The hunger situation in this country is horrible with 1 in 8 American families relying on assistance just to put food on the table. I strongly encourage people, restaurants, and grocery stores to donate as much food as they can to end this serious problem. If you think that it's bad here, imagine what is going on in Sub Saharan Africa, where development assistance for agriculture stands at 4%, down from 18% in the 1980s. Also, the farming industry there has been a total disaster over the last 25 years with an agricultural growth of 1% , the lowest rate for any country in the world. Because of the price of both food and crops keeps going up and not slowing down anytime soon, there are over 1.02 billion hungry people all around the world, an increase of 100 million since 2008. Also, it means that the chance for families on having little(and not that nutritious) food to eat is likely to happen.
Here's how donors (businesses, corporations, organizations, anonymous contributors) can help.Their investment can help families , farmers and producers out so that they can escape poverty; increase exports and help out the residents, who already have a stable income from their employment. Also, funding towards agriculture will: provide technological research, innovation and enough training to help farmers increase production; develop the farmers' path to the local regional markets and bankroll the rural infrastructure such as roads, electrification, storage facilities and irrigation systems, which all are important components crucial to boost the agricultural output in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite the current economic condition, the United States is the richest nation in the world. Even though we need to help out our citizens first, we must also provide assistance to those countries that's in dire straits right now.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Bethany Storro
The story about Bethany Storro has come to a bizarre and sad ending. For those unaware ofthe story, here is the back story: Bethany, a woman from Vancouver, B.C told the police that a woman came up her outside in front a coffee shop, splashed her in the face with a cup that contained acid. When I read the story online and saw it on television, I was horrified by the story because why would someone do that to any people. But when I heard she told police officers that a black woman was the attacker, I said to myself "This is not good." Soon the story received national and international coverage and people were sending their support (financial included) to Heather and her family. Unfortunately, stories like this brought out the hatred in a number of people. Vancouver's online newspaper The Vancouver Sun's message board was bombarded with so much hate filled and racial tinged messages that the organization had to shut it down.
As the days went along, people and some police officers started to question whether or not if the was made up because they could find anyone who saw the incident took place, especially in a public place like outside a coffee shop. A few days later, Storro canceled her appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and within hours later, Storro told the police that the story was a hoax and she splashed herself with acid.
After hearing about the revalation, I felt bad for her because she has some serious mental issues going on because why would she do that to herself. At the same time, I was really mad at her because one again an imaginary black person was blamed for a crime that they had nothing to do with. As black people, we catch enough hell as it is fighting stereotypes, trying to explain the actions of other black folks, and doing the verybest that we can every single day. Why add on to this because we don't need to deal with anymore nonsense.
History of hoaxes
The Storro case of blaming a black person for a crime that they had nothing to do with (this time around it was a black woman) is nothing knew because this country has a sad history of that. in 1931, the Scottsboro boys were found guilty and each one was recieved a death sentence( but was eventually acquitted ) of a crime they did not commit. The case involved two women claimed that the 11 men attacked them even though there wasn't enough evidence to suggest that the crime took place. There are a number of black men throughout the 20th century getting shot, stabbed, lynched and tied and burned to a stake for crimes they had nothing to do with. Remember Charles Stuart, the Boston businessman who in 1989 ,shot his wife, ditched the car and told the police that two black men ran off with his wife and his car. After a city wide manhunt, Stuart eventually killed himself before turning himself in. How about Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother of two young children, who strapped her kids in their seat belts and let the car float into the river. In 1994, she told the police and a nationwide audience that a black man stole her car with the children inside. After a manhunt for every black man in site, Smith later confessed that she was the one that did the crime. In 2008, a Pittsburgh woman working for John McCain's Presidential campaign said that a tall black man attacked her and craved a backwards "B" on her cheek. Later, she said that she was admitted to a psych ward for mental problems after saying she made up the story. Last year, Bonnie Sweeten, a Philadelphia-area woman, said that two black men stole her truck with her daughter inside. Later, it was found out that without telling her family, Sweeten took her daughter to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida and was charged with a number of crimes. The crazy thing about these incidents is that while either they or family address the media, they apologize to the community, the police department, etc. But they never apologize to the black community for putting us through another made story. That is the one that I don't get. They will say I'm sorry to this person, that person, but not one word of guilt, remorse, sorrow to black folks. I just don't understanding in blaming another culture for your stupidity. It just gets sickening after awhile when you hear stories like this.
Conclusion
I hope that Ms. Storro receive enough medical attention and treatment for her issues. At the same time, I just want to know why she did this to her and why she did she blame a black woman for this crime. This story should send to a warning to all people (White, Black, Latin, Asian, Native American,Pacific-Islander) that if you did something to yourself or commit a crime, stop making up stories that a person of a particular race was responsible, even though you were the one that did it. In short, take responsibility of your own actions, develop an open mind and get your s*** together!
As the days went along, people and some police officers started to question whether or not if the was made up because they could find anyone who saw the incident took place, especially in a public place like outside a coffee shop. A few days later, Storro canceled her appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and within hours later, Storro told the police that the story was a hoax and she splashed herself with acid.
After hearing about the revalation, I felt bad for her because she has some serious mental issues going on because why would she do that to herself. At the same time, I was really mad at her because one again an imaginary black person was blamed for a crime that they had nothing to do with. As black people, we catch enough hell as it is fighting stereotypes, trying to explain the actions of other black folks, and doing the verybest that we can every single day. Why add on to this because we don't need to deal with anymore nonsense.
History of hoaxes
The Storro case of blaming a black person for a crime that they had nothing to do with (this time around it was a black woman) is nothing knew because this country has a sad history of that. in 1931, the Scottsboro boys were found guilty and each one was recieved a death sentence( but was eventually acquitted ) of a crime they did not commit. The case involved two women claimed that the 11 men attacked them even though there wasn't enough evidence to suggest that the crime took place. There are a number of black men throughout the 20th century getting shot, stabbed, lynched and tied and burned to a stake for crimes they had nothing to do with. Remember Charles Stuart, the Boston businessman who in 1989 ,shot his wife, ditched the car and told the police that two black men ran off with his wife and his car. After a city wide manhunt, Stuart eventually killed himself before turning himself in. How about Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother of two young children, who strapped her kids in their seat belts and let the car float into the river. In 1994, she told the police and a nationwide audience that a black man stole her car with the children inside. After a manhunt for every black man in site, Smith later confessed that she was the one that did the crime. In 2008, a Pittsburgh woman working for John McCain's Presidential campaign said that a tall black man attacked her and craved a backwards "B" on her cheek. Later, she said that she was admitted to a psych ward for mental problems after saying she made up the story. Last year, Bonnie Sweeten, a Philadelphia-area woman, said that two black men stole her truck with her daughter inside. Later, it was found out that without telling her family, Sweeten took her daughter to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida and was charged with a number of crimes. The crazy thing about these incidents is that while either they or family address the media, they apologize to the community, the police department, etc. But they never apologize to the black community for putting us through another made story. That is the one that I don't get. They will say I'm sorry to this person, that person, but not one word of guilt, remorse, sorrow to black folks. I just don't understanding in blaming another culture for your stupidity. It just gets sickening after awhile when you hear stories like this.
Conclusion
I hope that Ms. Storro receive enough medical attention and treatment for her issues. At the same time, I just want to know why she did this to her and why she did she blame a black woman for this crime. This story should send to a warning to all people (White, Black, Latin, Asian, Native American,Pacific-Islander) that if you did something to yourself or commit a crime, stop making up stories that a person of a particular race was responsible, even though you were the one that did it. In short, take responsibility of your own actions, develop an open mind and get your s*** together!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Back To School
Ah yes! It's the time of year that children cannot stand but their parents really enjoy (and can't wait to pop the champagne once the kids leave the house) Back to School. A number of schools along with Colleges and Universities will start classes next week, but in a few states, the school year is already in session. Is it me or does it seem like you see back-to-school print ads, commercials on television, and store displays earlier than usual.
