Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
05
I am currently unemployed, like far too many Americans, so I spend lots of time on my computer. Selling things on classified sites, sending out resumes, and canvassing for computer related freelance jobs. I also check the three home pages of the news sites a couple of times a day to “stay informed” about what is going on in the world. Some of the news is enlightening, some of the news is sad, some of the news is scary, and some of the news is damn ridiculous. But the recent story concerning the Dallas Cowboys made me angry. And you might be also.
Let me start by saying this. I was a Cowboys fan going back to the 70′s. I remember watching Roger Staubach, Robert Newhouse, Tony Dorsett, Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, don’t even get me started, Drew Pearson, Ed White, Golden Richards, Calvin Hill, Billy Joe Dupree, you think I’m playin?, Butch Johnson, Harvey Martin, Preston Pearson, Mel Renfro, Randy White, Cliff Harris, and Jethro Pugh. And let’s not forget the architect of the “Boys”, Tom Landry. Some of those names are well known and Hall of Famers. Some of those names are guys you have never heard of unless you were a TRUE Cowboys Fan. And going forward into the 80′s, I watch them also. When Joe Montana hit Jack Clark in the back of the inzone, TRUST ME, it pissed me off to no avail! The 90′s Cowboys did nothing for me until they got “Prime Time”, Deion Sanders. I kinda liked them then. I didn’t want them to win anything but I could at least watch them.
I became a Cowboys fan again when they picked up T.O. YUP, just like “Bette and Tina“, I’m riding with T.O. for life. And I figured that he would be able to get the Cowboys into the playoffs and maybe get them to the Super Bowl. I forgot that Tony “Stat Stuffer” Romo can’t deliver a pizza, much less a team to the finals. And that leads me to the REAL REASON for this post.
Continue reading “You’re kidding right?” »
22
As I wrote in my post on July 1, 2009, “How old are you, anyways“, I spoke about the NBA requirement that players be at least 19 years old and a year out of high school before entering the league. Since most players entering the league are African American, I positioned that the rule was racist and prevents MEN who are old enough to die for their country, from being able to support their families. Recent events have given further proof that racism is alive and well in the NBA!
The next “great white hope” to enter the NBA in a few years is a kid named Ricky Rubio. He is from Spain and is supposed to be Magic, Nash, and Pete Maravich, all rolled into one. At 17, he played for the Spanish National Team and is said to have held his own against the United States team. At 18, just a few months ago, Rubio was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. And needless to say, he isn’t very happy about it. The wolves have been AWFUL since the “Big Ticket“, Kevin Garnett left a few years ago. And the Wolves are pulling out all of the stops to get Ricky to come to Minnesota. But isn’t he only 18 years old? Wouldn’t that be against the NBA rules?
Continue reading “How old are you again?” »
16
I worked for a Teen Drug and Alcohol abuse center for five years. I have done interventions, enrolled teens into the program, ran groups, and conducted Urine Analysis testing. I have read and interpreted Drug testing results, and Behavioral analysis. I believe, without a PHD, that I was able to be a part of a great Petrie Dish experiment where I learned a lot about human nature from both a clinical and hands on point of view. So when I read that a professional tennis player, Richard Gasquet, tested positive for cocaine, it didn’t shock me. But when I read his excuse, and that the Governing body actually believed it, that did shock me. Gasquet said that he tested positive for cocaine because he “French Kissed” a woman in a nightclub!
Gasquet withdrew from a tennis tournament because of an injury. He and some friends decided to go to a nightclub to hear a French DJ spin. Sometime during the night, a woman named “Pamela” French Kissed Richard. And since the club is NOTORIOUS for drug use, that must have been how he got minute traces of cocaine in his system. The fact that “Pamela” was never tested, never came before the board, and whose whereabouts are unknown, seem unimportant. I guess when facing a two year ban, you become very “creative” when coming up with an excuse to save your ASS!
Continue reading “Just a Kiss” »
01
For a few years now, the NBA has had a rule that says you have to be at least 19 years old to play in the league. That you can go to Iraq or Afghanistan and lose body parts and your LIFE, but not be allowed to run around in some shorts with some other guys in shorts has escaped a lot of people. That the rule is playing games with people’s lives also seems to be forgotten. As yet, there hasn’t been a case of someone losing their life waiting to become old enough to play in the league. But would possibly losing a parent suffice?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a basketball junkie. I will watch, play, and talk about basketball all day long. While some people watch basketball for the dunks, I’m at home calling out the defensive and offensive sets. And this goes back to the seventies. I can name every championship team, beginning in 1977 to the present. I can tell the difference between a 1-2-1 trap and a 2-3 zone. So the age limit rule kinda pissed me off. Because as a fan, I want to see the best players available. If they are over 18, they should be able to play. And to hear CLUCKS like Charles Barkley, who I like, and Shane BITCHIER who is overrated, agree with it was even more appalling. Because while Bitchier’s family might have been able to pay for his college education, people like Charles wouldn’t have been able to go to college if it weren’t for basketball. I guess Charles forgot about the money he has ADMITTED to receiving while playing at Auburn. And Shane is probably worried about some “young gun” taking his job for half the salary!
