The search for RELLevance

She is awesome.

Labels: Candace Parker, Whoever tries to hit CParker again should be immediately excommunicated from the WNBA, WNBA

When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is both inevitable and natural. There comes a time when a person must fight, and a time when they need to accept that their destiny is lost... the ship has sailed and only a fool would continue.

That's where the Atlanta Braves are right now.

A purging fire needs to come and clean the Braves' the underbrush and decaying trees that have grown too tall.

At 48-53, Atlanta sits seven games behind the National League East-leading Philadelphia Phillies and has little chance of catching Philly or division contender New York.

It's time to start over — disassemble the team and start over. As it's presently constructed Atlanta will do just enough to give the appearance of competitiveness while mired in mediocrity

Just look at the dead weight on the Atlanta roster.

The dreadful Mike Hampton experiment should be put out of its misery. Has he started more than 10 games in a season for the Braves?

As much as they've given to the franchise, future Hall of Fame pitchers Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are done being productive players. Smoltz just had his third shoulder surgery and Glavine, who had never been on the disabled list before this season, isn't getting any younger.

Even some of the Braves' young assets, who shined brightly during the 2006 season, aren't producing this year.

Jeff Francoeur, who pouted like an 11-year-old who wasn't allowed read the newest Harry Potter novel when the outfielder recently was designated for minor league assignment, is hitting just .231 and has a team-high 68 strikeouts to go along with only 22 walks.

So, in what would undoubtedly be a controversial move, I’d start blowing up the Braves.

The only untouchables on the roster are Jair Jurrjens, Chipper Jones, Yunel Escobar, Brian McCann, Tim Hudson and Jorge Campillo.

Everyone else, including Francoeur and all-start first baseman Mark Teixeira, is fair game.

Yes, even Teixeira.

The Braves got the former Texas Ranger near the trade deadline last season in attempt to make the playoffs. While it didn't work, the switch-hitter quickly became one of the top players in the National League.

This season he has been solid but not spectacular, batting .278 with 19 home runs and a team-high 73 RBI's.

But at the end of the day, Teixeira is a free agent at the end f the season, and Scott Boras — the evil archangel of agents — represents him. That means he won't take much less than $18 million per year, which Atlanta isn't willing to pay. Major League Baseball's trade deadline is July 31 — one week from today — so it would be in the best long-term interest of the Braves to get something in return for Teixeira.

After all, trading stars and building depth and pitching with young prospects is the successful model in baseball right now. While currently struggling, the Tampa Rays used that model and are now among the best teams in the American League.

The same could be said of the Milwaukee Brewers, who built their team into contenders by being sellers at the trade deadline for years. Now challengers for the N.L. Central crown, the Brewers recently became trade-deadline buyers when they acquired former Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians.

And there’s fhe Florida Marlins, who won the 2003 World Series, in large part, after trading the big-time players from their 1998 world championship team.

For Atlanta, this is the most logical and sensible way to build back it's winning pedigree.

The future is now.

Labels: Atlanta Braves, MLB, Sports

Bye, Bey Estelle Getty

Excerpt:

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

“She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents,” her son said. “She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived.”

“The Golden Girls,” featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff’s belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in “Maude,” Betty White in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and Rue McClanahan in “Mama’s Family.” The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur’s character.

“Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her,” Arthur said in a statement.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein’s play “Torch Song Trilogy.” In her early 60s, she flunked her “Golden Girls” test twice because it was believed she didn’t look old enough to play 80.

“I could understand that,” she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. “I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast.”

Labels: Entertainment, Golden Girls, Television

I couldn't think of a more original title than that (I have to have one inside joke about Vacation, right?)