Back in the days
I'm not the type of person that would say "back in my day," but this case I will. Back when I was going to school in the 1980s and early 1990s, you would not see a back-to-school ad until early August and even if you saw an ad, you would try to not think about it at all because it was summertime and school was the last think that was on your mind. Nowadays, you would see a back-to-school ad or displayat a store a week to a week and a half after the Fourth of July. That's crazy! Growing up, there was a feeling that I knew that school was about to start. Here's the situation:
My family and I would travel to Atlantic City New Jersey every summer during the third week of July (usually the temperature on the East Coast feels like 10-15 degrees warmer than it is in Ohio. For example, if it's 82 degrees in Akron, the temperature in New Jersey would feel like 90+ degrees. You could feel that East Coast heat and man it was hot!) Each night of our trip, the street lights would come on early, like around 7:30 pm. I would say to myself "It's getting darker pretty early, which means that the days were getting shorter." But my parents reminded that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, meaning that the sunlight appears early in the morning and will set early at night (on a summer day in Ohio, the sun doesn't set until close to 9:00 pm, so the idea of the street lights coming on early was a shock to me.)
OK, so that wasn't a true indication that school was going to start, but when ABC used to show the National Football League's Hall of Fame Game, I knew that the beginning of the school year was right around the corner. You see,when we were on vacation, the hall of fame game was played on Saturday night (the past few years the game took place on Sunday night, just like last week.) Once the game came on, I said "Uh oh ! School is gonna start soon!" But the time that we would come back to Akron, there were no trace of back-to-school" ads anywhere, However, you had the feeling that it was coming because the street lights would come on earlier and earlier each day along with cooler temperatures at night time everyday in August. Then, that fateful day in August would come by when your mom or dad came back home from the store with school supplies (notebooks, pencils, pens, folders, etc.) along with new school clothes for you to wear on your first day or week of classes.
When you are a little kid, once the dog days of August comes by, you're actually bored with summer vacation and can't wait to go back to school. But you're a teen, (unless you're going into graduate high school) you don't want to go back to school anytime soon and you would try to squeeze as much stuff as you possibly can before the school year starts because by then, the hazy and carefree days of summer is virtually over and done with.
So for those out there who are going back to school, enjoy the last days of summer because a break like this will not happen again until Christmas break and who really wants to sit and play outside in the snow and cold weather (not me, I can tell you that!)
Back in the days
I'm not the type of person that would say "back in my day," but this case I will. Back when I was going to school in the 1980s and early 1990s, you would not see a back-to-school ad until early August and even if you saw an ad, you would try to not think about it at all because it was summertime and school was the last think that was on your mind. Nowadays, you would see a back-to-school ad or displayat a store a week to a week and a half after the Fourth of July. That's crazy! Growing up, there was a feeling that I knew that school was about to start. Here's the situation:
My family and I would travel to Atlantic City New Jersey every summer during the third week of July (usually the temperature on the East Coast feels like 10-15 degrees warmer than it is in Ohio. For example, if it's 82 degrees in Akron, the temperature in New Jersey would feel like 90+ degrees. You could feel that East Coast heat and man it was hot!) Each night of our trip, the street lights would come on early, like around 7:30 pm. I would say to myself "It's getting darker pretty early, which means that the days were getting shorter." But my parents reminded that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, meaning that the sunlight appears early in the morning and will set early at night (on a summer day in Ohio, the sun doesn't set until close to 9:00 pm, so the idea of the street lights coming on early was a shock to me.)
OK, so that wasn't a true indication that school was going to start, but when ABC used to show the National Football League's Hall of Fame Game, I knew that the beginning of the school year was right around the corner. You see,when we were on vacation, the hall of fame game was played on Saturday night (the past few years the game took place on Sunday night, just like last week.) Once the game came on, I said "Uh oh ! School is gonna start soon!" But the time that we would come back to Akron, there were no trace of back-to-school" ads anywhere, However, you had the feeling that it was coming because the street lights would come on earlier and earlier each day along with cooler temperatures at night time everyday in August. Then, that fateful day in August would come by when your mom or dad came back home from the store with school supplies (notebooks, pencils, pens, folders, etc.) along with new school clothes for you to wear on your first day or week of classes.
When you are a little kid, once the dog days of August comes by, you're actually bored with summer vacation and can't wait to go back to school. But you're a teen, (unless you're going into graduate high school) you don't want to go back to school anytime soon and you would try to squeeze as much stuff as you possibly can before the school year starts because by then, the hazy and carefree days of summer is virtually over and done with.
So for those out there who are going back to school, enjoy the last days of summer because a break like this will not happen again until Christmas break and who really wants to sit and play outside in the snow and cold weather (not me, I can tell you that!)
Monday, July 19, 2010
BP Stands for Being Pathetic
Finally after nearly twelve weeks, there is a cap that that will stop the flow of oil from spill into Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Coast. It's a small step but there is a lot of work to do for the whole region to go back where it once was. My condolences to the 11 workers who lost their lives in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
One Mistake After Another
BP handled this crisis the wrong way from the beginning. When the explosion took place on April 20 at Deepwater Horizon, BP CEO Tony Hawyard minimized the impact of the oil spill by suggesting that the Gulf of Mexico was "relatively tiny" when compared to the "very big ocean." Also, he believed that the spill would not caused that much damage to the area. One rule when dealing with a crisis: Never underestimate the impact of a natural disaster. As a result, the oil spill reached Louisiana (affecting birds, fish and other aquatic animals) Mississippi, Alabama and now it has surfaced towards Florida, specifically, Pensacola.
"I Want My Life Back"
A month after the oil spill, Mr. Hayward gave an interview where he said that he wanted to "get his life back." Are you kidding me? Tell that to the people who lost family members in the oil rig explosion along with the citizens of the Gulf Coast who has to endure with yet another natural calamity. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast nearly five years and since then, the region has made significant progress (businesses have either came back or new ones were developed in the area; New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl in February; tourism has improved, etc.) and now this. No one would ever thought that one disaster would not only become worse than Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989 but also echo the slow response time of Hurricane Katrina. Everyone from the federal government on down should take the blame for their poor reaction time to this catastrophe. To handle the media firestorm, Mr. Hayward launched a $50 million ad campaign to apologize for his comments and to ensure the public that BP is doing all that they can to clean up the disaster. One problem: BP has not cut the check recently to seafood business owners, out-of-work drilling crews, fishermen and property owners who work and live in the Gulf Coast. In fact, the workers have received little compensation for their long hours of dedicated service in the region. It is funny that BP doesn't have the money to pay the workers, but there's enough funds to create a media campaign to protect themselves.
How to handle this crisis
What BP should have done to handle this crisis is the following:
1) Once the disaster took place, immediately hold a press conference and tell the audience what's going on . Also,make sure that all media outlets (newspapers, television, radio, online) has access to talk with whoever is in charge and ask questions. This has to be done within 24 hours (no later than that) after the disaster occurred.
2) As mentioned earlier, Never downplay any disaster because you never know how worse the situation could actually get.
3) If you can't hire any workers, go on television, radio and online and ask for volunteers to help clean up the Gulf Coast. If you do that, people will stop what they are doing and head down to the Gulf to help out.
In a time of need, that is what we do as a nation, we help out those who need our assistance.
It's too bad that BP doesn't realize that.
One Mistake After Another
BP handled this crisis the wrong way from the beginning. When the explosion took place on April 20 at Deepwater Horizon, BP CEO Tony Hawyard minimized the impact of the oil spill by suggesting that the Gulf of Mexico was "relatively tiny" when compared to the "very big ocean." Also, he believed that the spill would not caused that much damage to the area. One rule when dealing with a crisis: Never underestimate the impact of a natural disaster. As a result, the oil spill reached Louisiana (affecting birds, fish and other aquatic animals) Mississippi, Alabama and now it has surfaced towards Florida, specifically, Pensacola.
