Obama

I'm watching the speech right now on TiVo and so much stands out. First, let's talk about history. The whole time I watched the speech, I thought about my 78-year-old grandmother. During Obama's speech, the camera panned several older black Americans, who were either crying or extremely emotional. That touched me more than anything Obama said. It doesn't matter who you vote for in November. Providing this moment for so many people who never thought they'd see a black presidential nominee is a victory in itself. I thought at some point I'd see a black presidential nominee. Folks like grandmother never-ever thought they would. Folks that lived through the times when there were separate water fountains, lunch counters, and other basic services, for blacks and whites. My grandmother saw MLK, Malcolm, and both Kennedys assassinated. This is indeed historic. I'm a little cynical, so I consider the debates the real fourth quarter for politicians. Eight years later, I'm still befuddled that people didn't know George Bush was a complete moron after watching the debates against Al Gore. But I digress. Obama's speech was incredibly impressive...and presidential. He did give McCain a two-piece with a biscuit. That line about McCain not even being willing to follow Osama to the cave was brilliant. Also, very nice job of Obama to reference the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech. Anyway, what'd you think of speech? Presidential or the typical rally-centric, convention rhetoric? Inspiring or a political b.s.?

Aug 29th, 2008

239

Um, What The Hell Is Wrong With Shawne Merriman?

Disturbing news out of San Diego regarding Shawne Merriman. Merriman, whose knee was shredded by two major tears, has decided to put off season-ending knee surgery and play. Several doctors already have told Merriman that if he plays this season, he is risking a career-ending injury. I respect the ballsy-ness of this decision and am impressed by Merriman's desire to help his team BUT I'm absolutely dumbfounded why jeopardizing his career. Maybe Merriman feels he's damned if he does have the surgery, and damned if he doesn't. If he does have the surgery, there's a strong possibility he may never be the same player again. Even though Merriman is just in his mid-20s, reconstructive knee surgery likely will limit the explosiveness that made him a spectacular defensive threat. If I'm not mistaken, Dante Culpepper had the same knee tears a few years ago and now he can't do anything outside the pocket. Maybe Merriman is playing because he sees it as going out on his terms. As a NFL fan, the last thing I want to see is this kid being carted off the field, never to return. I know it's Merriman's decision, but the Chargers should refuse to clear him to play. The players union and Merriman's agent also should step in. Besides, how Merriman possibly be effective playing with such significant knee damage? If you're an opposing offensive coordinator, you're going to run or throw at Merriman every play and make him prove himself. What will Merriman do when offensive linemen go for his knees? I only hope Merriman isn't thinking that when his contract is up in 2009 the Chargers will reward him for playing hurt. In fact, they'll do the opposite. They'll cut him because he'll be an ineffective lineman with bad knees. In professional sports, there is no such thing as paying someone for services rendered. You get paid based on what you can do today and what you might do tomorrow. That's it. Merriman should shut himself down the rest of the season. If it takes him two years to comeback from this injury, so be it. An injury like this is going to effect his bottom line whether he plays or not. But at least if he doesn't play, he can sell the idea of a full recovery. If he plays, I guarantee he won't last the season.

Aug 27th, 2008

238

Hate Strong, Appropriate?

Pardon this somewhat, overly-emotional, likely non-sensical post, but is there anybody you hate? We're taught that hate is reserved for the most evil, vile and black-hearted individuals. Before 2008, I can't say there was anyone I truly hated. There are people I couldn't stand. There are people I didn't like. There are people I've wanted to fight. But hated? Well, not until now. I think I've found someone I hated, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Part of the reason I'm hating is because the whole hater scenario is turning me into a hater. I'm not a hater. Never have been. I mean, I was hating on this person so much today I had to pop in Jay Z's "Some people hating...," just to calm my damn nerves. Probably should have been popped in some Cube, since he eloquently stated in War & Peace, "these haters trying to blow me up." True, true. But I realized: I'm turning into the hater I hate. Can't go out like that, particularly after adopting my no-hate rule in 2005. I've generally had a no-hate mantra, but it didn't crystallize until I faced my own avalanche of hate in '05. Then I came to fully understand the unproductiveness of hatin'. You can't really appreciate hate until you've been hated on one really good time. Hatin' is just so fucking stupid (pardon my language) and senseless. Anyway, I was told by someone much wiser than me that the best way to stop hatin' on the hate-e is to be extraordinarily nice to that supreme hater. That kill 'em with kindness bit, I guess. I dig it. But how can you do that when all you secretly want to do is execute a flying elbow off the top rope on your hater? I suppose I can adopt the Katt Williams philosophy, which is: If you got 16 haters, you need to figure out how to get 17. Haters are basically worthless, but they will get you paid if you manipulate them right. Me, I don't have the energy for that. Well, not the manipulating part. I definitely have the energy to get paid. So how can I lose the hate and cope with my hater(s)? If someone is hatin' on you extra strongly, where do you find the resolve not to just whup their simple ass? How do you keep yourself from being seduced into hater-like ways and a hater-like way of life? Suggestions more than welcome.

Aug 27th, 2008

237

Redeem vs. Dream

Now that the Redeem Team has secured gold, it wouldn't be right unless we began a debate about whether the Redeem Team could beat the Dream Team. Before we begin, a couple things to keep in mind: - Competition. The international competition is significantly better today than it was in 1992. Players like Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobli, and Dirk Nowitzki didn't exist. So, to me, that nullifies those people who like to use margin of victory as an indicator of which team would win. The Redeem Team teams with four or five NBA players on the roster. The Dream Team's toughest competition was Croatia, who finished with the silver and had NBA'ers Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc on their team. - Age. The 1992 team had five players 30 and over (Bird, Ewing, Drexler, Magic, and Stockton). The Redeem team only has two guys that are 30-plus (Kobe and Jason Kidd) - Credentials. Only two players on the 1992 roster were not named to the NBA's 50 Greatest players list. That group also had 11 NBA titles. The 2008 team had four NBA titles. Now, let's look at matchups (though keep in mind that the 1992 team had a number of different starting lineups. Jordan was the only player who started all eight Olympic contests.) POINT GUARD Jason Kidd started all eight games, but as we all saw, Chris Paul and Deron Williams finished off most of the games. In 1992, Magic started five of the six games he played and John Stockton only played in four games, starting none. So I suppose the question is, would you rather have the trio of Kidd, Paul and Williams or Stockton and Magic. Tough call, but I go with Magic and Stockton. Kidd is basically a non-factor at this point in his career. Can't shoot and can't run as well as he used to. Paul and Williams are the future of the NBA at point guard, but Stockton was in his prime and a pick-n-roll tactician. And Magic, at 6-9, was still a nightmare with absurd court vision. Advantage: DREAM TEAM SHOOTING GUARD The Dream Team had Jordan, who was 29 in 1992 and still had four NBA titles to go. He is the best closer in league history. Kobe is as close as it comes and his matchup against Jordan would have been worth the pay-per-view alone. It would have been a fierce battle, but you ultimately have to give this to Jordan. Although, I will say this: Kobe and Jordan's Olympic statistics look IDENTICAL. Jordan shot 45 percent. Kobe: 46 percent. Jordan actually stunk from the 3-point line, shooting 21 percent (4-of-19). Kobe shot 32 percent from three. Kobe and Jordan both averaged 15. The big difference is that Jordan had 38 assists in Olympic play and Kobe had just 17. The problem for the Redeem Team is that after Kobe, there is a significant drop off at shooting guard compared to the Dream Team. Dwyane Wade was arguably the best player on the team, but the Dream Team had Larry Bird and Chris Mullin. The Redeem Team had Michael Redd, who couldn't even get on the floor. Mullin was ridiculous during the Olympics, shooting 61 percent from the field, and 53 percent from three. Mullin started two games and Redd barely averaged nine minutes a game. ADVANTAGE: DREAM TEAM FORWARDS This is where things get interesting. LeBron is a significant mismatch for the Dream Team. LeBron can guard four positions and absolutely no one on the Dream Team could stop this kid from going to the hole -- not Pippen, Drexler, Jordan, or even Barkley. Carmelo Anthony vs. Pippen also would be an intriguing matchup. Pippen, at this point in his career, was one of the best perimter defenders in the NBA. Anthony is probably one of three or four most dangerous offensive players in the league. Who wins? As for Drexler, I've long thought he was one of the most overrated players in NBA history. He couldn't go left and to be honest, I think LeBron would absolutely abuse him. Even if you put Tayshaun Prince on Drexler, Prince's wing span would give The Glide a lot of trouble. All that being said, Barkley and Karl Malone would have their way with the Redeem Team. Barkley was at the height of his career. He was arguably the best player on the Dream Team, leading them in scoring and field-goal percentage. He even made seven of eight from three, which put him at an absurd 87 percent clip. We all know what Malone could do in the low block, and his 14-footer was money at this point in his career. Sorry, Carlos Boozer, you would get worked. ADVANTAGE: DREAM TEAM CENTER Bosh and Howard vs. Ewing and Robinson. Bosh and Howard would have speed and youth on their side, but Robinson was one of the most athletically-gifted big men in NBA history. Ewing was a monster in the paint, and let's not forget about his unstoppable, 15-foot rainbow. Dwight Howard is a physical marvel, but he has zero post moves and really can only score on dunks and put-backs. Bosh is a finesse player, who is entirely too skinny to deal with either Ewing or D-Rob. This is young boys vs. grown-ass men, and you know who always wins those battles. ADVANTAGE: DREAM TEAM FINAL VERDICT: I'm sure you can see from the breakdown who I believe would win, but it wouldn't be a blowout for the Dream Team. The Redeem Team's most significant weapon would be speed. An open floor game would help them stick close. But this is ultimately a matchup of developed, mature players against young guys still coming into their own. The Dream Team knew how to win. The Redeem Team is still learning how. In a seven-game series, the Dream Team would win 4-2. In a one-gamer, Dream Team and Redeem Team fight for three quarters, and then the Dream Team goes to work on the young boys in the fourth and leaves no doubt.

Aug 25th, 2008

236

Race And The Olympics

The commenters on ESPN.com have been killing me for this column I wrote on how the Redeem Team's accomplishments in Beijing mean something special to the black community. People accuse me of bringing up race unnecessarily, but to me, it has a prominent role in sports society. The column wasn't at all intended to suggest that white folks aren't rooting for Team USA. It's just that black people have the same sense of pride in the Redeem Team that Latinos and Hispanics do in their baseball players. I covered the World Baseball Classic, and Dominicans and Venezuelans viewed that life and death. They've taken the same ownership of baseball that we have of basketball. In both the Latino/Hispanic and African-American communities, baseball and basketball are presented as viable/preferred career options, so maybe that's also why the achievements mean so much. The commenters have their own opinion, but 80 percent of the people that have e-mailed me -- most of them African American -- have told me my viewpoint was dead on. Racial pride should not be interpreted as a put-down to other races. If Germans got a boost or inspiration from seeing Dirk Nowitzki win the MVP, I'm cool with that. So why is it that whenever black people express a particular amount of pride in black achievement, we're racists? A few black political reporters have admitted that Barack Obama's presidential candidacy is historic, and they've been called Obama cheerleaders. I just don't get it. My thoughts on the Redeem Team got me to thinking about how race is such an undercurrent at the Olympics. Here's a big example: Most black people I know consider Usain Bolt's achievements superior to Michael Phelps'. Now, I know a few white folks that feel that way, too. But among black people, it's not even a debate. Usain all the way. As I said in a previous post about Bolt v. Phelps, this is not an argument about who is a better athlete. It's about who had the greater achievement. You know who I think wins that argument. Hint: It's not Bolt. Anyway, people should be more honest with themselves about the role race plays in sports viewing. On the surface, most of us accept everything at face value. But I think you'll find in minority communities, there is a certain sense of pride that's different when it comes to athletics. Maybe it's because when we do see a minority athlete attain a level of fame and wealth, we immediately connect to our own struggle to succeed. We know what we go through on a daily basis, so we can only imagine what someone else of even larger means must go through to get to where they are. Maybe it's because we feel the only way to gain mainstream acceptance is through sports (or entertainment). So when a minority from a mainsteam sport fails or succeeds, we take it personally. We realize a lot of people judge our race through sports and entertainment figures. When Michael Vick fails, it's not just him failing, but all of us. It's not true, but that's the feeling. With so many young, black men in prison, to see another one with that much talent and resources wind up there...it was very disappointing to a lot of black people. Before he went to prison, the quickest way to start an argument with black people was to say Michael Vick sucked. It's getting that way with Vince Young, too. Growing up, black people were taught to support successful black people no matter what. I remember my grandmother and father saying things like, "not many of us make it, so you have to stand behing the ones that do."

