Black Athletes: Michael Irvin Arrested

A woman claims in a lawsuit filed only days before the Super Bowl that former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin sexually assaulted her at a South Florida hotel, an allegation labelled a false attempt at "civil extortion" on Friday by Irvin’s attorney.

The woman filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Broward County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages for the assault that allegedly occurred July 4 or 5, 2007, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

A spokesman for the Broward State Attorney’s office, said the matter remains under investigation but no charges have been filed. Because the woman waited more than two weeks to report the incident, there was no physical evidence or hotel surveillance video.

Stallworth will return

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth will be reinstated after the Super Bowl from his suspension for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk last March in the Miami area.

 

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Warren Sapp Arrested at Super Bowl

Former NFL star Warren Sapp has been charged with domestic battery in South Florida, and the analyst will not be part of the NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage on Sunday.

Sapp was charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic battery and is expected to appear before a Miami-Dade County judge Sunday, Miami Beach police spokesman Juan Sanchez said.

The NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson released this statement: "We have been made aware of the arrest of Warren Sapp by the Miami Beach Police Department. In light of these circumstances, Warren Sapp will not appear on NFL Network while we review the matter."

The domestic violence allegation was reported around noon Saturday and detectives interviewed Sapp later that day, Sanchez said. The alleged physical altercation against a female acquaintance took place at 6 a.m. ET Saturday at the Shore Club Hotel, where Sapp was staying, ESPN’s Kelly Naqi reported, according to a source.

The victim had a swollen knee and bruises on her neck, according to an arrest affidavit. She told detectives that she was partying with Sapp and her friends at the hotel and asked for his room key when she grew tired. Sapp reportedly woke up the victim a few hours later and they started to argue. She told investigators that Sapp started to choke her and pushed her down on a couch.

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Serena Wins Another One

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) — Serena Williams, surrounded by Grand Slam tennis title record holder Margaret Court and mentor Billie Jean King, made a bit of her own history yesterday with her fifth Australian Open title.

The defending champion beat Justine Henin in three sets at Melbourne Park to gain her 12th major in all, tying fellow American King in sixth place on the career list headed by Court’s 24 championships.

“I feel really special that I was able to tie Billie Jean King,” Williams told reporters. “Because in my heart of hearts, I’ve been going for it and I haven’t been able to quite achieve it. Billie Jean is a really big mentor of mine.”

King and Evonne Goologong Cawley were among the former champions at Rod Laver Arena to mark the 40th anniversary of Court’s Australian Open victory, which was the first step of a Grand Slam sweep in 1970. Williams, who was presented the trophy by the 67-year-old Australian, is now one title ahead of Court, Goologong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles for the most Australian Open titles since professionals were first allowed to enter in 1969.

After catching King, who came into the locker room to wish her luck before her 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over the unranked Henin, Williams’s next two targets on the Grand Slam title-leading list are Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 majors.

“I still think that when she plays her best, she’s the best ever,” King, 66, told reporters about Williams at Melbourne Park.

 

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Is that You Tiger Woods?

If the blurry image is Tiger, it marks the first time the disgraced golf star has been seen in public since his Thanksgiving car crash.

Woods is undergoing sexual addiction rehabilitation at the Gentle Path clinic in the city of Hattiesburg, according to several reports from gossip websites and local television stations.

The National Enquirer claims the photo, which shows a scruffy-faced man wearing a hood and hat, was taken at the facility.

 

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Black Athlete News from Dr. Boyce – 1/7/10

Mistress Claims that Tiger Woods Had Gay Encounters

• An Italian model who has posed for Playboy Magazine is releasing a tell-all book about her alleged … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 7th 2010 1:34PM | Comments (1)

Shaq’s Accuser Seems to Have a History of Harassing NBA Players

• Vanessa Lopez, the woman who claims that NBA Star Shaquille O’Neal has been harassing her, seems … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 7th 2010 7:30AM | Comments (1)

Kentucky Coach John Calipari Accused of Pressuring Athletes to Leave School

• I graduated from the University of Kentucky. Most of my black classmates from the 1990s have a … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 5:36PM | Comments (3)

Gilbert Arenas Suspended Indefinitely from the NBA

• It has been reported that NBA star Gilbert Arenas has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 4:27PM | Comments (5)

Gilbert Arenas Didn’t Have a License for the Guns in His Locker

• The media is reporting that NBA star Gilbert Arenas did not have a license for the gun allegedly in … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 9:06AM | Comments (2)

Tiger Woods Sex Tape? Someone is Shopping One Around

• Steven Hirsch, top executive for Vivid Entertainment, says that he was approached by a woman who … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 5th 2010 9:34AM | Comments (0)

Tiger Woods "Raw" in Topless Vanity Fair Pictures: Is this Racist?

• It appears that Tiger Woods is going to have his "raw" image exposed to the world. Vanity Fair’s … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 4th 2010 9:02PM | Comments (7)

OJ Mayo Situation Leads to USC Sanctions: Dr Boyce Analyzes

• The University of Southern California is imposing sanctions on itself for the violation of NCAA … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 4th 2010 4:22PM | Comments (0)

USC Bans Itself Over OJ Mayo

USC coach Kevin O’Neill assembled his players early Sunday morning to deliver the news that the Trojans’ eight-game win streak and their newfound status as a Pac-10 title contender won’t matter for an NCAA tournament berth.

The school had decided to self-impose penalties related to former player O.J. Mayo and his relationship with agent/runner/booster Rodney Guillory. But vacated wins from two seasons ago and a scholarship being taken away weren’t tangible to this crew. Having their season end March 7 was all the players heard.

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Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

O.J. Mayo’s involvement with Rodney Guillory led to USC’s self-imposed sanctions, including a postseason ban.

"My heart sank for a second," said senior point guard Mike Gerrity, a two-time Division I transfer from Pepperdine to Charlotte to USC. "I was frustrated. That’s what you play college basketball for — to play in March."

The Trojans haven’t lost since Gerrity became eligible. Since beating Sacramento State and Idaho State before he was cleared to play Dec. 18, they’ve won six games with him as their lead guard. They beat Tennessee by 22 points, won the Diamond Head Classic with wins over Western Michigan, Saint Mary’s and UNLV, then earned a Pac-10 season-opening home sweep of Arizona and Arizona State. The Trojans are on a roll heading into a three-game road swing to Stanford, Cal and UCLA in the next 12 days.

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8th Grader is Florida’s Top Rusher

It would be easy to call Sony Michel just another high school hot shot – what with him rushing for 1,285 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage to a 9-3 record.

But you can’t: Sony Michel is only in middle school.

That’s right, the leading rusher in football crazy Broward County was an eight-grader. Next month, he’ll be on display at the second annual Football University Youth All-American bowl, Jan. 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Sony Michel may be the best 8th-grade football player in the country.

"We feel that, hands down Sony, is the best eighth-grader in the country right now," FBU National Youth Director Erik Richards said.

It would be hard to argue.

Michel, 5-11, 187 and clearly still growing at age 14, has the speed to go with his size. He already has been timed at 4.47 in the 40. He uses his size and speed on every play.

"He doesn’t run scared," Allen Michel, his older brother and guardian, said. "When he hits a hole, he hits it full blast."

Michel’s coming out party came in his fourth game, when he ran for a season-high 281 yards against North Broward Prep. Michel got stronger as the season wore on, going on 150 yards in five of American Heritage’s final six games.

And while American Heritage is a Class 2A school, Michel didn’t struggle against the top teams. He rushed for 92 yards and a TD in his team’s quarterfinal playoff loss to Glades Central, No. 72 in the final RivalsHigh Top 100.

"A lot of people didn’t expect me to do things like this, but I really fought for it," Michel said.

 

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T’he NCAA Mega-Scam

Read More: Education, Florida State University, Football, NCAA, Seminoles, Sports, Student, University

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

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According to the ESPN Show "Outside the Lines," the Florida State Seminoles appear to be about everything except education.

