Kevin Blackistone FanHouse http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com Kevin Blackistone FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Kevin Blackistone FanHouse http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/MJ's Life, Legacy Transcends Sportshttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/06/27/mjs-life-legacy-transcends-sports/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/06/27/mjs-life-legacy-transcends-sports/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/06/27/mjs-life-legacy-transcends-sports/#commentsFiled under:

Over a decade before a retired Chinese gymnast was suspended stories above the Beijing Olympic field and wowed the world running sideways around the lip of the stadium before lighting the Olympic flame, a man amazed us by appearing to catapult himself across a football stadium onto a stage in a pyrotechnic explosion. He was Michael Jackson.

And by the time the self-proclaimed but broadly acknowledged King of Pop landed in a frozen pose, something was unfolding at the biggest sporting event in this country that had never happened before: more people were tuning in to watch the halftime show that was unveiling than the game itself. That was the power of Michael Jackson.

A record 4.7 billion people, or 70 percent of the world's population, was said to tune in to some part of the Beijing Games last year. Many of them probably have already forgotten Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt and most of them probably will a generation from now.

But as the global reaction to the death Thursday of Michael Jackson is evidencing, no one who ever witnessed Jackson's one-of-a-kind performances has ever forgotten him and likely never will.

Sports are big. Michael Jackson is bigger, even in death.

Jackson was such a powerful force at Super Bowl XXVI that FOX decided not to produce counter-programming against the halftime show like it had against the previous Super Bowl's halftime show, and never did so again.

Jackson revolutionized the Super Bowl halftime show. He raised a bar that has yet to be leaped.

There hasn't been an athlete, there isn't one now and there won't be one in the future to reach the universal fame and success of Jackson. He even upstaged them on their own turf, as the '93 Super Bowl proved.

Muhammad Ali, the most-celebrated and dissected athlete of the 20th century, never resonated around our planet like the super-model thin force-of-nature entertainer that was Jackson.

Tiger. Jordan. Beckham. Federer. They are mere niche celebrities compared to Jackson.

If anyone ever asked Michael Jackson who he thought would win the big game or whether so-and-so was worthy of an MVP, it never made the light of day. But Chuck Culpepper covering Wimbledon for The Los Angeles Times pointed out Friday that the first question to Serena Williams after she advanced to the fourth round was: "What did Michael Jackson mean to you personally?" It was the first of 11 Michael Jackson questions to come, Culpepper pointed out.

Michael Jackson was not an athlete as we think of them. But he was of athletes. Dancers, and he was the best pop music ever had, are. If you doubt me, take in a Bill T. Jones show if you are in New York or he comes to your town. It was said that Jackson was practicing - singing and dancing - six hours a day for the last few weeks in preparing for his next and last tour, to be called This Is It. It was to be 50 shows to commemorate his 50 years on Earth.

It was said he was taking pain pills to mask discomfort from bones he'd broken over the years in his leg and back. It sounded as if he was suffering the same ill effects from years of physical abuse as our favorite gladiators. Indeed, The Tampa Tribune a few years ago did a special series on NFL players hooked on pain meds in retirement.

Michael Jackson was a tortured soul, without question. He divorced himself from reality. He mutilated his face. He appears to have abused his body. That isn't the original part of him.

So much of our deliberation about sports has to do with whether our favorite teams and players are as good as we think they should be. We wonder why this athletic performer or that one doesn't live up to his or her potential and, at worst, becomes a bust.

Michael Jackson is one of those performers who exceeded expectations and did so not just on some innate ability to do what he did so well. As peers and colleagues pointed out in printed and broadcasted interviews in the hours since Jackson's death was announced, Jackson worked at his craft more than most. An Ebony magazine editor even revealed that Jackson worried he hadn't nailed his immediately famous moonwalk. I still get chills watching his inaugural moonwalk. If only some 60 percent free throw shooters were so diligent.

Jackson broke out the moonwalk on one of his countless signature songs, "Billie Jean." Dressed in a gold and black military outfit, his eyes hidden behind shades till he tossed them, Jackson did "Billie Jean" at the Super Bowl as well. He added "Jam," "Black or White" and "Heal the World," which included a picture show of Jackson doing good deeds all over the world.

And Jackson was the lone performer for his halftime. No sidekick was needed or used as with previous Super Bowls and those that have come since.

