Wlibon & LeBron, Redux

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Let me reiterate my point from the last post.

I think LeBron James has a more stable household for which to rear children than Matt Leinart and Tom Brady; Leinart is a known hard partier and promiscuous young buck and Brady (who's no longer with his baby's momma) gets around like he was a 2-Pac song. LeBron has the same baby's momma for both kids, is still with her and is, by all accounts, an excellent father.

That said, my point was this: out of wedlock children have increased steadily since the '30s and have skyrocketed since the 90's. All ethnic groups are effected by this issue but in the black community this is a far greater problem (44% greater) than white community, ergo, black role models may have more of a responsibility than white role models to speak out and be positive influences to young black men. More examples of this would be:

Gay men having a greater responsibility to speak of regular AIDs testing and the need for safe sex(70% of all HIV/AIDS cases are from men who have sex with men)

White communities speaking out on skin cancer prevention (3 of 5 skins cancer cases are caucasian)

Women speaking about the need for regular mammograms

Excreta, and so forth.

It's not that a black baby out of wedlock is any different than a white baby out of wedlock -- they're the same -- but given the percentages, prevention efforts may be better geared toward blacks, and LeBron James and other black role models are very much a part of those efforts.


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This Weekend Dolph and I Saw Boobies. Yessir.

OTHER BITS OF RANDOM NEWS...

Lance Briggs is saying to the Bears; 're$cind the franchi$e tag or trade me, biatch.' We'll see that happens with that situation.

It was pointed out to me (by a radio host, so he wasn't exactly telling me) that, during the wonderful utopia known as the NFL regular season, your team only plays about 48 hours total. 3 hours average game, 16 games = 48. And when you look at it like that...it's really depressing.

I caught One Nut John Kruk on Baseball Tonight discussing the probability of Bonds breaking the record this year. He said it was a lock because "even in a bad year [Barry Bonds] will hit 30 HRs" which is true if you pretend Bonds hit 4 more dingers than his 26 last season. Right on, Kruky!

How about this quote from Cedric Maxwell, the color commentator for the Celtics:

The referee who made this call was Violet Palmer, who happens to be a woman. Cedric Maxwell, the analyst / sidekick on the Celtics broadcast team, proclaimed "Get back in the kitchen!" when she made the call. Max's partner, Sean Grande, tried to throw him a lifeline by pointing out that they had both been previously impressed by Palmer's officiating, but Max continued "Get back in the kitchen and fix me some bacon and eggs!"

Good one. Real witty.

Michael Wilbon's WaPo Chat House today provided some interesting nuggets:

Rockville, Md.: Mike -- aren't NFL signings pretty much of a joke? There are big press conferences announcing mega contracts, then a good chunk of the players are eventually released or asked to restructure. An excellent example is our own Stephen Davis, who signed a $90 million contract with the 'Skins and then was gone in no time.

Michael Wilbon: Thank you. Of course, they're a joke. They're announced for the benefit of the team, which wants to impress the local populace with phony numbers, and for agents who want to impress potential clients with phony numbers. It's a dog-and-pony show that the media is complicit in carrying out and the whole thing is disgusting and phony and a complete fraud. But the NFL can do anything it wants and people will swallow the thing whole.

True dat. Well said.

Washington, D.C.: I'm constantly amazed at how little love the Mavericks get from the national media.

Michael Wilbon: Yo, the Mavs need to win the championship. That's the way it works in professional sports

Yeah, like Phoenix.

This is where the chat gets interesting with a dumb question receiving multiple dumb answers for a total dumbafied dumbthing.

Rockville, Md.: With all of the stress that the NBA is putting on cleaning up its image, what do you think about the report that LeBron James is expecting his second child? He's old (young) enough to be a senior in college and clearly a questionable role model. Can or will the NBA (or Nike) do anything in order to portray responsible adults as their image other then enact a dress code?

Michael Wilbon: Is LeBron's child out of wedlock any different than Tom Brady's or Matt Leinart's? And if so, why? Because one is 22 years old and another is 23 and another is 28? Why doesn't that mean the NFL has to clean up its image?

A) Nice question you prejudicial dolt
B) Mike always does this when he thinks a question is racist or prejudicial or stupid; he changes the subject. And he always misses the real issue, which in this case is the dude saying "pretty questionable role model" which is an insane thing to say. Because he's got tattoos? But what do Tom's kid and Matt's kid have to do with LeBron. Nothing, I'm pretty sure. Yep, I double checked and the answer is nothing. For the record, LeBron's son is 3 and half and Leinart's kid is half a year old. Brady's kid is still in the extremely fine oven being baked. And Mike, let me let you in on a little secret; the difference is those guys are white. LeBron? Not so much. The realquestion is: does that matter?

