Floyd Mayweather Drops A Few N-Bombs On The Public

Boxer Floyd Mayweather is not exactly what you would consider an introverted kind of guy. The man many people consider to be the best pound-for-pound boxer can create at least as much excitement with his mouth, outside of the boxing ring, as he can with his fists, inside the ring. Mayweather, in an article published by ESPN, had some explosive comments prior to his Saturday night showdown with Jan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

MAYWEATHER: If you’re rich, you’re a rich n—–. If you’re poor, you’re a poor n—-. If you’re smart, you’re a smart n—–. At the end of the day, they still look at me as a n—–.

Oh, no he didn’t. Yes, he did. You know, I can already imagine a good number of people squirming in their chairs as they read those comments.

The 32-year-old Mayweather returned to the ring about two years after defeating Ricky Hatton in what was, at the time, a much-anticipated bout. Mayweather is one of the master’s of using words to promote his fights – even if he causes you to want to watch him to be sure you’re there just in case he loses (as Muhammad Ali used to do back in the day). During his interview (one that you already now know is overflowing with controversy), Mayweather did not let down as he continued elevate the racial DEFCON level.

Here is a quote from Mayweather who compares how he was received in England vs. in the United States.

MAYWEATHER: This country needs to be more positive. We’re already at war. We’re in a recession, we’re at war and we continue to be negative. The fans in the UK showed me more love than in my own country. That’s crazy … Sometimes I’ll sit back, I’ll be in my theater sometimes, and I’ll think: ‘Imagine if I was the same fighter that I am, and I was the same person that I am, and I was from another country. Can you just imagine how big I’d be?

As Field Negro wrote: See, that’s what the white man is talking about; you have a theater in your house, and the rest of us are still watching the wall mounted plasma. So instead of wondering why they look at you as “just another nigger”, kick back in your home theater, break out some popcorn, and slip in that last Ricky Hatton fight.

It would be nice to have a theater, but I am still working up to the mounted plasma.

Did you think Floyd was done there? Come on, now.

MAYWEATHER: But I wouldn’t change my life for nothing in the world. There’s nothing like being young, black and rich. But there are certain things you think about. If Floyd Mayweather was white, I’d be the biggest athlete in America. The biggest, the biggest. I know that for a fact.

I am always intrigued by people when they talk about themselves in the third person.

Back to the subject.

No, Floyd is not done yet as he compared himself to one-time popular boxer Oscar De La Hoya, a man Floyd defeated in a split decision in 2007.

MAYWEATHER: One thing you never hear. You never hear anything negative about Oscar De La Hoya. Anything he do negative, it gets swept under the rug.

Oh goodness … where do I start?

One thing with Floyd Mayweather is sometimes you don’t know if he is in fight promotion mode or if he truly is saying what’s on his mind. With most of these statements, however, I think Floyd is telling the world exactly how he feels about these topics related to race, success, athletes, money, popularity, etc.

I think Floyd is perhaps remembering an older era of the United States. The country has made a lot of progress (although you would be hard-pressed to know that listening to racial right-wing flamethrowers like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly and others). This country has really moved forward and continues to break down some of the walls that divide us.

We’re not there yet, but we’re closer than Floyd Mayweather thinks.

ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4478216

ESPN (Jemele Hill column):
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/090918

Blount Punishment By Oregon Hard To Argue, But …

When Oregon football player LeGarrette Blount chin-checked Boise State player Byron Hout (after Hout struck Blount to get his attention and then trash talked him a little following Thursday night’s game) I thought the suspension would be stiff. At first I thought … four or five games … some people I know talked me off the ledge and thought it might be a little less … two to three games. We were all wrong … VERY WRONG! The furor this mess created as the video was replayed over and over again on ESPN, other media outlets and YouTube probably did Blount no favors as Oregon elected to suspend him for the remainder of the season.

From ESPN:

EUGENE, Ore. — A day after Oregon’s college football season opened, it ended for running back LeGarrette Blount.

Blount was suspended for all remaining games on Friday for punching Boise State defensive end Byron Hout in the jaw following the 16th-ranked Ducks’ 19-8 loss to the 14th-ranked Broncos the night before.

Because he is a senior, Blount’s playing days in Eugene are over.

Oregon’s first-year coach, Chip Kelly, told a sobbing Blount about his decision after reviewing tape of the altercation.

Celebrating the victory on the Broncos’ trademark blue turf, Hout yelled in Blount’s face and tapped him on the shoulder pad. Before Boise State coach Chris Petersen could pull Hout away, Blount landed a right to Hout’s jaw, knocking him to his knees.

I can’t argue with that suspension. Blount did it to himself by losing his cool due to the words of a trash-talking opponent.

Now, it appears Blount’s college football career might be a wrap.

