What more?!

Does anyone remember a certain part in Rocky V, when after Tommy Gunn beat down this paper champion and still received no love from the media and the fans? Well anyway after the fight Tommy Gunn, played by Tommy Morrison, yelled, What more do I have to do get some respect?! and that's how the Cowboys should feel right now. They should be asking what more do they have to do to get some mutha fuggin' respect! I was coming in to work and on Fox Sport Radio one of the honks, was dissin' my boyz and it's been going on for a while.

It first started with the Giants, after they went on some four game winning streak after being beatdowned by the Cowboys and Packers. The so-called experts were saying that the Giants found their stride and could possible beat the then undefeated Cowboys....They play again...result? Cowboys win.

Next, everyone was/is in love with Brett Favre and the Packers, surely they can beat the Cowboys. Result...wasn't close and Bret Favre was excused early from the game.

All season long, test upon test have been on the Cowboys and each time they have answered. So what more do they have to do...Oh! if the Redskins get past Seattle, beat the Skins again because they won what two games in a row with a new quarterback and by the way! if the arguement is that Romo hasn't recovered from his botched field goal snap last year? and he's inexperienced, then what about Todd Collins?!

Come on, Cowboy haters.

Iran's Inner Circle.......(L.A. Times)

Iran's Inner Circle and Outer Circles of Influence and Power
L.A. Times

I found this interesting piece on Iran's political and power struggle to privatization in it's country. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-circle31dec31,0,1974441.story?coll=la-home-center

Jury Convicts Black Man in Shooting Death of White Teen
Long Island Case Involved Questions of Race, Recklessness

By Frank Eltman
Associated Press
Monday, December 24, 2007; A05


RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- A black man who invoked images of lynch mobs in explaining why he killed a white teenager has been convicted of second-degree manslaughter because a jury rejected defense lawyers' arguments that his actions were justified.

Jurors reached a verdict Saturday night after four days of deliberations and an emotional three-week trial that flared around questions of race and recklessness.

The defendant, John White, raised the nation's history of racist violence in describing why he brandished a gun at a group of angry white teenagers who came to his house on Aug. 9, 2006. White ultimately shot Daniel Cicciaro, 17, in what he said was an accident but a prosecutor said was the result of poor judgment.

Saying White plans to appeal, defense lawyer Fred Brewington called the verdict "disappointing for African Americans" in the area.

"You have to survive in Suffolk County, where people can roll up on your house at 11:30 at night, threaten you, threaten your family, curse at you, call you a [N-word], and you've got to take it," he said.

But the slain teenager's mother, Joanne Cicciaro, said the case "was never about race. It was about individuals and individuals' actions."

White, 54, remains free on bail until sentencing, when he faces a prison term of five to 15 years. White was also convicted of a weapons-possession misdemeanor that carries a penalty of two to seven years in prison; it would probably run concurrently with the other sentence.

The verdict came after a 12-hour deliberation session in which jurors said they were deadlocked -- as they briefly had the day before. The judge told them about 8:15 p.m. Saturday to keep deliberating, and notice of the verdict came about 45 minutes later. Jurors declined to comment.

Outside the courtroom, the Cicciaro family's supporters chanted "Dan-O! Dan-O!" and honked their horns as they drove away. Several supporters had the teenager's nickname, "Dano Jr.," tattooed on their bodies.

To read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/23/AR2007122302551_pf.html


Response: Hat tip goes to Darkstar (Darkstar spouts off) for this article. On his site, DS asked the one question everyone else asked, "Why in the hell was your son on this man's property at 11 O'clock at night? Huh?!

Unfortunately, based off the report and of course I don't know all the evidence presented to make the jury be deadlocked and eventually convict the defendant for second degree manslaughter of a teen-ager. You would like to think that a man's home is his castle and he has the right to protect and defend himself and his family. But in this case, did the defendant overstep the guidelines of self defense and the use of deadly force. He may have and although it is not the same as the Joe Horn incident in Texas, where Horn called 9-1-1 and told the operator that he was going to use deadly force to stop intruders from entering and eventually burglarizing his neighbor's, key words his neighbor's! home. Horn left the safe confides of his home and went after the intruders with a shot gun, killing one.

In this case, we have a defendant, who was wakened by his son at night because he got into a confrontation with the victim and his friends at a party. The victim and his friends decided to follow the son home in hopes to getting the son into a fight. In an effort to protect his son, the father got his gun, went out into the street to confront the group of boys and fired.

Now for the brass tacks, Horn is white and fired upon black assailants. White is black and fired upon white assailants. Similarity of cases? none. Horn is a murderer. White was negligent at best for not allegedly calling the police and for going out in the street to confront the group. Oh! by the way, the victim's family should be at least embarrassed as so grieved as to why their relative and his friends kicked a black teen-ager out of a party and going to this man's house with violence in mind.

There's no winners in this matter; the case could have vindicated White, too.

Jane Olson: Owning it

Defaults moving beyond sub-prime
L.A. Times

Delinquencies among holders of risky option ARMs are increasing as their minimum payments climb.

By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 28, 2007

Thought the mortgage meltdown was just a sub-prime affair? Think again. There's another time bomb waiting to explode, experts say: risky loans made to people with good credit.

So-called pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages, or option ARMs, were the easiest and most profitable home loans for lenders and brokers to make for much of this decade. Last year, they accounted for about 9% of the volume of all mortgages made in the U.S. and were especially popular in California, Florida and Nevada -- states where home prices rose the most during the housing boom and are now falling most sharply.