Aug 23rd, 2008

235

My 2008 Fantasy Team, Part I

Just finished the first of two fantasy drafts I have this year. My opinion of my team: Eh. Did OK in some areas, not so good in others. I took some huge gambles at quarterback, and I'm not totally in love with my wide receivers. I'm probably a little too wide receiver-quarterback heavy. I've got one, possibly two fantasy studs. Anyway, here's my team, The Terrorist Fist Jabs: QBs Carson Palmer Donovan McNabb Matt Schaub Troy Smith RBs Thomas Jones Maurice Jones-Drew Michael Turner Fred Taylor Anthony Aldridge WRs Randy Moss Kellen Winslow Reggie Williams Anthony Gonzalez Kevin Curtis Kicker Rob Bironas Defense/special teams Tampa Bay Buccaneers I'm not in love with this team. But I'm stockpiled enough at certain positions that I'm hoping to pull off a mid-season trade. Last year was my first year playing fantasy and I made the playoffs (lost by .02 in the first round -- no bullshit). I'm hoping to go deeper in the playoffs this year, but can't see that happening unless a few guys in here have some outrageous seasons or again, I make a trade. In hindsight, I made a huge mistake drafting Palmer. His receivers are fantastic, but from a production standpoint, he didn't do much the last half of the season. There was just too much pressure on the offense because the defense couldn't do squat. The two picks I love are McNabb, Schaub and Thomas Jones. If McNabb stays healthy, he will have a dynamite season. Given his recent history, I know that's a big 'if.' But I'd like to think that Westbrook will be force-fed the ball more to ensure McNabb's health late in the season. That's why Westbrook deserved to be a top-3 pick in most fantasy leagues. With Andre Johnson healthy and the Texans rapidly improving, there is no way Schaub doesn't have a ridiculous season. The only thing that can derail him is health. But I think he's easily going to throw between 25-30 touchdowns. Once the Jets locked up Favre, Thomas Jones' value skyrocketed. He rushed for 1,100 yards last year and while he only had one touchdown, so much of his game is going to open up because of Favre. Teams aren't going to be able to load up in the box because Favre can throw down field. With a legit passing game, Jones is going to blow up. Oh, and I know what you're thinking: Why did I take Troy Smith? I think he's going to win the starting job and with him being a dual run-pass threat, that amounts to some great goal-line possibilities -- even with McGahee. Bootlegs all day baby! I'm killing myself right now because instead of taking Palmer in the fourth round, I should have taken another running back, or gotten another top-notch wide reciever (although most of the top-10 had been taken). You know how you get that feeling a particular pick is going to kill you? I just have a feeling that by Week 3, I'm going to be wishing Carson Palmer lots of bodily harm.

Aug 23rd, 2008

234

Week 2 and Week 3 Of Hard Knocks

Not to worry, I didn't forget about blogging about Week 2 and Week 3 of HBO's Hard Knocks, featuring the Dallas Cowboys. It's just that I got busy. Yeah, that's it. Worthy notes from Week 2, which featured the really annoying fan with the loud, shrill voice: - How many celebrity jockriders can the Cowboys have? Answer: A freakin' lot. Jamie Foxx, Dennis Miller, Rob Lowe, and a few other celebs attended Cowboys practice. To be perfectly honest, I've seen hundreds of football practices at the high school, college and pro level. THERE IS NOTHING MORE BORING AND POINTLESS THAN WATCHING FOOTBALL PRACTICE. End of rant. - Ms. Price is the annoying Cowboy fans I was referring to. Her voice makes you want to stick a steak knife in your eyeball. - There are a lot of guys who have a great sense of humor on the Cowboys, but Roy Williams is in the elite group. Sure, dude is a complete wreck in pass coverage, but his impression of T.O running on the beach was hysterical. Overall, Week 2 was a kind of a dud. But Week 3? Just as good or better than that initial week. Highlights: - Martellus Bennett, the Cowboys second-round draft pick, is what normal society might call a "douche." One of the Garretts politely asks him to tuck in his practice gear because a defender might use that to gain an advantage. And for 45 seconds or more, Bennett is being an ass and explaining how he can't play with his shirt tucked in. WAAAAH! As it is, Bennett has made about three plays this whole camp and he's bitching about a shirt? - Once again, I ask what America wants to know: Where is Jessica Simpson?!Yeah, we get it, Tony Romo is Mr. Aw Shucks. He's cool. He's not full of himself. I actually met him at the Miami Super Bowl a couple years ago and was impressed because he showed up at the Playboy party in a Wal-Mart shirt. It was endearing. But if they don't give us at least one Jessica-related storyline, I'm going to be very disappointed. - I already found T.O sort of amusing, but this show further convinces me that he deserves his own reality show. I pray to God that when his football career is over he runs straight to television. He's funny, charismatic, and I absolutely love those t-shirts. Of all the players on the team, Hard Knocks has helped T.O's image the most. - Pacman. Where to begin. He also needs his own reality show. Real talk: Y'all know he didn't personally write that reinstatement letter to Roger Goodell. - Got to root for the broke Wes Welker. I don't know his name, but that little rookie is impressive. Oh, and I know it's sort-of scripted reality television, but I'm really seeing Felix Jones as a sleeper fantasy pick. - Favorite player: Jason Whitten. Favorite coach: Brian Stewart. Stewart and maybe Jason Garrett are the only two coaches that command a certain amount of respect. I'm wondering if the Hard Knocks producers were "instructed" -- read: Jerry Jones got in that ass -- to make Wade Phillips look more authoratative. They went through this completely scripted bit of trying to show Phillips was "tough." Whatever. Well-paid babysitter. This Hard Knocks series is easily the most entertaining since the Ravens. But you see why the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in 12 years. Too much Hollywood, not enough grime. I just can't see Bill Belichick or Tony Dungy, or really any of the elite teams in the NFL running a camp this loose.

Aug 22nd, 2008

233

Bolt V. Phelps

We may as well follow the rest of America and debate whether track sensation Usain Bolt's gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters were more impressive than Michael Phelps' eight golds. Both made history in ways many thought wasn't possible. Bolt, who officially has the coolest name ever of a sprinter, was the first man since Carl Lewis to win gold in the 100 and 200-meter events. He also broke Michael Johnson's 200-meter world record, which Johnson earned 12 years ago. Had Bolt not slowed up in the 100, Bolt may have run that distance in 9.5 seconds, which is assinine. Phelps shattered Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record for most golds at a single Olympics. Phelps set seven world records. If you include preliminary heats, Phelps raced 17 times in eight days. For me, this is easy. What Phelps achieved is far superior to Bolt. I'm not trying to denigrate what Bolt did, but he had zero pressure entering these Olympics. Most people had no idea who he was until he blistered the 100. No individual athlete at the Games had more expectations and pressure than Phelps. Had Phelps not earned eight golds, it would have been considered a "disappointing" Olympics for him. Had Bolt lost it would have been no big deal. To me, the test of greatness isn't what's achieved, but rather, what's endured. Physically, I believe Phelps was pushed more than Bolt. My friend Eric Adelson of ESPN the Magazine wrote a superb piece prior to the Olympics describing the physical and mental obstacles Phelps would have to overcome to break Spitz's record. According to Adelson, Phelps ran the equivalent of 11 miles on those days where he had to swim in prelims and finals. My colleague Skip Bayless killed Phelps because he didn't race the 100 fly event, the swimmer's version of the 100-yard dash. But it's far more impressive that Phelps is the world-record holder in the 400 individual medley, which Adelson notes is the "swimmer's decathalon." Phelps has to have mastery of four different swimming strokes. The media pressure Phelps contended with is such a huge factor why he deserves so much credit for his success. Phelps' delivery under such strain is why I believe he should be put in the same company as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. These are athletes expected to win every time out, and the fact that they meet and exceed absurd expectations on a regular basis makes them a special breed of athlete. Let's also not forget that Phelps has been an elite swimmer the last seven or eight years. Bolt, no offense, has been an elite runner for all of five minutes (I'm being sarcastic, but hopefully you get what I mean). Phelps is a pure prodigy. He earned his first world record at 15 and since then, he's amassed 30 of them. At the 2012 Olympics in London, Phelps will have the opportunity to put several Olympic marks completely out of reach. Do you think Bolt will still be the best sprinter four years from now? His world records will probably still stand, but I doubt it. My money says Phelps will easily be the best swimmer in the world four years from now. After all, he's just 22! This is not an argument about who is a better athlete. Even I realize the absurdity of a man being 6-foot-5 and able to run 100 meters in nine and half seconds. This is an argument about whose achievements mean more when put in complete perspective. Phelps has had a career. Bolt, for now, is just a flash.

Aug 21st, 2008

232

Ain't Nothing But Jesus

Something absolutely insane happened. I still can't believe it. I want to start at the end of the story, which thankfully didn't end with me losing my job or worse, going to jail. Let me begin at the beginning. I was desperately searching for a laptop bag on Sunday. I didn't need to buy one because I've got a ridiculous number of bags stored in the closet of my home office. One thing to know about sports reporters is that we a ridiculous number of bags. At all the big sporting events, they give the media complimentary gifts. Usually, it's a laptop bag. So in my closet, I've got bags from the Little League World Series, NBA Finals, the Olympics, BCS games, etc. I don't use most of these bags because it's just too many. In fact, I'd estimate I have at least 20 laptop bags. Anyway, I needed a new bag because the laptop bag I got from this year's NBA Finals had a hole in it. I was a little miffed at that because the Finals bag was pretty sweet. I thought it'd hold up longer. I wanted something light, and toward the back of my closet I spotted a nice leather bag I'd gotten from the Big Ten tournament. This is where I need to introduce a couple key facts before progressing with this story: - I have no idea what year I received this bag, but I last covered the Big Ten tournament in 2004. - I don't know if I've ever even used this bag. I don't remember using it, but anything is possible. I do know I've been living in Florida for three years, and I haven't used this bag once. - I've also never loaned this bag to a soul. - And finally, I don't smoke weed. Tried to once or twice in college, but the smoke was disgusting and I just never got why people did it. Now back to the story... When I start using a new bag, I don't usually look through it. I'm not real detail-oriented that way. I just throw my crap in a bag and keep it moving. On this particular day, I looked through the bag more precisely because I wanted to be sure all my stuff could fit in it. But as I'm going through this bag, in one of the inside pockets, I make an interesting, mysterious discovery. A bag of weed. It's a small bag. Being that I don't have much experience with weed, or any illegal substances, I'm not sure how to quantify its size. Was it a dime or a nickel? I dunno. I have no clue where this weed came from. Maybe the weed fairy left it there. If I did know where it came from, trust me, I wouldn't be blogging about it. As I said, I haven't loaned this bag to anyone. To my knowledge, no one I know has snuck any weed into my house. And even if they did, I'd like to think they'd be good enough to at least tell me they stashed some weed at my house. It's what friends do. Scooby Doo had the Mystery Van, and I've got Mystery Weed. The only working theory I could come up with is a Ganja Queen scenario. I don't know if you've seen the HBO documentary on this, but an Australian woman faced a death sentence because the authorities in Bali confiscated 10 pounds of weed from her boogie board. The woman, Schapelle Corby, claimed the weed wasn't hers. She's been in prison in Bali since 2004, which is much better than the alternative -- being executed by firing squad. Corby says it was planted, but her family has a history of selling weed. It's been a real compelling controversy in Bali. Someone had to plant this weed in my bag. But who? Why? When? Did the bag come weed installed? The only people who possessed this bag were the people at the Big Ten, me, and the movers who moved me from Michigan and the ones who moved me across town in Florida. That's why this is officially in the Ain't-Nothing-But-Jesus file. You sometimes can't explain how you get into something, or in my case, how you get out of it. I can only imagine what might have happened had I walked through airport security with that bag. Absolutely no one would have believed it wasn't mine, or that I had no idea where it came from. Because, if I'm being honest, if someone tells me the story I just told you, I'd look at them like they were crazy. Oh, and I'll answer the obvious question you're probably wondering as you read this. Yes, I destroyed the weed. And by destroyed, I don't mean smoked.

