Hitting Close to Home

Friday sports nuggets

2010-10-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

My latest thoughts on the juiciest sports stories:
I think its time to call out Deanna Favre. Yes, Deanna Favre.
Look, at some point, she has to stand up and be his wife, act like she cares about him, and make him quit football. It's time. It's past time. And if this unhealthy relationship - Brett and football - continues, he's going to be in a wheelchair getting jello every meal before he's 52.
He takes some of the most vicious hits I've ever seen (at least the worst a quarterback has to endure since I've been alive because mobile quarterbacks get it the worst) and he's got not one, but TWO fractures in his ankle that he apparently isn't taking seriously.
With all the information we have now about CTE, and given his age, its getting to be irresponsible to let him keep playing. And the only person who can convince him to quit is his wife. Coach Childress can't do it. His teammates can't do it - any of them from any of his years.
I always pictured Favre after retirement still spending time at some Mississippi high school working out with the kids, throwing a few passes. And when some kid asks him if he wants to watch some NFL football on Sunday, he looks at them with this sweet smile, pats them on the head, and confidently replies, "Sorry sonny, that life is behind me." Then he drives off in his pickup to go fish at the nearest watering hole.
If he keeps trying to play, he's going to be in bad shape, and effectively, we will never see him again because the NFL won't want you to see him in such a bad shape.
Deanna, get some counseling and strap him to a chair in a dark room until he agrees to retire. Then, keep him there until he actually wants to do it.
(Oh, and I hope you aren't hung up on that whole Jenn Sterger thing. If you haven't come to terms that your husband, a man playing a testerone-charged game, might quite possibly be a perv, then you might need an intervention, too.)
Speaking of taking hard hits, the NFL's supposed response to Week 6's headhunting spree is laughable. At some point, we won't be watching football in its current format, simply because its 1) too violent, 2) too unsafe and 3) someone's going to die. It's a conclusion that different people have come to and one that makes a lot of sense. The culture of hard hits and head injuries won't really change until a million people watch some player get hit so hard that they die on national television.
Trust me, I don't want this happen, but its the only way anything to change, because right now, the NFL doesn't want to curb what's happening.
Yea right, they want to stop one of the main reasons why people watch their sport.
BTW, read this column by Howard Bryant.
Two happy basketball-related notes:
Pokey Chatman is back in the United States, coaching and GMing the WNBA's Chicago Sky. Couldn't be happier. I think she had to leave the country with her tail between her legs over something that happens nationwide (and really isn't that bad if you are still winning and being adult about it). Her Euroleague Championship just proves how great of a coach she is and I know she's going to take advantage of his opportunity with Jia Perkins and Sylvia Fowles. Can't wait.
And just when I found my old Mavericks jersey/shirt in the closet, guess who signs with the Heat? Jerry Stackhouse!
I've always loved this guy - I just LeBron and Dwayne get their stuff together fast enough to get him a ring.

More columns

2010-10-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, outside of writing the two columns that I posted here, I wrote one for shades magazine about the announcement of espnW.
I've got some interviews to do, but I have something else I want to post today.
Here's to a productive day!

The national impact

2010-10-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Life must really be a Law & Order episode.

Maybe now that this Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell storyline has started to take shape, people will start to believe that some of what you see on television actually happens in real life.

I think it’s funny that in the midst of these congressional talks to repeal the controversial policy which keeps gays and lesbians out of the military, the nation’s hottest topic is GLBT bullying.

As I’m sure everyone knows by now, at least four teens (there have been many more) have committed suicide as a result of bullying by their peers. Their names and stories have been told, so I’ll let you follow the link to get the intricacies. Today, everyone is encouraged to wear purple to show their support for these youth, and the many others who have lost their lives by being caught up in this tragedy of hate.

(FYI: purple on the LGBT rainbow flag represents spirit.)

The national support on this issue has been wide and it has been deafening. Ellen posted a video, Dan Savage started “It Gets Better,” newspapers and online publications have written and printed stories localizing the problem, LZ Granderson wrote a heartfelt column for CNN and ESPN and countless others have circulated the links and started conversations on social networking sites.

It’s this century’s Mathew Shepard magnified times a thousand.

Judge Virginia Phillips, who presided over the DADT case and ultimate brought down the ruling to have it stopped, probably watched all of this. It was unavoidable.

She couldn’t, in good conscience and amidst the public outcry, allow the policy to still be in effect.

Because really, who is a bigger GLBT bully than the United States government?

Since the Clinton Administration passed DADT in 1993, it’s been understood among soldiers that you either live in the closet or just don’t go to the military. There is no grey area.

And Phillips couldn’t allow young people to keep seeing that. The Department of Justice has since requested a stay so that the policy can still be in effect during the appeal process.

The real plot twist, though, will be when this GLBT subject matter train collides with gay marriage, and people start pushing for married gay soldiers and their spouses to get those hefty benefits. The young straight couples are falling all over themselves to get that extra pay, especially in this economy, so it’s only fair that we get a chance to cash in on that hustle.

But that doesn’t come until the series finale.

The Cowboys and the Rangers

2010-10-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

For Lynne:

The other night I changed my Facebook status to say the following:
If you woulda told me four years ago that the cowboys would be 1-4 and the rangers would be leading the Yankees 2-1, I would thought you were high. Guess I dont know the world anymore.
For folks that don’t live in Texas, the most surprising part of that statement may be the part about the Cowboys, but native Texans know that the kicker on that sentiment in is the second qualifier.
We are surprised by the Rangers, not the Cowboys.
Mostly because, we all know the Cowboys suck. We’ve known it for a long time. For all their posturing and gloating and inflated egos, America’s former team amounts to that tremendous jerk you know who would get his life together if someone would just knock him down a few pegs.
I don’t know how many more pegs the ‘Boys need to fall, but I can tell you that rock bottom can’t come fast enough for Dallas fans.
We’re all just basically waiting on owner Jerry Jones to get rid of quarterback Tony Romo and head coach Wade Phillips, too men lacking in several of the same areas. They both buckle under extreme pressure (Romo does things like botch snaps in playoff games and throws interceptions; Phillips defers power to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett) and both lack the heart and discipline to command a team.
At this point, the Texas Rangers, however, have every North Texas sports fan on their side.
- - -
Our CLIFF LEE
Who art in Texas
Hallowed be thy arm
Thy win will come, it will be done
In New York as in Tampa
Give us today your weekly win
Give us strikes and homeruns
But do not let others home run against us
Lead us not into frustration
But deliver us to the World Series
For thine is the MVP
The best of the league
And the Glory of the team that God loves
Now and forever
And all Rangers fans said
AMEN

Imagine living the last 20 years in North Texas as a baseball fan.
You’ve watched the Dallas Stars win two Stanley Cups with Mike Modano and Brett Hull.
The Dallas Cowboys have the prestige that comes with five championships and national attention, so much so that there was a section of cars at the State Fair decorated in Cowboys colors and insignia.
Even the Mavericks have elevated from league bottom feeders to elite status and dipped enough to be mediocre.
But your Texas Rangers have just been bad, even with Hall of Fame players like Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriquex, Juan Gonzales, Rafael Palmiero and Alex Rodriguez once on their payroll.
Every sports team in the Metroplex has had a parade – the Cowboys; the Stars; college football has an annual downtown party during Texas-OU weekend; even the Mavericks have planned a parade, though it failed for various reasons.
Well, you’re a Ranger fan, and you want a freakin’ parade!
And this season, you may just get one.
The Rangers seem to have the right combination to make some real noise in more than just the American League, and for more than just one season. With a 10-3 victory last night, Texas is one win away from doing something no one thought was possible – making and seriously contending for a World Series title.
The top cog in this improbable machine is the dedicated face of the franchise. Nolan Ryan is a crowd favorite not just because of his magnificent history as a legendary pitcher, but also the fact that he #1 came back to become part owner of the franchise, #2 endured a bankruptcy battle in court against Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to keep a share of the team and #3 he’s a homegrown Texas boy.
Down the line is Redemption Ron Washington, who received support from the organization after he revealed that he had used cocaine. Next are the team’s talented group of players.
Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Vladimir Guerrero and Elvis Andrus, among the others rounding out the batting order, are a strong lineup that each brings their own skills to the diamond.
Undoubtedly at this point, the team’s star player is Cliff Lee, the hired arm who has blown through opponents for the better part of three years. ESPN columnists are scrambling to quantify his postseason performances that have been nothing short of historic. After Lee dominated the Yankees in Monday’s Game 3 blowout, ESPN compiled this little list:
1 -- Lee lowered his postseason ERA to 1.26, the third-lowest mark for anyone with at least five postseason starts, behind only Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson.
2 -- His 13 strikeouts tied his career-high and marked the third-most vs the Yankees in a postseason game.
3 -- He now has six consecutive starts of seven innings and a win, one behind the all-time record (Bob Gibson).
4 -- Lee now has three straight postseason starts with at least 10 strikeouts, tying the all-time record.
5 -- Lee’s five career 10+ strikeout games in the postseason is tied for the all-time record with Randy Johnson and Bob Gibson.
The chemistry is the team’s biggest asset though. These guys genuinely like each other and carry the same mindset into games. When New York put together a five-run eighth inning to snatch away Game 1, Texas, as an organization, didn’t get down. They treated it as one game, one loss and put it in their collective rearview mirror.
No great team is complete without some luck and good fortune, and nothing proves that the Rangers have it more than the fifth inning of last night’s game.
In the top of the fifth, there was a very real chance that Steve Bartman would have been forgotten and/or replaced because a fan clearly interfered with a pop fly that could have ended the inning without Young even taking the mound. Luckily, Hamilton flied out to center and saved that guy a plane ticket to Europe.
Then, in the bottom of the fifth with pitcher Derek Holland visibly nervous at the mound (he was doing everything but throwing up behind the mound a la Donovan McNabb), he sucks it up enough to make Alex Rodriguez hit into an inning-ending double play. That’s Texas in a nutshell – grit through the tough times, and it helps that God looks to be a Rangers fan right now.
There’s no way this season can be a bust. It’s win-win.
Well, maybe not win-win in the sense that the Rangers and the Cowboys win, but no matter how Arlington’s resident baseball team fares (a World Series title or not even making it out of the ALCS), at least they aren’t losing.
And somebody, somewhere, is thinking about a parade.
Some closing notes:
In the sixth inning, Robinson Cano never touched the plate on the throw that got Guerrero out at second. If you look at the replay closely, he takes his foot off the bag as he makes the catch and positions himself to throw back to first on an ill-fated double play attempt.
If the umps call it right, Cruz’s fielder’s choice becomes a single and Bengie Molina steps to the plate in a bases loaded situation.
So really, anyway you look at it, the Rangers pull it out. Drive in three now or three later – we still win.

Being solution oriented

2010-10-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

In September alone, four teens have committed suicide as a result of GLBT bullying.
From Opposing Views:
-- 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, a freshman at the Rutgers University New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus, jumped off of the George Washington Bridge after a classmate secretly filmed him kissing another man and then posted it to the internet.
-- 13-year-old Asher Brown, a student at Hamilton Middle School in Cypress, Texas, shot himself in the head after enduring what his mother and stepfather say was constant anti-gay harassment.
-- 13-year-old Seth Walsh, a student at Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi, Calif., hanged himself from a tree after classmates taunted him repeatedly for being gay. He initially survived the attempt, but he died after ten days on life support.
-- 15-year-old Billy Lucas, a freshman at Greensburg High School in Greensburg, Ind., hanged himself the day his friends say he was suspended from school for fighting back against the bullies who abused him constantly. The harassment was often directed at what the aggressors presumed about his sexual orientation.
Outrage has spread across the country as fast as the social networking spectrum can take it. Ellen DeGeneres has made a video expressing her sadness over the recent deaths and letting people know that there are places that can help, like The Trevor Project.
Bullying has been a dirty little secret pushed to the back of the social education classroom. Children can be cruel little creatures and they will taunt about anything from wearing glasses to riding a regular school bus, two perfectly normal activities.
We as a community have to do our best to stop bullying in our school system. Most times, it’s fought with informational lectures and added prevention measures (if its fought at all).
However, there are other solutions to fixing this problem that seems to be getting larger by the incident. First, we need to be teaching our children how to be secure in themselves.
The root of this problem isn’t homosexuality. It’s the fact that many people live their lives insecure with who they are, and guess what? There’s nothing wrong with that.
At 13 and 15 years old, you don’t have any clue who you are, and if you do, then you only think you do. You shouldn’t let someone bully you because of who you think you might be, mainly because they probably don’t know who they are either.
Or maybe they do. Self-hatred is one of the worst types of hate.
Another solution? It’d be helpful if we’d teach our kids that being gay isn’t the end of the world.
So you like the same gender. In this societal climate, it’s becoming blah zea if you are out and proud. That doesn’t make news. (Well, maybe just once. But on the large, people don’t care as much.) It’s only when gay people try to do something that straight folks do, like get married or have kids or pray to God.
And besides, there are worse things to be in the world other than gay. Try living below the poverty line, or living as an ex-con.
One of the biggest ways this can be combated is if more visible people came out, especially those who are leading the anti-gay parade, but holding up a flag back at the office. But of course, we’ve all seen the difficulty in pulling someone out of the closet, so don’t count on that one as much.
But there are visible people that could make a large impact on your child’s future.
You have a gay relative. If you think you don’t, don’t worry – you do.
If you think that your child is being bullied, and even if you don’t, have that person talk to your child about being gay. Have them explain that, yes, growing up and being gay in the 21st century is difficult, but not insurmountable.
And its definitely not so hard that you can’t survive it.
Your relative can be the biggest mentor to your child, a notion that seems to be lost nowadays because no one wants to take another generation under their wing to show them the way, mostly because they don’t know it themselves.
Stopping these young children from taking their lives has to be a communitywide, grassroots effort. It needs to start in your households, in your families.
And it needs to start now.

Race is not a new concept

2010-10-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

So, there's this new fangled concept out there that suggests everything we do, say and how we react has something to do with race.
Actually, as we all know, its not a new concept. It's actually a very, very old one, but it makes me laugh that people are surprised by it.
It's been all over the news lately with Dan Gilbert's tirade, Jesse Jackson's "runaway slave" rebuttal and the Q ratings. I suspect we'll hear more about it once we have a full week to digest Ben Roethlisberger's return to the NFL, and it starts getting compared to Michael Vick's resurrection/redemption.
Let me make this clear for the doubters and disbelievers: whether or not you want to admit it, race plays a factor in EVERYTHING. Any and everything.
And it's no one's fault, except maybe the businessmen who thought of the idea that Africans would be better labor than Native Americans and Latin Americans, and set off a series of events that started and prolonged the African slave trade.
(Oh goodness. She brought up slavery.)
Yes, I brought up slavery. A subject that a lot of people don't like to talk about because, hey, it's an uncomfortable subject. But its important if you want to understand how society got to this point. You can't block it out because no one wants to acknowledge it (to the point that its being taken out of Texas schoolbooks).
It's the dark, ugly undertone of America. It's the dirty river that runs through every societal construct, from the education system to Hollywood, corporate business to professional athletics. It's why there really is a black and white America.
Hell, its the reason why you eat the cream in your Oreo first, then stick the cookie parts together and eat those. (Ok, maybe not, but you get the drift.)
Slavery is the rough outline of how everything is run in this country.
Every year in at least four different sports, athletes are strigently critiqued and interviewed until a committe decides which one they want for their franchise, at which point the pick is announced, said athlete walks across the stage and dons the insignia for their new ownership.
Some things just aren't a coincidence.
(Oh I'm sorry, it's supposed to be different because the athletes get paid millions of dollars and don't endure the same physical and emotional hardships that slaves did? Touche, but you can't argue that an athletic draft and a slave auction don't have a few similiarities.)
For those people who claim that "they don't see race," like Hannah Storm did in this video for ESPN, I'm calling your big bluff. Of course you see race.
The only people that should be allowed to say that are dogs and blind people. And I'm sure that Stevie Wonder will attest that even he can see race.
It doesn't make you a bad person if you recognize a person as black, or white, or asian. It means that you see the differences in people: physical, emotional, socioeconomic.
America has been on this step for quite some time now, this whole denial stage of what society is all about. If we ever plan to reach a point of equality, then we need to accept that race matters and start thinking and enacting solutions to break down this sickening construct.
But, then again, equality is another one of those new fangled concepts.

Today's a big day. . .

2010-09-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

. . .because my first column for shades magazine printed today! And I got a job to pay the bills!
Oh its a good day.
In other news, I was planning to write a column about Michael Vick, especially since he was awarded the starting job for the Eagles, but Jemele Hill wrote such a good one that I'm not sure what to say. Hopefully I'll think of something.

New beginnings

2010-09-20T12:20:00.001-07:00

I was chugging along, working on a few columns, when I realized that you guys have no idea what I'm doing, where I'm working, or how I got the job.
Well, I was offered an internship at Shades Magazine, an online publication dedicated to women of color. The editor is a woman I met in San Francisco at the NLGJA conference. I'll be writing columns and sports features/news. It's a national magazine so I can work from home. Exciting!
I'll post links once my pieces are posted on the site. And yes, I will continue to post here on things that I can't/won't put in the mag.
Like, how the Bay Area may be getting a WNBA team since they lost the Monarchs (yet another reason to move to San Fran) or this pretty good business story about the female owners of the Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm.
I still need to find a job to put money in my pocket, but it's looking pretty good right now, journalistically.

