Enlightening Ignorance

Dante Stallworth

It seems that after driving drunk in Miami and killing an elderly man back in March of this year, Dante Stallworth will only serve 30 days in jail, along with 2 years house arrest (which can’t be all bad for a millionaire), 8 years probation, and the lifetime surrendering of his drivers license. Goodell has also suspended him indefinitely and without pay for the 2009 NFL season, but the terms of his sentence states that he will be able to play football during his home confinement period if reinstated by the commissioner. I understand that by pleading guilty to manslaughter charges, Stallworth is taking full responsibility for what he has done. However, this case is eerily similar to the Leonard Little case back in 1998. For those who don’t know about Little, he’s a defensive end of the St. Louis Rams and in 1998, after leaving a party drunk, he careened into a woman’s car an killed her. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 4 years probation, and 1000 hours of community service. Under commissioner Tagliabue, he was only suspended for 8 games during the 1998 season.

Micheal Vick

Now keep in mind that in the Stallworth and Little cases, two people lost their lives, while Michael Vick was made and example of for dogfighting. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in a federal prison, 4 years probation, and it’s still up in the air whether or not he will be reinstated into the league. Not to mention the price that he has paid financially, socially, and publicly. Yes, I do understand there were extenuating circumstances that went into the Vick conviction but I am talking about “hard time served” here. Stallworth and Little’s time served combined is still a fraction of what Vick served, and they killed people. In my opinion, people who drive drunk should be treated by our legal system like murders, rapists, and pedophiles. There is nothing more inconsiderate than getting behind he wheel of a car drunk. You are not only endangering your life but the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to cross your path. I’m not advocating for Michael Vick because dogfighting is a disgusting and semibarbaric form of entertainment. I like everyone else, thought he should have been punished for his indiscretion but when you compare these offenses, the punishments seem a bit questionable, don’t they? This is just my opinion, but I personally think Stallworth and Little were slapped on the wrist, considering the fact that two people are dead because of their bad judgement and blatant inconsideration.

From the start of these Olympics all the talk has been about Michael Phelps and the “amazing” feat he was trying to accomplish by winning eight gold medals in just one Olympics games. Well, Phelps did win all eight; and it is amazing; and I’m sure we’ll hear so much about that in the next few weeks that Phelps may start penetrating our dreams. So I’m going to talk about Usain Bolt and his equally amazing accomplishment, that may get barely 1/3 of the attention that Phelps gets.

Look closely at that picture above…..look at that margin of victory………and yes that is a 100m race. These are the fastest men in the world, and Bolt jogged and celebrated for the last 15 to 20 meters, all while setting what may perhaps be one of the most unbreakable individual records in the history of competitive sports. 9.69s; are you kidding me? Do you remember when Maurice Greene set the record at 9.79s in 1999? Track enthusiast were sure that was unbreakable. What about when Asafa Powell broke that record in 2007 by clocking 9.74s? Once again everyone was in aww. Well, when Bolt ran 9.72s earlier this year, in only his second 100m race, the red carpets were beginning to roll for him, but 9.69s…….are you kidding me! I’m trying to emphasize here how unbelievable this is. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t even run the whole race at full speed. Once he looked to his right and realized Asafa was nowhere to be found he slowed up and started celebrating. If this dude had ran that race like everyone else behind him, he could have easily ran about 9.58; unquestionably.

PLEASE LET THIS DUDE BE CLEAN!!!!!!!

In the wake of a number of doping scandals, this sport has loss a lot of support in the past few years, and this could be just the thing to give it some much needed resuscitation. It’s crazy how easy he made this look. A .20 seconds margin of victory in the 100m race is something that hasn’t been done since Jesse Owens in his prime. I just hope it has all to do with the fact that he is an uncommon 6′5″ sprinter with a huge stride. Being a Caribbean man myself, I’m glad to see Bold representing the Caribbean with this gold medal, but I would hate to find out that he was all juiced-up in the process. I personally don’t believe he is, but in today’s sports, you have to wonder. After what we’ve seen thus far it may be foolish to say this record will never be broken, but unless Bolt decides to actually run full speed for an entire race, I don’t know if anyone else will be able to top it.