Aug 18th, 2008

231

Detroit: The City Of Fail

If you thought The Wire embellished the problems of the inner city, then all you have to do look at the city of Detroit to see the issues in the inner city are probably worse than imagined. It's painful and heartbreaking for me to see mayor Kwame Kilpatrick single-handedly destroy Detroit, a city that has suffered from urban blight for four decades. Every time I think things can't get any worse , I read stories like this. The mayor already is on a tether, he may be complicit in a murder, the mayor's father is being investigated by the FBI for receiveing kickbacks. In response, various city officials decided to throw the mayor birthday luncheon? The mayor's affair cost the city $9 million. The schools are hundreds of millions in debt. He has cut the city payroll, closed police and fire precints -- in a city whose murder rate could rival a war in a third-world country. But a bunch of you got together and decided, ah, what the hell, let's the give the mayor an ice cream cake and a Red Lobster gift certificate? This is the same mayor who ran up more than $200K on the city credit, which included buying the bar out in D.C. and taking one of his tricks to the Carribean. The same mayor who bought his wife a brand-new red Navigator, also on the city. Yet, with a straight face, police appointees handed him cash gifts at his luncheon, which was held at one of the more she-she places in Detroit. The stupidity is just simply mind-boggling. I wish I could say KK released some kind of mind control drug on the citizens and officials in Detroit, because that would at least explain the continual blind support for the worst politician in Michigan history. Clearly the people who continue to support the mayor privately and publicly haven't thought at all about the city iself. It was refreshing that the Michigan Chronicle, one of the oldest black newspapers in the country, published a strong editorial urging the mayor to resign. It was an unprecedented move, and I hope it finally communicates to Detroiters that this isn't about race. It's about improving a city with so much potential, but so few people willing to fight for its survival. Sadly, the unacceptable living conditions in Detroit make it easy for a jackass like KK to maintain power even under these circumstances. This is a city where less than 30 percent of students graduate from high school and more than half of its citizens are illiterate. Economically, Detroit also is the poorest major-metropolitan city in the nation. With such rampant lack of education and poverty, it is no surprise that Detroit citizens are easily duped and manipulated. They are hard up for a savior because, frankly, what else do they have to believe in? Unfortunately, they don't realize their blind support is coming at heavy price -- their self respect. Detroiters, don't let KK do this to our city. The city has its problems, but they can be solved without him. This isn't about white people and has nothing to do with the other side of 8 mile. This is about you, the people, standing up, creating a boundary and letting people know what you won't stand for. He's played you, used long-standing racial wounds to manipulate your emotions and keep you from concentrating on the real issues. He's failed you as a mayor because he's untrustworthy, and the quality of life for most Detroiters has decreased significantly. Demand better.

Aug 17th, 2008

230

The Sad Story Of Michael Vick

After reading this, I really feel sorry for Michael Vick. I know some of you never will. And by no means am I saying Vick does not deserve to be in prison. He has lost his freedom, but he's also seemingly lost his entire fortune. I had one primary thought after reading ESPN.com legal analyst Lester Munson's breakdown of why Vick is broke. In all seriousness... Can Michael Vick read? The series of misteps, miscalculations and nearly unbelievable mistakes, make you wonder how on Earth Vick stayed eligible in college. Although, intellect certainly is unrelated to whether someone attends a university, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that Vick had to have some "help" when he was at Virigina Tech. There is a level of ignorance and lack of education with Vick that makes his demise extremely sad. Predictable, but sad. I've known plenty of street guys in my life, but they were all saavy. They may not have been Rhodes scholars, but they understood how to make money and who to trust. Vick had a child-like trust in people. According to Munson, Vick was duped by a swindler who claimed to be a regional director for a national organization with powerful ties in Washington. It turns out this guy had no such job and everything on his resume was a lie. Who give someone power over their finances without checking to see if they're resume is even legitimate? Vick also was bilked by his business manager, who stole an estimated $1 million from him while she was supposedly organizing his financial affairs. I suppose Vick trusted this person because she came on the recommendation of a Falcons teammate. Still, Vick never did a background check on the business manager, and it turns out she was banned from trading on Wall Street because she swindled an elderly couple out of more than $100K. This reminds me of a story I heard about Vick pre-dog fighting. A dear friend of mine met Vick in Miami during the time he was accused of trying to sneak marijuana through airport security in a secret compartment in his water bottle. My friend who hung out with Vick is extremely smart, having studied abroad and gotten a degree in the States. As cliche as it sounds, she didn't know who he was at first. She had only been in America for a couple years, and didn't watch sports. When she met Vick, she texted me to ask who he was because everyone kept coming up to him asking for his autograph. Anyway, she was stunned because he struggled to hold a basic conversation. She wasn't expecting him to discuss OPEC or the euro's influence on the American dollar. But, according to her, he held a conversation that was more fitting for a 16-year-old, not a grown man. She also was struck when she saw him sign his name. She said he used three or fingers to hold the pen, which is how I signed stuff when I was in kindergarten. And, kid you not, she went to a pet store with Vick and his buddies because he wanted to purchase an eagle. He wanted a bird that he could perch on his shoulder. Uh, ok... My friend wound up ditching Vick and hanging out with one of his friends. She's not a gold-digger, but if he wasn't the highest-paid QB in the NFL at the time, she probably wouldn't have hung out with him for even those few hours. Anyway, once Vick serves his sentence, he deserves the right to put his life in order. But reading Munson's article shows that may not be possible. Vick lost his freedom, finances, reputation, friends, and likely some family. I get that we look at animals like children -- entities that can not defend or speak for themselves. But every day I see people who commit heinous, unbelievably cruel acts against people and they don't lose a tenth of what Michael Vick did. Leonard Little, the defensive end for the Rams, was drunk and killed a woman. He served just 90 days in jail, got four years of probabtion and did 1,000 hours of community service. He's living the high life, having signed a $20 million contract two years ago. The New York Times did a story last year about how 40 percent of murders go unsolved. I don't know about you, but I feel much safer knowing a notorious dog fighter like Vick is off the streets.

Aug 16th, 2008

229

Back In The Day, Cont'd: Parenting

Poster Matthew Fudge brought up how much parenting has changed from Back In The Day, and I think that deserves it's own blog. As Bernie Mac said in Kings of Comedy, we got some punk-ass parents today. Too many parents today want to be their kid's friend. My momma used to tell me all the time that she didn't give a good (got) damn if I liked her or not. "I'm not one of your little friends," she'd say. You could argue that, in some cases, parents were unreasonable. For example, I caught about 10 ass whuppings for losing my barrettes. But my mother always made me go outside and play. How was I supposed to keep up with my barrettes when she told me to go outside and play all the time? I can't do BOTH. But no matter what we say now, it did teach us boundaries. Anyway, some things you couldn't get away with if you had parents that didn't play: - Don't ever leave the light on in a room that you weren't in. You think people bitch about gas prices now. The one thing you did not want to hear your folks bitch about is light, heat and air conditioning. Don't even think about cracking the door a sliver if the heat or air were on. Yo momma wouldn't care if a fire started. Let you have a window open when the heat or air were on, and she acted like you were a terrorist. - Can't slam the screen door. Actually, I can't speak for the white folks, but black parents had some issues with doors. Not only could you not slam the screen door, but you couldn't close any door too loudly. When I was a teenager, I got the bright idea to close my door for privacy. My mother kicked the door in like she was a fed and told me when I could pay my own bills, then I could have some privacy. Until then, I betta NOT close any of her doors. Honestly, I think the only time I could close the door was if I were peeing, or sleeping. - Couldn't stay on the phone too long. Remember how your parents would just make you get off the phone because they felt like you had been on it too long? It would be one thing if they made you get off the phone because they had to make a call. No, they just made you get off because you were "running up the phone bill," even though you weren't calling long distance. Speaking of which, calling long distance was damn near punishable by death in my household. These kids with these cellphones, IMs, free long distance, they don't know how good they have it. - And while we're on the subject of the phone...I couldn't have boy phone calls until I was 15. And when a few of them did start calling my house, my mother treated them like political refugees. Thank God for three way. I would just have my girl call the young man, and then she'd call my house asking for me so my mother wouldn't know a boy was on the phone. But, of course, Jason Bourne (my momma) got smart. She wouldn't hang up the phone all the way, and as soon as she heard a guy's voice, she would embarrass the shit out of me by making me get off the phone. - As soon as grown folks gathered where you were, you had to leave the room. You didn't try to join the conversation. You didn't sit there and listen. When they came in, you went out. And the most cardinal of sins: YOU NEVER CORRECTED ANYBODY WHO WAS GROWN. I don't care if they said the sky was magenta. Correcting someone grown was considered "showing out in front of company." And that was worth at least two or three ass whuppings. - Your friends could not come inside your house for ANY REASON, if your parents weren't home. Actually, lemme back up. If your parents weren't home, you couldn't even leave the house. Remember how you would cheat and just stay on the porch and talk to your friends? You half-expected that if you took one step off that porch, yo momma would come out of nowhere and elbow yo little ass off the top rope. But if you were fortunate enough to be able to play outside when your parents were gone, you damn sure couldn't have anyone in the house. I bet half of my friends have serious bladder problems because, if my momma wasn't home, you couldn't use my bathroom. And even if she was home, you had to ask her permission before you let anybody in the house. Best believe if she didn't think the house was clean enough, they just weren't getting in. My house was like the Pentagon. Didn't nobody see the inside of it. - Remember how much trouble you had to go through to either spend the night at someone's house or have them spend the night at yours? My mother would have 689 questions about the family before letting any of my friends stay over. My mother had to meet the parents and talk to them. She had to go over there and make sure it was a clean house, because if it wasn't, you weren't going anywhere. Or, she might just say, "hell naw," because such-and-such "wasn't going to come over and eat up all of our food." - When it came to school, what's the one thing you didn't want your mother to do? Come up to the school and beat yo ass in front of your teacher and classmates. Every year, before school began, my mother would give me that same warning. I remember when I was in high school, I acted a fool in Spanish class. The teacher called home, and my mother told me she was coming to school the next day. I was in school ready to cry. Man, I was nervous like I had committed murder. Every time the door opened, I thought I would faint. Thank God she never showed up. Something else came up and she forgot about it. - You couldn't waste a drop of food. I'm convinced one reason hypertension, high blood pressure and other things run rampant in the black community is because many of us were overfed as kids. We already ate unhealthy food, but the portion sizes were completely absurd. But if your parents put it on your plate, you had to eat it. Not only that, you were not allowed to say you didn't like something. I couldn't stand brussel sprouts and wasn't that big of fan of meatloaf, but if momma bought it, you had to eat it. Oh, and you know the other common food rule: You couldn't drink anything with your dinner because your parents didn't want you to fill up on liquids. Anyway, those were the days. Sure, you could argue I was treated like a prisoner. And while I did receive my share of unfair ass whuppings, it made me the person I am today.

Aug 13th, 2008

228

Back In The Day

Sometime last week I was chatting with friends and the conversation turned to back in the day -- as in, some of the trends/fads we participated in during the 80s and 90s. It's not pretty when you think about it. Some trends/fads I participated in: - Had a jheri curl. Don't bother trying to find the pictures. Not even Jack Bauer could dig them up. The one hairstyle I wanted, but couldn't get was the asymetrical. For those who don't know what that is, watch Salt N' Pepa's video, "Tramp." It's Salt's 'do. - Loved the stonewash. Had stonewashed Used jeans, Levi's, etc. Speaking of Levi's...remember when colored Levi's were huge? In the 80s, the standard outfit in my 'hood was red Levi's and a red addidas t-shirt. Or, yellow. In the 90s, it was all about Guess and Girbaud's. E'eery body and their momma had a pair of Guess overalls, too. - Also had a Starter jacket. One year, it seemed like a kid was getting jacked for his Starter jacket. I had a Michigan and an Oakland Raiders one. And remember how Raiders stuff was the junk? Thank you NWA. - Shoes I owned: Lottos (remember the interchangeable patch), Ballys, Fila's, casual British Knight's, Top Ten's, K-Swiss and of course...shell-toed adidas. Know what we used to say adidas stood for? All Day (long) I Dream About Sex. I know, corny. By the way, I just ordered some Top Ten's off the adidas web site two days ago. Keepin' it real, son! - Three biggest video game systems of my youth: Atari (boop....boop)...Commodore 64...Sega Genesis...Nintendo. Old-school Nintendo. None of this Game Cube shit. Today's video games are advanced enough to power solar systems. Remember when the games were simple and required you only knowing one button? I don't care if Bill Belichick designs Madden, no Madden game will ever trump Tecmo Bowl. Bo Jackson is the sickest, most ridiculous athlete in the history of video games. He could not be stopped. He could not be contained. Damn I miss the days when football games came with three or four plays. I feel like I need to be an offensive coordinator to play Madden or college football. - As much as we loved video games, you never picked the video game over being outside. Outside was where it was at. Best games of my youth: Freeze tag, football and Hide N Go Get It. Aight, let me explain that last one, because it's called different things in different 'hoods. And not every hood played it. Boys and girls were split into teams. It was basically a peverted game of hide n' go seek. Girls hid and the boys had to find us. If a boy found you, um, he got to "hump" on you for five seconds. Have I ever been caught? Yup. And if that guy was ever able to have kids, I'd be stunned. But it's funny how we thought that game was so "nasty." Check out these kids' MySpace pages and they're talking about doing freaky shit I didn't even know existed when I was growing up. - Yo remember before iPods, and CDs, how you had to tape shit off the radio? And remember how it would piss you off because the deejay would jump in the last 40 seconds of the song and just ruin it? Man, it took me about four years to get a somewhat uninterrupted version of "Moments In Love." Y'all don't know about that. - Remember passing notes in class? Yeah, I got a few of those, if you like me check yes or no notes. But notes was our version of texting. I remember me and my best friend would pass each other a note in homeroom. Then, we'd respond by third hour. We'd hook up another one before school let out. And we wouldn't be talkin' 'bout shit. Just gossiping. Who liked who. Who we wanted to "go with." Who we couldn't stand. - And remember those all-night, pointless-ass phone conversations? Remember three-way'in? Remember how you'd run the three-way pimp game? You'd call up a guy your girl liked and you'd ask him on the phone if he liked your girl. Meanwhile, your girl would be on three way trying to be real quiet and still? And if that guy didn't like your girl, that was another 12 hours on the phone, diagnosing the problem. I remember my mother used to think my generation was so screwed up. But I look at these kids now with their iPod'in, Facebook'in, downloading, You Tube'in, reality TV show watching', soft-asses and realize they don't know what fun is. Yeah, an old head would say that. Don't get me wrong. We wanted desperately to act grown, but we also held onto our innocence. Kids today don't know what innocence is.