"I Want My Life Back"
A month after the oil spill, Mr. Hayward gave an interview where he said that he wanted to "get his life back." Are you kidding me? Tell that to the people who lost family members in the oil rig explosion along with the citizens of the Gulf Coast who has to endure with yet another natural calamity. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast nearly five years and since then, the region has made significant progress (businesses have either came back or new ones were developed in the area; New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl in February; tourism has improved, etc.) and now this. No one would ever thought that one disaster would not only become worse than Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989 but also echo the slow response time of Hurricane Katrina. Everyone from the federal government on down should take the blame for their poor reaction time to this catastrophe. To handle the media firestorm, Mr. Hayward launched a $50 million ad campaign to apologize for his comments and to ensure the public that BP is doing all that they can to clean up the disaster. One problem: BP has not cut the check recently to seafood business owners, out-of-work drilling crews, fishermen and property owners who work and live in the Gulf Coast. In fact, the workers have received little compensation for their long hours of dedicated service in the region. It is funny that BP doesn't have the money to pay the workers, but there's enough funds to create a media campaign to protect themselves.
How to handle this crisis
What BP should have done to handle this crisis is the following:
1) Once the disaster took place, immediately hold a press conference and tell the audience what's going on . Also,make sure that all media outlets (newspapers, television, radio, online) has access to talk with whoever is in charge and ask questions. This has to be done within 24 hours (no later than that) after the disaster occurred.
2) As mentioned earlier, Never downplay any disaster because you never know how worse the situation could actually get.
3) If you can't hire any workers, go on television, radio and online and ask for volunteers to help clean up the Gulf Coast. If you do that, people will stop what they are doing and head down to the Gulf to help out.
In a time of need, that is what we do as a nation, we help out those who need our assistance.
It's too bad that BP doesn't realize that.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Decision sounds more like The Over The Top Spectacle
On July 8, 2010 at the Boys & Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, free agent and the reigning two time Most Valuable Player LeBron James announced on television that he was "going to take my talents" to South Beach and join the Miami Heat with Heat Captain Dwayne Wade and fellow free agent Chris Bosh, late of the Toronto Raptors. His decision caused shock waves in the sports world because the idea of three all-stars (two players from different teams) in their prime joining forces on one team was unheard of. It has been done whether through the NBA draft (Ex: The four time NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs) or by trade (Ex: The 17 time NBA Champions Boston Celtics with Ray Allen via then-Seattle Supersonics and Kevin Garnett via Minnesota Timberwolves- The C's by the way won the NBA Crown in 2008 and made it to the finals this past season losing the series in 7 games against the Los Angeles Lakers) but never like this. Right now there are two teams that within a few years are going to be contenders for the NBA Crown (Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls) who have built their respective teams for the ground up (save a few free agents) through the NBA Draft, even though they have tried to lure free agents to their squads.
Congrats to both Owner Mickey Arison and GM/President Pat Riley for making the deal happen. The Heat has the chance to bring a few championships to South Beach, but at the same time, I don't know if this was the right way to build a title contending team.
Communication wise:Poorly Handled
I don't have a problem with LeBron leaving because as a free agent, you have the right to stay with or leave a team for greater opportunities (i.e. championships, more playing time if you are coming off the bench) or money. It's the American way, that why so many of us leaving our current job for a new one (well, it kinda tough nowadays because of the economy you need to hang on to the job as much as you can.) But the idea of going on national television and telling the team that you have been for a number of years that you are leaving was inexcusable. It was bad enough to not telling the Cavs nothing about his intentions to stay or leave the team but having reps from the Knicks, Bulls, Nets, and Clippers fly into in Cleveland and lead these teams on thinking that they have a chance to sign him was horrible. As a free agent, there is a right way to make your exit and that was definitely the wrong way to go about it.
I really don't think that LeBron and his inner circle realize how bad they came off with "the decision." It is a given that he's going to get booed in Cleveland when Miami plays two road games at Quicken Loans Arena, but the Heat plays at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey and the United Center in Chicago, they are going to get treated badly because as illustrated earlier, those were the cities that Lebron strung along and pulled the rug underneath them on national television.
It's hard to believe but at this point last year, both LeBron and Tiger Woods were two of the biggest names in sports today and now a year later, both athletes have taken major self inflicted hits to their public image. I know that Lebron has a marketing team to help build his brand name, but what he also need is a public relations team because whatever his team is doing right is a total disaster.
Congrats to both Owner Mickey Arison and GM/President Pat Riley for making the deal happen. The Heat has the chance to bring a few championships to South Beach, but at the same time, I don't know if this was the right way to build a title contending team.
Communication wise:Poorly Handled
I don't have a problem with LeBron leaving because as a free agent, you have the right to stay with or leave a team for greater opportunities (i.e. championships, more playing time if you are coming off the bench) or money. It's the American way, that why so many of us leaving our current job for a new one (well, it kinda tough nowadays because of the economy you need to hang on to the job as much as you can.) But the idea of going on national television and telling the team that you have been for a number of years that you are leaving was inexcusable. It was bad enough to not telling the Cavs nothing about his intentions to stay or leave the team but having reps from the Knicks, Bulls, Nets, and Clippers fly into in Cleveland and lead these teams on thinking that they have a chance to sign him was horrible. As a free agent, there is a right way to make your exit and that was definitely the wrong way to go about it.
The State of Ohio- Specifially Northeastern Ohio
I was born in Akron, Ohio, which is also LeBron's hometown, and I know how sports fans in Northeastern Ohio felt when Lebron announced his decision. It felt like a punch in the gut along with the feeling that someone just ripped your heart out. Sports fans here has stuck by the Indians, Browns and Cavs during the good times (World Series, NBA Finals and AFC Championship apperances) and the bad times ( losing championship games, losing seasons and sagging attendance at home games.) But the setiment here in Ohio is that LeBron is a marked man, a traitor, turncoat, a guy who can't walk and/or stay in Ohio anymore ( not unless he makes a visit here either as a late at night/early morning kind of deal.) Once the decision was made, people expressed themselves in great lengths such as: burning LeBron's jersey, throwing away anyway with his face or name on it, called him every dirty name you can possible think of on message boards online, among other things. Unfortunately, every amount of goodwill that he has built with Ohioans since his St. Vincent-St. Mary's days is gone for good.
Summer of 1996
When I heard that LeBron was not coming back to the Cavs reminded me of the summer of 1996 when Shaquille O'Neal left the Orlando Magic for the Los Angeles Lakers. O'Neal, who ironically played with James last season, played four outstanding seasons with Orlando, a young team that when to the NBA Finals in 1995 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 1996. The Magic were one of the best teams not only in the Eastern Conference but around the league as well. Shaq and Penny Hardaway were supposed to be the Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the 1990s and had plans to lead Orlando to a number of championships.
When Shaq, then a member of the 1996 Dream Team in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, held a press conference, I figured that it was probably something about the Olympic basketball team. However that all changed when Jerry West, then-General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, was sitting next to him at the press conference, then I knew that something was up. Shaq announced that he was going to sign a deal with the Lakers, I couldn't believe that he would leave a great situation with Orlando for L.A. It did not help matters that Shaq kept bashing the Magic organization and the city of Orlando by saying he was a "big fish in a small pond" time and time again (the funny thing is that to this day, he still has a home in Orlando!) The Orlando Magic survived Shaq's departure by making the playoffs the following season but that the lone bright spot for a number of years. The team when through constant roster changes, and a number of up and down seasons until the team drafted Dwight Howard in 2004. Since then the team has improved dramatically and now the Magic is a serious contender for the NBA Title. But it took a while for the team to bounce back and it looks like Cleveland is going to experience the same thing.
The best way to handle the situation
In May when the Cavs lost game 6 in Boston and LeBron start shaking hands with the Celtics fans, taking off the wrist bands, the headband and then the piece of resistance, when he took off his jersey in the locker room tunnel in full view of the television camera of the TD Garden, you had the feeling that he wanted to leave behind anything related to Cleveland. What he should have done was take some time away from basketball for a while (10-20 days) andtold the Cavaliers that "there's a good chance that I would not come back to the team next year." If he told them that, the Cavs could move on and sign whatever free agents were available at the time. However, when he held the organization hostage with his decision, the Cavs was forced to scramble and find some players to play with them. But they couldn't sign the top free agents because either they re-signed with their old team or took their services else to a new team. Tell them straight up with your intentions face to face and don't use TV or online to say where you are going to play.I really don't think that LeBron and his inner circle realize how bad they came off with "the decision." It is a given that he's going to get booed in Cleveland when Miami plays two road games at Quicken Loans Arena, but the Heat plays at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey and the United Center in Chicago, they are going to get treated badly because as illustrated earlier, those were the cities that Lebron strung along and pulled the rug underneath them on national television.