Romantic comedies and me

2010-09-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

On the plane ride back to Dallas, I finally got to see Just Wright with Common and Queen Latifah, and it got me to thinking: when it comes to romantic comedies, I'm a lover at heart.
That is, I love movies that love what I love, if that makes sense.
The first movie in this category for me was Love Jones. The film, with young Nia Long and Larenz Tate, is a love story wrapped around writing and poetry. Tate is an author and poet, and Long is a photographer. It was a match made in literary heaven.
I remember at the time, I was just getting into my writing (as a kid in high school) and I thought the fact that they went to a poetry spot was cool. I never thought there were places in Dallas like that. Little did I know.
Second is definitely Love & Basketball. This movie was basically the defining film of my high school years. I considered it my life in many ways. Longtime friend/love interest re-enters life after many years, still share a love of sports, happily ever after. Of course, my version didn't end with me playing for the Sparks, or in a happily ever after, but I got to fall in love with Sanaa Lathan, so I don't see a downside.
Speaking of Ms. Lathan, Brown Sugar is another film I love. Along with sports, I've got a huge love for music. Yes, Love & Basketball and Brown Sugar have very similar plotlines with the whole friends-getting-together thing going on, but is there ever too much Mos Def? And Rin Tin Tin. I mean, the ho is mine.
Well folks, Just Wright falls into this same line. Mixing sports with real life plotlines (always the godmother, never the bride) and cameos by Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard put this movie on my shelf, although I don't know how believable Common is as a shooting guard.
By the way, can you tell that I'm a fan of black love?

Tiger's Baby Daddy Blues Clues

2010-09-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

I hope Tiger Woods never becomes the greatest golfer ever.
I hope he never passes Jack Nicklaus’ career majors mark.
I hope he crashes and burns at the Ryder Cup.
I hope it gets so bad, that he has to step away from the game for an indefinite amount of time, and never returns.
Please, don’t take me as a hater. I’m not trying to beat down the man solely because of his past.
I’m standing up for Sam Alexis and Charlie Axel, Tiger’s children with now ex-wife Elin Nordrgren.
They are the only clear casualties I see in this “All is fair in love and golf” showdown that’s played out over the last few months.
First, after his drive around the block in November scrambled tabloids all over the world, Tiger admits that he hasn’t been able to practice as much as he would like, which, according to him, affected his game. His admission basically said that because he was spending so much time with his kids, he couldn’t devote every waking hour to practice, something I’m guessing he was doing in addition to setting up rendezvous with porn stars while out on tour.
Then, a day after finalizing his divorce from Nordegren, he miraculously shoots a 65 at the Barclays, finally putting him on a leaderboard this year. (He didn’t do so well after the first round, thank God.)
To me, that sends a clear message to Sam and Charlie that Daddy can’t play golf and be daddy at the same time.
Hey, if parenting is too much for Tiger to fit into his schedule, then I can respect that. Lots of people have to choose between what they love to do and their kids. The only difference is – they choose their kids.
Tiger, however, has chosen golf, jumping back onto the course way before time, and trying to enjoy every third round faceplant that he’s made.
And if he continues to choose golf, he will undoubtedly get to be the Tiger of old, intimidating competitors before the first tee time and doing things with a putter that shouldn’t be sanctioned by the PGA.
Which is fine. Everyone loves a good redemption story, but I’m tired of seeing those kinds of happy endings – the ones where the athlete overcomes adversity in his personal life to get back on the field and return to original form.
Boring.
One of the reasons we wanted Tiger’s success was because of the game’s history. Blacks were, at one time, not allowed to play the courses that Tiger torched earlier this decade, and were limited to carrying someone’s clubs.
Definitely not the case anymore, and even though there aren’t other African-Americans on the tour reblazing trails, I think we’ve established ourselves on the links.
We haven’t, however, reestablished ourselves in our own homes, and fathers haven’t reestablished themselves as strong foundations, not with the trend of single-parent mothers holding down the fort.
Tiger had a strong paternal foundation in Earl Woods, the man who toted a young prodigy with him to tournaments and put a three-iron in his hand early. So far I haven’t seen Tiger following suit.
I’d like to see Tiger concentrate on following in his father’s footsteps – showing his kids that he loves them more than five birdies on a back nine. He’ll never be out of the conversation as one of the world’s greatest golfers, but he needs to avoid a more difficult talk he’ll have to have in a few years.
The one where his children ask him why he wasn’t there.

NLGJA Friends - How many of us made them?

2010-09-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not a newbie when it comes to this convention thing.
I've been to more than a few over the years through The Shorthorn - if I had to guess, about seven - so when it came time to travel to San Francisco for the NLGJA Student Project, I was looking forward to meeting people more than actually working.
The one thing I can say over any other convention I've attended is that, during my week in California, I made friends, not just contacts.
Part of the reason was that it wasn't a huge conference. Yes, there were a lot of people there, but not too many that by the second or third day, you still didn't recognize anyone. The faces got familiar the more you walked around and introduced yourself to people.
Making friends at professional conferences is hard because often times, people are so focused on getting a job, or helping you get a job, that they forget that you are a person, and that you have interests.
Best example I can give is from Friday night. There was a Women's Networking Dinner after the day's sessions were over. Partly by chance, and partly because we had already made a small connection earlier in the day, I decided to sit next to Karen Bailis, senior news editor at Newsday, pictured right. I'm a sports person, and had heard that she was a big fan but didn't work in the department, so the motivation to try and sell myself wasn't as prevalent. I really just wanted to talk about sports.
And apparently so did she, because we ended up talking for around two hours. We barely ate. We discussed everything from the media's coverage of WNBA basketball, women's basketball in general, my purple faux pas, Lebron James and I don't know what else.
In the middle of the conversation, I couldn't help but say how much I was enjoying the talk. I can't tell you how hard it is to find other women who know how to have a conversation about sports. I mean, it was so good that I almost didn't want to go out with the other Student Project members. In the end, she had to coax me to go.
Those type of connections, the ones that aren't job-motivated, are a rarity at professional conferences, especially if you don't already know anyone. Matter of fact, those type of connections are rare period.
And because of that two hour sports banter, it seemed like other people in the conference started to flock to me, to talk about sports and to introduce themselves.
After the conference, when you are sending thank you emails, attempting to keep in touch and stay updated, once the pleasantries have been stretched as far as they go, you need more to stand on.
At this year's NLGJA conference, I definitely laid a strong foundation.

I am working. . .

2010-09-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

And I've got site links to prove it.
Yesterday I went to a Giants game ($13 for three innings of baseball) and, though I didn't plan to, wrote a small column for the NLGJA student project web site, mostly because I didn't want to feel like I wasn't doing anything this morning. Please check it out. It's the first time I've worked with SoundSlides in a while, so let me know what you think.
Earlier in the day, I created an audio slideshow and edited an audio story about The Beat Museum, a place dedicated to the memory of beatniks Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, among others.

The things we leave ourselves

2010-08-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

When I was first discovering the internet, I was 16 in high school, and my experience was limited to a few inquiries: finding pictures of Mickey Mouse that I could color, reading articles on mtv.com and looking up song lyrics.
I remember because for the past few days I've been digging in my mother's storage room, retrieving boxes from my adolescense and organizing them, throwing away what I really don't need and keeping what I'd like to have. Some things that have been saved from recycling have been old high school sports magazines predicting the next big superstars (Candice Parker and Dwight Howard included). Others are writing assignments from school, poetry packets that put together using Disney character stationery.
While reading and reminiscing, however, I found something that made me smile, and with it, comes a story.
Once I decided that sports journalism was "it" for me, I began looking for people that I could look up to. Searching for mentors from afar, you could say. I wanted to find someone who's writing hit hard, but made sense. That person was Michael Wilbon.
For me, he was funny, charismatic and intelligent. You could tell that he loved his job, and knew what he was talking about. I found him once my mom got cable again, and I spent my afternoons with him and Tony Kornheiser, so much so that mom soon wished she didn't get cable at all. All I wanted to watch was ESPN, lol.
During my journalism class, after my daily duties, I logged into The Washington Post's web site and read everything I could by Wilbon. The ones I particularly liked, I printed and paper clipped. On the front, I wrote in pencil, "This is what you are working toward!!"
Imagine finding that nearly six years later, when your journalistic career is on life support by all accounts, and you've got the biggest week of your life starting on Monday.

Urge to write

2010-08-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

. . .has been hitting me hard lately.
This morning, after hearing of Brett Favre's apparent decision to finally retire at 9:30 a.m., I started typing, originally to criticize him for yet again leaving another team in his dust, struggling to replace what he brought to the table with subpar quarterbacks. But after listening to the countless analysts, ex-players, ex-coaches and reporters that ESPN woke up out of their sleep for their "much-valued" opinions on the subject, i've softened my stance considerably, especially considering that he announced only a few days into training camp and that this is probably it.
The only reason Favre would retire after leading a stacked Vikings team to within one game of the Super Bowl HAS to be because of the ankle. It's purely physical, because mentally this guy can and would play football until his knees gave out like Kyle on South Park after he had surgery to be black.
All and all I'm happy with the decision. Hopefully he stays retired because his he has any inkling that he can still play, ANY AT ALL, he will most definitely be back in another uniform.
In other news, I wrote a few notes down after Terrell Owens signed with the Cincinnati Bengals last week, and they boil down to this: admitted friends Owens and Chad Ochocinco took a page from the book of Miami and upgraded their relationship from just buddies to teammates.
In interviews, Ochocinco admitted to have played a part in getting Owens to Cincinnati, much like Dwayne Wade did more than a little to pull James (and Bosh to a lesser extent) to Miami. I even dubbed this summer "The summer of Friend Agency." Clever, huh? Here's everything:
With Terrell Owens signing with the Cincinnati Bengals on July 27, I hereby remake the summer of free agency to the summer of “friend” agency.
Given Owens personality and past antics, it makes sense that one of his best friends would be Chad Ochocinco. And with both parties doing less ball signing and inputting more seriousness into their careers, it only makes sense that they would join forces on a stacked team to try to take over the AFC North.
I can’t be convinced that LeBron James’ decision to join the Miami Heat was based on winning potential alone. He wanted to join friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The same can be said with Owens. Sure, Cincinnati made huge strides last year, going 10-6 and making the playoffs before losing to the Jets. But Owens wanted to prove the nay-sayers wrong, and, in his usual prideful way, he wanted to do it in the most dramatic way possible – with another volatile element on a team where past players have accumulated rap sheets that put rappers to shame.
So, I'm trying to stay in the writing groove. Hopefully there will continue to be things to write about that peak my interest.
Speaking of which, two former Cavalier players printed full page ads in Cleveland-area newspapers thanking the towns for their continued support: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who left the Cavs for the Heat weeks after LeBron did, put one in the Plain-Dealer, and James printed one in Akron's paper, apparently omitting Cleveland in the thanks. Do I blame him? No. His allegiance has always been Akron, his hometown. Should he have at least mentioned Cleveland? Yes, but that wouldn't have changed the minds of those who view him in Ohio as the antichrist if, after a month of saying nothing and leaving that city nearly on fire, he said, "Hey, by the way, 'preciate it."
He's doing what I expect him to do, which by default means that he is the type of person I think he is.
Also, while in San Francisco, I'm thinking of taking in a Giants game since it seems I've been swept up in this baseball thing. They play the Rockies while I'm on the West Coast, so I'm hoping to see that sometimes high-powered offense in full effect. And take pictures.

Updates and thoughts

2010-07-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I had to significantly cut down my posting because I haven't had access to a computer. Lord knows I've wanted to write, especially since there is so much going on sports wise (i.e. Lebron's decision, Rangers bag Cliff Lee, overall suckiness of the ESPYs).
The good news is, however, that I'll be traveling to San Francisco this August for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's annual conference. I won a spot on its student project, which means I get to rub shoulders with people in the industry, and my main goal is to come away with a job offer.
I recently moved and that has not been easy to say the least. Every once in a while I'm not very positive and right now I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just the darkness all around, but this conference will help me get back into the industry, so I'm excited. I'll be taking tons of pictures, and maybe a blog or too, so be on the lookout.
On a sports note, I want to get out some feelings about LeBron before it gets too old. The only person I've read who seems to feel how I feel about the issue is, of course, my main man Scoop Jackson. LeBron's decision was, for the most part, based on family. If you watched More Than A Game, you saw how James came up, and how those four guys became, and still are, his backbone. He went to Miami for the opportunity to relive high school - to play basketball with some guys he considered brothers AND win.
He found the first in Cleveland, but he never wanted to be the center of the spotlight, and he put up with it for as long as he could. He carried that team on its back for as long as possible. He waited to management to surround him with players who could help, and they couldn't do that. So when the opportunity came for him to leave - which I think he would have done either way - he went toward the team that had both components, proven winners and proven brothers.
He should have let Cleveland know before that horrid ESPN special that shouldn't have happened, but I don't blame him for not doing it. But really, people expected a guy who ran from confrontation in the playoffs to tell mini-Mark Cuban that he was leaving? Really?
As far as his legacy goes, to me that was lost when he failed to show up in the Boston series. That's when I figured out he would never be Michael Jordan. Plus, he was never that type of player. If you watched the documentary, again you'll see that Lebron isn't the type to be a global icon. Sure, he wants to be one because that means your family and friends never have to want for anything ever in life. And, he's an only child. Global icon statuses solidifies his system in the world forever.
But is he an icon? No. He's a kid with the body of a man that plays exceptional basketball WHEN he's surrounded by great players. He doesn't have the alpha dog-super competitive gene in his body, and people should stop hoping that he gets it. Because all he wants is to play ball, hang with his bros and take care of his extended family.

How 'Bout "Corrective" Thinking?

2010-05-27T21:51:00.001-07:00

First, let me say that one of the most irritating things that happens to me is hearing about a story or some kind of atrocity years after it's first happened. I understand that with the way the law works, it takes longer for a case to actually make measurable headway, but news of reprehensible actions shouldn't take three and four years to hit the surface.
With that said, today I was browsing through the "Sites I Frequent" section of this blog, updating links and actually frequenting the sites, since I haven't really been doing that, outside of ESPN, Facebook and Cyanide & Happiness. I read through Shannon's newest postings, re-reminded myself that FemmeFan really should be FemmeFootballFan and fell back in love with TrueHoop. Then I jumped to Pat Griffin's blog and read her musings on everything sporting and lesbian.
There I found a post about Eudy Simelane. Eudy was a midfielder for a women's soccer team and a gay rights activist in South Africa. Last April, she was raped and killed in a fashion now coined as "corrective rape," where a group of men rape and beat a known lesbian in an attempt to cure her homosexuality.
The Youtube video, posted with the article written for guardian.co.uk, talks of her case and interviews out lesbians who have experienced corrective rape, and men who support the action.
First reactions spanned sadness to anger. Images, sound bites and personal encounters flashed in my mind. I thought of the scene in Valentine's day where NFL quarterback Sean Jackson, played by Eric Dane, comes out and says, "I'm gay, and I'm gonna play."; the chapter in StaceyAnn Chin's Other Side of Paradise where she is cornered in a bathroom and told that she will be shown how to be a woman; the men in my life who love me, but admittedly don't understand or condone my homosexuality, calling it unnatural and not normal in intellectual conversation. Homosexuality has permeated mainstream culture in a big way, but progressive thinking has not.
When James Baldwin fielded questions about his sexuality in the 1980s, his response was simply, "Why does it matter?" He was able to avoid AND gracefully answer inquiries back then because, frankly, there weren't nearly as many people who wanted to know about James Baldwin's sexual exploits. Can you realistically give that answer nowadays? People certainly have. There's even a phrase to define people that live out private lives but have yet to come out.
Personally, I'm not entirely sure what my response will be when I get asked those questions in the future. I know that I don't want to not recognize a large part of who I am. I've lived in the closet for a bit, even spending a time living two separate lives, and when I finally came out to my mother, and effectively, my family, I promised myself that I could never do that ever again. Most people who know me now know that I'm gay, and the people who aren't ok with it are way outnumbered by those who are. I'd probably not name a partner before I got back in the closet.
The thing that bothers me the most about "corrective rape" and the perpetrators of this crime is that they say its un-African to be gay. They shouldn't try to be a man, they are women, and women should not be with women. It's as if I'm denouncing my African heritage because I'm "choosing" (their words, not mine) to be gay.
Even worse is that I know African-American men who feel this same way. They, like their African-born brethren, don't have much sympathy for gays and lesbians. They aren't as far extreme as the men in the video are, saying that they don't care if they are raped or killed, but I believe they are certainly on the same path.
Any man who feels threatened because of the existence of lesbians and gays needs to reevaluate themselves because there are some insecurities that have nothing to do with what's going on outside of their bodies.
Because I know who I am, how I got to where I am, and am secure in that statement. And like the women in the video, and every other lesbian I know, any amount of ass kickings and rapes isn't going to teach me how to be a woman. Maybe you need to learn how to be a man.
If you want to read more, check out ESPN's E:60 on Eudy. And there'll probably be a poem coming out of this sometime soon.

