Summertime

The SEVEN 2 October 2012 I. Not Pretty As A Peacock Wherever you happen to live, you can almost be certain that each and every week someone gets fired from his or her job - which means that a firing in and of itself is no rarity. But to be left twisting in the media wind and subsequently unceremoniously thrown under the bus (google Al Roker's comments) and dismissed from the Today show anchor chair was most certainly not what Ann Curry deserved. Not that I feel the same way about Ms. Curry as I did about my all-time favorite athlete, Darryl Strawberry, but my initial thought was to take a break from NBC News for a minute. The only problem with that is that this is a presidential election year…and even without the departed Keith Olbermann on board, I need my MSNBC coverage. So I haven't boycotted NBC networks…but what you guys - whoever is responsible - did was totally not cool. Best of luck to Ann wherever she lands (after the NBC suits finish paying off her contract). II. Pretty Good Year Regular season MVP, Finals MVP, NBA championship, Olympic Gold Medal…that's just about a year for the ages by LeBron James. Of course, there are always people who feel they must trash King James, the latest instance being those who took issue with him working out with Kevin Durant in Ohio. Who says people on different teams can't be friends? Oh yeah…Kevin Garnett…who claims to have lost Ray Allen's number after Ray jumped ship to join the Heat. By the way, Ray - speaking of "pretty good year" - you shot your highest percentage ever from three-point land last season…and I bet that most of those threes were courtesy of Rajon Rondo. Couldn't you have patched up whatever differences you had? III. Bye Bye As enjoyable as so many of the Olympic events are, I found nothing as enjoyable as watching Usain Bolt leave the field in the dust in each event. And a shout out to his countryman and silver medalist Yohan Blake, who would have beaten anyone else in the world with his times but had to settle for the silver. See, rivals can train together! IV. Marathon Man Shortly after the marathoners finished in London, newly-named Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan claimed to have run a marathon in under three hours, but then had to walk it back after Runners World magazine questioned that fact. Rep. Ryan blames his faulty memory on the twenty-two years that have passed since the race, which he completed in over four hours. First of all, as one who has never run more than six miles at any one time, I congratulate Rep. Ryan on his accomplishment; finishing a marathon is a great feat that most people cannot do. But with that said, if I had run a sub-3:00 marathon, I would be able to tell you date, exact time, location, the weather, number of participants, and anything else you might want to know about that day. Ryan obviously wanted to pump himself up in a setting where no one would be likely to know the true facts - such as when he told all of his untruths in his convention speech. If we can't trust him to tell the truth about his marathon time, why should we believe him on anything else? V. NY/LA Should be interesting to watch the re-branded Brooklyn Nets on the east coast and the re-booted Los Angeles Lakers in the west. (Props to Jay-Z; Must be great to open the Barclay's Center with 8 shows just minutes from where you grew up!) I have a feeling, though, that the New York Knicks and L.A. Clippers might not be among those enjoying the view. VI. Baltimore-Washington While giving out props, let's not forget the Orioles and Nationals, the baseball teams in the Baltimore-Washington corridor that will both be in the playoffs this year for the first time in forever. Prediction: despite what has been said about care for the arm and innings limits, we may not have seen the last of the Nationals' Steven Strasburg. If they need a win to get to the World Series - or win it, for that matter - I expect to see him warming up. VII. Don't Think We Forgot So we have enjoyed our summer, the Olympics, and now the NFL is back…but we haven't really forgotten, especially after your 47% comments were released, Governor Romney. You'll never be able to convince 47 per cent of us to take personal responsibility for our lives…and it seems we'll never be able to convince you to release those other years worth of tax returns. We'll see what happens on November 6th.

The Winner...and New Champion...

