RF23 - The Difference Is Leverage

Yesterday the NBA Players Association rejected and also intimated that they are going break up their union and sue the NBA for breaking Anti-Trust laws.

What?!

Based on what?
Is there something we don't know about in the public, that hasn't been said?

Throughout the whole lockout, all I heard over the radio airwaves from Stephen A. Smith is that the players don't have leverage. All of the cards are on the owners side and that the players didn't do their homework, until the last minute.

Also throughout the lockout, all we heard is that the players are not as strong or don't have a leg to stand on to justify keeping their current Collective Bargaining Agreement aka CBA, when the owners, opened up their books, not only to the players, but to forensic accountants to show that despite having a successful season in ratings, the owners in smaller markets lost money.

Further throughout this lockout, we've heard players say that it's about respect and anything less than 52% percent share is disrespectful. People like me, who is not privvy to the talks, way short of sources and inside men to feed me breaking news information only get what is reported and left to take a side.

It's Kobe v. Shaq; It's T.O., v. McNabb

It's black v white, and the latter is the one thing that some Black Joe Sports Fan is going to run with. It's an argument, that one who truly understands, has sources, an inside man and the facts will never win.

Because in the mind of Black Joe Sports Fan, it's a bunch of white owners taking advantage of the poor black ball player. And it doesn't help when you have Bryant Gumbel in opinion comparing the commissioner to a overseer and one of the NBA Players Association Attorney saying the league is like a plantation. No. other. facts. need. to. apply.

But its gotten worse, Foxsports columnist Jason Whitlock took lighter fluid and ignited another race grill by calling arguably the greatest ambassador and one of the reasons, why these poor black ball players picked up a basketball in the first place to earn the money they earn, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, a sell out.

That's right, apparently, Owner Michael Jordan, is supposed to be cool with the money he's losing with small market, Charlotte and be happy that the big market teams such as the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers can continue to accumulate wealth just because of their markets alone. Jordan is supposed to be know what the players are talking about and side with them, since he was one of them. And since he's one of them, he's supposed to be cool with losing close to $100 million dollars. That's crazy and Whitlock is irresponsible for writing that, because of that irresponsibility, present and former basketball players like Stephon Marbury are repeating what Whitlock wrote.

I'm assuming that this is the leverage the Players have. Already, words like bully, intimidated are being used to describe the owners. I wonder what would happen if words like ignorant, uninformed and out of touch of what's going on in our national economy were placed on the players..

I know..

RF23 - The Big Pass

Okay, I've read the indictment and I'm straight sick from reading it. For almost 10 years, a monster was on the loose and more free than the animals at San Diego's Wild Animal Park. And no one did a damn thing..Lemme, lemme ask you all something, you're twenty-eight years of age, you hear what YOU recognize as rhythmatic slapping that coincides with sex. You, probably hoping that a player or one of the coaches is knocking the boots of some cheerleader or an of age student and you walk in to see a grown, spit! man! having anal sex with a 10-12 year old boy.
Remember, you're twenty-eight, not eighteen! you know damn well the difference between right and wrong and for damn sure know that you call the police! and not your damn daddy!

or

You're a janitor, that works for the school, you see a grown man giving a young child oral sex and you don't do a damn thing!

or

You're a coach of a proud Big 10 (12) Conference School and you hear rumors at first, off hand jokes and then finally told that an eyewitness saw one of your closest friends, longest tenured coaches sexually molesting a child and you pass the buck to your "superiors" and don't do a damn thing afterward. No follow up, no nothing.

or

You're an administrator at the university, you take the statement and interview the witness in regard to the alleged molestation and you do nothing.

Have you noticed I haven't even mentioned the sick monster that allegedly committed those crimes? Because, knowing how sick this bastard is! the individuals and parties that knew of this monster and did nothing is just as worse or even as worse as the bastard that did it!!

These were 10-12 year old boys, one boy was over 14, when a wrestling coach, thought of something foul when he walked in on the monster and minor in the weight room.

Nothing.

You're student body and long time fan of Penn State football. The coach as been there forever it seems and when the news and admittance that he did not do enough morally..You continue to support him and when the news that the school is firing the coach, who should have been gone 15-20 years ago!

You riot in support of the man, who clearly didn't do enough, who coached for a team that had in his ranks a child predator, who now has a receivers coach, who only told his dad, at a school who covered it up.

And the NCAA is worrying about tattoos, whose parents got paid and why they don't want a damn playoffs.

RF23- Forgive and Forget..Not me.

With the news that the great Joe Frazier was death-fully ill and now passed. I read the news obituaries and comments about Smokin. Joe. Frazier. One report had that Don King, the same Don King, who if you heard being interviewed, can't be quieted was emotional and quieted by the death of one half of the thrilla of the manilla cast. And then there was Ali, Ali made a brief statement saying he respected Frazier.

Really Ali?

You see, I, like every young fan of boxing, who watched Ali fight with my dad and brothers, was a Muhammand Ali fan, a big Ali fan, everytime Ali was on with the great Howard Cosell, he demanded instant attention and for me my respect. Because you see, I heard the stance Ali took in regard to Vietnam. I read his auto-biography that told us that he grew up in Louisville, KY and the reason why he began boxing in the first place, was because someone stole his bike.

Ali was the greatest. But then I saw the HBO documentary about Ali v. Frazier's first fight dubbed the "Fight Of The Century." I. was. pissed., I was mislead about the so called greatest. You see Ali may have been bullied as a boy, but what he did to Joe Frazier was tantamount to black on black crime and the weapon used was the most dangerous weapon of all..

The tongue.

And for what?

Money? to get back what he lost? jealousy? hatred?

Today, Ali can't articulate in his own words of what caused the behavior he exhibited towards Frazier and continued to do so after the first fight.

He called Frazier a Tom. a Gorilla. his fans called Frazier a sellout and doing the devils (white man) bidding for fighting Ali, who a good portion of the public felt that if the average black person who was drafted and giving their lives to a war, they didn't start but doing their duty in comparison to Ali who refused and said, No Viet-Cong never called him, nigger.

But he called Frazier worse things.

That documentary had me so disappointed and angry at Ali, I couldn't look at him. Of course, when that program came on, I was making my transition from being a X-Clan listenin', Malcom X hat wearing and blaming da white man, black militant. I started to see the country in a different way. I stopped blaming some unknown white person for my own bad choices! and I realized what I wanted in my government and in my country. And the more right, I went, the more insults I received..

Sell Out..Tom..boot licker.

Somehow, I went from being articulate to non-thinking and unable to give good credible reasons of why I'm a Republican. A Black Republican.

A parrot.

This does not compare to the hell, Ali put Frazier through. His wife..His children! Only one man of color could know of what Frazier was going through and I don't know what his stance was during the "Fight of Century" and that was Hank Aaron.

And Aaron was being victimized by racists! who could not bear the sight of a black baseball player breaking the record of their so called greatest! And I can go further than Aaron! Jack Johnson! and he went through a helluva lot more than Aaron!

And you have a black man in Ali, to do what he did to this man, his family and his values for a buck! Oh! the documentary said that when Ali was banned from boxing it WAS JOE FRAZIER THAT GAVE HIM MONEY!! TO FEED HIS KIDS!! TO TAKE CARE OF HIS FAMILY!!

and he did this to this great champion. I will always respect Ali for his talents in the ring. But I will never, ever! respect the man outside of the ring.

Forgiveness was yet again another great feat that Joe displayed.