Tuesday Night Nuggets

2010-05-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here's my thoughts on a few of the happenings in the sports world from the past weeks:
So Dirk, according to sources, has decided to opt out of his contract with the Mavs. When I first heard, I was surprised, mostly because I had written this bitchin' column about him staying. But not only have I not really heard much about Wade's future team possibilities, I haven't heard much about Dirk either. A friend pointed out that this opens the door for a Dirk-Nash reunion, which scares me in several ways. My hope is that he re-signs. I hate having really good players leave the D and flourish other places UNLESS you are Michael Finley and totally deserved it.
ESPN reported that maybe Phil Jackson maybe could go to the Bulls. I like this idea, but the more I think about it, the more I see Phil Jackson as a man who wouldn't want to go back and try to relive some long-lost glory days in the Chi. Yes, he could totally do it, and be extremely successful, but it'd be like deliberately tainting a great memory. If he goes back and the Bulls suck under him (hehe), all those great years with MJ will be tarnished, just a little. Think about it: Jackson left the Bulls right after MJ retired for the second time. He's not about to mess that up. (update: I was right) However, I will say this. . .
Lebron would be a nut not to follow Phil Jackson wherever he goes if he leaves LA. He's the coach for this guy, no doubt. No other big name coach in the league, outside of maybe Pat Riley, has the chops to cultivate this young talent. Jackson is the custom made star player builder. Raw on talent and he will mould you into a superstar because #1 dude is a stellar combination of respectable swagger and superhuman genius and #2 he wants a championship worse than you do. I mean, he's got 10 rings already, he turns 65 this year but looks and acts 48 and everytime he fields retirement questions, he just throws the media some retort that suggests "I'm thinking about cause maybe,. . . but yea, no." I hope someone told LBJ this.
On a similar note, Cavs fired Mike Brown after five successful seasons. Can't say I don't blame them. That's the thing about growth. In the league, you can't stop growing and you can't stop improving. You can only hit the ceiling two, maybe three times before they start thinking to replace you. Regular season champs, high seedings, Eastern Conference champs, that's great. But after you do all that, you've got maybe two years to win a championship, because anything less is failure and in Cleveland, especially with so many people on pins and needles about this free-agent period, they are desperate for success. (sidenote: This column by Scoop is right on point.)
Now, I was one of the people happiest about having such a sports savvy president, but when does it begin to get tiresome? AP wrote stories about Obama's NCAA bracket, his quote on the UConn women's b-ball team, and his thoughts on the BCS. Do I really need to know everything that the president thinks about sports? Is that relevant? Call me when he's doing something somewhat questionable, but we let it slide cause of who he is. Like giving Bill Belchick coaching tips, or starting a mixed double tennis tournament with Michelle as his partner. Cause really, I could care less who he thinks will win the NBA title. And, um, don't you have a country to attempt to fix?
Maybe ESPN is just one of the many doing this. . .

Pro-Am

2010-05-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

The best thing about being a non-professional sports columnist is seeing a professional sports columnist write on something you just discussed. I've had that happen two times in last three posts.

After I wrote how Dirk wouldn't dare leave the Mavs, Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw wrote that Dirk is definitely leaving Dallas. . .sometime. Not now, but sometime. I'm a Cowlishaw fan, but this one I couldn't get it, mainly because I didn't understand the point of the piece until I reread it and scanned it a few more times.

And, after I wrote my little perspective on LeBron after the Cavs dropped. . flopped. . imploded (man, what's the right verb for this?) tail-between-their-dignity'ed Game 5, one of my fav writers, The Sports Guy, penned this. It basically breaks down how James, coach Mike Brown, and the Cavaliers handed over the game, and the ENORMOUS repercussions of the loss. I just love the way he lays everything on the table.

If you've got time, take a look at both of those. They are worth it.

Take on LeBron

2010-05-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Every time someone asks for my pick of these NBA playoffs, automatically I say Cleveland.
Today, I actually asked myself why.
What legitimate reason do I have to think this guy is going to win the championship this season? Or any season?
I haven't seen him play a full game. I haven't studied his numbers. All I've been going on is the look in his eyes when he takes over a game, and the swag he presents in interviews.
Nothing else.
The real reason I've been behind James, and probably will still be behind him, is simple - like every other avid basketball fan, executive, commissioner, player, sports journalist, columnist, barbershop patron, high school manager and any other group of round ball loving fanatics in the world, I'm looking at this guy to be the next Michael Jordan. Yes folks, I'm so on the LeBron bandwagon, I'm holding the sign in front of the car in the Bron-Bron parade.
Do you blame me? How long has this league went without one huge superstar who overshadows the rest of the players without question. Before MJ, there was Bird, Magic, Dr. J, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell (obviously not in this order), Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others. Once Jordan left, we had his supposed-to-be Air Apparent, Kobe. But Kobe's getting old, and the league is lacking that one dominant player again.
Even with all the championship teams since Kobe took his bunch with Shaq, one player hasn't completely stood up and said "This is my league." Definitely not Tim Duncan, who I have begun to doubt even has that gene in him.
We need Lebron to be that guy you tell your kids about AND have the story end with all his championship rings. Spectular plays are nice, and with the internet, definitely will have a longer shelf life, but without a ring he's just Allen Iverson with a stronger, more stable (if that's even possible with how much his mom moved when he was young) childhood.
My worry is now, especially after his Cavs fell behind 3-2 to the Celtics, that we (meaning the people and the media) put too much stock in this young guy out of Ohio. When I watched More Than A Game, which had me crying by the end, I didn't just see a dominate player decimating high school kids like a real life, basketball version of Bo Jackson in Techmo Bowl. I saw a kid whose teammates set up him tremendously, and whose athletic ability more than anything else set him up above the other nine guys on the court.
Now, again, I've never seen this guy play in action, and I'm sure once I actually sit down and watch a game, or save up and buy a ticket, he'll do something to blow my mind, or I'll see something and think that there's no way this kid is not creating a dynasty with this team. Hell, I thought I saw that look plenty of times in highlights. It's one of the explanations I was giving people as to why the Cavs would win the title - because I saw the same look in his eyes that I saw in Jordan's, and because, like Jordan, James tasted that bitterness of losing in the Finals. He was so pissed that I was sure this season, there would be no games. He had to be out for blood this time around.
But I'm definitely not getting the sense that he's got that killer instinct, at least in this Boston series. Maybe his elbow hurts, heck, I don't know.
But Jordan played with the flu, and until James either sucks it up and turns in a performance worthy of talk with that game, he won't be the savior that every one pegged him to be for the league.
But I'll still hold the sign in hopes that he'll get his act together.
It's for the kids.

Another One Bites The Dust

2010-05-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I saw the carnage for the first time.

Mangled metal and concrete jutted out of the ground like a post-apocalyptic war movie.

Hell, it may be the apocalypse - the beginning of the end. At the very least, it is for the last of my sports loyalties.

A little over a month ago, demolition crews imploded Texas Stadium, the Cowboys' longtime home and Texas' biggest landmark second to only the Alamo. For many, it meant new beginnings, a brighter (more profitable) future and a time of reflection on almost 40 years of football glory.

For me, it meant once again that progress had toppled another sacred childhood memory.

I can't say which one hurt the most: Texas Stadium's implosion or the demolition of Reunion Arena, the former home of the Dallas Mavericks. I make it a point to not have favorite teams, players or coaches when it comes to professional sports because the loyalty that used to permeate the big leagues is a rarity nowadays. The one constant I've found, at least in North Texas, has been the arenas they play in.

As a kid, me and my mom would buy nosebleed seats to Reunion to watch the Mavericks, who were at this time still gasping for air at the bottom of the NBA's standings, play whichever dominate team was in town. I loved it not only for the hot dogs, or the diehard fans wearing merchandise with that cowboy hat-wearing blue basketball.

No, it was the intangibles - the tilt of the upper level seats that made you feel you would fall down the steep stairs any minute; listening to my mom as she gushed over Shaquille O'Neal when he flashed across the Jumbotron; believing with every bone in me that the hype crew would shoot one of those t-shirts out of a big cannon at me; and lastly, at nine years old, knowing that a few floors down, professional basketball players were doing what I love, and journalists were there, jotting it all down.

I used to wonder who was commentating the game on the sideline. Was it Mike Tirico? Mike Breen? Doug Collins? Sometimes, the curiosity got so bad that I'd fake a bathroom break to watch the televisions above the concession stand, hoping to hear enough of the voices to recognize one.

I didn't watch Reunion's demolition. I had heard about it, read a few of the stories about how the city was considering using the space for something else since the building was going largely unused.

But that's impossible, I told myself. That building's filled with so much history. They would never tear it down.

So, the first time I drove east on I-30 headed to my hometown, my mouth almost fell out of the window when I realized that there was something missing. A reason why I could clearly see the BELO building. Where was the building with the red top?

And that same feeling came as I rounded State Highway 114 yesterday. The familiar white dome was missing. Rather, it was in pieces, littering the land where I got a horrendous sun burn during a local radio station concert that featured MC Hammer and Salt N Pepa; where security chased me for being inside the stadium long after a game because I thought the black woman standing on the field was sideline reporter (and my idol) Pam Oliver and I had to get closer; where I watched Emmitt Smith run out of the tunnel and thought, "I've got to be the luckiest girl in the world."

All a really big pile of rubble now.

I can't say exactly why sports arenas seem to be collapsing in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex lately. It's probably just coincidence, or dumb luck. But there is one thing I know: when my college finishes building its new special events center designed to replace one of the coolest collegiate gyms in the country, one more sacred place will be gone forever.

And this time, I'll cry like a baby.

The Dirk Plan

2010-05-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

The big question for Dirk Nowitski now that the Mavs have been bounced out of the playoffs in the first round once again is whether he should stay.
His contract is coming to an end, and with this summer having the best free agent market in the league ever, I'm sure a few teams wouldn't mind having a 7-foot German dude who can shoot and drive on their squads. But should he ask for a trade?
As far as loyalty is concerned - and in my experience with the league it may not be that far - he may not want to leave Dallas. He has already expressed in other interviews that he wants to retire with the Mavericks, and that if he won a championship anywhere else it wouldn't as sweet. I tend to believe him since he has shown a noble allegiance to the franchise over the years, putting in unbelievable performances and showing in dealing with disgruntled teammates that he's a good guy.
But now the onus falls on billionaire owner Mark Cuban, because the current team structure has shown that it can't win when it counts. He's brought in big names to try to get the Mavs back to the Finals, including trading off building blocks like Devin Harris for trusty Lincoln log Jason Kidd, and shipping out Josh Howard for instant contributors Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Those moves have definitely boded well, but even with all the money spent, Dallas ended up with the same result: a first-round exit, and an empty drawing board for 2011.
For me, the answer seems obvious. While teams with and without the cap space will be clammering for LeBron James like lobsters stuck in a boiling pot, I suggest Dallas follow what I like to call "The Boston Theory."
(note: Let me say first that "The Boston Theory" is not properly named. The 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics were not the first team to implement this strategy. They were simply the first team I could think of that did this and were immediately successful. If you know which team did this first - it doesn't even have to be in the same sport - then please, by all means, rudely correct me so that I name this theory aptly and give credit where due.)
The Boston area had become accustomed to winning championships. The Patriots had created a dynasty with big-brained Bill Belichick and America's favorite Tom Brady, and the Celtic faithful were dying for a ring.
Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge were under the pressure cooker to do something, and do it fast, or their time in green would be over. Enter opportunity No. 1: The C's got the No. 5 pick and traded for downtrodden Ray Allen and the rights to Glen Davis. That led to an already angry Kevin Garnett falling into Boston's lap since he wanted out of Minnesota. Placing Allen and Garnett with Paul Pierce, who was probably sitting in the back with a glass of scotch smiling, put three frustrated, extremely talented sub-par superstars (sub-par not meant as a slight) in a weak conference. Eight months later, they had a 17th banner.
The Mavericks may not need a third dominant player to get to a title. But they do need two. And alongside Dirk, I propose Dallas pursues Dwayne Wade.
And by pursue, I mean hunt down like a wildebeast in the African Savannah.
We need him. With Kidd at point, Butler at shooting guard, Wade as the three, Dirk a big four and Haywood as center, the Mavericks could do some damage in the Western Conference. More damage than just landing a high seed. Because the Western Conference is not used to Wade's dramatic style of play. Just thinking about it makes me happy. The look on Tim Duncan's face. Ok I'm off topic.
There will be those who won't be too happy about the man who celebrated his first championship on our floor jumping ship to this oceanliner. But they won't be mad when he's celebrating another championship on the same floor in a few years.
In closing: Dirk needs to stay. Then he needs to go to Miami and bring back Dwayne Wade. Whatever he needs to do to make him stay. Introduce him to Texas high school football, barbecue and Ghostbar. Buy him a cowboy hat, Erykah Badu concert tickets and a desperate housewife from Plano.
(Just kidding. Not from Plano.)

My Sports Story

2010-04-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

Sports has always been a part of my life.
When I was a kid, I spent nearly every non-school day in front of the television, watching whatever sports I could find.
I got a television in my room in third grade - an old push button 14" with no remote and two different frequency receivers (VHF & UHF). It wasn't pretty. It looked more like watching TV on your grandmother's microwave oven.
But on that screen I watched countless games, and have some of my fondest memories, and like all highlights, I remember them in single game moments:

At age seven, I cried with Michael Jordan after he completed his first three-peat, knowing that I was watching the greatest basketball player ever. It was the first time I had ever cried over sports. At first I felt stupid for shedding tears with a man hundreds of miles from me and I hadn't even won anything. But after that, I realized that I connected with the guy on the other side of the country. I felt his pain as my own, and I couldn't help but shed tears. It always made me feel connected to him in a way I've rarely experienced. There were a lot of Jordan moments since the prime of his career came during the time I spent most at home. His famous play-off of Bryant Russell. The countless "I-don't-know-what-to-tell-you-I-am-this-good" shrugs. Scottie Pippen helps him off the court. That's one reason I love being an 80s baby so much - I didn't miss any MJ.
I passed years in my room by the sports schedule. New Years was college football. Spring Break was March Madness, which made me fall in love with Marcus Camby at UMass and Mateen Cleaves at Michigan State. Summer meant Wimbeldon, and maybe the Olympics. The start of the school year was the start of the football season, which turned every Sunday into football Sunday, and inspired me to write my first column for my high school newspaper titled Football Is God In Texas.
I decided the only way I was going to make it to Wimbeldon was to either play tennis or get a job as one of those ballgirls on the court, shagging balls so fast that the audience forgets that you are actually human. Center Court was beautiful and the place seemed so majestic on television. Add on the fact that Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi played phenomenal games there, and I wanted to go even more. And I didn't mind the parity on the women's side as much. Steffi Graf was rounding the end of her career, and the Williams sisters hadn't burst onto the scene yet, so most of the tennis I watched involved the two big male stars, with John McEnroe calling the matches. I loved the pure psychics of clobbering a ball til it goes 200 mph.
The second time I bawled over sports was when Kim Perrot lost her battle to cancer in 1999. I remember the following games being so emotional for the Houston Comets. Tina Thompson and Cynthia Cooper spent the day in tears, but still won every game. When they lifted Kim's number into the rafters after the team won its third championship, I couldn't help but let the tears flow. I loved Kim's style of play. Those scrappy guards always have a place in my heart.
In 1996, I fell in love with Marion Jones. She was crowned American's track sweetheart: a beautiful woman with a beautiful smile, wholesome and humble to the core with a competitive nature and blazing talent that would've made MJ proud. I watched her that summer much like everyone else - in constant awe. Even now, with her finally taking a shot at basketball - something I always wanted her to do anyway - I'm already planning a trip to San Antonio to see her play the Silver Stars in person. I would go to Oklahoma, but I can't support owners who worked to steal the Sonics from Seattle.
The baby boomer generation had Howard Cosell. I had Bob Costas. With all the sports games I was watching, one voice remained a constant. It was his. It got to the point that I could listen to him commentate making a Subway sandwich. Some games I didn't want to watch if he wasn't calling them. I gained an innumerable amount of respect for him because its got to be hard to spend game after game trying to create chemistry with Tom Hammond. When I started getting serious about journalism, I told people I wanted to be the female Bob Costas.

For me, sports became a sibling. Somewhere I could feel like I fit in. I worked hard to make sure that the guys on my block would respect me and my knowledge of sports. To me, it wasn't all about stats.

It was about Jordan's release. Deion's high step. Sampras' serve. Shaq's smile. Zo's sweat. There are many more stories I could tell, stories that shaped my opinion of today's sports landscape. But I've boiled down most of my judgments to those intangibles. The ones that make you not only a great player, but a memorable one.

And all those intangibles made my childhood a memorable one, thanks to sports.

Marion Jones - a dream deferred, finally coming true

2010-03-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

As a child, I only had a few dreams that related to sports.
1) Let me experience an NBA Jam Session.
2) Somebody put Marion Jones in a basketball uniform.
The first, sadly, I didn't get to experience despite the All-Star game being mere miles from my house this season. But #2, I will see in the flesh.
The Tulsa Shock, headed by the professional basketball's equivalent to Natasha and Boris from Rocky and Bullwinkle, signed Marion Jones to a contract this month. When I heard the news, the 10-year-old in me got super excited.
Ever since I watched Jones torch the field at the Sydney Olympics (I can still see that famous opera house in my mind's eye), I've wanted to see that speedster racing up and down a 90 foot court. So I've decided that I will travel to San Antonio to see Marion play because I refuse to give my money to a franchise who has done so much to negate my childhood memories.
The interesting thing is, though, in her first press conference, Marion scoffed at the idea that this opportunity also lends itself to the redemption factor despite the fact that it'll be her first sports appearances since spending time in jail, being stripped of her medals and standing tall apologizing to everyone she let down by using PEDs.
Maybe its not the same kind of redemption since she's not returning to the same sport, but it definitely has some type of redemptive feelings. It'll be the sports industry's opportunity to see her perform clean and in an entirely different environment where she will undoubtedly be an underdog. I mean, who wins when Jones has to face Candace Parker down low, besides everybody?
But its that fiery arrogance that has always made Jones, and several other athletes, such favorites of mine, until that ill-fated day that they stand in front of 15 microphones, backtracking through those same fiery moments with fresh Visine tears.
I'm just glad that we'll get to see that famous smile, and cockiness, up close and personal.

The end is nigh

2010-02-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

*a little off topic, but warranted

I hope one day that I'm lucky enough.

