Jerry Sloan to Resign

Utah Jazz coach, Jerry Sloan, has announced that he will retire after a total of 20 seasons as an NBA coach. Sloan's assistant coach, Phil Johnson, will also resign. Sloan, who is in the basketball hall of fame as a coach and is a former player with the Chicago Bulls and Baltimore Bullets, leaves in the middle of the season with his team on a 31-23 record and playoff run. Seems like something went wrong for a legendary coach as Sloan to leave in the middle of the season. Stay tuned.

Every Superhero Needs Their Theme Music




Wiz Khalifa has not just made a name for himself in the music industry, but now he's crossing over into professional sports with his song "Black & Yellow."

 

I'M BACK! HELLO ALL! It's been a while since I've posted on here. My apologies, “Did you miss me??? (Varnel Hill voice) A million things have occurred in sports since my last post, but some things remain the same. Cam Newton's still under the NCAA's microscope, Tiger Woods is still struggling after his wife financially raped him and Sammy Sosa is still a white man.

After getting over the heartbreak of my beloved Bears losing to the Packers in the NFC playoffs, I'm now looking forward to a competitive Superbowl matchup between Green Bay and the Pittsburgh Steelers. One thing has stood out to me amongst all the media hoopla surrounding the highly publicized game, which has nothing to do with the play of the field: the theme song for this year's big game, "Black & Yellow."

Is it just me or has anybody else noticed the NBA and NFL's use of rap artists songs for promotional use lately? I swear during the pregame show, postgame show and the actual game I heard an entire Kanye West album. Maybe the NFL just loves Kanye, like I'm sure all of us do, but hip-hop artists have emerged as the theme music for most sport events. Kanye, Jay-Z and now Wiz Khalifa have all been used as the theme music for the NFL and NBA to get the fans hype about the game they’re about to see and in the highlight reels.

This year's theme seems to the Wiz Khalifa's "Black & Yellow," especially with the emergence of his hometown team in the Superbowl. Maybe I'm the only one who had this thought, but we all know what Wiz Khalifa is about and what type of image he portrays. If not, you can watch this interview that emerging BET personality and Howard alum Jabari Johnson had with him recently and be filled in on what I'm talking about.

Wiz Khalifa's song has not just been huge on the Billboard charts, it has motivated an entire culture of Pittsburgh fans whose teams all sport the black and yellow colors (took me a while to figure the correlation out, also. Don't worry, you're not alone). Just as the '85 Bears theme became the Superbowl Shuffle and is still being referred to and mimicked on Saturday Night Live, Pittsburgh teams have their theme that will be played for decades to come. Take a bow, Wiz.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a Wiz Khalifa fan. He's emerged overnight as a great artist who's going to be around for a while and "Black & Yellow" is a club banger that makes even the wall flowers in the club get up and dance. What's interesting though is that the super sensitive NFL, which has come down hard on people for their flaws and what might not be portrayed as a "positive image," uses an artist such as Wiz during their games.

If anything, this shows that the league is all about pleasing the viewers until somebody complains. You think the league would've cared if nobody complained about seeing Janet Jackson's....uh situation, during the halftime show a few years back? (Still drooling by the way) The league acted as if they were enraged and sentenced Janet Jackson to be stoned by a white guy named Justin Timberlake because they had viewers complaining that they were enraged. If there's no reaction from viewers, the league won't react. Similarly, when the league cracked down on Steelers linebacker James Harrison for his hard hits but were going to sell the photos of the hit for profit, it was all about money and the league did nothing until players called them out on it.

So for now, I'll enjoy the Kanye and Wiz Khalifa soundtracks playing during the highlight reels and during the games. Pretty soon I'm sure someone will be writing in and complaining that the artists songs played during games aren't "family friendly." In reaction, the league will also have to act enraged and then we'll be forced to listen to Hootie & the Blowfish again.

Newton: Regular College Kid or Criminal?



Cam Newton has since left Auburn after
controversy surrounded him.

Anyone who's been in college can relate to the story of Auburn's star quarterback and former Heisman candidate, Cam Newton. Newton left Auburn University this past week in reaction to allegations that there were attempts by someone close to Newton to solicit money from Mississippi State.

