Black Athletes: Michael Irvin Arrested

A woman claims in a lawsuit filed only days before the Super Bowl that former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin sexually assaulted her at a South Florida hotel, an allegation labelled a false attempt at "civil extortion" on Friday by Irvin’s attorney.

The woman filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Broward County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages for the assault that allegedly occurred July 4 or 5, 2007, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

A spokesman for the Broward State Attorney’s office, said the matter remains under investigation but no charges have been filed. Because the woman waited more than two weeks to report the incident, there was no physical evidence or hotel surveillance video.

Stallworth will return

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth will be reinstated after the Super Bowl from his suspension for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk last March in the Miami area.

 

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Super Bowl News: Warren Sapp Arrested for Domestic Violence

Former NFL star Warren Sapp has been charged with domestic battery in South Florida, and the analyst will not be part of the NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage on Sunday.

Sapp was charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic battery and is expected to appear before a Miami-Dade County judge Sunday, Miami Beach police spokesman Juan Sanchez said.

The NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson released this statement: "We have been made aware of the arrest of Warren Sapp by the Miami Beach Police Department. In light of these circumstances, Warren Sapp will not appear on NFL Network while we review the matter."

The domestic violence allegation was reported around noon Saturday and detectives interviewed Sapp later that day, Sanchez said. The alleged physical altercation against a female acquaintance took place at 6 a.m. ET Saturday at the Shore Club Hotel, where Sapp was staying, ESPN’s Kelly Naqi reported, according to a source.

The victim had a swollen knee and bruises on her neck, according to an arrest affidavit. She told detectives that she was partying with Sapp and her friends at the hotel and asked for his room key when she grew tired. Sapp reportedly woke up the victim a few hours later and they started to argue. She told investigators that Sapp started to choke her and pushed her down on a couch.

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Serena Wins Another One

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) — Serena Williams, surrounded by Grand Slam tennis title record holder Margaret Court and mentor Billie Jean King, made a bit of her own history yesterday with her fifth Australian Open title.

The defending champion beat Justine Henin in three sets at Melbourne Park to gain her 12th major in all, tying fellow American King in sixth place on the career list headed by Court’s 24 championships.

“I feel really special that I was able to tie Billie Jean King,” Williams told reporters. “Because in my heart of hearts, I’ve been going for it and I haven’t been able to quite achieve it. Billie Jean is a really big mentor of mine.”

King and Evonne Goologong Cawley were among the former champions at Rod Laver Arena to mark the 40th anniversary of Court’s Australian Open victory, which was the first step of a Grand Slam sweep in 1970. Williams, who was presented the trophy by the 67-year-old Australian, is now one title ahead of Court, Goologong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles for the most Australian Open titles since professionals were first allowed to enter in 1969.

After catching King, who came into the locker room to wish her luck before her 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over the unranked Henin, Williams’s next two targets on the Grand Slam title-leading list are Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 majors.

“I still think that when she plays her best, she’s the best ever,” King, 66, told reporters about Williams at Melbourne Park.

 

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Black Athlete News from Dr. Boyce – 1/7/10

Mistress Claims that Tiger Woods Had Gay Encounters

• An Italian model who has posed for Playboy Magazine is releasing a tell-all book about her alleged … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 7th 2010 1:34PM | Comments (1)

Shaq’s Accuser Seems to Have a History of Harassing NBA Players

• Vanessa Lopez, the woman who claims that NBA Star Shaquille O’Neal has been harassing her, seems … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 7th 2010 7:30AM | Comments (1)

Kentucky Coach John Calipari Accused of Pressuring Athletes to Leave School

• I graduated from the University of Kentucky. Most of my black classmates from the 1990s have a … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 5:36PM | Comments (3)

Gilbert Arenas Suspended Indefinitely from the NBA

• It has been reported that NBA star Gilbert Arenas has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 4:27PM | Comments (5)

Gilbert Arenas Didn’t Have a License for the Guns in His Locker

• The media is reporting that NBA star Gilbert Arenas did not have a license for the gun allegedly in … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 6th 2010 9:06AM | Comments (2)

Tiger Woods Sex Tape? Someone is Shopping One Around

• Steven Hirsch, top executive for Vivid Entertainment, says that he was approached by a woman who … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 5th 2010 9:34AM | Comments (0)

Tiger Woods "Raw" in Topless Vanity Fair Pictures: Is this Racist?

• It appears that Tiger Woods is going to have his "raw" image exposed to the world. Vanity Fair’s … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 4th 2010 9:02PM | Comments (7)

OJ Mayo Situation Leads to USC Sanctions: Dr Boyce Analyzes

• The University of Southern California is imposing sanctions on itself for the violation of NCAA … Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 4th 2010 4:22PM | Comments (0)

USC Bans Itself Over OJ Mayo

USC coach Kevin O’Neill assembled his players early Sunday morning to deliver the news that the Trojans’ eight-game win streak and their newfound status as a Pac-10 title contender won’t matter for an NCAA tournament berth.

The school had decided to self-impose penalties related to former player O.J. Mayo and his relationship with agent/runner/booster Rodney Guillory. But vacated wins from two seasons ago and a scholarship being taken away weren’t tangible to this crew. Having their season end March 7 was all the players heard.

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Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

O.J. Mayo’s involvement with Rodney Guillory led to USC’s self-imposed sanctions, including a postseason ban.

"My heart sank for a second," said senior point guard Mike Gerrity, a two-time Division I transfer from Pepperdine to Charlotte to USC. "I was frustrated. That’s what you play college basketball for — to play in March."

The Trojans haven’t lost since Gerrity became eligible. Since beating Sacramento State and Idaho State before he was cleared to play Dec. 18, they’ve won six games with him as their lead guard. They beat Tennessee by 22 points, won the Diamond Head Classic with wins over Western Michigan, Saint Mary’s and UNLV, then earned a Pac-10 season-opening home sweep of Arizona and Arizona State. The Trojans are on a roll heading into a three-game road swing to Stanford, Cal and UCLA in the next 12 days.

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8th Grader is Florida’s Top Rusher

It would be easy to call Sony Michel just another high school hot shot – what with him rushing for 1,285 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage to a 9-3 record.

But you can’t: Sony Michel is only in middle school.

That’s right, the leading rusher in football crazy Broward County was an eight-grader. Next month, he’ll be on display at the second annual Football University Youth All-American bowl, Jan. 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Sony Michel may be the best 8th-grade football player in the country.

"We feel that, hands down Sony, is the best eighth-grader in the country right now," FBU National Youth Director Erik Richards said.

It would be hard to argue.

Michel, 5-11, 187 and clearly still growing at age 14, has the speed to go with his size. He already has been timed at 4.47 in the 40. He uses his size and speed on every play.

"He doesn’t run scared," Allen Michel, his older brother and guardian, said. "When he hits a hole, he hits it full blast."

Michel’s coming out party came in his fourth game, when he ran for a season-high 281 yards against North Broward Prep. Michel got stronger as the season wore on, going on 150 yards in five of American Heritage’s final six games.