There never was that need for someone else with Michael Jackson. He didn't need help. He was a truly a one-man band.

I overheard someone say on the radio that Michael Jackson was the Elvis of his time. Wrong. It would be fairer to say Elvis was the Michael of his time, but even he didn't compare to the magnitude of Michael.

That Super Bowl show Michael put on only turned out to be the most captivating halftime ever as the viewers proved. There hasn't been a greater one since and I'll bet there never will be because there will never be another Michael Jackson.

MJ's Life, Legacy Transcends Sports originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kevin BlackistoneSat, 27 Jun 2009 10:13:00 EST Boy Meets Girl, Girl Beats Boyhttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/16/a-preakness-to-remember-two-majestic-horses-to-salute/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/16/a-preakness-to-remember-two-majestic-horses-to-salute/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/16/a-preakness-to-remember-two-majestic-horses-to-salute/#commentsFiled under:



BALTIMORE -- When it was all over and the fantastic filly Rachel Alexandra did what everyone thought she'd do and won the Preakness, a gaggle of us hemmed in rider Mike Smith of Jockeys' TV show fame, as well as horse racing Hall of Fame fame, and asked him about the winner of the Triple Crown's middle jewel. After all, no other jockey had ever seen the undefeated Miss Alexandra's rear end as close as Smith, who wound up just a length behind at the wire.
Rachel Alexandra Wins Preakness

"She's incredible," Smith pronounced of the lady.

Then, he quickly added, "But that lil' dude of mine was coming. Give him that respect."

That lil' dude Smith was aboard was the 50-1 Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird.

The 134th running of the Preakness was about two living beings. One was the lone filly in the race; the other was her jockey, Calvin Borel, who rode Mine That Bird to his stunning win at Churchill Downs.

Horse people usually get these things right. Huge underdogs like Mine That Bird don't often turn into upset winners. Huge favorites like Rachel Alexandra don't often turn into upset losers.

But this time, horse people got half of it wrong, as Smith alluded. As much as Saturday was a validation of Rachel Alexandra's greatness, it was also a vindication of Mine That Bird's talent. He can run no matter his rider, apparently.

If the 2009 Preakness was a true indicator, what we may have before us is a thoroughbred duel of thrilling proportions.

I'm not ready to anoint Rachel Alexandra versus Mine That Bird as the second coming of Affirmed versus Alydar in 1978, which was an Ali versus Frazier, or Bird versus Magic, kind of duel. Rachel Alexandra versus Mine That Bird can't be that good because some dunces in horse racing already blew that opportunity.

Horse Racing Photos

    Jockey Calvin Borel, left, rides Rachel Alexandra at the start of the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Rachel Alexandra won the race (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

    AP

    Jockey Calvin Borel, center, gestures after riding Rachel Alexandra to victory in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird (2), with jockey Mike Smith aboard finished second, and Musket Man, second from right, with Eibar Coa riding, finished third. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

    AP

    Rachel Alexandra, foreground, and jockey Calvin Borel, break from the starting gate in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Rachel Alexandra won the race. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

    AP

    Rachel Alexandra, right, and jockey Calvin Borel, break from the starting gate in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Rachel Alexandra won the race. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

    AP

    The field breaks from the field at the start of the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race come out of the gate at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Rachel Alexandra, for right, with jockey Calvin Borel up, won the race. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

    AP

    Jockey Calvin Borel, right, gestures after riding Rachel Alexandra to victory in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird (2), with jockey Mike Smith aboard finished second, and Musket Man (3) with Eibar Coa riding, finished third. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

    AP

    Jockey Calvin Borel holds the trophy after riding Rachel Alexandra to victory in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. Rachel Alexandra's trainer Steven Asmussen, right, and Borel's girlfriend Lisa Funk, left, looks on. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Jockey Calvin Borel blows a kiss during the post parade aboard Rachel Alexandra before riding the filly to win the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    AP

    Jockey Calvin Borel celebrates riding Rachel Alexandra (R) to victory ahead of second place winner Mine That Bird (L) ridden by jockey Mike Smith in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Jockey Calvin Borel celebrates riding Rachel Alexandra (R) to victory ahead of second place winner Mine That Bird (L) in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters



Rachel Alexandra's former owners kept her from running in the Derby because of her sex and, therefore, have deprived the niche sport of thoroughbred racing a truly transcendent story. We'll have to settle for a sequel rather than a trilogy like Affirmed and Alydar gave us. Thank goodness Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson wine fame bought her and refused to be so 19th-century obstinate. He deserves a toast with glasses of his 2007 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay.

