So long Ernie Harwell, baseball will miss you.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Return of my ramblings
Been a while so I figured I would hit you all with some more of my insane and oftentimes meandering rants.
•Yes the Bulls lost to the Cavs, I knew that was going to happen but the slurping of the Lebron has reached Tom Brady/ Brett Favre like proportions. He’s the best player going now, I get that. But I feel the reporting on that series missed a prime opportunity to showcase Joakim Noah a little more. All anyone wanted to report on was his Cleveland sucks opinion, they failed to mention his average over the series of 14.6 points, 13 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 2.5 assists per night. One of a few big man with a personality in who knows how long and he’s relegated to having beef with the Cleveland board of tourism.
•I saw a guy on the train today with a shirt that had a picture of Obama and Hitler and it read “Hitler gave great speeches too and he had a logo too.” Sigh. Agree or disagree, Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions, you just don’t agree with Obama. Not the same thing. I know people who believe Reagan was a great orator, doesn’t make him Hitler. And the logo thing? You know who else has a logo? Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Lebron James. Not exactly the Legion of Doom. My point is calm down and take the man for what he is, a politician. If you disagree fine, but this kind of rhetoric is damaging and no work will ever get accomplished as long as it’s accepted.
•America’s favorite super skeezer Michelle Bombshell McGee has said that she never would have slept with Jesse James had she known that he and wife were planning an adoption. How righteous of her. Sleeping with a married man with children already is cool, but if there’s a kid on the way via adoption? Aw hell no!
•Katie Holmes as Jackie O? Casting fail.
•Roman Polanski has broken his silence. He claims he is being treated unfairly and the US just wants to make an example of him to gain more attention and “serve him up on a platter to the media.” Well excuse me if I don’t shed any tears over this “injustice.” This guy admits to drugging and raping a 13 year old, gets mad that he has to do jail time and flees to Paris. I could care less if you’re a visionary director, you’re a pedophile. End of story.
•Yes the Bulls lost to the Cavs, I knew that was going to happen but the slurping of the Lebron has reached Tom Brady/ Brett Favre like proportions. He’s the best player going now, I get that. But I feel the reporting on that series missed a prime opportunity to showcase Joakim Noah a little more. All anyone wanted to report on was his Cleveland sucks opinion, they failed to mention his average over the series of 14.6 points, 13 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 2.5 assists per night. One of a few big man with a personality in who knows how long and he’s relegated to having beef with the Cleveland board of tourism.
•I saw a guy on the train today with a shirt that had a picture of Obama and Hitler and it read “Hitler gave great speeches too and he had a logo too.” Sigh. Agree or disagree, Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions, you just don’t agree with Obama. Not the same thing. I know people who believe Reagan was a great orator, doesn’t make him Hitler. And the logo thing? You know who else has a logo? Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Lebron James. Not exactly the Legion of Doom. My point is calm down and take the man for what he is, a politician. If you disagree fine, but this kind of rhetoric is damaging and no work will ever get accomplished as long as it’s accepted.
•America’s favorite super skeezer Michelle Bombshell McGee has said that she never would have slept with Jesse James had she known that he and wife were planning an adoption. How righteous of her. Sleeping with a married man with children already is cool, but if there’s a kid on the way via adoption? Aw hell no!
•Katie Holmes as Jackie O? Casting fail.
•Roman Polanski has broken his silence. He claims he is being treated unfairly and the US just wants to make an example of him to gain more attention and “serve him up on a platter to the media.” Well excuse me if I don’t shed any tears over this “injustice.” This guy admits to drugging and raping a 13 year old, gets mad that he has to do jail time and flees to Paris. I could care less if you’re a visionary director, you’re a pedophile. End of story.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Maybe I will pick up "Recovery"
I have a very special announcement, Slim Shady is back ladies and gentlemen I repeat Slim Shady is back.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Arrogance pure and simple
Mike Wilbon said the other day that the NFL is the most arrogant of the four major sports in America. I didn’t understand what he meant when he said until this morning when I awoke to hear the news of the degrading and downright insulting line of questioning that former Oklahoma State and current Dallas Cowboys draft pick Dez Bryant. If you haven’t heard the Miami Dolphins and their general manager Jeff Ireland thought it would be a great idea to ask the potential draft choice if his mother was a prostitute. His lame excuse was:
"My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I’m considering drafting," Ireland said in a statement. "Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions. Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him."
Guess what Ireland? That is so disrespectful that the words to properly convey the level of disrespect has yet to be invented. I get that you only want to have players who are morally above reproach and classy guys. In that respect does the mistakes of the parents reflect poorly on the child? Remember the case of Ray Ray McElrathbey? He was the kid who gained custody of his younger brother while still at Clemson University because of his mother’s drug addiction. Seems like a kid who got it together even though he came from an awful background and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Howard University. Ryan Leaf on the other hand, a kid who came from a relatively normal background yet turned out to be a massive bust and was eventually was arrested for drug possesion.
I think what makes this whole situation even more unacceptable is that if Bryant retaliated against this guy and say smacked the ever loving dumbassness out of him Bryant undoubtedly would have been vilified as a headcase. Or how about if he asked Ireland is he ever paid for sex, the point is Bryant’s job is to catch a football. He’s not a spiritual leader, not a teacher, just a football player.
There are a lot of people who claim that this is being blown out of proportion, stating people go through background and credit checks all the time for jobs. True, I have, if you’re reading this you probably have but here is the key difference. These checks are based on what the applicant have done, not what his family may have done.
You have all the right in the world to check and see what type of person you may be paying millions of dollars to, but at the same time you have to respect the player, because without them you may find yourself interviewing for a job and maybe mom’s alcoholism or dad’s adultery is on the table. Then let’s see if you think that employer is just doing his due diligence.