Continue reading “How old are you anyways?” »
12
I recently read that Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, made a comment to on opposing players mother. Cuban either called Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin a “thug” or a “punk” to Kenyon’s mother’s face or he agreed with comments made my other Maverick fans. And as fans were calling Martin a “thug”, Mark said “that includes your son!” OH HELL NO!!!!
Let’s start from the beginning. First off, Cuban has been a pompous ass since he came into the league.No owner has been fined as much or as often than he has. And he has literally ran out on the court to “protect” his players. WFT???? That’s like having your mama come up to the school after you have just gotten beaten up! But I digress. He has spent oodles of money making the Mavs locker room a place you never want to leave. And spent just as much money on players to try and “buy a championship.” It hasn’t happened.
The last two seasons, his teams have gotten EMBARRASSED in the playoffs with most fingers pointing AT him for his “hands on” mentality. He has placed his hopes and dreams on a guy, Dirk Notwizki, who is like another Dallas athlete, Cowboys Tony Romo, a STAT STUFFER! Great for fantasy football but you aren’t going to hoist a trophy with either guy being your “number one.” His team has been labeled “soft” with no “heart.” The players staged a MUTINY, and threatened to walk, unless then Coach Avery Johnson, was fired. He has made silly trades, Jason Kidd for Devin Harris?, and wonders why he is no closer to winning a title. Every loss reflects badly on HIM personally. So frustration is setting in.
Continue reading “Ya Mama!” »
02
The officer who pointed a gun at and refused to allow Professional Football player Ryan Moats and tried to prevent his wife Tanisha from say their final goodbyes to Tanisha’s mother has resigned from the Dallas police force. He said he resigned so that the Dallas police Department, his fellow officers, and the citizens of of Dallas can “ learn from this experince, the mistakes made, and move forward.” Notice that NOWHERE in that statement did he say that HE needed to learn from this experience. Or the mistakes HE made. Or so HE could move foward.
His resignation is an easy, COWARDS way out of this mess. He should have been FIRED and it have should gone on his permanent police record so when he goes to the neighboring city and applies for a job, they know EXACTLY what kind of person, and I use that word lightly, they are dealing with!
27
As I said in a previous post, cops aren’t my favorite people. And it doesn’t matter if they are gay or straight, male or female, black or white. In my almost 28 years of driving, I have been harassed, followed, and jack up by the police more times than I care to remember. And I have heard cops laughing and giggling about how they “made someone’s day” by giving them a bogus ticket. Yeah, real funny. Like I said, most of them are GANG MEMBERS with BADGES! And before anyone comments by saying “then don’t call the cops when you need help if that is the way you feel about it.” Trust me, most African Americans only call the police as a LAST RESORT because we know they are going to give a HALF-ASSED EFFORT in helping us so WHAT’S THE USE!!!!!!! But this incident has my blood boiling.
Professional Football player Ryan Moats was stopped by a cop for running a red light turning into a hospital. When he was stopped, he informed the cop that his mother-in-law was DYING and that was the reason he ran the light. Ryan’s wife, whose mother was dying, tried to explain the situation but the cop, Mr. Robert Powell, didn’t seem to care. Fearing that she wasn’t going to be able to say her final goodbye to the woman who raised her, Tamishia Moats ran into the hospital. We are all lucky that this heartless cop didn’t shoot her in the back!!!
Living in california and being a woman, and having an incident where Kara Knott was killed by a CHP, we have been told to put our flashers on if we feel nervous about the area we are being requested to stop at by the police. We were told that putting the flashers on lets the cop know that we see them. Moats’ did just that. The dashboard camera, showed just how cowardly Mr. Powell was. The more Moats tried to explain the situation, the angrier the cop became. After a heated exchange, Powell said, “Shut your mouth! You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light.” Ryan was also told his car could be towed. That he could be put in handcuffs. Take someone to jail for running a red light!!! You have got to be kidding me!
Continue reading “Where is the humanity!” »
21
My first real “job” was at 16 years old. I was a softball umpire in the league that I once played in. And I remember realizing very early, that for sports officials, you NEVER HAVE A HOME GAME! And I also found out at an early age, remember, this was the early 80’s, that adults can be real assholes! Especially when it comes to sports. I was verbally abused, in front of their children, by people who should have known better. But I never let my “position of power” go to my head. I kept a cool head when chaos reigned supreme! And the fact that I was a large size person didn’t hurt any either!