Much will be written about Borel saddling up in New York for the Belmont Stakes next month with a chance to become a Triple Crown winning jockey by riding two different horses to victory in horse racing's three most celebrated races. But after witnessing Saturday's race, I'm more interested in seeing a rematch between the filly and the gelding so many figured to be a fluke, Mine That Bird.

As the race week at Pimlico wound down to Saturday's crescendo, the more eyes that saw Mine That Bird judged him to be anything but a one-trick pony. And in a field of horses that wasn't that stout, he was installed early as one of the favorites, a distinction he never garnered in Kentucky. By race time, he held the third best odds on the track at 6-1.

When the gates opened, however, he looked a lot more like the no-shot Derby entrant. He fell into dead last.

But that was also what made him so memorable from the Derby, because he shot through the field from the back to the front. Smith tried to get Mine That Bird to do the same again at Pimlico.

Smith brought his horse from last with a late charge that seemed to come from nowhere, just like Borel did in the Derby. This time, however, Mine That Bird was forced to run seven-wide at the quarter pole before being able to move into contention in the 13-horse field. He pulled up on the outside of Rachel Alexandra as they stretched out to the wire and seemed to be gaining speed as the filly was losing it.

"I had to get into her a little bit," Borel admitted. "The more I asked her, the more she struggled. She'd never been hit before. I knew he [Mine That Bird] was coming. It's going to take a racehorse to beat her."

Had this been the Derby, I'm not so certain Mine That Bird would not have been the racehorse to beat Rachel Alexandra. The Preakness is the shortest of the Triple Crowns. A little more stretch to run and Rachel Alexandra may not have been able to hold off Mine That Bird.

They say that styles make fights, as in a puncher versus a boxer is more exciting that two of the same. The same can be said of horseracing when you have a leader and a stalker. Rachel Alexandra is a front runner. Her wire to wire win on Saturday was emblematic of her style. Mine That Bird is a stalker. He pounces from behind.

"I'm thrilled to death with the race my little horse ran," Mine That Bird's trainer Chip Woolley said. "Everything was going according to Hoyle, until the turn when he was fanned a little wide ... I thought we had a chance at the eighth pole. The Belmont is next for us."

Hopefully, it will be next for Rachel Alexandra, too. If we can't have a traditional Triple Crown threat, we should at least get a virtual duel. I want to see this matchup again.

Boy Meets Girl, Girl Beats Boy originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 16 May 2009 21:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>calvin borelCalvinBorelmine that birdMineThatBirdrachel alexandraRachelAlexandraKevin BlackistoneSat, 16 May 2009 21:00:00 EST At Preakness, Stakes Highest for Jockeyshttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/15/at-preakness-stakes-highest-for-jockeys/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/15/at-preakness-stakes-highest-for-jockeys/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/05/15/at-preakness-stakes-highest-for-jockeys/#commentsFiled under:


If you've paid close attention to Calvin Borel, like Tuesday night when he was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, you've probably noticed that he doesn't have many teeth. America's favorite jockey has lost most of them over the years from falls, or from his face slamming into the back of horses' necks, or from erosion caused by stomach acid after purposely regurgitating countless meals to keep his weight around 110 pounds.

Preakness Stakes 2009 Primer

If you could see his bare torso, it might look like it is missing something, too. That would be pieces of his ribs, six of which have been broken and repaired in part with plastic.

If you could see his X-rays, you'd notice that one of Borel's arms is held together by a plate and eight pins. A shattered kneecap, broken collarbones, broken shoulders, broken legs, broken wrist and broken toes -- almost all of them -- have healed to hold together without props. A ruptured spleen and torn rotator cuff have mended.

And if you realized that his sport didn't provide him a pension, or workers comp in some states, you'd understand that it isn't Calvin Borel who should be the target of criticism for jumping off Mine That Bird, which he rode to a win in the Kentucky Derby, for the filly favorite Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. Instead, it should be the so-called Sport of Kings -- which forces Borel and his lot to be mercenaries, lest they remain paupers -- that should be at the brunt of the disparagement.