So I just got back from a trip from Chicago which was awesome or off the chain, depending on which code I’m speaking. The city is pretty phenomenal and, while I’m not particularly awestruck with something like a huge metropolitan area like I used to be, it’s still a sight to behold.
The grandeur and scope of it all, allows for a great deal of introspection and retrospective analyzing of past decisions. Did I go to the right college? Did I take the right classes? Should I have taken that job? Did she deserve a second chance? Did I deserve a second chance? How is it that on this day, I came to be here with these people, doing this thing? Why am I not in Fort Wayne, Indiana? Or Honduras? Or Columbia, South Carolina?
This past Sunday was the day I introspected (is that a word – guess so because the google nor word spell checkers put the red line on it). Of course, that was after I was super commercial and ate at Starbucks before dropping a good amount of money at Niketown in Chicago.
I kind of hurt my thigh or something while walking and since I was limping around, I often fell behind the group on the way to the “beach” at Lake Michigan.
That’s when everything occurred. I mean I was in one city, in one county, in one state, in one country, on one continent. There are seven continents, hundreds of countries, thousands of states/provinces etc and probably millions of cities, full of ordinary people, all with the common goal of living happy, productive lives.
When you step back and think about that, we’re overall insignificant – that would be the cynical persons view – which I admittedly am to some degree.
But, when you examine the issues in positive light, you realize how special each individual person is.
YOU are the ONLY one with your unique environmental quarks, genetic makeup and life experiences. So, while we’re all similar it’s not absurd that Sherrell is the only Sherrell like him.
That may seem elemental to some of you, but for me that’s a pretty dramatic epiphany laced in a transparent moment of clarity.
While it may sound wack to get this out of a vacation, I think that’s the point. A vacation is for relaxing with friends and loved ones. It’s about getting away from normal settings and surroundings and recharging your batteries so to speak. For me, gaining perspective is the most important, and often times, most difficult aspect of my life.
Perspective is everything, because it allows us to frame what we’re thinking and experiencing in a familiar and easily understandable context.
For those of you who knew I was going and wanted a full recap, I’m sorry that you didn’t get that.

Tonight's the night and I can't begin to describe how hype(d) I am. As a Batman enthusiast, it was hard work getting people to believe "Batman Begins" was gonna be good.

Well, the reviews are in for the sequel "The Dark Knight" and people are overwhelmingly coming away impressed. I don't think $130-150 million is out of the question for TDK this weekend.

I'll be seeing it tonight...

King-Mag.com review
CNN Review

Labels: Batman, Movies, The Dark Knight

Surprisingly, temperatures haven't been unbearable this summer, but I think the sun's rays have been more potent the last few weeks because my brain is malfunctioning.
I'm in dire need of a "control-alt-delete" reboot. And since we're all family I think I can be frank.
As a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I'm trained to hate Dook, er, Duke.
See, UNC graduates are trained to spell the name of Duke University correctly. We're trained to hate the gothic campus over in Durham. We're trained to incorrectly spell the name of the head basketball coach.
But lately I've been going against my training. I have to make a declaration, here and now.

I don't hate Mike Krzyzewski.

There, I said it. It's off my chest.
For the longest time, I just went along with my Carolina Blue brethren. I once went to Duke's campus and started on a peer-pressure-induced rant about the ills of "The Rat" — the Tar Heel fan's pet name for Krzyzewski.
There was a time in 2004 — as Final Four-bound Duke team was stealing a victory from the Tar Heels at the Smith Center — that I yelled in the direction of the Duke bench, "At least our coach has class!"
Oy vey.
If I had a dollar for every one of the dumb things I said in college — or in life for that matter — Donald trump would be checking my mail. Oprah would delivering my pizza, and Hillary Clinton's defunct presidential campaign would be asking me, not Barack Obama, for a loan.

But that's another column for another day.
The softening of my Tar Heel heart has been brewing inside of me for quite some time, a fact I wasn't about to admit to.
But as the youngsters say these days, it's time for "real talk." I have no beef with Coach K.
The sole mission of his first 10 years as Duke head coach was to show former UNC coach and Hall of Famer Dean Smith that he was neither intimidated nor scared of the coaching legend. That's both admirable and courageous given Smith's larger-than-life persona in North Carolina and in basketball circles when Krzyzewski first arrived at Duke.

