The search for RELLevance

I'm back?

2011-03-14T10:29:00.002-04:00

Thinking of getting back into the blogosphere. Now that everyone has stopped reading it, maybe I can be a tad bit more open.

Can't believe it's been nine months since I've posted anything here. Craziness -- I used to post on here like three times a day!

I Think I'm Done Here...

2010-06-17T10:15:00.001-04:00

follow me on twitter @rellevent21

Some favorite scenes from LOST

2010-05-21T12:08:00.004-04:00

Yes, I realize I haven't updated this thing in nearly three months. Strange to go from updating 3-4 times a day in 2006 to once every three months in 2010.

Nonetheless, LOST is coming to an end on Sunday. There's plenty more coming, but here are some of my favorite scenes from the show.

***Note** There are so many more to pick, this was hard.

Season 1, Episode 19 - Deus Ex Machina
Locke wants his kidney back

Season 1, Episode 25 - Exodus Part 2

"This is no ordinary place, you know that."

Season 2, Episode 20 - Two For the Road

Goodbye Ana Lucia and Libby

Season 2, Episode 16 - The Whole Truth

"You guys got any milk."

Season 3, Episode 22 -- Through the Looking Glass Part 2 (tie)

"We have to go back!"

Goodbye Charlie Pace

Season 4, Episode 5 -- The Constant

"Pennayyy, is that really you?"

Season 4, Episode 9 - The Shape of Things to Come

Goodbye Alex

Season 5, Episode 16 - The Incident

"I had her and I lost her."

Season 5, Episode 2 - The Lie

Hurley explains LOST in two minutes

Season 6, TBA

Toughness, passion define Carpenter

2010-02-01T13:29:00.000-05:00

LINK

Excerpt:

FAYETTEVILLE - Jamel Carpenter's biggest contribution in Fayetteville State's 65-58 win over Saint Paul's College on Jan. 4 wasn't in the scoring column.

With FSU up four with less than one minute remaining in the game, Carpenter's shot was blocked by SPC's Ibn-Saeed Rasoull.

Instead of sulking, Carpenter sprinted to the other end of the floor and knocked the ball away from the Tigers' Kwame Johnson giving FSU the ball and preserving its first CIAA win of the season.

The play was emblematic of Carpenter, a 6-foot-4 scoring machine who has taken the CIAA by storm in his first year at FSU.

"I have a big heart and I don't like to lose," said Carpenter. "All I know is to go hard. The area where I'm from, they breed people who believe in that mentality - just go hard."

Carpenter leads the conference in scoring, averaging 22.2 points per game. The Salisbury, N.C. native also ranks in the top six in the league in free-throw percentage (86.6 percent), rebounds per game (7.7) and three-point field goals made per game (2.2).

"One of my favorite players is LeBron James," Carpenter said. "He plays all across the board and I always have that mentality. I don't want to be a one-area guy. I like to do it all. Rebounding comes from the heart, free throws come from concentration and making shots comes from constantly working out."

Why conservatives hate 'Avatar'

2010-01-07T12:05:00.002-05:00

If you haven't seen the movie yet, do yourself a favor.

Los Angeles Times LINK

Excerpt:
It's no secret that "Avatar" has been stunningly successful on nearly every front. The James Cameron-directed sci-fi epic is already the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, having earned more than $1 billion around the globe in less than three weeks of theatrical release.

But amid this avalanche of praise and popularity, guess who hates the movie? America's prickly cadre of political conservatives.

John Podhoretz, the Weekly Standard's film critic, called the film "blitheringly stupid; indeed, it's among the dumbest movies I've ever seen." He goes on to say: "You're going to hear a lot over the next couple of weeks about the movie's politics -- about how it's a Green epic about despoiling the environment, and an attack on the war in Iraq.... The conclusion does ask the audience to root for the defeat of American soldiers at the hands of an insurgency. So it is a deep expression of anti-Americanism -- kind of. The thing is, one would be giving Jim Cameron too much credit to take 'Avatar' -- with its ... hatred of the military and American institutions and the notion that to be human is just way uncool -- at all seriously as a political document. It's more interesting as an example of how deeply rooted these standard issue counterculture cliches in Hollywood have become by now."