Bettors drop about $15 billion a year on horse racing and the best or luckiest of them walk away as winners with roughly 80 percent of that pot. The tracks keep around $1 billion and the horse owners and trainers pocket about that much too.

The Borels in the game get a mount fee per ride, which could be fifty bucks and is rarely more than $100. They can also get a percentage of the purse for finishing in the money. In Borel's home state of Louisiana, for example, jockeys get five percent of the purse for second- and third-place finishes and 10 percent of the purse for winning. Out of that, jockeys have to pay their agents and a few other folks who help them make what for most of them is a meager living. The Animal Planet's Jockeys docudrama only touches on a part of this hard life.

That was how Borel survived for years until he made it to the big time, and "survived" is the optimum word. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently reminded us of this fact in a new report outlining recommendations for improving the safety and health of workers in the horse racing business.

Its report was borne from hearings on Capitol Hill several years ago about the lack of health insurance and safety measures for jockeys in particular, and other workers with horses at the track in general. At the time, jockeys were again pressing their industry's leaders for some sort of comprehensive on-track accident insurance for their sport, arguably the most-dangerous there is. The report recited national statistics that between 1998 and 2006 there were at least 14,200 injuries and illnesses associated in thoroughbred and harness racing in the United States. There were 79 fatalities from 1992-2006 that included 28 trainers, 26 jockeys, eight exercise riders, seven grooms, and 10 other individuals called racetrack personnel.

Horse Racing Photos

    Preakness hopeful Pioneer of the Nile trainer Bob Baffert watches his horse during a morning workout at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness hopeful Mine That Bird is held by Double Eagle Ranch farm manager Kelly Dennington after working out at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Preakness hopeful Pioneer of the Nile is bathed after a morning workout at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Vickie Sullivan, of Baltimore, waits for racing to begin at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 15, 2009, in Baltimore. The 134th running of the Preakness horse race will be Saturday. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

    AP

    Preakness hopeful Terrain works out at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness hopeful Mine That Bird sticks out his tongue while being bathed at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Exercise rider Dominic Terry takes Preakness entrant Rachel Alexandra around the track at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 15, 2009, in Baltimore. The 134th running of the Preakness horse race will be Saturday. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Exercise rider Celia Fawkes walks Preakness entrant Big Drama on the track at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 15, 2009, in Baltimore. The 134th running of the Preakness horse race will be Saturday. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness hopeful Mine That Bird sticks out his tounge while being bathed at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters

    Trainer Bennie Woolley follows his horse Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness hopeful Mine That Bird out of the barn after a morning workout at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 2009. The 134th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley (UNITED STATES SPORT HORSE RACING)

    Reuters



That's why Borel, who so far has escaped the most morbid of those statistics, shouldn't be ashamed about switching horses in mid-Triple Crown stream. For starters, he's earned his way to the top. On Thursday, he became only the fourth rider in the 135-year history of Churchill Downs to win 900 races. He rode War Eagle Lady to victory in the sixth race.

Borel pocketed about $140,000 for pushing 50-1 Mine That Bird to the second-biggest upset in derby history. He had a longstanding agreement to ride Rachel Alexandra, which he did to victory in the Kentucky Oaks, if she was entered in The Preakness. He is only being loyal to his commitment. Staying atop Mine That Bird would've been against the spirit of his game and could have cost him in the long run.

"We are independent contractors," Larry Saumell, a former jockey on the Mid-Atlantic circuit and a representative for the jockeys' union called the Jockeys Guild, reminded me Thursday. "[Our situation] is what it is. They won't give us benefits. I don't even want to get into all that. Calvin is caught between a rock and a hard place."

The rock is satisfying the public's desire to see him ride Mine That Bird again, and the hard place is his fiduciary responsibility to himself and his family and his obligation to ride Rachel Alexandra.

I'd like to see Borel stay on Mine That Bird since their union proved so exhilarating and successful at Churchill Downs. But now we'll have two competitors for a Triple Crown -- the traditional one, the derby-winning horse, versus the non-traditional one, the derby-winning jockey with another mount.

Borel, Saumell said, is doing the right thing, even if it is precedent setting. He's the first Derby winner to change saddles for the Preakness.

"Once you have a call [commitment], you have to uphold that commitment," Saumell said.

And as Borel's medical history suggest, he's one of the lucky jockeys. He needs to get the most out of every mount he can get. Tomorrow could always be his last.