The SEVEN 13 June 2012 I. To Rip Van Winkle and Co. If you happen to have done a modified Rip Van Winkle and slept the last two months - as opposed to the two decades ol' Rip was to have snored through - here's some of what you missed on the hard wood of the NBA: - Derrick Rose's injury essentially eliminated da Bulls. - The Knicks won their first playoff game in the post 9/11 era - against the Heat, no less. - The excitement has returned to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly. - The San Antonio Spurs are surely not dead. - Metta World Peace's 7-game suspension almost eliminated the Lakers. - If you liked these Lakers, savor the memories. Kobe threw the whole squad under the bus in a playoff interview, with the exception of Metta. - As always, the worst thing about the Finals is not having the TNT Inside The NBA crew doing the pre-game/halftime/post-game. II. On The Rise The Indiana Pacers are on the move and with the right moves could visit the Finals for the first time since 2000 in the near future. Meanwhile, out west, the Denver Nuggets - much better since the Carmelo trade - are on the move and with the right moves could visit the Finals for the first time ever…which would end their 36-year and counting run as the only former ABA franchise to never play in the NBA Finals. What I love about these two franchises is the fact that in each case, without a mega-star or a "Big 3," they have assembled a team that goes 10-11 deep in good players, any of which can be impact performers on any given night. I think that ultimately this model will prove successful in a championship run. III. Hold On The Funeral Plans Please raise your hands if you thought that in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics would enter the fourth quarter with a lead and a real chance to win the series. Matter of fact, please raise your hands if you had any idea that the Celtics would have made the conference finals. Chances are, outside of the Celtic family, there would not be too many raised hands. And yet the word from the beginning of the season and on throughout was that GM Danny Ainge was preparing to drop the wrecking ball on this particular incarnation of the Celtics. I suggested in this very space that Ainge must have been having flashback nightmares of Andrew Toney - the legendary Boston Strangler that forced the Celtics to import a guard in three consecutive years because none of the previous ones could guard Toney - by virtue of his rumored desire to trade Rajon Rondo. Yes, the same Rondo that has established himself as the best point guard in the league. The fact is that Rondo's greatness enables the aging Big 3 to perform beyond their lessening physical capabilities. With Jeff Green returning, along with the emergence of Brandon Bass, the Celtics have additions to bolster their periphery. A couple more like that and they would be in a position to try a couple more years of the Big 3 era. IV. Like A Heat Wave To many people, seeing the Heat in the Finals is no surprise, given that they have - arguably - the best one-two combination in the world in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Yet my sense is that Erik Spoelstra's job is on the line here in these finals…and my sense is that they would do better if Pat Riley - or even Paul Westhead, for that matter - were coaching. Why they are not trying to make every game a track meet is beyond me. I believe that if they do not win, Coach Riley will walk back downstairs for at least a year. V. Storm Season Like Thunder, like lightning, when Durant gets down, it's frightening (Apologies to the men of Kappa Alpha Psi). Once again, I can state that to many people, seeing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals is no surprise; in fact, I have long been expecting the championship trophy to reside in OKC for at least a year, given that they have - arguably - the best one-two combination in the world in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (who reminds me so much of young Kobe). I can't say, however, that I expected it to happen this year - but given that the Thunder's "Big 3" of Durant, Westbrook, and James Harden are all 23 and younger and getting better by the minute, the big surprise would be if they do not win. VI. Prediction or Do The Math To get to this point OKC went through the champion Dallas Mavericks, the recent champion Los Angeles Lakers, and the 20-consecutive win and recent champion San Antonio Spurs. In the east, the Miami Heat lost one game to the talented but disjointed New York Knicks, two games to the talented and deep Indiana Pacers, and three games to the veteran and crafty Boston Celtics. With all of this in mind, and doing the math, my prediction is that they will lose four games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. VII. Just Wondering If I shoot and kill an unarmed Caucasian person in this neighborhood, do you think I will be able to raise six figures for my defense on the Internet?

All Things Work Together

The SEVEN 7 May 2012 As we move into the election season on a full-fledged basis, I thought I'd share a Sportin" Life column from 2008, which details in part how we got to where we are (and, hopefully, will be for another four years). Enjoy!

