COSELLOUT: Still Tellin’ It Like It Is

"Cartoon Character”…

“King of Fools”…

“He is a loser”…

These were some of the early media descriptions of Stephon Marbury after he parted ways with the Knicks to join the Celtics. If Marbury is a “cartoon character”, we can thank our sports media for drawing the daily comic strip. For those innocent souls who have so mistakenly bought into the cartoon journalism, then… “You Don’t Know Stephon Marbury”!

If he is also a “loser”, we can thank a misleading media once again [1]. We are told how his former teams improved “after he left”, but not that those overall rosters also improved[2]. Sure, after two playoff appearances with Minnesota, Marbury would play on many losing teams. But how often have we read how those same rosters fared without Marbury?

41% - winning % of his games after leaving Minnesota
29% - winning % (62-152) of those teams in his absence [3].

Translation: Marbury has played on some god-awful teams!…

But that’s a whole other article about the “Evan Eschmeyer Era”… This article is about this:

Stephon Marbury is the most mismanaged, miscoached, and misunderstood talent in Knick history [4]. 

Read rest of post as SPORTS ON MY MIND:

The ESPN comment section last week was simply brutal! The target? ESPN author — Jemele Hill. The subject? Michael Phelps - Olympic swimming hero recently photographed smoking marijuana. The article?:  Would Phelps Have Apologists if he were was Black? Hill  writes:

“I understand why Phelps sympathizers have argued that his mistake represents only the growing pains of youth and that it was “only weed.”… I just can’t understand why some other athletes never were extended that same excuse.”

Hill’s  article was surely inspired by thousands of commenters and talk show callers who vigorously defended Phelps in a manner rarely seen before [1] – something I recently documented (”see  Michael Phelps’ America“). However, Hill’s important question would gain little audience traction where many instinctively yell “race card!” before reaching the title’s end. Making the case needed more than 900 words, more than speculation, and more than Michael Phelps.

It needed the NBA’s Brad Miller. For Rest of Article: Click Here.

You want to talk about Stephon Marbury’s exile from the Knicks… after not jumping at the opportunity for playing time offered by Mike D’Antoni. Yeah, you want to talk about ”he said-he said”, Marbury’s “unprofessionalism”, that he is — as one ESPN pundit said this week — “the quintessential selfish athlete”. That’s right. You want to talk about his selfishness — not his selflessness. Fine, soon enough. But to truly understand Stephon-the-player, we must first understand Marbury-the-man. Simply put:

Stephon Marbury is an American hero and sports’ greatest humanitarian [1].  And only in America — and its cartoonized world of sports coverage — can he become a villain.

I know,  I know. You want to talk about the millions of dollars Marbury is making… how he is a “rich”, “spoiled”, “ungrateful”, “diva”, “me-first” athlete. Yeah, you want to talk about the millions he has made – but not the millions he has given away. That’s right. I want to talk about the $500K that Marbury pledged to Katrina victims, or the $4 million dollars he pledged to New York City police, firefighters, EMS, and teachers…

 Click here for full article at SPORTS ON MY MIND.

POP QUIZ:

Which of the following statements are true.

In one single week Sports Illustrated (SI) has had:

A) As many covers depicting women athletes as the last five years [1].

B) As many covers depicting African-American women athletes as the last 16 years [2].

C) More covers depicting women basketball players than in SI’s entire 54 year history. 

D) All of the Above

If you selected D,  you are most unfortunately correct. This week SI issued a 6-part college basketball preview cover set that depicted six different female athletes sharing the cover with male basketball counterparts.