An option ARM loan gives a borrower the option of paying less than the interest due, causing the loan balance to rise. If it rises too much -- say, by 10% or 15% -- the opportunity to make a low payment vanishes and the required payment skyrockets.

That scenario is becoming increasingly common. In fact, more than 75% of option ARM borrowers have been making only the minimum payments, analysts at Standard & Poor's Corp. said last week. As a result, the delinquency rate on option ARMs already is jumping and is likely to keep rising sharply, S&P said. Because option ARMS went only to "prime" borrowers, they aren't eligible for a much-publicized interest rate freeze that is part of a White House-backed plan to stem sub-prime foreclosures.

One upshot could be foreclosures growing more common in affluent neighborhoods.

"Whether it's a wealthy community or a sub-prime community, it all comes down to how much equity the borrower has and how much home prices fall," said Joshua Rosner, a managing director at investment research firm Graham Fisher & Co.

Option ARMs were originally offered in the 1980s by California savings and loans as a way to give some financial flexibility to self-employed people and others with variable incomes. But as homes became more expensive this decade, they became increasingly desirable simply because of the ability to make extraordinarily low payments for a good period of time.

"The only reason for taking [an option ARM] was to use the minimum payment to get more house or a bigger refi than you otherwise could afford," said Guy Cecala, editor of Inside Mortgage Finance.

To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-fi-optionarm28dec28,0,3717451.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel

Response: I recently wrote in my blog and to other folks in regard to the economy and why some folks think the economy is bad and so on. One of the points brought up is the fact that so many people with good and bad credit are in default of home loans, that A, they couldn't afford and B. didn't read the terms of their agreement correctly. With a booming housing market in which everyone involved benefitted from, one only has to think like I did, that the market is going to have to come down and folks who agreed to adjustable rates, would have to pay the piper.

I never thought that our federal gov't would ask me, a tax payer to bail them out. It seems like Joan Olson, the lady mentioned in this article, did something only a few have....

Owned it.

RF23 - "J, The economy is bad!"

Rumors and thoughts of a bad economy....

Over the past few weeks I have been inundated with claims, wide spread cries and an eventual " I got someone who can debate you" challenge in regard to the above claims and cries that the economy is bad and of course the reason why is because of George Bush and a war no one is willing to see through, even though our national security is at stake and eventually our way of life.

Anyway, over the weekend, like others, folks are claiming that the economy is bad, yet! Some of them in their own personal households are doing "fantastic." I have problems, but I'm sure once those problems are fixed, I would be in the "fantastic" category. So how come I'm positive about the country's economy, where others are not?

Well for one, I'm aware of media bias. Two, I don't take anyone's word as gospel, and that goes for the naysayer. I can say one thing and hit them with statistical facts and that won't mean a hill of beans to them.

Which brings me to the, "I got someone you need to meet and debate with." I'm sorry I won't and it's not because I'm afraid of confronting someone on their opinions. I simply view it as "Why." Why bother? for one, usually these debates or conversations turn into mere rhetoric and the person or persons get emotional when their points are hit with responses. So why?

At this point, I'm comfortable in letting folks have their beliefs and opinions and they letting me have mine. That way it saves my ears from the hollerin' and screamin from the then one on one conversation to four on one beat down on the George Bush supporter.

So in closing, I'll present to you all an article addressing media bias and stated statistics, in which you all can research yourselves. And of course, after dismissing the whole article, you can't say you don't know my point of view and why. Well at least one of them...


Elder: Why So Many Americans Believe We are in a Recession

Are we in a recession? (A resounding "Hell Yeah" from the Naysayer crowd)

Half of Americans think so, at least according to the new CNN opinion poll. The poll helpfully described the recession as "marked by a significant decline in economic activity." But what the CNN article describing the poll doesn't tell is that our economy is nowhere near a recession.

The government uses the National Bureau of Economic Research to define when recessions begin and end. This nonprofit Cambridge organization defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP (Gross Domestic Product), real income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales." Most economists consider a recession two or more consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

So, are we in a recession?

(This is usually the point where I paste the link, so you can continue reading, which is a stereotypical problem for black folk (with the exception of Fantasia - that illiterate problem)...continued reading, cause the article is long...but what the hell!)

In September 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 110,000 new jobs were created. For each of the last three months, our economy has created an average of 97,000 new jobs. Since August 2003, the economy has created more than 8.1 million new jobs in 49 consecutive months of job growth.

The national unemployment rate is at 4.7 percent -- low by historical standards.

Since President Bush took office, real after-tax per capita personal income has increased more than 12.5 percent -- an average of $3,750 per person. More than 30 percent of the country's net worth has been added since the president's 2003 tax cuts.
(By the way, this is going on while we are fighting two fronts on the War on Terrorism)

Real wages have increased 2.2 percent during the 12 months ending in August 2007. This is much higher than the average growth rate during the '90s (Clinton years), and translates into an extra $1,266 for a two wage-earner family.

Exports have increased over 14.8 percent during the 12 months ending in July 2007, and the trade deficit has been reduced by $8.3 billion.

Real GDP grew at a strong 3.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter of 2007. The U.S. economy is in its sixth year of sustained economic growth, averaging 2.7 percent a year since the turnaround in 2001.

This year tax revenues grew by $161 billion to reach $2,568 trillion, the highest level ever recorded, and an increase of 6.7 percent. And that follows the 14.5 percent and 11.8 percent increase in revenues during the two prior years.