"My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I’m considering drafting," Ireland said in a statement. "Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions. Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him."
Guess what Ireland? That is so disrespectful that the words to properly convey the level of disrespect has yet to be invented. I get that you only want to have players who are morally above reproach and classy guys. In that respect does the mistakes of the parents reflect poorly on the child? Remember the case of Ray Ray McElrathbey? He was the kid who gained custody of his younger brother while still at Clemson University because of his mother’s drug addiction. Seems like a kid who got it together even though he came from an awful background and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Howard University. Ryan Leaf on the other hand, a kid who came from a relatively normal background yet turned out to be a massive bust and was eventually was arrested for drug possesion.
I think what makes this whole situation even more unacceptable is that if Bryant retaliated against this guy and say smacked the ever loving dumbassness out of him Bryant undoubtedly would have been vilified as a headcase. Or how about if he asked Ireland is he ever paid for sex, the point is Bryant’s job is to catch a football. He’s not a spiritual leader, not a teacher, just a football player.
There are a lot of people who claim that this is being blown out of proportion, stating people go through background and credit checks all the time for jobs. True, I have, if you’re reading this you probably have but here is the key difference. These checks are based on what the applicant have done, not what his family may have done.
You have all the right in the world to check and see what type of person you may be paying millions of dollars to, but at the same time you have to respect the player, because without them you may find yourself interviewing for a job and maybe mom’s alcoholism or dad’s adultery is on the table. Then let’s see if you think that employer is just doing his due diligence.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Legendary Oak
When the pantheon of Chicago sports greats are mentioned there is a name that is consistently and unfairly absent from all these lists. A mountain of a man from the blue collar city of Cleveland but has made a mark on Chicago that very few athletes in this city have yet to attain. The legendary figure to which I am referring to is the man simply known as The Oak.
Confused? You shouldn't’t be. The exploits of former NBA power forward Charles Oakley should be recited to every man, woman and child. Stories that remind us that if you are blessed with one super power it should be the ability to be as bad ass as anyone on the planet, which coincidentally the Oak does possess. I know what you’re thinking, “how can the starting power forward from the Chicago Bulls during the late 80’s be so important?” While his impact on the court as Michael Jordan’s enforcer was fairly important it is not the crux of my argument. No, it is his role as Michael Jordan’s chief club cavorting comrade that is the foundation on which the legend of the Oak has firmly been built. In fact the rumor for years was that he was traded to the Knicks for 7’1 center Bill Cartwright not because the Bulls were in desperate need of a tough big man, I mean it doesn’t get tougher than the Oak. No he was traded away because of management’s concerns on how he would affect Michael Jordan the league’s burgeoning superstar.
One of my favorite alleged stories involving Oakley occurred where the majority of his misadventures occurred, a Chicago nightclub. You see he had quite reputation as being a ladies man and this night was no exception. He saw a particularly ravishing young lady and sauntered over to introduce himself as the dashing lothario that he was but he ran into a roadblock. The roadblock? This vixen had a boyfriend. This did not deter the Oak. The boyfriend eventually mustered up the strength to stand up to the 6’9, 245 pound power forward with an affinity for fighting. It appeared for a second that Oakley’s heart had softened as he saw this man stand up for his love so he walked away.In actuality he walked over to the coach check, laid down a heap of 100 dollar bills and took the young man’s coat. He then walked outside, set the coat on fire, and calmly reentered the establishment and alerted the young man the situation he now found himself in and it prompted his immediate exit to retrieve his seared garment. The rumor continues with Oak walking over to the girl and neither one of them going home alone.
Did this story happen exactly as the rumor tells? I’m not sure, but for a legend of his magnitude I really wouldn’t doubt it.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
NFL Draft
The NFL draft is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, but the one thing I will never understand is how "high character guys" get penalized for being people of substance over some people who have a questionable past. Here is what some sources stated about my favorite player in the draft, Myron Rolle:
"You look at the opportunities away from football that Myron Rolle has; you wonder about the dedication to football. These teams want the guy to be a 24-hour, 365-days-a-year football player."
-- Mel Kiper Jr.
"To some in NFL circles, the former Florida State star's decision to put football on hold for a year while studying at one of the world's foremost academic institutions [Oxford] -- not to mention his plans to become a neurosurgeon -- indicates a lack of commitment to the game."
-- USA Today
"It's a character issue … if you want to create hesitation on a guy, make him think. [Rolle] can't help but think."
-- Brian Billick
Meanwhile a guy such as Carlos Dunlap is still projected to go first round despite being picked up on a dui where he was actually passed out behind the wheel of a car. Rolle's big discretion? BEING NAMED A RHODES SCHOLAR! He's now projected to go in the 5th round due to that decision. And people wonder what's wrong with our society.
"You look at the opportunities away from football that Myron Rolle has; you wonder about the dedication to football. These teams want the guy to be a 24-hour, 365-days-a-year football player."
-- Mel Kiper Jr.
"To some in NFL circles, the former Florida State star's decision to put football on hold for a year while studying at one of the world's foremost academic institutions [Oxford] -- not to mention his plans to become a neurosurgeon -- indicates a lack of commitment to the game."
-- USA Today
"It's a character issue … if you want to create hesitation on a guy, make him think. [Rolle] can't help but think."
-- Brian Billick
Meanwhile a guy such as Carlos Dunlap is still projected to go first round despite being picked up on a dui where he was actually passed out behind the wheel of a car. Rolle's big discretion? BEING NAMED A RHODES SCHOLAR! He's now projected to go in the 5th round due to that decision. And people wonder what's wrong with our society.
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