At Preakness, Stakes Highest for Jockeys originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Fri, 15 May 2009 22:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>calvin borelkentucky derbypreaknessKevin BlackistoneFri, 15 May 2009 22:05:00 EST Props to 'Dropout' Jeremy Tyler http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/04/23/props-to-dropout-jeremy-tyler/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/04/23/props-to-dropout-jeremy-tyler/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/04/23/props-to-dropout-jeremy-tyler/#commentsFiled under: ,

On Wednesday, a group called America's Promise Alliance issued its latest report on the education of our country's youth. America's Promise was started by Gen. Colin Powell back in 1997 with a band of corporations, nonprofits, foundations, policymakers, advocacy and faith-based groups to ensure that we provide our kids a foundation from which they can be successful.

The newest report from America's Promise found that nearly half (47 percent) of all young people in the nation's 50 largest cities are not graduating from high school on time and that many of those aren't graduating at all, hence, becoming dropouts.

It is a problem because, the report reminded, the median income for high school dropouts is $14,000, which is significantly lower than the median income for high school graduates ($24,000) and for college graduates ($48,000). More troubling, the report pointed out, high school dropouts were the only workers who saw their income levels decline over the last 30 years.

But if you didn't comb through your newspaper, or maybe watch C-SPAN, you probably didn't notice this report on our national epidemic. Chances are, however, that you did hear of our newest dropout, a high school junior named Jeremy Tyler, who really isn't part of this problem at all. His story was everywhere, starting in The New York Times, which teased it on its front page.

This is how out of whack our concerns are in this country: Over a million kids drop out of school each year and start walking the economic road to nowhere and we don't so much as pay attention, but we can't find enough towels to soak up our collective lather over Tyler, a 17-year-old, 6-foot-11 basketball prodigy equipped with physical gifts to earn gobs of money, who revealed Wednesday -- the same day the report from America's Promise came out -- that he intended to walk away from high school as a junior to hone his skills for pay overseas.

If only the kids who drop out of high school unequipped to prosper, and maybe not even survive, got as much attention as Tyler, maybe we would be solving this national dropout problem. But they don't get the publicity or our worry. Tyler doesn't need it either. Tyler won't be among the dropouts who account for 13 percent of our adult population while earning less than six percent of all dollars in the country.

To be sure, the basketball talent broker Sonny Vaccaro told the Times that Tyler stood to make a six-figure salary playing basketball in Europe next season. Vaccaro helped a high school senior last year, Brandon Jennings, cut a deal to play in Europe this season for a reported $1.2 million in salary and endorsements rather than play for room, board, books and tuition at some sweatshop here known as a college basketball team, for a coach stuffing a couple million bucks in his pocket for his troubles. That's how ridiculous major college athletics has become. It makes you wonder how a college coach like USC football boss Pete Carroll could gather the audacity to criticize his last quarterback, Mark Sanchez, for not hanging around campus for a fifth year and play for a multimillionaire coach rather than play for his own millions in the NFL. That is the height of disingenuousness.

The only thing that challenges such absurdity would be Tyler playing college basketball for one year -- pretending to be a college student and soaking up a scholarship from some lesser talent who could really use it -- before turning pro.

It would be nice, of course, if Tyler and Jennings could just ply their trade in the NBA without having to stop at college first, or now go overseas, but the NBA's commissioner, owners and current players -- who are fearful of their jobs -- colluded to keep kids from jumping from their high school proms to NBA paydays.

As a result, we look at Tyler and wonder if he is doing the right thing rather than look at the builders of this pro basketball structure and wonder if they've done the wrong thing, which they have.

Professional basketball is an oxymoron. You don't have to be licensed to play it. We're not talking about neurosurgery and contract law. We're talking about shooting, rebounding and dribbling.

If Tyler is good enough at basketball to get someone to pay him a fat salary to do so, he should be able to do so right here in the U.S. of A. If he came up with a cure for cancer while in high school would we refuse to recognize it simply because he hasn't sported a mortarboard?

Tyler is doing the right thing. A pro athletic career has a shelf life. The faster he -- or anyone like him -- can start tapping it, the better off he will be. Doing so for relative slave wages in a major college program shouldn't be the only option. It isn't for prodigious tennis players. It isn't for prodigious soccer players. It shouldn't be for Jeremy Tyler or Brandon Jennings or any teenage talents like them to follow.