Later in the chat someone says this:

Washington,D.C.: First, to the comment about LeBron's child: He's been with that girl since high school and they are still together.

I don't know what that even means. Maybe if you've done her for a while, you can do it in style; no rubber? Or maybe dating makes the kid not a bastard? Who knows?

Finally we have:

Bethesda, Md. Re LeBron:

Is this guy kidding? Is he living in 1920? This is 2007. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. I don't know the numbers but I am sure the number of black kids born out of wedlock is probably only a small percentage higher than other groups. As long as he is going to care for his child what difference does it make if he is "married?"

Michael Wilbon: This is one of a number of comments that say essentially the same thing, so I'm posting this to let the group know what the general feeling is about that one question a few minutes ago. Thanks.

This is the problem with opinions; "I don't know the numbers but I'm pretty sure...", "I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBERS but I'm pretty sure..." OK, I don't know this guy but I'm pretty sure he's a fucking idiot. And Wilbon rewards this douche for just making up some stupid stat that doesn't exist.

You know what's cool about this sort of thing? You can find the actual numbers out. And I did --

Babies out of wedlock: White (25.4%), Black (69.5%), Asian (16.2%), Hispanic (47.9%)

Those %'s are just sooooo damn close, I mean, what the hell is 44 more % right. Like 2 babies? Maybe 4?

And that brings us full circle to the first question and why dismissing things out of hand usurps debate and possible progress: because blacks have more babies out wedlock than any other group, black role models may have a greater obligation to talk about the need to wrap it up. Whites should also be obligated and should do this, but as a black role model LeBron might have more onus on him to promote changing this trend. Maybe not. But worth talking about? Probably.

Those Rapscallions And Their Orange Ball

NBA All-Star Game = Crime. This is the new meme. Or, for some, it's just another case of 'nothing to see here, move right along.'

Once again, it's just the sports media overreacting and non-reacting and creating a vast gulf between opinion and truth.

I wasn't there, so I don't actually know what happened -- but neither were most people who will read lurid accounts in the news and pass judgment upon the league and it's players. I'm just trying to use this crazy thing called reading comprehension, which may be nuts, but I'm willing to try it this once, instead of just mindlessly reacting.

For the overreacting we have AOL's Jason Whitlock who hopes that David Stern considers "moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize." Like Russia, that'd be cool.

I was there. Walking The Strip this weekend must be what it feels like to walk the yard at a maximum security prison. You couldn't relax. You avoided eye contact. The heavy police presence only reminded you of the danger.

So, because Jason Whitlock was tense and looked at his shoes it felt like prison must feel (though 'tense' and 'looking at your shoes' may amply describe some prison activites), and the heavy police presence reminded him of the ever-present danger. I thought heavy police presence reminded you that danger will be taken care of, but I'm white so maybe I just don't get it.

Again, I wasn't there, he was.

His piece is littered with such fact based phrases like 'word spread', 'reports of' and even the word 'gossip', which means we don't have to question the veracity of it. Hell, if it made it's way around thousands of drunken, gambling, tourists it must be true.

Don't get me wrong, it sure doesn't sound like a great place to be but it wasn't 'Nam either.


Funny guy Bill Simmons also adds his account of the madness in Hip-Hop Woodstock:

There were barely any cops along the Strip,

Not the good kind at least, only the ones that were there to remind you of the danger.

even though tens of thousands of people were walking around at all hours, even though there were tons of legitimately sketchy people cruising around who seemed to be sizing everyone up and didn't seem to be heading in any specific direction (reminiscent of the shady guys who walk around during Mardi Gras looking everyone over), even though cab lines and gridlock were forcing everyone to walk more than they expected to walk. Again, this was a free-for-all: Walk around at your own risk.

After initial reports that the weekend was relatively quiet, more and more information about shootings, arrests and brawls keeps trickling out. I know for a fact that the Strip was closed twice on Friday night because of shooting incidents (saw it myself), that there was a 20-person brawl outside the Mirage's cab line at 5 a.m. that same night (my friend Marty saw it), that paramedics were covering up something that looked to be a corpse in front of the MGM Grand on Saturday morning (Sully saw it), and that I threw myself into the spirit of the weekend and shot somebody outside of Treasure Island because they were wearing a Yankees cap (fortunately, no witnesses). Who knows what else happened? Was it in Vegas' best interest to report every unflattering crime or brawl that happened? Probably not.