I know it’s wildly popular for people to pile onto Blount and get their shots in on this young man. What he did was a horrible mistake in judgement and there is no question he needed to be punished for the punch and for the reaction as he was leaving the stadium. But, there are some other things I do wonder about: (1) What responsibility does Boise State or whomever have for reportedly replaying the video of the punch on the stadium scoreboard and firing up the crowd as the Oregon players were leaving the field and (2) will Hout receive any significant discipline for his role in starting the fracas on the field (not suggesting a suspension, but he needs to be held accountable for getting something like that started on a weekend when the American Football Coaches Association was emphasizing sportsmanship among teams).

Just a few additional thoughts to think about.

Media Matters And Others Do The Right Thing Not Showing Erin Andrews Images

Media Matters for America is reporting that two news organizations have shown stills from the secretly-taken video of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews (reportedly with no or very few clothes on). It’s bad enough that some worthless idiot felt the need to exploit her in such a nasty way, but now people are piggybacking this situation to shock people by showing portions of the video while reporting the story.

This is from Media Matters:

Fox & Friends repeatedly aired numerous video stills from a videotape surreptitiously taken of ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews nude in a hotel room, while CBS’ The Early Show aired several seconds of the Andrews videotape with some of her body parts blurred.

More from Media Matters:

On July 21, Fox & Friends repeatedly aired numerous video stills from a videotape surreptitiously taken of ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews nude in a hotel room. Fox News’ stills, which were prominently displayed on-screen, repeatedly showed Andrews’ face while covering some of her body parts with lacy red tape. In addition, during CBS’ The Early Show, science and technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg played several seconds of the Andrews videotape with parts of her body blurred.

ESPN’s general counsel has reportedly written to at least one website stating that the “posting of these pictures are highly likely to render you an accessory after the fact to a criminal act,” while a lawyer for Andrews has “request[ed] respect of Erin’s privacy at this time.”

Reporter Kate Snow reported on the Andrews story for ABC’s Good Morning America during the 7 a.m. ET hour, but did not show stills or video from the videotape. ABC and ESPN are both owned by The Walt Disney Co.

While Media Matters for America regularly provides video for segments, Media Matters will not provide video or provide the still shots Fox News aired. The following are screen captures from the Fox & Friends segment and CBS segment with black boxes replacing footage and stills from the video.

I comment Media Matters for not sinking so low as to republish these photos that robbed Erin Andrews of her privacy while violating her in ways we all should find highly offensive and very illegal.

Erin Andrews Story Is Disturbing, But Where Is The Link To Women Journalists Covering Sports?

With interest, I wanted to read what sounds like a disturbing story surrounding ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, a hotel room, a peephole and a voyeuristic lowlife.

Here is an excerpt of a story from Yahoo Sports:

It’s never been easy for female sports journalists. From Lisa Olson being sexually harassed while covering the New England Patriots to Suzy Kolber having to fend off the advances of a drunk Joe Namath on national television to MMA reporter Loretta Hunt being called an unacceptable name for womenon camera by UFC president Dana White, women have had to overcome obstacles not faced by their male counterparts.

That doesn’t even take into account that women on television are judged for not just what they know but what they look like. Most female sports journalists have dealt with these difficulties with aplomb. However, they were magnified considerably this week when ESPN reporter Erin Andrews became a victim of video voyeurism after someone shot video of her in a private moment through her hotel room peephole.

In conjunction with ESPN and her attorney, Andrews is working with authorities to catch the perpetrators of this heinous act, but the damage has been done. Her privacy has been invaded, and the video of her naked body is out there. Most Web sites have deleted the video under threat of legal action, but that can’t undo the fact that it was shot and posted in the first place.

OK, so now I am thinking that something happened with regard to her performing her job and it involved some athlete who had gotten out of line with her and needed to be called out. That first paragraph seems to cite incidents involving women reporters put into bad positions by people during the course of doing work.

Now, this issue with Erin Andrews sounds more like a random jerk (or jerks) doing to the ESPN reporter what probably happens to a lot of women (celebrities or otherwise).

So, I am having a hard time seeing this as some kind of woman sports reporter civil rights issue (not that there are not challenges out there for women reporters covering male sports … there are).

Another excerpt:

Now that Andrews is a victim of this crime, why would a woman want to follow her on camera? That’s not the sort of thing that ESPN co-workers Chris Berman or Stuart Scott have to worry about.

What do Berman and Scott have to do with this particular issue?

Beyond the fact that she is a high-profile sports reporter, what does this have to do with sports?

She was not victimized while performing her job (based on what I read).

Rather than the Scott/Berman question, a better question would be to ask why the crime Andrews seems to be a victim of any different than other women (or men) filmed by perverts when they don’t know it. The writer (and I am not simply trying to attack) seems to be trying to make this into some kind of equality issue when it seems to be a crime that has nothing to do with sports other than the fact that she is a prominent sports reporter. I am not asserting that this is a story that should not be reported on, but I had a difficult time following the path the writer was headed down.

Let us hope that whoever perpetrated this crime is apprehended and punished appropriately.