A Crisis in Perspective

2010-01-05T11:24:00.003-05:00

Much has been said and written about the decline of traditional journalism over the last decade.

Each day newspapers that have been around for decades fold, writers and editors lose their jobs and conglomerates sell off or close what once were a primary news sources for many citizens.

Regardless of why it happened (arrogance, smugness, lack of creativity, hubris) the fact that we're now to desensitized to it is sad and frightening.

However, I think the downfall of journalism (forgive me if that was a little Glenn Beckian)comes not from the destruction of a common medium, but from the lack of ability to say "this is important because" by a fresh crop of journalists (my age) who live a world where stories are rarely told.

Instead, today, opinions are repeated, regurgitated, spread and then reported as fact. A lot of writing is reactionary and doesn't take into account the larger scale.

For example, UNC lost to College of Charleston last night. In a typical gamer, a writer would talk about the lack of Will Graves and Marcus Ginyard playing for UNC. They'd discuss guard play, turnovers and freshmen.

That's fine, but anyone who follows or covers UNC knows these things are a problem already.

Instead, writers need to learn to find more concentrated angles that give information about UNC that the reader can't get anywhere else.

Why didn't Deon Thompson foul late in the game? What was the strategy on the last possession in regulation? Why schedule a road game just days before ACC play, against an opponent that isn't national known but is more than solid?

It may be tough to write all of this in 45 minutes with an 12:15 a.m., deadline but this is where writing -- and more generally sports writing -- needs to go.

Don't give me results, give me depth. To me, that's what's missing in Journalism. An ability to discern between a story with perspective and a story without one.

Rell's Favorite/Top 25 Songs of the Decade

2010-01-04T15:11:00.004-05:00

As we come to the end of 2009, we also end the first decade of the third millennium. So, instead of giving you the usual "top 25, top 10" lists of the year, we're going to give them for the decade.

Here are my top 25 songs of the decade.

Note: These are the top 25 in my opinion. Meaning, the genres most heavily represented will be the ones I like. It's not meant to be exhaustive and displayed as an authority -- though I would argue with you that these are in fact the top 25 regardless of genre.

1) Jill Scott – A Long Walk

2) James Morrison – You Give Me Something

3) Outkast – Bombs over Baghdad

4) Alicia Keys – You Don’t Know My Name

5) Musiq – Jus Friends (Sunny)

6) Talib Kweli – Get By

7) Justin Timberlake – Until The End of Time

8) Beyonce – Crazy In Love

9) UGK ft Outkast – International Players Anthem

10) Erykah Badu – Green Eyes

11) Adele – Chasing Pavements

12) Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You

13) Eminem – Lose Yourself

14) Maroon 5 – Sunday Morning

15) John Mayer – Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

16) Solange Knowles – I Decided

17) Michael Jackson – Butterflies

18) T.I. – Just Doing My Job

19) Dr. Dre ft Eminem – Forgot About Dre

20) Kanye West ft Jay-Z – Never Let Me Down

21) Common – The People

22) Mary J. Blige – Be Without You

23) N’Sync – Gone (say what you want)

24) Corrine Bailey Rae – Trouble Sleeping

25) Lupe Fiasco – Kick, Push

'Avatar' gets great reviews

2009-12-18T11:15:00.005-05:00

I think I'll be seeing this either tonight or next week. James Cameron has done solid work and some are calling this his best film.