And while American Heritage is a Class 2A school, Michel didn’t struggle against the top teams. He rushed for 92 yards and a TD in his team’s quarterfinal playoff loss to Glades Central, No. 72 in the final RivalsHigh Top 100.

"A lot of people didn’t expect me to do things like this, but I really fought for it," Michel said.

 

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Black News: Tiger Woods Named PGA Player of the Year

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods was voted the PGA Tour player of the year by the players on Friday, the 10th time in his 13 years on tour that he has won the award.

The PGA Tour does not disclose vote totals.

Woods started and finished the season the same way – with questions when he would return. He was coming off knee surgery at the beginning of the year, and last week announced an indefinite leave to work on his marriage after admitting to infidelity.

In between, he won six PGA Tour events, captured the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus, won the money title for the ninth time in his career with over $10.5 million, and had the lowest scoring average for the ninth time.

No one else won more than three times on the PGA Tour. It was only the second time that Woods was voted player of the year when he did not win a major. In a peculiar twist, Woods won in his final start before each of the four majors.

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1948959,00.html#ixzz0a9RyHTJZ

Chris Henry 911 Call Released

The 911 calls relating to NFL star Chris Henry’s death following a fight with his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, have been released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Photo: Chris Henry and Loleini Tonga.
CBS affiliate WBTV reports that the tapes, from Dec. 16, include two calls. The first is an unidentified woman calmly telling the operator that she is driving behind a yellow truck with "a black man on it with no shirt on, and he’s got his arm in a cast and black pants on," she told a dispatcher.
"He’s beating on the back of this truck window… I don’t know if he’s trying to break in or something. It just looks crazy. It’s a girl driving it." She then says that the truck turned off of the street she was driving on and that she did not follow it.

 

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News: AP Votes Tiger Athlete of the Decade

Even after a shocking sex scandal that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was tough to ignore what he achieved on the golf course.

He won 64 times around the world, including 12 majors, and hoisted a trophy on every continent golf is played. He lost only one time with the lead going into the final round. His 56 PGA Tour victories in one incomparable decade were more than anyone except four of golf’s greatest players won in their careers.

Woods was selected Wednesday as the Athlete of the Decade by members of The Associated Press in a vote that was more about 10 years of performance than nearly three weeks of salacious headlines.

Just like so many of his victories, it wasn’t much of a contest.

Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors since last month. More than half of the ballots were returned after the Nov. 27 car accident outside his Florida home that set off sensational tales of infidelity.

Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France six times this decade, finished second with 33 votes. He was followed by Roger Federer, who won more Grand Slam singles titles than any other man, with 25 votes.

Record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps came in fourth with 13 votes, followed by New England quarterback Tom Brady (6) and sprinter Usain Bolt (4). Five other athletes received one vote apiece.

 

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Black News: Dwight Howard Suing Mother of His Son

 

Posted by Freezy on December 11th, 2009 under Recent Blogs • No Comments

According to documents filed in California, Dwight Howard is suing Royce Reed, the mother of his 2 year old son, over allegedly defamatory comments that surfaced on gossip site LipstickAlley.com. Dwight claims that posting the comments – whether “directly or indirectly” under an Internet alias – is in violation of an injunction he filed against her. In it Reed is ordered not mention the superstar by name or talk about him (that’s a…

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News: Could Tiger Woods Be Quitting Golf?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

The British Tabloid, the Sun, is now reporting on it’s website that Tiger Woods, the #1 player in the world, may be quitting golf in order to save his marriage. According to a source, said to be a friend of Tiger’s wife, Elin Nordegren, ""They have agreed to try and rebuild their marriage, but Elin will be the one calling the shots. It will be a long time before he’s traveling the globe playing golf unless Elin’s by his side. Tiger will have to work long and hard to get her to trust him again. Quitting golf shows he is willing to sacrifice something he loves so much to protect his family….."
If Tiger Woods were to quit the game of golf, a long list of people stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Here’s the short list:

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News: Tiger Jumps Ship on Friend’s Wedding

Tiger Woods has been MIA, and word is out that Tiger Woods is bailing as best man at his Nike Sales rep friend’s wedding.  This doesn’t shock Memphians, as Tiger Woods recently skipped his own tournament, issuing a statement on his Web site apologizing to sponsors. Tiger Woods was set to be best man at the wedding for Julie Kunsman and Bryon Bell.  Kunsman is a Nike Sales rep, and she met her groom, Bryon Bell at a Nike sponsored golf tournament.

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ABC News: Tiger Woods’ Injury in a Car Crash: How Does this Impact His Corporate Value?

Word that Tiger Woods was involved in an early morning car accident likely rattled not just fans, but also the broad swath of major corporations that rely on Woods’ star power to sell everything from sports drinks, T-shirts and razors to golf tournament tickets.

Reports say the golf star hit a fire hydrant and a tree near his home.

"I can imagine that the world stopped for Tiger Woods advertisers when they first heard the news and that, literally, their hearts missed a beat," said ABC News sports consultant and USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan.

Woods has earned more than $100 million annually and, according to Forbes, more than $1 billion during his career thus far, thanks, in part, through endorsement deals with companies such as Nike, Gatorade, Electronic Arts, TAG Heuer and Gillette. The companies declined requests for comment from ABC News.

Nike, in particular, has been especially dependent on Woods, said advertising expert Larry Woodard, an ABC News columnist and the CEO of the advertising agency Vigilante.

"Nike wasn’t really into golf before Tiger Woods came," he said. "He helped them take a pre-eminent role in golf."

The PGA Tour also has a lot riding on Woods — he drives ratings for PGA Tour broadcasts like no one else before him, allowing the tour to rake in greater advertising revenues and higher TV ratings.

"Tiger brought a lot of color to the sport both on his skin and his style of play and that’s something that the PGA sorely needs," said Boyce Watkins, a finance professor at Syracuse University.

In the short term, companies tied to Woods likely wouldn’t lose too much cash if Woods couldn’t fulfill his immediate endorsement obligations; corporations take out insurance policies to cover themselves in case of such events.

"I bet you any intelligent corporation that deals with Tiger Woods has conditions in place to protect them in the event that something like this were to happen," Watkins said. "You have to confront the fact that a human being is perishable commodity. It is a commodity that does not come without risk."

 

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Golfer Tiger Woods in a Serious Car Accident

I have some very sad and shocking news. A reporter from ABC News called me today to tell me that Tiger Woods was in a serious car crash. Woods was pulling his 2009 Cadillac SUV out of his driveway and struck a fire hydrant and then a tree. According to police, alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the accident, but Woods is in serious condition. Tiger Woods is currently the number one ranked golfer in the world, earning over $110 million dollars on the golf course alone.

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Shaquille O’neal Helps Shaniya Davis

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

NBA star Shaquille O’neal is planning to cover the cost for the funeral of Shaniya Davis, the five-year old who was recently kidnapped and murdered in a story that rocked the nation. The cost of the funeral is expected to be about $4,500. According to media reports, the child was killed by 29-year old Mario McNeill on the same day that she was found to be missing.