ESPN Gathers A Panel To Discuss Kobe Vs. LeBron

I am not sure I agree with some of the analysis that compares and contrasts the two best basketball players in the NBA: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

The depth and breadth of the comparisons make the article an entertaining read. This is an older story, and even more dated since the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs, but it’s still intriguing.

ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Roundup-KobeLeBron

ESPN’s LZ Granderson Comments On LeBron ‘Sportsmanship’ Issue

I had an opportunity to read ESPN columnist LZ Granderson’s opinion (I don’t mind differing opinions) about the controversy surrounding Cleveland Cavaliers’ superstar LeBron James walking off the court without shaking hands with Orlando Magic players and blowing off the media following his team’s lost in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. Some have compared it to the infamous 1991 walkout in which most of the Detroit Pistons’ players declined to shake hands with most of the Chicago Bulls’ players. Eighteen years later, those Pistons are still hammered for that decision. In that series, however, there was a lot more to it. There had been a lot of animosity and a lot of nasty things said in the newspapers and elsewhere in the media that precipitated that walkout – even if it did not justify it in the minds of a lot of critics. In LeBron’s case, there seems to have been no animosity (at least not that I am aware of). To some extent, I take LeBron at his word that the competitor in him just wanted to get off the court and be away from it (even if I don’t necessarily agree it was the proper move).

With that being said, here is an excerpt from Granderson’s column:

If this was a real issue for NBA commissioner David Stern, he would not be responding three days later. His reponse on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” that it’s “fair to say” that he’s upset with LeBron comes across as more public posturing than concern.

You want to know what’s poor sportsmanship?

Brett Favre cutting off all communication with his mentee and supposed friend Aaron Rogers after being traded to the Jets. Or Shaq freestyling about Kobe’s Finals loss — more than four years after being traded from L.A.

That’s poor sportsmanship.

Taking a day to calm down and gather your thoughts, that’s a sign of maturity.

And so I’m also glad that LeBron didn’t apologize for walking off the way that he did, but rather gave us an honest look into what being competitive means to him. After a day to cool off, he said his piece. That to me is much better than ripping teammates he may have to play with or a coach he may have to play under next season.

There is nothing wrong with being a competitor, but there is nothing wrong with congratulating your opponent and wishing your opponent good luck. I am not bashing LeBron and saying he is a bad sport or anything like that. I don’t think he is a bad sport at all. I do see where LZ is coming from. Honestly, I think LeBron James is one of the great sportsmen of his era who simply made a bad decision at an emotional time. My hope is he learns from this lesson and makes the proper decision the next time he is faced with similar circumstances. Some of the greatest competitors in the history of the sport took time to congratulate teams that beat them.

As I wrote in an earlier blog, one of the greatest traditions in all of sports is the National Hockey League handshake line at the end of a hard-fought series.

LZ Granderson’s column:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/090602&sportCat=nba

An Adjustment Worth Considering In Women’s College Softball

Those who know me really well know at least a little bit about my affinity for women’s college softball. Softball is far and away one of my favorite sports to watch (live or on television). At this very moment, I am watching Michigan (from my home state GO BLUE!) play Georgia in the Women’s College Softball World Series. But, the more I watch some of these women’s college softball games, particularly the ones at the major college level, the more I am becoming increasingly convinced that the field dimensions are becoming too small as the athletes are becoming bigger, stronger and better. I’ve heard some college coaches discuss the issue. I wouldn’t say it was consensus, but the sentiment seemed to be that there were a good number of people appreciative of seeing more home runs … and, thus, fewer long outs. Now, from an excitement standpoint, clearly there is a value to the home run. But, as these outstanding women athletes become bigger, stronger and better … when do softball officials consider moving the fence back a bit to keep up with the positive evolution of the players?

Chuck Daly: 1930-2009

Honestly, I could sit here for hours and write a lot of great things about Chuck Daly, the former head basketball coach of the Detroit Pistons (where he won back to back championships in 1988-89 and 1989-90) and the head coach of the original men’s basketball Dream Team that played in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Daly passed away over the weekend after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Daly, as a Hall of Famer, obviously was a great coach. But, more than anything, he appeared by all accounts to be a good and decent man. That is the mark of someone who is a true champion. Daly was a champion at many different levels on the basketball court, but his greatest championship was being a championship-caliber man. Many of us will miss Daddy Rich.

ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4153982

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09130/969161-275.stm

Manny Ramirez Gets 50-Game Suspension For PEDs

The Los Angeles Times and ESPN were among the first to report that L.A. Dodgers superstar hitter Manny Ramirez was just nailed with a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball. He was busted for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs. It will be interesting to see how the scandal plays out as more and more of MLB’s top stars find themselves entangled in the nasty web of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

Here is an excerpt from the ESPN story (for the full version, check out the link below):

The Los Angeles Dodgers star said he did not take steroids and was prescribed medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. The commissioner’s office didn’t announce the specific violation by the 36-year-old outfielder, who apologized to the Dodgers and fans for “this whole situation.”

“Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me,” Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players’ union.

“Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”

ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4148907