The federal deficit declined by $250 billion in the last three years. In February, the budget deficit for 2007 was projected to be $244 billion. But by September, the deficit was just $163 billion, or 1.3 percent of the economy. As a percentage of the economy, the deficit is now lower than the average of the last 40 years.

What, then, accounts for the pessimism? Well, take a look at the mainstream media.

Two professors, John Lott, economist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Kevin A. Hassett, the Institute's director of economic policy studies, looked at newspaper articles on the economy. They wrote, "We found that newspaper headlines reporting economic news on unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP), retail sales and durable goods tended to be much more frequently negative when a Republican was in the White House. And this was true even after accounting for the economic numbers on which the stories were based and how those numbers were changing over time." So bad economic news becomes less bad economic news with a Democrat sitting in the White House. With a Republican in the White House, however, good economic news becomes less good, and bad becomes even worse.

The Pew Center for Excellence in Journalism surveys journalists annually. Their report, "The State of the News Media 2007," found more than one-third (34 percent) of national journalists identified themselves as liberal, as compared to one-fifth (20 percent) of the general public. Only 7 percent of the national press self-identified as conservative, compared with 33 percent of the general public. The press and the public are widely divided on social issues and values, as well. For example, while 58 percent of Americans think belief in God is necessary to be moral, only 6 percent of national journalists agree.

The Pew Center report only covers what journalists admit about themselves. And while 59 percent of this pool of national reporters couldn't think of a single news organization that was liberal, a whopping 82 percent said they could think of conservative news coverage. Even so, 64 percent of national journalists admit that criticism about the blurring of reporting and commentary is valid.

Here's a typical example of how the media shapes moods. Support for the Iraq war increased from 22 to 30 percent -- a 36 percent increase -- right before Iraq operations commander Gen. Petraeus testified before Congress. MSNBC described this as an "uptick." Meanwhile, a major paper described a 36 percent increase in home foreclosures as a "surge."
Court TV founder and media watchdog Steven Brill once said, "When it comes to arrogance, power and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good."

(And after all that, some of you will continue to say, "J, the econony is bad.")

Call Me What You Want...but...

Call me "Champion." I won in this years Fantasy Football league on yahoo!. An amazing comeback from the lowly fourth seed, and I back doored my way into that, by punking Raider fan! In the first round, I took out the first seed player, who had only one loss, and beat him by .5 points, and in the championship round, Kurt Warner gave me 98.00 freaking points to victory and I'm the mutha fuggin' champ!!

Yeah!

Christmas Is Over....Finally

You know I don't enjoy the holidays like I used to when I was a kid. And I get why my father was so aprehensive about Christmas, calling it a manufactured holiday, which it is. Leading up to the holiday, all you heard and saw was news reports about manufacturers being worried that consumers won't spend enough for the holiday season. Even on Christmas Eve, they were trying to guilt folks into last minute shopping to spend more money or go even to more debt for Christmas.

I got a question..

What about the reason for the season? Aren't we supposed to be honoring the real reason for all mankind? I thought. And sometimes I feel we as people don't take the time to realize that. Yeah, I get it's the sharing and being with family and all and who am I rob children of a holiday, I once looked forward too, besides National JC Month.

And we have the political correctness of Christmas. In order to not insult or step on someone elses beliefs, we have taken the "Christ" out of "Mas" and just placed an "X" on it.

So this year, I made it a point to not say, Happy Holidays, but Merry Christmas. To hell with you if you're offended. I'm offended that you are denying me my right to say Christmas.

Anyway this is my thoughts for Christmas.

Merry Christmas Ya'll...

Hey Schilling...Here's A Suggestion...

Shut the hell up! Who are you to give your unsolicited opinion about what Roger Clemons should do? Who asked you?! But since you decided too, and this being you're second time placing your big ass! nose in someone's business, lets examine you.

As a fan of the sport, not a huge one, because if I had to pick between baseball and football, and this includes Pop Warner, I would watch football in a heartbeat and turn to baseball during commercial breaks and halftime. It's nothing personal, but the game is too damn long and don't make me comment on the season. But I realize that there are millions of baseball fans who love this game for whatever reason and I can't bash that. But I can you, Kurt.

You said that Clemons should give up his Cy Young awards if he can't prove himself to be not guilty of using HGH or steroids. Why? Did you come in second place to him? Roger, like Barry don't have to give up jack, cause you said so. In that case, using your logic, David Ortiz is not sure if he used steroids and won't say if he used HGH. I've decided to help Ortiz and Man-Ram out, they're users and by the way, Curt, so are you. So back to your logic, if Clemons and Bonds should give up their awards and records, lets just strip the teams of their World Series wins if it has players who has admitted to and alleged to have used steroids or HGH. No trial or hearing and not even a board hearing to get the truth out. The truth according to you, Curt is a book and a report. But you have company, the sports media and sports talk quackers agree with you that the truth is in the book and the report. So how about that? I mean if Marion Jones and her team-mates had to give up their medals cause of Jones' admitted use of steroids...Then why not strip titles. I think that's fair. That way everyone pays, if the players union, the team and organizations have taken the "no snitching" approach, everybody feels the price of not doing something to protect a game that is filled with so much hypocrisy. How about that Curt? So while you're busy casting expursions on other ball players, talk the Red Sox and the Diamondbacks about giving up those World Series Titles. And take a stand! Be the first to take a test to see how clean you are.

C'mon Curt!