The Shaniya Davis case broke all of our hearts. Shaquille O’neal’s intervention was likely welcomed by the family, since funeral costs are usually another problem that families are not prepared to face after the death of a loved one.

Shaniya Davis’ mother, 25-year old Antoinette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Her case is a reminder of the dangers of drugs in America and opens a frightening door into the underworld of child prostitution. In spite of the fact that there are ways to save on the cost of a funeral, it is highly unlikely that Shaniya Davis’ mother had anything in place to pay the cost of her child’s burial. So, I give Shaq major "props" for stepping up to the plate, since we all know that it takes a village to raise and protect a child. It is my hope that the other Shaniya’s in the world get the protection they deserve from all of us before it is too late.

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Fighter was Almost Homeless before His Big win

If anyone needed a huge postfight bonus at UFC 104, it was Pat Barry. The heavyweight out of New Orleans, scored Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night for his victory over Antoni Hardonk. That was good enough for $120,000. Good thing,  Barry needed the infusion of cash in the worst way. He confirmed to MMAScrapsRadio that he was completely down on his luck before the fight, agreeing that he had little to eat in Los Angeles the week of the fight.

"I still had my apartment but if something would’ve happened and the fight had been canceled, I would’ve been evicted six days later."

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News: Steve McNair’s Life was Complicated

Update: Exclusive pictures of both Leah Ignagni and Sahel Kazemi have been released.

This week, Nashville, Tenn., police released an updated case summary on the murder-suicide of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his mistress, Sahel Kazemi. Police identified Leah Ignagni as McNair’s possible second girlfriend. Ignagni told police that she believed Kazemi had been following her in the weeks before McNair’s death. According to Kazemi’s roommate, Emily Andrews, Kazemi knew about Ignagni.
According to the report:
Andrews said that Kazemi told her that [Kazemi] found a tampon in the bathroom wastebasket in the Lea Avenue condo, and on another occasion, saw a female leaving the condo.

Police are not saying that the relationship played a role in the incident.

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Black Women on Trial: The Case of Serena Williams

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, AOL Black Voices, MSNBC’s TheGrio.com 

Serena Williams has been listed as a headliner for this year’s Australian Open. The problem is that it’s not clear whether she’ll be allowed to play.

Because of a recent outburst in which she threatened a line judge, Williams may be banned from at least one Grand Slam tournament. According to published reports, Williams told the judge, "You don’t know me. You better be right. I swear to God I’m going to take this ball and shove it down your throat."Given that a ball going down your throat might actually kill you, the judge felt that Serena had threatened her life. Then again, Serena’s from Compton, a town that has become famous for finding creative ways to kill people. Serena does not, however, need to take "the hood" with her all the way to Australia.

To make matters more interesting, Serena recently got naked for the cover of ESPN magazine, certifying her status as an iconic and thought-provoking figure for the early 21st century. These two events, plus the fact that she just happens to be one of the most dominant female tennis players in history, makes her the kind of woman we’ll all be talking about for the next 100 years. Our great-grandkids won’t be talking much about the boring apolitical figure called Michael Jordan. We’ll congratulate Tiger Woods for being the first incredibly rich black man to consistently beat the crap out of the arrogant guys at the country club. Serena Williams’ name, though, will come up in classes on feminist theory, history and sociology. Like Muhammad Ali, Serena is becoming bigger than her sport, and my greatest hope is that her ability to transcend tennis is guided by a desire to serve all humanity, and not just herself. Her nude body on the cover of ESPN is her way of yelling to the world that she is more than a tennis player. I agree that she is.

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Black News: Serena Gets Naked for ESPN The Magazine

 

In case you don’t recognize her booty, that’s Serena Williams. Yes, that’s the body she’ll be using.

Your Black Sports: Nike’s Black Politics in Dealing with Michael Vick

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, MSNBC’s TheGrio.com and AOL Black Voices 

Dick’s Sporting Goods recently made a decision that is bad for business. Taking one of the boldest, and perhaps silliest, stands of any corporation in recent memory, Dick’s decided not to sell Michael Vick jerseys in any of their stores.

Perhaps they earned a few dog-loving customers, but they lost the support of any shareholder who cares about making money. It’s one thing for lynch mobs to embrace vigilantism, but another for a corporation to engage in the same irrational behavior. Vick paid his debt to society; it’s time to move on with our lives.

The top brass at the Nike Corporation are smarter than the management at Dick’s Sporting Goods, but they too understand the need to stay away from Michael Vick, at least for right now. When asked to respond to rumors that Vick had signed a deal with Nike, the company gave an immediate and resounding "no." After the Nike denial, Michael Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, had to backpedal faster than an NFL defensive back to kill any indication that his client has re-signed with the "big swoosh." However, the confidence with which the signing was announced indicates that the relationship might be deeper than we think.

The truth is that I don’t believe a single word of the Nike dismissal. Like the big egos in Beyonce’s song, Nike’s swoosh is " too big, too wide, too strong" for them to sit idly by as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL makes his return to the game. Nike executives have seen Vick grace the cover of Xbox games and sports magazines and often refer to him as the man who "revolutionized the quarterback position." They know that Vick is not washed up, and that some of his best years may still be ahead of him.

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Your Black News: Nike Denies Signing Michael Vick

Nike has sacked Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Michael Vick, contradicting the player’s agent who said on Wednesday that the shoe giant had re-signed him. "Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick," Nike said in a statement issued Thursday. Vick was released from prison in May after serving time for killing dogs for sport and profit.
It’s understandable that Nike would be wary of resuming business with a man convicted of running an illegal dog-fighting operation that horrified the nation. Yet on Wednesday, Mike Principe, managing director of Vick’s agency, BEST, apparently believing that Nike had re-signed his client, announced as much at an event hosted by SportsBusiness Journal. Without disclosing details of an arrangement, Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, said, "Mike has had a great relationship with Nike and is excited to be part of the Nike team again."

But on Thursday, Nike denied that it had re-signed Vick but said it had agreed to supply "product" to him "as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike."

 

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News: Chad Johnson Still Gettin Crazy

Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals decided to break the Packers tradition by being the first non-Packer player to leap into the stands.  He did so, but only after looking around to find some Bengals Fans together who would embrace him.  Yeah, you a black man in Green Bay?  You better be careful!

Caster Semenya’s Story Gets More Interesting

Caster Semenya’s gender fiasco manages to get worse. E-mail correspondence found by the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian shows that her team doctor Harold Adams and athletics boss Leonard Chuene did indeed know that Semenya was tested in South Africa before the World Championships in Berlin but kept Semenya in the race even after they found out that her test results were "not good."
Semenya crossed the 800-meter finish line a full minute before her competitors. Her time, coupled with her supposed virile looks, prompted championship officials to order a gender test.

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Sports News: Titans Player Gets Fined for Message on Shoes

On Sunday, Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson(notes) wore shoes bearing a message designed to get him more money. They ended up having the exact opposite effect.