All Things Work Together There is a Biblical verse that states, in part, that all things work together for good. On the other hand, there is a misconception that the Chinese word for "crisis" contains the characters that symbolize "danger" and "opportunity." That being said, I would submit that both of these concepts were in place and a part of what took place on November 4th, 2008. First, let's hit the rewind button and return to the year 2000. The presidential candidates were Al Gore, the vice-president during the generally successful Clinton presidency, and Texas governor George W. Bush, known largely for presiding over an unbelievable number of executions during his two terms. After a month-long battle over Florida, the foreign policy-inexperienced Texan was the winner...of sorts. More on that later. Before long came the events of September 11th, 2001 which shocked the nation and the world. Even generally peace-loving people were supportive of going after Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden...but strangely enough, it took just a matter of hours before adminstration people were tossing around the name of Iraq's president Saddam Hussein and his "weapons of mass destruction." So while we went into Afghanistan supposedly in search of Al-Qaeda, President Bush and other continued to talk Iraq, and the president asked for Congressional authorization to use force against Iraq "if necessary." In October of 2002 that authorization was granted. You know the rest of the story...Bush blew off the United Nations, we invaded Iraq, toppled Saddam's statue, mission accomplished. Except for the fact that our soldiers kept dying, and then there was the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and the Guantanamo Bay prison scandal, and mission NOT accomplished...and by the way, what was the mission, anyway - since Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11? Meanwhile, on the home front, Hurricane Katrina forced as many as 30,000 people to head to the Superdome, not to see their often-mediocre Saints but to hope that some saints would help keep them alive. The sight of President Bush telling FEMA's Michael Brown that he was doing a "heck of a job" left many with either the thought that Kanye West was right in saying George Bush didn't care about Black people, or that this was a tremendously incompetent administration...or both. So what would have happened had the votes been properly counted in Florida, or if Black voters had not been kept from voting through purging and election-day shenanigans? Almost certainly the 537 vote difference between Bush and Gore would have been more than eliminated, and Gore would have won the presidency. Or what would have happened if Gore had been less concerned about distancing himself from Bill Clinton, and used him to campaign in his home state of Arkansas, which then went to Bush? Or if Gore had put in time to ensure he carried his own home state of Tennessee? In each of these states, the swing to Gore would have won him the presidency. Let's just say he had won, and didn't invade Iraq, and used his presidency to promote his environmental concerns. He probably would have been a relatively successful two-term president, and there would have been no real call for change in 2008. Instead, the country's mood was clearly for change. Iraq remains a most dangerous place, and the Iraq war was and is a crisis, but the 2002 authorization vote which preceded the war in Iraq provided an opportunity, in the 2008 campaign, for someone to point out that many Democrats had, in fact, supported this authorization. What would have happened if Senators Clinton and Edwards, among others, had voted against the authorization? Such a vote would have enabled them to position themselves as the anti-war, anti-Bush policies candidates - which they were unable to do. Barack Obama presented himself as the agent of change, and the others never recovered from the effects of their vote during the primaries. But then came the general election campaign against an American hero who would certainly be a formidable foe...until his vice-presidential pick. What would have happened if McCain had selected Joe Lieberman, Tom Ridge, or even Condoleezza Rice? We'll never know - but we do know his pick hurt more than helped. Though we could not have envisioned it during an incredibly rough eight-year period, all of these things worked together for good. And Barack Obama is the President of the United States.