Aug 12th, 2008

227

Olympic Thoughts

Had you asked me a week ago my thoughts on the Olympics, I likely would have said the only sport I cared about was men's and women's basketball, and swimming. Now, I've got full-blown Olympic fever. I covered the 2004 Olympics in Greece, as well as the Winter Games in Italy in 2006. For reporters, the games are like a 16-week NFL season. It's test your fortitude, creativity, physical ability and, yes, your liver. You don't sleep. You work 14-to-16-hour days -- sometimes, more than that. You cover sports you don't have a clue about (in '04, it was handball and '06, it was curling, snowboarding, and slalom). You build a camraderie with reporters from around the world. You eat things you never have (in '04 it was BBQ octopus). And, of course, you drink some interesting things. In '04, I'd never had ouzo, which is the Greek tequilla. If gas somehow became obsolete, we could use ouzo as a fuel source. Ouzo tastes like licorice-flavored moonshine. Not that I've had moonshine, but I just imagine ouzo is a fairly close representative. In Turin in '06, I had my first experience with lemoncello. It's alcoholic Lemonheads. I imagine I'm stating the obvious here, but the cheapest wine in Italy -- stuff I imagine the Italians look at like we'd view MD 20/20 -- is better than some of the most expensive stuff I've had in America. Anyway, if you're not covering the games, here's the best part about watching them: Picking out the sports you feel you could have been good at. I'm positive I would have made a helluva team handball player. I played shortstop in high school and can hold my own on the basketball court. Handball is all about being able to throw on the run and passing -- things I excel at. And just when you think they're traveling, you realize there's no such thing in handball. It's also pretty physical. I watched the Germans just destroy Korea, mostly because they were just tougher. Wonder if I start playing handball somewhere? Other sports I'd be good at: Air rifle and volleyball. Go ahead, make a Detroit joke. Anyway, the sport I would absolutely suck at is water polo. I can swim, but water polo requires a level of strength and coordination that I've never been familiar with. I've heard it's one of the most physically taxing sports in the world. Anybody who has ever done water exercises can attest to how much resistance the water provides. So I can't imagine going full speed in water, and relying mostly on your upper body. Absurd. Other sports I'd suck at: Anything that requires running and jumping. Wasn't blessed with a great vertical and I hate running. Basketball is different because that's sporadic running. Running just to run...screw that.

Aug 11th, 2008

226

R.I.P, Bernie Mac

Like a lot of people, I was saddened by the death of comedian Bernie Mac, who died of pneumonia at age 50. This, of course, calls for a Bernie Mac Top-5. 5. Second appearance on Def Comedy jam. 4. And, of course, who can forget his first time on Def Comedy jam, where he proclaimed: "I ain't scared of you mutha....!" 3. Bernie breaking down the many uses of "mutha...." 2. "You nasty sommomabitch!" 1. Milk N' Coooooookies. EDIT: Not included, but one of my faves was Mac's routine about how black folks come to work and tell you "what the fu*k we AIN'T gon' do." "I'm tired...My son got shot...I'm sick of this shit!"

Aug 9th, 2008

225

Most Ghetto Thing I've Seen In Awhile

Guilty pleasure admission: I'm a closet fan of Keyshia Cole's reality show on BET, which is funny, sad, trifling, and ghetto. Half the episodes I had tears of laughter streaming down my face. The other half, I just wanted to put Keyshia, her momma, Frankie, and sister, Neffie, in a prayer circle. For real, watching them makes you wanna run to altar call (those Baptists out there know what I'm talking about). Anyway, for those not familiar with Keyshia, she's a rising R & B star and she was recently reunited with Frankie, a (allegedly) reformed crackhead. I say "allegedly" because Frankie kinda still acts like she may be hitting the pipe. In fact, the series began with Keyshia finding Frankie in prison. Frankie has had an untold number of kids because when she was hitting the pipe at will, she was, shall we say, engaging in a lot of free lovin'. Anyway, this video is a glimpse of Frankie and Neffie uncut. As you watch the video -- which seriously should be in contention for one of the most ghetto things you've ever seen -- keep in mind that Frankie is somebody's MOMMA. Oh, and so is Neffie. I just want someone to lay hands on Keyshia.

Aug 8th, 2008

224

Don't Drop The Soap, Mr. Mayor

So, Kwame Kilpatrick... In jail. Who ever heard of a sitting mayor spending the night in jail? Seriously, how utterly ridiculous and embarrassing is that? This statemenet is not hyperbole: Kwame Kilpatrick is the most obnoxious, crooked politician of my lifetime. I wasn't alive for Nixon. And while it's pretty much a dead heat between Kilpatrick and Daddy and son Bush as WPE (Worst Politician Ever), Kilpatrick's arrogance, and raw hood-ish-ness give him a special distinction. When Hollywood decides to make a movie out of this fool, they really won't have to embellish much because he's done some things that just defy logic. Even Marion Berry is like, damn, man, fall back! Not a shock that the whole reason KK is in this mess is because he abused his authority. He's facing, like, 245 charges stemming from the text message scandal. All the judge asked was that KK alert the court when he must go out of town, which is something that all those facing criminal charges must do. Did KK do that? Hell naw. The judge was eating his Frosted Flakes and found out in the newspaper that KK was in Canada. If it were a first offense, KK may have been able to slide. But KK was warned previously about disobeying the court order concerning his movements, and well, now that fool is going to have to wear a jumpsuit, get three hots and a cot like everybody else. Now, if you're up in jail and you see the mayor fall through, how do you even react to that? Say I'm up in jail on marijuana possession and here comes the mayor of Detroit in lockdown. Do I punch him in the face and make him my bitch? Do I volunteer to make him a shiv? Do I trade him four cigarettes and some Ramen noodles to be let out of some oustanding parking tickets? Oh, the possibilities.

Aug 7th, 2008

223

Breaking Down Hard Knocks

The latest installment of Hard Knocks premiered last night on HBO. This time, featuring the Dallas Cowboys. I give the first episode an...eh. Mediocre, but entertaining. Not surprisingly, my two favorites are Terrell Owens and Pacman Jones. A distant third is Tony Romo. In fact, I think HBO should scrap the idea of showing anyone else but Pac and T.O., who are comedy gold. Some memorable moments: - The best part of the show was the trash talking between Pacman and T.O. That friendly rivalry is going to make both players better. These two are just physical freaks. They showed clips of T.O. running on the beach, and his body is just sick. Not a drop of fat anywhere. And Pac looks pretty good for a guy who hasn't played in a year. He did this one parlor tricks where he caught six punts. Patrick Crayton equaled the feat, but it was still good television. The two funniest moments may have been when Pac threw a bucket of water on a rookie and when he told T.O., "you crazy, man." If Pac calls you crazy, then you might want to seek some professional help. - I thought the Romo stuff was pretty staged. HBO starts the show a day before training camp begins, and we're supposed to believe that Romo spent most of his off-season teaching football to high schoolers in his Wisconsin hometown and hanging out with his parents. Whatever. As if no one watching the show has seen the pictures of him and Jessica Simpson getting loose all summer. Maybe Romo told them to leave the Jessica stuff alone, but dude, the entire world knows you're dating her. You mean to tell me that during the first 10 days of training camp, you're not going to talk to her ONCE? I call bullshit. Way to be fake, HBO and Romo. For this to have any hope of eclipsing the Ravens Hard Knocks series, we need a whole lot more Jessica. - I like Tank Johnson. He's got an infectious personality. When the rookies had to sing for the vets, he was the main guy egging things on. In general, the Cowboys seem to have a lot of team chemistry. It feels like they generally like each other. - I could listen to Jerry Jones all day. He just sounds important. Everything he says makes sense, even though he looks like something you just thawed out from the freezer. By the way, can they make Wade Phillips look like he's a little bit busy? I'm convinced that while Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones are running the team, Wade's playing Tetris. - Apparently, Ray Lewis' little brother is playing on the Cowboys. And from what I can see, he's definitely not his big bro. I loved it when Ray told little bro, "stay in your Bible." Nice touch, Ray-Ray. - Please Lord, let Jason Witten be available for me in my fantasy draft.

Aug 7th, 2008

222

When You're A Jet...

Brett Favre's a Jet. This is not going to end well. Putting the guy who put the 'W' in whine in New York is going to be a disaster. Favre is used to having the media in his back pocket, but I'm doubting that happens there. Can you imagine the headlines? The Page 6 possibilities? "Hilary Duff Seen Giving Favre Lap Dance At Scores." Or, "Favre Seen Sneaking Out Of Mariah Carey's Penthouse." That's what I love about NY. Newcomer celebrities finding freakish pairings with other celebs. In Green Bay, I'm sure Favre could pimp-smack a schoolteacher, and no one would write about it. Or, it would just quietly go away. Doesn't work that way in the NYC. Besides, what NY club is going to let Favre in with Wranglers? (And by the way, Chad Pennington, you just got the gas face!) But let's look at what the Jets have with Favre. They've got Thomas Jones and Leon Washington at RB. Very solid. Lavernus Coles and Jericho Cotchery on the outside. Workable. But not a lot of depth at WR, overall. Chris Baker at tight end. Not bad. His old receiving corp of Donald Driver and Greg Jennings were better. He also had a better defense in Green Bay, but the most important factor of them all is this: HE IS NO LONGER IN THE JV NFC NORTH. The Jets have New England at home in Week 2, and you know Bill Belichick would rather eat a boiled dining room table than lose to Eric Mangini. Plus, New England is just better and I see them having their way with Favre reverting him back into that 2-or-3-pick-guy we used to love. Then, the Jets are at San Diego (loss), at an improved Buffalo team in week nine (loss), at Tennessee (loss) at New England in Week 11 (loss), and they've got about three or four other toss-up games (at Seattle, home against Denver, and St. Louis) Practically every team now on Favre's schedule is better than any of the teams that were in his division last year. That's a significant upgrade in competition in conjunction with now having a downgrade in team talent. Favre was the best quarterback in the NFC North and now he's a distant second in the AFC East. Overall, he's not even a top-5 guy in the entire conference. I'm taking Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer and David Garrard before Favre. I'll call it now: Brett Favre will not make the playoffs this year. I think he'll have a decent season, but the elevation of competition in his conference and division will be too much to overcome. Buffalo and New England are better than the Jets. They'll make a run at a playoff spot, but the AFC is just too deep.

Aug 7th, 2008

221

Hey Airlines: Go To Hell...

...but wait until I've de-planed, of course. I've just heard two things about airlines that only further convince that they're all run by Satan. One, is that JetBlue is now charging $7 for a blanket and pillow. Coming soon: Airlines to begin charging customers 32 cents a minute to breathe and $2 per toilet visit. And then, today I read this. Delta will begin offering wireless service on domestic flights. My mother was right. She's contended for a long time that airlines were lying when they told us we couldn't use cellphones or access the Internet on the plane because it supposedly disrupted the communication system. Her theory was the only reason they weren't allowing us to use certain devices is because they haven't figured out a way to charge us for it. If we use our cellphones on the plane, that money goes to our carriers, not the airlines. They hate that. Looks like she was right! This wireless business, which will make my life a little more convenient, proves they were lying all along. We should have known that crap about interrupting the plane's communication system was completely untrue. You mean to tell me planes that cost millions of dollars can be derailed because someone didn't shut off their iPod? I haven't turned off my iPod at takeoff or landing in a couple years now and I've never crashed. I'm a rebel like that. As revenge on these greedy-ass airlines, I say we ignore the flight attendants when they make the annoucement about electronic devices. Bring aboard your CB radios and contact Travis in Waco. Go ahead and text when you're on the plane. Screw 'em.