"In order to continue to move forward and make the U.S. competitive in today's global economy," Gen. Powell's wife, Alma, who chairs America's Promise, declared Wednesday, "we must work together like never before to provide the supports that young people need in order to graduate high school ready for college, work and life."

Tyler is an exception who has the opportunity to move ahead of that game, and he can always finish his high school studies and even go to college. In fact, more and more pro athletes are doing just that. They wind up being anything but dropouts.

Props to 'Dropout' Jeremy Tyler originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brandon jenningsBrandonJenningsjeremy tylerJeremyTylermark sanchezMarkSanchezpete carrollPeteCarrollKevin BlackistoneThu, 23 Apr 2009 17:58:00 EST Cash-Strapped Athlete Loses His Clotheshttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/31/cash-strapped-athlete-loses-his-clothes/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/31/cash-strapped-athlete-loses-his-clothes/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/31/cash-strapped-athlete-loses-his-clothes/#commentsFiled under:

Roman MesnilThe Arena Football League mothballed itself for a season. The most-successful franchise in the WNBA, the Houston Comets, folded. NFL commish Roger Goodell took a pay cut of around 20 percent and laid off at least 150 workers for the league. And Mr. RBI, Manny Ramirez, got less than he's worth in free agency.

Yes, these are tough times for sports. But this may truly sum up the impact of the worldwide recession on sports.

Romain Mesnil, the pole vault silver medalist at the 2007 Athletics World Championships, has taken to jogging through the streets of Paris with little else than his pole -- um, the fiberglass one -- in an attempt to replace sponsorship money he's lost in the economic downturn. Nike didn't renew his contract, he said on his Web site.

"It was probably for budgetary and strategic reasons," he wrote. "It's the crisis."

So bad, he's lost more than his shirt.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Cash-Strapped Athlete Loses His Clothes originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Romain MesnilRomainMesnilKevin BlackistoneTue, 31 Mar 2009 00:45:00 EST Obama Deserves No Pass for Insensitive Special Olympics Remarkhttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/20/obama-deserves-no-pass-for-insensitive-special-olympics-remark/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/20/obama-deserves-no-pass-for-insensitive-special-olympics-remark/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/03/20/obama-deserves-no-pass-for-insensitive-special-olympics-remark/#commentsFiled under:

In the midst of a coaches' teleconference about 10 years ago, Nolan Richardson proffered why the conference, the SEC, in which he coached the Arkansas basketball team, was so stout. It was located in the South, he said, ground zero for slavery, and, as a result, the many black players who were the stars of the SEC were the products of purposeful breeding by slave owners of "big black [men] with his big woman so he [slave owner] would have a big black kid."

Coach Richardson continued to coach without much criticism and any sanction for his historical hysteria. He wasn't tarred and feathered like Jimmy the Greek was so famously for making similar comments.

Coach Richardson was spared because, unlike The Greek, he is black. He was handed a pass because of the extra gravitas he carried as the second black coach to lead a team to a Final Four championship, and because we in the media -- especially commentators of color -- are particularly uncomfortable criticizing people of color for such transgressions and gaffes.

I was not then and have tried not to be during my career because I believe to do so dilutes criticism of others that we as black critics are quick to dole out. Double standards are doubly troubling.

This all came back to mind in the wake of President Obama's poor attempt at humor Thursday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, when he likened his struggles at bowling to those of Special Olympians.

Barack the Entertainer was quick to apologize for Obama the President. The Special Olympics announced on its Web site Friday morning that Chairman Timothy Shriver received a phone call after the show from the President.

"President Obama called last night and expressed his regret and he apologized," the release read. "He said that he did not intend to humiliate Special Olympics athletes or people with intellectual disabilities. He was sincere and heartfelt, and said that he is a fan of our movement and is ready to work with our athletes to make the United States a more accepting and welcoming country for all people with special needs."

Barack the Entertainer escaped further criticism, however, not unlike Coach Richardson. Instead, rebuke was reserved for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for having perceived temerity in answering a question about Barack the Entertainer's televised NCAA Tournament picks that didn't predict Duke as champion.

"Somebody said we're not in President Obama's Final Four,'' Coach Krzyzewski responded lightheartedly at a Wednesday press conference as Duke prepared to face Binghamton in an East Regional first-round game in Greensboro, N.C. "As much as I respect what he's doing, really the economy is something he should focus on more than the brackets."