Can't We All Get Along

The SEVEN 28 April 2012 I. Twenty Years Later Twenty years ago Rodney King uttered the now-famous words - "Can't we all get along" - after his policemen/attackers were acquitted of beating his behind, and L.A. went up in smoke. Now, in light of the reaction to the Washington Capitals game/series winning goal being scored by a Black man, Joel Ward, I'm almost tempted to say no. Racist Boston Bruins fans lit up the internet with their posts calling Ward every kind of N-Word possible, which naturally embarrassed the Bruins to no end, much less many in the city of Boston. Of course, the internet gives racist cowards a level of anonymity...given that they would never say anything like that within a mile of Kevin Garnett, or Jim Rice, or Big Papi, for that matter. That said, if you want to know who they are, just google Joel Ward reaction to goal and see what you come up with. II. Are You Blind, Ref? Staying in the hockey vein for a second...unusual as that may be...I just have to mention that I watched a few minutes of the Capitals-Rangers first game this afternoon...and I was left to wonder if the NHL had borrowed some refs from the WWE, or chose to use some of the aforementioned idiots that wrote about Ward. On one play a Capitals player had a semi-breakaway, and was subsequently tripped and clipped to the ice by a Ranger. In the midst of all of this the players crashed into the Ranger goaltender, and the puck wound up in the net. The result of all of this was a face-off near center ice; in other words, no penalty on the Ranger, no penalty shot for the Capital, and no goal awarded to the Capitals. How all of this - totally the fault of the Ranger player - could happen and none of the above resulted is totally beyond me. If anyone can NHL-school me on that, I'd appreciate that! III. World Peace Suspended That seems like it could have been a headline in L.A. twenty years ago...but in fact, it's this week's headline after the 7-game suspension of Metta World Peace after his elbowing of James Harden. If these two teams get by their first round matchups, they will meet in the second round...and it will be a monster series in light of what has just transpired. IV. 1999 All Over...Not! In the last year there was a strike-shortened season, 1999, the Knicks and Heat met in the playoffs, and with Jeff Van Gundy's job on the line, Allan Houston hit every piece of the rim on his series-winning shot that eliminated the Heat. But in this strike-shortened season, the Heat have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. If you want to do Mike Woodson and the Knicks a favor, tell them to just play a straight-up zone against the Heat. Give them all of the threes they want, but keep Wade and James out of the lane. That's the only chance they have to succeed against the Big 2. V. What A Shame The Bulls' superstar and reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, has suffered a season-ending injury in Game 1 against the 76ers. As a fan, I always want to see the teams at full strength, so I am so sorry, and wish Rose a speedy and complete recovery. Of course, in terms of this year, that makes things potentially easier for the Boston Celtics to advance to the conference finals, presumably against the Miami Heat, who I do predict will have a tougher time than many expect against the Indiana Pacers in their round two. VI. Wild Wild West First round winners will include the Spurs, and the Thunder (although the Dallas Mavericks will not be an easy out). The two tough first round matchups to predict are the Lakers-Nuggets and the Clippers-Grizzlies. I would have definitely taken both LA teams, but missing World Peace will hurt the Lakers against the extremely deep Nuggets, and missing the home court advantage will hurt the Clippers against the young and athletic Grizzlies. Nonetheless, I'll go LA in both series, setting up a winnable second-round series for the Spurs over the Clippers, and the aforementioned tremendous matchup between the Lakers and Thunder. Any team with Kobe Bryant can win any series, but my guess is that the Thunder will meet up with the Spurs in the Western Conference finals. VII. So Far, So Good Gotta throw in some baseball here...Last year, after the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, Matt Holliday told free-agent to-be Albert Pujols to come back in 2012 and they would win it again. So far, so good for the Cards even in the absence of King Albert...unfortunately, not so good for the Angels. Someone needs to pick up Bobby Abreu to bolster their bench.

It's About Time

The SEVEN
15 April 2012


I. By George, They Got Him!

So they finally have arrested George Zimmerman…and it's about time. Or putting it another way, if Trayvon Martin had been walking through the neighborhood with a gun and shot George Zimmerman walking home from the neighborhood patrol, do you really think it would have taken this long for an arrest to be made?

We will see what transpires going forward, but this much is certain: There are a lot of people - from attorneys to judges to law enforcement personnel - that have spent a great deal of time in schools and in training to get to where they are in their respective professions, and through each of them doing their jobs, our system of jurisprudence is supposed to work. One toy cop - who is neither policeman, nor judge, nor jurist, nor attorney - should not take the entire process into his own hands.

Case in point: an officer that I know recently retired without ever discharging his weapon in the line of duty. If only we could say the same for George.

II. The Heat Is On

Kudos to Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and the entire Miami Heat team who - in the midst of the period since the shooting - donned hoodies in a "We Are Trayvon Martin" moment and statement. Athletes can take a stand and look to make a difference…unlike when Harvey Gantt was attempting to unseat the horrific racist North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, and North Carolina virtual native Michael Jordan was asked to offer his support.

"Republicans buy sneakers too," Jordan is alleged to have said.

III. Heat Was On

A bit of heat came down on Geraldo Rivera for stating that Martin's hoodie was as much to blame for his death as George Zimmerman, starting with his own son, who told him that he was ashamed of his position. It is, of course, no crime to wear a hoodie or to be Black. To Geraldo's credit, he has somewhat backed down from those remarks.

Funny thing about FOX News…when you're on their air, you're liable to say any off the wall thing.

IV. Get the FOX Out Of There

To that end, Rep. Allen West, who this week said "there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party," needs to resign immediately and join the team at FOX…as opposed to using the publicity as a fund-raising tool. Hopefully Congressman West's district will make his decision that much easier this November.