In order to win games and make millions, football players are having their majors chosen for them, and many athletes are being conveniently misdiagnosed as learning disabled. One recent episode stated that one-half of all Florida State University football players and three-fourths of their African-American athletes are Social Science majors (indicative of major clustering). One of the academic counselors said that when she started her tenure, there were 15 football players tagged as learning disabled. That number has since spiked to 65.

When the allegations were released, Florida State University started backpedaling faster than an NFL defensive back. The NCAA has done its usual grandstanding, detaching itself from the Seminoles, as if this doesn’t also happen at nearly every other campus under its domain.

But the truth is that this behavior is not uncommon. If you think that Florida State University is the only NCAAschool to engage in such destructive and irresponsible behavior, then you need to be educated on how many campuses now do business. College athletes, many of them African-American, are brought to college as hired guns, under the guise of getting an education. The entire charade is sustained for the sake of helping the NCAAmaintain its multi-billion dollar professional sports league.

Yes, I said professional, not amateur. Any league that earns money on par with the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB is a professional sports league. NCAA coaches, commentators and administrators – mostly white – earn six and seven figure salaries while simultaneously robbing athletes of their educations, their futures, and the money that they and their families have earned. In order to avoid paying taxes on their revenue, the NCAA spends millions on marketing to convince us that their multi-million dollar corporate extravaganzas are polite little weekend activities that students barely remember to keep on their schedules. All the while, Tyrone Smith attends four years of college and doesn’t even learn how to read.

For the NCAA, the educational mission of their professional sports league is one of the great scams of the 20th and 21st centuries, no different from the Ponzi schemes of Bernie Madoff. It is a convenient illusion, like Tiger’s wife using the golf club to "save him from a car accident."

 

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Auburn Coach Breaks Down College Football Racism

Terry Bowden, former head football coach at Auburn University, had this to say about the NCAA’s lack of black coaches in college football:

“Many presidents won’t hire black coaches because they are worried about how alumni and donors will react.”

He also makes this clear and interesting point when it comes to the NCAA’s lack of regard for hiring minority coaches:

“There are 117 colleges participating in Division I-A football and there are only three black head coaches. You don’t have to be too smart to know how stupid this looks.

Let me lay it out for you:

 Fifty percent black athletes leads to 25 percent black assistant coaches leads to 3 percent black head coaches.

 Fifty percent white athletes leads to 75 percent white assistant coaches leads to 97 percent white head coaches.”

News: Tiger Woods Named PGA Player of the Year

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods was voted the PGA Tour player of the year by the players on Friday, the 10th time in his 13 years on tour that he has won the award.

The PGA Tour does not disclose vote totals.

Woods started and finished the season the same way – with questions when he would return. He was coming off knee surgery at the beginning of the year, and last week announced an indefinite leave to work on his marriage after admitting to infidelity.

In between, he won six PGA Tour events, captured the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus, won the money title for the ninth time in his career with over $10.5 million, and had the lowest scoring average for the ninth time.

No one else won more than three times on the PGA Tour. It was only the second time that Woods was voted player of the year when he did not win a major. In a peculiar twist, Woods won in his final start before each of the four majors.

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1948959,00.html#ixzz0a9RyHTJZ

Black News: Chris Henry 911 Call Released

The 911 calls relating to NFL star Chris Henry’s death following a fight with his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, have been released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Photo: Chris Henry and Loleini Tonga.
CBS affiliate WBTV reports that the tapes, from Dec. 16, include two calls. The first is an unidentified woman calmly telling the operator that she is driving behind a yellow truck with "a black man on it with no shirt on, and he’s got his arm in a cast and black pants on," she told a dispatcher.
"He’s beating on the back of this truck window… I don’t know if he’s trying to break in or something. It just looks crazy. It’s a girl driving it." She then says that the truck turned off of the street she was driving on and that she did not follow it.

 

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AP Votes Tiger Athlete of the Decade

Even after a shocking sex scandal that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was tough to ignore what he achieved on the golf course.

He won 64 times around the world, including 12 majors, and hoisted a trophy on every continent golf is played. He lost only one time with the lead going into the final round. His 56 PGA Tour victories in one incomparable decade were more than anyone except four of golf’s greatest players won in their careers.

Woods was selected Wednesday as the Athlete of the Decade by members of The Associated Press in a vote that was more about 10 years of performance than nearly three weeks of salacious headlines.

Just like so many of his victories, it wasn’t much of a contest.

Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors since last month. More than half of the ballots were returned after the Nov. 27 car accident outside his Florida home that set off sensational tales of infidelity.

Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France six times this decade, finished second with 33 votes. He was followed by Roger Federer, who won more Grand Slam singles titles than any other man, with 25 votes.

Record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps came in fourth with 13 votes, followed by New England quarterback Tom Brady (6) and sprinter Usain Bolt (4). Five other athletes received one vote apiece.

 

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The Latest on Tiger: One of His Major Sponsors Dumps Him

A major sponsor for Tiger Woods announced Sunday that it is dropping the golf star in light of recent controversy swirling around his personal life.

Accenture, a management consulting firm, said on its Web site that "given the circumstances of the last two weeks … the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising."

The move ends a sponsorship arrangement that lasted six years.

Another major sponsor, Gillette, said Saturday it was "limiting" Woods’ role in its marketing programs to give him the privacy to work on family relationships.

Woods announced on his own Web site Friday that he is taking an "indefinite break" from professional golf.

The 33-year-old golfer, who tops the sport’s world rankings, has been mired in controversy since he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion late last month. In the week following the crash, Woods apologized for "transgressions" that let his family down, and US Weekly magazine published a report alleging that Woods had an affair with a 24-year-old cocktail waitress named Jaimee Grubbs.

 

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Black News: Dwight Howard Suing Mother of His Son

 

Posted by Freezy on December 11th, 2009 under Recent Blogs • No Comments

According to documents filed in California, Dwight Howard is suing Royce Reed, the mother of his 2 year old son, over allegedly defamatory comments that surfaced on gossip site LipstickAlley.com. Dwight claims that posting the comments – whether “directly or indirectly” under an Internet alias – is in violation of an injunction he filed against her. In it Reed is ordered not mention the superstar by name or talk about him (that’s a…

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News: Could Tiger Woods Be Quitting Golf?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

The British Tabloid, the Sun, is now reporting on it’s website that Tiger Woods, the #1 player in the world, may be quitting golf in order to save his marriage. According to a source, said to be a friend of Tiger’s wife, Elin Nordegren, ""They have agreed to try and rebuild their marriage, but Elin will be the one calling the shots. It will be a long time before he’s traveling the globe playing golf unless Elin’s by his side. Tiger will have to work long and hard to get her to trust him again. Quitting golf shows he is willing to sacrifice something he loves so much to protect his family….."
If Tiger Woods were to quit the game of golf, a long list of people stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Here’s the short list:

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CNN Guest says, Tiger Woods “Acting like a Black Athlete Now”

Here is the CNN transcript of the Joy Behar Show:

Tiger`s Multiple Affairs; Interview With Levi Johnston

Aired December 7, 2009 – 21:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOY BEHAR, HOST: Tonight on The Joy Behar Show, Tiger Woods may try to avoid the rough on the golf course, but does he like it rough in the bedroom? According to one of his alleged mistresses, the answer is yes, sir.
Then he reveals details of Sarah Palin`s private life. But in an upcoming "Playgirl" spread, he`ll reveal even more. Levi Johnston joins me live. And who knows what he`ll reveal. I warn you, we keep it cold in the studio.
Plus, Andrew Sullivan, author, columnist and pundit has finally decided the right was wrong and I`m happy to welcome him to the fold.
All this and more starting right now.
We are not done with this topic. Tiger is not out of the Woods yet. The list of women he cheated with is reportedly up to nine and more could be on the way.
Here to talk about Tiger`s latest transgressions are Mike Walters, assignment manager at TMZ; Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist and comedian Karith Foster. Welcome to the show, everybody.
Ok. Let`s start with the shrink. How does this guy have the mental and physical energy to play golf?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, it might inspire him to play better golf.
BEHAR: You think so?
LUDWIG: Well, it could, if you feel I`m all that. Or if you are getting a lot of attention and it feeds your grandiosity, then it can make you feel like you can do anything. He`s very good at his sport. So people are able to categorize.