In the days before her death, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes talked of life in general, how she had reached a peace she never felt before, in the documentary The Last Days of Left Eye. She had plans for the future, including releasing solo projects and delving deeper into yoga and numerology, but she never got to. She died April 25, 2002 in a car crash in Honduras, the lone fatality in a car full of eight people.

In her last interview on BET's 106 & Park, Aaliyah talked of the same types of things, almost a final monologue, a snapshot of her personality or where she was mentally before she passed on.

I remember in the days after her death, when BET dedicated an entire day to her memory, repeatedly watching that interview, thinking that maybe Aaliyah knew what was coming. That maybe she knew she wasn't going to make it back from the Bahamas. She died in a crash also, August 25, 2001 along with eight other people.

And now, watching Michael Jackson's This Is It, I get that same feeling. Near the end of the film, before practicing/performing Man in the Mirror, he tells a small audience of technicians and dancers that we are one. That he wants to show them something they've never seen, never experienced. And he tells them that this world only has four years to reverse the environmental effects that we've caused. It's plain as day.

Now, do you cast off his words as trivial, menial and holding no weight because many saw him as crazy for booking 50 concerts in London at the age of 50? Or because of the things that he did to his face and body? Or his sorted past of judicial trials, amusement park houses and tabloid covers?

Maybe enlightenment comes when you begin to see the proverbial light, when your time on earth is drawing nearer.

Biggie and Tupac had the same kind of moments. Is this coincidence?

Sure, maybe we don't get the subtle hints as they happen. But the beauty of technology is we can look back at those final moments, and look for the signs. I mean, Michael's tour was named This Is It. How much more dramatic can you get?

These artists weren't defined by their entire body of work. It basically boiled down to a few dozen songs, if that many. When you think of Aaliyah, automatically you think of One In A Million. Every song on that album is classic, and with the exceptions of We Need A Resolution and More Than A Woman, that's her legacy. That and the Are You That Somebody video.

Michael Jackson brings to mind a handful of huge songs, not an entire album. And although people definitely have their favorites, me included, Tupac's legacy is All Eyez On Me.

Music has always spoke to deepest part of our spirituality, so it only makes sense that the musicians we revere so deeply are the ones that have the most self-awared messages.

As an artist, I hope that one day, through all the stories, columns and poems that I've written, that I come to be defined by my greatest accomplishment. My goal is that it be my book, Playing Like A Man, which I'm working on now. I'd be ecstatic if my book was studied for its impact on African-American and gay/lesbian literature, and sports literature. It's not just a book of stories, but a study of society and the way it handles this facet of life.

A New Type of Double Consciousness

2010-02-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

*please forgive me as I try top catch up on some topics that I've been thinking about for a week or so

W.E.B. DuBois first coined the phrase double consciousness in his writing, The Souls of Black Folk, which basically says that in order for African-Americans to survive on this planet, we need to have a distinct understanding/knowledge of black America and white America. While thinking about certain theories and methods, I've been toying with the idea of a new type of double consciousness, or even a triple consciousness that pertains to African-Americans who happen to be gay. Meaning, that in order to be fully aware of yourself and your surroundings, which I think is the ultimate goal of double consciousness, as a gay African-American you need to have knowledge of three cultures: black America, white America and gay America. Without one of these areas, you won't be fully aware of yourself.
Since fully identifying as a lesbian, I've been more and more interested in the culture as it pertains to readings, events and historical references. I think its part of knowing that part of myself, and may be even adjacent to when a person, after denying a part of themselves for so long, actually knowledges said part, then they completely immerse themselves in that culture or knowledge base.
As it pertatins to my book, I believe that many times athletes experience their acceptance of their own sexuality #1 at a young age and #2 while playing some type of team sport. Because playing on a team creates a family atmosphere that is more comfortable and allows a person to be comfortable with themselves, therefore free to express themselves however they choose (another point that I will elaborate on more fully another time), it sometimes manifests by creating an atmosphere where women are comfortable enough to come out of the closet. And when they do this, they may begin to search for others like them. For example, if a female tennis player comes out in high school, she may research other lesbian tennis players, looking for someone's footsteps to follow, and ultimately find Billie Jean King.
In so, someone wanting to be fully aware of who they are and where they came from will always look to find out about themselves through all angles that they are associated (i.e. a hispanic Roman Catholic whose father is Jamaican, detailed, I know).
Can you actually compare this theory that I've hopefully adequately explained to what DuBois was talking about? Well, I'm not sure. Double consciousness is, I believe, something that is inherent and it holds that sense of urgency. (i.e. you NEED both the knowledge of black and white America to survive America) I wouldn't say that you need the knowledge of gay America to survive as a gay America. There may be plenty lesbians and gay men who know nothing about Brandon Teena or Matthew Shepard. I'll admit, I knew nothing about Brandon Teena until I watched Boys Don't Cry just over a year ago, and I know women who swore by that movie when I was in middle school.
But, being that consciousness is defined as a state of awareness, I think it warrants attention.
And do you call it a new double consciousness, a triple consciousness, or just another facet of your consciousness? Triple may be a little much, because, by this theory/definition, if you come from several different backgrounds you can have that many consciousnesses, which would eventually just get ridiculous. Let's dub it a different facet of consciousness.
If you are reading this, I value what you think on the subject. It would really help me with my brainstorming, if you would write responses and let me know. I'm open for discussion!

Who Dat Talking About A Revolution?

2010-01-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

All the signs are there. The evidence is clear.

We are on the edge of a social revolution.

How do I know, you ask?

Well for one, the Saints are in the Super Bowl.

It was almost astonishing to me, in the minutes after the Saints clinched their first ever berth to the big game, the polarizing effect that that NFC Championship outcome had on people's Facebook statuses. Black people scattered across the nation, voluntarily or involuntarily, expressed a collective spectrum of happiness, from digital tears of joy to cries of redemption. Bryant Robertson, a devout fan, wrote the next morning: Woke up and the Saints are still the NFC champs....I guess it wasn't a dream...lol.

Some even immediately started making plans to see the game, by plane, train or automobile.

The rest of the racial spectrum varied from mutual excitement to sincere congratulations to no comment at all, which was very few and far between but still prevalent. Steven Rhodes, who in this case can be best described as a sympathizer, wrote after the final gun: What a game! Saints definitely deserved it!!

To me, its reminiscent of the OJ verdict. While all of black America rejoiced in the victory of a black man, white America shared a collective cringe/what-the-hell-just-happened moment.

You can't convince me that this Super Bowl doesn't scream racial war, and you've got to pick a side: black or white. The Saints, a team and a city that has had its share of horrible misfortune, from 44 years of sports futility to a government that turned it back, then took notice, then turned its back again on its own citizens after a natural disaster that they seemingly knew was coming at some point; or the Colts, quarterbacked by the NFL's and America's perfect, handsome and charismatic poster child, Peyton Manning, already hailed the best to play the game, coached by the next affirmative action selection who's real job is to be the positive racial spin that the media can capitalize on if they win.

By the way, no one expect the Saints to win. Vegas puts the line at the Colts to win by at least five, and most experts have chosen Indianapolis based on its dominant passing game, excellent pass rush and experience. Talk about an underdog.

I just pray that the NFL or any other entity doesn't have a negative effect on the game, i.e. any type of call or incident that sways the game in the Colts' favor, because then, with the way New Orleans has suffered and continued to suffer in the years since Katrina, that STATE just may spark a civil uprising. There's only so much people can take, and it seems one of the ways to seriously get under people's skin now, which used to be categorized by some act of injustice, is to simply screw with their football team.

A Saints loss will be the last straw, or maybe it won't. The revolution that Erykah Badu, Michael Jackson, Lupe Fiasco, countless rappers, actors, artists, activists, poets, teachers, street corner philosophers and people who are just fed up with this society custom made to keep every man - not just black or white or poor or disadvantaged, EVERYONE - down have been calling for to turn this government, this country, this planet around can only come when people stop allowing themselves to be stepped on.

My hope is that it starts with this football game. The last time it took an innocent black man getting his ass kicked for people to start rioting in the streets. This time, I hope that we scream for social change rather than just screaming.

Taking this thang in a new direction

2010-01-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

So, as you can see and as I've stated before, I hardly ever post here. I hardly ever do journalism anymore, especially now since I've fulfilled my journalism requirement for school. (3 cheers for that!)
However, there is something that has peaked my interest so much that I've decided to rededicate this blog to that topic.
A few months back, I decided what I wanted to write a book about. It's something that's dear to my heart that deserves to be analyzed better than what it has been. That topic is homosexuality and women's sports.
Now, there are several different avenues to take this topic, however, since I've been thinking critically about how I want to approach this topic, I've decided that the book will be part investigative/story-telling journalism and part biography as I use myself as a sort of backdrop or thin plotline to piece together and elaborate/drive home a few of my points.
As I get closer to starting to write the book - because right now it's obviously just in the planning stages - I will be able to book interviews and expand the overall idea. I suspect that some ideas and concepts will fall by the wayside once I start talking to people.
So, this site will now be used as a way for me to put my thoughts down digitally, think out certain ideas/theories/concepts.
Another thing that will be helping me come up with good solid ideas for this book will be my classes. I decided to take an African-American Literature class and a Gay/Lesbian Literature class this semester, and so far, nearly every class I attend yields some sort of idea toward the book's development.
I can't tell you how excited I am about this book project. I always figured that I would write a book, I just never really thought what the topic would be.
Oh, and the name of my book will be Playing Like A Man. I know it will have a sub-title, I'm just not sure what it will be.
So check back regularly now, there will be many posts to come.

Now, that's Shocking

2009-10-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

*This is something I wrote right when it was announced that the Detroit Shock would be moving to Tulsa. I'm sure had I sat down and really concentrated, I would have had more to say, but alas, that was not meant to be.

Maybe I'm old school.
Maybe I haven't grown up and accepted the world as it is.
A business.
Where you will be kicked out of your apartment building so a football team can build a stadium.
Where you have to fill out a form that may or may not guarantee you food.
Where a team you've followed since you were a child can be moved at the drop of a hat.
Because everywhere I look, something is showing me that the things that we hold close as a society or getting thrown aside in lieu of the bottom line.
Tuesday, the WNBA announced that the Detroit Shock, winners of three championships, will be moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma for financial reasons.
This isn't a team that bottom-fed a league of unappreciateds. The Shock were a quality squad that, with Bill Lambieer, brought a legacy that didn't have many stories that nonfans could relate to.
But, as we've seen with women's sports, legacy doesn't mean squat if you aren't making money off said legacy.

And so we meet again

2009-07-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted on this site. Like a long time. And that's mostly because, dare I say it, journalism has taken a back seat to many other things in my life.
Am I still interested in journalism? Yes. Do I still want to have a job in journalism? Honestly, I don't know, and that's because I see the way that the world is turning and I'm not necessarily sure if I want a hand in that.
The closest I've gotten to journalism in the past month is watching the final season of The Wire, which by the way if you haven't seen, you most definitely need to start watching. (From the beginning. It's addicting.) I'm still keeping my eyes open for jobs or internships in the area, but I probably won't start doing actual work until the fall semester starts in August.
What are the other things in my life pulling me away from a once huge passion? Well, the biggest is my journey of self-discovery, which ironically, started in Galveston. I've been learning about, accepting, loving and changing myself - excuse me, evolving my self. One of my main lessons is focus, so I've been trying to focus my energies on discovering who I am, learning about myself and loving myself. So I haven't been focused on much else.

Gold, Frankensense and Respect

2008-12-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

*This is the full version of this column. I was so irate and upset about the WNBA disbanding the Comets, that I wrote this in just a few hours. An edited version will run in tomorrow's Shorthorn.

I initially wanted to write this column as a letter to Santa outlining my Christmas sports list.
Then I read this: WNBA disbands Comets because new owners couldn't be found.
The story, not found on the ESPN.com front page but on its Women’s Basketball tab, was the basic Associated Press copy with an inset link to Michelle Voepel’s column about the team and how it led up to this day.
So, after much consideration, here’s my shortened list: All I really want for Christmas is some genuine respect for women’s basketball.
Female basketball players in the country don’t have much to aspire to. Before the WNBA, young girls were still clinging to the notion of becoming the first woman in the NBA, not knowing or realizing the level of sexist discrimination they would have to encounter at the very application of this idea.
Now, most realize after high school that if they want to play professionally there are only two options: live thousands of miles away overseas just to make decent money and be treated like a superstar by people who don’t even speak your language, or stay in the United States and make less than $100,000 a year to play non-televised games for semi-sold out crowds.
And maybe, if they are Jordanesque enough, they might get sponsorships or a shoe deal to live lavish lifestyles like the NBA players do, which shouldn’t be too hard, right? Hell, even Stephon Marbury has a shoe brand.
Of all the teams in the WNBA, the Houston Comets were the mainstays. They were the Chicago Bulls, with a dream team of players since inception from Cynthia Cooper to Tina Thompson to Sheryl Swoopes.
Matter of fact, the only other time I’ve cried over something sports related was watching Michael Jordan win his fourth championship after his father died.
The Houston Comets being disbanded is along the same lines of the NFL disbanding the Cowboys because they couldn’t find a new owner.
It’s absurd. The very notion just doesn’t make sense – NFL without the Cowboys.
Well, guess what? WNBA without the Comets is the same thing. A team that the entire country got behind with its triumphs – winning the first four championships – and trials – the death of Kim Perrot in 1999 – didn’t even make it to its 14th birthday.
Even with the flailing economy, no other sports league would have lost a keynote franchise, no matter how many fans weren’t attending or how many tickets were unsold.
Everyone who says the WNBA shouldn’t have been started in the first place because the sport isn’t worth anything, or isn’t exciting, should take a deep look at themselves as a sports fan. Quality play happens on a women’s basketball court. They don’t play above the rim as much, but if you actually are a true sports fan, you’ll fall in love with the execution and precision of women’s basketball.
It all ties into this superficial society. Style over substance rules nowadays. People would rather see teams score 120 points a game – a la the Dallas Mavericks under Don Nelson – over a pure defensive struggle.
If it seems like I’m upset, I am. I’m tired of the sport that I love getting the shaft because of limiting stereotypes and generalizations by people who couldn’t possibly understand what its like to have something you love spit on or laughed at on a daily basis.
Women’s basketball has been pushed to the back for years, even at this university by higher ups like President James Spaniolo, who pointed to the men’s basketball team for elevating the campus’ visibility after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The fact that the women did the same thing two of three years under former coach Donna Capps wasn’t even mentioned.
But then again, it took the university months to throw together an appreciatory pep rally, complete with free extra-large big “A” t-shirts, for the team when it advanced to its second NCAA Tournament with little advance notice for students, so why would they?
I want America to love its women’s basketball the way Green Bay loves its Packers or Latin America loves its futbol.
Is that too much to ask? Maybe. But these women just want to play a sport they love just like everyone else, and, at the very least, be able to do it in their own country.

-Princess McDowell is a journalism senior and a sports columnist for The Shorthorn.

Obama and Sports

2008-11-06T10:27:00.001-08:00

The column I wrote about Obama being the greatest sports president of our generation ran today. I think it came out really well despite a few blimps in the editing. Now that I look back at the headline, I'm not really crazy about it.
The fact that one of the first things Obama did was set up throwing out the first pitch on opening day for the Chicago White Sox next season just makes me seem really smart.
I like when it happens that way.

Finally, some inspiration

2008-11-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

When I woke up this morning, the ideas were swirling in my head to the point that I had to get to a computer. There are so many things that I want to write in the wake of Obama being named president, and no, not all of them are about how much I'm happy that we have a black man as the leader of the free world.
Today, I'm writing a column for The Shorthorn about how Obama is the greatest sports president of our generation. It's kinda been done by ESPN before the election, but that piece is more "look at all these great presidents and here's how Obama and McCain fit in."
Mine will deal more with "as a sports fan, you gotta be happy with a great basketball player in the White House."
Another tidbit: This 2005 column by Stephen Rodrick gave me a lot to think about. I had to read it for my Opinion Writing class, and I don't want to ever sacrifice great column writing for television face time. I expect to be a sports multimedia giant (and I'm being completely serious), but I will forever be a journalist first, and will never trade kicking it in a lockerroom with hanging out with Skip Bayless (I love you Skip!)
*side note: let me know how you like the new layout. I was trying something new.

New column

2008-10-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wrote this last week: Lightning strikes again

New column

2008-10-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the second column that I've written. It touches on the topic I want to write my book about, though I don't dig deep into it.
I was toying with including some UTA players that I know were dating, but decided against it. I don't need that kind of drama in my life.

I've decided to write a book

2008-09-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

That's where journalists make their bread and butter - book sales.
Of course, I'm not going to write a book just to make money. It's a topic that I'm genuinely interested in: homosexuality and women's basketball.
I think there are so many misconceptions about gays in sports and the relationships that they have. Thinking about Pokey Chatman's situation and the lawsuit Jen Colli filed against SMU last week, it's an issue that keeps popping up.
I've even thought about who I will talk to. The key now is finding out if they will talk to me.
Realistically, it will be a few years before I finish the book. I'll be at ESPN by then. And hopefully, we'll have a few more athletics step out of the closet. But I'm excited. I want to start working on it now.

First in a while

2008-09-04T08:34:00.001-07:00

Today, a column I wrote about UTA's volleyball team printed in The Shorthorn.
It didn't feel weird writing as it just felt like its been a long time. Although I have to admit, I do love the headline.
To me, the column itself isn't my best work, but its not half bad. Good stats with just enough commentary.
I took a little time yesterday to reread Scoop Jackson's first column for ESPN.com, and its still just as awesome as it was in 2006.