'Avatar' delivers

Excerpt:

James Cameron has done it again.
For maybe the third time in his career, the immodest Canadian has made "the most expensive movie ever," confident that showmanship never goes out of style.
He was right about "Terminator 2," and he was right about "Titanic," and at this stage it looks more than likely he'll be proved right about "Avatar," too.
Already it feels like an epochal movie, a landmark fantasy film on par with "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Star Wars" and "The Lord of the Rings."
Like those (very different) movies, "Avatar" stretches the bounds of the cinematic imagination. It shows us something we've never seen before: an entire alien world, a new and complex ecosystem rendered in three dimensions with dazzling fluidity and detail.

Other Reviews:

Rotten Tomatoes
review database

Avatar is an entertainment to be not just seen but absorbed on a molecular level; it’s as close to a full-body experience as we’ll get until they invent the holo-suits. Cameron aims for sheer wonderment, and he delivers.

A.R. Watson's Top 25 of the 2000's

2009-12-16T10:20:00.009-05:00

As we come to the end of 2009, we also end the first decade of the third millennium. So, instead of giving you the usual "top 25, top 10" lists of the year, we're going to give them for the decade.

Here are A.R. Watson's, a contributor to this blog, top 25 songs of the decade.

Note: These are the top 25 in his opinion. Meaning, the genres most heavily represented will be the ones he likes. It's not meant to be exhaustive and displayed as an authority -- though he would argue with you that these are in fact the top 25 regardless of genre.

25. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
24. Ordinary People- John Legend
23. Breathe- Fabolous
22. If I Have My Way- Chrisette Michelle
21. Whoknows- Musiq Soulchild
20. Kick Push- Lupe Fiasco
19. The Light- Common
18. You Don’t Know- Jay-Z
17. Officially Missing You- Tamia
16. Fly Like a Bird- Mariah Carey
15. Bombs over Baghdad- Outkast
14. Throwback- Usher
13. Love- Musiq Soulchild
12. Mine Again- Mariah Carey
11. Long Walk- Jill Scott
10. International Players Anthem- UGK ft. Outkast
9. Song Cry- Jay-Z
8. Can’t Go To Sleep- Ghostface, RZA ft. Isaac Hayes
7. Lose Yourself- Eminem
6. Never Let Me Down- Kanye ft. Jay-Z, J-Ivy
5. You Don’t Know My Name- Alicia Keys
4. Untitled (how does it feel)- D’angelo
3. Get By- Talib Kweli
2. Crazy in Love- Beyonce ft. Jay-Z
1. Green Eyes- Erykah Badu

*** Watson's explanation for choosing "Green Eyes" No. 1 - Coming Soon

Be Like Mike...

2009-12-15T22:53:00.001-05:00

Very good feature story on UNC signee Harrison Barnes.

LINK

Excerpt:

Days earlier, when he announced where he would attend college, the nation's top high school basketball player deftly fielded all manner of probing questions from a gymnasium full of reporters.

This one seemed like a layup.

How tall are you?

"I'm 6-8 with shoes on," Harrison Barnes said.

Across the living room his mother, Shirley Barnes, squirmed.

"What? You're going to list your real height this year?" she asked.

"Of course," Barnes said.

"I thought you were still playing the 6-6 game."

I'm not sure I follow you ...

"It's because Michael did it," Barnes explained.

As in Michael Jordan.

"He was 6-6," Barnes said. "That was the only thing I wanted to be. I wanted to be 6-6 my whole life, and then it was so funny when I got to meet him. I was way taller than he was."

There are worse ways for a budding basketball star to measure himself.

At 17, Harrison Barnes might not yet be a household name. But he's determined to become one.

On Thursday, the high school senior will make his national television debut when his Ames High Little Cyclones play the Waukegan High School Bulldogs live on ESPN. In the fall, Barnes will enroll at the University of North Carolina, Jordan's alma mater. He appears on the most recent cover of ESPN's high school magazine, Rise, and he writes a monthly diary for the basketball publication Slam.

Barnes is, scouts say, the complete package, a rare combination of elite basketball skills, insatiable work ethic and intellect.