Washington Times: Global Cooling

Year of global cooling
By David Deming/Washington Times
December 19, 2007

Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency. It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world. In 2007, hundreds of people died, not from global warming, but from cold weather hazards.


Since the mid-19th century, the mean global temperature has increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius. This slight warming is not unusual, and lies well within the range of natural variation. Carbon dioxide continues to build in the atmosphere, but the mean planetary temperature hasn't increased significantly for nearly nine years. Antarctica is getting colder. Neither the intensity nor the frequency of hurricanes has increased. The 2007 season was the third-quietest since 1966. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall in the U.S.


South America this year experienced one of its coldest winters in decades. In Buenos Aires, snow fell for the first time since the year 1918. Dozens of homeless people died from exposure. In Peru, 200 people died from the cold and thousands more became infected with respiratory diseases. Crops failed, livestock perished, and the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency.

To read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/COMMENTARY/10575140

Important Series Coming.....

Fellow blogger Darkstar is starting a series in regard to polling and "Acting White." He usually post and offers thought provoking material...So in order to be up on this subject I better look at these:


Roland Fryer and Paul Torelli, Harvard University, "An Empirical Analysis of "Acting White"

Link: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/events/colloquia/fryer-torelli-actingwhite.pdf

In relation to: http://www.psparents.net/Articles/Acting%20White-Education%20Next.pdf


Lexis Nexis Search: http://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve?_m=af14a15b6ed8abcbde9b6506619273aa&docnum=1&_fmtstr=FULL&_startdoc=1&wchp=dGLbVzW-zSkAW&_md5=1f67839dd92b624b5baaefa369a0252b&focBudTerms=&focBudSel=all


Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu, "Black Students' School Success: Coping with the "Burden of "Acting White", http://www.nyesma.org/documents/Black_Students_Acting_White.pdf

Where's My Worlds Smallest Violen?

On Friday, I got in the mail a letter from Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-California) in regard to my e-mail I sent her office regarding the "Dream Act," and why I feel the senator should vote no on this back door attempt of amnesty for illegal aliens. The Dream Act essentially gives citizenship to children who were born in Mexico and were brought across the border, illegally with their illegal alien parents for whatever reason! Anyway these kids carry the illegal status and not allowed some programs that would be available to them if they were legal. The Dream Act would have given these kids who were in school from 1986 and up citizenship. I disagreed because these same kids, would in turn bring in those same relatives and maybe more future tax users and identity theft takers to this country.

Anyway as predicted, Feinstein respectively disagreed with my e-mail and broke out this sob story about this alleged illegal alien, who utilized tax payer funds for free education, lunch and so on and this supposed "A" student, but due to her illegal status she was not eligible for more tax payer programs and probably a job, due to her illegal status. I think the letter was lined with tears, so I could feel this illegal alien's pain.

Nevertheless, after laughing my ass off! and searching frantically for my very, very, small. Violen. I played it and hoped to hell that we get a good candidate to challenge those two idiots who are supposed to represent the American people and the people of the State of California. At this point, I'll take anyone who is anti-illegal alien and against the death penalty...

Hey gotta compromise.

What'Chu Celebratin' For?

Last week when the NIE intelligence report came out saying that Iran ceased it's nuclear program in 2003. Liberals from all walks of life and those who cherry pick the news they way they see it went into a frenzy.

"He [Bush] lied! I told you, he wanted to fight Iran next!" said one fellow blogger.

"War-monger, look up the definition, it has Bush's face on it," said another.

Oh, liberals, what I would I do without them. Hell, celebrate!

Okay, class is in session, please bring your history books and be prepared to hit the library to Lexis Nexis of what happened in 2003. I mentioned that liberals were celebratin' and chest bumping, oh wait! let me digress for a minute.

I am totally convinced that liberals are ruining this country and it's being run by a bunch of people who were picked last or always "It" in the game of tag. It's gotta be. It's revenge of the nerds 8.0! Last week I attended my jobs annual "sexual harrassment" training class and of course they showed a brutal video of what they perceived was sexual harrassment. Let me tell you, it's getting to the point that soon, we won't be able to talk to each other, without fear that the liberal big brother will send storm troopers out and take you in the dead of the night. Can you imagine that, check this:

John and Karen work together...

John: Good morning Karen, how are you?

Karen: I'm fine, John, how was your weekend?

John: Oh it was fine, I went out on a date on Friday and had another one on Saturday..

Karen: Wow, back to back dates, you must've hit it off...

John: Oh I hit it...

Karen: what?

John: Never mind, yeah we hit it off, what about you, I over-heard you telling Phylis that you had a date also, how'd did that go? If you don't mind me asking..

Karen: Oh, I don't mind, unlike yours, there was no back to back dates. He was all over me..

John looking Karen up and down...

John: Well can you blame him, you're a knockout!

Karen: Thank you! but he didn't want to get to know me. He just wanted to get into me...

John: That dirty dog!

Karen: Stop it! you're crazy..

John: Well damn Karen, you're an attractive lady, if I was your date, I would take a chance to...hell, shit, god damn!!...I see you later..

Now John is unaware that Karen was upset over the conversation and told one of her friends and her friend told the HR person and the HR person summoned up the Sexual Harrassment Storm Troopers to bring John in for questioning....at night...

John: zzzzzzzzz

Loud banging on the door

Storm Troopers: John! open the door! it's the storm troopers! and we have an accusation!

John: zzzz, wha?! the eff!

Opens Door:

ST: John?

John: Whats this about?

ST: Your comment today..

John: huh?