The women are:

• Maya Moore, Connecticut
• Briann January, Arizona State
• Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh
• Rashanda McCants, North Carolina 
• Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
• Ashley Barlow. Notre Dame

Please run to the store now to buy these collector’s items because you may never see anything else like it for the next 50 years. There has been a women’s revolution in sports during the previous 50 years, but Sports Illustrated did not get that memo. Check the stats:

% of SI Covers with Women Athletes:

1950’s:  10%    (5-6 per year)
1990’s:  5%      (2-3 per year)
2000’s:  2.5%  (0-2 per year)

No. Really.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Author’s Note: The explicit detailed breakdown is not aimed at regular readers, but those who often request 15 excel spread-sheets before acknowledging the existence of ESPN’s Great White Pass. If it doesn’t apply, let it fly.

Yesterday, we asked why ESPN’s The Sports Reporters would compare Manny Ramirez to Adam Jones before Brett Favre. Today we ask ESPN: “Just how untouchable is Brett Favre?” The big news on Favre came from Fox Sports Jay Glazer who reported:

“Several sources have told FOX Sports that Favre earlier this year phoned the Detroit Lions prior to their battle versus Favre’s old team, the Green Bay Packers, and gave them a rundown of the nuances of what Green Bay does on offense. According to the sources, Favre actually spent over an hour on the phone with Lions coaches, who were connected with Favre by then-team president Matt Millen.”

Is the story true? Did Favre try to sabotage his old team? One clue might be found back in Favre’s initial press conference with the Jets where he candidly and surprisingly stated: 

       Picture: Chris Farina/Top Rank

Boxing history’s most dramatic knockouts are those that come without a single punch. It is the picture of Joe Frazier on his stool in Manila as trainer Eddie Futch tells him “Sit down, son. No one will ever forget what you did here today.” It is Roberto Duran waving off Sugar Ray Leonard while exclaiming “No mas”. And it was yesterday as an utterly spent and exhausted Miguel Cotto dropped down to one knee after being backed into a corner in the 11th round by a relentless Antonio Margarito before his trainer and uncle, Evangelista Cotto waved the white towel. No Aaron Pryoresque barrage would be necessary to finish off Cotto – only the mere thought of one. Announcer Max Kellerman immediately pronounced the fight “A modern day classic” while Jim Lampley called it “An epic fight with an epic conclusion”. While HBO announcers are known to embellish from time to time, it ain’t hyperbole if it’s the truth. And if you are upset that you missed the bout, all I can say is: “I told you so”.

Read Full Article at Sports On My Mind. (from July 27)

Related Boxing Stories:

• Cotto vs. Margarito: 10 Reasons Why You Must Watch This Fight! (July 25, 2008)
• Is HBO Boxing, Larry Merchant, Racially Biased? (July 7, 2008)
• Tainted Legacy: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Quits Boxing (June 7, 2008)
• Will Oscar De La Hoya Do The Right Thing? (May 4, 2008)
• Joe Calzaghe Beats Hopkins… or did Bernard Beat Himself? (April 20, 2008)
• Cotto and Tarver Win, But Undercards Steal the Show (April 14, 2008)

Last year Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen were unable to lead each of their teams into the playoffs. Today they are all world champions.

Last year Doc Rivers coached the Celtics to the worst record in the NBA. This series he out-coached 9-time champion Phil Jackson at every conceivable turn.

Last year Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge, coming off a trade that exchanged Sebastian Telfair for Brandon Roy, was ranked by most as one of the worst GM’s in the entire NBA. This year Ainge was named the NBA Executive of the Year after his acquisitions of Garnett and Allen. Read Full Article at Sports On My Mind

Prior to Barack and Michele Obama’s possible “terrorist fist jab” as described by Fox News, you would have to go back 40 years to find the last time a gesture involving two fists caused so much attention. That was after Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands in a black power salute in Mexico City. The cost of their fist symbolism would be to be expelled from the Olympics, and treated back home like, well… terrorists. 