At the end of the Brett Favre drama that took complete media control of this off-season; many sports fans and critics alike, were considering Aaron Rodgers to be the biggest victim of it all. I really don’t see it that way. In my opinion, there has been no casualties in all this; everyone got what they wanted. Favreis playing (without having to compete for the starting spot), Green Bay is able to move forward with their new franchise QB, Rodgers is finally the top man in Green Bay, and the fans can’t be victims until we see what Rodgers can do week after week.

Now I’m not trivializing the fact that he has extremely big shoes to fill, but his role for the past three years should put him in position for success . Rodgers should know the Green Bay offense in his sleep by now, not to mention the fact that he has been mentored by Favre for the last three years. Now managing the offense, reading defenses, pocket presence, QB to WR chemistry, and a host of other details can only come with in-game experience; which he has a shortage of. Nevertheless, Green Bay drafted him with their first pick in the 2005 draft (24th overall, second QB selected behind #1 overall Alex Smith) for a reason. Rodgers has the potential to be a top tier QB in this league with time.

I heard on ESPN today that he’s getting a little frustrated by the comments that some of the fans have been making (some foul mouth kids in particular) lately. I’ve even heard ESPN analysts  say things like “his biggest task may be getting the Green Bay fans behind him,” which I also think is ridiculous. Rodgers biggest task is going to be running the Green Bay offense and winning football games. Sports fans are simple creatures by nature (and I say this as an avid sports fan myself) who are predisposed to front running. If he wins games, Green Bay fans will bum rush his band wagon. All he should be focus on his his game. Personally I won’t even mind if he struggles a bit in his first few games; that’s to be expected of a first time starter (unless their name is Roethlisberger or Brady), but ultimately I think he will have a decent season this year. They have one of the toughest schedules this year but I believe he can win anywhere from 8 to 11 games. With 8 gamese being acceptable for a first time starter but a failure to the Green bay fan still faithful to Favre. 10 or 11 games would be a stretch depending on his development, while less than 8 games would be a failure by even my standards; and I’m giving him a larger margin of error than most. More than likely the Vikings will top them in the division though. Basically, I think people need to give this dude a break until about week 5.

This deal won’t be finalized until sometime later this week or early next, but I like what the Rockets are trying to do here. After seeing them win 22 straight games last year; the last ……… without Yao; it’s obvious that this team is not very far away from championship contention. I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there who still think that Ron Artest is a ticking time bomb who is going to come into Houston and find some way to be disruptive; but I’m not one of them.

I honestly don’t think Artest is the same man he was when he ignited that brawl in Detroit back in 2004. He’s had three productive and problem free seasons since then. I believe this man realizes that he has no strikes left, and any infraction from this point on, could result in him inevitably being black-balled in the NBA. If nothing else motivates him to behave it should be the fact that he has millions to lose, and we all know how professional athletes feel about their money. Otherwise, I’m not worried about his behavior. Fact of the matter is, he’s a very good basketball player. Last season he averaged better than 20 pts, 5 boards, and 3 helpers, with the Kings. He and Kevin Martin were the two most consistent players on that roster for the last two seasons, and he thrived in a leadership role while he was there. I know towards the end of last season he and coach Maurice Cheeks were having difficulty getting along, and for that reason this is a good move for him.

The western conference will be just as good next season, and the improvement the Rockets will experience because of the addition of Artest will be a big reason for that. If McGrady and Yao can play a full season together without injury, and Artest is added to the mix, this team could easily become the second best team in the west; behind the Lakers (with Bynum). Yes, I do believe they will become better than Phoenix, Utah, New Orleans, and as much as it hurts to say it…..San Antonio. Artest has proven to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and his scoring ability will take pressure off Battier; who’s just as good defensively but not as good offensively. Artest and Battier on the same team could be a nightmare for the likes of Kobe, Lebron, Carmello, Wade, and the other premier perimeter scorers of the league. I hope Houston makes this trade, this will just add to the excitement that next season will bring.

I want to start by saying that I am unquestionably one of the biggest Hopkins fans alive. He is one of the most fundamentally sound boxers to ever step in a ring. I have followed his career ever since I saw him dismantle Antwun Echols with one hand, back in 2000. Fights where people criticized him for “playing it safe,” and “never taking chances”; I saw as strategically brilliant boxing exhibitions.