Newton started his collegiate career at the University of Florida and left the institution after being charged with stealing a laptop. According to FoxSports.com, Newton also faced charges of academic cheating at the University in three separate instances and decided to transfer before he was punished for his apparent actions. Newton apparently cheated in class his freshman year, violating the honor code, and turned in two papers which were not written by him his sophomore year at Florida.

Newton then transferred to Blinn College in Texas for a short stint before he was recruited by Auburn University. Other universities attempted to persuade Newton to their schools, such as Mississippi State, but were unsuccessful. Now, the Heisman candidate's past is finally catching up with him. Most college students know someone who has cheated or have done it themselves. Let's be honest, around finals when you have 10+ page papers for four of seven classes and you're also juggling being an active student on campus, having someone write one of those papers for you is an appealing idea.

Don't turn your nose up at me like that! You know you've done it to, whether it was a little earlier (some people start in grammar school) or you've cut corners in some other areas such as your career, everybody's taken short cuts. Newton is just in an unfortunate position because he was caught.

This is just another example of how college athletes aren't taken care of while in college. College athletes are constantly put under an insurmountable amount of pressure with classes, their respective sport and searching for money to support themselves. Some athletes are provided with a full ride which sounds appealing, especially to the broke student working multiple jobs and picking up double shifts while still being able to only afford Ramen Noodle packs to eat on a daily basis (if it sounds like I'm speaking from experience, you're right, I'm going through it now).

Sure, college athletes could constantly call home and beg their parents for money but there's usually an amount of pride that comes along in college when you want to survive on your own two feet and be a man. Of course these athletes could get a job to pay for certain expenses, but it's no fun not getting any sleep at all during the week. Trust me, I know.

I'm curious to know the truth behind the "stolen laptop" story. If Newton wasn't already provided with a laptop by the University of Florida as a student with so much potential, shame on the University. Considering how highly the Auburn athletic director and coach speak of Newton, (seen here) I seriously doubt he would steal a laptop for any reason besides needing the extra money or needing one himself. This young guy is a victim of circumstances and is now being nailed to the cross for a few mistakes he's made.

The allegations of soliciting money from Mississippi State is nothing new in college sports. Athletes are lured to universities with money in the form of a full scholarship and all expenses paid for while some go even further and offer cold cash, jewelry and even cars. Mississippi State lost the bid for Newton after promising him an undisclosed amount of money and is retaliating by releasing this information.

Reports that Newton's father accepted money from Mississippi State through the church's account where he's a pastor is the REAL story. With the corruptions of the Black church being revealed daily, this is just another instance of a crooked pastor trying to get the most out of a situation and I COMPLETELY believe this allegation. It's the story of a money hungry college athlete who's being guided by his money hungry parent who will pursue top dollar at any cost. Does this sound familiar *COUGH LeBron COUGH*. Wow, excuse me.

Until all of the facts come out and Newton and his father actually address the allegations, my mind is made up on three things. Newton is an innocent college kid who is desperate for money, his father is a crooked pastor who's trying to get the most out of his son's success and this isn't the first or last time this will happen in college sports....the trend continues.

SNFL: Soft National Football League

The 1985 Bears style of play is no more in the new age soft NFL.

We've watched this season as the NFL has taken every twist and turn possible from player-coach beefs to players being fined for hitting each other to hard. No one predicted any of this at the beginning of the season. Who would've thought the last three undefeated teams in the league would be the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears. You could make a case for the Steelers, but the Chiefs and Bears?

As a fan who watches and analyzes every Bears game, I understand how lucky they can be at times. Anyone else who follows the team remembers the years when safety Mike Brown would miraculously intercept passes at the end of almost every game to win the game. This would be a necessity as a result of the Bears having quarterback disasters and curses since Jim McMahon. Maybe the Chiefs actually have talent, but knowing the amount that I'm aware of  about the team, I'm sure talent is one thing that doesn't show up on Arrowhead Stadium's field unless it comes from the away team.