"I met the youngster when he was a sophomore," said sportscaster Dick Vitale. "I'd like to think I have a pretty good feel for people, and let me tell you, he's a winner."

Top 50 Protest Signs of 2009

2009-12-10T09:59:00.002-05:00

LINK

Jordan takes unconventional route to FSU

2009-12-10T09:46:00.000-05:00

FAYETTEVILLE - It's not easy for a talented high school basketball player to go unnoticed.

There are large numbers of tournaments, events and clinics that allow coaching staffs to identify a player that could help a particular university or college.

Fayetteville State's LaQuasha Jordan, however, took a much different path to end up with the Broncos.

A native of Greenville, Jordan enrolled at Campbell University and took classes at Pitt Community College before finding her way to FSU.

"When I transferred here I was in one of the basketball coach's classes," Jordan said. "They asked me to play intramurals for a season and that was about it."

The former FSU women's coaching staff liked what they saw from Jordan and invited her to a recruiting weekend.

"When I came for the recruit weekend, it was a little different already being a student," said Jordan. "I made it and got invited as a walk-on."

Jordan hardly plays like a walk-on for the Broncos (4-2, 2-1 CIAA).

In limited minutes, Jordan is tied for the team lead in made 3-point field goals and is perfect from the free-throw line.

"My strength is the 3-point shot," Jordan said. "In high school I was more of an inside person. I drove a lot, but I just worked on my shot a lot."

Much of that work came in-between Jordan's time at Campbell and her start with the Broncos.

"Before I came here, I did a lot of shooting with old teammates," Jordan said. "That really helped me a good deal."

Added FSU head coach Eva Patterson-Heath: "She's worked extremely hard to get her weight down and get conditioning in. She always works hard."

Broncos' senior forward Randi Watts and Jordan have been playing basketball together since 4th grade. They both starred at J.H. Rose High School in Greenville.

"She's my best friend," said Watts. "Sometimes when we're in the game together, it's easy because I know her so well. I know exactly what she is going to do." Patterson-Heath wants Jordan to do one thing in particular.

"We want her to bring her 3-point shooting to the team," she said. "She doesn't take enough shots. We really don't have a 3-point shooter and she is the closest that we have to it. We've got to have that."

Jordan and the Broncos travel to Barton on Saturday, the teams' second meeting in nine days.

After the contest with the Bulldogs, FSU won't play again until it hosts Elizabeth City State on Jan 2. Jordan thinks the Broncos can improve during the 21-day break.

"We have to work on not turning the ball over and better free-throw shooting," she said. "Personally, I need to just stay in shape and keep working on my shot."

Best of TV this decade from the Boston Globe

2009-12-07T14:08:00.002-05:00

Boston Globe Link

Excerpt:

There are the best TV series of the decade, and the best episodes, and the best TV news stories. This TV14 countdown is not about them. This is a look back at the best moments on scripted television across the past 10 years. Some of them were mind-blowing and some of them were iconic. All of them represent the peaks in a decade of superior writing and acting on TV.

THE HIGH-STAKES MOMENT
The death of Teri Bauer on “24’’ When a show kills off a major character, there is often a hidden reason that has nothing to do with the story. Maybe the actor wants to pursue new horizons. But when the writers of “24’’ killed off Jack Bauer’s wife, Teri, in the season 1 finale in 2002, they were making an important statement about “24’’ and about the world of terrorism. There are no happy endings on the horizon, they seemed to be saying, both on the show and in contemporary life. In the months right after 9/11, that was a bracing message.

THE TIME WARP MOMENT
The first flash-forward on “Lost’’ The phrase “game-changer’’ has become overused and, therefore, meaningless. But when “Lost’’ delivered its first flash-forward in the 2007 third-season finale, after years of flashbacks, it was truly a game-changer. All of a sudden, the canvas of the entire series doubled in size. The art of TV storytelling took a few steps forward, too.