 

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Did Tiger Woods Overdose that Night?

TMZ: Tiger Woods overdose written on hospital chart. The night that Tiger Woods was taken to the hospital for the single car accident, Tiger Woods was listed as an overdose because he was breathing with difficulty, TMZ reported Tuesday.

An investigating officer who was there on November 27 when Woods was taken to the hospital has requested a subpoena to review Woods medical records. It was suspected that he had Vicodin, Ambien and alcohol in his system. According to the police report filed the morning after Thanksgiving, the accident wasn’t suspected of being alcohol related.

 

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Shocking News: Tiger Woods in a Major Car Accident

I have some very sad and shocking news. A reporter from ABC News called me today to tell me that Tiger Woods was in a serious car crash. Woods was pulling his 2009 Cadillac SUV out of his driveway and struck a fire hydrant and then a tree. According to police, alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the accident, but Woods is in serious condition. Tiger Woods is currently the number one ranked golfer in the world, earning over $110 million dollars on the golf course alone.

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Shaquille O’neal Helps Shaniya Davis

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

NBA star Shaquille O’neal is planning to cover the cost for the funeral of Shaniya Davis, the five-year old who was recently kidnapped and murdered in a story that rocked the nation. The cost of the funeral is expected to be about $4,500. According to media reports, the child was killed by 29-year old Mario McNeill on the same day that she was found to be missing.

The Shaniya Davis case broke all of our hearts. Shaquille O’neal’s intervention was likely welcomed by the family, since funeral costs are usually another problem that families are not prepared to face after the death of a loved one.

Shaniya Davis’ mother, 25-year old Antoinette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Her case is a reminder of the dangers of drugs in America and opens a frightening door into the underworld of child prostitution. In spite of the fact that there are ways to save on the cost of a funeral, it is highly unlikely that Shaniya Davis’ mother had anything in place to pay the cost of her child’s burial. So, I give Shaq major "props" for stepping up to the plate, since we all know that it takes a village to raise and protect a child. It is my hope that the other Shaniya’s in the world get the protection they deserve from all of us before it is too late.

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Steve McNair’s Life was Complicated

Update: Exclusive pictures of both Leah Ignagni and Sahel Kazemi have been released.

This week, Nashville, Tenn., police released an updated case summary on the murder-suicide of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his mistress, Sahel Kazemi. Police identified Leah Ignagni as McNair’s possible second girlfriend. Ignagni told police that she believed Kazemi had been following her in the weeks before McNair’s death. According to Kazemi’s roommate, Emily Andrews, Kazemi knew about Ignagni.
According to the report:
Andrews said that Kazemi told her that [Kazemi] found a tampon in the bathroom wastebasket in the Lea Avenue condo, and on another occasion, saw a female leaving the condo.

Police are not saying that the relationship played a role in the incident.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins: The Politics of Attitude: Black Women on Trial

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, AOL Black Voices, MSNBC’s TheGrio.com 

Serena Williams has been listed as a headliner for this year’s Australian Open. The problem is that it’s not clear whether she’ll be allowed to play.

Because of a recent outburst in which she threatened a line judge, Williams may be banned from at least one Grand Slam tournament. According to published reports, Williams told the judge, "You don’t know me. You better be right. I swear to God I’m going to take this ball and shove it down your throat."Given that a ball going down your throat might actually kill you, the judge felt that Serena had threatened her life. Then again, Serena’s from Compton, a town that has become famous for finding creative ways to kill people. Serena does not, however, need to take "the hood" with her all the way to Australia.

To make matters more interesting, Serena recently got naked for the cover of ESPN magazine, certifying her status as an iconic and thought-provoking figure for the early 21st century. These two events, plus the fact that she just happens to be one of the most dominant female tennis players in history, makes her the kind of woman we’ll all be talking about for the next 100 years. Our great-grandkids won’t be talking much about the boring apolitical figure called Michael Jordan. We’ll congratulate Tiger Woods for being the first incredibly rich black man to consistently beat the crap out of the arrogant guys at the country club. Serena Williams’ name, though, will come up in classes on feminist theory, history and sociology. Like Muhammad Ali, Serena is becoming bigger than her sport, and my greatest hope is that her ability to transcend tennis is guided by a desire to serve all humanity, and not just herself. Her nude body on the cover of ESPN is her way of yelling to the world that she is more than a tennis player. I agree that she is.

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News: Serena Gets Naked for ESPN The Magazine

 

In case you don’t recognize her booty, that’s Serena Williams. Yes, that’s the body she’ll be using.

Your Black Sports: Nike’s Black Politics in Dealing with Michael Vick

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, MSNBC’s TheGrio.com and AOL Black Voices 

Dick’s Sporting Goods recently made a decision that is bad for business. Taking one of the boldest, and perhaps silliest, stands of any corporation in recent memory, Dick’s decided not to sell Michael Vick jerseys in any of their stores.

Perhaps they earned a few dog-loving customers, but they lost the support of any shareholder who cares about making money. It’s one thing for lynch mobs to embrace vigilantism, but another for a corporation to engage in the same irrational behavior. Vick paid his debt to society; it’s time to move on with our lives.

The top brass at the Nike Corporation are smarter than the management at Dick’s Sporting Goods, but they too understand the need to stay away from Michael Vick, at least for right now. When asked to respond to rumors that Vick had signed a deal with Nike, the company gave an immediate and resounding "no." After the Nike denial, Michael Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, had to backpedal faster than an NFL defensive back to kill any indication that his client has re-signed with the "big swoosh." However, the confidence with which the signing was announced indicates that the relationship might be deeper than we think.

The truth is that I don’t believe a single word of the Nike dismissal. Like the big egos in Beyonce’s song, Nike’s swoosh is " too big, too wide, too strong" for them to sit idly by as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL makes his return to the game. Nike executives have seen Vick grace the cover of Xbox games and sports magazines and often refer to him as the man who "revolutionized the quarterback position." They know that Vick is not washed up, and that some of his best years may still be ahead of him.

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Black News: Nike Denies Signing Michael Vick

Nike has sacked Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Michael Vick, contradicting the player’s agent who said on Wednesday that the shoe giant had re-signed him. "Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick," Nike said in a statement issued Thursday. Vick was released from prison in May after serving time for killing dogs for sport and profit.
It’s understandable that Nike would be wary of resuming business with a man convicted of running an illegal dog-fighting operation that horrified the nation. Yet on Wednesday, Mike Principe, managing director of Vick’s agency, BEST, apparently believing that Nike had re-signed his client, announced as much at an event hosted by SportsBusiness Journal. Without disclosing details of an arrangement, Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, said, "Mike has had a great relationship with Nike and is excited to be part of the Nike team again."

But on Thursday, Nike denied that it had re-signed Vick but said it had agreed to supply "product" to him "as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike."

 

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Black News: Why Michael Vick Has Been Good for Animal Rights

Maybe it was one of the times John Goodwin found a more receptive audience while lobbying politicians for stricter sentencing against dogfighting.

Maybe it was one of the times a law enforcement training session was packed with police.

Maybe it was while he was riding along on what is an increasing number of raids on dogfighting operations.

Whenever it was, there was a moment over the past two years that Goodwin, the anti-dog fighting expert at the Humane Society of the United States, realized that of all the unexpected things, a silver lining had formed in the ugly clouds of the Michael Vick(notes) scandal.

“People campaigned against dogfighting ever since the first dogfight ever happened,” Goodwin said. “But never had there been a spotlight put on this issue like when Michael Vick was involved in it.

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Your Black World

News: Chad Johnson Still Gettin Crazy

Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals decided to break the Packers tradition by being the first non-Packer player to leap into the stands.  He did so, but only after looking around to find some Bengals Fans together who would embrace him.  Yeah, you a black man in Green Bay?  You better be careful!