This fall

2008-08-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back at The Shorthorn, writing sports columns for the section once every two weeks. Because of my agreement with financial aid, that's all the work I can do for the paper.
I'll be putting links from my columns on here along with any other thoughts. There won't be postings everyday, partly because I probably won't have anything to say, and with 13 hours, working out, poetry and a part-time job (which I plan to have soon) I won't have time.
But keep checking up and I should have some new stuff up soon.

Backfire much?

2008-07-31T09:50:00.001-07:00

It's funny when plans backfire.
The problem with the Green Bay Packers is that they planned too much. They were banking on everything working out perfectly, but they failed to take into account that Brett Favre loves football.
Like, loves football.
Here's what I think happened. The Pack picked up Aaron Rodgers in the draft, a respectable QB out of California, and knew we would be the future face of the team. But there was a problem. Favre is still the quarterback, and they couldn't push him out at the time because Wisconsin loves him and he still can do incredible things.
They waited and soon, the retirement talks started. Will he or won't he? And for four years, he didn't. He kept coming back. Kept playing. Kept putting up big numbers.
Even after they traded Javon Walker. Even as they lost quality backs, Favre wouldn't leave.
So after last season, when the team failed to make a Super Bowl (which, by the way, lends an interesting alternative because if they had made the big game, I guarantee none of this would had happened), GM Ted Thompson and team pres Mark Murphy had a conversation.
In order for this young team to move forward, it had to get rid of its old quarterback.
With all the bells and whistles and his family behind them, Packer higher-ups convinced Favre to retire. Looking back on his retirement speech, those aren't tears of its-ending-because-I-can't-go-on, they're tears of I-can't-believe-I-gave-in.
And after weeks of sitting at home, probably playing catch with himself and throwing the ball around with high school receivers, Favre said, "Fuck it. I wanna come back."
But there's a problem. Poor little Aaron Rodgers is the Packer quarterback now. He's been waiting in the wings for four years for the NFL's Ironman to finally lay down, and he decides to get back up three weeks before training camp. In good conscience, Green Bay can't just say, "Sorry Rodgers. You're back to being a practice dummy."
But what to do about Brett?
To try to avoid a trade to the team's biggest rival (second to maybe the Bears), they trump up some charges that the Vikings planned this so the NFL has to take a closer look, although they found nothing. Why? So if he does go to that team, the trade will forever be marked with controversy that Minnesota was underhanded in taking the Pack's most heralded hero.
Now, no Hall of Famer will agree to be a back-up (I can't even believe they asked him to), don't wanna trade him so he can't divide the state for a couple of weeks every season, so what's the solution? Offer him $20 million to stay at home. Forever.
It's funnier this way, at least for the fans.
Of course he said no - probably a Mississippi-style Hell No - and now the Pack HAVE to trade him. I'd personally love to see the irony in Favre in a Viking uniform, just because as a kid my favorite games were always Green Bay-Minnesota.
And who says wrestling is the only male soap operas?

P.S. This is just funny (From ESPN.com)

To avoid losing the habit of striking weird solutions to problems, Ramirez suggested a change that would solve two issues at the moment. "I should go to Green Bay straight up and they should send Brett Favre to Boston. That will end two soap operas at the same time," Ramirez told Rojas.

Life is just chuggin' along

2008-04-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Now's as good a time as any for an update.
Just like before, my life boils down to just a few categories: school, poetry and love.
School: It's school. I've noticed that I have this penchant for ending semesters really badly, so right now I'm in the midst of digging myself out of a hole that I made for myself. It is a comfortable hole, and I don't regret it, but a hole nonetheless and if I'm REALLY serious about graduating in December, I gotta get out of it in three weeks. And I will.
Poetry: It's grown by leaps in bounds. Right now, I'm writing around one a week, significantly less than before, but something. I really wait on God to tell me what to write, or what I should be writing. No more sitting and forcing something out. No, no. And the pieces that I've been writing have been surprising me. Although, to me, it's not near as good as some of the stuff that I've been hearing at local venues, it's definitely better than the stuff I was writing in Galveston.
Love: I've been hit by it. If I could explain how I feel at my heart at this moment, I don't think most would believe me. But please take heed when I say that I'm in love like I've never been in love before. This person completes me in every possible way (seriously). Every day that I'm with them I feel like a part of me has grown. I'm a better person than what I used to be, its getting to the point where I don't recognize myself, but in a good way. My hard shell disintegrates around my heart and I can't help but be totally open. And I love it. And I'm not afraid.
I wish I could say more, but hey, its the internet, and if you wanted to know more, you'd probably contact me.
I haven't given up on the journalism, but right now, the best way for me to get to my goal is to graduate so I never have to look at UTA again. Ever. In life.
That's about it.
Smaller tidbits:
By the end of this year, I'll be rocking dreads, sporting some tattoos and be openly taking some big steps. Wish me luck!

Life is good

2008-03-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

This last month has been really interesting.
With my parents ok with paying my bills, the next trick is to actually get on some type of budget so they can start paying my bills, which is proving hard than need be. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of the stuff that I wanted to have done by my birthday probably won't happen, but that's the way it goes.
My tattoos will have to wait, and my skateboard probably won't be ready until April, but no biggie - material things are not high on my list.
What is high is school, and I'm happy to say that while on Spring Break, I'm caught up in my feature writing class. Public Affairs is a little different, but I have no big worries about that.
My poetry has stepped up, and I've been inspired by life's events and happenings, including a new special person in my life. That happens to be exactly what I asked for. Tomorrow will make two weeks.
This person isn't skewing my life goals, although I will admit to not getting out of bed on a few Monday mornings to spend it with them.
My poetry has gotten more and more serious, and I'm even going to be performing at UTA for NEO-Fest, an event put on by UTA Radio. The poetry group I'm starting has kind of been stagnated because I can't get a hold of certain people, and because the last week before Spring Break I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. But soon. Until then, I'll be doing big monthly events with UTA Radio (shout out to Anthony Gordon, my big bro).
Still no job, mainly because I've had a lot to do (concerts, birthday and hairstyles) that it won't fit in right now. But after my birthday I'll be on my grind hard, hopefully working at a job by April. We'll see.
Also, check the poetry site and leave comments on my work. Some of it is pretty personal, but it still good shit.

I feel like a kid again

2008-02-28T08:15:00.001-08:00

I don't want to work.
I mean, I don't have the slightest twinge of wanting to work. I'm perfectly happy with going to school, taking a nap, going back to school to do work, then going home again to write poetry, hang out and sleep. It's actually a liberating feeling.
It's probably because I've been working my ass off for the past four years. I know I need money for bills, but with my parents agreeing to basically support me for the year, the temptation to not do anything is definitely there.
The only snag in that plan is the agreement I have with my parents hinges on the fact that I get a job and pay for my Maymester and Summer classes myself. Hey, it was the only way to get them to agree.
I would go work, but there are so many things that I want to do, and I'm pretty sure a job would get in the way of it. Except if there's a mystical job where my boss didn't care what I looked like, I could take Tuesdays and/or Fridays off for poetry nights and have March 15, March 18, March 24, May 2, May 14 and May 16 off for concerts and my birthday. (All this was the upside of working at EntertainMart.)
See how that ain't happening?
So right now I'm stuck, trying to decide if I want to take this job at the Cheesecake Factory, where I will probably make good money but I can't get my braided mohawk and I probably can't have all those days off. Realistically, if I work there until Spring Break (approx. a month) and earn enough money to pay March bills, I could quit once I find this mystical job. Friends have given me ideas on where to find this place.
On the flip side, I'm so into poetry right now, it's ridiculous, but I love it. I love the feeling of getting up in front of people and reading/reciting a piece, having them feel me and say that they understand. Last Tuesday I performed from memory, and people said I did pretty good, so I was proud. Now three of my poems have invaded my head and my space, to the point that I wake up and go to sleep reciting them.
I want to start this group on campus but the constitution is a convoluted thing, and I don't have the patience to sit and write one. Yes, it's pretty sad.
But once it gets off the ground, oh that thing is gonna soar.

An update

2008-02-13T20:52:00.000-08:00

Partly inspired by my friend Em, partly because its been a long time since I've posted, I've decided that the page is crying out for an update. And its funny because I look at it everyday for my links to online comics.
Life is pretty good. I'm still in a very zen part of my life that's filled with class, working out and poetry. I try to remember to put my poems on my poetry blogspot (check the links) but sometimes I fall behind.
I'm not working, which hasn't come back to bite me in the ass yet, but soon I think it will. I'm at a point where I just really don't wanna work. I want to enjoy my last year of freedom before becoming a real adult and having to look at 8 o'clock in the morning every morning (right now it's only two days a week). With my parents helping when I call, I've decided to push the envelope a little, and see if they'll basically support me, if I present a real reason, which I have.
School is fine. I wish I had these profs a year ago when I hasn't going to class because they would have totally cut me slack had they known that I was working my ass off for the antichrist. I designate one hour for schoolwork everyday, and even do work on Friday if necessary. I was doing a lot of partying, but with low funds I've decided to cut that down significantly. I probably won't go out again until my birthday. Ok maybe one time before that.
HOWEVER, my life has become concerts. This year alone, I've seen Lupe Fiasco (who killed it), the Ladies Night tour with Keith Sweat, Tony Toni Tone, BBD and Guy feat. Aaron Hall (which fell WAAYYY below expectations and have plans to see Erykah Badu March 15, Chrisette Michele March 18 and if someone loves me, Jill Scott Feb 19.
It's not a bad thing - it can just be an expensive, so I'm trying to cut down.
I have big plans to do some of things that I've always wanted before I can't really call myself a kid, including tattoos, a drastic hairstyle, skateboarding and acoustic guitar (I may have already said this). It should all be coming together pretty soon, and I'm excited.
That's basically my life. The poetry thing is more and more serious everyday. I want to make a group but really just haven't sat down to get it started because I don't want to take too much away from my schoolwork (listen to me trying to be responsible).
I don't have anyone "special" except for myself and a few friends that I'm getting to know better. Life is good.
Oh, but I did get fired from EntertainMart. Whatev - it sucked anyway.

First Week

2008-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Last week was my first of school in over eight months and it was interesting.
I feel like a freshman on campus because I don't recognize any of the faces, and some of the campus landmarks have been changed or added.
School isn't that bad and classes aren't hard.

A New Break on Life

2008-01-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

Back on the scene after a long hiatus. . . .
I took the time off between my internship and school to relax, be with family and friends and get the next year of my life in order.
I've decided to take a break from the working journalism world to concentrate on school. My hope and main goal is to graduate in December and I'll do everything in my power to make that happen, meaning no breaks - school all year long. Which I'm fine with because I just want to get it over with.
I don't worry about my journalism skills deteriorating because I'm taking 12 hours of J-courses although I know that nothing compares to the real world, especially not the classes at UTA.
I'm working my first retail job (EntertainMart - comparable to a discount Best Buy but with posters and no computers) and enjoying it. My parents are helping out which is a nice change and should help me make my goal more of a reality.
The past eight months (Galveston and Killeen) really helped me learn more about myself. I'm not sure I can say that enough. I know more than ever who I am and I'm comfortable in my skin. There are goals outside of graduation that I have and I look forward to making them come true.
Since I'll be on campus, I'll probably be posting more frequently, though it's too early to tell if I'll be posting everyday. I'll be detailing the (hopefully) final year of my collegiate life. For the first time in a long time (like high school) I'm really glad to be back in school and taking classes!

. . . and I'm done

2007-12-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

My internship is officially over. I have said my good byes, my thank yous and my KITs.
Heading into the internship, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I had hoped that it would be a little different than Galveston and God gave me my wish ten-fold.
I won't say better because all things are relative, but I will say different. And the only reason I compare the two is because they were so close together in time.
In Killeen, I learned to write a good football gamer, how to use different basketball stats using a stat sheet and how to keep manual football stats. I also learned the importance of working with the internet even more. The fact that I got to help out on KDHPressbox.com makes me happy because it helped me realize that even though I don't have the tech skills yet, the little things I think are important on a sports site can be implemented.
I'll admit that I didn't have as much guidance as I did in Galveston, but I think I got back something through basic trial and error. I got to be in a new newsroom environment with eclectic people with different viewpoints and ideas than mine.'
For those who did help me when I had retarded questions, those that kept me laughing and those who were there when I was crying, I say thank you. More than anything an internship is about the people you meet because four walls, some computers and CNN don't make a newsroom. I really enjoyed working with you guys and I wish you much continued success.
Today will be filled with last-minute packing and cleaning, so that everything can be just waiting for me when I get back from Austin. With my friend graduating from Texas State, I have no idea when that will be.
Not sure when the next post will be since after this my life won't revolve around me in front of a computer. There will probably be posts here and there, and then we'll kick up again when the semester starts, where I will be going back to school for the first time in almost eight months.
Ew, scary.

One

2007-12-14T12:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, today is my last day.
I almost wish I didn't have to go because I've just started working on this Copperas Cove football tab, but alas, I am needed elsewhere.
I don't think today will be too bad because I shouldn't have people down my back. I've got a boys game to cover tonight (Waco Midway at Ellison) which should fulfill any last minute writing urges I have. I suspect this Cove tab will peak my interest enough to keep me busy and on task for four hours.
Tomorrow I shall write a farewell to this place and all those who have helped me in my time here, maybe even make personal ones for the special ones. Whatever fits my fancy.

Two

2007-12-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

Today I'm working on the Copperas Cove tab. I'm basically doing everything I can on this project until I have to leave on Friday because my ME doesn't want to have to do anything next week.
I have free reign on it, which means I'm doing layout and I picked and am making most of the content.
Of course, with me being used to being in charge, I have no problem with this much control. I rather relish in it.
And I came in early so I leave at around 7 and have enough time to get ready to go to Austin early, instead of always going late.
One day until I'm done. . .

Three

2007-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last night at the basketball game, I think I had the most fun that I've had in a long time covering a game.
First off, two of the kids on Harker Heights' team had ACTUAL flat top fades. I felt like I was watching a live action Above The Rim. It was hilarious. I kept thinking, "These guys weren't even around when people was wearing high-top fades."
But they had them, and they were playing. I asked the coach at the scorer's table why she let them wear their hair like that, and she said that they like it and they think its cute. Wow.
Then, the Round Rock coach had us laughing. He used to play college ball at UCLA and he had us in stitches the whole night. He told the ref that he and the opposing coach went to the same school in elementary school, thus explaining some of the calls. He told another ref that he didn't know what he was looking at, and this awesome quote was said:
"Her right there (pointing to the coach at the scorer's table) said that you were watching Gillian's Island. She said you ain't even watching the game."
And also this gem:
"You made that shit up. You know you didn't see a foul. . . you made that SHIT UP! You know how in school you just make shit up so you won't get in trouble. That's what he just did. Just making shit up."
I laughed so hard, and so did everyone around me. Good times were had by all.

Four

2007-12-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday - four days until the big day.
Of course, everything can happen the way it's supposed to. That would be too perfect.
It seems that the plans I had with friends I haven't spent real time with in what seems like ages has been canceled. I'm not upset because I have a backup plan, but it calls for me not to be in Arlington until Sunday night, possibly Monday morning.
That's no skin off my back. As long as I can get home sometime and sleep in my bed, when I get there doesn't matter.
I had a great time covering Copperas Cove basketball last night, even though they lost. I might use the story as a clip. AND I found $18 in the gym. I waited for someone to come and try and claim it, but no one showed, so I've got dinner this week. Plus, I found a 3 Musketeers bar in the vending machine. I think God was trying to make me feel better since I had such a craptacular headache.

Five days and counting

2007-12-10T14:34:00.001-08:00

Today marks the first day of my last week in Killeen.
I don't know what I will be doing this week, but tonight I'll be in Georgetown watching the Copperas Cove boys team play Georgetown. I'm not feeling too well, still, but I can do it. I've got my jacket for the cold, my pencil for work and my Christmas music to keep me awake.

A sad semifinal Saturday

2007-12-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

Two of the three teams with a chance at a title Saturday lost in the semifinals.
UMHB went down first, and then Salado fell 41-31 after self destructing in the final three minutes. I'm a little upset about it because I wanted both teams to have a chance at a title, and they both did uncharacteristic things to lose.
BUT, for me at work that means that I don't have a lot to do next week. Which is great because I can focus on more important things, like getting everything ready for when I get home. And that's exciting in itself.

I know, I suck, but here's an NBA post

2007-12-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't done in a long time, but its mostly because I haven't had anything to say.
Now I do, and its mostly about two teams: the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks.
Before now, I've never really seen a reason to watch Jazz games. I don't have a bias against them or anything (the Mavs haven't played them in the playoffs for years) but I just haven't found a reason. Well I watched their game against the Lakers and I'm watching tonight's game against the Spurs, and I am super impressed. Either the Western Conference just really sucks or they are phenomenal. It seems like they score at will.
I will say this: I do kinda have biases against European players (seeing as how I believe the league would rather have them playing than, say, young black players). Andrei Kirilenko isn't a bad player, and he's definitely shown flashes in the last few games. Maybe that's why I wasn't watching.
Anyway, Deron Williams is a joy to watch. This guy slashes, cuts and passes a little like Jason Kidd. (He went to The Colony, btw) I feel like a jerk for not watching just to see him play.
Now, those Mavs. Our record isn't that bad considering we play 82 games in a season (12-8), but we just don't have that rhythm anymore, even with the lineup change.
I think it's partly because the team is just tired. It's the same group of guys for the most part, and they've just had back-to-back major meltdowns. Because of those two things, they can never be out of the spotlight, like ever. I honestly don't believe that the Mavs will make another serious championship run for another 4-5 seasons.
And it hurts me to say that, because by that time, we'll have a completely different team.