ST: Come with us, peacefully.

Next day as folks are coming in, they see John in his pj's with a sign that says, "sexual harrasser" in the front and "dirty dog" in the back. Standing next to John is another co-worker wearing a sign that says, "right winger" and "rightfully terminated as per liberal rule 1.1" in the back.

Now back to my previous thought, It's amazing how I can do that, but anyway, liberals were in this big coochie tizzy that they had the president where they wanted him, but thank goodness for people like me or others that come with a bb gun and shoot the air out of their liberal air balloon, with a simple question. "What was happening in 2003 that made Iran stop?"

and after a few huhs and whats, the usually dumbfounded look liberals have shows up.

"Well, if your gonna mention thats the year we invaded Iraq, so what?"

So what? thats exactly why they stopped! if you saw one country that you fought for over 10 years go down, not once, but twice! in quick fashion! What exactly are you going to do?! Let me put it in simple terms some of us can relate too:

If you see your brother or sister get their ass whooped for bringing in a bad report card...what are you going to do to avoid that same ass whoopin'? damn skippy, you'll be a straight a, b or c mofo!

So Iran and Libya saw that U.S., went into Iraq, beat them down, snatched up Saddam and had him swingin' within two years. I would give up my nuclear aspirations too!

So the NIE report comes out and by the way, liberals were cussin' and spittin' at it less than two years ago, cause they disagreed with previous reports. So after 4 to 6 years of hatin' that damn report, they love it now...Not so quick.

NIE report basically told the president that the war on terrorism and countries that harbor terrorists have been served notice and they understood it from the first capitial letter to the last period.

Now it's up to liberals and their politicians to understand that we need to continue "winning" this war on terrorism or we will be dealing with nuclear warming instead of global warming.

RF23 - Mitchell Report Out...Do We Care?

Mitchell Report Out...Do We Care?


Well the one report we all have been waiting for, well not us all, cause the sarge does not care. Quite frankly, I believe every single athlete in between the lines are on something. So it's on you all to discuss and debate, all I want is equal blasting that a certain ball player has gotten if it's another big name player. As a matter of fact it should be more because some of these guys have made opinions about a certain ball player, casting judgment that rhymes with the junk that spews from [Jim] Rome's mouth, the dudes on ESPN TV and the two opportunistic journalists that wrote a book, without proof that a certain ball player used roids or HGH. So I guess we should put on our gov't ordered seat belts, helmets, put out our cigarettes and enjoy a gov't mandated ride of 65 mph on Mitchell's Report.


NFL: I don't know why the honks on ESPN and the NFL Channel are so upset about Bobby Petrino quitting on his team and taking a gig at Arkansas. Sean Salisbury called him a coward. Jamie Dukes called him a coward and a quitter and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank all but called him a liar, cheater and backstabber. Now I get that Petrino handled this situation wrong, by jotting down his good bye letter on toilet tissue. And he may have led the owner into thinking that he was going to be his guy until Blank folded to local media cries and fired Petrino. But quitting? His team quit on Petrino on I dunno, the first day of training camp without Michael Vick. Quite frankly, Petrino should have manned up and told Blank, "Hey, you sold me some bad goods, I signed a contract with your team, with the thinking that I was going to have Michael Vick, not Joey Harrington and Byron "broken fingernail" Leftwich! what kind of bullbleep is this, I'm out!" Oh! and way to blame Dallas Cowboys Owner, Jerry Jones for Petrino leaving. Jones, an Arkansas alum, was said to have contacted Blank and told that his coach was not available. Question, did he [Blank] adamantly say hell no, leave him alone? or did he, him and haw and I dunno, maybe I dunno, he might be available, talk to him! [Petrino]. And now he's pissed cause Jerry did? Look the bottom line, is that Petrino came in on a bad situation and was doomed from the get go. Was it clinton-league the way he handled the situation? yeah. Could he have handled it differently? yeah. Do you blame him from running like the Japanese when Godzilla entered the City? hell no.


Closing: Look, I would like to believe that things have changed and a man regardless of his color can get equal time and opportunity based off his character and experience. Having said that and a proponent for stopping race-based hiring aka affirmative action, the NCAA has shown that there's a long way to go. Out of the what, seven head coaching jobs that became available and were filled, there's no way you can say that minority candidates were interviewed with the exception of Karl Dorrell and if you ask a few of his team-mates, the total would go back to none, but as I digress! The NCAA needs to do a better job at getting minority coaches the opportunity to interview and express their ideas for the schools team. If not, it's no different than the BCS...The good 'ol boy network.


More:

Now that the report is out, who is really taken back? Well, although I wrote I didn't care and still don't, I only wanted equal reporting and outright hatred that Bonds received. So! based off the report, all players past and present are a bunch of cheaters! But there's one person, okay maybe two or three that is of interest to me and I've been saying that this guy was on roids. Eric Gagne!! When I used to listen to the Jim Rome Show, he was glossed as a "Piece of Crap, " based off his poor performances as a starting pitcher. Dodger fans should remember that dude could not get out of the first inning. I don't know what was lit up more often, a cigarette or Gagne! I say a straight up tie! He was sorry! and based off his performances, should have been sent skyrocketing to the minors or out of the league! He then comes back in relief mode and he's mowing down people with ease! Dodger fans ate it up, he broke and established records and now he's a roids user....Chalk that up for I told ya so!