Aug 6th, 2008

220

Brett Favre Is Chuck Norris

Some of you may not be aware of this, but Chuck Norris has become something of a cult phenom. Norris has been elevated to indestructible status and so to entertain themselves, people come up with these wildly outrageous things he can do with his barehands. For ex: A couple friends of mine will go back and forth trading Norris barbs (i.e., If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you) It's really stupid, but there's something so hilarious about it. As this neverending Brett Favre story has gone on, it made me wonder: Is Brett Favre the new Chuck Norris? I say YES. Don't believe me? Go hereand insert Brett Favre's name where you see Chuck Norris'. I started doing it on First Take on Monday and Tuesday, and it amused me greatly. In fact, we should get a list going here of Brett Favre jokes. I'll start with a few I've heard about Chuck Norris, but I'll just insert Favre's name. Of course, Chuck Norris is going to kick all of our asses when he finds out. But hey, until Favre is traded or gives us the breakdown of the genetic code, we've got to pass the time with something. - Brett Favre does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Brett Favre goes killing. - Brett Favre sent Jesus a birthday card on December 25th and it wasn't Jesus’ birthday. Jesus was to scared to correct Brett Favre and to this day December 25th is known as Jesus' birthday. - If paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, what beats all 3 at the same time? Answer: Brett Favre. Your turn...

Aug 6th, 2008

219

Things I'm Wondering

Lots of randomness going on today. Bear with me. - On Family Guy, do the adults not understand Stewie? Is it just the dog, Brian, who does? This has been bothering me for quite some time. - Kathy Griffin...why do I like her, but can't stand Sara Silverman? - Better movie: Ironman or Dark Knight? - More annoying commercial: E-surance or Geico? - Can someone explain why Morgan Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima? - If it's true that Bernie Mac is gravely ill and Morgan Freeman, greatest narrator ever, was seriously hurt...who will be the next black superstar to be in trouble? According to everyone's grandmother, celebrities die in threes. Should Denzel Washington watch his back? - Who the hell is watching House of Payne? I don't know ANYONE who watches it, yet it's always on. House of Payne continues. The Wire, cancelled. Life. - My new show: Burn Notice. Very easy to watch. Solid lead character. Digestible storylines. What's not to like? - Better fighter: Steve Smith, Chris Childs or Jackie Christie? - Don't know if you watched First Take today, but we pretty much decided Brett Favre could cure cancer, raise someone for the dead and be the starting pitcher for the Yankees. - Dead or alive: Jack Palance? No cheating. By the way, best game ever to play after 1 or 20 cocktails.

Aug 4th, 2008

218

Ron Artest: When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

I'm not sure if I'll have the opportunity to write a column on Ron Artest's recent idiotic comments, so I'll go ahead and let 'er rip here. The controversy began because Yao Ming expressed some slight reservations about his Artest, his new teammate, who was traded to Houston for two loaves of bread and a can of Chunky's soup. Arest took Ming's reservations somewhat personally. From Artest: "This is Tracy (McGrady) and Yao's team, you know. I'm not going to take it personal. I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto. That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about. But really, he doesn't have to talk to me, because to me, I'm going (to Houston)." This is a great move for both Artest and Houston. I would have loved to see Artest in Los Angeles, because that's a team that truly needed his toughness. But Houston, one of the tougher defensive teams, will equally benefit from the edge Artest brings to the table. That being said, Artest's comments were foolish. Thank you, Ron-Ron, for equating black culture with ghetto -- as if we already don't have enough problems separating from that particular stereotype. When Artest jumped into the stands at the Palace and went Kimbo Slice on some fans, that didn't have shit to do with "culture." It had everything to do with the fact that he's perennial problem child. Artest has been busted for domestic violence, starving his dogs, and was involved in the worst brawl in NBA history. To him, is that what being black is about? If that's Artest's idea of "representing," he can keep that shit. The shame of it is, his mindset is unfortunately one that is adopted by too many black men. All? No. But enough so that it's a problem. Since movies and music do such a good job of telling young, black men they need to keep it 'hood, we don't an influential black athlete telling them to do the same. What's laughable is that Artest hasn't been "ghetto" in a long damn time. This is a guy whose made about $30 million over the course of his NBA career. He is offered the best of everything and while he may still keep connected to his roots, his lifestyle is hardly "ghetto." What, is he still keeping the oven door open for heat? Is he still keeping bacon grease on the stove? Does he have plastic on the furniture at his mansion? Doubt it. It amazes me when ballplayers bang the "keep it real" drum because most of them are so far removed from their former financial struggles and lifestyles. They fly private plans, get $150 or more per diem from their NBA teams (which is what some people make in a day), suck up Cristal like it's Dasani, stay in five-star hotels, employ maids, and have boys that do everything from bag their weed to organize their groupies in alphabetical order (sarcasm people, don't get uptight). You can't "keep it real" with a nanny, dawg.

Jul 31st, 2008

217

Family

I got an interesting text from my little brother. It read: "Don't give out what u can't receive back in return. U reak wat u soe." Naw, he can't spell -- and that's at the heart of our conflicts. The reason my little brother can't spell is because he's 20 years old, does not have a high school diploma (dropped out at 15), and doesn't have a job. Or, a driver's license. He's also on probation for a marijuana-related offense. And...drum roll please...he wants to be a rapper. Ay-yi-yi. My little brother is basically Riley Freeman from Boondocks. Only he's not eight years old. He sent me that text, hiting me up for some money -- and I refused. He's allegedly performing in a show this weekend and said he needed some money to buy things for the show. Not my responsibility as far as I'm concerned. I came from a tough love household, where you had to help yourself before anyone can help you. I've reiterated this to my brother countless times. We both have the same father, but not the same mother, and so our philosophies often collide. We grew up differently, but the same. We both came from poverty. We both had drug-addicted parents. We were both put in a sink or swim environment. Particularly after watching CNN's Black In America, I find myself wondering, why didn't he get it? I understand that the psychological damage done to black males is far different than what black women experience. And I see that damage playing out in him in a myriad of ways. My little brother thinks the world owes him. He's full of excuses and rationalizations. And that gets really difficult to deal with. He doesn't understand that I'll help him as much as I can, but it's conditional help. I need him to be more self-sufficient before I invest anything in to him. Am I being too tough? Am I wrong? He and I had it out a few weeks ago because he asked me for money to pay his probation officer. Keep in mind, he's been on probation a little over a year and when you're on probation, you have to pay the state restitution. I told him I wasn't doing it because I don't co-sign stupidity. He has known he must pay these fines since he was put on probation. He had a job for a couple months, but then didn't get another. Again, not my fault. It's just difficult to balance between being sensitive, being loving, being tough and being understanding. Like I said, I'm all to aware of the pitfalls that are unique to black men. I don't want to be another voice telling him what he's not doing. But I can't ignore how I overcame my own struggle, either. I grew up on food stamps. I grew up with a drug-addicted mother. I still made it out. I've been working since I was 14 years old. My brother claims he couldn't get to school because "nobody would take him," or he uses some other silly-ass excuse. Well, that's hard for me to accept because I got myself to school on my own since the eighth grade. Anyway, I just needed to vent. My message to him isn't getting through and I'm tired of feeling like the bad guy. He called me arrogant. Can you believe that shit? I tell you, if we were out in the streets, it would be about something.

Jul 31st, 2008

216

Get The F On Money?

OK, explain this to me like I'm a 2 year old...the Packers are willing to pay Brett Favre $20 million to stay home?...and the Red Sox are willing to cash out Manny Ramirez because they're sick of him? Maybe I just live by a different creed, but I can't get with the idea of paying someone to stay away or paying someone off just because they're getting on my nerves. I know Favre's a pill, but the Packers and Ted Thompson have exposed themselves as a dumb organization. You can't "own" someone's retirement. I know it's tough for them to swallow that Favre is temporarily bigger than the organization. I know that they hate that he can still play at 180. And I know they really want to see what Aaron Rodgers has. But here's the one fact they simply can't escape: Favre gives them the best chance to win right now. It doesn't change the fact he's a diva, whiny, spoiled and self-absorbed. But there are two truths to be learned from the Ramirez and Favre situations: 1. When an organization is sick of you, they're sick of you. (See: McNair, Steve) No. 2. If you have talent, you always have leverage. Oh, well, I guess there is a No. 3: Clearly a lot of organizations out here are more than willing to put spite ahead of winning.

Jul 31st, 2008

215

The N-Word Might Be Immortal

One of the things that came up during my blogging siesta was The View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck's meltdown over the n-word. I'm not a big fan of The View, but some important dialogue took place during this n-word discussion, which was in response to Jesse Jackson using the word 'nigga' (sorry, it's only so many times I can type 'n-word') in an off-camera discussion of Barack Obama. Hasselbeck and Whoopi Goldberg had a very honest exchange, which I thought accurately represented the frustrations of both whites and blacks when it comes to the n-word. Let's be supremely honest here: There isn't a black person in this country who is shocked that Jesse Jackson still uses the word, nigga. Most black people either use the word themselves, or are surrounded by black people who do. I grew up in a household where nigga was used frequently. In fact, my colleague, LZ Granderson, wrote a fantastic piece some time ago about how he was going to stop using the n-word. Nigga means something entirely different to my generation than it did to my grandmother's. My grandmother was called a nigger (notice how I changed the spelling of the word) by whites. I've never heard my grandmother say, nigga or nigger. But my younger uncles and cousins, they definitely say it. Since people in my age group didn't grow up with the same kind of overt racism as my grandmother's generation, we are less impacted by the word and more tolerant of casual usage. For generations, black people have operated with certain codes when it comes to the n-word. We can use it. White people can't. But with nigga becoming a fabric in pop culture, that code isn't as sturdy as it used to be. High school kids -- black, white, Asian, whatever -- use nigga frequently among each other because they hear it songs, see it in movies, etc. The double standard, though, is still fairly obvious, but what I wondered is ... are we comfortable with this double standard? Should one even exist? Truthfully, I've always been conflicted about where black people should stand when it comes to nigga. Fact is, all sorts of language double standards exist in our society. A high percentage of women call their other women friends, bitches, or whores. If a man tried that, he would get slapped. But you don't hear men saying, well, I heard your girl call you a bitch, so why can't I call you a bitch? If we're fairly comfortable with that double standard, then why the wrangling over who has the copyright on nigga? Why does the nigga double-standard cause such a stir? I hesitate to call for an abolishment of the word nigga because I've seen it used quite cleverly. Ever heard the lyrics of Mos Def's track, "Mr. Nigga?": Now, who is cat riding out on the town State trooper want to stop in his ride, pat him down Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga He got the speakers in the trunk With the bass on pump(?) Now, who is the cat with the hundred dollar bill They gotta send it to the back to make sure the shit is real Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga Nigga Nigga Nigga It's a politically brilliant song that explains no matter who you are, what you have, if you're black, you can be treated like a nigger at any moment. If you've ever watched "The Boondocks," you know they use nigga frequently, but I've got no problems with the way they do it or the points they try to make with it. But there's the other side, too: If black people are obviously so comfortable with using nigga, how can we possibly expect white people to take us seriously when we raise a furor over someone like Michael Richards? Is it simply a matter of context? And who are we to say how context is applied and when? When people argue, why do black people get to use nigga, but not whites, is the end goal of the argument to have a society where everyone can use it without facing any consequences? If that's the case, if you're non-black and you knew using nigga would be no big deal, would you make it a regular part of your language? For example, I have several Mexican friends and I've heard them call each other slurs and make jokes about Mexican stereotypes. I might laugh at some of the things they say, but I would never feel comfortable making those jokes personally. And I wouldn't champion for the right to call them things that they've been able to accept by finding the humor in them. Don't mistake this as a campaign for use of the n-word, or a justification. I'm just trying to understand the complexity of the issue. If you're in that group where it's not considered acceptable for you to use the word, do you use the hypocrisy argument because you want to be able to use the word freely? Or do you just want a society where no one is punished for the word? Do you even care if black people use the word among each other? And, black folks, when we use the word, do we even care about the double message we're sending to non-blacks? A white athlete quoted in LZ's column admits it makes him uncomfortable to hear his black teammates calling each other nigga. I understand him completely. But from what I've seen, the hypocrisy arguments aren't rooted in anything but anger. Anger over who gets to use what and when. Anger over copyright. Fighting over words is the American way.

Jul 30th, 2008

214

I'm Back

Two trillion apologies for not having provided you with fresh blogs. But in between returning from the UNITY conference, dealing with some family drama, and working on a column, I just haven't had as much time to blog. But I'm back! Where should I start? With Brett Favre? A quick word on the Hall of Fame crybaby: Favre's a total diva. He's at least 50 percent responsible for what's happened. But if I were a Green Bay fan, I'd be pretty ticked off. Fact is, Favre gives them the best chance to win. When Green Bay has six wins, Packer fans are going to line up and hang themselves. And how about Tim Donaghy? Is 15 months in the hole fair? I'm not sure, but I will say this: Donaghy should start writing a book, if he hasn't already. Don't know about you, but whatever he knows that the NBA hasn't disclosed...I'm sure the public would be more than willing to listen. And, um, what's up with the Pistons signing Kwame Brown? OK, so they go from having one washed-up, useless first-round pick (Darko Milicic) to another? I realize Kwame's a big body, but he has shown absolutely nothing. He's soft. His hands suck. The biggest thing he's accomplished in his career was being the perfect bargaining chip for the Lakers when they got Gasol. I know the Pistons have successfully undertaken some reclamation projects (Rasheed, Chauncey, Rip, and Ben Wallace), but I just see KB having a minimal impact.