Takin' it slow

2007-12-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's adventure, I'm spending most of today at home because I really don't have anything to do at work.
My Salado story has everything I need to do to finish it. I've done the interview and I have all the stats. And its all on my Gmail, so I really don't have to go in.
I asked if I can help anybody with anything tomorrow and they all said no, so I guess I've got nothing to do at work per se.
I'll go into work some time today, just not sure when.
The story turned out well, so I've heard. I'm not one for police stories, and I never know what's a good one and what's not, so I'll just leave it at that.

I hate cop stories

2007-12-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I know. That's all I'll probably be doing at one point of my life since I am a sports reporter. But that doesn't mean I like it.
Since two Texas A&M players decided to (allegedly) rob an apartment in College Station, your truly got stuck with the story, partly because I'm one of the only reporters here.
So I've got to call the police station, and his former coach, and find some of his former friends and family, and get a story for tomorrow's paper. Plus, you know, work on the Salado advance. The good news is, the coach called me back so all I have to do now is write it.

Sleepy Time

2007-12-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Because I have to get up so early to call the Salado coach, I usually do it from home, and then wait for him to call me back the office.
This morning, I did the same thing, but with one familiar wrinkle that I haven't done in a while: I fell back asleep.
Laying in my bed scrolling back and forth through my internet favs, and then listening to SportsCenter for the third time is like a lullaby to me. And often, especially while I was in school, the smoothing sounds of Neil Anderson puts me right back to DreamLand. And it did this morning.
By the time I woke back up, it was 10:20, almost an hour and a half since I had called the coach. I told him to call my office phone after 10, and if he did, I wasn't there.
It may have partly to do with the fact that I've been heading to work before 11 a.m. for most of the past three weeks, but I just didn't feel like it. So I came into work at 11:30.
I'm not worried because I have two days to talk to this guy, and last time we called back around 1. So as long as I don't leave to eat lunch, I'll be just fine.
But I didn't have breakfast.

Gut Feelings

2007-12-05T10:14:00.000-08:00

No post yesterday because it was a my day off, which consisted of me finding a new favorite show and sitting around in my PJs all day.
A day off was definitely something I needed because work has been a little more than stressful.
It just feels like I keep getting slighted for things. And it's not big things, but little things that just keep adding up: my stories buried inside the section, getting scheduled for something I know nothing about when I could be covering something that I have been doing, my name missing from the schedule. It's really annoying, and, to me, is bordering on disrespect.
This is supposed to be the week where I start to get everything together. I should already have a rhythm down for my job. There shouldn't be any surprises, but it seems like every time I come near my desk at work, I have a new headache just waiting to tear into my celebral.
Luckily, I only have eight days until this thing is over. The 15th is my last day, when I can get back to some type of normalcy in Arlington and catch up with old friends.
Not to say that I won't miss this place. I've met some amazing people here, and I'm grateful to have spent the last few months with them. I went to poetry night last night and felt so much love when I told everyone that it would be my last reading. My favorite poet even said she's giving me a copy of her CD for free as a going away present.
So, it's not all bad. But still, eight days and counting.

Pleasant Surprise

2007-12-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

This week - the final two weeks of my internship - is going to be a little different than the rest.
Because I'll be working next Saturday, and I have to work on Wednesday, I'm going to take Tuesday off so I go to poetry night for the first time in a while. I'm pretty excited.
Work has been up and down to say the least, from my breakdown Tuesday, to Thursday's jubilation of selling out stacks in Salado. I'm really just looking forward to the smoothest ride to the finish line possible, and hopefully that can happen.

Change

2007-12-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

I've decided not to link any more of my KDH stories to this web site.
The change comes because I don't think its fair for me not to have my stories put on the web site, but be printed, or vice versa, or both.
Today, I had three stories for the paper: a Salado advance, a UMHB advance, and coverage of the Grey Wolf Tournament. While all three printed, which is a surprise in itself, only the Salado story made it online. [Whether this has anything to do with it, I don't know, but Matt got all stories online.]
So there, I'm not doing it anymore, because I don't think its fair that I can only link certain stories on here.

Glazed over eyes

2007-11-30T19:33:00.001-08:00

I've spent the entire day at Shoemaker High School, watching four separate girls' basketball games in a poorly lighted gym. I couldn't see when I left.
I got back to the office at around 8 p.m., and commenced to write a story, cramming two games into one.
I'm super tired. And, at some point the whole "wow, you look like a high student" routine gets a little old. That moment came about two months ago. Yes, I get it.
But I'm a professional, so I hold in my snide remarks for the sake of a pleasant working environment.
I'm ready to go home, as soon as the server decides to actually work. I don't work this weekend, which is a feat in itself because I never get full weekends off. But its a welcome change, especially after the week I've had.
Look for a lot of links tomorrow, because I should have three stories online.

I'm a star!

2007-11-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

Since my front page story was so good, the people in Salado bought EVERY PAPER IN THE TOWN. That's rights, the racks sold out of today's edition. They even had to go over and restock them. If it wasn't 30 miles away, I would go over and check them out, and maybe get some free BBQ from Johnny's Steaks & Bar Be Que. I mentioned them enough.
It's the first time I've sold out some stacks! Yay for me!

Umrguh

2007-11-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

So, I'm not a morning person.
It's part of the reason I became a sportswriter. Morning to me is like, 10 a.m., which is the perfect time: you still get a good sleep and it's just in time for McDonald's breakfast menu.
But this morning, I braved the bright sun and left the warm comforts of my bed to call a coach. . . at 8 a.m. in the morning.
And I also did it because my front page story printed today. My roommate was so happy that when she saw me walk out of my room, in all black like a reformed vampire and head down, she let out a squeal that a pubescent teenage girl would be jealous of.
I made a cranky, muffled sound and headed to the car to get the questions I had for said coach. When I came back, of course she was still excited and even delighted in reading the story aloud in a declarative voice to really show how proud she was of me.
Don't think I didn't appreciate the gesture, but at 8 a.m. in the morning, all I'm thinking is food and more sleep. And possibly SportsCenter.
Now, it's still the early morning and I'm waiting on a callback from the coach who claims his office hours are 8-9 a.m. God help him if he's wrong.
Today's link: Eagle Pride Soars
The story reminds me a lot of the story that never died in Galveston (check the archives) in that I want to write a big blog for the paper about my adventures in Salado because I had so much fun. I just might, but after 12:30 p.m.

Just a Small-town girl

2007-11-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

Despite a horrible morning, I spent the day in Salado talking to the locals about Eagle football.
I really enjoyed myself. In a place like that, everyone knows everyone and if there's something/someone you need, they can pretty much do it for you.
Me and the photographer were at a local restaurant where the windows had been painted with "Go Eagles" and "Win Salado". One window even had the team's record, but it was incorrect. Apparently it had been bothering some people because when we brought it up, one of the ladies just pulled out her cell phone, made a call and within five minutes, some cheerleaders came by to fix it. It was great, although I did feel a little bad for having her do that.
After talking to my ME yesterday, amidst the fight to hold back tears, we did agree that the story deserved to be on the front page, not just the front of the sports section.
If I got nervous about things like that I would be, especially since everybody that passed me basically said, "Don't mess this up."
Hey thanks for the words of encouragement!
It's finally done, after a few rewrites and self-editing, so I'm hoping that it comes out great, because it will probably be the only 1A story I have.
Today's link: Killeen girls beat Temple

Something told me not to come into work early

2007-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

I never listen to my female intuition, like ever.
I had a great plan today: lay in bed for a while, talk to a friend, head to Salado to do this story that I've been talking about for over a week. But no, I decided to go into work early and protest my story being put on the inside of the sports section, and there was no local copy on front.
It ended with me crying in the online editor's office.
I won't get into specifics, because I never do, but I was so upset I couldn't go on with my day. I went to Sonic and Bush's Chicken, and then went home and watched several episodes of Showtime's Weeds.
[By the way, if you don't have Showtime On Demand, you may need to think about getting it. I don't watch cable that much, unless its free to me, and I love it. Weeds, The L Word, Californication. Nuff said.]
Needless to say, after that I came back to work in a much better mood. So tonight, instead of going to poetry night with a new friend I'm desperately trying to get to know better, I'll be on my way to a boys basketball game to cover a team I probably will never see play again. Awesome.
I know I've been slipping with not writing an NFL post yesterday, and for that I'm sorry. We'll do a few quick hits right now to indulge your sports tooth:
*So, Ricky Williams played Monday night in the Mud Bowl, and now he may be out for the season with an injury. My over/under for him smoking weed again is two months.
*I'm not so afraid of Thursday's Cowboys-Packers game anymore, especially since watching the Jets game on Thanksgiving. I don't even think I'll be mad if we lost. Much respect to Brett Favre. I am however, upset that the show isn't going to be shown on cable or network television. Everybody in the country will be watching. Just further shows the bias against the NFC (do you really have to televise every New England game outside of New England? We don't care. I promise.)

A snowball

2007-11-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Things kinda got out of hand today.
I didn't expect it to take almost two hours for me to get a new tire for my car, and because it did, I barely have enough time to finish the things I had to do today.
Because of that, the NFL post may be postponed until tomorrow or later on tonight, just depends on how I feel.
Thanks.

My head hurts

2007-11-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to figure out this week what I will be doing, but just like always, it's up in the air.
I have no problem with that, but I hate that when I think something has been established as concrete, it changes at the drop of a hat. Let's be consistent, folks.
Today starts the countdown of when my internship ends. Three weeks left, that's it. I don't feel the same as I did when I was in Galveston, in that I didn't want to count down because I'd miss the place too much. I don't think counting down will hurt too bad out here.
Not because I don't like it down here - it's actually just starting to get good - its more about me not being home for so long. I miss my things, as I have said before, and I long to get back into a rhythm that involves sleeping my own bed.
I've got a few stories to do today, along with my NFL post, so let me get started.

Good game. . .

2007-11-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

. . . good game story.
The Missouri-Kansas game was a thriller, and Graham wrote a textbook game story for it. You got the quotes, the stats and the emotion of the game in that story. Good stuff.
That's what I tried to do in my playoff story yesterday. I think I did a pretty good job, but you be the judge.
Salado won, so I still get to deal with the coach and the team. Hopefully I'll do a better job of that this week because I won't really have anything to stand in my way. But I am excited, and Wednesday is payday, so I'm really excited, lol.
Matter of fact, all three of the playoff teams won, including Copperas Cove, who demolished Samuell, 55-7. A bunch of my family members graduated from Samuell, so I was hoping they would pull it out, but apparently it was no contest.
Darn it.

Recharged

2007-11-24T17:10:00.001-08:00

I had a great holiday.
I came home and spent time with my buddy Anthony, my mom and some of my other friends. I can honestly say that I got a lot done in these last three days.
Holidays have always been kinds hard for me because, as the youngest in the family (until everyone else started having all these kids), I always felt left out. Like I was too young for the adults, but too mature for the little kids. But this holiday, with the resurface of my uncle Rocky Boy, it felt like a real family event. Something out of Soul Food, maybe.
After today's game, I'll have another day to relax before coming back on Monday and going hard in the paint. We'll push Friday's NBA post to Tuesday just in case you were wondering.
Today's links: Salado advance and UMHB meets NCWC

Thanksgiving eve

2007-11-21T09:11:00.001-08:00

I went in early, and I couldn't get the coach, so the Telegram may have won this one.
I know exactly why he's avoiding me, and I'm ok with that. Here's to more success on Friday.
Probably no blog tomorrow. Sorry folks, I gotta take a holiday, too.

On a mission

2007-11-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my editor sent me an e-mail saying that I needed to write a good Salado advance this week since my last one lacked. His exact words:
"The Temple paper had quotes from both coaches. You're too good to be getting your butt kicked by the Telegram."
It may be the spirit of competition in me, but I'm taking that statement to heart. I've always had a problem with bigger papers trying to outdo me, especially by someone that I know I can write better than. The same thing happened at the Star-Telegram.
I'll have a little bit of an inside scoop because I know the Galveston guys and I know where to get stats. Plus, I really want to write a good story just to show up the Temple guy who was a butt to me at the last game.
I came in today to start early, but of course I overslept, and I can't call the coach after 4 p.m. It's ok though, because I have a lot of questions already.
Today's link: UMHB gets a breath of fresh air

Scary notions

2007-11-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

When Terrance Newman intercepted that pass last night, I think I had a heart attack. Like, my heart stopped for at least three seconds and everything just shut down.
Yes, the Cowboys came back and won. Yes, T.O. had four touchdowns, a career-high.
BUT, we got torched by Washington's passing game, and if we don't fix it, we won't make it to the NFC Championship game.
We have a great rush defense, but teams have thrown all over us for the last few games. Add in the fact that both New York Jets and Green Bay have pass heavy offenses, and we don't win those games. We have to come up with an option. I'm calling you out, Brian Stewart.
Jason Campbell is a great quarterback and I don't want to take anything away from him. But you CAN'T give up the 10-15 yard passes. The Giants and the Redskins just wrote a blueprint on how to move the ball against the 'Boys.
On the other hand, I don't see any defenses on the horizon that could slow down T.O., who is going on a tear. Last four games: 31 catches, 575 yards, eight touchdowns. Nasty.
I don't really have much else to say except I'm really scared. We gotta fix those holes.

Short

2007-11-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

With the short week, I find myself having a lot to do in a small amount of time.
Outside of the normal advances for UMHB, I've also got a few Salado stories to do. I'm off Wednesday and Thursday, so I essentially have two days (Tuesday and Friday) to finish my Salado stuff, which wouldn't be that bad except that I can never seem to get ahold of the head coach.
In some ways, I wish that I was covering Saturday's Salado game because the Galveston kids will be there, but I'd rather be in Belton covering UMHB. Both teams will probably keep advancing in the playoffs, and surely the Eagles will play at least one game on a Friday night. Then I can do both.
I've got some research to do for today's NFL post because, although they won, Dallas had me very scared, so be on the lookout for that today.
And, if you haven't already, read the story posted on Sunday, because it's amazing.

Bask in my gloriousness

2007-11-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

My story printed today.
And it's awesome.
And the headline is awesome.
So you must read it.

Today's UMHB game. . .

2007-11-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

. . . had me super excited. It was my first collegiate playoff game and I was determined to make it a good story that I could turn into a clip.
Mission accomplished.
I wish the story was already online because, to me, its so great. I even called it "pure gold. Well, actually no one wears gold anymore. It's pure platinum." Yea, I said all of that.
Of course, the advance of the game isn't online, but you know what, hopefully I have front page. Which I probably won't because Copperas Cove won their playoff game, too.
With Salado and UMHB advancing, my internship is ending on an exciting note. And with the Eagles playing Hitchcock in the next round, I may even see a few Galveston guys in next week's pressbox.
Hopefully both teams aren't playing on Saturday, because then I wouldn't be able to cover Salado. Because UMHB definitely trumps them to me. I refuse to cover Salado over the Cru. I just do.
Random story of the day: I love some of the people out here, like total strangers.
There have been a few incidents where strangers have said hi to me, or done something super nice, but today takes the cake.
After the postgame press conference, I went to my car to leave, only to find a note on my windshield. On one side, it said "Bad tire."
The other side read the following: "Your right front tire is cut bad. Don't drive or you may blow out."
Now, I knew that my tire was bad, but its held up pretty well. I haven't gotten it replaced because I didn't have the money, but I thought it was extremely nice of someone to take the time to #1 take a look at it, #2 find some paper, #3 find a pen and #4 write a little note for me about it.
I really wish I knew who did it so I could say thanks. I'm taking the note as a sign from God that if I keep driving around, it will blow out.
Then, He'll be all like, "I told you so!"

Yesterday's Salado game. . .

2007-11-17T16:41:00.001-08:00

. . . was interested. I think I jinxed myself in that last post.
I got to the stadium and went to set up the webcast. (Keep in mind that the computer I used was #1 nearly older than me and #2 never been used for this particular program.) I entered the opposing team's roster and was all set for kickoff.
HOWEVER, I immediately discovered that something was wrong. Apparently I had entered the roster in the wrong place and I couldn't go on with the cast. I set my sights for a second quarter start-up and entered the roster during the first. Of course, I didn't do it fast enough and had to shoot for a halftime start.
No biggie. I was talking to the online editor and she understood.
But, when the second half was about to start, I couldn't get the internet to work on my aircard, so I had to scrap the webcast all together.
It really hurt because I wanted to prove that I could do it. Even though it wasn't my fault - technical difficulties - I still felt like I let the readers, and myself, down and that certain people were laughing at me.
I was assured that that wasn't happening, not from the people that I thought were doing the laughing, but from someone whose opinion I value.
Now, I usually rely on the webcast program to provide box scores and stats, because that's a feature in it. Since it wasn't working, I had no way of knowing how many yards anyone had or another. A reporter from the Temple Telegram was there, but he didn't seem like he really wanted to volunteer the information.
He eventually did, but my photog had to take a picture of the papers and I had to decipher his system as we drove down the highway.
That's how my night ended: filing my story on the way back home. I got in at around 11:30 p.m., and helped the online editor with a few things before I went home and pretended to get sleep before today's UMHB playoff game.

Hey, HEY . . . .