Watching Coach K's emotion with some of his players, while temporarily nauseating, does represent what the collegiate experience should be about.
I guess I've always believed most of these things, but it's his recent with the USA basketball team that has thrown me over the top.
To break another rule of the Carolina fraternity, I'll say that former Tar Heel Larry Brown did a horrible job of coaching the U.S. team in the 2004 summer games in Athens. He didn't utilize all the youth on the team, instead choosing to play team-killer Stephon Marbury and Richard "I Can't Hit a Jump Shot" Jefferson. Clearly that blame goes on Brown — not spoiled, lazy NBA players who didn't care about their country.

As we all know, with Krzyzewski it's about the relationships. That's how he has won over those spurned by Brown, the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James.
Now, with a three-year commitment from the USA's tri-captains and a tweak of the lineup by Krzyzewski that allows for a better-shooting, more guard-oriented team, the U.S. is the favorite to win the gold medal next month in Beijing.
The man has his faults, but hate — a word Tar Heel fans after use when talking about Coach K — is a strong word, people.
Sure, his voice sounds annoyingly nasal and airy. Sure, he allegedly told one of his players that they were "(expletive) my program." Sure, he has whined about his team not getting calls because of the "Duke image." Sure, he can be seen on television, regularly, complaining to officials and going into shock when a referee has the audacity to call a foul on one of his players in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Actually, on second thought, about that whole I like Coach K thing...

Labels: Beijing Olympics, Coach K, Coaching, Sports, USA basketball

I'm officially hype.

LINK

Labels: 24, Entertainment, Jack Black, Movies

It's kind of ironic that almost 10 years ago — let me pause and say I'm not comparing these artists to her at all, I'm just saying — "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," was released. The CD most of us consider the best of our (my) generation, turnedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif out to be the pinnacle of Lauryn's career as she's focused (gone crazyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif) on other things.

Where's the irony? Well three female solo artists, including one who bombed before, have a chance to release very good albums this year. Not close to Miseducation I don't think, but still very good.

Jazmine Sullivan drops "Fearless" on Sept. 16 She actually has a Lauryn like voice and I'm anticipating her CD a great deal. I'm sure you've heard "I need you bad," so peep "In love with another man."

Marsha Ambrosius — She's one of half the British-group Floetry (if you didn't know). Her first single "Co-Star" is pretty tight and given her pedigree of making good music and her ability to secure some top notch producers for her Interscope released first album, it's safe to say this has classic-potential. Her album doesn't have a release date, only "Summer 2008." Uh-oh...

Finally, one that might surprise you a little bit. This may sound crazy but, based on what I've heard, Solange Knowles' first (or sophomore depending upon you who you ask) will be better than either of her sister Beyonce's. She has great production, a stylistic approach (instead of 13 singles packaged as an album) and actually has a better voice than I give her credit for. Plus, "I Decided" is a GREAT son. Her cd "Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams" drops Aug. 26.

So cop these albums when they come out, peeps. Word life.

Labels: Entertainment, Good Female Singers, Music, Pop Culture

Link

Labels: Alicia Keys, Entertainment, James Bond, Music, Pop Culture

I'm not gonna say I told yall so (or about Keri Hilson — two years ago, either) but she is beyond dope.

This song is Track No. 16 from the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (not really, but man it's just phwwwww). She's doing all her backup vocals too.