It's hard to believe but at this point last year, both LeBron and Tiger Woods were two of the biggest names in sports today and now a year later, both athletes have taken major self inflicted hits to their public image. I know that Lebron has a marketing team to help build his brand name, but what he also need is a public relations team because whatever his team is doing right is a total disaster.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
2010 World Cup
Congratulations to Espana y Netherlands for making it to the final game of the 2010 World Cup. While watching the majority of the soccer matches of the Cup, there are some observations that I like and others that I don't care for.
My observations of the 2010 World Cup:
Today, there is a soccer league (Major Soccer League) that has teams in New York; Los Angeles (Carson, Calif.) ; Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Salt Lake City; Commerce City, Colorado; San Jose, Calif; and Houston.
People here in this country has to realize that futbol is the number one sport in the world. Even though there is really a strong international support for American football, people like futbol better.
3. Vuvuzelas
5. The player's theatrics after scoring a goal
My observations of the 2010 World Cup:
1. The biggest winner of them all: the continent of Africa
Africa has been in the news for the last twenty years for all the wrong reasons, whether it is for health reasons (Hunger; HIV/AIDS epidemic) or political issues (Apartheid, Rwanda genocide of 1994; Somalia.) It was great to see Africa, specifically South Africa, receiving positive news for a change. The World Cup has generated a lot of money during its one month run, hopefully the cash will end up with the citizens of Africa and not into the pockets of business leaders or crooked politicians.
2. Soccer does not suck!
My first experience with soccer took place about thirty years ago when my brother took up the sport. We would go to a empty field and just kick the ball around and that was a lot of fun. Who knows, one of us could have been the next Pele ( I remember seeing clips of him playing in for the New York Cosmos in a match at Yankee Stadium, yes that Yankee Stadium.) It was not the first time that the United States has tried to warm up to soccer. During the 1970s, a soccer league was founded to get people interested in the sport. Unfortunately, the league disbanded in 1984. A few years earlier in 1978, the Major Indoor Soccer League was founded and the league eventually had 31 teams throughout its history, including a team in my area (Cleveland Force.) Even though the league folded in 1992, people were still interested in soccer.Today, there is a soccer league (Major Soccer League) that has teams in New York; Los Angeles (Carson, Calif.) ; Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Salt Lake City; Commerce City, Colorado; San Jose, Calif; and Houston.
People here in this country has to realize that futbol is the number one sport in the world. Even though there is really a strong international support for American football, people like futbol better.
3. Vuvuzelas
The vuvuzela is a great invention. I want that as a Christmas gift! Anyway, when you heard the sound of a number of vuvuzelas going off in unison during a match,it sounded like a swarm of bees. During the first week of the World Cup, people were complaining about the sound by saying that it was a distraction and they could not stand the noise. The only that I can say about that is: Stop complaining! This is a country where if you go to watch a game at a stadium or arena, the public address announcer has to instruct the crowd to generate noise, or use piped in sounds to get them going. To me, the vuvuzela is a great tool to use and it's better than those annoying thundersticks (which was a good idea when it came out, but it just got on your nerve after a while.) OK, so it did not work as a promotion in Miami for the Tampa Bay Rays-Florida Marlins game in June, but give it time, you will see the vuvuzelas in stadiums and arenas around the United States.
4. Unless there's an injury on the field -No unnecessary timeouts
It was great to see a match where there wasn't any necessary timeouts to pay the bills or use a two minute warning (who's sole purpose is to advertise the sponsors.) If you noticed on the wall of the stadium in Johannesburg, the ads where plastered on the wall and it would change from one sponsor to another after a few minutes. Stadiums and arenas in Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League uses that technique (in baseball: it's at the backstop and the NBA and NHL, it's on the side walls) but you only wish that this is the only and best way to advertise instead of spending millions of dollars on television commercials.5. The player's theatrics after scoring a goal
I have no problem with a player expressing themselves after scoring a goal. Actually it's quite entertaining. It's too bad the National Football League (or as I call it the No Fun League) doesn't take some notes on this. If a player demonstrated or choreographed anything after scoring a touchdown, he would get fined tens of thousand of dollars for "showing up the opponent." Ask Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco about how outrageous the amount that they're being fined for celebrating in the end zone .
What I don't like about the World Cup:
The World Cup takes place every four years
I truly understand now why the World Cup is every four years: it's all about creating enthusiasm interest and anticipation in the sport. You want to get everyone's attention to soccer without worrying about over saturation and if that occurs, the public would not become interested in the sport anymore. You want to draw to as people all around the world as you possibly can to your sport (maybe gain some new soccer fans) and I believe that FIFA has done a great with that. Hopefully here in the States, people are still interested in soccer after the conclusion of the World Cup.
Actually, that was my only beef with the World Cup. I like soccer and hope that the sport continues to gain new fans and flourish over time.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Immigration Law in Arizona
On Wednesday, The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, while speaking at the White House, spoke out against the immigration law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. After Calderon's speech, President Obama echoed the same sentiment by adding that the bill is unconstitutional.I agree with both presidents on this issue because the idea of the police actually stopping Latinos
(even if they were born in this country or are second or third generation) either walking down the street or pulling them over if they are driving and see if they have their papers to prove that they are a United States citizen is insane.
Racial Profiling? Uh, Yeah!
A lot of people say that the new bill is not about racial profiling, but it is about racial profiling. As a black man, I know what it's like being singled out when I'm out anywhere because of my race, so there is no way I'm going agree with the new bill. Also, those folks who say that it isn't about racial profiling have never been stopped by the police before; have not walked into a store and felt the presence of a store clerk and/or security guard follow their every move; have never walked down the street without a woman hold her purse tighter than ever or my personal favorite, move the purse to the other side of their body in order to avoid me, even though someone can come from behind and take it; have never walk to or from their car and someone sets their car alarm immediately and/or lock their doors very quickly; have never felt the evil sting of prejudice and discrimination. They do not know what's it like to be a person of color in this country and they will never know how it is until they walked a mile in our shoes ( maybe a new "Black Like Me" experiment could be in the works, who knows.)
One of my favorite groups of all time, Public Enemy did a song on the 1991 classic album Apocalypse 91.. The Enemy Strikes Back called "By The Time I Get To Arizona" which talked about how the state (along with a few others at the time) did not support the idea of granting a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (the video was great , by the way.) For those not familiar about what happened, here's the back story:In 1992, the National Football League gave Arizona citizens a warning that if they did not vote for the passing of the King bill, that the league will pull the 1993 Super Bowl out the state and move it elsewhere. In November of that year, the citizens of Arizona said no to the passage of the bill and the NFL moved the '93 Super Bowl to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which ironically was the last time that the big game was held in Los Angeles. Back to my point, the song was very important now in 2010 just like it was in 1992. Recently there has been talk about pulling the 2011 Major League All Star Game out of Phoenix, but Commissioner Bug Selig said that the game will remain there, for now.
Los Suns vs. Los Spurs
I applaud the Phoenix Suns for taking a stand on the issue. Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire were some of the Suns that spoke out against the controversial bill. During their home playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Suns wore their home jerseys with "Los Suns" on the front. Also I want to thank Gregg Popovich, coach of the Spurs for talking about the bill. The Spurs, who like the Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks, participate in the National Basketball Association's annual Noche Latina (Latin Night) wanted to wear their "Los Spurs" jerseys in that playoff game, couldn't do so because of logistics and they only have those jerseys in the home whites and it wouldn't make any sense for two teams to wear white jerseys during a game.
Conclusion
Look, I definitely understand that you don't want people living in this country illegally because if you cannot prove that you are a United States citizen, then you need to leave this country immediately. However, pulling people over or stopping them while they are walking is not the answer. Arizona politicians has to come up with a better way to stop illegal immigration and they need to go back to the drawing board and think about it because this is not going to work.