Semenya’s Story Gets More Interesting

Caster Semenya’s gender fiasco manages to get worse. E-mail correspondence found by the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian shows that her team doctor Harold Adams and athletics boss Leonard Chuene did indeed know that Semenya was tested in South Africa before the World Championships in Berlin but kept Semenya in the race even after they found out that her test results were "not good."
Semenya crossed the 800-meter finish line a full minute before her competitors. Her time, coupled with her supposed virile looks, prompted championship officials to order a gender test.

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Sports News: Titans Player Gets Fined for Message on Shoes

On Sunday, Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson(notes) wore shoes bearing a message designed to get him more money. They ended up having the exact opposite effect.

Robinson was fined $25,000 yesterday for wearing customized Nike cleats with the words "Pay Me Rick" written on the heel during the team’s season opener Sunday. The message was intended for Texans GM Rick Smith, who had placed the franchise tag on Robinson after failing to sign him to a long-term contract over the offseason. After sitting out all of training camp because of the dispute, Robinson finally signed the one-year tender a week before the season began. It will pay him $9.957 million in 2009, or $9.932 million after he pays that fine.

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Dr. Wilmer Leon: Serena Needs to Learn to Play by the Rules

 

By

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

This past Saturday evening, on a second serve at 15-30, 5-6 in the second set at the U.S. Open semifinals, Serena Williams was called for a foot fault by the line judge. Based upon the judges call, Ms. Williams walked towards the judge, pointed her racquet at the judge and launched into an “f-bomb” laden tie raid saying in part, “If I could, I would take this @#$#ing ball and shove it down your @#$#ing throat…"

This exchange resulted in Ms. Williams being penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct. This penalty resulted in the match being awarded to her opponent, Kim Clijsters. Some are now questioning the chair umpire and tournament referee Brian Earley’s decision. With Ms. Williams being African American, many are crying foul based on race. Others are objecting to what some believe to be a ticky-tack call, especially at such a key point in a match.

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McNabb Goes Down – Going to Michael Vick?

The Eagles potentially suffered a big blow in their 38-10 road win Sunday over the Carolina Panthers as quarterback Donovan McNabb cracked a rib.

McNabb will not play next week at home against the Saints. The quarterback’s status beyond that is unclear.

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Did Serena Really Threaten to Kill the Lines Judge?

Rain gave way to bedlam tonight at the U.S. Open.

Defending champion Serena Williams was charged with a point penalty on match point after yelling at a line judge for a calling a foot fault on her previous serve. The ruling gave Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory in their semifinal match, which had been delayed 32 hours because of rain.

After the line judge called the foot fault with Serena serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, the youngest Williams sister intimidatingly stared her down beforescreaming at the official with a jabbed finger. After a few seconds, Serena turned back around to serve, thought better of it and resumed the badgering. The chair umpire then called over the line judge to ask what Serena had said, rules officials were summoned, a brief summit occurred at the net and it was determined that Serena would be assessed a point penalty for a conduct violation. The point gave Clijsters the match.

The initial foot fault that began the fireworks was a terrible call. It was unconscionable. It cannot be made at the end of any match, let alone in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. This isn’t because a foot fault is a ridiculous call at that juncture (even though it is). It’s because it wasn’t a foot fault. The replays show that Serena’s foot was behind the line when she served. You could make the argument that it was close but not close enough to make the call.

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Did Michael Jordan’s Speech Reveal His Insecurities?

The tears tumbled, flooding his face and Michael Jordan had yet to march to the microphone at Symphony Hall. He had listened to the genuine stories and speeches of a remarkable class. He had watched a “This is Your Life” video compilation of his basketball genius. Everything flashed before him, a legacy that he’s fought with body and soul to never, ever let go into yesterday.

Yes, Michael Jordan was still fighting it on Friday night, and maybe he always will. Mostly, he was crying over the passing of that old Jordan, and it wouldn’t be long until he climbed out of his suit and back into his uniform and shorts, back into an adolescent act that’s turned so tedious.

This wasn’t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down. This was a night to leave behind the petty grievances and past slights – real and imagined. This was a night to be gracious, to be generous with praise and credit.

 

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Dr Boyce Watkins Speaks on LaGarette Blount Suspension

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

When I saw the video of the punch out by LeGarrette Blount of The University of Oregon, I was shocked and disappointed. This knock out blow that the athlete laid on Byron Hout of Boise State certainly has no place in the game of football – at least after the clock has struck zero. The University of Oregon acted immediately, suspending Blount for the entire season, effectively ending his career with the team. This incident is also going to likely hurt his chances of having an NFL career.

Here are some reasons that Oregon State was dead wrong in their decision.

1) The the university has no right to be judge and jury on this case. Where’s the union for college athletes? Oh yeah, they don’t have one. This incident is a reminder and sick reflection of the fact that college student athletes should have the same labor rights as the rest of us. Instead, they are subject to the harsh decisions of universities who care more about their revenues and reputations than the athletes themselves. Before you destroy a young man’s career, there should be hearings and a full investigation by a trustworthy panel of individuals who consider his well-being as part of the process. The idea that someone moved so quickly without knowing all the facts is absolutely ridiculous.

2) He is young. Since when can’t one 22-year old football player punch out another one and not pay for it for the rest of his life? Does it really make sense that the university feels that this man’s years of hard work are so disposable that they can simply throw them in the trash without consequence? Coaches are arrested for DWIs, commit crimes and do all kinds of egregious things, and are simply expected to go find another job. Blount, because of NCAA restrictions, can’t simply join the team at another university. His career is over.

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News: Is Gender Testing about Race or Races?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

MSNBC’s TheGrio.com

6:20 PM on 09/10/2009

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

The world is now talking about Caster Semenya, the South African athlete who has been subjected to gender testing after dominating the field in the 800-meter run at the 2009 World Championships. Recent reports by the Daily Mail of London and the Sydney Morning Herald of Australia state that the test has revealed that Semenya "is a hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries." Some have argued that Semenya was the target of the investigation because she is black, but I am not sure if I am on board with that presumption.

If the reports are true, I am not surprised. Race issues to the side, I too found myself wondering if I was seeing things, as I watched Semenya thump her chest in victory and speak with a voice that could bring Barry White back from the grave. I was disturbed, but open-minded, for I considered Semenya’s case to be an opportunity to explore cultural variations in gender perception.
Another use of the word "race" applies when analyzing Semenya’s time in her race of choice, the 800-meter run. Not only did this 18-year old come out of nowhere to run a time which instantly dominates the world’s most highly trained 800 meter runners (1:55.45), but her time was nowhere near the world record (1:53.28), set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia in 1983. Like Semenya, Kratochvilova could easily be mistaken for a man.

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Results: “Hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries”

The world of athletics is reeling today after a claim that South African champion runner Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries.

A Sydney newspaper claims it has a world exclusive in revealing the very private information about the sex of the 18-year-old runner.

Quoting a source closely involved with the IAAF, the Sydney Daily Telegraph said Semenya had internal testes – male sexual organs which produce testosterone and which in turn produces muscle bulk, body hair and a deep voice.

Sports News: Is She a Man or a Woman? Track Star Does a Photoshoot

 

 

Remember the girl who got the gender test?  She just did a photo shoot to prove she is a woman.  Not bad…kinda

Oregon Athlete’s Punishment Too Harsh

Oregon not only lost the battle of their opening game against Boise State, but they also lost a general, in standout senior running back LeGarrette Blount.

Following a disappointing performance against Boise State in which the Ducks suffered a 19-8 defeat, Blount was walking off the field when he decided to sucker punch BSU player Byron Hout. Prior to the right straight to Hout’s jaw, Hout ran over to Blount antagonizing and instigating confrontation by yelling in Blount’s face and tapping him on the shoulder pad.

Once the skirmish was broken up by Boise coaches and Oregon players, Blount was escorted off the field, but a sports fight would not be a fight until the fans were involved.

 

Click to read.