2007-11-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

I wanna be a rockstar! (My current Myspace profile song, btw)
Today is Friday, which means high school football, but its the playoffs, so even better.
I'm actually on the road right now, heading to Bryan to cover Salado - ranked fifth in the state - take on Hempstead. I get to write the gamer, which I'm excited about because I haven't written a lot of high school football coverage stories, just mostly sidebars.
The funny part is, because I'm awesome and I said I would, I'm also live webcasting from the game. Usually you have another person to help, thus my role during games that I write sidebars for, but I convinced my editor to let me do it by myself, partly because I know you can, and partly because I wanted to show up some people who made it sound like it couldn't be done. Hopefully I didn't just **** myself by doing so.
If I needed any motivation to do a good job, it was this: My ME wanted to check and make sure I had everything that I needed and the following exchange happened:
ME: You got everything?
Me: Yep.
ME: And you're webcasting and writing tonight?
Me: Yep.
ME: (chuckle) You're a rockstar.
Me: That's what I'm told.
In hindsight, it was kinda cocky of me to say that last line, but it wasn't like I was lying.
Anyway, he called me a rockstar! And this isn't the kind of guy that says rockstar a lot. So I took it as it was - a huge freakin' compliment/
And now I'm pumped to live up to said statement.
Today's link: No. 5 Salado gets ready to play against Hempstead

Questionable sports post

2007-11-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

In lieu of an NBA post, which would probably say a lot of what last week's post did, I decided to talk about all the questionable sports things that have happened in the last week.
Tops has to be Barry Bonds getting indicted. I think everyone expected it. Deep down, you knew it would happen. The way that ESPN has been covering it - dropping the regular SportsCenter for a two-hour special on Bonds and A-Rod (who we'll get to later) - is both needed and over the top. Unless you're talking to Bonds himself, do you really need two hours? Granted, there are about a million different ways to look at the situation, especially with Bonds' statistics, but for those of us who don't really care that much, you just took away a valuable part of my morning. Just make an extended OTL Report and be done with it.
Next up is A-Rod, who completely solidified his place as one of the most arrogant, selfish and egotistical player of all time. First, you announce that you're opting out of your contract in the middle of the World Series when Boston is about to win. THEN, you resign with the Yanks for another ungodly amount of money, when you've already got around, let's just say, a billion dollars sitting in a safe somewhere. AND, you don't even play well in the postseason. Is it your agent who hypes you up like that? Because he does a great job.
Ricky Williams got reinstated with the Dolphins and could play as early as next week. I knew they would let him back in. Miami sucks so bad right now, they need something to take their fans' minds off the fact that the franchise with the only undefeated season in history is about to record the only winless season, ironically in the same year that the Pats will probably finish unblemished. From a strategical standpoint, the Fins lost their running back, the only person capable of putting points on the board, to an injury this season and they need something. Can Williams come in and make an immediate positive impact? I'm not sure, but I do know that the last time he was on a field (in the Canadian Football League) he still didn't do so well. So whatever.
After a loss to San Antonio, Phil Jackson was talking to reporters and said this lovely statement when asked if too much penetration was leading to open outside shooters.
"We call this a 'Brokeback Mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts. It was one of those games."
When I first heard it, I was like, wow. He said that. Some people have come out and said that gays are too sensitive (no pun intended) and should be ok with being the butt of a few jokes. My take: Was it funny? Kinda. Was it inappropriate? Extremely. As the coach of a professionally basketball team, you really shouldn't be making those comments. He shouldn't be fined or anything, but it was definitely in very poor taste.
Rex Grossman will start Sunday against Seattle since Brian Griese went down last week. AND Grossman entered last week's game in relief and threw the winning touchdown pass. All I really have to say is:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's so ironic, even Alanis Morisette said, "Damn, that's ironic."

My question is once Griese is healthy, do you bench Train Rex or keep him in since he was the starting quarterback at the beginning of the season? Huh, Lovie Smith? Who's your quarterback now?

Re-energized

2007-11-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

I had a great day off. I spent over $100 at Victoria's Secret just because it was the first time I could buy something for myself that wasn't needed, like soap or deodorant. And I bought the new Alicia Keys' CD, which I am listening to right now. As always, I wanted until the last minute to leave the Metroplex, but I don't regret it, although I think I've decided that I won't go back home except for Thanksgiving because it's getting harder and harder to make that drive down I-35.
I came back later than I expected, and of course I had some nice little gifts waiting on me, like an e-mail regarding a coach and a story that needs to be done (that I'm not getting to for a while).
I've got about five hours to write two stories and go home, shower and drive to Austin to hang with a few friends. I'm fine with that.

Good Day Gone Bad

2007-11-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

After I started my good day, it of course had to go bad.
The sports staff had a meeting that, shall we say, had a little tension in the room. I felt a little disrespected, and I let people know about it at the appropriate time. My ME handled it, but it put me in a funk for the rest of the day.
Until my roommate took me to Sonic to get some tater tots, then we had a nice talk later that night. So I'm better.
Today, like always, is my day off and I'm back in Arlington taking care of a few things and hanging with friends. No links today, because I didn't write a story.
I'll be running around tomorrow, so I probably won't post until the afternoon.

It feels GOOD!

2007-11-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

Today I'm in a great mood.
I haven't decided where this mood came from. Maybe because I'm off tomorrow and my check should be pretty big. Maybe it's because I had a slow morning, watched some Living Single on DVD and went into work at around 2 p.m. Maybe it's cause Alicia Keys' album came out today.
Whatever it is, it doesn't need to end.
I don't have a lot on my plate today, just some phone calls and research. No story.
So I just plan to take it a little easy and listen to music while I work.
Today's link: Cru and Tigers have a little bit of history

A Very Special NFL Post

2007-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I love it when I can watch a game and at least once, my entire jaw drops to the floor. Fortunately, with this football season (including pro, collegiate, D3 and prep), that's been happening a lot. We'll break this week down by game:
Dallas 31, New York 20
This game was important for two reasons: If the 'Boys win, they basically wrap up the NFC East. Lose, and we've got to fight a little to get into the playoffs. By the score above, we obviously won, but the thing that stands out is this team has some serious resolve. We're up 17-14, then Barnett gets the taunting penalty (stupid), Manning throws to Jeremy Shockey for 29 yards and Tynes hits the 40-yard field goal. Completely took the wind out of our sails.
But to come back with such vengeance, so quickly, almost makes me feel like the Cowboys were just toying with the Giants, and they knew after the first series that they would win.
Here's why I say that: In the post-game, coach Wade Phillips talked about how the Giants covered T.O. (who I will get to in a second). NY basically double-teamed him until Romo started hurting them with Crayton, and then the secondary switched to single coverage and Owens just outran 'em.
Speaking of Mr. Owens, he has just been going on a tear lately. Some of the media people like to say that its T.O. asserting his authority with the coaching staff and asking to be used more since Randy Moss is also putting up ridiculous numbers, but I don't think so. I just think Owens has finally found a home and a offense that knows how to use him, and it helps that there are so many weapons on the Dallas offense. Like they say, they don't care who has a big game, as long as someone does.
A look at T.O.'s numbers over the last few games: in four games, he's got 29 catches for 468 yards and five TDs. Counting last night's six catches for 125 yards, Terrell now has three straight games with 100 or more yards. That's just incredible - and so is that photo.
Now, I've got a little beef with ESPN. I feel like they haven't been giving the NFC their do. Yes, I understand that the AFC is the superior conference, and that Peyton and Tom are on teams that run the league, but just give the poor NFC a little bit of airtime. Berman and TJ don't even talk about the NFC that much on the blitz. The network was hyping the DAL-NY game some beforehand, but afterward I couldn't find that much on it.
They don't even have to only talk about the Cowboys. Do some stuff on the Packers, who are making some serious noise. 8-1 after Favre was supposed to retire? That's a great storyline.
Green Bay 34, Minnesota 0
Did I think the Pack would blank the Vikings? Did ANYONE think the Pack would blank the Vikings? I don't think so. They are impressing the hell out of me. AND their running game showed up a little bit (120 rush yards). If Ryan Grant can assert himself a little more (who I thought was Dorsey Levens because he's wearing his old number), then the Pack just might be unstoppable. Just might.
The Pack also put themselves in the same position as Dallas by basically winning the NFC North. We'll have to go through Green Bay to get to the Super Bowl, believe that.
San Diego 23, Indianapolis 21
For the record, I totally called this game. I knew that after the loss to New England that the Colts wouldn't bounce back. And they didn't.
Manning throws six interceptions? Romo's five doesn't sound so bad now, does it? I don't the Colts are psychologically as strong as say, the Cowboys, because they let losses to New England get to them. That game may have set them back significantly on the road back to the big game.
One thing that stood out to me in this game: Special Teams (hence the title of the post)
Some numbers to play with: In the entire NFL, there have been 16 kickoffs returned for touchdowns and 10 punts returned for scores. Add in the 24 scores on interception returns, and it shows that you have to have some speed in your special teams to get an advantage, especially if the two teams are pretty evenly matched.
12 of the Chargers points came from returns (Darren Sproles: 89-yard opening kickoff return and 45-yard punt return). My man Antonio Cromartie also had a big game with three picks. (leads the league with six) Do I think the Boys have this kind of fire power? Maybe, if they make good blocks on the return. Definitely not a Devin Hester or anything.
NEXT WEEK
These next few games are big (in my mind) for the Cowboys. We've got Washington next Thursday that we need to win because a victory REALLY basically means we win the division. A Thanksgiving game with the Jets - which doesn't make any sense to me because why not switch the games and have us play the Redskins on Thanksgiving (a real Turkey Day tradition) - should be easy.
After that, a playoff implicated game against Green Bay on Nov. 29. So, even though I don't usually do this, I predict that Dallas will be 10-1 entering the Pack game at home. Green Bay will probably lose another game before coming to Texas Stadium because they've got Carolina and then Detroit.

The Belton Blues

2007-11-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

I'm so tired of driving to Belton.
Like, seriously, I've had to make that drive down 190E every day for the last week. I've been on UMHB's campus more than some of the students. Luckily, I won't have to be back on campus until Saturday, when the Cru plays Trinity in the first round of the playoffs.
I'm really excited about the game because it'll be my first collegiate football playoff game. And I'll get to add the clip and opportunity to my resume (That'll be four NCAA Tournaments: 2 women's basketball, a baseball and a Division III football).
Hopefully if they win I'll get to take a trip somewhere. If they win, it'll either be a home game or I'll be going to DC, and I've only been there once.
Speaking of playoffs, I'll also be covering a high school football playoff on Friday. I'm definitely getting what I cam here for: football writing experience!
AND I get paid for overtime this week! Oh, it's going to be a good week.

Late night, early morning

2007-11-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

That's what I've been living for the last few days. After getting home at around midnight last night, I had to get up early to cover UMHB's playoff selection. The team watched ESPNU's selection show this morning at 10:30 a.m. Needless to say, I'm beat.
I did have some links last night: Cru advance and Cove in the tournament championship game.
Now, I gotta go watch some football before going back to work. No rest for the weary.

Long Day Over

2007-11-10T22:39:00.001-08:00

I didn't expect to just be getting off work at midnight. That was the last thing on my mind when I went into work today, mostly because I had already made plans, but also because there was no real reason to.
Well, a reason came up.
With Monty gone, the entire Copperas Cove goes unmanned, and at the tournament, the Lady Dawgs advanced to the championship round.
Something in my mind told me to stay for the game, even though I had already covered one that day. But, like always, my reporter's intuition (which has nothing to do with my female intuition) was right and without my presence, said game would have gone unreported.
The story came out well, and I may use it as a clip. I did see some interesting things at the tournament, though:
The hairstyles were off the chain. I saw a man who was balding, but still convinced someone to braid the SIDES of his head. Let it go old man.
Also, the newest thing must be to have a braided mohawk, where people braid
their hair up into a mohawk and the rest of the hair just lays out. It looks nice and I might have to do it when I get back to school, because its not the most professional do out right now.
Waco Midway has two kids on their team that are BEASTS: Cokie Reed - a 6-foot-4 junior forward who can shoot, pass, run the floor, play defense, plays smart, has a sick baby hook, she's just ridiculous. And Krissica Harper - a guard that I saw break about 16 ankles, she can drive, kick, shoot, get to the hole and her style of play easily complements a forward that runs the floor, which would be Cokie. If those girls don't go DI, there's something wrong with the world.
I don't have any links today because of last night's mix-up, but I'll have some tomorrow and Monday.

NBA Post #1

2007-11-09T20:49:00.001-08:00

Fantasy Update: So I thought that KDH's Nazi-like firewall had blocked my fantasy sports page, but someone has been going back behind me and unblocking those sites. Fine by me, because I just checked and I'm second in the league! Considering the fact that I didn't check it for, like, a week and Gilbert Arenas has been playing like crap, I'm feeling pretty good. Soon, I'm gonna start talking a little smack to the guys, since I think I'm the only girl in the league.
Onto the NBA, which has had a lot of disappointment this season. Several teams are still winless, but not the Bulls, who picked up a much-needed W against Detroit the other night. I had a chance to sit and watch a few games and here are some observations:
Am I the only one who thought that Jason Terry should have been coming off the bench for the Mavs from the beginning? I always thought that he was better when he was relieving people and not playing a lot of minutes, then maybe getting more when he's hot? I guess. That's why some people call me a genius.
Yes, the Celtics are playing great ball, but I don't want people anointing them champions just yet. Like KG and Paul Pierce said, they haven't done anything yet. The headline on this story just cracks me up, especially when you consider that its been 20 years since Boston started 4-0. Come and talk to me after All-Star Break.
Come to think of it, let's apply that logic to everyone. Stop freaking out that Golden State, Kevin Durant's Sonics and D-Wade-less Miami is winless. Calm down that Kobe and the Lake Show beat Phoenix and Utah. We've only played six games AT THE MOST. It's an 82-game season, folks. It's not that serious.
I know you're grasping for anything to make this season relevant over the same ol stories (undefeated Pats, winless Dolphins). With that said, read this. I'm really glad that ESPN played this story up because if not, people may not have put much thought into it. I liked how Jeff Pearlman put it best:
In the heartless world of professional football, where teams talk of being "one big family" yet willingly cut "family" members on a second's whim, this one takes the cake. Vikings coach Brad Childress said the move was based on a "business principle," noting how Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams and Colts receiver Reggie Wayne had recently managed to play in games despite the death of close relatives. The translation of Childress' jarringly heartless take is clear: Troy, act like a man. Well, from this perspective true manhood -- true leadership -- is standing up and doing the right thing at the hardest time.

Bad timing

2007-11-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

So I left the Waco University-Killeen game at halftime because, frankly, it was pretty boring.
Plus I knew that no one had been covering the basketball tournament all day, and if I didn't go back, we would have nothing for the paper.
So I came back to the office and called the few coach's phone numbers that I had. The ones that answered told me they didn't have their books with them (rather annoyingly, I might add) so I had no individual statistics to report.
Worse still is the game that I left got interesting in the second half, with Killeen coming back for the victory, 35-34. I could have written a sidebar for that story, but no, I wasn't there.
There would have been a simple way to avoid this: have someone covering the tournament all day and they wouldn't have to worry about a football sidebar.
That's what I would have done, at least. But of course, it didn't happen that way.
I guess I shouldn't complain too much. My Friday night surely won't be as hectic as it usually is, and I finished a poem that had been kicking my ass lately.
I get to spend all day Saturday at the tournament anyway.

Data Entry

2007-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

So today has been filled with spreadsheets and research. I've been looking up coach's e-mails and phone numbers. So needless to say I'm happy to be on my way to Buckley to cover tonight's game.
I would have a link for you today, but AGAIN another one of my stories didn't make the site (or the paper, for that matter). I'm not that bitter about it, because the story wasn't that great. But I stayed late to do it, and I think since I did it, someone should put it on the site or the paper. Those are my two cents. We'll just like to Pressbo x again.
It's getting harder and harder to be away from friends and family. Tonight, my family is throwing a birthday party for my cousin and I can't be there because today is Friday which means it's football day.
It'll be ok, I guess. I'll get to go home for Thanksgiving and see friends/family, but I really miss everyone. Not a lot of people seem to get that, and I tried last night to write some poetry about it, but it didn't really come out right, so there's that.
I won't have a chance to sneak home this weekend because of work, but I'll make the journey Wednesday. Here's to hoping I see some real friends while I'm out there.

Black coffee; no sugar, no cream

2007-11-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

I hate when I have to move a million miles a minute, and that's exactly what I have to do today.
In a little while, I'll be on my way to Belton to cover this God-forsaken high school basketball tournament, which wouldn't be so bad except I have to cover like three teams by myself, which means that I have to be in three places at once. Add in the fact that I don't really know how to do box scores myself, AND that I still have to do an area preview for today and that makes for a stressful Thursday.
The opposite of yesterday, which was my off day, and I spent it sleeping, cleaning and basking in a 32" flat screen TV. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, I probably won't see it again until next Wednesday.
Today's link: Gatesville VB loses to No. 3 Hutto

Get With The Program!

2007-11-06T11:36:00.001-08:00

One thing I've learned in all the conferences and internships I've done is to never be satisfied. You always have to be looking to get better at your craft, and you can't be stuck in your ways in any sort of way. Every time I get comfortable with a way to keep stats, I find another way to do them, usually a better way.
I say all that to say this: If you work in the journalism industry in any capacity, and you aren't doing SOMETHING with the internet (putting stories online, blogging, etc.), then you need to get your head out of your ass and get with it.
I know that some old school journalists have been somewhat blindsided by this web revolution (mostly because they've had their heads in their asses), but in this job you have to be moving to the web. Circulation in newspapers is down, and steadily falling. I think in 20 years, there won't be print newspapers. It will be all online, and we'll send online newsletters to people's e-mail addresses.
This unwillingness to do the littlest things online (like, I don't know, posting box scores to a flourishing Web site) will only keep in behind the industry while people like me rocket past you in every sense of the word.
I'm just saying.
Now that that's off my chest, here's today's link: UMHB backups put in work
This story was a pain for a few reasons: 1) It's hard to keep writing stories about a team that wins games so handily (72-7, are you serious?!). 2) I had tremendous writer's block, and I was a little frustrated because the information I had to work with was minimal at best.
But, at 8 p.m. last night, I finally pulled the story out and turned it in. And I exhaled.
Random sports note:
Derrick Rose made my jaw drop last night on SportsCenter, and I just watched the highlights. This dude is a 6-foot-3 freshman and he did just about everything last night against Tennessee-Martin. I think I just found my favorite college team to follow.