There was nothing Coach K said that was wrong; it just happened to echo a growing sentiment from the right.

There was nothing Barack the Entertainer on Leno said about the Special Olympics that was right, no matter what corner of the political spectrum you reside.

There appears, however, to be an invisible rule we are living under now that says the new President is beyond critique, negative, of course. For black critics it is more pronounced, not unlike the journalistic approach at the old Ebony and Jet that decided if you couldn't say anything good about someone of color you didn't say it at all. That is all flawed.



I would be as remiss now as I would've been over a decade ago with Coach Richardson if I didn't call out the President for being insensitive. The President doesn't deserve a pass on his Special Olympics' crack and his quick attempt to clean it up suggests as much. No one should be allowed to get away with such a misfire at humor. It seems forgotten suddenly that this is a president who purposefully sought to surround himself with people who would challenge him rather than dance in lockstep as his predecessor's confidants.

As the Special Olympics reminded Friday morning: "Words hurt and words matter. Words can cause pain and result in stereotypes that are unfair and damaging to people with intellectual disabilities. And using 'Special Olympics' in a negative or derogatory context can be a humiliating put-down to people with special needs.

"This is a teachable moment for our country. We are asking young people, parents and leaders from all walks of life to engage in conversation and help dispel negative caricatures about people with intellectual disabilities. We believe that it's only through open conversation and dialogue about how stereotypes can cause pain that we can begin to work together to create communities of acceptance and inclusion for all."

That is one good that hopefully will come from what happened Thursday night on Leno - a renewed respect for the Special Olympics and the people, especially kids, it helps, at least 2.5 million now in more than 180 countries. The success of employing sports to improve not just the motor skills and physical fitness of kids and adults with intellectual disabilities, but their self-confidence and self-image, is truly something to behold and not to belittle. A President who has been the target of such insensitivities, most recently the New York Post cartoon, knows as much, and so should those of us who have been so outraged by those incidents.

Unfortunately, this won't be the last time someone publically cracks wise -- or, in Coach Richardson and The Greek's instance, seriously -- and is so utterly wrong that they need to be corrected in public, too. It happens all the time, especially, it seems, in regards to sports. Al Campanis. John Rocker. Allen Iverson. Lenny Dykstra. Martina Hingis. Dusty Baker. Fuzzy Zoeller. Kelly Tilghman. Don Imus. Sean Avery. The list goes on and on.

The problem is that our public flogging of certain people for doing so, while all but ignoring another group for doing the same thing, diminishes our voice and threatens to turn us into people merely crying wolf.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Obama Deserves No Pass for Insensitive Special Olympics Remark originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>al campanisallen iversondon imusdusty bakerfuzzy zoellerjohn rockerkelly tilghmanlenny dykstramartina hingismike krzyzewskinolan richardsonsean averyKevin BlackistoneFri, 20 Mar 2009 14:30:00 EST Stump-in' for Goodness in Sportshttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/11/stump-in-for-dog-gone-goodness/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/11/stump-in-for-dog-gone-goodness/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/11/stump-in-for-dog-gone-goodness/#commentsFiled under:

If it seems like sports have gone to the dogs recently -- what with the outing of A-Rod, the busting of Michael Phelps and the banning of boxer Antonio "Fists of Plaster" Margarito -- take heart. We've just found a real dog in sports worth celebrating. Call him Stump the Magic Spaniel.

We may have another 10 months to go this year, but there won't be a better comeback story in 2008 than Stump's, the brownish-red, short-legged, floppy-eared winner of best in show Tuesday night at the Westminster dog show. Stump is 10. Ten! That's 70 years old in dog years. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? This is the equivalent of Dikembe Mutombo winning this year's NBA MVP.

Stump had been retired for five years, dogging it, I guess you could say. But he returned to competition this week and all he did at Madison Square Garden was romp over a field of, well, young pups, from all over the world. It's a good thing Stump's handler and co-owner Scott Sommer let this dog out.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

Stump wasn't favored to win. He was the, um, quintessential underdog. A giant schnauzer came in as the nation's top show dog and then there was Tiger Woods, a Scottish deerhound. They were considered among the, er, hot dogs.

But doggone it if Stump's story isn't better than that. This is the comeback part: Stump was forced to retire five years ago because he was at death's door, death's doggie door, that is. He suffered from some affliction that his owner said just shut down his body.