Robinson was fined $25,000 yesterday for wearing customized Nike cleats with the words "Pay Me Rick" written on the heel during the team’s season opener Sunday. The message was intended for Texans GM Rick Smith, who had placed the franchise tag on Robinson after failing to sign him to a long-term contract over the offseason. After sitting out all of training camp because of the dispute, Robinson finally signed the one-year tender a week before the season began. It will pay him $9.957 million in 2009, or $9.932 million after he pays that fine.

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McNabb Goes Down – Going to Michael Vick?

The Eagles potentially suffered a big blow in their 38-10 road win Sunday over the Carolina Panthers as quarterback Donovan McNabb cracked a rib.

McNabb will not play next week at home against the Saints. The quarterback’s status beyond that is unclear.

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Did Serena Really Threaten to Kill the Lines Judge?

Rain gave way to bedlam tonight at the U.S. Open.

Defending champion Serena Williams was charged with a point penalty on match point after yelling at a line judge for a calling a foot fault on her previous serve. The ruling gave Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory in their semifinal match, which had been delayed 32 hours because of rain.

After the line judge called the foot fault with Serena serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, the youngest Williams sister intimidatingly stared her down beforescreaming at the official with a jabbed finger. After a few seconds, Serena turned back around to serve, thought better of it and resumed the badgering. The chair umpire then called over the line judge to ask what Serena had said, rules officials were summoned, a brief summit occurred at the net and it was determined that Serena would be assessed a point penalty for a conduct violation. The point gave Clijsters the match.

The initial foot fault that began the fireworks was a terrible call. It was unconscionable. It cannot be made at the end of any match, let alone in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. This isn’t because a foot fault is a ridiculous call at that juncture (even though it is). It’s because it wasn’t a foot fault. The replays show that Serena’s foot was behind the line when she served. You could make the argument that it was close but not close enough to make the call.

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Dr Boyce Watkins Speaks on LaGarette Blount Suspension

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

When I saw the video of the punch out by LeGarrette Blount of The University of Oregon, I was shocked and disappointed. This knock out blow that the athlete laid on Byron Hout of Boise State certainly has no place in the game of football – at least after the clock has struck zero. The University of Oregon acted immediately, suspending Blount for the entire season, effectively ending his career with the team. This incident is also going to likely hurt his chances of having an NFL career.

Here are some reasons that Oregon State was dead wrong in their decision.

1) The the university has no right to be judge and jury on this case. Where’s the union for college athletes? Oh yeah, they don’t have one. This incident is a reminder and sick reflection of the fact that college student athletes should have the same labor rights as the rest of us. Instead, they are subject to the harsh decisions of universities who care more about their revenues and reputations than the athletes themselves. Before you destroy a young man’s career, there should be hearings and a full investigation by a trustworthy panel of individuals who consider his well-being as part of the process. The idea that someone moved so quickly without knowing all the facts is absolutely ridiculous.

2) He is young. Since when can’t one 22-year old football player punch out another one and not pay for it for the rest of his life? Does it really make sense that the university feels that this man’s years of hard work are so disposable that they can simply throw them in the trash without consequence? Coaches are arrested for DWIs, commit crimes and do all kinds of egregious things, and are simply expected to go find another job. Blount, because of NCAA restrictions, can’t simply join the team at another university. His career is over.

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News: Is Gender Testing about Race or Races?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

MSNBC’s TheGrio.com

6:20 PM on 09/10/2009

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

The world is now talking about Caster Semenya, the South African athlete who has been subjected to gender testing after dominating the field in the 800-meter run at the 2009 World Championships. Recent reports by the Daily Mail of London and the Sydney Morning Herald of Australia state that the test has revealed that Semenya "is a hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries." Some have argued that Semenya was the target of the investigation because she is black, but I am not sure if I am on board with that presumption.

If the reports are true, I am not surprised. Race issues to the side, I too found myself wondering if I was seeing things, as I watched Semenya thump her chest in victory and speak with a voice that could bring Barry White back from the grave. I was disturbed, but open-minded, for I considered Semenya’s case to be an opportunity to explore cultural variations in gender perception.
Another use of the word "race" applies when analyzing Semenya’s time in her race of choice, the 800-meter run. Not only did this 18-year old come out of nowhere to run a time which instantly dominates the world’s most highly trained 800 meter runners (1:55.45), but her time was nowhere near the world record (1:53.28), set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia in 1983. Like Semenya, Kratochvilova could easily be mistaken for a man.

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Test Results: “Hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries”

The world of athletics is reeling today after a claim that South African champion runner Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries.

A Sydney newspaper claims it has a world exclusive in revealing the very private information about the sex of the 18-year-old runner.

Quoting a source closely involved with the IAAF, the Sydney Daily Telegraph said Semenya had internal testes – male sexual organs which produce testosterone and which in turn produces muscle bulk, body hair and a deep voice.

Oregon Athlete’s Punishment Too Harsh

Oregon not only lost the battle of their opening game against Boise State, but they also lost a general, in standout senior running back LeGarrette Blount.

Following a disappointing performance against Boise State in which the Ducks suffered a 19-8 defeat, Blount was walking off the field when he decided to sucker punch BSU player Byron Hout. Prior to the right straight to Hout’s jaw, Hout ran over to Blount antagonizing and instigating confrontation by yelling in Blount’s face and tapping him on the shoulder pad.

Once the skirmish was broken up by Boise coaches and Oregon players, Blount was escorted off the field, but a sports fight would not be a fight until the fans were involved.

 

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1969: The Year that Was for Black College Football Players

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez College football’s centennial year, 1969, also happened to be my senior season at Notre Dame. I played against three teams that year—Georgia Tech, Tulane, and then Texas in the Cotton Bowl—that had not yet integrated their varsity football teams. This was actually a mark of progress. By 1969, the integration of the Southeastern Conference and the old Southwest Conference was finally well underway. It started in the SWC in 1966 at Baylor and SMU and in the SEC with Kentucky in 1967; it ended with Texas and Arkansas in 1970, then with Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss in 1972.

That was college football’s quiet racial revolution. The noisy one took place on northern campuses. At Oregon State in February 1969, a black linebacker named Fred Milton was suspended from the team after an assistant coach spotted him on campus with a moustache and goatee, in violation of the team’s ban on facial hair. Black students on campus responded with a boycott of classes, many of them left the university, and both the football team and the institution struggled for years afterward against a reputation for racial intolerance. Two months later, 16 black players at the University of Iowa boycotted a spring practice and were suspended; seven were reinstated in August. That summer, John Underwood wrote a three-part series for Sports Illustrated titled "The Desperate Coach," describing the incidents at Oregon State and Iowa, along with dozens of lesser ones in athletic programs throughout the country, as a full-scale assault on coaches’ authority. "In the privacy of their offices," Underwood wrote, "over breakfast in strange towns, wherever two or three coaches get together, they talk about The Problem."

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Black News: Iverson Can’t Get a Job?

