When Kings Die

In chess, when the king falls it's symbollic of the
game coming to an end.

A friend of mine tweeted something yesterday that suddenly made my heart stop. Not in a good way, this was the type of feeling you get when you hear that a loved one has passed away. A sudden chill comes over your body and you suddenly find yourself fighting back emotions and thinking back on memories from the past. The tweet read, "I didn't cry when Wilt (Chamberlain) died. But I prolly will when Mike (Michael Jordan) does."

This revelation reminded me of the game of chess and the rule of the game being over when the king falls or is tipped over. It's symbollism for accepting defeat but also symbollic that when a king actually does fall, he takes a large chunk of the game with him.

To some of you all reading this, you might wonder how a person could get so emotional at the mere thought of someone whom I've never met passing away. It's the same way people weeped on the streets when they heard of the person they idolized for decades, the King of Pop Michael Jackson passed. It's the same way people who welcomed the King of Comedy, Bernie Mac, into there homes every week on their television felt when he passed and some still find it difficult to watch his shows. It's the same way people are still grieving the death of the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Prestley.


After Jordan retired at the end of the 1998 season, the rating for the NBA dropped drastically because the king had left. We always had our fingers crossed hoping for another comeback to the Bulls that we even accepted a comeback to see him play once again with the Washington Wizards. I personally found myself being a fan of the Wizards just because he was on the team.....AND now i'm back to reality.

Regardless of if you personally knew the person or not, it's painful to see them go. The thought of losing an icon in your life is a devastating revelation and sport icons are no exception. Growing up in Chicago, I lived and breathe the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan was seen as a god in the city who could do no wrong and the loyalists who watched every 82 game season still feels the same way. 

Through the gambling scandals, we say "Let him gamble, it's his money. Why not spend it how he wants?" Through accusations of cheating on his wife, we say "We always knew Juanita wasn't wrapped too tight. She had mental problems. I heard she was crazy!" And in the Black community, women have historically had a problem with Black men dating White women, which Michael is no stranger to. But I've heard Black women from Chicago say, "Well it's Mike! Juanita's crazy a** ruined it for all of us!"


Jordan fans will be loyal til the inevitable and very dark day when he passes and dare anyone to speak negatively of him. Why? Because Jordan spoiled us by always giving us what we wanted. We wanted a Black hero in Chicago, in comes MJ. We wanted an MVP-caliber player, MJ's the answer. We wanted a championship, Michael said, "I'll give you six."

This man could walk in any MJ enthusiasts home and slap their mother. When their mother tells them what he did, they would STILL consider their mother a liar if her cheek was red and MJ was standing their with a sign that said, "Yeah, I did it!"
Everyone's icon may not be Jordan, but everyone without a doubt has an icon they feel the same way about. We allow these celebrities into our home through our televisions and get so emotionally attached that we feel we owe them our loyalty and undying support. Crazy? Yeah, maybe. But it doesn't matter. Through heartache of disappointments and everything else we're going to be supportive. 


People in Chicago mourned the day Walter Payton passed because he was an all-out, smash mouth running back who gave his heart and soul on the field on any given Sunday. I didn't have a chance to watch Payton as much as Jordan but it still hurt me to see a hometown icon leave the earth after witnessing the impact he had on such a large city and millions of people. 

There never will be another Jordan for our generation. He's the greatest of all-time to us. Just like previous generations and different corners of the country might make a case for Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell being the greatest, MJ is our one. The next generation may say the same about some up-and-coming player but even after the day our king dies, he will still remain upright on the chess board and on top of his throne.

How Major League Baseball Lost It's Swag

Mark McGwire was a superstar in baseball
before it was revealed he took steroids.

Usually I hate to use cliche words such as grind and swag but for this occasion I'll make an exception because it fits so well. It's no secret that baseball has lost some of it's popularity over the past decade. With all of the scandals and controversy, baseball can no longer be considered America's pasttime unless referred to in a different context.

No fan wants to see their favorite player going through a bad streak or some type of controversy. As a result of the controversy and scandals, the team struggles from not having the player's usual influence on the outcome of the game. This is seen in baseball more than any sport. Since the steroids controversy and the league randomly testing some players, there has been a steady decrease in player's performances.

What's my proof? This year in the majors there was a total of five no hitters, which is the most in the league since the 1990 and 1991 seasons when there was a total of seven each year. Before that the most recorded in a year was eight, which was set in 1884.  In all of these seasons, accept the 1884 season which nobody but Yoda was alive to see, baseball declined in popularity.

The 1990 season brought controversy with it just as the current state of baseball has. This is the year Pete Rose was ruled ineligible by major league baseball for gambling on games. After Rose, who was a favorite around the league for his dedication and hard work he put into every play, even groundball outs when he still ran full speed. After Rose was banned from the sport he dedicated his life to, all the other hitters shut down also. Obviously there was more illegal activity occuring that affected other hitters in the league since every pitcher in the league began to look like Nolan Ryan.

Baseball is a hitter's sport. Nobody wants to see a hundred no-hitters in a season. Where's the excitement in that? Fans get a kick out of homeruns and athletes going on hitting streaks a la Mickey Mantle and Ichiro Suzuki. The season of McGwire and Sosa's homerun battle was the best thing baseball has seen since....dare I say it, Hank Aaron breaking the homerun record. Popularity for the sport went up drastically and tickets were being sold as if Jesus was making an appearance at every ballpark these two sluggers would visit.

Of course we also had the Barry Bonds era but it didn't have the same appeal. We all knew he was injecting steroids in every vain of his body so there wasn't a believable storyline to write a fairy tale novel on. Since all of the steroid talk and players being randomly selected for drug tests, the hitters in baseball have taken a backseat to the pitchers which no one wants to see.



This is just a theory, but everytime there is a controversy in baseball it seems as if the pitcher's stats skyrocket. Is it because every slugger is using drugs banned by Major League Baseball? Could be. Is it because the pitchers are all of a sudden being helped by Angels in the Outfield? HIGHLY doubt it. My theory is the players are affected by the news of another player being caught and it kills their slugger mentality and causes them to worry about being caught themselves. So either they slow down purposely or subconsciously.

Whatever the reason is that so many hitters are in slump, one thing is clear. Baseball has lost it's swag. No longer is it America's favorite past time but now it can be considered in my opinion America's favorite sport in past times. Baseball needs a hitter who isn't juiced up on steroids to emerge, and quick. The majors are lacking a squeaky clean image who can redeem the sport. I would start looking at Triple A and high schools now because after a while, baseball will be a forgotten sport.