The Field Negro's Latest Sports Rant

Boy where do I start, so much sports so little time.

Let me start by congratulating the Spurs for pulling out the broom on King James and his Cavs. (Sorry Cleavland, still no championship for you. What is it now, 40 years?And I thought we had it bad here in Philly)The problem with the Cavs is that King James had no back ups. I am sorry, but you ain't gonna win a championship with Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, and Donyell Marshall. They need to surround King James with some players like the Bulls did for MJ. But this isn't about the Cavs right now, it's about the Spurs. They have quietly built a dynasty. Four rings in nine years will get you that title.

I see Tiger came up a little short in the U.S. Open. I ain't mad at Tiger, he was grinding all day, and he gave it a hell of a run. I don't think we really appreciate how good Woods is. This cat is right there every Sunday, and there is no letting up in sight for him. I don't know, maybe now that homey is a father, he will drop back to the pack a little.

I caught my Tigers take two of three from my hometown Phils last weekend. One observation: The Tigers and the Phillies have the same problem; a week bull pen. They both have good hitting, decent fielding, and in the case of the Tigers, great pitching. But if there bull pens can't hold up, none of them will be playing come October.

And speaking of baseball, will the Yankees ever loser another game? The Red Sox better be glad they are playing lights out baseball themselves or the Yankees would have caught them already.

I am still trying to figure out who the Sixers should take in the draft. Although I think that now that Jeff Green has decided to go into the draft, I think they should seriously consider him. I also hear some people around here giving props to Thadeus Young from Georgia Tech. Apparently my mans workouts went pretty well. And I am glad that Philadelphia's Sean Singletary decided to go back to UVA. My man wasn't quite ready for prime time. He has got to work on that jump shot before he enters the NBA.

Finally, did LaVar Arrington learn anything from happened to Big Ben in Pittsburgh, and Jayson Williams in Chicago? Homeboy almost killed himself after he decided to take his motorcycle into a highway ramp in Maryland. Sadly for him, he was at the end of his career, and I doubt if he will ever suit it up again in the NFL. Let's face it; his career was pretty much over even before the accident.

And Kobe, please just shut up and play. Enough of you already!

MUSINGS FROM MY SPORTS PAGE

I wish I could say congrats to the Anaheim Ducks, but sorry, besides the fact that they knocked off my Red Wings, I refuse to acknowledge a team called the "Ducks". And people wonder why interest in hockey is dying. I think the Devon Horse Show got higher ratings than this years Stanley Cup playoffs.

I see Eric Snow is back in the NBA finals. He couldn't shoot when he was here with the Sixers, and he still can't. But at least this time he has King James as a side kick. I mean A.I. was nice, and I love the guy, but he ain't no LeBron. Still, I have to go with the Spurs. Too much experience and too much team defense. And I have seen Bruce Bowen shut down Kobe. Spurs in six!

So people are pissed at Gary Sheffield because he is speaking his mind. Now I don't agree with him, but the last time I checked this is America, and the man has a right to speak his damn mind. Besides, he plays for my Tigers, and he can straight stroke it. So please leave Gary alone; at least until he leaves Detroit.

Speaking of athletes people don't like; I caught the Barry Bonds show last weekend at Citizens Bank park, and he didn't go yard once. The skitzo Phillies were their usual up and down selves, but at least they kept Bonds in check.

R.I.P Howard Porter! I have never been a big Vanilla-Nova fan, but they are in the Big Five, and Jay Wright has done a lot to make them a part of Philly basketball, so I don't despise the boys from the main line as much as I used to. But back to Porter. He left Nova under a cloud, and he struggled with drug addiction. But when he met his tragic end in a St. Paul Minnesota alley way, he already seemed to have gotten his life in order and had beaten off his addictions. I saw some old film of some of his Big Five games and he [Porter] was a tremendous player. His battles with Lasalle's Kenny Durrett were classics.

Hey, whatever happened to Larry Spriggs?

BALLING!

I NEVER THOUGHT A DUKIE WOULD BE IN MY BALLING PROFILE, BUT CARLOS BOOZER IS THE TRUTH.

The Leprechaun Brought No Luck!

Watching Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers as their chins dropped lower than their draft stock was priceless. Fifth? You get to pick fifth after damn near tanking an entire season just to get the number one pick?

But I love it for so many reasons. Number one, the hated Celtics will not get either Greg Oden, or Kevin Durant. And two, we won't have to see Greg Oden drop double doubles at the Wach for the next fifteen years. We will face him only a couple of times a year and that's a good thing.

Memo to Danny and Doc: Next time play every game during your season like it matters:)

So what do we do at number 12? Well readers of this blog know how I feel about that Dukie, Billy King, calling the shots for my Sixers. But since he will not be going anywhere anytime soon, I guess we are stuck with him making the pick.

So Billy,here is my suggestion:If Julian Wright or Alcie Law is sitting there when you pick ,take them. ( Slight edge to Law) I know we have Andre Miller, but trade Lou Williams (who might end up being a nice player in this league) and go with Law as Miller's back up for now. In the later rounds, go with the best scorer available. We still need points in the line up.