Dr. Deborah Stroman, a leading scholar on Leadership and Sport, was asked why Allen Iverson can’t find a job.   Here is what she had to say.  Other notable athletes, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and Derrick Brookes are also on the sidelines.

“Money is only one aspect of a good veteran not being picked up by a team. The other factor is leadership. If the organization is trying to develop new leaders, the coach and/or general manager will not gamble the new leader’s development and team chemistry with the introduction of a  veteran leader. And this veteran leadership may be displayed by performance or verbal acumen. For example, you may have a veteran wide receiver or running back who doesn’t talk much but has the potential to dominate on the field. A younger player may be drawn to that performer as a role model and not the new leader (often times the quarterback) who is trying to gain influence and control of “his” team. Or the veteran leader may be charismatic and draw attention to himself and away from the leaders that the organization is rightfully trying to impose on the other players. The organization feels that the signing of the veteran player is just not worth the risk.”

News: What’s Wrong with the American Relay Teams?

Try as they might, the Americans just can’t seem to get that baton around the track in the 400-meter relay without some sort of misadventure.

First the men were disqualified at the world championships for making an exchange outside the allowable zone. Then the women didn’t finish after Muna Lee pulled up with a hamstring injury.

It was shades of Beijing all over again, when the two relay teams dropped the stick at the Olympics.

"We’re not panicking," said Doug Logan, the CEO of USA Track and Field. "To lose on something technical rather than on a speed basis is disappointing. We’re going back to the drawing board and teach the rules of the relays better and practice better."

That’s been attempted before.

In the aftermath of Beijing, Logan and his staff did a comprehensive study looking into what went wrong with the 400 relay teams after the baton clanged to the track not once, but twice. They established new rules and protocols.

Then this happened.

 

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Your Black News: Carmello Sues Former Business Manager

When athletes finally make it to the professional level, they’re immediately surrounded by people they don’t know but are forced to trust. And young athletes in their twenties who don’t have any money-management skills whatsoever are ripe for being taken advantage of. That’s what happened to Carmelo Anthony, but now he’s fighting back.
Melo filed a $2 million lawsuit against his former business manager, Larry W. Harmon and his firm, Larry Harmon & Associates P.A. The suit alleges that Harmon breached their contract by transferring $1.75 million of Anthony’s money without his knowledge or consent to a company formed by Harmon, most of it in 2008, according to the Associated Press. There was another $265,000 invested in companies that Melo had no knowledge of or given consent to.

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Vick Expected to Head to the Field Thursday

Michael Vick is expected to play for the Eagles on Thursday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  I guess this is the end of the most interesting 2 years of his life.

Is this Athlete a Man or a Woman?

No 1: Caster Semenya celebrates as she wins gold in Berlin Photo: AP

Semenya crowned a spectacular season by triumphing in 1min 55.45sec while Britain’s Jenny Meadows produced a lifetime best of 1min 57.93sec to take the bronze – Britain’s third medal of the championship. Fellow Briton Marilyn Okoro was eighth.

But instead of being able to celebrate her victory, Semenya found herself facing uncomfortable questions about whether she should really have been lining up in today’s first-round heats of the men’s 800m.

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News: calipari Found Cheating – Kentucky Coach Must Give Back 38 wins

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Memphis will be forced to vacate the record 38 victories from its Final Four season of 2007-08 under former coach John Calipari because of NCAA violations, The Commercial Appeal reported.

The newspaper, citing an unidentified source close to the situation, said on its Web site Wednesday night the NCAA will release findings of its investigation Thursday. The Commercial Appeal said it was unaware of any penalties beyond this season.

The NCAA investigated whether someone took the SAT exam for a player on that Final Four team. Memphis was notified of potential violations in January and met with the governing body in June.

The NCAA has said an unknown person took the college entrance exam for a player—with his knowledge—and that the player used it to get admitted. The governing body says the athlete played for the Tigers only in the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. Just one person fits that description: Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls’ No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008 and its rookie of the year.

 

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Michael Vick’s Interesting Words

In his first interview since being released from federal prison and conditionally reinstated in the NFL, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick admitted he didn’t stand up to his peers, talked about disappointing team owner Arthur Blank, and said he’d earned his fall from grace.

“I deserved to lose the $130 million,” Vick told CBS commentator James Brown during the interview that aired on the Sunday night TV news journal 60 Minutes.

“Why would a guy who was making a $130 million … on the flip side … killing dogs … he don’t deserve it.”

Just two years ago, Vick was the highest paid player in pro football, with the $130 million deal from the Falcons and endorsement contracts with Nike and Atlanta-based AirTran Airways, among others.

But he lost it all when he admitted to bankrolling and participating in an interstate dog-fighting ring.

Instead, Vick faced a 23-month prison sentence — 18 months of it served in a federal penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas — and millions of dollars in debt.

Usain Bolt – New World Record

Usain Bolt isn’t just rewriting the record books; he’s redefining what the human body can do.

Bolt became the first man to run 100 meters in under 9.6 seconds and still left people wondering how fast he can go.

Bolt clocked 9.58 seconds Sunday night, smashing the world record of 9.69 he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won his first IAAF world championships title in the same stadium where Jesse Owenswon four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics.

“I don’t think I’m in Beijing shape, but I think I’m in very good shape,” said Bolt, who was in a car accident earlier this year that took away from his training.

Tyson Gay did his part in the highly anticipated showdown, but was overshadowed by the ebullient 6-5 Jamaican.

Gay, who is 5-11 and wore the U.S. team’s “JO” patch honoring Owens on his singlet, set an American record of 9.71. He eclipsed his own mark of 9.77.

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Your News: Tiger Woods Gets Defeated

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — In a year of spoilers at the majors, Y.E. Yang was the biggest of all.

He toppled the mighty Tiger Woods.

Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a major Sunday with a stunning performance in the PGA Championship, memorable as much for his clutch shots as the player he beat.

Woods was 14-0 when he went into the final round of a major atop the leaderboard. He had not lost any tournament around the world in nine years when leading by two shots.

None of that mattered to Yang, a 37-year-old South Korean who hit the shots everyone expected from Woods. Leading by one on the final hole, Yang slayed golf’s giant with a hybrid 3-iron that cleared the bunker and settled 12 feet from the cup.

Yang made the birdie putt and shouted with joy as he pumped his fist. That gave him a 2-under 70, and a three-shot victory when Woods missed yet another short par putt and shot 75.

“I tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout the small wins I had in my career,” Yang said through his agent, Michael Yim. “I think it turned out quite well today.”

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Tiger On Top at the PGA

Tiger Woods (FSY) is poised to take one more step toward Jack Nicklaus‘ record of 18 victories in golf’s major championships Sunday at the PGA Championship.

But Woods will have to step lively at Hazeltine Country Club because longtime foe Padraig Harrington (FSY) is in the hunt.

