The NBA All-Star Saturday Night event used to mean something. Now it’s just a way for TNT to capture some advertising dollars. Wai Sallas is in Negative Town, population one, hoping for change.
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Sports Dump 1:
Surprises don’t come cheap anymore in the world of sports. It’s the 21st century and sports has brought us everything from the miraculous , to the hilarious, the sublime to the disgusting. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something comes along that, for a lack of a better phrase, really bums you out. The news coming out of Chicago is one of those stories.
We now live in a society where fame trumps achievement. Where people care more about coming out on top, rather than doing it right. By any means necessary no longer is a quote attributed to Malcolm X and the fight for civil equality, but rather for sports and winning.
We saw it all year in the NFL. Teams chose winning over consequences for actions as horrifying as domestic violence and child abuse. Only when disapproval ratings dipped and sponsors considered pulling millions of dollars out of the league, did commissioner Roger Goodell and the league decide it was time to take a stance. A stance so fragile, a house of cards has better chance of staying upright.
In college basketball, Syracuse University decided to levy sanctions against themselves to curb a recent investigation by the NCAA. They suspended themselves from postseason play this season. What wasn’t reported was that Syracuse probably wouldn’t have made the NCAA tournament any way. Tough call, guys.
Now the corruptness has reached the purest of organizations, Little League Baseball.
The organization whose crest touts Character, Courage and Loyalty was defiled by the adults from Chicago and The Jackie Robinson West team. Not only did these awful people sully the name of Little League, it also dragged Jackie Robinson’s name through the mud as well.
Little League Baseball did the only thing they could, and stripped them of their U.S. Championship, but what now happens to those children and those adults. It’s not the adults, the one’s who collected kids from outside of its district to form a dream team, that will be branded as cheats. It’s the kids, those who captured our hearts and allowed children from inner cities to dream and want more. Those kids from that team will always be branded as cheaters.
People talk about how the youth are the problem. How this next generation is full of bad character flaws that should scare us as a nation. Maybe we should look at those adults who continue to perpetuate a morally and ethically corrupt way of thinking that objectifies the sanctity of youth sports and forces our children to grow up thinking that “if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.” Maybe we should look at those who prop up celebrities and athletes because of the lifestyles they lead, rather than their character. How about instead of watching The Bachelor or Keeping up with the Kardashians, we lead by example and take a more vested interest in the upbringing of our children. Prop up those who make significant contributions to society, rather than those who diminish it.
Then, next time when a scoundrel of an adult wishes to cheat the system for his own personal gain, our children will have the wherewithal, the character, the courage and loyalty to step up to these awful human beings. The next time they can take a stand and start making the world better for themselves, because obviously us as adults can’t.
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A few rotten apples does not have to infect the whole human race. Unfortunately this past week we lost two coaches who stood from those things that are greater than us.
When Dean Smith was in his early 3os and his stature had not yet reached mythical status, it did not stop him from standing up to the things he believed in. He recruited the first African-American player to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Even before he was the head coach at North Carolina, Smith integrated a popular restaurant in Chapel Hill where the basketball team, all white at the time, often ate. Smith accompanied a visiting black theology student for a meal there.
“He was willing to take controversial stands on a number of things as a member of our church — being against the death penalty, affirming gays and lesbians, protesting nuclear proliferation,” said Robert Seymour, the former pastor at Binkley Baptist Church. “He was one who has been willing to speak out on issues that many might hesitate to take a stand on.”
While Jerry Tarkanian’s resume is not as illustrious as Smith’s, “The Shark” is recognized as one of the greatest college coaches in basketball history. It’s his fighting spirit that will resonate.
Tarkanian was one of the few to take on the NCAA and call them out for being a corrupt biased organization, even taking it to court–and winning.
“The one thing I’ve done is I’ve fought them the whole way, I’ve never backed down,” he said.
Tarkanian and Smith, two fighters who fought for the betterment of our children and society.
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Sports Dump #2:
The Slam Dunk competition used to mean something. Stars like Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter all competed in what used to be the premier event on All-Star Saturday Night. The league’s best would line the sidelines and the crowd would buzz like they were ringside at a Muhammed Ali fight.
Now the event looks like amateur hour. As the competition flame for this generation’s NBA stars starts to flicker and the need to prove oneself grows thin, more and more of the game’s stars would rather shoot from long distance than participate in the dunk competition. In fact, this year’s marquee event is the Three Point Shootout where Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and James Harden will all be competing. These are household names. Before, the 3-point contest was reserved for long range specialist, like Craig Hodges or Mark Price (that’s of course if you discount Larry Bird who came, saw, won, and did it all with his warm up jacket still on).
Now, it’s the dunk competition that has us all googling for player info.
The one I’ll be rooting for is Victor Oladipo, that’s because he’s making lemonade out of lemons. The lemons of course being the list of competitors in this year’s dunk competition. The lemonade Oladipo will be serving will be in the form of philanthropy.
According to the Associated Press, Oladipo will donate to three charities.
Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is near where he grew up in Maryland. That donation is pegged for pediatric cancer; the Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis, based at his alma mater Indiana University, is working on breast cancer research; and the donation to Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in Orlando is earmarked for its Myeloma Center. Magic co-founder Pat Williams launched a fundraising campaign to build the center in 2013.
”I wanted to give back,” Oladipo told The Associated Press. ”I feel like that’s the type of human being I am – first and foremost – just to give back to people who are not as fortunate as me. I’m all about making a difference, and I felt that was the best way to do so.’
I might not watch the contest formerly known as the Slam Dunk Competition, but I’ll be rooting for Oladipo who’s exemplifies why we root for sports.
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Vine of the Week: Nostalgia–ain’t it grand?
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