ball player, I dismissed the latter and decided to keep playing as if gender was not a factor in the game. 

 

A funny thing happened shortly thereafter.  She went for a difficult shot and made it though I had contested it vigorously.  Without thinking about it, as she walked towards the free throw line to shoot her foul shot, I tapped her on the behind and said, “Good shot.”  When I thought of Sabrina as a woman, I would have never done that.  For that would be breaking rules of etiquette.  But I had almost managed to forget that she was a woman, and I looked at her as a ball player who was very capable of embarrassing me by defeating me mercilessly.  As competitive as I am, I’m still a good sport.  So I don’t see anything wrong with paying a compliment even in the heat of battle sometimes.

 

Perhaps Sabrina was glad to see that I turned my level of play up.  Perhaps she noticed that I wasn’t treating her “like a woman.”  However she didn’t like the tap on her behind.  She said, “Hey watch that.”  She didn’t sound angry but stern nonetheless.  I felt embarrassed.  I did it at that moment without thinking of her as simply a female.  I had done the exact same thing to countless men on the court during competitive play.  As much basketball as Sabrina had played within her lifetime, I think it’s safe to say that she has traded that gesture with other women in the past without it being considered something offensive or sexual. 

 

I tried my best as a player and as a person not to give Sabrina gender discrimination.  For the time on the court, I wanted to treat her as a ballplayer first.  But Sabrina reminded me, that she was a woman.