Clearly the Occupy movement has been great in terms of re-shaping the discussion going back to last fall, but now my hope is that folks will evaluate the options and occupy the ballot box as well.

V. Let The Side Show Begin

Must admit that I was kind of sorry to see Rick Santorum bow out of the presidential race this week, virtually placing the Republican nomination in the hands of Mitt Romney. I looked forward to that clown circus running throughout the summer.

VI. No Apology Needed

I'm glad that Hilary Rosen walked back her comments about Ann Romney, if only from a politically correct standpoint and to remove it off of the table. As a parent, I would never state or imply that being a mother is not a worthwhile job or a challenging job. But the point that Ms. Rosen was making is that Mrs. Romney - who has not worked outside of her very affluent home - has not had the type of experiences that many working and middle class women have had in terms of juggling parental and career responsibilities, as well as dealing with financial issues her household has never encountered. So in reality no apology was needed.

VII. Game's On Ice

As the baseball season begins and the NBA playoffs approach, how many people in this New York area know that the New York Rangers enter the playoffs as the top team in the NHL Eastern Conference? From the New York Giants' improbable Super Bowl run to Jeremy Lin and Linsanity, their success almost occurred in relative obscurity. In my mind, a most telling piece is that when I watched the NHL's Winter Classic pre-game show, I knew the players introduced from the seventies through nineties much better than I knew the current guys.

Cloud Nine or The Greatest

The SEVEN
8 March 2011


I. Up, Up and Away

If you weren't watching hoops 25 years ago or have never seen the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers, do yourself a favor and find some of their games on ESPN Classic or NBA-TV, or clips on YouTube. I don't think it a stretch to say that there has never been a team as entertaining and exciting on the fast break as Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the boys, so much so that people that were not even basketball fans were drawn to their games.

But now I'm almost ready to amend the above statement…in that the Miami Heat have taken fast break basketball to a whole new level in today's NBA. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have such a chemistry together that you find yourself filled with anticipation after any steal, turnover, or long rebound resulting in a fast break situation which - more often than not - leads to one of them flying through the air en route to an alley-oop. And trust me…if I'm putting someone in a category with Magic, they must be awesome.

II. Psychedelic Shack

It was interesting to read that the Boston Celtics were/are allegedly shopping my favorite current point guard, Rajon Rondo, due to the thought that the era of the Pierce/Allen/Garnett Big Three is over and, therefore, it's time to rebuild. First of all, there were few people that disliked the Celtics more than I back in the day, but with that said, up in Boston it's not the Big Three anymore; either it's the Big Four or Rondo and the Big Three. Either way Rondo has to be included.

If you guys feel that a rebuild is in order, try to rebuild on the periphery, easing the current Three to reduced roles - or trade one or two of them to potential contenders…but keep Rondo as the lead guard to rebuild around.

I'm beginning to think Celtics GM Danny Ainge is either on some non-prescription medication or is experiencing judgement-affecting flashbacks from awful memories of getting used and abused by the former "Boston Strangler" of the '80's Philadelphia '76ers, Andrew Toney.

III. I'm Gonna Live The Life I Love

Back in the spring of 1976, when Julius "Dr. J." Erving dunked the final ball in ABA history, putting an exclamation point on the-then New York Nets' second ABA championship in three years, the future looked bright for one of the best - if not the very best - team in the game, featuring the best player in the New York media market.

But then came the summer, followed by the fall of the Nets franchise as a result of the short-sighted decision to sell/trade the Doctor to the Sixers. The Nets have been in perennial re-start mode since…nice young team for a while in the late seventies/early eighties…greatly talented team in the early nineties hurt by the death of Drazen Petrovic and the implosion of their other potential superstars…the Jason Kidd NBA finals years in the last decade…all of which were followed by years of bad play, compounded in recent years by the franchise's promotion of the forthcoming move to Brooklyn years in advance, thus ticking off the Jersey fan base.