More:

I checked out Joseph C. Phillips group member and blogger, Darkstar and on his site, he writes that people who were crying racism, that would be me, are going to have to meat to chew on, if the same ventriole is not spread out on Rogers Clemons. Already, on the Jim Rome Show, there were a bunch of if's and but's and maybe's in regard to Clemons name coming out. Hey clones, let me help you out, if Bonds is a cheat, then Clemons is a cheat, theres no if's, and's or but's.

The RF23 "Sarge" Report....Sports Of Course

Group! Ah Ten Ha!! alright now, at ease, I see you all are looking a little bit fresh from your two day pass. I hope you ladies had a good weekend and since none of you came down on the blotter report and 'ol sarge had to interrupt his weekend to bail you out of the pokey. Now lets get started over this weekend's events and I'm going to do things a little bit different with my sports take today. Okay, ready, lets begin:

Boxing: Who's the baddest man on the planet? If the name Floyd Mayweather, Jr., does not come out, there is something wrong. with you! On Saturday, the pretty boy faced a hostile, tea and biscuit eatin, disrespectin' the national anthem, dark beer and teeth british crowd in his own adopted hometown of Las Vegas aka Lost Wages, NV and showed the above drunkin' brits why they lost the Revolutionary War and dumped their nasty tea in the harbor. And in case some of you doubters forgot about the American spirit and willingness to hand out, excuse me, azz!! whoopins when we absolutely positively got to do, what we gotta do. Floyd reminded us and the brits of that on Saturday. He entered the ring on Bruce Springsteen's, "Born in the USA," and the boos were louder than the cheers. But that didn't bother Floyd, folks we're talking about a man, who came into the ring in Mexican garb to beat down favorite Mexican fighters. I dunno who is hated worse, Manny Pacquio or Mayweather, either way it looks like boxing's version of the civil war. Pacquio as Gen. Sherman and Mayweather as Gen. Grant, stomping through the enemy and burning hopes and big money dreams.

Anyway! back to the fight, As predicated, a game Ricky Hatton did exactly what the sarge and Tayo [co-worker] predicted he would do, and this is where the sarge and Tayo separate. You see, last week on Tuesday, Mr. Popoola [Tayo] came into the Sarge's encampment and said this:
"I think I know who I'm going to go with and it's going to surprise you." and in shock and awe of the forthcoming pick from a man who was titled the "the fight man" by the Major [co-worker], an expert! and great purveyor of the squared circle, the expert on December 7th, 2007, 66 years after what is called a day that will live in infamy, picked Ricky Hatton to win the fight!! His mind was made up! and would not listen to reason of any kind! the shop was closed and the expert billed us his expert fees and guess what?! we got knocked the (expletive) out! Well not we, but Ricky Hatton did.

Let me bring in John Madden of NBC Sports to describe that fateful ninth and tenth rounds...Come on in John, say hi to the group.

John: That was a great fight on Saturday...Who would've thought those British fans and the brits played the drums..I was expecting bag pipes, lets go to the madden-strator and see! see that guy with the drum and the two drum beating sticky things, he's pounding away, bam bam bam! that's all we heard were those ear drum ringing drums.

Me: Okay Madden, lets get to the fight, you were there, describe it...

John: Well in the ninth round it was obvious that the Floyd Mayweather's defensive line was wearing down and beating Hatton's offensive line in the trenches. Mayweather's defense held Hatton's offense in check all night long, beating him in the inside and had the outside covered. Let's look at the tape, you see here in the ninth round, you got Hatton doing his thing, and running his offense, he's trying to gain real estate, but Mayweather's defense is shutting all that down, now watch this change, when Mayweather's defense gets a take-away and is looking to score off Hatton's mistake, watch this, boom! Pow! and you got blood and cuts.

Me: Okay John, now the ninth round is over and it's the beginning of the tenth..Now I said, that Hatton's charging and pressing style was going to hurt him, cause of the defensive nature of Floyd and the fact that Floyd's hand speed is quicker. Basically, I said this:

"By the time, Hatton got to Floyd to do his one punch and hold tactic, he would've received a combination and quick right to the head."

Madden: Oh! boy, were you right! lets look at the tenth, you have Hatton, on his last hurrah, because he was hurt in the previous round, looking to go all or nothing, he's charging and BAM!! like you called it, Sarge!! Floyd throws a right and slips to his left and BOOM! a devestating left that causes an already charging forward Hatton to hit his head on the ring turn buckle.

Me: Have you seen anything like that before?

Madden: Only in those professional wrestling shows, but not in boxing....

Me: Well, thanks John, and please feel free to not place Minnesota's Adrian Peterson on your next Madden Game...

Madden: Why, whaddya mean, are saying it's a curse?

Me: You know darn well it is....Now scram before I weld some wings on your bus and you imitate the Wright Brothers going down some hill on the highway. Yeah, well your mother....Hall of Famer my a-, never mind.

Anyway as John put it, it was bam and boom! and Hatton ended up on his back. Now lets quickly touch on other sports:

NFL: Well it looks like the Patriots are going to go undefeated, they beat the Steelers and according to the Major [co-worker], he earned a dollar for a very small investment. The Cowboys came back to snatch victory from the Lions 28-27. The lions were beaten by Jason Whitten, when they made a conscious effort to shut down T.O., which they were successful at. Also, the Cowboys clinched their division, along with the Packers and Seahawks. On the AFC side, the Chargers came from behind to tie and win in overtime in Tennessee, putting the Titans in a very bad spot. I won't comment on LaDainian Tomlinson's act on the sideline, except to say all claims that he is a crybaby and a whiner. True. And I don't want to hear him call anyone or any team class-less.