With a big hat tip to Media Matters, Sports On My Mind has investigated the role sports has played in this more recent political drama. Our findings, based off of 20 separate pieces of evidence, tell a troubling story of terrorist infiltration that leaves no sport untouched. Below are the results of our investigation. Read Full Article at Sports On My Mind

Former Bush insider Scott McClellan explains in his book how mainstream media were “complicit enablers” in spreading false propaganda leading up to Iraq war. Election coverage has been reduced to lapel pins. And the supposed watchdog of the NBA and its referee betting scandal also happens to be their corporate partners (that’s ESPN for those slow on a lazy weekend). What do these various issues have in common? They are the consequences of BIG CORPORATE MEDIA. Read full article at Sports on My Mind

An Open Letter to Floyd Mayweather:

Floyd, what if Sugar Ray Leonard never fought Roberto Duran? What if Hagler never risked his belt against Tommy Hearns? What if all of these four fighters never squared off with one another in the 1980’s? …It would never happen. It could never happen. Because championship fighters at the highest level MUST challenge themselves against the very best. It’s in their DNA. But today you announced your retirement from boxing without fighting the only man that true boxing fans have wanted to see you fight: Miguel Cotto. Read Full Article at Sports On My Mind

Full Disclosure: I love boxing, but hate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Not the fighters, just the game. I have great respect for the skill, heart, and courage they possess, and greater disdain for the spectacle they create. I am personally happy for Kimbo Slice that he can make a few extra bucks, but despise the reasons why he has become so popular. I respect the true fans of MMA who appreciate the sport on its most technical levels, but not the masses who come to cheer for its the most barbaric images. Read full article at Sports On My Mind

Current Mets Manager Willie Randolph has found himself in a bit of racial controversy this week when in a recent interview with Ian O’Connor he questioned if black managers and coaches face double-standards in media criticism before later apologizing “for the unnecessary distraction”. In doing so, Randolph became the perfect candidate, and best possible laboratory experiment to discuss the true meaning of the phrase: “The Race Card”. Read article at Sports On My Mind

For months, political punditry has centered around race and gender politics. Yet virtually every show’s host is a white male, the pundit selections often fall short (yet far more diverse than hosts), and Pat Buchanan is somehow still receiving a paycheck. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of punditry has been the last month of euphemism-laced questions about “Obama’s problem” getting “the white, working class vote” whether in Pennsylvania or West Virginia or Kentucky. A prime example took place this early morning on MSNBC’s “After Hours” with Dan Abrams. Pundit Tucker Carlson states: Read more at Sports on My Mind

She’s baaaaaack, Geraldine Ferarro just won’t go away, and neither will ”The Lucky Black Man Delusion”. In her most recent appearance she is wondering why Barack Obama didn’t say “thank you” to her, reiterates that Obama is lucky to be black, and says it is “a statement of fact” (note: since 1990 women have a 60 -4 edge over black men in winning statewide elections/reelections). Pat Buchanon — in his latest racist diatribe — agrees with her. In fact, Obama is not just luckier than white women, but white men too! Now old Democrats and Republicans put aside differences for their common racial bond. This post by Raving Black Lunatic shows that in 2006 Ferraro agreed that Hillary had the easier road, and may simply be playing an ugly form of racial politics? Either way, it’s working. Polls show that masses of white Americans agree with her. Now Hillary’s days may be numbered, but expect the “the lucky black man delusion” to continue from one deliberate campaign strategy to another. Bank on it straight through to November.  Given the delusional concept based off ”black cherry picking”, it is a good time to repost (originally on March 27) ”Barack Obama, Chris Paul, and The Lucky Black Man Delusion”.

Game 7 Eastern Conference Semifinals at Boston. The Detroit Pistons await the winner. Despite the Celtics “Big Three”, the game evolves into a mana-a-mano shootout. Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wilkins? Nah, that’s sooo 20 years ago. Today it was Paul Pierce carrying the Celtics on his back to overcome 45 from Lebron James on route to a 97-92 victory over the Cavaliers. And in doing so, Lebron James, and hopefully Cavs GM Danny Ferry, discover “the truth” why the Cavaliers lost this game and this series. Read Full Article on Sports on My Mind

Photo: Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images via ESPN