So legitimately sketchy people (read: black) were walking about (which should be illegal, am I right?) and Bill saw the strip closed twice and somehow managed to witness the cause of both, that being multiple shooting incidents which, I mean what are the odds! And one friend saw a massive brawl and figured he should count how many people were involved instead of getting help, and it's a good thing he did because we now know conclusively that it was twenty. And another friend saw something get covered up by paramedics and it looked like a corpse (although, no homicides were reported) so it probably was. Sure, everyone was half drunk on Red Bull vodkas but, hey it looked like a freaking corpse man!

I know Bill writes with exaggerations and facetiousness and that's why he's funny but it still leaves the reader thinking that the weekend was a juiced up south central LA.


For the non-reacting we have Michael Wilbon in this week's Washington Post chat house. Whether to protect the image of the league (which supplies some of his pay) or to protect the already tarnished image of a sport played by young black men, it's quite clear he's on the defensive.

Manassas, Va.: [...]the NBA All-Star festivities were a fun time, but what's with the mass brawling, shootings and hundreds of arrests? That should be addressed as well.

Michael Wilbon: There are brawlings and shootings in Las Vegas every night. You want to blame the NBA All-Star weekend for that? Did you blame the Super Bowl weekend for the shootings and brawling in Miami a few weeks ago?

Do I want to blame the brawling and shootings that happen every night on the All-Star game?

Nope. I'm cool with those, Mike.

I want to blame the increase in brawling and shootings on the All-Star game. And, other than dissimulation, what the hell does the NFL in Miami have to do with the NBA in Vegas? NFL/Miami, NBA/Vegas -- those are different things right? Am I wrong about that? Totally different places and leagues, right? Nothing at all to do with each other? Because, assuming I'm right about that, it's really odd that Mike would try to compare such unlike events.

The important thing to note is that Mike apparently doesn't think the game had anything to do with an increase in crime, which, does in fact happen daily with or without the All-Star game.

Really? Is he serious?

That's funny, because I put together this handy chart (Yes, I made a handy chart) using data from the Las Vegas police department website (using The Strip zip code, 89109) and it seems that the weekend of the game saw more crime reported to police per day than the 8 days prior.


As you can see the game had a definite impact on reported crime. No shootings in the beginning of the week, shootings at game time. A slight increase in fights and narcotics.

Another important thing to note is that other than A & B's and throw back jersey sightings, crime didn't really sky rocket, at least, not anymore than any influx of people to any festival in any town. And it was Vegas. Tens of thousands of people decended upon The Strip and only 23 measly assault and battery's on game day? That's it? Chuck Norris has battered more people in 5 minutes. Pathetic.

And that's what Wilbon, or any of these writers, should say; when people come from out of town to a party, things go down.

A close approximation to the truth wasn't melee or mayhem but rudeness, bad attitudes and a lack of tipping (I AM SHOCKED!) that left people in sour mood. From that paragon of truth, the Casino City News:

From Thursday through Monday, 403 arrests were made of people attending NBA All-Star events or in town for NBA-related activities, Gillespie said. Of those arrested, 172 were residents, and 231 were from outside Southern Nevada.

A majority of the arrests, 239, were for prostitution-related crimes. During an average week, the department makes about 175 vice-related arrests. Gillespie said vice arrests increased because the number of squads dealing with such crimes was doubled.

The second-largest number of arrests, 63, was for trespassing. The remaining arrests were for disorderly conduct, battery, burglary, petty larceny and outstanding warrants.

There was an average of 81 arrests every 24 hours during All-Star Weekend. By comparison, on New Year's Eve more than 130 people were arrested during a 12-hour period, Gillespie said.

It's no surprise that an event billed for weeks as 'crazy' ended up being rowdy, in of all places, Sin City. But it's not an indictment of young black men or the league as much as it is of Vegas and big parties.

Don't want this to happen again? Don't make sporting events into extravaganzas.

Defending the Indefensible...

...at least if I was defending Tookie Williams or Mumia Abu-Jamal I'd get some sort of credit in various political circles; but alas, it's Rush Limbaugh and you don't get credit for that sort of thing.

I find it laughable, on the heels of the oft repeated implication that any white owner who hasn't hired a black coach is racist (or at least greatly prejudicial) that Rush Limbaugh's recent comment regarding the whitness of Rex Grossman -- which he claims was a joke -- has generated such an uproar.

Most of the reactions were quite predicable. However, I wasn't prepared for Michael Wilbon's reaction in his weekly Q & A with fans on WaPo.com (which if I take the time to read every week is a good indication that I'm a big fan of Wilbon):

Arlington, Va.: Hey Mike, can we pass a law banning Rush Limbaugh from ever commenting on sports again? Most people who have played sports or are huge fans, know that sports are one of the few things that can bring different races together. It's where I have no problem hugging an African-American teammate or high-fiving a complete stranger when watching a game. Sports brings people in close contact with those they might not normally associate with and idiots like Limbaugh just need to shut up!