Jul 29th, 2008

213

UNITY Wrap-up: Does The Liver Regenerate?

Anybody got an answer for me on that one? Let's hope the liver does regenerate. I'm on my way back from Chicago, who hosted this year's UNITY convention -- which is the gathering of all four of the minority journalism groups (National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, and the Native American Journalists Association). I learned a lot, partied some (can't do it like I used to), and couldn't help but feel a bit wistful after reuniting with many old friends and colleagues. This year's convention was highlighted by two significant factors -- the widespread dismantling of the newspaper industry and Barack Obama speaking to the convention on Sunday. I'd like to deal with what's going on in the newspaper industry, though. For those that don't know, I was in newspapers for a decade before coming to ESPN in November '06. Newspapers, in fact, always will be my first love. But in the two years since I've left newspapers, there has been a dramatic, depressing shift in the industry. Layoffs and buyouts are widespread. Not sure if you've noticed, but when you buy a newspaper these days, you are getting far less for your money. I've seen sports sections that are six or eight pages. Reporters are being asked to juggle numerous tasks, which is resuulting in a watered-down, generic product. Sounds like a great business plan, doesn't it? Give them less, but make them pay more. I'm curious: Do you all read newspapers anymore? If you do, why? If you don't...why? My 10-cent theory on newspapers: Newspaper READERSHIP is fine. Newspaper SUBSCRIPTIONS? Well, that's an entirely different issue. I contend people read newspapers as much as they ever did. Maybe more. They just read it online for free. Years ago, newspapers made the fatal mistake of behaving like the Internet wasn't going to last and they're still paying for their stupidity. They didn't commit to online and now they're scrambling to capitalize on a healthy, growing online audience. Unfortunately, newspapers haven't figured out a way to make people pay for that information. Why subscribe to a paper when you can read online for free? Newspapers also panicked. Obviously, the online audience was growing and they had no clue how to deal with the Internets. Regardless, television, radio, bloggers and other media outlets still follow the lead of newspapers. Most of the significant journalists on our network have a strong newspaper background. Journalism hasn't changed. The distribution, however, has. A special skill set is required to be a journalist, but the flurry of blogs has made it so EVERYONE can be a reporter. Kobe's comments about Andrew Bynum last summer were captured via cameraphone by a regular Joe. It's just the way things work nowadays. You get any athlete in an "interesting" situation and congrats, you're a media member. Newspapers' biggest problem is understanding how to stay relevant. They're idea of being hip is still 15 years behind. I once saw a statistic that the average newspaper reader is 55. Wow. That means my 50-year-old mother is thinking, man, the newspaper is LAME. Blogs are popular because they tap into an angst-ridden, fanatic, smart-ass, irreverent, pop-culture driven, culture. Everyone needs/deserves a voice. For a long time, newspapers have assumed their readers are stupid, particularly sports fans. Blogs have shown that not only are they intelligent, but they realize that half the time, they're being fed bullshit. Fans feel empowered enough to challenge newspapers and the media, in general, about the message they're being fed. As I said, there will always be a place for newspapers. They will survive. Because, after all, you can't take the laptop in the bathroom with you, right?

Jul 26th, 2008

212

Off To Unity, Hope To Get Dove

I may not be blogging as much as I normally do over the next few days because I'm headed to the UNITY conference in Chicago, where the four largest minority journalism groups are converging to professionally develop, discuss pertinent media issues and, of course, party. In fact, I jokingly call it the professional Freaknik. Each group -- the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association -- holds their individual conventions annually, but every four years we come together. UNITY, get it? I'm sure it will be about 7,000 journalists there, and I may be low-ballin' it. I've been a member of NABJ for 16 years, since I was a It's a time to see old friends I've made in the business throughout the years. This year, I'm participating on an awesome panel at the ESPN mentor breakfast. ESPN anchor Michael Kim -- who we recently decided to call Lil' Kim -- is the moderator. On Saturday, I'm moderating another panel that includes Kevin Blackistone from Around The Horn, Jesus Ortiz (baseball writer for the Houston Chronicle) and Dinn Mann (president of MLB.com), among others. The discussion centers around the impact of the Internet on newspapers. Anyway, I'm a little nervous for this convention. The ESPN mentor breakfast panel is about transitioning into various multimedia platforms. I'll be addressing my suspension publicly -- as in front of folks -- for the first time. Some people are surprised at this, but for me, it's a no brainer. The younger journalists who frequent this convention can learn from my mistake. When you are stretched across multiple platforms, you inherit a lot of responsibility and my suspension was not only a reminder about the power of words, but how much more impact they have when you do television, radio and writing. On to something more light-hearted: One of my girls is already at the convention and she told me this hilarious story about a crackhead/enterpreneur. Is being addicted to crack funny? No, but crackheads can be hilarious (see: Tyrone Biggums). The story: Apparently, the onky thing around the convention center is a chicken joint and the early reports are that on the scasle of ghetto, it's a 9.5. One of our friends went to the chicken spot yesterday and was approached by a crackhead, who offered to sell our mutual friend some Dove body wash for under $3. And I must say, given that Dove is running $5-$7 in the store, that's a deal. As many of you know, I grew up in Detroit. Crackheads roamed my neighborhood, and everyone knows the neighborhood crackhead is like Red in Shawshank Redemption. They can get you just about anything. When I was growing up, the crackheads sold us shoes and video games. I don't think I paid more than $15 for a game for years. But never did they sell us body wash. That's some new shit. Another convention-goer went to this same chicken shack, and they were offered a half can of bug spray and some pampers. Now I don't mean to be that one that complains about a hook-up, but what's up with the half can? Betcha it wasn't Raid, either. If I'm an enterprising crackhead, here's what I'd do: Figure out a way to steal gas. If a group of crackheads banded together and stole gas, they would have to turn people away. I am openly supporting this. I don't buy things on the black market (anymore), but I will break that rule for gas. Step your game up, crackheads!

Jul 23rd, 2008

211

The Facebook Breakup

It's amazing how much technology has impacted relationships. Thanks to caller ID the ol' I-didn't-know-you-called excuse doesn't work. Cellphones are basically a tether. Text messages, as evidenced by the trouble that Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has gotten into, are a sure-fire liability if accessed by the wrong people. You can't creep like you used to. Quick story: One of my girls found out about her man's other woman because his cellphone accidentally dialed home, where he lived with my girl, his main woman. So when my girl picked up the phone, she heard her man organizing with the side piece. She didn't hear anything grimy, but it was clear they were involved. One word: Keyguard. But here's another technology downside I hadn't considered: How Facebook -- or other social networks -- has impacted breakups. A buddy of mine broke up with his girlfriend and unfortunately, he was one of those people who designated that he's "in a relationship" on his Facebook page. One problem: Any change to your relationship status and all your Facebook friends are notified. How messy is that? Sometimes, when you break up with somebody, you only want to tell your close friends. You don't want to tell hundreds of people, about 70 percent of which you probably don't know that well. I've got nearly 500 Facebook friends. Think I want to tell them my relationship status? Hells no. Not that I have anything to hide, but it's none of their business. Checking off that relationship box has now created a whole bunch of unnecessary drama for my boy. Should he be the first one to change his relationship status to 'single?' Or, should he wait for her to do it? What does he do with the mutual friends? Un-friend them or keep them? At the very least, he has to un-friend the ex-girlfriend, doesn't he? Otherwise, she can check his page and keep tabs on him. What's the protocol for a Facebook breakup?

Jul 22nd, 2008

210

Movie Review: Dark Knight

(Editor's note: Might be some spoilers in here. I'm just freestylin') In a word: Phenomenal. I'll be jumping all over the map with this one, so bear with me. A friend of mine who covers entertainment told me last week that Dark Knight was the best movie she'd ever seen. That's high praise, especially since she's a movie snob. I wouldn't say it's the best ever -- maybe the best Batman movie ever? -- but I can't see too many films being better than that one this year. To date, Ironman was the best movie I'd seen in the last six months (qualifier: I don't see a whole lot of movies). But I'd put Dark Knight and Ironman in different categories. If you want more light-hearted entertainment, go with Ironman. If you want something dark and frightening, Dark Knight's your flick. In talking about Dark Knight, there's really only one place to start -- with deceased actor Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker. When you finish this film, you experience supereme disappointment because Ledger's untimely death means he'll never reappear in this series. And that is truly tragic because Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is definitely the best acting I've seen this year. I'll be stunned if he doesn't get some serious Oscar and Golden Globe consideration. Even when the Batman comic reinvented itself into something darker, I don't think anyone ever feared the Joker. Certainly not in the first parade of Batman movies when Jack Nicholson was the Joker and definitely not in the corny TV series, where they turned the Joker into a buffoon. But this Joker? Yeah, he's on some different shit. Ledger turned the Joker into something terrifying and monstrous. You fear him. He's a true sociopath, killing for killing's sake. Yes, he's got a a sense of humor. But it's not ha-ha funny, it's more like, I'm laughing and quietly peeing my pants because this guy is disturbed. The directors made a brilliant move by giving us no background on the Joker. They wanted the audience to not have a point of origin so you would continually ask yourself throughout the movie, WTF is wrong with this cat? We have no idea how he got scarred, where he came from, or how he rose to power. One of the Joker's terrifying bits in the film is to tell a different story about how he was scarred to someone he's about to kill. Ledger is to the Joker what Anthony Hopkins is to Hannibal Lector in Silence Of The Lambs. He's smarter than everyone. He's dangerous and deadlier. He seems completely uncatchable. When you watch Ledger, you wonder what kind of dark place did he go to in order to unearth a portrayal like this? What sort of demon did he summon? There are several points in the movie where you're thinking...damn, Batman just ain't got shit on this dude. He's not as buff as Batman, but his thirst for killing is far superior to any other villain. Clearly, the film was setup for Ledger to take over this franchise and honestly, it would be practically impossible to find someone to play the Joker as well as Ledger. Then again, I thought they'd have a hard time replacing Michael Keaton as Batman. Final word on the Joker: Ledger smoked Nicholson. Other tidbits about the movie: - Wasn't real impressed with Aaron Eckhart, who played Harvey Dent. Didn't have a strong presence. He was milquetoast. - Speaking of which...Maggie Gyllenhaal was pretty useless. Of course, I tend to be hard on movie damsels. They tried to pump up a love triangle between her, Bruce Wayne and Dent, but it didn't add to the movie. It got in the way. Thank God the Rachel Dawes character will not be in the third flick, assuming there is one. Oops, that was a spoiler. - Morgan Freeman is destined to spend the rest of his acting career cast as The Smart Black Man Who That Serves As The Main Character's Conscious (see: Seven, Kiss The Girls, Shawshank Redemption, Along Came A Spider, Deep Impact, etc.) - It kept freaking me out how Christian Bale would talk in a normal, human tone when he was Bruce Wayne and then when he was Batman, he'd use this weird, raspy, voice that made it sound like he had a microphone in his throat. It also looked like they gave Batman fangs. I'm not sure what that was about. - My guess is you'll be disappointed with the way they wrapped up the Dent storyline, but you will be thoroughly impressed with how they jacked up his face. You wanted to turn away every time it was on screen. - Be prepared to be on your seat the last 45 minutes. Every time you think it's going to end one way, here comes something else. Quite entertaining watching Batman and Joker try to outsmart each other. Overall, this is a movie you'll want to see again. Already, there are reports the movie has successfully notched the biggest box office opening in history, having taken in $155.4 million through Sunday. Everybody is acting unsure about a third, but trust me, this movie is easily going to gross a half a billion. There will be a third. Gary Oldman, who plays Commissioner Gordon, slightly let the cat out of the bag by saying not only should they recast the Joker, but add the Riddler, too. Something to comment on: Who would make a good Joker, or a good Riddler? If they're trying to go dark, Anthony Hopkins would make a good Riddler. The reinvention of Batman was just so genius and it saved the franchise. Batman's transition is very similar to that of James Bond. They had to make Bond darker, too. These days, people connect more with talented, flawed, but tortured super heroes. Before, we were always sold on the good side of being a super hero, but films have done an excellent job of exposing the down side, too. I'm fascinated by the vulnerabilities and sacrifice of these characters, more so than their strength and abilities. Batman will always hold a special place because he's a self-made superhero. He wasn't bitten by a radioactive spider, or born on a mystery planet. He came by his the old fashioned way.