Stump was taken to the famous animal clinic at Texas A&M. He was treated for 19 days before being deemed fit enough to leave. Tuesday night he waddled away with the biggest trophy in the sporting world of dogs - a bowl, of course.

Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Stump-in' for Goodness in Sports originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kevin BlackistoneWed, 11 Feb 2009 09:12:00 EST Winning Isn't Good Enoughhttp://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/07/winning-isnt-good-enough/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/07/winning-isnt-good-enough/http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/02/07/winning-isnt-good-enough/#commentsFiled under:

If Michael Phelps wasn't an Olympic swimmer who won a record number of gold models for the red, white and blue, he never would have had to own up to a photograph of him taking a hit from a bong purportedly bubbling away with marijuana smoke. He probably never would have been photographed in the first place, because he wouldn't have been a millionaire with pockets lined with multi-million dollar endorsements from makers of consumer products looking to hock more of their stuff to an adoring public.

Instead, Michael Phelps would be what he should be: just another guy who makes a living plying his athletic skill.

Unfortunately, that isn't good enough, especially in this country. We must turn sports champions into something larger than life even when they aren't worthy. We must make a star athlete another one of our damned sports role models, no matter what.
So because Phelps set some world records and won a slew of gold medals at the Beijing Games, a company like Kellogg decided he was a perfect pitchman to sell its foodstuffs, especially to kids. Mistake No. 1.

The Kellogg's people were a couple flakes short of filling a cereal bowl because Phelps should have disqualified himself from such a promotion five years ago when, at the age of 19, he was arrested for driving drunk in Salisbury, Md., not terribly far from his hometown of Baltimore. Phelps pleaded guilty to that very serious transgression too, was put on probation, fined some pocket change and ordered to speak to high school students about the deadly danger of drinking and driving.

Phelps should've been selling Mothers Against Drunk Driving bumper stickers, not Frosted Flakes.

Kellogg didn't realize that until Thursday when it severed the endorsement deal it struck with Phelps. Then the folks who run our Olympic swimming team decided to slap Phelps too.

"We are certainly disappointed in Michael's behavior," USA Swimming stated in suspending Phelps for the next three months. He'll have to swim in his own pool, which he has in Baltimore, until then. Wow.



"Our Olympic champions are role models who are looked up to by people of all ages," USA Swimming continued, "especially young athletes who have their own aspirations and dreams."

Swim as Michael Phelps swims. That should be the end of the promotional campaign.

You would think that after Kobe Bryant had to be absolved of sexual assault - in case that was forgotten - and, more recently, Charles "I am not a Role Model" Barkley got pulled from basketball broadcasts on TNT after getting pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving, too, that corporate America (the Olympics are corporate America) would have learned its lesson, and we would have as well. But it can't help itself and we are as hooked on what it dishes out as an addict on crack.

I'm still dumbfounded by the Texas high school baseball coaches, entrusted with the welfare of youth, who refused to rescind their invitation to have Roger Clemens speak at their convention last year after the Mitchell Report fingered Clemens as a habitual steroids' user.

The athletes aren't the problem. Michael Phelps is not who we need to be debating the most. He made a mistake, again. He confessed to it without a moment's dillydally. He is accepting his punishment, such as it is.

It is the rest of us who have failed again and are in most need of reassessing what we are doing and thinking when it comes to folks who are really, really good at sports.

We live in a society that steeps itself in illusion and sells it all as reality. Most of us are all too willing to take it all in, only to be disillusioned in the end.

There are some athletes worth emulating, but it isn't for what they do in their sport that should qualify them as role models.

There are guys like Joey Cheek, the Olympic speed skater who started Team Darfur to publicize the genocide taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. There are guys like NFL running back Warrick Dunn, who started a foundation to help single moms secure homes for their families. There are women like soccer legend Mia Hamm, who has a foundation to raise research funds bone marrow disease research.

Put them on a cereal box. Parade them around Disney World. Push them to be nominated for Nickelodeon's 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards as Phelps has been.

Those are the sorts of characteristics that should make an athlete a role model. Winning shouldn't be good enough.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Winning Isn't Good Enough originally appeared on Kevin Blackistone FanHouse on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kevin BlackistoneSat, 07 Feb 2009 10:30:00 EST