The dead wings broke my heart the other night. How can you lose to the Ducks? I thought the series was a wrap when the Wings had that 1-0 lead in "Hockey Town" during game five. And then..... Oh well, maybe next year. And yes this black man loves him some Red Wings.

It's a Michigan childhood thing, what can I tell you.

Please keep former Vanilla-nova star, Howard Porter in your prayers!

LET'S KEEP IT REAL

I recently read Stephen A. Smith's column about a recent conference at Morehouse College which focused on African American Athletes and the reporters who cover them. Now let me say for the record; that I have never liked sports reporters. I consider most of them hypocrites and most of them are jealous of the people who play the games they cover.

So back to this conference. One of the panel discussions was hosted by Spike Lee, and some of the panel members included people like C. Vivian Stringer, Alonzo Mourning, and Jim Brown. Sadly, another panel member was the very hypocritical self hater, Jason Whitlock who caught an earful from those who were present. But as could have been predicted, most of the discussion centered on the recent behavior of many of our black athletes and the medias focus on them.

So here is where keeping it real comes in: Folks, we (black folks) have got to stop this bull sh**. I am so sick of the Pacman Jones, Michael Vick types with their ignorant ass off field behavior. When are these guys going to grow up and take responsibility for their actions? Listen, I know boys will be boys, and when you are young black and rich, you want to spend a little dough and have a little fun from time to time. I get that! But at some point you have to say to yourself; enough! I just can't be irresponsible anymore. I have a family and a race of people that are depending on me to behave properly and carrying myself in a respectful manner. When 39 of the 41 current athletes on the police blotter are black I have a problem with that sh**. And no, I can't blame whitey, I have to blame your ignorant asses.

Hey, I know racism might play a part in this, and I know we are not always treated fairly by the white (and black...well f**k it, Jason Whitlock might as well be considered white too)press that covers us. (See the recent kid gloves treatment of St. Louis pitcher, Josh Hancock who clearly had an alcohol problem) But I really have to take issue with those that always points the finger at the white press when we are caught doing wrong. And yes, having having uncared for pit bulls in your house trained for fighting is wrong. Driving under the influence of alcohol with a suspended driver's license is wrong. So please spare me the I am a victim of whitey speech.

And I agree with Stephen A. Smith when he says: "Any athlete resembling O.J. Simpson will happen again over white America's collective dead body." So wake up my brothers. As my Mamma used to say: "You better straighten up and fly right" Because we can only cry bad whitey for so long.

Ride Boy Ride!

OK I just caught the Kentucky Derby. (All those ugly ass hats!)Every year I say I won't watch this thing, and I end up watching it anyway. But I am really loving the jockey who won it this year. This guy, Calvin Borel, was the genuine article and seemed really happy just to be there. I swear I didn't understand half of what he said which is cool, cause the guy really seemed sincere. We need more of that in sports. The horse that won it,"Street Sense", wasn't too shabby either. He ran from 19th place to run down the leader and run way with that bad boy. All, this from a two year old. Way to go there young buck!

Maybe I will make a point to watch it next year.

Something about this NBA study about racism among the refs bothers me. Now for the record, I don't think any of those refs (black or white) are consciously prejudice. But I do believe that in those quick seconds that it takes to make a call, and in the heat of battle, certain human instincts take over. And those instincts might cause favoring someone that looks like you over the other guy. Now what bothers me, is how all these NBA players are declaring that these refs are not racist. Like how the f**k would they know? Here is the deal, these players ought to just shut their traps and play the game. No need to come out in support of these refs when you don't know a damn thing about what's in their hearts.

I just watch Barry Bonds stoke yet another home run off the Phillies. (744 and counting) At some point everyone in this country will have to recognize that Bonds is the greatest baseball player in our life time. Thirteen all star appearances and seven (yes seven) MVP titles don't lie. Yeah I know he was tainted by the steroid scandal, but so were many other players in baseball -including pitchers- and Bonds could bring it even when he was a skinny spray hitter in Pittsburgh.

Here is one field Negro who hopes that Bonds breaks hammering Hank's record. And Hank, by the way, is being bush league for saying he won't appear for the potential record breaking shot. Come on Hank, don't believe the hype. Barry can straight stoke it, and he deserves to break your record.

Speaking of Phillies, if they didn't try to do things on the cheap, they would probably be in a much better position right about now. They should have paid Billy Wagner the 11 million he wanted, and not cut corners and give Tom Gordon half of that. Now Gordon has already blown three saves this year, and due to injury problems is on the DL. And people why we can't win a championship in this city.

The Penn Relays was off the hook. 46,000 screaming track fans, (half of them Jamaicans) screaming their heads off for the U.S.A. against the world relay races. The scene is always electric over on U Penn's campus, and for those of you sports junkies who want to see a great sporting event; plan to make the trip to Philly next April and catch some of the greatest athletes and fans in the world.

Hey, what ever happened to AC Green?