Michael Wilbon: Limbaugh is the worst kind of race-bating bigot: one who's smart enough to be very dangerous. His hatred for people different than him is such a sad, sad thing to see and have to put up with.

Serious words and serious accusations, Mr. Wilbon.

(Just a quick note that in Mike's zeal to bash Limbaugh he misses the pretty ironically hilarious racism in the question: "...sports are one of the few things that can bring different races together. It's where I have no problem hugging an African-American teammate or high-fiving a complete stranger when watching a game." "You know, cause, normally I'm not really down with hugging or high-fiving black guys." What?)

I'd imagine that, regardless of Mr. Wilbon's political leanings, he was especially miffed at Limbaugh's previous comments about Donavon McNabb -- a fellow Chicagoan and friend of Wilbon -- comments that some have argued persuasively had merit at the time.

Limbaugh is a provocative media figure, a seller of opinions-- and a very successful salesman at that (though some would bill him as a huckster of highest order). Given that his status and success hinge on the statements he regularly makes, he makes, go figure, provocative statements. Therefore it's surprising to me that Wilbon would be so easily riled at such blatantly irksome trite.

But it's not the outrage over Rush, real or drummed-up, that bugs me, it's the fairly obvious double standard (I know, it's not like I'm documenting some previously unknown and unrecorded phenomenon, but it's still worth noting). This double standard tends to permeate all levels of racial dialog but is much more obvious in sports where the playing field is supposedly level and, thusly, anomalies in the way we talk about race are easily noticeable.

So let's take a look at some people making racial or sexual orientation based remarks, who have yet to have their bigotry so emphatically affirmed by Mr. Wilbon. Hell, one of these guys is a colleague and friend of his.

After a playoff game Rodman opined that Bird was “overrated” and received media praise and attention only “because he is white.” (where have I heard similar remarks...hmmm) Teammate Isiah Thomas agreed, "If Bird was Black, he’d be just another good guy."

Allen Iverson - "Come to me wit faggot tendacies, you'll be sleepin where the maggots be"

Reggie White on Hispanics: "(They) were gifted in family structure ... they can put 20, 30 people in one home." On white people: "Blessed with the gift of structure and organization." On black people: "Very gifted in what we call worship and celebration. A lot of us like to dance. If you go to black churches you see people jumping up and down." On gays: "Homosexuality is a decision." On Asians: "Gifted in creativity ... they can turn a television into a watch." On Native Americans: "(they avoided slavery because they) knew the territory, and the Indians knew how to sneak up on people."

But the king of racial generalizations has to be Sir Charles Barkley, whose wife is actually white and who is gainfully employed by TNT along with, one, Michael Wilbon:

On Steve Nash - "I’ve only said this two times in my life, but that's a bad white boy."

"Man, there's nothing in the world that makes me as nervous as seeing white people dance."

"I always say two things: Black people will borrow money and not pay you back and white people cannot dance."

"You know the world is off tilt when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese and Germany doesn't want to go to war."

"First of all, you don't want the Chinese mad at you: They can fight!"

"You're the boss, Ernie. The white guy's always the boss"

"You know what (Yao) said? "Whew! Even white guys can play over here!"

Kenny: "There's guys who go over to Europe and play overseas from America, and they dominate!"
Charles: "Those are called 'brothers'"

"The NBA's in disarray - a white guy won the slam-dunk competition. We need to have another Million Man March."

"It's really wrong for black people to be racists, because two wrongs don't make a right. White people don't know any better, that's the way they were taught, but black people knowhow it feels."

I know, I know, Sir Charles is just such a great quote. He's just being Sir Charles! The problem is Limbaugh is not afforded the same leeway in making race based accusations. How can one be different from the other? Without knowing either man's intent or true feelings, how can we so quickly condemn one while promoting and revering another? How does Lane Kiffin's whiteness become a factor in his hiring over black coaching candidates but Mike Tomlin's blackness isn't a factor in his hiring over Russ Grimm? Is there something I'm missing?

It's hard not to claim a double standard when Rush is forced to resign from ESPN over relatively innocuous, though stupid, comments, or Steve Lyons is fired for pretty much nothing, and the those I quoted stayed gainfully employed and (relatively; their various comments have been noted in various media outlets and White's comments on gays had been the source of much consternation) free of public scorn.

I wouldn't call any of them 'race-bating bigot(s)' or full of 'hatred for people different than (them)', I'd just call them people making stupid generalizations and until Wilbon bemoans the bigotry of the previous men, I'll have to assume he's just as guilty of that offense.