Nonetheless, the move to Brooklyn somewhat brings things full circle for the Nets, who may again be featuring the best player in the area in Deron Williams. Admittedly a little tired of Linsanity, Williams recently torched the Knicks for 38, and on Sunday got the Bobcats for a Nets NBA-record 57 points. The only problem is that Williams is a free agent after this season, which means he may not make the trip across the Hudson river after all. My suggestion to new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov would be that now that he has lost to Vladimir Putin in the recent Russian election, he ought come back over to this side of the Atlantic and see to it that he doesn't lose Deron as well.

IV. You Can Be What You Wanna Be

Some other mid-season observations…Byron Scott in Cleveland and Mark Jackson in Golden State are doing great coaching jobs in keeping their teams within shouting distance of the playoff teams…while Mike D'Antoni - who was probably a loss or two away from the unemployment line prior to the ascendance of Jeremy Lin - has got to be back on the hot seat. Yes, Lin helped save his job, but now the Knicks have Lin, and Carmelo, and Amar'e, and Tyson Chandler, and Landry Fields, and the recently returned Baron Davis, and the recently signed J.R. Smith, and sharpshooter Steve Novak, and athletic rookie Iman Shumpert…which means that management will want their coach to make it work. If Mike cannot, he will be gone before too long.

And watch for San Antonio to make a serious run at the Western Conference championship, with the seemingly almost un-guardable Manu Ginobili (who is beginning to show a bit of resemblance to NBC's Matt Lauer) a lot fresher than most players, coming off of time off due to injury.

So we'll hold off - at least for now - on inducting Jeremy Lin into the Hall of Fame, but I do think there can be some comparisons drawn between Lin and baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken. Not that I am predicting that Lin will play 2,631 consecutive games, but I see a similarity in what happened following the MLB lockout of 1994 (canceling the World Series) and the NBA lockout this past summer. Cal Ripken's subsequent eclipsing of Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak helped to redeem baseball in the eyes of the public, along with the 1998 home run battle between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. Now that Jeremy Lin has become an international sensation, no one is talking about the lockout now.

V. The Greatest Show On Turf

It will be really unusual this fall to watch Peyton Manning in a uniform other than that of the Indianapolis Colts…and in the midst of the discussion about his release due to the impending $28 million bonus he was to be owed, my mother, of all people - who cares not one iota about the NFL - asked if the Colts could not have gotten together with him to re-work his contract in order to keep him in Indianapolis for the balance of his career. I'm not in their boardroom, but were it up to me, I would have explored something along those lines; just seems like in the cases of Bird, and Magic, and Indiana's Reggie Miller, Peyton should have remained with his one team.

VI. You're A Million Miles From Reality

As always, Inside The NBA - with Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, straight-man Ernie Johnson, and newcomer Shaquille O"Neal - provides some of the best and most humorous TV out there, especially for sports fans. I'm looking forward to them bringing their banter to the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament…but meanwhile on the other networks, the comedy is often provided by this bunch of crazy folks running for president this year.

Romney says corporations are people, Santorum says President Obama is a snob for promoting higher education for all, Paul was the only congressman to vote against a resolution in honor of the Civil Rights Act, and Gingrich thinks inner-city youth should be janitors in school. And then a guy they are totally afraid to confront, Rush Limbaugh, calls a Georgetown student unbelievable names and asks for pornographic videos of her. They fall all over each other trying to portray themselves as the one that would engage us into war against Iran the fastest, but can't say a radio host was wrong.

Sure hope Obama is preparing his agenda for his second term now, and not bothering to wait until November.

VII. The Greatest

Forty-one years ago today the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden to fight champion Joe Frazier for the heavyweight championship that was taken from him for his refusal to enter the armed forces in the midst of the Vietnam War. By virtue of his being a brash and confident and principled - "No Viet Cong ever called me n____er" - African-American man, Ali (or Cassius Clay, as his detractors continued to want to call him) was hated by many still burdened with the yoke of racism and, although ultimately the winner in two out of three against Frazier, was the loser on that night of the so-called Fight Of The Century.

Now, forty-one years later, Ali is a beloved icon, and Barack Obama is the President of the United States. Would that the next forty years bring as much change.

Linsanity

The SEVEN
11 February 2012


I. Love Is In The Air

To all of the ladies that are reading this, Happy Valentine's Day!


II. Love Is In The Air, Pt. 2

Mike D'Antoni must love his newly-found hero...I mean, wouldn't you love someone that may have saved your job?