"In Love with Another Man"

Labels: Jasmine Sullivan, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Music

Can you smell that? It's a beautifully bittersweet olfaction — forged by a summer of discontent. It steadily approaches us and engulfs us in all its glory.
No, it's not the smell of a beautiful woman or large sum of cash coming our way.
This wonderfully sensual aroma reeks of cleats, shoulder pads, Gatorade and grass and Saturday and Sunday afternoon's on the couch surrounded by nachos, pizza and buffalo wings.
Yes, the smell is the impending start of high school, college and NFL football training camps.
The summer of our discontent will soon be at an end.
I'm confident in saying that this is the most boring time of the athletic calendar. Baseball is in its annoyingly long stretch when the monotony of seeing the same teams every single day becomes too much to bare.
But, I can't be that upset – we've been more blessed than usual this summer, which has made the time between Eli Manning's miracle passes to Plaxico Burress and David Tyree and the impending start of the season go by faster than usual.
n First, there was a great yet disappointing end to the college basketball season. Many fans around these partswere extremely frustrated with UNC's first half in the Final Four. But even those diehards can't deny the perfect ending of the National championship game between Memphis and Kansas. Mario Chalmers' shot will go down in NCAA tournament lore with names like Bryce Drew, Keith Smart and Michael Jordan.
n Ken Griffey Jr. took his place in one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball, becoming just the sixth man in major league history to hit 600 home runs. Take away those accused of steroids and only Aaron, Ruth and Mays are above Griffey on the list.
n The rise of the Tampa Bay Rays has been a phenomenal story to say the least. For those of us in North Carolina, we got to see most of their team when they played for the Double A Durham Bulls the last few years. Now, that entire team has the Rays in first place in the American League East and boasting the best record in all of baseball. What's next -- The Bobcats beating out the Celtics for the Eastern Conference title?
n Tiger Woods, Rocco Mediate and the U.S. Open. All I have to do is say those eight words and immediately you know what I'm discussing – possibly the greatest major in the history of golf. Tiger Woods battling a torn ACL and stress fracture struggled for four days, led after 54 holes, was tied after 72, and tied after 90 holes before finally besting the grizzled veteran Mediate. That's a huge simplification of a tournament that registered historic moment after historic moment. The ratings showed how much people were into it – NBC's coverage of the 18-hole playoff yielded the network's highest non-NFL rating since 2000.
n Finally, there was what John McEnroe called "the best tennis match of all time." Raphael Nadal and Roger Federer, who have faced each other more times in championship matches than any other players in the Open era, put on a show. They played a five-set thriller that saw amazing shots, three rain delays, an injury and finally the best streak in Wimbledon broken, like one of Federer's fifth-set serves The epic match could signal a changing of the guard, from the 26-year-old Federer, to the 22-year-old Nadal. At the very least, we're likely to see a repeat at Flushing Meadow next month, which could be historic.
n Finally, we had the U.S. Olympic trials. Virtually every American record and several world records were broken during the swimming trials. All-everything swimmer Michael Phelps qualified for eight Olympic events and will seek to win eight gold medals in Beijing. Tyson Gay, the world's fastest man, ran a wind-aided 9.68 in the 100 meters, the fastest time ever by a human.
So, while that smell of football certainly makes me want the main course – I've got plenty of appetizers to tide me over.

Labels: Sports, Summer 2008

So, I got this e-mail from a friend who I regularly discuss these kinds of issues with. I won't post their name, but will post their e-mail. I think they raised several good points and think it'd be a good place to start discussions on something that is there, palpable and that we all see — but don't really want to talk about.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rell,

Is it possible that Barack Obama's biggest liability is Black America? This is amateur stuff when your preacher trumps you and steals your media cycle for 3 weeks. (3 plus weeks of talking about church and whether Obama believes what his preacher preaches instead of his agenda and plan for the future). But luckily it didn't hurt him beating Hillary, but it may have cost him in places yet to be seen. And now Rev. Jackson making those comments with an open mic (that changes the story for 1 week at least). You think Rev. Jackson is new to being in the media spot and can't tell when a microphone is in his face or not. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Jackson didn't do it intentionally to get in the discussion that will ensue. Make him spend more time courting the black vote that he statistically has on lock. Or at least make Obama discuss Rev. Jackson's issues. Sort of selfish.

Whether these words are true or relevant, that doesn't really matter to me. But there is no denying they are dragging down the campaign. You think it's intentionally?

Labels: Jesse Jackson, Politics, Presidental Race 08', Race