I have always given officials the benefit of the doubt when I watch sports. I guess that is part of the “officiating fraternity” that I belong to. I know that most good officials don’t want to be the deciding factor of any sports event. And when we make a bad call, and I made a few myself, we feel almost as bad as the team that received the bad call. But we are people too. And we make mistakes. But as a fan, I have watched officials let that power go to their heads. And it seems like professional Basketball officials seem to be the worse culprits!
I was watching the Boston Celtic/Chicago Bulls game on Wednesday March 18, 2009, and thought the officiating was awful. Boston was getting served an “old fashion” case of “home cooking.” It seemed like every call went against them. And some calls weren’t even close. Boston coach Doc Rivers got one technical arguing a call. As a former official, and a former basketball and softball player, I know that sometimes coaches get “techs” to try and fire up their teams. But there are also times when they get techs because they feel their guys are getting screwed over by the refs. The first tech was definitely one of those “screwed over” techs. But the second tech, the one that got Doc thrown out of the game was chincy to say the least. Doc says that the ref goaded him into the tech by staring at him. The Doc walked away from the ref, Bill Kennedy, who continued to stare at him. When Doc responded to the stare by saying “what”, he was promptly “t’d up” and thrown out of the game. As I said before, I was watching the game and it seemed like the ref did indeed try and goad Doc into saying or doing something to get tossed from the game.
Continue reading “He stared at me!” »
12
Somewhat lost among the Wallstreet meltdown is the fact that one man, Bernard Madoff, created and ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes EVER! His victims are not only everyday people who worked their whole lives to save money for children’s college fund and for their own retirements, but they also include people like movie director Steven Spielberg, Hall of Fame Baseball player, Sandy Koufax, talkshow host Larry King, and actor Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. Zsa Zsa Gabor is also included on this “victim’s list” and is said to have lost between 7-10 million dollars! Also included on the list of victims is his wife, his sons, brother and other relatives! Talk about an equal opportunity criminal. Stealing from your own family. His actions have cost hundreds, if not thousands, of people their live savings and at least two fellow billionaires took their lives in response to becoming insolvent. Translation? They killed themselves because they lost all of their money! One would think that a man that ran a 50 BILLION dollar pyramid scheme would be up under the jail. But that is not the case. Mr. Madoff is under “house arrest” in his penthouse apartment in Manhattan, New York! He went from the penthouse to the penthouse!
I guess this could almost be called the chicken watching the hen house because Madoff was at one time the chairman if the NASDAQ stock exchange. Wouldn’t you know exactly how to find the loopholes if you were once the person who was supposed to close them?
The most galling part of this whole mess is that this man is not sitting in a jail cell. We jail poor people who steal $20.00 video games for months on end before they even get to court. Yet this man who has caused people to committ suicide, is free. And before anyone says he isn’t really “free”, his penthouse is said to be 2 stories high and is worth 7 million dollars. The average jail cell is 8 feet wide, 8 feet high, and 12 feet long. Compared to other criminals who have allegedly committed crimes, Madoff is free. Make no mistake about it!
The failout from the Madoff affair is far reaching. People who recommended Madoff to their friends and family are now being made to feel unwelcome. The people who promoted Madoff and probably lost money also, are being held accountable for what has occurred. For a scheme to have gone on that long, it had to have been well hidden. While it might be unfair to hold the people who gave “street cred” to Madoff, that comes with the territory when you “have someone’s back!”
Continue reading “From the Penthouse to the Penthouse!” »
04
When I heard that Charles Barkley was arrested for a DUI, I shook my head in amazement that someone with so much to lose would put it at risk. Then when I heard his excuse of wanting to get Oral Sex, I figured anyone that stupid needed to lose things. How dumb can you be? As I said in an earlier post when it happened, that in time this would pass and all would be forgiven. But that was before T-Mobil dropped him so fast that Seismologists reported a earth tremor when Charles fell. So I figured that’s what happens when you fall off the pedestal. What I didn’t figure was that the color of your skin might have something to do with it also!
Olympian Michael Phelps won 8 Gold medals at the 2008 Olympics and has done a Victory Lap around the world ever since. He has gotten awards, prime seats at sporting events, and rubbed shoulders with the “beautiful people.” Yet this past week, a picture of him smoking Marijuana out of a bong has surfaced. He has admitted that the picture is indeed real. So his sponsors should be running for the hills right now right? No, that’s not the case. Thus far his sponsors are “standing by him.” HUH??? Isn’t possession of Marijuana and drug paraphenalia a CRIME? Hasn’t he admitted that he did it? Or does he have the Marijuana Card which allows him to smoke? This isn’t his first issue with the law. In 2004, he was arrested for Drunk Driving. But because he was just Mike Phelps and not Michael Phelps, it was a blip on the “celebrity screw up” map.
So what is the difference? Why was one guy dropped like an expired EBT Card, and the other embraced like nothing happened? Is it because one guy was arrested and the other wasn’t? You be the judge. Either way …. IT MUST BE NICE!!!!!!!!!!
 |
 |