However, I didn’t think the Calzaghe fight was a good fight for him, and I don’t think this October’s Pavlik fight is a good one for him either. I didn’t like the Calzaghe fight because I knew Calzaghe’s punch volume would be a problem for him, at this point in his career and life. Not to mention the fact that Joe Calzaghe is easily one of the top 3 boxers in the world right now. Bernard has always been a counter puncher that uses his opponents mistakes against them, and Calzaghe make very few mistakes.

 I don’t like the Pavlik fight because although Kelly Pavlik is not the prettiest boxer, he has improved considerably in the last two years. He has both wins over Jermaine Talyor and the ass whooping he put on Edison Miranda to prove that. At first sight it’s conceivable that Hopkins can out fox him, and keep him off balance just enough to win a close decision, right? The 30 year old Hopkins definitely could, but I’m not so sure the Hopkins of today can. I was very surprised at the boxing fundamentals Pavlik showed in his second win over Taylor. I didn’t realize he could so effectively use his jab to neutralize his opponents offense. Also very important is the fact that Pavlik has sledge hammer like punching power. Bernard has the habit of sometimes waiting too long for his opponent to make a mistake, and as a result ends up throwing and landing very few punches per round. Pavlik has shown that not only can he let his hands go when he want to, but he can also take a punch or two. In all honesty, Hopkins won’t hurt him, and even thought I have never seen Bernard hurt, he has probably never faced anyone with Pavliks power; the closest probably being Felix Trinidad.

Like I said, I love Hopkins, and because of that I hate the fact that he’s doing this to his career at this point. Especially since he had gone undefeated in over a decade before he lost to Taylor. Although he may feel he has plenty of boxing left in him, the reality is, he’s no longer in the prime of his career. Kelly Pavlik on the other hand, is a young heavy hitting middle weight who has never lost a fight, and is in his prime. I can’t see myself ever pulling for anyone other than Hopkins in a Hopkins fight, so I’ll be watching this one with my fingers crossed. As a man with nothing left to prove in this sport, and based on the talent level of these last two opponents, I think Bernard needs to realize it might be time to call it quits. I wish him luck thought!!

 The ESPN coverage of this soap opera was getting a bit annoying by the beginning of this week. However, it was when I clicked over to CNN.com and saw the Favre trade as the feature story on the opening page when I realized the impact of this story not only in the sports sector of American media but on the broader scale of “national news”. I can’t speak for anyone else but I can’t remember the last time I saw a sport story as the feature on CNN.com, unless it involved an athlete facing felony charges. The Patriots loss to the Giants in this past Super Bowl didn’t even make the cut. So I figured I should weight in on the issue.

I love Brett Favre but he should be ashamed of himself on this one. First off; he needs to understand that being one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game does not mean the world, time, or even the packers will stop and wait for him to make decisions. I think the Packer brass put it best, ”we’ve moved on.” For the past two or three off seasons this man has had that team playing a guessing game as to whether or not he’s going to actually retire. Wasn’t it just two weeks before the packers training camp opened up in 2007 that he decided he would return for that season? The fact that he told the Packers he would not compete with Rodgers for the starting spot after his March retirement tells me everything I need to know about Favre. He really thinks his legacy as a Green Bay Packer is the greatest there ever was; even more so than Curly Lambeu’s or Vince Lombardi’s. How else could he think this team would just bend to the demands he made.

What we have to consider is the fact that despite his phenomenal season last year; his 2006 and 2005 seasons were terrible. Some may even say that his success last year could be credited more to the level of talent around him. A level of talent that may not exist with the Jets. The fact of the matter is; the NFC North is a very winnable conference for the packers while the Jets have to see New England twice. Which suggests that with the overall strength of the AFC; the Jets may find themselves in a very tight wild card race.  I really hate to say this becasue I like Brett Favre, but I think the culmination of this Favre era in New York will be best described by the teary eyed picture above. This Jets team will not be going to the Super Bowl in the next 3 to 4 years, and lets be honest. Does Favre really have 3 to 4 years left in him? I personally doubt that. He should have taken that $25M the Packers were offering him to stay in Mississippi.