Hoping A Shoe Drops
August 23, 2008
I have a post written Thursday night readied for Monday. The event that took place that evening has not been touched upon by any media, mainstream or otherwise, though it was televised globally. However, I am giving everyone, mainstream or otherwise, ample opportuinity to discuss the happenings of that night before dropping my article.
The televised event was clearly shown at the time and there was no mistaking the acts. That it has, predicably, escaped perusal by those who would normally create ceaseless “programming” segments around it illustrates that racism is prevalent in our society, that it is prevalent within sportswriting, and that racist reporting equal profits. And unfortunately the lack of writing about “the event” shows that black reporters and columnists suffer from myriad ills that allow them to miss what should be obvious to the journalist’s eyes.
See you Monday.
The Sports Writing Blues: Confessions of an Angry White Fan
August 20, 2008
2008 Olympics: Triathlete Snowsill Demans the Games with Her Showboating Finish
August 19, 2008
Australian triathlete Emma Snowsill won an Olympic gold medal by torching her archrival, Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal. Snowsill crossed the finish line over one minute ahead of Fernandes, a winner of 20 triathlon World Cups.
Fernandes has won a record 20 World Cups, took the world title from Snowsill last year, and beat her again at the triathlon test event in Beijing last September. The Portuguese triathlete trained specifically for the Beijing environment in an attempt to get as leg up on her competition for this Olympics.
In the morning events Fernendes and Snowsill were close and in the bicycling portion of the event it appeared Fernandes might take command of the race. However, when it came to the third and final leg, the run, Snowsill, asthma and all, took control of the contest and left Fernandes far behind.
But what should have been a triumphant moment was soured by Snowsill’s showbooat finish to her gold medal run. Some 400 meters from the finish Snowsill was offered an Australian flag which she draped over her shoulders. As she trotted toward the finish line she alternately waved the flag behind her, mugging for the cameras.
Snowsill’s act cost her at least 30 second; she could have defeated Fernandes by an astounding two minutes. Instead she cheated a worldwide audience of Olympics watchers out of knowing exactly how dominant was her performance.
The Black Sportswriter – A Shameful Story: (On Bonnie Bernstein and Much More)
July 7, 2008
I recently wrote an article-commentary concerning ESPN’s Bonnie Bernstein and her quote from the June 25 Mike and Mike in the Morning show. The piece was apparently so incendiary that Ms. Bernstein emailed me. Her lengthy letter provided me with some valuable insights into how she views herself in relation to the world around her. I feel her email was sent with the confidence that its contents would not be explicitly disseminated in any public forum. Due to her missive and the comments of others in response to my piece on her Mike and Mike-made comments, I feel it is necessary and important for me inform some readers of my writings, particularly those who might have passed by just to read the Bernstein piece, of my positions regarding sports and sports-related topics as they pertain to the socio-cultural and socio-political climate in America.
However, to achieve this goal I will, in part, use Bernstein’s comments on Mike and Mike and her email to me as an outline for the following writing.
————————-
I, like other black sports journalists, write about sport as a black man. More importantly though, I write about sports as a black man in a white United States of America. Though there are black men in editorial positions and most, if not all of them know of my writings, I am as unwanted at their tables as I am white editors and the publications they represent.
It is in this maddening and sorry milieu where I ply what I truly feel is an art: a series of stylistic choices by which I communicate my worldview as it pertains to sports, to others.
The Most Awesome Sports Blog Of All Time Would Have…
June 23, 2008
Will Leitch, former editor of Deadspin.com, is finishing up his last week with the site before leaving. I refuse to write a “What Leitch meant to blogging” or “What Leitch could have done better” column. The man’s leaving in a week and can’t change anything now, and those retrospective columns often reek of “hindsight is 20-20 vision” or smug backstabbing. I am not interested in replacing him, for the record. But I couldn’t help but wonder, what would I do if I had the time and freedom to blog full-time? Here are my passions to help develop a better sports blog. I’ve posted about these for years at http://mcbias.blogspot.com/search/label/Bloggolalia , if you want to see all my thoughts.
Danica Patrick Breaks Sports Illustrated Cover Barrier!
May 16, 2008
It has been almost three years, almost 200 regular issues, and 10 women dressed in swimsuits since the last solo female athlete graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. During that time span, Candace Parker led the Tennessee Volunteers to back-to-back NCAA basketball championships, her coach — Pat Summit — became the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history, Venus Williams won Wimbledon twice, and young golfer Lorena Ochoa has emerged with the dominance of Tiger Woods. Read more
Live Chatter: Bob Costas Town Hall Meeting On Sports Media
April 29, 2008
EDIT: Sorry, folks, the Live Chatter has been canceled. D-Wil will have a write-up on the Costas Town Hall tomorrow, but the chat just didn’t work out. Thanks for stopping by if you saw this!
We will be discussing Bob Costas’s Town Hall meeting on Sports Media as it happens at 10:00 ET tonight on HBO. They will be talking about such hot button issues as sports blogging, sports radio/tv coverage, athletes in the media, and race in sports. Please consider stopping by and being part of the conversation! We’ve set up a chat room of sorts to facilitate that discussion.