Two of the biggest stories this season has been the instability of the Minnesota Vikings and the issue of players being fined for hard hits. The fans of the Viking have called for coach Brad Childress' head after releasing Randy Moss after only four weeks of being with the team in which he had 13 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Childress released Moss without any announcement to the Vikings front office or the team.

Childress was also rumored to have engaged in an altercation with wide receiver Percy Harvin this week, who some think was influenced by Moss' short stint with the Vikings. Unless the Vikings make a move to switch coaches in the middle of the season, which would only hurt the team, Childress will definitely be canned at the end of the season.

Another issue is the hits some players are taking that are knocking them into Looney Toon world. Steeler's linebacker James Harrison has been taxed with three fines totaling $100,000 this season off of hard hits alone. After the last fine, Harrison was quoted as saying, "The amount of money is becoming an issue. The fines that they issued to me, two of them weren't even called penalties. I don't even know what to say anymore."

Now, you might ask yourself why players are being fined for doing what is encouraged in a league where smash mouth football is glorified. I'm also questioning this movement by the NFL to "protect their players." Substantial financial protection isn't provided for the players in the NFL after they sustain a career-ending injury in a game, so the NFL has managed to find a way to cover their asses and minimize the damage players take during games. Some might be blind to it, but this is exactly what the league is doing and it's appalling.

Let these guys play the game they love without penalizing them for giving the fans what they want. They're aware of the dangers of playing professional football and continue to put their bodies on the line for the ridiculous amount being paid to them.

I'm a firm believer that these penalties and fines have placed the NFL in a much "softer" light. Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert and Lawrence Taylor would've been completely different players if these fines and penalties were enforced during their days. We can't completely change players from something they've been conditioned to do for years, so let's not try to change them at all.

MVP-Most Valuable Point

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo and Chicago Bulls point
guard Derrick Rose are both making a case for being their
team's most valuable point guard.

I'm going to try something here. I know that usually I can be quite biased when it comes to this blog, but who cares. I'm a Chicago sports fan and I'm not going to apologize to anyone because of it. I guess today I'll try to give the readers of this blog (all 65,000 of you, *wishful thinking*) an unbiased opinion of who's the most valuable point guard in the NBA.

As of now, the top rated point guards in the NBA are Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash and if I left someone out....YES it's on purpose. When measuring who is the most valuable player of the league, "experts" usually add up stats and determine their vote based off of numbers instead of also considering the value of the player to the team and the league. Because I feel like the players value to the team is the most important statistic, allow me to bring this into the equation when figuring out who the best player is.

As of now, Steve Nash is a great player but for the sake of being consistent with considering the value of the player to the team, Nash can be eliminated from this equation. The Phoenix Suns have made the playoffs every year except in 2009, but they have never managed to get past the powers in the Western Conference. Although Steve Nash provides a consistent scoring and passing effort every night, he has never led his team to a title and people are getting bored by his style of play now that he's aging.

Leading your team to a title after six years of attempts is important in this league. I sympathize with Nash because he will definitely go down in history as one of the best point guards of all time but still be ring-less. It happens to the best of them...Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone never won a title but are considered some of the greatest players in history. They manage to display their bitterness every time they get the chance.

Chris Paul is a great point guard and a valuable asset to the New Orleans Hornets, leading them to the playoffs in back to back seasons. This season he's averaged 20 points, six assists and nine rebounds which are pretty solid statistics to keep him in the running for top three consideration at the point guard position.

The final two are the players everyone is comparing this season. Two players with overwhelming speed, the court vision of an entire team put together and endurance that can allow a coach to play them 48 minutes a game. Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose are dazzling the media and fans with their style of play which is valuable for their team as well as the league. Rondo has made a name for himself after leading the Boston Celtics in the playoffs the past three seasons. This season he's averaging 10.7 points, six rebounds and 16.7 assists which is an out of this world stat. You have to ask yourself, where would the Boston Celtics be without Rondo? Could Nate Robinson lead the team? Maybe, but not with the same intensity displayed by Rondo.

My hometown boy! Derrick Rose. No guard impresses the NBA with style and improvements more than Rose. This season, he's improved his shooting and his court vision seems to improve every game with limited turnovers. Rose has led the team to two postseason appearances but was put out in 2009 by the Boston Celtics in a series analysts describe as one of the best series of all-time and in 2010 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. His explosiveness and style of play excites not only Bull fans but fans of the NBA(Derrick Rose highlights here).