1969: The Year that Was for Black College Football Players

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez College football’s centennial year, 1969, also happened to be my senior season at Notre Dame. I played against three teams that year—Georgia Tech, Tulane, and then Texas in the Cotton Bowl—that had not yet integrated their varsity football teams. This was actually a mark of progress. By 1969, the integration of the Southeastern Conference and the old Southwest Conference was finally well underway. It started in the SWC in 1966 at Baylor and SMU and in the SEC with Kentucky in 1967; it ended with Texas and Arkansas in 1970, then with Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss in 1972.

That was college football’s quiet racial revolution. The noisy one took place on northern campuses. At Oregon State in February 1969, a black linebacker named Fred Milton was suspended from the team after an assistant coach spotted him on campus with a moustache and goatee, in violation of the team’s ban on facial hair. Black students on campus responded with a boycott of classes, many of them left the university, and both the football team and the institution struggled for years afterward against a reputation for racial intolerance. Two months later, 16 black players at the University of Iowa boycotted a spring practice and were suspended; seven were reinstated in August. That summer, John Underwood wrote a three-part series for Sports Illustrated titled "The Desperate Coach," describing the incidents at Oregon State and Iowa, along with dozens of lesser ones in athletic programs throughout the country, as a full-scale assault on coaches’ authority. "In the privacy of their offices," Underwood wrote, "over breakfast in strange towns, wherever two or three coaches get together, they talk about The Problem."

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Black News: Iverson Can’t Get a Job?

Dr. Deborah Stroman, a leading scholar on Leadership and Sport, was asked why Allen Iverson can’t find a job.   Here is what she had to say.  Other notable athletes, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and Derrick Brookes are also on the sidelines.

“Money is only one aspect of a good veteran not being picked up by a team. The other factor is leadership. If the organization is trying to develop new leaders, the coach and/or general manager will not gamble the new leader’s development and team chemistry with the introduction of a  veteran leader. And this veteran leadership may be displayed by performance or verbal acumen. For example, you may have a veteran wide receiver or running back who doesn’t talk much but has the potential to dominate on the field. A younger player may be drawn to that performer as a role model and not the new leader (often times the quarterback) who is trying to gain influence and control of “his” team. Or the veteran leader may be charismatic and draw attention to himself and away from the leaders that the organization is rightfully trying to impose on the other players. The organization feels that the signing of the veteran player is just not worth the risk.”

Dr Boyce Watkins: John Calipari’s Funny Relationship with Black People

Dr Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

After reading about Kentucky Coach John Calipari being found guilty of cheating by the NCAA, I wasn’t surprised in the least. Calipari has never been known for producing the most highly educated athletes in the world (his graduation rate among African American athletes is 44 percent), and he seems to want to win above anything else. The idea that my alma mater, The University of Kentucky, would immediately step in to pay tens of millions of dollars to a coach that has been proven to be a cheater makes a powerful statement about the ethical disposition of this university. Kentucky is like many NCAA institutions in their mass pillage of African American athletes for the sake of their multi-million dollar fortunes.

John Calipari and his old school, The University of Memphis, have been charged with having an SAT exam taken for a player on the basketball team (believed by many to be Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls). According to several published sources, the SAT exam was falsified during the 2007 – 2008 season. The team has been required to give back 38 wins from that season, costing the school millions in revenue. These kinds of abuses don’t just occur at The University of Memphis. The University of Kentucky’s basketball program has nearly received the death penalty for its long list of violations in the past, so it is only fitting that they hire yet another arguably unethical coach to continue their storied tradition. Here are some quick thoughts about John Calipari and The University of Kentucky:

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Dr Boyce Watkins and Wilmer Leon speak on the NCAA Lawsuit

 

Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University and Dr. Wilmer Leon of Howard University speak about the NCAA class action lawsuit.  The NCAA is being sued for illegal use of player images. The controversy grows, as the NCAA’s method of operation may soon be questioned by Congress.

Click here to listen!

News: What’s Wrong with the American Relay Teams?

Try as they might, the Americans just can’t seem to get that baton around the track in the 400-meter relay without some sort of misadventure.

First the men were disqualified at the world championships for making an exchange outside the allowable zone. Then the women didn’t finish after Muna Lee pulled up with a hamstring injury.

It was shades of Beijing all over again, when the two relay teams dropped the stick at the Olympics.

"We’re not panicking," said Doug Logan, the CEO of USA Track and Field. "To lose on something technical rather than on a speed basis is disappointing. We’re going back to the drawing board and teach the rules of the relays better and practice better."

That’s been attempted before.

In the aftermath of Beijing, Logan and his staff did a comprehensive study looking into what went wrong with the 400 relay teams after the baton clanged to the track not once, but twice. They established new rules and protocols.

Then this happened.

 

Click to read.

Your Black News: Carmello Sues Former Business Manager

When athletes finally make it to the professional level, they’re immediately surrounded by people they don’t know but are forced to trust. And young athletes in their twenties who don’t have any money-management skills whatsoever are ripe for being taken advantage of. That’s what happened to Carmelo Anthony, but now he’s fighting back.
Melo filed a $2 million lawsuit against his former business manager, Larry W. Harmon and his firm, Larry Harmon & Associates P.A. The suit alleges that Harmon breached their contract by transferring $1.75 million of Anthony’s money without his knowledge or consent to a company formed by Harmon, most of it in 2008, according to the Associated Press. There was another $265,000 invested in companies that Melo had no knowledge of or given consent to.

Click to read.

Vick Expected to Head to the Field Thursday

Michael Vick is expected to play for the Eagles on Thursday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  I guess this is the end of the most interesting 2 years of his life.

Is this Athlete a Man or a Woman?

No 1: Caster Semenya celebrates as she wins gold in Berlin Photo: AP

Semenya crowned a spectacular season by triumphing in 1min 55.45sec while Britain’s Jenny Meadows produced a lifetime best of 1min 57.93sec to take the bronze – Britain’s third medal of the championship. Fellow Briton Marilyn Okoro was eighth.

But instead of being able to celebrate her victory, Semenya found herself facing uncomfortable questions about whether she should really have been lining up in today’s first-round heats of the men’s 800m.

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Tennessee Running Back Has Eligibility Questioned

Tennessee is trying to make one final plea on behalf of freshman running back Bryce Brown with the hope of keeping him from missing any games this season.

The NCAA has been investigating his amateur status dating back to his high school days in Wichita, Kan., and Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said Wednesday that the NCAA has handed down its initial ruling.

Tennessee isn’t saying for sure what that ruling is, but it sounds like Brown could be suspended for a game or two and have to make restitution for any funds or extra benefits he might have received back in high school as part of his relationship with his adviser, Brian Butler.

Tennessee officials have gone out of their way to clarify that the Vols aren’t under investigation. This issue deals with Brown’s amateur status and goes back to before Tennessee was even recruiting him.

The whole thing has weighed heavily on Brown and angered Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who feels that Brown is being singled out.

Click to read.

Calipari Found Cheating – Kentucky Coach Must Give Back 38 wins

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Memphis will be forced to vacate the record 38 victories from its Final Four season of 2007-08 under former coach John Calipari because of NCAA violations, The Commercial Appeal reported.

The newspaper, citing an unidentified source close to the situation, said on its Web site Wednesday night the NCAA will release findings of its investigation Thursday. The Commercial Appeal said it was unaware of any penalties beyond this season.

The NCAA investigated whether someone took the SAT exam for a player on that Final Four team. Memphis was notified of potential violations in January and met with the governing body in June.

The NCAA has said an unknown person took the college entrance exam for a player—with his knowledge—and that the player used it to get admitted. The governing body says the athlete played for the Tigers only in the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. Just one person fits that description: Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls’ No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008 and its rookie of the year.

 

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Black News: Michael Vick’s Interesting Words

In his first interview since being released from federal prison and conditionally reinstated in the NFL, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick admitted he didn’t stand up to his peers, talked about disappointing team owner Arthur Blank, and said he’d earned his fall from grace.