Jul 20th, 2008

209

Travel Hell

I'm trying to think of how I can sum up my travel experience Friday without unloading a bunch of f-bombs, s-bombs, and a-bombs. Really not sure if that's possible, though. The combination of a post 9/11 world and airlines pretty much deciding that treating customers like crap is standard has made travel a gi-normous pain in the ass. Where's the respect? Where's the decency? Where's the accountability? Friday's experience was tougher to swallow because it was something I shouldn't have had to endure in the first place. Don't you hate it when your entire day is ruined because one person didn't do their job? Anyway, my day started off simple. I did First Take, then had lunch in the newly-remodeled ESPN cafeteria. Actually, let me take you off track for a minute, and say a few words about the ESPN cafeteria. It's a cafeteria on steroids. Flat screens, an X-box, booths and pretty good food. They make fresh pizza in a brick oven. There's a deli, a pasta bar and now an atrium. It's ridiculous. OK, so back to the story: I had a 5:10 p.m. flight out of Hartford on Delta. Things were looking up initially. I secured a first-class upgrade at the last minute. I'll fully admit that I'm a travel snob. It's getting to a point where if I can't get an upgrade, I'm a little pissy about it. It's not that I think I'm the shit, but honestly, if you travel as frequently as I do, all you want on an airplane is to be able to stretch out and eat something that doesn't taste like a shoe. If you fly in coach, you're forced to fold into a seat that's really built for a 6-year-old. I also recently read that a few airlines have gone so far as to cut their in-flight movies. On other airlines, you have to pay to view a movie. It's beyond absurd. So I'm sitting on my flight, cozying up with some college and pro football research material. OK, I'll be honest. I was studying up on some fantasy football prospects. The plane starts speeding down the runway and suddenly....BOOM. It sounded like someone had fired a shotgun right next to me. Everybody jumped. The plane slowed down, before coming to a halt. The pilot jumps on the speaker and tells us he basically doesn't know what the hell just happened. We go back to our gate. Now, if you've ever been on a plane that's had a mechanical issue, you should know the drill. You wait forever. They tell you nothing. After a nearly 30-minute wait, the pilot informs us that the right engine blew while we were on the runway and was leaking oil. The plane was done. Better for that to happen on the runway than in the air. I thank Jesus for that. Anyway, we herd off the plane to participate in that infamous mad scramble of re-booking our flights. It's a little after six at this point and I know that there's a direct flight to Orlando at 8:30 p.m on Southwest. There was no way I was going to go for the usual airline Okey-doke, which is to put you up in the hotel for a night because they don't want to give the fare money to another airline. The Delta rep informs me that they don't have a partnership with Southwest. See, this is what completely pisses me off about airlines. When they screw you, they really don't care about making it right. At this point, they should be trying to do whatever they can to make this as convenient of an experience as they possibly can. Think they did that? Hell naw. Instead, I was re-booked on a United flight with a connection in D.C. Not too bad. The issue was that the flight left in 45 minutes and of course, Delta wasn't going to help me out and send my bags over to United. Again, too easy. I had to go get my bags from baggage claim, go to United and check in, which meant going through security for a second time. Delta decided to release everyone's bags because the flight was going to be cancelled. Or so everyone thought. When I got to baggage claim, they refused to release the bags because they had just gotten word that the once-cancelled flight was now in business again. I'd like to know who the hell was brave enough to get back on that flight. And I really felt bad for all the people they'd sent to hotels already, thinking the flight was permanently cancelled. It took about 20 minutes for me to get me my bag. I hauled ass to United and got my bag checked. And keeping with the theme of this story...of course, it wasn't that easy. I was flagged by security because I was changing flights at the last minute. Context doesn't mean much to security. I was frisked, they rifled through my carry-on, tested every possible particle and ink pen. Thank you, Delta. It was a lovely experience. I barely made my re-booked flight. From there, everything was pretty uneventful. The moral of this story is that airlines SUCK. They don't make you feel good about spending your money, and they seem absolutely shocked that people can't stand them. They're giving us, the consumer, less and less, but they want us to spend more and more. To hell with them.

Jul 19th, 2008

208

A Lil' Boy Phenomenon?

It's recently come to my attention that there's a certain gross rite of passage that little boys go through, and I've come here to the gallery requesting corroboration. Long story-short: Over the last couple days, I've become aware that little boys...how shall I put this delicately...er, relieved themselves, uh, on themselves. Let me explain. I'm not talking about when you're a baby. I mean when you're 7, 8, 9, sometimes 11 years old. Well after you've been potty-trained. My boyfriend told me a story about a friend's son, who was playing outside, didn't want to come in and used his khakis as a urinal. Then he tried to hide it by telling his father it was "Gatorade." He, of course, was given a Kimbo Slice-like ass whupping. A dear female friend told me about her former boyfriend, whose son did the same thing. Only he came up with something more creative than Gatorade. He balled up the soiled clothes, put them in a bag and hid them near the family bar in the basement. And left them there for months...and months...and months. When summertime rolled around, their basement strangely smelled like the inside of an elephant's ass. Not that I know what that smells like. Maybe because I'm a woman I find this completely absurd and foul. Little girls, far as I know, just don't do this. But all you former little boys out there, I expect you to give me some insight. Have you ever had a "accident?" Fess up.

Jul 17th, 2008

207

Off Politics, On To Favre

I've been one of the more outspoken critics of Brett Favre the last few years. He's whiny. He's bratty (Brat Favre!). He's a diva. It bothered me that he and Roger Clemens were routinely characterized as "having the right" to be a pain in the ass, when other athletes -- particularly black ones -- were vilified for doing the same thing. Barry Bonds wanted his own personal space in the San Francisco clubhouse, and the media never let him forget it. But it's OK for Clemens to not attend road games? Whaaaa? Anyway, this time, I'm actually in Favre's corner. For Green Bay not to have the gall to tell him the only way he could return is as a backup is just absolutely moronic. It's stupid. The Packers seemed to have forgotten that Favre played his best ball in years last season and got them to within one game of the Super Bowl. Even at 198 years old, Favre is better than Aaron Rodgers. In fact, Rogers will never sniff the career that Favre has had. Hey, I understand that for Green Bay, this is partially about get-back. They're pissed because they're sick of Favre being bigger than the organization. But if this is truly about winning football games, then the return of Favre is a no brainer. They've pretty much got the same team they did a year ago. I'm sure the players like Aaron Rodgers and trust him, but not as much as they trust Favre. Look at the poor quality of quarterbacks around the NFL. Hell, just focus in on the QBs in the NFC North division alone. Rex Grossman. Tavaris Jackson. Jon Kitna. Clearly, Favre is far superior than anyone in his entire division. He's still a top-10 guy, despite a face spray painted with gray. Green Bay decision not to release Favre only proves they obviously still believe in his abilities. They're afraid he'll go to Minnesota, Tampa Bay, or Chicago and later kick their ass in the playoffs. Or worse, go to another Super Bowl. Well, if that's the case, let him return! Now the Packers have painted themselves in an unwinnable situation. After being offered the backup job, there is no way Favre can put on a Green Bay uniform. I doubt if someone gives Green Bay a juicy enough trade offer. Eventually, I believe they'll be forced to release Favre. Green Bay has a pretty tough schedule this season, so when they're 4-8 with Rogers, the fans are going to be brutal and they'll deserve it. Don't get me wrong. I could do without Favre's whining. The only reason he retired is because the Packers didn't kiss his ass enough in the offseason. He's like a woman with no self esteem -- needs to feel desired all the time. Besides, like a lot of vets, Favre abhors training camp. I'm convinced that's the only reason Michael Strahan went through the antics of last season. Prepare for this to drag out the rest of the summer.

Jul 15th, 2008

206

More On Obama And Jesse

My friend Keith Reed, whose $ Out Of 15 cents blog on BET.com is a must read, offered an original take on the Jesse-Barack controversy. Keith also took issue with Obama's Father Day speech, where he chastized black fathers for their lack of presence in their children's lives. A committed father himself, Keith explains that the government is a constant obstacle for committed, non-custodial parents like himself. Enjoy: By Keith Reed It's cliche in my business that reporters take quotes out of context, repeating a verbal gaffe so much its idiocy becomes a bigger story than whatever the speaker was trying to say. Mostly us writer types raise a middle finger at the "out of context" defense and mostly we should. When politicians and businessmen are embarrassed by their stupid statements, they blame the messenger. The irony this week is that Jesse Jackson owned his stupidity and apologized for saying he wanted to "cut [Barack Obama's] nuts off" (seriously, Jesse?). But an important debate for black folks got lost in the wake. Jesse was trying to call out Barack (we're on a first name basis with both, no?) on what he viewed as pandering to a right-leaning morals crowd more interested in hammering black people about our family pathologies than addressing decades old policies that have done much to exacerbate the strains on black mommies, daddies and kids. Both opinions have merit: responsible parents don't need the government in their way when they're trying to do right by their kids, but times is tough and some folk need a hand. Black folk – and Americans as a whole – have some serious issues when it comes to marriage and parenting, but political stump speeches ain't feeding nobody's kids nor are they bringing daddies back to the dinner table. Neither approach works without the other. That said, and Jesse's plans for Barack's gonads aside, I found myself in a rare, private fight with Barack after his Father's Day speech, where he regurgitated the standard "too many fathers also are is missing…they have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men" rhetoric. Not that I disagree; like Barack, growing up without my father has made parenting my own kids a near-pathological pursuit of mine. But let's be honest with ourselves: every mama's not a saint and spewing rehashed attacks on black males in front of a church packed with women might raise applause, but it does nothing to rectify the out-of-whack child support, welfare, custody and family court systems in this country. Like irresponsible black fathers, those institutions aren't doing right by many of our kids. In thousands of instances, they facilitate petty disputes and exacerbate financial hardships that keep fathers separate from their families. It's on this point, though, that things get interesting: lost, again, in most coverage about the Father's Day speech was that Obama introduced legislation that many non-custodial fathers – myself included -- would argue is overdue. The bill, called "The Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act", has provisions that would steer all child support money collected on behalf of kids to actually go to the custodial parent who has them. As it stands, states take a cut to reimburse themselves for any aid the custodial parent gets or for their collection efforts. It would also make parents paying child support eligible for the earned-income tax credit. Currently, only the parent with custody gets any tax consideration, despite the fact that many non-custodial parents make significant financial contributions. This is a factor I've dealt with personally. I pay child support, which comes out of my paycheck after taxes, but can claim neither of my sons as a dependent because they don't live with me. Thus I'm taxed as if I'm a single person with no responsibilities, not like a working father and the government takes cash from me that could be put toward my boys' college savings or other needs. The legislation includes other provisions to strengthen enforcement and collection of child support from those who don't pay but should and would fund parenting and family education programs to help young people understand the responsibilities of having a kid. It's a solid proposal but by no means guaranteed to pass. States aren't going to walk away from the millions they take off the top of child support payments without a fight. Taking up fathers' rights on an issue where the discourse long ago devolved into "deadbeat dad" sound bites isn't politically expedient for a presidential candidate. That's exactly why I wish whatever substance there was in Barack's Father's Day speech and Jesse's nuts-cutting-off retort hadn't gotten lost. Black families are in need of a good-old fashioned revival, however you define that. Many also need the kind of help only changes in policy can bring about. Publicizing stupid words and political catch phrases won't do either.

Jul 14th, 2008

205

What Do Jesse And Al Really Mean?