I look at Chris Paul as the number three point guard. He's valuable to his team, but doesn't contribute much to the league. So, it's between Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo. Rondo, of course, has the upper hand because he's led his team to a championship. Rose has a jump shot that is an upper hand on Rondo which can lead his team to game winning shots in the clutch, but this hasn't been seen as of yet. Although the Bulls would be lost without Derrick Rose, his presence hasn't led the team to a championship yet.

It's a difficult decision to make and even harder to go against the hometown player but, Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the league. Rose is a game-winner in the playoffs away from taking this title from Rondo but until that happens, the Celtics point guard gets my vote (Rondo highlights here).

Quality Coaching a Thing of the Past?



Phil Jackson is one of the last legendary
coaches in professional sports. Who will
take over after he's retired?



We all know them. They're usually in the background orchestrating everything that we see on the field and courts. Most of them were once at the forefront, but as a result of age, bad knees and slowing down physically, they've been downgraded to a back-up position to the players. They are the coaches and managers of professional sport teams.

This past week we've seen how important coaching is in the NBA and NFL. Ultimately, during the game, the coach has the final decision. Only after the game can the decisions they make be scrutinized and punished by the executives who sit in their luxury suites and dish out millions of dollars to keep the fans content. This past week, bad coaching was first seen by the fans of the Washington Redskins. 

Head coach Mike Shanahan benched quarterback Donovan McNabb for former Bears castaway Rex Grossman for a reason that doesn't even make sense in the world of Ron Artest's mind. McNabb was taken out of the game because according to Mike Shanahan, "he doesn't have the cardiovascular endurance for a 2-minute drill." O really? Let me remind you Coach Shanahan that Donovan McNabb is a six-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, has led his teams to 15 fourth quarter comebacks and 23 game-winning drives in his career. Rex Grossman's claim to fame was in the Superbowl with the Bears in 2007 in which he proved why he shouldn't be a starting quarterback in the league. Digging deeper, it sounds like the Redskins organization has more serious issues than "cardiovascular endurance."

Another decision made this past week was by Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress to terminate future Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss. After acquiring Randy Moss less than three weeks ago from the New England Patriots, Childress claimed that Moss wasn't a positive person for the Vikings team. This came after Moss was fined $25,000 for not talking to the media and fired back by announcing to the media that he would only answer his own questions in interviews and press conferences and not the questions by the press. Childress is now facing scrutiny by the Vikings owner Zygi Willf who reportedly is not happy with the teams decision to place Moss on waivers for any other team to claim him.

While these 2 coaches believe they made the right decisions for the team, can they be so sure that these decisions were not personal? It was known beforehand that Mike Shanahan had an issue with not getting the productivity out of McNabb they thought they would get at the beginning of the season. Now that McNabb has led the Redskins to a subpar, but still respectable record, Shanahan is not pleased with the results he's received. 

It's ridiculous for any NFL team to believe one player can come to a team and become the savior that will lead them to a 16-0 record. The NFL is a team sport. Players rarely are seen on both sides of the ball and even when they are, they cannot be all 11 players on that side. It's a team sport. It seems as if quality coaching is a thing of the past. The coaches who could have multiple superstars on one team with just as many egos and keep the team together as a cohesive unit seems to be a thing of the past. Only a handful of coaches are capable of taking a back seat and allowing players to flex their egos. This handful includes every professional sport.

The best manager of egos I've seen in my lifetime is Phil Jackson. Dealing with egos and superstar arrogance is what this man's life has been dedicated to. Mike Ditka was also an excellent coach with a knack for keeping players in check and making sure they worked together to play a quality game every day of the season. Vince Lombardi, Red Auerbach, Pat Riley, Tony LaRussa, Lou Piniella and the list goes on and on of great coaches who have set the tone in professional sports. Who will be the next coaches to be placed in the category of being legendary and immortal? We aren't seeing the behavior that is a model of a great coach lately in sports by the younger coaches. Are we moving into an age of subpar coaches? We shall see.

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.