(even if they were born in this country or are second or third generation) either walking down the street or pulling them over if they are driving and see if they have their papers to prove that they are a United States citizen is insane.
Racial Profiling? Uh, Yeah!
A lot of people say that the new bill is not about racial profiling, but it is about racial profiling. As a black man, I know what it's like being singled out when I'm out anywhere because of my race, so there is no way I'm going agree with the new bill. Also, those folks who say that it isn't about racial profiling have never been stopped by the police before; have not walked into a store and felt the presence of a store clerk and/or security guard follow their every move; have never walked down the street without a woman hold her purse tighter than ever or my personal favorite, move the purse to the other side of their body in order to avoid me, even though someone can come from behind and take it; have never walk to or from their car and someone sets their car alarm immediately and/or lock their doors very quickly; have never felt the evil sting of prejudice and discrimination. They do not know what's it like to be a person of color in this country and they will never know how it is until they walked a mile in our shoes ( maybe a new "Black Like Me" experiment could be in the works, who knows.)
One of my favorite groups of all time, Public Enemy did a song on the 1991 classic album Apocalypse 91.. The Enemy Strikes Back called "By The Time I Get To Arizona" which talked about how the state (along with a few others at the time) did not support the idea of granting a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (the video was great , by the way.) For those not familiar about what happened, here's the back story:In 1992, the National Football League gave Arizona citizens a warning that if they did not vote for the passing of the King bill, that the league will pull the 1993 Super Bowl out the state and move it elsewhere. In November of that year, the citizens of Arizona said no to the passage of the bill and the NFL moved the '93 Super Bowl to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which ironically was the last time that the big game was held in Los Angeles. Back to my point, the song was very important now in 2010 just like it was in 1992. Recently there has been talk about pulling the 2011 Major League All Star Game out of Phoenix, but Commissioner Bug Selig said that the game will remain there, for now.
Los Suns vs. Los Spurs
I applaud the Phoenix Suns for taking a stand on the issue. Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire were some of the Suns that spoke out against the controversial bill. During their home playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Suns wore their home jerseys with "Los Suns" on the front. Also I want to thank Gregg Popovich, coach of the Spurs for talking about the bill. The Spurs, who like the Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks, participate in the National Basketball Association's annual Noche Latina (Latin Night) wanted to wear their "Los Spurs" jerseys in that playoff game, couldn't do so because of logistics and they only have those jerseys in the home whites and it wouldn't make any sense for two teams to wear white jerseys during a game.
Conclusion
Look, I definitely understand that you don't want people living in this country illegally because if you cannot prove that you are a United States citizen, then you need to leave this country immediately. However, pulling people over or stopping them while they are walking is not the answer. Arizona politicians has to come up with a better way to stop illegal immigration and they need to go back to the drawing board and think about it because this is not going to work.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
2010 NFL Draft- A Question of Commitment?
The National Football League will hold its annual draft on Thursday April 22 at Radio City Music Hall in the heart of New York City (Manhattan.)The draft is important for all 32 teams because it gives them the chance to pick the best player(s) that they need in order to compete for the Lombadi (Super Bowl) Trophy. One of the players in this draft that has a good chance of being selected is Myron Rolle. Rolle, who had three very productive years with Florida State, has something that his other fellow draftees does not have, he is a Rhodes scholar. Rolle, after his third year with the Seminoles, spent a year in Oxford to further his education. After completed his studies abroad, Rolle decided to put his aspirations on becoming a neurosurgeon on hold (for now) so that he can start his football career in the National Football League and one way was to add his name to the NFL Draft.
Question his Commitment?
In February, at Union Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Rolle and a bunch of NFL hopefuls participated in the National Football League Combine. The combine gives owners, general managers, scouts, etc. the chance to see those who played college football participate in a series of events (i.e running the 4.40, jumping, passing skills, running skills (for running backs) how to run a route (for wide receivers and tight ends), punting, kicking field goals, etc. Along with that, those in authority get to challenge the players mental skills on whether or not they are tough enough to handle criticism and/or tough questions. One person in particular from Florida State talked to Rolle and questioned his commitment to playing football. The guy actually believed that Rolle was being selfish in ditching football and he should have turned down the chance of going to Oxford! Are you kidding me? You have to be a complete idiot to say no to Oxford because an opportunity like that doesn't come along everybody. The guy was brazen enough to say that Rolle should commit to football only and forget everything else. I guess having aspirations on becoming a neurosurgeon is just a big waste of time and money. Sure you can just focus on football (if you have ever seen a typical NFL playbook, the binder is a thick book filled with numerous plays for the offense along with some defense schemes) but at the same time, you would like to have other interests too. I just don't buy into the idea of concentrating on one thing only and forget everything else because to me, if would make your life pretty boring and predictable.
What the National Football League should do
The NFL should be happy that they could have a player that has something important going on his life other than football. In a league unfortunately with some of the players getting arrested for DWI, domestic violence, gun possession, fighting in public, and now with the situation with two time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP Ben Roethilsberger, the NFL should use Rolle's image as a symbol of saying "Hey, we may have a few knuckleheads but we have some have great guys in our league, too."
Editor's Note: Myron Rolle was drafted in the 6th round by the Tennessee Titans.
Question his Commitment?
In February, at Union Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Rolle and a bunch of NFL hopefuls participated in the National Football League Combine. The combine gives owners, general managers, scouts, etc. the chance to see those who played college football participate in a series of events (i.e running the 4.40, jumping, passing skills, running skills (for running backs) how to run a route (for wide receivers and tight ends), punting, kicking field goals, etc. Along with that, those in authority get to challenge the players mental skills on whether or not they are tough enough to handle criticism and/or tough questions. One person in particular from Florida State talked to Rolle and questioned his commitment to playing football. The guy actually believed that Rolle was being selfish in ditching football and he should have turned down the chance of going to Oxford! Are you kidding me? You have to be a complete idiot to say no to Oxford because an opportunity like that doesn't come along everybody. The guy was brazen enough to say that Rolle should commit to football only and forget everything else. I guess having aspirations on becoming a neurosurgeon is just a big waste of time and money. Sure you can just focus on football (if you have ever seen a typical NFL playbook, the binder is a thick book filled with numerous plays for the offense along with some defense schemes) but at the same time, you would like to have other interests too. I just don't buy into the idea of concentrating on one thing only and forget everything else because to me, if would make your life pretty boring and predictable.
What the National Football League should do
The NFL should be happy that they could have a player that has something important going on his life other than football. In a league unfortunately with some of the players getting arrested for DWI, domestic violence, gun possession, fighting in public, and now with the situation with two time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP Ben Roethilsberger, the NFL should use Rolle's image as a symbol of saying "Hey, we may have a few knuckleheads but we have some have great guys in our league, too."
Editor's Note: Myron Rolle was drafted in the 6th round by the Tennessee Titans.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Richard Pryor Show
This past Saturday, TV One played a marathon of the Richard Pryor Show. Technically, you can't really call it a marathon because the network ran the original special and the four episodes
of the series. But at the same time, those four episodes were a great mix of comedy , variety, drama, social commentary. Now, when the show made its debut in the fall of 1977, I was too young to remember it when it was on the air (I was four years old at the time; if I could barely remember both the last seasons of Chico and the Man -1978 and Welcome Back, Kotter-1979, there is no way I could remember anything back in 1977.)
1977
During the summer of '77, Pyror hosted a special on NBC and the network noticed that the program showearned high ratings, they decided to give Pryor his own show for the 1977-78 television season. The network felt that lighting could strike again by having a comedian tone down and clean up his act and star on his own television show (in 1972, the network gave Redd Foxx his own show, Sanford and Son, and in its five year run, the program finished third overall tv ratings twice, and two times it was the No.2 ranked show in the country- only All In the Family drew higher ratings than Sanford.In May 1977, Foxx left Sanford and Son along with NBC to host his own variety show on ABC.)