Props to Mizzo at The Starting Five for his unbelievably well-written post on the Jesse-Obama rift. As I said in my previous blog post, the issue isn't what Jesse said. Probably isn't the first time Jesse has gotten out of pocket, and it won't be the last. Is it professional jealousy? Of course. Jesse has been leading black people since most of us were gobbling momma's milk. In a lot of ways, you could give Jesse the Brett Favre card, saying he's earned the right to say what's on his mind. What the mainstream doesn't seem to understand is that the ideological beef taking place between Jesse and Obama has been going on since W.E.B DuBois and Booker T. Washington, and even before them. But here's two other large issues the Jesse-Obama rift has created: 1. Why is Obama being forced to apologize for other black folks? 2. What does Jesse mean to the black community? Let's deal with No. 1, first. Why is this the second time that Obama has had to prove his "presidentiality" by distancing himself from other black people -- most notably the ones that white people seem to have issue with? Look, we all know Rev. Wright is edgier than most clergymen. But anyone who has been to a black Baptist church in the last 15 years will hear a lot of the same rhetoric. Rev. Wright is looking at things from a Biblical perspective, as a man who has lived through decades of racial tension and flimsy policy. I'm not trying to excuse what he said, but it seems we've become a nation that is oblivious to context. What Jesse said was definitely inappropriate. He's been in the game long enough to know that the mic is ALWAYS hot (see: Hymietown ). A more tactful approach would be to try to work with Obama instead of being an obstacle. But this is where I want to slightly pull Obama's card. Instead of playing nice with Hilary, it would have been a smart move to try to develop a relationship with Jesse and Al Sharpton. Regardless of what you may think of these two -- and I'm definitely in the camp that sometimes, they need to sit their asses down -- the fact remains that they've been battling and they're galvanizers. They've been doing work that, quite frankly, a lot of people have been unwilling to do. They've spearheaded national conversations, confronted difficult situations and endured a level of hatred and criticism that, as Mizzo points out, a lot of us would never-EVAH have the guts to endure. And that leads me to my second question...what does Jesse mean to black people?Or rather, what should he mean to black people? What's his legacy? Whatever the answers, it shouldn't be determined by how Jesse is viewed in the mainstream, where it's trite and easy to carry the EAJ (Everybody Against Jesse) campaign. Certainly if we broke down Jesse using an Entourage analogy, he's 'E' to MLK's Vince. Though, if we're being honest, Jesse has had many instances where he's acting more like Turtle. I'll say this: Jesse shouldn't be used as a pawn for Obama to prove to the mainstream he's one of "them." Obama is a modern, perfect example of the duality and strain that black people face when in leadership positions. Can't be too "white" for fear of being considered a traitor. Can't be too "black" for fear of making the decision-makers uncomfortable. That Obama has to apologize or even explain the actions of other black people is absurd, and shows that once again the mainstream has not accepted that there are differing viewpoints in the black community. Always has been.

Jul 13th, 2008

204

Dreamin'

Ever have a dream that was so screwed up that when you finally woke up it made you re-evaluate your life? You start wondering if what you dreamt about is some kind of metaphor or warning. If you dream about blue diamonds and purple horseshoes, you start thinking...am I about to get hit by a bus or win the lottery? Last night, I had the most terrifying dream I've had in years. Last time I had a nightmare it was 1980. I went to see Star Wars and Darth Vader scared the hell out of me. James Earl Jones' voice haunted me. Anyway, until last night, I've never died in a dream. I dreamt I was shot multiple times. And as I was dying, I kept repeating a prayer to Jesus and asking for forgiveness right before I checked out. It really spooked me. So I got online today and looked up some things on dream analysis. Here's what it said about when you dream of your own death: "To dream that you die in your dream, symbolizes inner changes, transformation, self-discovery and positive development that is happening within you or in your life. Although such a dreams may bring about feelings of fear and anxiety, it is no cause for alarm and is often considered a positive symbol. Dreams of experiencing your own death usually means that big changes are ahead for you. You are moving on to new beginnings and leaving the past behind. These changes does not necessarily imply a negative turn of events. Metaphorically, dying can be seen as an end or a termination to your old ways and habits. So, dying does not always mean a physical death, but an ending of something. On a negative note, to dream that you die may represent involvement in deeply painful relationships or unhealthy, destructive behaviors. You may feeling depressed or feel strangled by a situation or person in your waking life. Perhaps your mind is preoccupied with someone who is terminally ill or dying. Alternatively, you may be trying to get out of some obligation, responsibility or other situation. To see someone dying in your dream, signifies that your feelings for that person are dead or that a significant change/loss is occurring in your relationship with that person. Alternatively, you may want to repress that aspect of yourself that is represented by the dying person." Pretty deep, huh? I do sense there are some big changes ahead, that I'm transitioning into another phase both personally and professionally. I found it interesting that dreaming of my own death is relative to an awakening, spiritual connection. If there is one area in my life that I've been slacking on lately, it's definitely my relationship with God. I haven't been to church in a couple of years. I still pray, but not as consistent as I would like and I know from past experience, no matter who or how you choose to worship, it's hard to make up the spiritual distance created by lack of fellowship. Maybe that was the root of my dream. Either way, it seems like life is waiting to surprise me.

Jul 13th, 2008

203

Jesse v. Obama

If it's true that Jesse Jackson told Fox's Sean Hannity that he wanted to "rip" Obama's "nuts off," I got a C-note that says Obama would give Jesse a two-piece with a biscuit in a real fight. All kidding aside, Jesse just made himself a whole lot of enemies with this. Not that he lacked any. Lots of layers here. First, there isn't official confirmation that those were the words Jesse used, but if Jesse did say that, that's real low brow. Word is, Jesse has beef with Obama because he feels like Obama is using a morality message to black folks and not addressing how policy has contributed to the decimation of many black communities. To me, it sounds like Jesse is a little jelly (jealous). He's always jockeying to be MFN (Most Favorite Negro), and maybe Jesse is feeling threatened. Despite this being an obvious case of crabs in a barrel, Jesse's angry tirade did touch on something that's discussion worthy. Personally, I find refreshing that Obama has preached accountability, but there is no doubt this is could cause an ideological rift/shift. American policy's impact on racism needs to be addressed, too. And there is a fear among African Americans that the personal responsibility edicts often give policy a free pass. Without a doubt, the unequal drug sentencing -- which has made a drastic distinction between white collar (cocaine) and blue collar (crack) criminals - has had a severe, sickening impact on eroding black communities and destroying young, black males, who are disproportionately represented in prison. Since the core of the black community has rebelled against personal responsibility messages in the past -- just look at the mixed reactions to Bill Cosby's speeches -- I'm wondering if Obama's personal responsibility ethos will alienate those who agree with Jesse's philosophy. Could this ideology difference cause a rift among black voters? I also wonder if Jesse supporters -- and he still has quite a few -- will turn their back on him because he dissed Obama. Remember Obama is down with Oprah. You insult Obama, and you're pimp-smackin' Oprah at the same time. Dangerous situation. Crude words aside, the mainstream media should understand that black people have differing opinions. And it's not newsworthy when they do. Whenever Jesse and Al Sharpton are in the midst of one of their episodes, the news stations go out of their way to find a dissenting, black voice. They act is if we're all going to meet up, take a vote and kick somebody out of the race like they committed treason. If I were Jesse, I wouldn't apologize for my beliefs. I'd apologize for the language used, but that's it. If anything, this is partly a generational issue. Jesse was in the thick of a time where blacks didn't have basic Civil rights, but a higher sense of personal responsibility. Twice as many black people were married then, meaning, unlike now, the majority of black kids came from two-parent homes. But that still didn't stop the water hoses being turned on black people, the riots and many other atrocities AAs suffered in their quest to be considered equals. Everybody can drink from the same water fountain now, but there's a general lack of respect inside our culture that has gone unchecked. We celebrate failure and non-achievement. Not everyone, but it's a mindset that has gripped young, black kids in particular. Both ideologies are spot on.

Jul 9th, 2008

202

Here Comes The Old Woman In Me

I've gotta say, this is a law I wish everyone would enforce. Call me old-school, un-hip, but I hate sagging. And thank God the Flint chief of police is just as bothered by it as I am -- so much so he's decided to use the indecent exposure laws to crack down on it. Apparently, this is has become a nationwide trend. A few other cities also have begun crackdowns. Good for them. Nothing bothers me more than seeing a guy walking around with half his ass hanging out. It's disrespectful. It looks awful. The world doesn't need to see your Sylvester n' Tweety boxers. If I see someone coming into a place a business with shorts that fit like coolocks (yeah I went there), I'm assuming a lot of unflattering things about that particular person. Like, mainly, a severe lack of home training. I get that this is teenage rebellion and every generation did something that was essentially a big middle finger to adults. There was rock n' roll, NWA, 2 Live Crew -- I've seen virtually every phase. But considering sagging is a trend started in prison -- inmates have to sag because belts are banned for fear some of them might practice natural selection -- it has broader negative connotations for serial saggers. Why imitate a trend that was established in a place you really don't want to end up? It's cool to emulate a dude doing a 10-to-15-year stretch? I know some guys like to sag because they want a little more thigh room, but most clothing companies specifically make wider-leg jeans and longer basketball shorts to compensate for the sagging trend. So it's not like anyone is forced to into a life of John Stockton-style nut huggers. Looking at this from a dating standpoint: If you're a man over 30, still sagging and wearing t-shirts that are four times too big, that might be why you can't get with a professional woman. I also can't date anybody who considers Lil' Wayne a good rapper, but that's a blog for another day. Anyway, isn't it funny how you eventually become the adults you can't stand? Had you asked me about sagging in '92, I would have told you it was harmless, that you were being a tight-ass, and then I would have started bumpin' Dre's Chronic. My opinion on sagging has changed, thanks to age, wisdom and a better understanding that what young folks don't know can kill them. But best believe, I'm still bumpin' Chronic. I'm not totally washed up.

Jul 9th, 2008

201

Chick-Fil-A Is...

It's taken (muffled sound) years, but my Chick-Fil-A cherry is finally busted. On Monday, I had Chick-Fil-A for the first time. I can hear the chorus of gasps, but let me explain why I'm late to the scene on this one. I'm from Detroit and we don't have Chick-Fil-A. We have White Castles, but no Chick-Fil-A. Anyway, this is the second time I've lived in the South. When I lived in Raleigh earlier in my career, I just never felt compelled to try Chick-Fil-A. What compelled me to try it on Monday was the smell. I was on my way to the Sprint store and the smell of those waffle fries grabbed me and didn't let go. OK, my honest assessment of Chick-Fil-A: It's not as good as Wendy's spicy chicken filet. It's a close second. Even with the pickles and the buttered bun, the Chick-Fil-A sandwich was slightly overrated. But the waffle fries? I'd rank them right up there with McDonald's fries, which still are a 1 seed in fast food fries. Which reminds me...you guys should know by now that I'm all about lists. So here's some important top-5 breakdowns regarding fast food. DISCLAIMER: These choices are based off regional availability. TOP-5 FAST FOOD WHEN DRUNK: 5. Wendy's 4. McDonalds (for the fries alone) 3. Tommy Burgers (the people from Los Angeles know what I'm talking about) 2. White Castle 1. Taco Bell TOP-5 FAST FOOD FRIES 5. Bojangles 4. White Castle 3. Arby's Homestyle Fries 2. Chick-Fil-A 1. McDonald's TOP-5 FAST FOOD BURGERS 5. Whataburger 4. Carl's Jr 3. Fatburger 2. Steak N' Shake 1. In N' Out (best burger I've ever had) TOP-5 WORST FAST FOOD IDEAS 5. The KFC Bowl (seems to resemble prison food) 4. Burger King BK Veggie Burger (dry and tasteless) 3. McGriddle 2. Subway Meatball sub (just sounds wrong) 1. McRib EDIT: TOP-5 FAST FOOD MILKSHAKES 5. Sonic 4. McDonald's 3. Burger King 2. Whataburger 1. Steak N' Shake TOP-5 CHICKEN NUGGETS 5. McDonald's Premium Select 4. Wendy's 3. White Castle Chicken Rings 2. Chick-Fil-A 1. Zaxby's TOP-5 BREAKFAST SANDWICHES 5. Sausage, Egg, Cheese Biscuit (McDonald's) 4. Sausage, Egg, Cheese Crossan'wich (Burger King) 3. Bagel B.E.L.T (Tim Hortons) 2. Egg McMuffin 1. Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuit (McDonald's) TOP-5 CHICKEN JOINTS 5. Chick-Fil-A 4. KFC 3. El Pollo Loco 2. Bojangles (for the sweet tea alone. It's like crack) 1. Popeye's

Jul 8th, 2008

200

A Very Brave Column

I can't believe this column was written by someone who just graduated high school. Full disclosure: I don't know the young woman who wrote about why John McCain is getting her vote -- and it's her first vote as an adult -- but she did go to my high school alma mater. So, for me, there's a sense of pride there. But this was a brave column when you consider both her age and viewpoint. Most 17 or 18 year olds are not interested in the political process. And if I were her, I wouldn't be brave enough to tell thousands of readers -- in a city that is 80 percent black -- why I wasn't voting for a black presidential candidate. But this column touches on why I'm torn about who I will vote for in the fall. I like Barack Obama as a person. He's warm, astute and a dynamic speaker. He has an inviting personality, which is important for a president whose goal should be to unite Americans. But to be frank, I haven't been very impressed with his policies. He says things that, as this young columnist said, sound good theoretically, but practically, I doubt if it ever happens. I'm encouraged by his idealism, but not by his common sense. The truth is, he can't pull out of Iraq anytime soon, even if he might want to. So, why sell that as a campaign plan? But I do feel as if the history of the moment is overwhelming people. I'm a realist. I want to know how things will be done. And when I compare McCain and Obama, I have a better sense of that with McCain. That doesn't mean I'll vote for him, but that's how I feel right now. Obama is a touchstone for us as a country. It's our chance to prove how far we've come in racial relations. For many African Americans, a legitimate, black presidential candidate is something many of us thought they would never see. So even if Obama is inexperienced and some of his policies aren't do-able, SOME