 

“I deserved to lose the $130 million,” Vick told CBS commentator James Brown during the interview that aired on the Sunday night TV news journal 60 Minutes.

“Why would a guy who was making a $130 million … on the flip side … killing dogs … he don’t deserve it.”

Just two years ago, Vick was the highest paid player in pro football, with the $130 million deal from the Falcons and endorsement contracts with Nike and Atlanta-based AirTran Airways, among others.

But he lost it all when he admitted to bankrolling and participating in an interstate dog-fighting ring.

Instead, Vick faced a 23-month prison sentence — 18 months of it served in a federal penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas — and millions of dollars in debt.

News: Mike Tyson Speaks on his Daughter’s Death

Mike Tyson Photo: GETTY

The former world heavyweight champion described his daughter’s death as a "dark moment in my life".

Tyson’s daughter Exodus died in May after choking on a power cord hanging down from a running treadmill at her mother’s home in Phoenix, Arizona.

The boxer rushed to his daughter’s bedside from his Las Vegas home after she was placed on a life support system, but doctors were unable to save her.

Tyson, who has seven children by three different women, said Exodus’s death had left him in "denial".

"I am working with dealing with it. I have spoken to a lot of people. I have become a member of an exclusive club no one wants to join," Tyson said.

"I have been told the pain never stops but you get over it. I am going through a process, trying to heal. I am in denial, because I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t know what to do or say. I appreciate everybody who supported me."

Click to read.

Usain Bolt – New World Record

Usain Bolt isn’t just rewriting the record books; he’s redefining what the human body can do.

Bolt became the first man to run 100 meters in under 9.6 seconds and still left people wondering how fast he can go.

Bolt clocked 9.58 seconds Sunday night, smashing the world record of 9.69 he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won his first IAAF world championships title in the same stadium where Jesse Owenswon four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics.

"I don’t think I’m in Beijing shape, but I think I’m in very good shape," said Bolt, who was in a car accident earlier this year that took away from his training.

Tyson Gay did his part in the highly anticipated showdown, but was overshadowed by the ebullient 6-5 Jamaican.

Gay, who is 5-11 and wore the U.S. team’s "JO" patch honoring Owens on his singlet, set an American record of 9.71. He eclipsed his own mark of 9.77.

 

Click to read.

News: Tiger Woods Gets Defeated

 

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — In a year of spoilers at the majors, Y.E. Yang was the biggest of all.

He toppled the mighty Tiger Woods.

Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a major Sunday with a stunning performance in the PGA Championship, memorable as much for his clutch shots as the player he beat.

Woods was 14-0 when he went into the final round of a major atop the leaderboard. He had not lost any tournament around the world in nine years when leading by two shots.

None of that mattered to Yang, a 37-year-old South Korean who hit the shots everyone expected from Woods. Leading by one on the final hole, Yang slayed golf’s giant with a hybrid 3-iron that cleared the bunker and settled 12 feet from the cup.

Yang made the birdie putt and shouted with joy as he pumped his fist. That gave him a 2-under 70, and a three-shot victory when Woods missed yet another short par putt and shot 75.

“I tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout the small wins I had in my career,” Yang said through his agent, Michael Yim. “I think it turned out quite well today.”

 

Click to read.

Tiger On Top at the PGA

Tiger Woods (FSY) is poised to take one more step toward Jack Nicklaus‘ record of 18 victories in golf’s major championships Sunday at the PGA Championship.

But Woods will have to step lively at Hazeltine Country Club because longtime foe Padraig Harrington (FSY) is in the hunt.

SCORES: PGA Championship

TWITTER: Keep up with action from the scene

Woods, who shot 71 Saturday, is at 8 under par, two strokes ahead of little-known Y. E. Yang and Harrington, both at 6 under. Henrik Stenson and U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover are another two shots back at 4 under.

"You have guys who understand how to win major championships," said Woods, who is playing for his 15th victory in a major. "They believe in themselves. They know how to get it done. They can say, ‘I’ve done it before.’ I can say that. Padraig can say that."

 

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Black News: What’s Up with Marvin Harrison?

A Philadelphia man who says he was shot by NFL receiver Marvin Harrison last year remains in critical condition after being shot again.

Marvin Harrison made eight straight Pro Bowls for the Colts from 1999-2006. (Harry How / Getty Images)

Dwight Dixon was found shot multiple times in the city’s Fairmount section late Tuesday morning.

A spokesman at Hahnemann University Hospital said Dixon, 33, remained in critical condition Wednesday.

Police have not made an arrest in the case.

Dixon, who sued Harrison after his criminal case was dismissed, was shot seven times while sitting in a parked rental car, the New York Daily News reported. He was shot in the arm, chest and stomach. The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Dixon was found leaning against the car after the incident.

Click to read.

Michael Vick’s Return is Good for All of Us

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

He’s back. After a 2 year saga that kept my head spinning, the young man who made a terrible mistake is finally being allowed to make a living. I have supported Michael Vick all along, but not because I felt that he was innocent. I’ve supported him because I do not believe that dog fighting is the kind of crime that deserves a lifetime punishment. So, to the extremists at PETA who want to see Michael Vick burn in the hell of unemployment and incarceration for the rest of his life, I only have one thing to say: grow up.

Michael Vick’s reinstatement to the NFL and recent signing by the Philadelphia Eagles unleashed a plethora of thoughts within me. On some level, his return is a bit of an "Athletic Juneteenth" for those who tire of seeing our country make African American athletes into public enemy number one whenever they screw up. To this day, we act as if Marion Jones is the devil, Barry Bonds is a monster, and Terrell Owens is some kind of criminal. This treatment is nothing new, as black athletes have been getting villified for decades, and their molehills are consistently turned into mountains, ripe for high-tech lynchings. This is the tradition of America.

It only seems appropriate that Michael Vick sign his contract in a city like Philadelphia, the place that I love and fear at the same time. I love the city because they’ve supported me in my work with the great Wendy Williams, Dom Giordano andCharlamagne Tha God. But there is a dark side of "Killadelphia" that shows itself in the way they support their sports teams. They are the fans that cheered when it appeared that Michael Irvin may have broken his neck, so they sure as heck aren’t going to pay much attention to animal rights protestors blocking their path to a Super Bowl. In a city like Philly, the slogan is simple: "If you win, we forgive all sin." Vick will be right at home.

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Finally – Michael Vick Gets a Job

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

Enlarge photo

Courtesy of CBSMichael Vick discusses his situation with James Brown.

Related Falcons stories »

• Report: Vick to be an Eagle
• Bulldog QBs to take centerstage in Falcons’ opener
• Vick regrets dogfighting, accepts full responsibility
• Schedule and results
• TV Listings

Vick will return to the NFL after two seasons away, including 23 months in federal prison, and a league suspension that will end after Week 6 this year.

The Falcons host the Eagles in a Sunday game on Dec. 6, at the end of the regular season.

The controversial signal caller has gone through a whirlwind of highs and lows since the Atlanta Falcons drafted as the No. 1 pick in 2001.

He inked a $62 million deal that included a $15 million signing bonus. After a year waiting in the wings, took over the starting position in the 2002 season, and led the team to its first playoff berth since the 1998 NFC Championship season.

Click to read.

Donte Stallworth Won’t be Playing This Year

Many have felt that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth may have got off easy after killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, but the NFL aren’t so lenient. While Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in prison and is on probation for awhile, the NFL suspended Stall worth for the entire upcoming season without pay.
"Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth released by the league according to NFL.com. "The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations. As you recognized both at and following the hearing, guilt or innocence as a matter of criminal law is not the same as a violation of NFL policies."

Click to read.

Black News: Michael Vick Interview on 60 Minutes Sunday

Michael Vick spoke with CBS’ James Brown today in an interview that will air on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Vick has been largely silent since leaving federal custody last month after completing his sentence for a federal dogfighting conviction.

 

Click to read.