NBC- Nothing But Censors
Even before the show made it debut, Pryor had problems with the NBC executives, specifically
the censors, for what he wanted to do and say. In today's television landscape, you can do and say certain things on the air, but this was 1977 after all and the suits weren't having it. To give you an indication on how the show was going to go, on the the first episode, Pryor appeared on camera wearing nothing but a nude body suit while saying" looks like they have taken everything away from me." In another episode, Pryor was holding a press conference as the
40th President of the United States (who knew 30 years later that we would see a black president in the movies (played by Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman, on television (on the hit show 24, Dennis Haysbert played the role) and in real life with Barack Obama!) Another skit
was when Pryor played a drunk at a bar (special guest star John Belushi was the bartender)
and when he when home to talk to his long suffering wife, and when he fell asleep on the couch, his wife (played by Maya Angelou) delivered an emotional dialogue-turned-monologue in
the sketch which looked like something you would see at a Broadway show.
After fighting with censors on a regular basis, Pryor had enough and decided to pull the plug on his show on October 4, 1977. In that final espisode, there was a sketch where Pryor was being roasted by the members of his comedy team. The comedians are well known now but were unknown back then, the cast included: Paul Mooney, Sandra Bernhard, Robin Williams, Marsha Warfield, Tim Reid and John Witherspoon.
The censors were not the only the thing that The Richard Pryor Show had to face. The network
placed the show at the Tuesday 8 p.m. time slot opposite two programs that I grew up watching
(as well as some of my favorite tv shows of all time) Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. When
the 1977-78 television season started, Happy Days was the #1 rated show in the country with
Lavrene & Shirley close behind at #2. If you're the head of NBC programming and you placed
a new show against the #1 and #2 ranked shows in the nation, do you really think that you're going to stand a chance of winning the time slot? Unfortunately, NBC took the gamble and lost out.
The Legacy of the Richard Pryor Show
Even though it had a short stint on television, The Richard Pryor Show was the forerunner for
a number of comedic programs. Its influence could be seen in the following programs: In Living
Color, MadTV (even though some might argue that the show also has elements of Saturday Night Live); The Chris Rock Show and the Chappelle Show. The show is now on DVD and
some of it clips are on Youtube and I suggest that you should check it out.
of the series. But at the same time, those four episodes were a great mix of comedy , variety, drama, social commentary. Now, when the show made its debut in the fall of 1977, I was too young to remember it when it was on the air (I was four years old at the time; if I could barely remember both the last seasons of Chico and the Man -1978 and Welcome Back, Kotter-1979, there is no way I could remember anything back in 1977.)
1977
During the summer of '77, Pyror hosted a special on NBC and the network noticed that the program showearned high ratings, they decided to give Pryor his own show for the 1977-78 television season. The network felt that lighting could strike again by having a comedian tone down and clean up his act and star on his own television show (in 1972, the network gave Redd Foxx his own show, Sanford and Son, and in its five year run, the program finished third overall tv ratings twice, and two times it was the No.2 ranked show in the country- only All In the Family drew higher ratings than Sanford.In May 1977, Foxx left Sanford and Son along with NBC to host his own variety show on ABC.)
NBC- Nothing But Censors
Even before the show made it debut, Pryor had problems with the NBC executives, specifically
the censors, for what he wanted to do and say. In today's television landscape, you can do and say certain things on the air, but this was 1977 after all and the suits weren't having it. To give you an indication on how the show was going to go, on the the first episode, Pryor appeared on camera wearing nothing but a nude body suit while saying" looks like they have taken everything away from me." In another episode, Pryor was holding a press conference as the
40th President of the United States (who knew 30 years later that we would see a black president in the movies (played by Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman, on television (on the hit show 24, Dennis Haysbert played the role) and in real life with Barack Obama!) Another skit
was when Pryor played a drunk at a bar (special guest star John Belushi was the bartender)
and when he when home to talk to his long suffering wife, and when he fell asleep on the couch, his wife (played by Maya Angelou) delivered an emotional dialogue-turned-monologue in
the sketch which looked like something you would see at a Broadway show.
After fighting with censors on a regular basis, Pryor had enough and decided to pull the plug on his show on October 4, 1977. In that final espisode, there was a sketch where Pryor was being roasted by the members of his comedy team. The comedians are well known now but were unknown back then, the cast included: Paul Mooney, Sandra Bernhard, Robin Williams, Marsha Warfield, Tim Reid and John Witherspoon.
The censors were not the only the thing that The Richard Pryor Show had to face. The network
placed the show at the Tuesday 8 p.m. time slot opposite two programs that I grew up watching
(as well as some of my favorite tv shows of all time) Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. When
the 1977-78 television season started, Happy Days was the #1 rated show in the country with
Lavrene & Shirley close behind at #2. If you're the head of NBC programming and you placed
a new show against the #1 and #2 ranked shows in the nation, do you really think that you're going to stand a chance of winning the time slot? Unfortunately, NBC took the gamble and lost out.
The Legacy of the Richard Pryor Show
Even though it had a short stint on television, The Richard Pryor Show was the forerunner for
a number of comedic programs. Its influence could be seen in the following programs: In Living
Color, MadTV (even though some might argue that the show also has elements of Saturday Night Live); The Chris Rock Show and the Chappelle Show. The show is now on DVD and
some of it clips are on Youtube and I suggest that you should check it out.
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Big Win For The Big Easy
Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning Super Bowl XLIV. It would have been great to see Indianapolis win another Super Bowl, but seeing the Saints win their first NFL Title is something special, especially to everyone in Louisiana and the entire Gulf Coast who suffered from Hurricane Katrina nearly five years ago. This is a franchise who had a history of some players who ended up being all-pro (Archie Manning, Billy Kilmer,Bobby Hebert, George Rogers, Willie Roaf, Dalton Hillard, Ruben Mayes, Stan Brock)and even in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Doug Atkins, Earl Campbell and the first true Saints who is going inducted it this year's hall of fame: Rickey Jackson) the teams that they played for were horrible to say the least. For example, from 1971, the year that Manning was drafted by the Saints until the end of the decade, New Orleans reached .500 once, and the season that happened (1979), they didn't even make the playoff. It wasn't until the Saints 20th season (1987) that they made it to the postseason. For example, from the year that Manning was drafted by the Saints (1971) to 1979, New Orleans posted one winning season (the '79 season) and even then, they didn't make the playoffs . As a result of their inability to win games, specifically in the 1980 season where the Saints lost their first 14 games, fans wore paper bags over their faces at home game and called the 'aints. Who knew that the idea of wearing a paper bag would catch on and is still used by sports fans to this day.
Playoffs???!!
It wasn't until 1987 when New Orleans made it to the postseason. Under the tenure of Coach Jim Mora (1986-1996), the Saints made it to the playoffs four times, including winning the NFC West Division Title in 1991. However, the postseason was not a fun experience for the team because they didn't win a playoff game in those four seasons. After two lackluster seasons, Mora, fed up and frustrated by the team's losing ways, left the Saints in 1996. Two years later, Mora resurfaced as the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile the Saints went through a number of head coaches such as Rick Venturi, Mike Ditka ( a fun and entertaining experiment but it wasn't successful) and Jim Haslett. In Haslett's first year (1999), the Saints won the NFC West and their first playoff in team history, but that was the only real bright spot during his time with the Saints and he was fired in 2006. Sean Payton took over the position a year after New Orleans went through a tragic hurricane that destroyed the city and devastated its residents.
Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath
Hurricane Katrina left so much death and destruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in its wake in late August 2005. As a result of the hurricane, a lot of people lost everything including their homes, and the Louisiana Superdome because a place of refuge for the citizens of New Orleans, even though the dome was damaged to began with. Right before the start of the 2005 season, the National Football League announced that the Saints would play their "home opener" against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, and the remainder of their "home games" at Baton Rouge and the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Ironically, Tom Benson thought about the idea of relocating the Saints franchise to San Antonio or possibly to Los Angeles for good.
You have to commend the Saints players, coaches and the whole organization for going through a season like that because going through a tragic like Katrina, there is no way you can focus on playing football (the team went 3-13 that season.)