NBA: Remember when Kareem was on his last legs in the league and when we once looked forward to seeing him with the ball, that turned into a skyhook, to grimacing when Magic passed the ball inside, knowing that Kareem didn't have it anymore. That was painful. Now, we're looking at an aging and battered Shaq do the same thing and the Heat better do something about that quickly. The Lakers have a three game winning streak and last night, Andrew Bynum showed he had a pulse and scored 20 points, yeah in one game!

NHL: After a good start to the hockey season, the Kings are, who they thought they were and the Ducks, well I dunno, I think they're still celebrating, but at least starting to win games.

NCAAB: The Wooden Classic was this weekend and the Bruins looked lackluster against Davidson, but righted the ship with a victory. It's nice to know that Duke is Duke and they're on TV, more than "Leave it to Beaver" re-runs. They looked good against Michigan. Or Michigan is really a bad team. USC's OJ Mayo is going to hear this a lot if teams shut him down, "hold the Mayo." Although the one and done freshman is looking good and getting pub. SC is playing inconsistent ball.

The Sarge Report is getting attention: On Thursday, L.A. Times Sports Columnist, Kurt Streeter e-mailed me in regard to former UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell. Of course most of you know that Streeter wrote a column that enraged some Bruins fans and me shaking my head when Streeter led Dorrell down "race card" alley. It seemed that new columnist had a lot to say and he went off on the Sarge. So after calming Streeter down, we were e-mailing back and forth all day on Friday. Now the Major ordered me to stand down and let Streeter get away with his rhetoric, but I couldn't resist.

Tragedy and Shame

Yesterday suspended Atlanta Falcon quarterback was sentenced to 23 - months in federal prison for dog fighting and cruelty to animals, yadda yadda yadda. You would think that with the sentencing and everything, most folk and media members would let the subject go, bask in their enjoyment that yet another black star athlete is getting his come uppance for a crime, that some deem mortifying and horrific. But they're not.

Last night on KNBC-4 (Los Angeles), TV sports reader Fred Roggin read a few e-mails and a poll asking if Vick's sentence was enough. And of course, all the e-mails were from people still angry and apparently mortified of the case. And the poll, was 2 to 1 in favor that Vick did not get enough jail time according to some sixty percent of the poll takers.

What does this prove? Well for one, folks need to get a life. And it seems to be something missing when folks care more about an animal than a human being. Someone killed in heinous way, it's oh well, lets move on, but if Fido is done wrong, it's on like Donkey Kong! It's picante sauce from New York City instead of San Antonio, and if ain't white it ain't right! kinda of commotion.

Why?

Your answer will be good as mine, cause I don't care. They're animals and in regard to pit bulls, if one of these animals attack and kill a child or elderly adult, we're talking about city and county legistlation outlawing these dogs. Is there a dog more revered than a pit bull? I remember growing up it was someone's german shepherd named, King. If you had a german shephard you had a bad ass dog, then it was doberman pinscher, these dogs had their own tv show! How about Cujo? A damn st. bernard had movie goers scared of their backsides and fearing these slobbering big dogs, never mind the fact that cartoons had them serving either a hot drink or some "drank" for a drunk lost in the snow. But pit bulls, go back to the little rascals, with petey, but as soon as petey starting mauling people they were outlawed in some cities and heavily legistlated. If they looked at you wrong they were put to sleep, so why all the love and hate for these dogs. Who said it was love, it was the hate for the act caused by Vick and his boys.

Now I'm not excusing Vick's action, he admitted to doing so, he plead guilty to it and he's serving what the people of Virginia has deemed an appropiate punishment. After that, it's over and everyone should be pissed about not getting good news stories or in this case sports related stories relevant to the world news or just sports.

And this should be it, no polls or e-mails still crying about an admitted crime, like someone killed your relative. And having said that, last night Vick's team-mates paid homage to him by wearing t-shirts, saying "free Mike Vick," and brought posters with Vick's image on it. Look, Falcon players, your boy was not Sean Taylor, who was tragically shot in his home and died from those injuries. No, your boy was involved in what some called a heinous act of cruelty to animals and now in the pokey on tax payer's dime. Whereas Taylor was being a responsible man for his family, Vick was on the road and reached his destination to something awfully wrong.

I stil see one as tragic and the other a damn shame!

Deborah Mathis - Deaths of Young Black Men...

Commentary: The Deaths of Young Black Men is an Ongoing National Crisis, Yet is Met with a Giant ShrugDate: Sunday, December 02, 2007By: Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com [/b]

On day in the early 1960s, a patch of interstate highway was opened in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. Reporters described the first car to touch the new pavement and quoted state officials about what the multi-lane stretch would mean for commerce and commuters’ convenience.

That day, a teenage black boy took to the interstate on his bicycle. He was struck and killed -- a horror at any time, but especially in those days when you seldom heard about young black boys dying. So shocking was the accident that people talked about it for months.
The death of black boys and young black men is so common now that the news doesn’t even bother to keep up. It takes the death of a superstar, like pro footballer Sean Taylor, to get communities talking.

If only Taylor had been the only young black man cut down by senseless violence last week. But he was just the most famous one of many.

It’s been that way for two decades now. Twenty years of self-destruction that, for the most part, the country has met with a giant shrug. What we have here is an ongoing national emergency, albeit undeclared.