NBA Ballers Rap it Up Ol School

Every now and then an athlete will feel the need to grab a microphone and rap about how much money they got, how well they play on the field, or how nice they look when they’re dunking on people’s faces. And when these athletes do feel the need to kick a rhyme or two, we as a sports loving community of fans let them know that…. it’s not a very good idea.
Now we have the huge corporation of Nike along with Foot Locker working against our efforts. In a new commercial, Nike recruited Mo Williams, Kevin Durant and Rashard Lewis, collectively known as the Hyperizers, to spit some lyrics over an old school hip-hop beat that appears to be produced by DJ Quik (who makes a cameo in the video). The video, "Don’t Criticize (Hyperize)," features the ballers wearing late 80’s and early 90’s hip-hop garb, walking down the street with their crews, and playing basketball on outdoor courts. Sure the video is all in fun, but we don’t want to give them any ideas do we? Check out the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g1ujNWI9jA

 

 

Click to read.

News: Tiger Woods Get Fined by the PGA Tour

Tiger Woods will be fined by the PGA Tour for his public criticism of a rules official after winning the Bridgestone Invitational, a tour official said Monday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the tour does not publicize fines.

Woods was bothered after his four-shot victory Sunday because he and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock at the par-5 16th. He said that caused Harrington to rush three difficult shots, leading to triple bogey.

Click to read.

Yes, He is the Man

World number one Tiger Woods overhauledPadraig Harrington with a spectacular burst of scoring to grab a two-shot lead midway through Sunday’s final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

In pursuit of a record seventh victory in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event, the American holed two putts from more than 20 feet to cover the front nine in a sizzling five-under-par 30.

That left him at 12 under overall with Irishman Harrington, leader for the first three rounds, alone in second place after reaching the turn in level-par 35.

British Open champion Stewart Cink of the U.S. was a further two shots back at eight under after completing 12 holes on a hot and humid day at Firestone Country Club.

 

Click to read.

Lebron Is Keeping His Options Open

LeBron James is going to make the Cleveland Cavaliers wait — and sweat.

James indicated Friday that he is unlikely to accept a contract extension from the Cavs until after the 2009-10 season and presumably will become a free agent.

At an event in his hometown to unveil Nike Air Max LeBron VII, the latest sneaker in his signature line, James made his strongest comments yet about his future. The NBA’s reigning MVP said he signed a three-year contract in 2006 to give him more options once it expires.

"I signed a contract in 2006 with an option, and it would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open," he said. "I’ll let you fill in the blanks."

The Cavaliers offered James a contract extension on July 18, the three-year anniversary of the signing of his current contract. The team could offer the extension — at the highest salary allowed — of up to three years. James can sign the extension offer anytime before June 30, 2010.

James, who will make $15.7 million next season, also has an option in his current contract that can extend his deal through the 2010-11 season.

However, it appears for now that James does not intend to sign the extension or pick up his one-year option for $17.1 million anytime soon.

 

Click to read.

Michael Vick: Now the Dog and Pony Show Begins

Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.

Few got to hear Saturday’s message, however.

Vick’s visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick’s handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. AnAssociated Pressreporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.

Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick’s appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.

Read more.

Black News: Another Day, Another Liar?

NEW YORK (AP) — David Ortiz (FSY) thinks legal supplements and vitamins likely caused him to land on a list of alleged drug users seized by the federal government, and Major League Baseball and the players’ association said some of the names on the list never tested positive for steroids.

MLB said in a statement Saturday that at most 96 urine samples tested positive in the 2003 survey — and the players’ association said 13 of those were in dispute.

The government seized the samples and records the following year from baseball’s drug-testing companies as part of the BALCO investigation. The list of 104 players alleged to have tested positive has been the subject of a five-year legal fight with the union trying to force the government to return what federal agents took during raids.

Click to read.

NBA Baller Accused of Gang bangin on Twitter

Hours after The Denver Post raised questions about whether his tweets were written in a way commonly associated with street gangs, Nuggets guard J.R. Smith pulled the plug on his Twitter page on Tuesday. He presumably didn’t think it was worth all the bad publicity.

His last message to fans before it was closed late Tuesday afternoon: "ok people i love all of my fans im sorry but this will be my last tweet you know why but it is what it is love all an tke Care"

Smith’s tweets raised print eyebrows after someone noticed he was occasionally replacing words that would have a "C" in them with a "K," giving some the impression of an association with the Bloods street gang. (Kudos for the capital "C" jab above, kid.) Smith tried to correct the issue in a tweet late Monday night, but ultimately decided to close the account, according to The Denver Post.

Click to read more.

The NCAA Finally Gets Sued by Players

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Syracuse University

I’ve written extensively about the NCAA and what I perceive to be their consistent efforts to exploit the black community. They spend millions on public service announcements to protect their deception, but eventually the athletes and the public are going to wise up to what they are doing. The truth is that college athletes should be paid for the same reasons that any actor in a Hollywood blockbuster film would expect to receive compensation. The problem is that the families of athletes don’t quite know how to organize and fight for their power. So, when I read about the recentlawsuit against the NCAA for allegedly misusing the images of athletes for videogames, I was a very happy man.

Let me break it down for you:

Based on my 16-years of experience as a college professor (I currently teach atSyracuse University, a school that earns millions off black families every year), collegiate athletics is not, in my opinion, about amateurism and it’s not about education. It’s about making money. Period. Many athletes are admitted to college every year and they would not be granted admission were it not for their ability to play sports and make money for the campus. Making money is not a problem, but the problem comes with the fact that universities do not share this revenue with the families of the players.

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Michael Vick Finally Released: What This Means

Michael Vick is finally out of prison. He is not just being transferred from one prison to another, but actually free. I am happy for Michael, but I worry. I never agreed with the way the world treated Michael Vick, and I stated this fact everywhere people would listen. At the same time, I never thought that Michael Vick was innocent, and I actually thought he was a knuckle-head. The truth, however, is that treating him like a mass murderer over his youthful indiscretion was simply uncalled for.

Vick’s treatment by the media is nothing new: Every year, there is at least one black male athlete chosen as public enemy number one. This person is villified as if they’d stabbed the pope and shot a newborn baby. Before Vick, there was Randy Moss, Ron Artest, Latrell Sprewell, Barry Bonds, OJ Simpson, Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson and others. The funny thing about it is that white athletes also commit crimes, but we are somehow convinced that most of the perpetrators of bad behavior are African American. What you see through the camera lens is largely a function of where the camera is pointed, since the media can only report about .1% of everything that happens at any given time. The camera is usually aimed away from black athletes doing good things, like Myron Rolle, the former Florida State Seminol who passed up on the NFL draft to study at Oxford. Instead, it tends to be pointed toward athletes who do things that embarrass their families. Simultaneously, the 2006 exposure of the drunken chaos at places like Duke University reveals that athletes of all ethnicities get themselves into ridiculous situations.

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Michael Vick is Finally Free!

Michael Vick was finally released from prison, for real this time.  He now has a long list of problems to deal with, including his bankruptcy, parole and getting reinstated in the NFL.  Many don’t think he’ll get back in the league this year, but only time will tell.

Black News: Man Arrested for Gun that Killed Mcnair

The Tennessee man accused of selling the gun used to kill former NFL quarterback Steve McNair is in custody facing a federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, authorities said Friday.

Police say Adrian Gilliam admitted he sold Sahel Kazemi the gun she used to kill NFL quarterback Steve McNair.

"This is another example of what can happen with a gun when a felon is selling it on the street with little to no interest other than just selling it for 100 bucks," said Nashville, Tennessee, Police Chief Ronal Serpas.

Authorities said federal agents traced the gun used in the Fourth of July murder-suicide to Household Pawn in Nashville, which sold it in January 2002.

"Further investigation revealed the 9 mm pistol was later sold for approximately $100 to Adrian Gilliam approximately one to one and a half years ago," Nashville police said in a news release.

Gilliam, 33, of LaVergne, Tennessee, told detectives that on July 2 he sold the gun for about the same price to Sahel Kazemi outside a shopping mall.