The Homecoming
In January 2006, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Taligabue announced that the Saints will play all eight of their home games at the Louisiana Superdome during the upcoming season. On September 25, 2006, the Saints play their first real home game at New Orleans in two years against the Atlanta Falcons in front of 70,003 fans at the Superdome during a Monday Night Football telecast ( the Saints beat Atlanta 23-3.) That was the start of a magical season for the Saints. Under the leadership of Coach Payton and recently signed free agent Drew Brees, New Orleans won the NFC South Division, defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoffs but lost to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship. Despite the loss, you could get a sense that the Saints can experience this feeling again someday with a different result and fast forward three years later, the Saints are NFL Champions.
Summary
The win is big for the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and everyone in the Gulf Coast because they have been through so much tragedy and turmoil with losing people and valuable possessions. New Orleans is a part town anyway and with Mardi Gras coming up, it looks like the city is going to have one long party in the month of February. With this win, you hope that this will bring some spotlight back to the city and the Gulf Coast region because there are still a lot of people who are still living in trailers instead of houses, even though there have been a number of houses that were built and folks were able to move in them since 2006. The city of New Orleans is not all the way back, but it is still getting there and hopefully people would remind themselves that there is more work to do for the city and the region in order to get back what they had prior to Hurricane Katrina.
Playoffs???!!
It wasn't until 1987 when New Orleans made it to the postseason. Under the tenure of Coach Jim Mora (1986-1996), the Saints made it to the playoffs four times, including winning the NFC West Division Title in 1991. However, the postseason was not a fun experience for the team because they didn't win a playoff game in those four seasons. After two lackluster seasons, Mora, fed up and frustrated by the team's losing ways, left the Saints in 1996. Two years later, Mora resurfaced as the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile the Saints went through a number of head coaches such as Rick Venturi, Mike Ditka ( a fun and entertaining experiment but it wasn't successful) and Jim Haslett. In Haslett's first year (1999), the Saints won the NFC West and their first playoff in team history, but that was the only real bright spot during his time with the Saints and he was fired in 2006. Sean Payton took over the position a year after New Orleans went through a tragic hurricane that destroyed the city and devastated its residents.
Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath
Hurricane Katrina left so much death and destruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in its wake in late August 2005. As a result of the hurricane, a lot of people lost everything including their homes, and the Louisiana Superdome because a place of refuge for the citizens of New Orleans, even though the dome was damaged to began with. Right before the start of the 2005 season, the National Football League announced that the Saints would play their "home opener" against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, and the remainder of their "home games" at Baton Rouge and the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Ironically, Tom Benson thought about the idea of relocating the Saints franchise to San Antonio or possibly to Los Angeles for good.
You have to commend the Saints players, coaches and the whole organization for going through a season like that because going through a tragic like Katrina, there is no way you can focus on playing football (the team went 3-13 that season.)
The Homecoming
In January 2006, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Taligabue announced that the Saints will play all eight of their home games at the Louisiana Superdome during the upcoming season. On September 25, 2006, the Saints play their first real home game at New Orleans in two years against the Atlanta Falcons in front of 70,003 fans at the Superdome during a Monday Night Football telecast ( the Saints beat Atlanta 23-3.) That was the start of a magical season for the Saints. Under the leadership of Coach Payton and recently signed free agent Drew Brees, New Orleans won the NFC South Division, defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoffs but lost to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship. Despite the loss, you could get a sense that the Saints can experience this feeling again someday with a different result and fast forward three years later, the Saints are NFL Champions.
Summary
The win is big for the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and everyone in the Gulf Coast because they have been through so much tragedy and turmoil with losing people and valuable possessions. New Orleans is a part town anyway and with Mardi Gras coming up, it looks like the city is going to have one long party in the month of February. With this win, you hope that this will bring some spotlight back to the city and the Gulf Coast region because there are still a lot of people who are still living in trailers instead of houses, even though there have been a number of houses that were built and folks were able to move in them since 2006. The city of New Orleans is not all the way back, but it is still getting there and hopefully people would remind themselves that there is more work to do for the city and the region in order to get back what they had prior to Hurricane Katrina.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Earthquake in Haiti
Watching the reports of the January 12 earthquake on Haiti along with the aftermath that has affected the nation is a tough thing to watch. It is bad enough that the country was going through a serious debt and high unemployment problems, but now with the devastation of the quake, it made the situation even worse now. While watching the news about the earthquake on network news, cable news and BBC World News during the first few days after the quake and hearing about how the residents did not receive any help (medical care, water, food, etc.) along with seeing bodies laying in the street and the total destruction caused by the disaster reminded me of what took place nearly 4 and a half years ago with Hurricane Katrina, which affected the Gulf Coast. The quake was worst because it left so much death and destruction in its wake. Finally, help did arrive, on January 16, however, many of the residents did not the attention that they deserved because of government red tape and the delivery of food and water to the people was very slow (too slow if you ask me.) Right now, the residents are getting the basic essentials in a timely manner, but they need help now!
Money
People all around the United States has donated millions of dollars to
the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Yele and other organizations whether it is by check, credit card, or through a text message. When you donate, make sure that the money is directly going to the citizens of Haiti and not into the pockets of someone who want to take advantage of the situation. Hopefully, people have learned the lesson from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where millions of dollars were raised through donations in September 2005, but if you look at the Gulf Coast nearly five years later, there are area of the region that hasn't been rebuilt yet along with the fact that some people are still living in trailers instead of being in a newly built home.
Food and Water
People must donate as much food and water as they possibly can. When it come to food, they should donate can goods, instant food where you can just add water (potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and so on) bread, etc. But make sure you check the expiration date before you donate it. If people want to send bottled water or those 5-gallon bottles, make sure that the bottles are properly sealed for protection.
Medical Supplies
This is for those who work in the medical field. Sent as many rubber gloves, scalpels, masks,medical wraps, plasma, scissors and enough personnel to Haiti as soon as possible. Watching the news and hearing that the doctors and surgeons had to cut off someone's limb by using old and rusty supplies or they had to improvise by using what was available (ex. hacksaw) was tough to
hear. If you are a doctor or surgeon, you need the right tools to handle any surgery correctly without the fear of making the patient's condition worse than it is right now and they need
those tools ASAP.
Clothes
People should donate whether clothes that they either don't wear anymore, or the clothes that do have are too small or too big. Donate t-shirts, pants, regular shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, shoes, etc. but don't send winter clothes to Haiti because the temperature in the country during this time of year are in the 80s. But if you want to send a lightweight jacket ,you can do that too.
Summary
The people of Haiti need our help right now as I write this post. Do what you can to help out the situation in Port-Au-Prince.
Money
People all around the United States has donated millions of dollars to
the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Yele and other organizations whether it is by check, credit card, or through a text message. When you donate, make sure that the money is directly going to the citizens of Haiti and not into the pockets of someone who want to take advantage of the situation. Hopefully, people have learned the lesson from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where millions of dollars were raised through donations in September 2005, but if you look at the Gulf Coast nearly five years later, there are area of the region that hasn't been rebuilt yet along with the fact that some people are still living in trailers instead of being in a newly built home.
Food and Water
People must donate as much food and water as they possibly can. When it come to food, they should donate can goods, instant food where you can just add water (potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and so on) bread, etc. But make sure you check the expiration date before you donate it. If people want to send bottled water or those 5-gallon bottles, make sure that the bottles are properly sealed for protection.
Medical Supplies
This is for those who work in the medical field. Sent as many rubber gloves, scalpels, masks,medical wraps, plasma, scissors and enough personnel to Haiti as soon as possible. Watching the news and hearing that the doctors and surgeons had to cut off someone's limb by using old and rusty supplies or they had to improvise by using what was available (ex. hacksaw) was tough to
hear. If you are a doctor or surgeon, you need the right tools to handle any surgery correctly without the fear of making the patient's condition worse than it is right now and they need
those tools ASAP.
Clothes
People should donate whether clothes that they either don't wear anymore, or the clothes that do have are too small or too big. Donate t-shirts, pants, regular shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, shoes, etc. but don't send winter clothes to Haiti because the temperature in the country during this time of year are in the 80s. But if you want to send a lightweight jacket ,you can do that too.