SCORES: PGA Championship

TWITTER: Keep up with action from the scene

Woods, who shot 71 Saturday, is at 8 under par, two strokes ahead of little-known Y. E. Yang and Harrington, both at 6 under. Henrik Stenson and U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover are another two shots back at 4 under.

“You have guys who understand how to win major championships,” said Woods, who is playing for his 15th victory in a major. “They believe in themselves. They know how to get it done. They can say, ‘I’ve done it before.’ I can say that. Padraig can say that.”

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Black News: What’s Up with Marvin Harrison?

A Philadelphia man who says he was shot by NFL receiver Marvin Harrison last year remains in critical condition after being shot again.

Marvin Harrison made eight straight Pro Bowls for the Colts from 1999-2006. (Harry How / Getty Images)

Dwight Dixon was found shot multiple times in the city’s Fairmount section late Tuesday morning.

A spokesman at Hahnemann University Hospital said Dixon, 33, remained in critical condition Wednesday.

Police have not made an arrest in the case.

Dixon, who sued Harrison after his criminal case was dismissed, was shot seven times while sitting in a parked rental car, the New York Daily News reported. He was shot in the arm, chest and stomach. The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Dixon was found leaning against the car after the incident.

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Michael Vick’s Return is Good for All of Us

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

He’s back. After a 2 year saga that kept my head spinning, the young man who made a terrible mistake is finally being allowed to make a living. I have supported Michael Vick all along, but not because I felt that he was innocent. I’ve supported him because I do not believe that dog fighting is the kind of crime that deserves a lifetime punishment. So, to the extremists at PETA who want to see Michael Vick burn in the hell of unemployment and incarceration for the rest of his life, I only have one thing to say: grow up.

Michael Vick’s reinstatement to the NFL and recent signing by the Philadelphia Eagles unleashed a plethora of thoughts within me. On some level, his return is a bit of an “Athletic Juneteenth” for those who tire of seeing our country make African American athletes into public enemy number one whenever they screw up. To this day, we act as if Marion Jones is the devil, Barry Bonds is a monster, and Terrell Owens is some kind of criminal. This treatment is nothing new, as black athletes have been getting villified for decades, and their molehills are consistently turned into mountains, ripe for high-tech lynchings. This is the tradition of America.

It only seems appropriate that Michael Vick sign his contract in a city like Philadelphia, the place that I love and fear at the same time. I love the city because they’ve supported me in my work with the great Wendy Williams, Dom Giordano andCharlamagne Tha God. But there is a dark side of “Killadelphia” that shows itself in the way they support their sports teams. They are the fans that cheered when it appeared that Michael Irvin may have broken his neck, so they sure as heck aren’t going to pay much attention to animal rights protestors blocking their path to a Super Bowl. In a city like Philly, the slogan is simple: “If you win, we forgive all sin.” Vick will be right at home.

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Finally – Michael Vick Gets a Job

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

Enlarge photo

Courtesy of CBSMichael Vick discusses his situation with James Brown.

Related Falcons stories »

• Report: Vick to be an Eagle
• Bulldog QBs to take centerstage in Falcons’ opener
• Vick regrets dogfighting, accepts full responsibility
• Schedule and results
• TV Listings

Vick will return to the NFL after two seasons away, including 23 months in federal prison, and a league suspension that will end after Week 6 this year.

The Falcons host the Eagles in a Sunday game on Dec. 6, at the end of the regular season.

The controversial signal caller has gone through a whirlwind of highs and lows since the Atlanta Falcons drafted as the No. 1 pick in 2001.

He inked a $62 million deal that included a $15 million signing bonus. After a year waiting in the wings, took over the starting position in the 2002 season, and led the team to its first playoff berth since the 1998 NFC Championship season.

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Donte Stallworth Won’t be Playing This Year

Many have felt that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth may have got off easy after killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, but the NFL aren’t so lenient. While Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in prison and is on probation for awhile, the NFL suspended Stall worth for the entire upcoming season without pay.
“Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth released by the league according to NFL.com. “The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations. As you recognized both at and following the hearing, guilt or innocence as a matter of criminal law is not the same as a violation of NFL policies.”

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Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino Had Cheated on his Wife

University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino told police that he had consensual sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher at a Louisville restaurant where he’d been drinking on Aug. 1, 2003.

He also told police that he later gave Sypher $3,000 to have an abortion, according to Louisville Metro Police reports The Courier-Journal obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

But Pitino denied Sypher’s allegations that he raped her at Porcini, after the restaurant closed, and again a few weeks later at a different location, police records show. And prosecutors who have reviewed Sypher’s claims say Pitino won’t be charged.

Sypher has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to extort money from Pitino in exchange for her silence about the alleged crimes, and with lying to the FBI. She has pleaded not guilty.

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Your Black News: NBA Star Reggie Miller Accused of Stalking Married Women

Reggie Miller doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. According to twitter.com,  former Pacer great and current TNT network NBA announcer Reggie Miller started up a conversation with the fiancée of Alex von Furstenberg, a Malibu resident and surf shop owner locally. Reggie waited for her to leave the local Country Mart then followed her up the PCH begging for future encounters.

Alex says he confronted Reggie about trying to get with his fiancée when Reggie told him he had friends with guns and called the cops on Alex. Alex was in the process of getting a restraining order against Reggie but says he has since worked out the situation with Reggie and his lawyer.

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Your Black News: Tiger Woods Get Fined by the PGA Tour

Tiger Woods will be fined by the PGA Tour for his public criticism of a rules official after winning the Bridgestone Invitational, a tour official said Monday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the tour does not publicize fines.

Woods was bothered after his four-shot victory Sunday because he and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock at the par-5 16th. He said that caused Harrington to rush three difficult shots, leading to triple bogey.

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Black News: Yes, Tiger Woods is the Man

World number one Tiger Woods overhauledPadraig Harrington with a spectacular burst of scoring to grab a two-shot lead midway through Sunday’s final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

In pursuit of a record seventh victory in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event, the American holed two putts from more than 20 feet to cover the front nine in a sizzling five-under-par 30.

That left him at 12 under overall with Irishman Harrington, leader for the first three rounds, alone in second place after reaching the turn in level-par 35.

British Open champion Stewart Cink of the U.S. was a further two shots back at eight under after completing 12 holes on a hot and humid day at Firestone Country Club.

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News: Lebron Is Keeping His Options Open

LeBron James is going to make the Cleveland Cavaliers wait — and sweat.

James indicated Friday that he is unlikely to accept a contract extension from the Cavs until after the 2009-10 season and presumably will become a free agent.

At an event in his hometown to unveil Nike Air Max LeBron VII, the latest sneaker in his signature line, James made his strongest comments yet about his future. The NBA’s reigning MVP said he signed a three-year contract in 2006 to give him more options once it expires.

“I signed a contract in 2006 with an option, and it would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open,” he said. “I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

The Cavaliers offered James a contract extension on July 18, the three-year anniversary of the signing of his current contract. The team could offer the extension — at the highest salary allowed — of up to three years. James can sign the extension offer anytime before June 30, 2010.