Police said Kazemi, McNair’s 20-year-old girlfriend, used the gun two days later to fatally shoot McNair — a former Tennessee Titans quarterback and married father of four — and herself in McNair’s condominium in downtown Nashville.

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Tiger Struggling Unlike Never Before

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• Woods shot a four-over-par 74 to drop to five strokes over par for the first two rounds. At the time he finished, the projected cut line was at four over. Woods was well off the pace of the inconceivable leader, the 29-year-old American Steve Marino.
  As Woods approached the tee on No. 11, the overwhelming tournament favorite had just endured a calamitous three-hole thud, going from even-par to 4-over-par after bogeying Nos. 8 and 9 and then, continuing a troubling knack for driving it waywardly right, causing a search party for his ball on No. 10.

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Black News: The Tangled Webs We Weave

Back in December, Antoine Walker was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies and wasn’t picked up by another team. So what did he do with all that free time? It looks like he was gambling. According to the Associated Press, Walker is facing criminal charges over $822,500 in gambling debt to three Las Vegas casinos.
The Clark County District Attorney’s office says that Walker is facing three felony counts of writing 10 bad checks totaling $1 million to Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort. Apparently, Walked repaid $178,000 of that debt but is still on the hook for more than $800,000. He also owes the district attorney’s office more than $82,000 in legal fees regarding the criminal charges. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

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McNair’s Death Tells Us A lot

Danny Aller
Sports Editor, Albany Herald

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair’s tragic death eight days ago today is one that, looking back years from now, certainly will be – for me – one of those passings where I’ll someday say, "I remember where I was when I heard the news."

For some who don’t follow football, or even sports as a whole that closely, maybe that feeling is not shared.
But for this American sports journalist – and other writers around the country – I think the effect was slightly different. And I say that because of an experience once early in my career that opened my eyes to what I was in for when it came to one of the lows of the biz.
About five years ago when I worked as a sportswriter for a newspaper in Florida, I remember a night quite vividly that still sticks with me today.

 

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Kids Kept Out of Swimming Pool for Being Black?

WHEN YOU call The Valley Club, in Huntingdon Valley, a recorded message by a chipper-voiced man says, "Things are really starting to heat up here in July!"

Things are heating up, all right, but probably not in the way that the club’s board would prefer. That’s because families of minority children enrolled in Creative Steps Day Camp, located inside Carnell Elementary School, in Oxford Circle, are alleging that racism is the reason their kids have been kicked out of the overwhelmingly white club.

The accusations are ugly.

In early June, Alethea Wright, founder and director of 13-year-old Creative Steps, registered her 65 campers – online – to use the pool on Monday afternoons from 3:30 to 5. The special arrangement, a first for the club, was approved by its board and was to run from June 29th through Aug. 10th.

 

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McNair Was Shot While He Slept

 

More details are starting to come out about the murder of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his 20-year old mistress Sahel Kazemi. According to the Associated Press, Nashville police believe that McNair was killed while he was sleeping. The evidence is leading investigators to believe that Kazemi shot McNair in the head while he slept on a couch, then shot him twice in the chest and then in the head once more. Before shooting herself, Kazemi apparently tried to position herself to fall on McNair’s lap, but instead her body slid to the floor and lay at McNair’s feet. The gun was found under her body.

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Tiger Woods Wins Another One

Long before it was over, the 2009 AT&T National had become a character study of the reigning sovereign (Tiger Woods) and the man who could be king (Anthony Kim).

The former has been golf’s most jaw-dropping natural talent for most of the last 15 years, the latter the most promising up-and-comer for the last 15 months.

So when Woods and golf’s would-be Li’l Tiger clashed at the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club outside Washington, D.C., over Fourth of July weekend, few could imagine a more compelling scenario.

Despite a surprise run by Hunter Mahan (62, 12-under), Woods prevailed, shooting a final-round 67 to edge Mahan by one stroke and Kim by four.

"I don’t think you can go through the history books and find anyone as consistent as Tiger," Rod Pampling said on the eve of a third-round pairing with Woods. "Even Jack I don’t think was as consistent as Tiger."

 

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Steve McNair Allegedly Told Woman He Was Leaving His Wife

The results of the autopsies Sunday, via The Tennessean:

Steve McNair was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest.

His girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, was shot in the side of the head. A semi-automatic pistol was found on the floor under her body. The police have not announced whether they think she was the victim of a homicide or committed suicide.

The Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said at a news conference this afternoon:

“While it is clear McNair’s death is a homicide, the police department is not classifying Kazemi’s death, pending further investigation and interviews with persons who knew her and McNair.

“We can’t be close-minded. All scenarios are on the table.”

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Where was Steve McNair’s Wife when He was Killed?

There are rumors circulating that the murder of Steve McNair may have been a murder suicide between himself and the 20 year old female who was also found dead.  While his wife was reported to have been in Mississippi at the time of the shooting, there are some who are speculating on whether or not she played a role in the murders.

Read more on the Steve McNair murder.

 

More to come!

Steve McNair Killed in Nashville

Image: Dr Boyce Watkins with Steve McNair in 2004

Media outlets are reporting that former NFL MVP Steve McNair has been shot and killed in Nashville, TN. The incident is being reported as either a double homocide or murder suicide, depending on the outlet. McNair, 36, was found to have died from a gunshot wound to the head. McNair was the third overall draft choice by the Tennessee Titans in 1995. He led the team to one Super Bowl and was named co-MVP in 2003.

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Black News: Serena Wins Wimbledon Again!

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Serena Williams kept telling herself she was facing just another foe in the Wimbledon final Saturday, just another woman who hits the ball quite hard, just another player trying to deny her a Grand Slam title.

She wasn’t facing just anyone, of course. She was playing her older sister Venus. And when the latest all-Williams final finished, when Serena wrapped up a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th major title overall, she jogged to the net with her arm extended for a handshake.

Venus pulled her close for a warm embrace, instead.

"I didn’t think about Venus at all today. I just saw her as an opponent," said Serena, who also beat her sister in the 2002 and 2003 finals at the All England Club. "At one point, after the first set, I looked on the side of the court at the stats, and it was like ‘Williams,’ ‘Williams.’ I couldn’t figure out which was which."

That also might have been because she was facing the only other woman who can equal her power and court coverage on grass courts. Monday’s rankings will say Serena is No. 2, and Venus No. 3 — behind No. 1 Dinara Safina, a 6-1, 6-0 loser to the elder Williams in the semifinals — but it is clear who the best woman in the world is at the moment.

 

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Why Don’t We Support Women’s BBall?

by Dr Boyce Watkins

My beautiful daughter Carmen just helped her school win its first state championship. She is the shortest person on team, the quickest and the scrappiest – both a lady and a monster when she has to be. As I sat in the stands cheering like a lunatic, I noticed that there weren’t enough parents cheering along with me. The stadium was half empty, and most of the people cheering in the stands were women and children. I wondered how these young women felt, knowing that while their stands were only partially full, the boy’s game (which they lost) had been sold out.

I couldn’t quite figure out why we don’t support women’s sport the way we should: The fundamentals of the WNBA are better than the men, and the women are incredibly talented and competitive. But after some long reflection on the disparity of support, I gave myself the answer to my own question.

When planning our trip to New York City. I said to Carmen, "How would you like to see a Knicks game?" Her eyes brightened like Times Square and she shook her head up and down so hard I thought she was going to break her neck in the process. I then realized my mistake: While it was quite natural for me to think about inviting my daughter to a Knicks game, I didn’t think for one second to invite her to see the New York Liberty, the women’s team in the city.

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Jim Brown Tells the Truth about Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan

For years different people have always grumbled about the lack of activism and social change involvement of professional athletes. Specifically our most successful athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods. In a recent interview with HBO’s Real Sports, former NFL great Jim Brown went in on the lack of activism for social change from both Tiger and Jordan in recent years.
"There are one or two individuals in this country that are black that have been put in front of us as an example," Brown told Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel. "But they’re basically under a system that says, ‘Hey, they’re not gonna do a certain thing.’ Yes, that

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