NFL Post - Week 10

2007-11-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sunday was an exciting day of football all around, from the early games to Sunday Night Football.
I started off watching the Packers-Chiefs game, but when I turned to the CBS game (Chargers-Vikings) I was hooked. Adrian Peterson was just a BEAST. Over 1,000 yards in the first eight games of your career? Ridiculous. Two 200-yard games this season, one against one of the best defenses in football (Chicago)? Good gracias. I sat in awe of that dude on more than one occasion.
But the thing that really made me drop my jaw? Antonio Cromartie's 109-yard return off a missed field goal. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Like ever. And it wasn't like the attempt was well short to where he just had to catch it. I mean, the grab for the ball was nice in itself, but to run it back - OMG.
At the time, I was right next to a computer and I found out two things: 1) He's a cutie, and i can find no mention of him and a wife/kids. 2) The Chargers' player profiles are some of the nicest I've seen in sports. A collection of photos of the guys, more than just action shots. You can actually see the faces and some emotion.
On to the Pats-Colts, the most anticipated game of maybe the year (although I tend to think that the Cowboys-Pats game had a little more coverage). I didn't watch any of it because I was at the flag football field, but I was basically giving everyone within earshot updates from someone's phone.
Here's what I'll say about the game, since I was going for the Colts and they lost: Hate the Pats all you want, but you know that they can pull out games like this. Maybe the defense felt a little disrespected from the way that Joseph Addai was just running all over the place. Whatever it was, they went after Peyton Manning. There isn't much you can do as a quarterback when you get broadsided when you're about to throw the ball. It's gonna come out.
Now, do I think the Pats will win the Super Bowl? No. When you have two teams that dominant the rest of the sport (and are the only teams that anyone ever talks about - I didn't see any DAL-PHI coverage yesterday night and this morning) its kind of unfair for the rest of the league. But someone will knock off New England, and someone will knock off the Colts. It's time for a real NFC team (sorry Tampa Bay and St. Louis) to win the big game. And it needs to happen this year. All this AFC crap is making me sick.
The best team with a shot to do that is Dallas. They decimated the Eagles last night, despite the blue uniforms, which have a history of bad luck for the 'Boys (see #6). Last night's game made me a believer in Tony Romo. He started the game 9-for-9 with 99 yards and one TD. He only had five incompletions the whole game. He looked comfortable and moved around in the pocket like a RB, not a QB.
Looking ahead to next week, the Giants game has me a little worried. New York has won its last six games and its defense is just suffocating. Here are the stakes of this game: if Dallas wins, they pretty much wrap up the NFC East and should make the playoffs. A loss, and Dallas would be tied with the Giants and would have to win out in the division to secure its spot. So we need this game.
Add to the fact that the Giants are coming off a bye week, and look relaxed if you go by Michael Strahan, who spent his Sunday morning on FOX NFL Sunday, showing off his gap and home videos from London. They will GO AFTER us.
And it makes me scared.

The Countdown

2007-11-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

Today starts the countdown to the end of football season. All teams play their final games either Friday or Saturday and then the real fun begins - playoffs.
I'm excited, but I'm not covering UMHB's season finale against Howard Payne. I really want to, because I know they'll score about 95 against them. I'll be really upset if they top the school record for scoring when I'm not there.
What I will be doing this week is a lot of different sports. I have two football stories, a volleyball playoff game, and several high school basketball stories to write since that season started today. Three of the area teams are playing in a tournament in Temple.
I was getting happy coming back from the UMHB press conference this morning because I was thinking about all the miles I'll log on this week's timecard. Of course, this was before I came into work and found out that I wouldn't be going to Brownwood, but I figure all the miles back and forth to Temple should cover that mileage, so I'm still happy.
But I gotta get to work, lots to do!

Big Day

2007-11-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm so pumped about this Pats-Colts game that I dreamt about it last night. In my dream, New England was trying to run up the score, like always.
Don't ask me who won though. I don't remember. Sorry.
To make it up to you, you can read my story from yesterday: the Cru whoops up on ETBU. That shoulda been the headline instead of "Stretch Play", which doesn't match my story, but fits with the photo. Too bad the PHOTO isn't on the link of the STORY.
Thanks.

A New Day

2007-11-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Last night reminded me why I got into the business.
I was at Leo Buckley, trying to pay attention to the Ellison-Shoemaker game, when the play happened. Daniel Cobb took a punt back 48 yards for a touchdown, but that wasn't the best part. Linebacker Michael Knapp delivered a block that took out three guys, freeing the field for Cobb to score. I couldn't wait to get to the office and write about it. And I did.
Today I covered another beating courtesy of UMHB. The advance isn't online (awesome).
Now, I got to get ready for tomorrow - a big sports day.

First NBA thoughts

2007-11-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

I’ll try to post a wrap-up of sorts every Friday and it will be sort of like my NFL posts in that it’ll talk about the games and newest news from around the league and my head. Like I’ve said, if you can’t get enough of NBA news and such, there are plenty of links on the right hand side to keep you busy for a good while.

Since I didn’t write something about the offseason, I’ll cover that in this post, too.

This season, I’ve decided to do something a little different, besides these posts. I’ve joined a fantasy league. Much like Jemele is with fantasy football, I’m a fantasy virgin, having never dedicated my life to living through another group of male athletes. I chose to go with basketball over football because I love round ball a little more, but I’ve already proven to not be as dedicated of a player as I should be.

On draft night, I was at a flag football game, getting stuck with whatever players others didn’t choose. I didn’t get totally screwed though. My roster consists of big names like Gilbert Arenas, Leandro Barbosa, Dirk Nowitzki, Jermaine O’Neal and LaMarcus Aldridge, but I do have guys like Josh Smith, Kevin Martin and Mo Williams.

The league I’m in, named PushRhymesLikeWeight, has just six teams and my squad is called Dub’s Demons. I’m trying my hardest to stay up to date with everything, which isn’t completely hard because I’m in front of a computer all the time. As long as ESPN doesn’t let me down, I should be good. Now to the good stuff:

KOBE

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. His name has been on every one’s lips for the last, hell, 12 years. But even more so this offseason because of his comments in May, and then Buss’ comments here recently. The thing with Kobe is his competitive nature, a mini-Jordan, and he does not want to stay on a team that won’t be making big moves any time soon (and when I say big moves, I mean making noise in the playoffs.) I mean, those nail-biting playoff series against Phoenix is nice, but who really thinks the Lakers are going to represent the West in the finals in the next three seasons? That’s what I thought.

He wants to win, and he knows he can’t do so in L.A. Now, should the Lakers trade him? Hell no. He’s their last hope to be relevant in the league. Without KB24, L.A. would fall off the map. They don’t want to end up like Boston before the KG trade, a great franchise with a winning tradition that has consistently sucked over the past 10 seasons.

As for Chicago, they would be retarded to trade Ben Gordon for Kobe. If the Bulls have a shot at Bryant, Gordon should not be part of the deal. They need that kid to add another scoring option on that team. Gordon would be fine sharing the spotlight with Kobe and it could work. Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng, those kids have plenty of years to win a championship, and they will be competing for a title down the line. I’d be ok if the Bulls parted with them, but not Gordon.

THE MAVS

Should Dallas try to trade for Kobe. Again, hell no. Dallas has the pieces right now. They showed last season that they don’t need to blow up their roster to have a great squad. 67 wins is nothing to sneeze at. Our main problem is mental. We have to get over all our hang-ups mentally: “Oh, I’m playing against my coach and mentor, the guy who helped me get this job”, “Oh, we have to start all over again and prove that we are contenders.” Everyone is counting them out, and they should be. The Mavs were a No. 1 seed playing a streetball team, essentially, and they got their asses handed to them. If they can get over all the storylines, and that’s what I call them because that’s what they are – storylines that reporters think of in advances – then they have a chance to be champs, and I don’t think that the city will accept anything less.

BOSTON

“Big Three” just rolls off the tongue so well.

I’m a sucker for guys who’ve been in the league forever, paid their dues and deserve a championship. I was happy that David Robinson got his. I’m happy for Michael Finley for getting his, and I’m glad that Alonzo got his. With Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, you got the feeling that he would be another one of those players that was great individually, but could never get a ring. Now in Boston, he has a chance. (AI is another one of those guys that I hope gets one.) Boston will struggle, but they’ll grab a top seed in the East and contend. Those guys are ready to play and get it done, no questions asked.

CAVS

Great job on not getting Lebron any help this offseason. He genuinely wants to be in Cleveland, being an Ohio native, but he won’t stay long if they can’t be competitive. Although his competitive fire isn’t on par with Kobe or MJ’s, it’ll be there soon, especially after getting a taste of the Finals last year.

Everybody saying that he’ll go to New York to play for the Knicks is just crazy.

THE EAST IN GENERAL

The NBA’s NFC will be competitive this season, and not just because of the aforementioned big man. This conference is ready for a turnaround, and it happens this season. Yes, they have a lot of aging superstars (see Jason Kidd (34), Chauncey Billups (31)), but these guys are determined to make something happen this season with everyone’s prime slipping away. There certainly won’t be a lot of games in the 70s and 80s.

PREDICTIONS

Well, I don’t do predictions. Partly because I know things can change at the drop of a hat and I hate being wrong, and partly because you can get predictions from every one and their mom – you don’t need mine. But a few thoughts I think may or may not happen:

Will San Antonio repeat finally? No.

Will Dallas win it all? Maybe.

Will Kobe be traded? Probably.

Will the champ come from the East? No.

By the way, I’m planning to go to the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans this year with some friends, so I will definitely blog from there, and hopefully snag me an NBA boyfriend. J

A Good Day

2007-11-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had a good night last night in Austin, despite locking myself out of my car at a gas station. Luckily I was still in Killeen, and a guy at a gas station let me use his cell to call someone.
Btw, I think this summer has really taken a positive toll on my attitude. I wasn't even upset that I did it. Although I did smoke a cigarette afterward.
Anyway, last night was something that I needed: a fun night out with friends just having a good time. No worrying about other people. No trying to hook someone up. It felt like just me, my friends, music and a little alcohol.
It definitely rejuvenated my spirit heading into the next month and a half. If I haven't spelled it out yet, I will be staying in Killeen until mid-December. Everything's worked out and I'm good to go.
I don't think it will be too much of a grind because football season is almost over and non-conference high school basketball shouldn't make me want to slice my wrists. My chi is centered (I think that's how you say it.). A good night's sleep and I'm good.
Plus, I totally did my hair the other day and it looks good. So that's awesome.
Here's my newest area preview for your reading pleasure.
There are a few things that I've been thinking about but they are definitely not causing me stress: in the post "Feeling good, feeling great" I talked about having my own neo-soul cafe. The more I think about it, and the more I tell people, I'm becoming more and more interested in doing it, so much so that I'm trying to figure out how to write a business plan so that when the day does come that I have enough time to open one, I'll be ready. So if you happen to know how to do one, or are in business OR a business major, we should definitely talk.
Tonight I head to my favorite stadium, Buckley, to watch Ellison take on Shoemaker, and to write another sidebar. This weekend should be pretty packed, with UMHB playing for the ASC title tomorrow in Belton, Pats-Colts and Cowboys-Eagles on Sunday and flag football games sprinkled in. But I'm excited.

See, that's just childish

2007-11-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

As I've said many times before, I have a small case of ADD, and I like to do a lot of things at the same time. I wrote a few days ago that my IMEEM was blocked after I had been using it everyday since I've been here. Now, I come to work and start on a story, doing my usual routine that's not hurting anyone, and then I go to lunch. When I come back, three of the sites that I go to help me concentrate are now blocked.
Really I feel like they are just doing that to mess with me specifically because I know that no one else using these sites. They aren't household names. One is a spider solitaire game that's not even on a bigger gaming site and the other came off someone's iPhone.
I don't appreciate it. I know that some people may not understand how I can be working and doing these other things, but I am, and I do it all the time. I've been doing it for over 20 years and its a slap to my face to walk behind me and take away some things that help me in my job.

Slacking off

2007-11-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

That's what I've been doing. I haven't posted a substantial post in a while, and for that, I'm sorry. Tuesday was a rough day for me, and though Wednesday was a little better, I still didn't have time to post.
To recap my Halloween activities, I packed up and moved out of the rent house and into the online editor's digs, and then hightailed it to Austin to spend the night with a close. We went to a few bars and clubs, and partook in all the imaginative costumes (I was Usher, btw.) It was a good time.
Because of the late night, I slept on my friend's couch and woke up this morning to make the hour trip back to Killeen. And because I'm a pro at that kind of thing, I got home just in time to shower and make it into work. . .early. Tonight, if my editor deems it necessary, I'll be going to Fairfield to cover the Gatesville High volleyball playoff game since I covered the first round on Tuesday.
I don't wish to do this. I'm supposed to go back to Austin to hang with my friend again (we try to spend as much time together as possible when I'm close to being in town), but if I must, I'll be making the trip.
The NBA season started Tuesday, and I'm not yet sure how I will approach this on the blog. I can't do one after every game, because that would be crazy seeing as how teams play all the time. I think I'll go for a semi-weekly basis, with little niblets in between.
A few news bullets:
Martina Hingis has now officially retired since admitting that she failed a drug test. What was in her system? COCAINE. I can't for the life of me understand why she would do that particular drug. Besides keeping you up at night, I don't see the benefits of coke, but NBA used to do it all the time in the 70s and 80s so I guess. Another sports hero down the drain.
They released T.I. under house arrest. *smh*
Kudos to ESPN.com's Wright Thompson. He's been writing about Genarlow Wilson since the case started and has contributed some great articles. Good reading.
By the way, if you've noticed, every day I've been adding some links to the "Some sites I frequent" section. The newest ones have been about basketball, and if you're a newbie, the Truehoop link is your best bet.

Today's post

2007-10-30T11:56:00.001-07:00

I'm having a bad day emotionally, so we'll just get into the day's schedule and links.
This UMHB press conference story has a pretty good lede, if I do say so myself. I'll probably use it as a clip.
Today I have a playoff volleyball game to cover in Lampasas, about 30 miles away. It's between Gatesville and Liberty Hill and I know nothing about the two schools, so we'll see how it goes.

A Preview of Super XLI 1/2

2007-10-29T10:39:00.001-07:00

That's what Chris Berman is calling next week's matchup between New England and Indianapolis because, seemingly, there won't be another game that will be better. Any matchup in the Super Bowl will have the NFC at a serious disadvantage unless someone knocks off the Pats. (Bob Sanders in the picture, btw)
I'm interested in the game for the sheer fact that the games the last few years have been quite entertaining, and I can feel the hate that the Pats have the Colts all the way over here.
It's like when two siblings fight to see who wins, and the loser hates the winner until he beats the other. That hate that the Colts had for the Pats before the Super Bowl was pretty thick, and obvious. We all thought that Peyton Manning's career would boil down to if he could beat Tom Brady's Patriots. Now that he has, he's got a smoother demeanor and is less stressed.
How you do top a team that just won the Super Bowl and brushed those monkeys off his back? Why, you come out and become the best team to ever play. Have the greatest regular season ever recorded. And that's exactly what the Pats have done, reclaimed the spotlight from a team that should have been the story of this season, but no one is talking about them.
And it gets even more childish when you think about Bill Belichick, who is so obsessed with proving people wrong and being the best that he rationalizes scoring 49 on Miami (and 52 on the Giants) as "You never know what can happen in this league."
As for any of the other games, I can honestly say that I fail as a sports fan. I freaked out because I couldn't find an early game on television, then realized that I hadn't been checking Fox. Luckily I only missed a sloppy, muddy Giants-Dolphins game that I probably wouldn't have watched anyway. I caught pieces of the Texans-Chargers game, and was surprised at all the turnovers by Houston. San Diego scored all their points in the first half, and pulled back on the gas when the game was safely secured (that's how you do it, New England).
Divisional play for Dallas starts next week against Philadelphia, and the Eagles always scare me because you can never measure how much different a team will play when they face their arch-rivals. As unstable and inconsistent as Philly has been, I really see them coming out and playing well, possibly beating the 'Boys at home. That doesn't mean that I'm going to pick them.

Adapt and Move On

2007-10-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

They finally figured out a way to do it. They figured out a way to keep my music from me.
KDH has a pretty good firewall that blocks any potentially fun sites from being accessed on company computers. You have to know a few of the sites that sneak through, and one of those was IMEEM. I used that site for music because most of the other music sites are blocked.
This morning I found that the site hadn't been blocked, you just couldn't access any of the playlists or music because they don't appear on the pages. This makes me sad because I really liked the lists that I put together, and had come to expect to hear them at work.
I had to drive home and get my CDs because, as I'm sure you're well aware, I can't work without music. Crisis averted.
Today is another full one, writing two stories and getting ready for a volleyball playoff game tomorrow (which I just found out about today).
I'm sorta upset because UMHB lost big Saturday, 41-14. Looking at the stats, it was mostly because of turnovers, of which the Cru had five. Can't win with those numbers. On the bright side, I get to write a different kind of press conference story today.
Today's overdue links: Ellison's potent offense and UMHB advance
And, because I know Natalie loves the plugs, here's the link for the News Hounds Flag Football Team, where I will now be using my Sunday afternoons.

Good news

2007-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Genarlow Wilson was just released from prison. Bout time.
Welcome home, brother.