Clearly the biggest sports surprise of the year so far was not the underdog Giants' Super Bowl appearance, nor their victory over the favored Patriots, but the meteoric rise to instant stardom of the New York Knicks Jeremy Lin, who this past Friday led the Knicks to their fourth straight win by scoring 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Lin, whose first appearance some weeks back seemed to forecast a stint in the D-League, has brought a ball-sharing mentality and excitement back to the team, which is 5-0 since he broke into the lineup (as opposed to 8-15 before).

Charles Barkley stated that Lin needed to be added to the Rookie/Sophomore game during all-star weekend...but if he keeps playing like that, he'll get added to the main roster. And now does this make two teams that are playing better in the absence of Anthony?

III. Please Don't Go

Rich DeVos, the senior chairman of the Orlando Magic, says that he wants their franchise center, Dwight Howard, to stay in Orlando, and that he doesn't want to trade him. Were I in their front office I wouldn't want to trade Superman either, but I might point out to Mr. DeVos that they didn't grow their Amway empire on a string of bad decisions.

The Magic need only look down the road to Miami, where the Marlins are preparing to enter the 2012 season with former Met Jose Reyes at shortstop after he signed with them as a free agent this winter. As it turns out, the Mets probably should have ticked off their fan base last July by trading Reyes right then. Fans would have been irate at the team trading the National League's leading hitter, but had that happened, the Mets would have walked away with something, as opposed to Reyes walking out the door in the off season and leaving the Mets with nothing. I doubt that the Magic want to replicate that scenario...a scenario that played itself out very similarly in Miwaukee as well when slugger Prince Fielder left for Detroit.

IV. Not In The Market

When a New York City Councilman suggested that billionaire mayor Mike Bloomberg buy the struggling Mets, Bloomberg respectfully declined, stating that "...why anybody wants to own a sports team, I can't figure out." Well, if that franchise is the Yankees, you have your name in the media constantly and ultimately walk away - if you choose to sell - with a crazy profit. If it's the Mets...maybe that's why he said no.

V. Here's The Story of a Man Named Brady

Okay, we all now know that supermodel Gisele Bundchen - the wife of Patriots
quarterback Tom Brady - was none too pleased at the performance of some of his
teammates in the Super Bowl...and that saying "my husband cannot throw the
#*?;"+%€ ball and catch it at the same time" might not have been the most
diplomatic statement possible for someone in her position.

That said, here are two things to keep real: one, she didn't express any
sentiment that wasn't being expressed thousands of times across New England.
Two, she does have a right to have an opinion and is not excluded from having
one by virtue of being a woman - which is why it's great that the Giants'
Brandon Jacobs has apologized for his "stay cute and shut up" comment.

VI. Make Me Lose My Religion

If only the CPAC conference could last for the rest of the month. If it did, the
Republican presidential contenders would have so fully stumbled over each other
in an attempt to prove themselves the most conservative that the ultimate winner
would be essentially eliminated from serious contention in the fall. So in
light of all of the discussion this week about coverage of birth control - with
President Obama's opponents bashing him as anti-religion and virtually the
second coming of Satan - it seems funny how some of the haters continue to claim
that Obama is a Muslim, while others (and maybe some of the same folks) continue
to castigate him for the years he spent in Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.

Hey guys, see if this makes any sense to you...if he's a Muslim, then there's no
need to harp on him about being with Rev. Wright. If he's a Christian, then no
matter what his name may be, he's not a Muslim. Of course, if he spent 20 years
at Rev. Wright's church, chances are he's not a Muslim. Bottom line...we know
you have issues with him being who he is and where he is...but don't trash him
on both of these.

VII. The Greatest

As an attendee at the 1994 NAACP Image Awards, I saw one artist going back and
forth onto the stage to accept award after award, thanking everyone with
anything to do with the success during these multiple presentations. Finally
she went to accept what was to be her last award of the evening, saying "I don't
know what to say."

From the back of the auditorium, during a split-second of quiet, I shouted,
"Sing!" - and it reverberated throughout the entire hall. Within seconds people
around the building were shouting for her to sing.

"You want me to sing?"

We screamed our approval, and then Whitney Houston broke into an a cappella
rendition of Jesus Loves Me. Rest in peace, Whitney. Another star gone too soon.