James, who will make $15.7 million next season, also has an option in his current contract that can extend his deal through the 2010-11 season.

However, it appears for now that James does not intend to sign the extension or pick up his one-year option for $17.1 million anytime soon.

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Michael Vick: Now the Dog and Pony Show Begins

Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.

Few got to hear Saturday’s message, however.

Vick’s visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick’s handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. AnAssociated Pressreporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.

Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick’s appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.

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Black News: Another Day, Another Liar?

NEW YORK (AP) — David Ortiz (FSY) thinks legal supplements and vitamins likely caused him to land on a list of alleged drug users seized by the federal government, and Major League Baseball and the players’ association said some of the names on the list never tested positive for steroids.

MLB said in a statement Saturday that at most 96 urine samples tested positive in the 2003 survey — and the players’ association said 13 of those were in dispute.

The government seized the samples and records the following year from baseball’s drug-testing companies as part of the BALCO investigation. The list of 104 players alleged to have tested positive has been the subject of a five-year legal fight with the union trying to force the government to return what federal agents took during raids.

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Black News: Dr Boyce Watkins on Michael Vick

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Michael Vick is finally out of prison. He is not just being transferred from one prison to another, but actually free. I am happy for Michael, but I worry. I never agreed with the way the world treated Michael Vick, and I stated this fact everywhere people would listen. At the same time, I never thought that Michael Vick was innocent, and I actually thought he was a knuckle-head. The truth, however, is that treating him like a mass murderer over his youthful indiscretion was simply uncalled for.

Vick’s treatment by the media is nothing new: Every year, there is at least one black male athlete chosen as public enemy number one. This person is villified as if they’d stabbed the pope and shot a newborn baby. Before Vick, there was Randy Moss, Ron Artest, Latrell Sprewell, Barry Bonds, OJ Simpson, Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson and others. The funny thing about it is that white athletes also commit crimes, but we are somehow convinced that most of the perpetrators of bad behavior are African American. What you see through the camera lens is largely a function of where the camera is pointed, since the media can only report about .1% of everything that happens at any given time. The camera is usually aimed away from black athletes doing good things, like Myron Rolle, the former Florida State Seminol who passed up on the NFL draft to study at Oxford. Instead, it tends to be pointed toward athletes who do things that embarrass their families. Simultaneously, the 2006 exposure of the drunken chaos at places like Duke University reveals that athletes of all ethnicities get themselves into ridiculous situations.

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Black News: Tiger Struggling Unlike Never Before

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• 
• Woods shot a four-over-par 74 to drop to five strokes over par for the first two rounds. At the time he finished, the projected cut line was at four over. Woods was well off the pace of the inconceivable leader, the 29-year-old American Steve Marino.
  As Woods approached the tee on No. 11, the overwhelming tournament favorite had just endured a calamitous three-hole thud, going from even-par to 4-over-par after bogeying Nos. 8 and 9 and then, continuing a troubling knack for driving it waywardly right, causing a search party for his ball on No. 10.

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Zoe’s Bash features Black Entrepreneurs

Global Consumer Innovation, Inc sponsors workshops for young songwriters and singers at Alonzo Mourning and Dwayne Wade Summer Groove

Austin, TX – On Saturday July 11^th Global Consumer Innovation, INC (www.globalconsumerinnovation.com) is partnering with Lalah Hathaway, daughter of Donny Hathaway to put together a young songwriters and singers workshop as part of the Alonzo Mourning and Dwayne Wade Summer Groove.  The event will engage, motivate, and excite musically gifted youth by introducing, exposing, and involving them with successful recording artists while she rehearses for her main stage performance for the Summer Groove.  The youth will be able to engage Lalah Hathaway in conversation and better understand song writing, vocal training, and the preparation that goes into a performance.   

Global Consumer Innovation Creative Director Jonathan Clark says “The Summer Groove is an integral part of the Miami community and we are excited to sponsor this special event where youth will learn that the music industry is about more than fame and glamour, but preparation and integrity.”  Clark was the former Vice President of Marketing for Motown records before joining Global Consumer Innovation.

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Black News: NBA Lowers Salary Cap to Limit Signings

VIA ESPN:

The NBA’s ballyhooed free-agent summer of 2010 might have quietly taken another hit late Tuesday night.

In a memo announcing next season’s salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, sent out shortly before the league’s annual July moratorium on signings and trades was lifted at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, NBA teams also received tentative projections from the league warning that the cap is estimated to drop to somewhere between $50.4 million and $53.6 million for the 2010-11 season.

The official league memorandum, obtained by ESPN.com, forecasts a dip in basketball-related income in the 2009-10 season of 2.5 percent to 5 percent, which threatens to take the 2010-11 cap down some $5 million to $8 million from last season’s $58.7 million salary cap.

 

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Black News: McNair Was Shot While He Slept

 

More details are starting to come out about the murder of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his 20-year old mistress Sahel Kazemi. According to the Associated Press, Nashville police believe that McNair was killed while he was sleeping. The evidence is leading investigators to believe that Kazemi shot McNair in the head while he slept on a couch, then shot him twice in the chest and then in the head once more. Before shooting herself, Kazemi apparently tried to position herself to fall on McNair’s lap, but instead her body slid to the floor and lay at McNair’s feet. The gun was found under her body.

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Your Black News: McNair’s Wife Didn’t Know about Affair

An associate said Wednesday that the wife of ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair didn’t know about Sahel Kazemi before the 20-year-old woman was found dead alongside her husband on the Fourth of July.

McNair, 36, was shot four times in what the medical examiner has said is likely a murder-suicide, though police haven’t confirmed that Kazemi was responsible.

Mike Mu, who has worked with McNair’s charitable foundation for years, said Mechelle McNair "didn’t know who this girl is."

Mechelle McNair, who has not spoken publicly since the shooting, has been described by people close to her as being very upset and distraught. Agent Bus Cook said McNair’s wife was "in and out" of it in the hours after the shooting.

 

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Your Black News: Steve McNair Killed in Nashville

Image: Dr Boyce Watkins with Steve McNair in 2004

Media outlets are reporting that former NFL MVP Steve McNair has been shot and killed in Nashville, TN. The incident is being reported as either a double homocide or murder suicide, depending on the outlet. McNair, 36, was found to have died from a gunshot wound to the head. McNair was the third overall draft choice by the Tennessee Titans in 1995. He led the team to one Super Bowl and was named co-MVP in 2003.

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Your Black Sports: Why Don’t We Support Women’s BBall?

by Dr Boyce Watkins

My beautiful daughter Carmen just helped her school win its first state championship. She is the shortest person on team, the quickest and the scrappiest – both a lady and a monster when she has to be. As I sat in the stands cheering like a lunatic, I noticed that there weren’t enough parents cheering along with me. The stadium was half empty, and most of the people cheering in the stands were women and children. I wondered how these young women felt, knowing that while their stands were only partially full, the boy’s game (which they lost) had been sold out.