To read more, paste or click on link: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/mathis1203

Article quote(s) of interest:
"Our sons and brothers are not born to kill nor are they destined to be killed. External forces turn the sweet baby in the cradle into a menace in the ‘hood. Could we track them down with the same determination that we employ in writing off their prey?" Deborah Mathis

Response: This one quote stood out slightly more than others, cause she said, "external forces turn the sweet baby in the cradle into a menace in the hood." External? I thought the correct word should've been "internal" forces turned the sweet baby now thug into menaces in da hood. Next, she wants to track down these "external" forces, which obviously by virtue of her closing, "we employ in writing off their prey." Hmmmm, their, who could "their" be, lets see, lets see...Oh! white people!!

Look there are a lot of things in this commentary from Deborah Mathis that will have us writing for years. However, she does have the right to express this, just like I have the right to say her expression was irresponsible.

Plot Thickens: Jena 6 Thugs, Thugs Parents and School District Sued

Well!! it looks like the plot thickens for the Jena 6 Thugs, their parents and the school district. They are being sued by the victim of their latest work of thuggery, Justin Barker's parents have filed a civil lawsuit of course for the beat down their son received from the Jena 6 thugs, and the additional harassment received by the "hustlelateers."

Now lets examine, why the Barkers are suing:

One, the families especially Bell's family received huge amounts of money for what was supposed to be their "legal fund."

Two, the Barkers are witnessesing these same thugs receive star status as victims of an incident they caused.

and Three, lets just say for argument sake, that there is no money and all the funds were used for legal defense, their son was still a victim of an ugly attack, so why not sue the boys/young men, their families and the school district.

I just hope that they prevail and that the truth will come out as to why and what caused Barker to be the victim of a senseless crime, because civil trials are lot more open and based on the fact that this is Louisiana, oh the attorneys get to act a fool in trying to get their point across. Also, I hope that the jury awards punitive damages so the families can't file bankruptcy on the judgment.

Sentimental.....

I heard this song and promptly put it on my Ipod....I guess as you get older, you get sentimental.

Alexander O'Neal:
A True Man

Sentimental

Take a walk down memory lane
And see where the path might lead you
Familiar things do change
In our minds they stay the same
I can hear the voice of my mama
Calling out her children's names
She says come on in, its dinner time
Let me help my babies fix their plates


[Chorus] We all have memories
We should not forget
Times that become part of our lives
A person so heartfelt
When I think of you history
I get Sentimental thoughts
When I think of you woman
I get Sentimental

You were holding hands
Walking through the park
It seems like yesterday
It felt so good to be in love
But our age got in the way
I still feel the warmth of your arms
A big kiss on my face
When I remenisce, I think of this
Cause what I miss is you

[Chorus] Wonderful, that's what you are Unforgettable,
my heart wont let me so Loveable,
so loveable baby I get emotional when I think of your love
So sentimental baby
Youre unforgettable woman
when you touch my life
Ooo your'e wonderfule so loveable
so loveable baby
so loveable baby

Sentimental parts of moments
Captured in our mind as we grow up
Things in life do change for us
But memories stay the same
Love once in our lives are a part of
Never take for granted someone
Spend some time while they're around
Spend some time
share sentimental

Why Are You Here?

Why Are You Here?


I'm going to walk a tight rope on this thread cause I want to relay the right words, so if I offend anyone or step on somebody's toes. I'z sowree.
Today was the funeral for slain Washington Redskin, Sean Taylor and although it looked like a good send off for the 24 year old football player. There was one thing, well two things that stood out and quite frankly, I have no problem with one of the two stand outs.


Although, I have been a harsh critic of Jesse Jackson, mainly because he's fighting a "new jack" black community problem with 1950's and 60's protest material and other things that make him ineffective. But today, in Miami he was there and I although he is a camera hog, I have no problem with his appearance. I have no problem with his short message, that the violence must stop, in which he's right. I just hope he doesn't set up camp in front of another gun store, like the criminals bought it [guns] legally. I'm predicting a high probability that it wasn't.


So Jesse attends the funeral of Washington Redskin, Sean Taylor and gives the message that the violence must stop. Has anyone noticed that I wrote, Washington Redskin before the name of the victim, which is Sean Taylor. And I must note that this post is shared, so if I just wrote "Sean Taylor", it'll be just another name and if there was photo of Taylor without his football uniform on, and a picture of a black man. Then the level of interest would go down among white readers. Again this post is shared so unlike some of my threads, it's exclusive for everyone to discuss. I think one of things that Jackson should have added on is that although this tragedy wasn't about "hip hop" or the past lifestyle of Taylor. It serves as a reminder that again, too many black men or boys are dying at the hands of other black men or boys and this vicious cycle has got to end. Let alone that many children of these perpuatrators and victims leave behind children. But I'm satisfied with Jackson's statement, at least he said it.


Now the other person, who was there, should not have been. And that person is OJ Simpson, yes, the same OJ that killed his ex-wife, the mother of his children, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, Allegedly! The same OJ that is in trouble in Las Vegas for trying to jack sports collector's items. The same OJ that wrote a book titled, "If I Did It."


Why?


Last checked, Simpson didn't attend the U [Miami University], he went to USC. He didn't play for the Redskins, he played for the Bills and then the 49ers and exactly what message did he have for young black males? I took out two people and got away with it, I stole cable, so can you, if you want your stuff go get it by any means necessary, what?! In my opinion, he should have been turned away at the door, he is nothing like the young man that is in the box. That man, died trying to protect his family from intruders. OJ harmed his by allegedly killing his ex-wife.