Summary
The people of Haiti need our help right now as I write this post. Do what you can to help out the situation in Port-Au-Prince.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
2010 Baseball Hall of Fame Inducees
As a baseball fan, I was always look forward to hear the new inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. ( the Baseball Writers Association of America announce the candidates in November, vote in January and the ceremony takes place in Cooperstown, New York in July.) However, once again the Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) has it all wrong again. It is great to hear that Andre Dawson has finally made it in the hall, but it took nine years to get him in. Nine times!!! It was bad enough to hear players who finally got in after 7, 12 or even 15 years of disappointment (a player's name appears on the ballot for 15 years, then if they are not selected by the BWAA, then that player's name will go to the Veteran's Committee for possible enshrinement.) but this is ridiculous, especially when you hear that Bert Blyeven was five votes short and Roberto Alomar was a few percentage points away from getting in. This means that out of all the candidates on this year's ballot, Dawson is the only one voted in by the BWAA, and once again the Veteran's Committee will induct more players in the hall than the baseball writers.
The BWAA
The Baseball Writers Association of America are a group of baseball journalists who write baseball articles during the baseball season in newspapers, magazines, and online as well. It is tough to pass judgment on this crew because some of these folks actually do their homework
and research each player's career and then vote on a specific player (or players), while others has this "holier than thou" elitist-type attitude of saying like " This player did not talk to me when he was playing , therefore I'm not going to vote for him", or "This player has the stats to get in, but..."and so on. A majority of these writers never played in the Major Leagues, so they had no idea what it's like playing professional baseball because they see in through the eyes of a journalist (thank you Wikipedia for provide me the list of the current members of the BWAA.)
Change the format now!
If the Baseball Hall of Fame want to induct some more players in the hall every year, they need to make some changes and here they are:
1. Use the Pro Football, National Basketball Hall of Fame and
the Hockey Hall of Fame as a blueprint to induce players in the hall of fame
The Baseball Hall of Fame began in 1939, which is the oldest of the four hall of fame facilities mentioned here. However, the voting process , compared to the other three sports, is very outdated. While the other three sports enshrine between 3- 6 players into the hall, baseball
uses a rule where a candidate need a percentage of 75% or higher from the voters in order to get in. It is funny to hear recent inductees receive 88% or 90% on their first try, mainly because those players just retired five years ago (a player must have been retired for 5 years in order to become a candidate for Cooperstown.) The Baseball Hall of Fame should selected the top 3 players with the most votes and and enshrine them because it doesn't make any sense for candidates to wait 10-15 years to to get in after being on the ballot for that period of time.
2. Split up the voting process
The voting process needs to change. The BWAA has the power to elect and not vote for candidate into the hall of fame, and that is not right. The voting process must be divided into thirds. One third must go to the baseball writers; another third must go to the players who were either on the same or were opposing players during the candidate's playing days; and the last third goes to the mangers/general managers/owners who were around when the candidate's era.
3. Stop the hatred towards Relief Pitchers, Designated Hitters and Pinch Hitters
The Baseball writers has the tendency of looking down at non every daily players. They have a tough time voting for relief pitchers because they are not part of the pitching rotation and they come in for one inning. But a few relievers have been enshrined: Hoyt Wilhelm, Dennis Eckersley Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage (it took both Sutter and Gossage a long time to get in the hall, which doesn't make any sense because they were the dominant closers of the 1970s and 1980s.) it would great to see Lee Smith get into the hall because he was the closer of 1990s ( also he held the career save mark until it was broken by another future hall of famer Trevor Huffman in 2006.)
Another set of players that the BWAA doesn't usually vote for are Designated Hitters because they are not position players, and their main purpose is to just hit for power and drive in runs. Edgar Martinez received 36.2% of the vote in his first on the ballot, so hopefully he will get in within the next few years. Also, players like Hal Mcrae, Harold Baines and once he retires, Frank Thomas should make the hall of fame.
The last set of players that the BWAA doesn't vote for are Pinch Hitters because they usually come in the later innings to help drive in base runners. It would great to see players like Lenny Harris, Rusty Staub, Manny Mota and Greg Gross get the recognition that they never received in their playing days.
Final Note
Growning up in the 1980s, I watched players like Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Dwight Gooden, Tommy John (he was wrapped up his rejuvenated career by then), Steve Garvey, etc. who were All-Stars, Most Valuable Player winners, Cy Young Award winners, etc. who for whatever reason is not in the hall of fame. It is messed up that that they are not in because they should be, no doubt about it.
The BWAA
The Baseball Writers Association of America are a group of baseball journalists who write baseball articles during the baseball season in newspapers, magazines, and online as well. It is tough to pass judgment on this crew because some of these folks actually do their homework
and research each player's career and then vote on a specific player (or players), while others has this "holier than thou" elitist-type attitude of saying like " This player did not talk to me when he was playing , therefore I'm not going to vote for him", or "This player has the stats to get in, but..."and so on. A majority of these writers never played in the Major Leagues, so they had no idea what it's like playing professional baseball because they see in through the eyes of a journalist (thank you Wikipedia for provide me the list of the current members of the BWAA.)
Change the format now!
If the Baseball Hall of Fame want to induct some more players in the hall every year, they need to make some changes and here they are:
1. Use the Pro Football, National Basketball Hall of Fame and
the Hockey Hall of Fame as a blueprint to induce players in the hall of fame
The Baseball Hall of Fame began in 1939, which is the oldest of the four hall of fame facilities mentioned here. However, the voting process , compared to the other three sports, is very outdated. While the other three sports enshrine between 3- 6 players into the hall, baseball
uses a rule where a candidate need a percentage of 75% or higher from the voters in order to get in. It is funny to hear recent inductees receive 88% or 90% on their first try, mainly because those players just retired five years ago (a player must have been retired for 5 years in order to become a candidate for Cooperstown.) The Baseball Hall of Fame should selected the top 3 players with the most votes and and enshrine them because it doesn't make any sense for candidates to wait 10-15 years to to get in after being on the ballot for that period of time.
2. Split up the voting process
The voting process needs to change. The BWAA has the power to elect and not vote for candidate into the hall of fame, and that is not right. The voting process must be divided into thirds. One third must go to the baseball writers; another third must go to the players who were either on the same or were opposing players during the candidate's playing days; and the last third goes to the mangers/general managers/owners who were around when the candidate's era.
3. Stop the hatred towards Relief Pitchers, Designated Hitters and Pinch Hitters
The Baseball writers has the tendency of looking down at non every daily players. They have a tough time voting for relief pitchers because they are not part of the pitching rotation and they come in for one inning. But a few relievers have been enshrined: Hoyt Wilhelm, Dennis Eckersley Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage (it took both Sutter and Gossage a long time to get in the hall, which doesn't make any sense because they were the dominant closers of the 1970s and 1980s.) it would great to see Lee Smith get into the hall because he was the closer of 1990s ( also he held the career save mark until it was broken by another future hall of famer Trevor Huffman in 2006.)
Another set of players that the BWAA doesn't usually vote for are Designated Hitters because they are not position players, and their main purpose is to just hit for power and drive in runs. Edgar Martinez received 36.2% of the vote in his first on the ballot, so hopefully he will get in within the next few years. Also, players like Hal Mcrae, Harold Baines and once he retires, Frank Thomas should make the hall of fame.
The last set of players that the BWAA doesn't vote for are Pinch Hitters because they usually come in the later innings to help drive in base runners. It would great to see players like Lenny Harris, Rusty Staub, Manny Mota and Greg Gross get the recognition that they never received in their playing days.
Final Note
Growning up in the 1980s, I watched players like Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Dave Parker, Don Mattingly, Dwight Gooden, Tommy John (he was wrapped up his rejuvenated career by then), Steve Garvey, etc. who were All-Stars, Most Valuable Player winners, Cy Young Award winners, etc. who for whatever reason is not in the hall of fame. It is messed up that that they are not in because they should be, no doubt about it.
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