I couldn’t quite figure out why we don’t support women’s sport the way we should: The fundamentals of the WNBA are better than the men, and the women are incredibly talented and competitive. But after some long reflection on the disparity of support, I gave myself the answer to my own question.

When planning our trip to New York City. I said to Carmen, "How would you like to see a Knicks game?" Her eyes brightened like Times Square and she shook her head up and down so hard I thought she was going to break her neck in the process. I then realized my mistake: While it was quite natural for me to think about inviting my daughter to a Knicks game, I didn’t think for one second to invite her to see the New York Liberty, the women’s team in the city.

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Jim Brown Tells the Truth about Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan

For years different people have always grumbled about the lack of activism and social change involvement of professional athletes. Specifically our most successful athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods. In a recent interview with HBO’s Real Sports, former NFL great Jim Brown went in on the lack of activism for social change from both Tiger and Jordan in recent years.
"There are one or two individuals in this country that are black that have been put in front of us as an example," Brown told Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel. "But they’re basically under a system that says, ‘Hey, they’re not gonna do a certain thing.’ Yes, that

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MJ’s Son No Longer a Baller

Jeffrey Jordan is Michael Jordan’s son. That little proposition, as it relates to basketball, can not be an easy one for any offspring to undertake.

It’s not just that your dad was a great NBA basketball player. Your dad was the single greatest basketball player who ever lived. Your entire life, you’re not just a classmate to your friends. You’re the son of their hero. Imagine that! For all of the sundry benefits of being Jordan’s son — the money, the basketball shoes, the unimaginably awesome toys you’d get as a kid — the specter of anticipation, of "hey, that’s Michael Jordan’s son out there" would haunt you for as long as you played basketball.

It appears those days are over for Jordan’s eldest offspring. Jeffrey Jordan, a walk-on-turned-scholarship-athlete at Illinois, has apparently decided to hang up his balling kicks for good:

"I loved playing for the Fighting Illini and appreciate the support I was given by my teammates, coaches and the great fans here," Jordan said. "But I have come to the point where I’m ready to focus on life after basketball. I will concentrate on earning my degree from the University of Illinois and the opportunities that await upon graduating."

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Former Baller Jayson Williams May Go To Jail

A judge on Monday will consider whether former NBA star Jayson Williams should be sentenced for covering up a fatal shooting at his mansion in 2002, given Williams’ recent erratic behavior, including an assault arrest in North Carolina.

Williams, 41, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in 2004 but convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the shooting of a hired driver at his Hunterdon County mansion. The jury couldn’t reach a verdict on a reckless manslaughter count, and State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman has delayed sentencing pending Williams’ retrial on that charge.

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Black Sports: Lebron Visits Barack Obama

The White House. A movie premiere in Maryland. A store opening in Harlem.

LeBron James is making the rounds this summer.

Fully recovered after undergoing surgery two weeks ago to have a benign growth on his jaw removed, the NBA’s MVP is keeping a busy schedule.

On Monday, Cleveland’s All-Star forward and a group of close friends visited President Barack Obama and were given a tour of the West Wing before attending the U.S. premiere of "More Than A Game," a documentary about the basketball star and his friends’ rise to national champions while playing at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.

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Ex NFL Star Michael Stahan to Marry Nicole Murphy

Looks like Michael Strahan’s post-NFL keeps getting better. Awhile back we announced that Strahan just signed a deal with FOX to star in his own sitcom this fall and now he’ll be marrying Eddie Murphy’s ex-lady, Nicole Murphy. The two have been dating for some time now and according to People Magazine, Strahan popped the question on a beach in the Bahamas.
"I have a great relationship and she’s a great girl," Strahan told People. "I don’t like to talk much about my private life, but I’m really happy."

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The “Chosen One” Leaves High School at 16 – Only Because he doesn’t play football or Basketball

Read below about Bryce Harper,  the 16 year old who is going to college next year only so he can be eligible for the 2010 MLB draft.  If he were a basketball or football player, he would not be able to do this.  So, not only does this story make a mockery of our educational system, it also points out the hypocrisy which exists in the way basketball and football operate relative to sports dominated by non-black athletes.

When big Bryce Harper made the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks ago, I knew we’d soon again be hearing from the 16-year-old ‘chosen one.’

But not quite this soon.

On Sunday, the sophomore from Las Vegas found his way into national headlines again when his father announced that Bryce will forgo his final two years of high school and use a GED to enroll in a community college this August. Though it more or less makes a mockery of our education system, the Harpers’ plan would make Bryce eligible for the 2010 draft, where he could conceivably be the Nationals’ No. 1 pick and eventually join forces with Stephen Strasburg to save Washington baseball from itself.

 

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Kobe Bryant’s Place in history

ORLANDO, Fla. — Where does Kobe Bryant rate among the modern superstar NBA champions? Here is a good place to start:

Michael Jordan — 6 championships
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 6
Magic Johnson — 5
Kobe Bryant — 4
Tim Duncan — 4
Shaquille O’Neal — 4

Bryant may now be viewed as being on the same tier as Shaq, who was the dominant force in basketball and MVP of the Finals during all three of their championships together with the Lakers from 2000 through ‘02. The tension that ultimately divided them was created by both of them, but one of the obvious issues was mired in Bryant’s ambition to fulfill himself. He wanted to become more than Shaq’s "sidekick," as he referred to himself disparagingly in Phil Jackson’s book on their final season together.

"From the standpoint of responding to the challenge," Bryant said Sunday, "from people saying I couldn’t do it without him, [winning the title] feels good because you prove people wrong." But he chooses to focus more on what they accomplished, as opposed to the additional titles they might have won.

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Your Black Sports: ATL Falcons Release Michael Vick

“It’s a situation that we have been thinking about for quite some time,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We did our due diligence. We’ve been searching around the league and were looking for some interest as far as a trade.

“In the very end, we came to a conclusion that it was time. It was best for both us and Michael Vick to move on, to turn the chapter.”

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Black Sport News: McNabb Signs a New Contract

PHILADELPHIA, June 12 (UPI) — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb has agreed to a restructured contract with $24.5 million guaranteed, his agent said.

The deal was announced Friday at a news conference attended by Coach Andy Reid.

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Derrick Rose Gets heat for gang signs

 

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls is trying to say that he’s not flashing a gang sign.  But let’s see – he grew up around gangs and his fingers probably don’t naturally look that way.  I’m not sure if I believe his story.

But here is his statement:

"Recently, a photo has been circulating on the Internet which appears to depict me flashing a gang sign," Rose said in the statement. "This photo of me was taken at a party I attended in Memphis while I was in school there, and was meant as a joke … a bad one, I now admit. I want to emphatically state, now and forever, that Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug, and anti-violence. I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with any gang and I can’t speak loudly enough against gang violence, and the things that gangs represent.

"In posing for this picture, I am guilty of being young, naive and of using extremely poor judgment. I sincerely apologize to all my fans for my mistake. I pride myself on being a good citizen, and role model, that young people can look up to and I want to urge all my young fans to stay away from gangs and gang-related activities."