The Sports Writing Blues: Confessions of an Angry White Fan
August 20, 2008
“GOOK!”: Pau Gasol Has Nothing on John McCain
August 14, 2008
“I hate the gooks, I will hate them as long as I live.”
– John McCain, February 17, 2000
As I heard the words, I just couldn’t believe it. No, not that John McCain said them. Only that I never learned about it – until just one month ago at the Netroots Nation Conference in Austin, Texas. That was when by pure chance, I struck up a conversation with Irwin A. Tang — one of many people I had the pleasure to meet at the convention. I soon learned that he was the author of “Gook: John McCain’s Racism and Why It Matters“. Read more
NBA Linkin’ Park: 5 Players You Forgot About
August 6, 2008
Kermit Washington’s Remarkable Redemption - The Starting Five: It is long past time to forget “The Punch”. In 1994, Washington took a trip to Rwanda to see how he could help out post-genocide. He has been doing tremendous work ever since. Also, listen to Washington give an unfiltered assessment of the Ron Artest you might not know.
Shawn Kemp Confirms Rumors - SLAM Online: The last time you saw him, he was looking a little hefty dragging himself down the court. In this video a 38 year old Kemp looks like he is back close to his “Reign Man” weight and will be playing in Italy this year — perhaps to fill the giant void left by Danilo Gallinari.
Earl Boykins Latest to Go Overseas - Yahoo: Boykins is also heading to Italy, but unlike Kemp he will become Italy’s highest paid player at 3.5 mil for one year. Boykins is one of my favorites as what is mot to like about a guy 5′5″ and 130 soaking wet. Given his slight build, I give Boykins the nod over Mugsy Bogues as the NBA’s all-time best feel-good-you-can-achieve-anything-underdog stories.
The Status of Greg Oden - TrueHoop: Admit it, you kind sorta forgot about him when you were trying to decide if Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, or OJ Mayo would win next year’s Rookie of the Year award. Oden is coming along slowly but surely. Great anecdote here how he basically knocks out his coach Nate McMillan. Also, for those who don’t know, back in February, Oden publicly endorsed Barack Obama. In other words, I’m liking Oden’s game thus far on and off the court. Usually it’s a choice! (see Etan Thomas & Ira Newble).
MJ is Still at It! - HoopsVibe! You might not have forgot about the man, but forgot that he’s still playing sort of… He says it would be “no contest” against Kobe if he was in his prime. What’s also interesting about the video is that ultra-competitive MJ won’t take it easy no matter if an 18 or 8 year old is guarding him.
Bonus - Basketbawful: Okay, you haven’t forgot about Baron Davis and Steve Nash, but this video is funny!
Jerry Colangelo Can’t See Darfur for the Trees while Silencing Kobe, Lebron, & Team USA
August 5, 2008
USA Team National Director Jerry Colangelo told USA team players in a June team meeting that “he believes that the Olympics shouldn’t be used as a political platform”according to ESPN’s Shelley Smith in this Outside the Lines report. And judging from these before-and-after June meeting statements by NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Lebron James on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, the message has been clearly received. Read more
Did David Stern Threaten Howard Schultz?
August 2, 2008
Did you hear about the big NBA tiff this week? Probably not. Yao Ming and Ron Artest have kissed and made up, but there were bigger fish not being fried. Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz said he was warned by NBA commissioner David Stern that it would be “very expensive” to pursue a lawsuit seeking to return the team to Seattle from Oklahoma City. According to Schultz, Stern told him:
“that if I did not join in the settlement … I should realize that it will become very expensive for me and my partners, and he implied that I should reconsider my position.”
Lebron James, Darfur, and Michael Wilbon’s Perspective Lapse
August 1, 2008
This week Lebron James donated $20,000 toward Barack Obama’s cause. The actual dollar amount is less relevant than his public willingness to take a political side – a rarity amongst athletes with over 100 million in corporate endorsements. Of course, this is a departure from Michael Jordan’s infamous “Republicans buy sneakers too” commentary in 1990 when Harvey Gantt ran twice for a North Carolina Senate seat against Jesse Helms and his blatant race-baiting campaign. And while Lebron is rightfully receiving positive attention, some commentary has just gone too far. It is one thing to laud an athlete for their actions, it is quite another to praise their INaction. Read more
ESPN White Pass: Stephen A. Smith Challenges Brett Favre Love Affair
July 26, 2008
ESPN’s bias in its coverage of white vs. black misbehaving athletes is not merely a product of any paranoid imagination, but can be easily quantified via its website, TV, and radio coverage (see final paragraphs). For a long time Sports On My Mind has been banging this drum and will continue as long as necessary. ESPN’s problem is one of entrenched institutional bias where it is not uncommon that black athletes get TV segments for traffic tickets [1] while white athletes charged with far more serious crimes get the mandatory minimum coverage.
The “great white pass” has gotten so bad that, thankfully, some voices from within ESPN are finally saying: “enough is enough”. Ignited by ESPN’s ongoing “love affair” with Brett Favre that is even making Tyler Hansbrough jealous, Stephen A. Smith has recently been raising the issue. Read more
ESPN: Don’t Hate the Journalist, Hate the Machine
July 16, 2008
ESPN has been downright atrocious the last couple of weeks. Its bias was most blatant last Friday in its refusal to cover same-day breaking stories on the law-breaking of three white athletes (Matt Jones, Brad Miller, and Ted Dupay) on any of its regularly scheduled afternoon talk shows. Please pardon the interruption, but this fact wouldn’t be big news if these shows didn’t regularly moralize around the horn about any black athlete who sneezes.
Just a week earlier, three separate ESPN shows debated and pontificated over what Derrick Rose’s very first speeding ticket can tell us about his character (this is not a joke!). Read more
Is HBO Boxing, Larry Merchant, Racially Biased?
July 7, 2008
Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who recently retired from boxing — is not controlled by any team league commissioners, corporate endorsements, or television network executives. He has also made “great investments”, says that he “should be a billionaire” by the end of the year, and could care less what you think of him. In other words, Floyd just may be the only African-American athlete in America who can speak freely without major consequence. On July 4, he accused HBO of racially-biased coverage against himself and other black fighters Read more
Hall-of-Fame Hypocrisy: Jackie Robinson and Kenesaw Mountain Landis
June 28, 2008
The documentation of baseball history was revised this past Wednesday as Jackie Robinson received a brand new Baseball Hall-of-Fame plaque. And while the Baseball Hall-of-Fame did the right thing, the job is only half complete. It is time that the historical record be set straight on major league baseball’s first commissioner and ardent segregationist Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Read more
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