THE ‘WIRE’ MOMENT
Russell Bell is gunned down This series was filled with unforgettable moments and the deaths of major characters. But the ambush of Idris Elba’s Russell Bell, the dealer who wore suits and studied economics, stands out. That David Simon was willing to kill off one of his best creations - a non-gangsta gangsta - near the end of season 3 in 2004 was a reminder of his commitment to realism. And seeing Stringer run desperately through his vacant development site, pigeons flying, was a moment of violent poetry. The irony - and there always was one on “The Wire’’ - was that Russell had just incriminated himself on the wiretap and would have faced arrest.

The 2000's: A Personal Retrospective

2009-12-04T10:42:00.005-05:00

There was a South Park about this a few years ago but, secretly, men really love lists. I'm no exception.

Every year on the blog, we do things like "top 25 songs," ""top 25 moments," "best in sports," and anything else that can be categorized and easily referenced (shout out to Fox Molder).

Well, this year is a little different because -- depending on who you ask -- it's the last year of the decade.

On a personal level, this will probably be my defining decade more than the 1990's.

The 90's were learning about the world through the eyes of my parents, family and friends. A lot of who I am came heavily from their influences. Their ideas and beliefs will stick with me until I unfortunately die. Kind of like the base of house, they were the building blocks for the most extravagant, sometimes-progressive, amenities that would be in my "house." (The house loosely being my personal ideologies and values system).

The 2000's, however, have been all about my relationship with myself and getting to know me.

The 00's (can we call them that?) saw me leave home -- though not quite for good -- enter college, graduate college, work my first real jobs, enter graduate school, not quite graduate, meet most of my friends for life, find fake love, find real love, do things and pay attention to people I shouldn't and take for granted the ones who have always been there for me.

I lost my Aunt Sarah, Uncle Kenneth, Aunt Chris, Uncle Bobby, Cousin Teresa, Aunt Joan, my father's mother and Granny, as well as many others

When I'm 50 (hopefully I make it that far) and my kids ask me what I remember most about the 2000's. I'll tell them, I remember learning that life isn't easy and that, ultimately, everyone's life ends.

And because of those two facts, I learned to cherish my friends and loved ones. I learned that, even though it might be 10 p.m. and I'm tired, I should make the drive to Chapel Hill or Charlotte or Durham or Dunn or Fayetteville to see those I care about.

Because you never know when those friends and family will be gone.

It's funny, because the people who I most talked to 10 years ago, I rarely see or speak to. There are a few constants but the majority of my friendship base has refreshed itself since 2000.

Then again, those friendships were likely based on convenience and the basic building blocks of my house (ideology).

Whereas my friendships now, are based on real-life experiences, mutual pain and struggle as well as joy, laughter and happiness.

Those kind of things don't erode with time. While the communication with friends may diminish, those shared experiences will last forever. That's the measure of true friendship and that's what I have now.

This decade was certainly enlightening and I hope I learn as much between 27 and 37, as I did 17 and 27.

The 2010's will likely see me become a complete man (I'm still lacking in some areas right now) with kids, marriage and a family.

Transitioning from only taking care of myself, to being responsible for other lives certainly won't be easy.

But, it's a challenge that I intend to meet utilizing energy, love, compassion and selflessness.

Ten years from now, my only wishes are that I've improved as a person, man and I've done something to positively assist the growth of someone else.

If those two conditions are met, I'll consider the 2010's a great success.

But man, in 2019, I'll be almost 40! (Panic is already setting in).

This is the official song of this post.

Fifty most important records of the decade

2009-11-17T16:07:00.001-05:00

According to NPR's All Songs Considered.

Solid list, I must say. Curious, however, that not a single John Mayer song (especially from Continuum) made the list.

LINK

You still won't pay them?

2009-11-17T10:29:00.003-05:00

Last night, I got home from working a Division II basketball game around 111:30 p.m.

I did what I usually do upon arriving at home. Find something (nutritional) to eat, open up Tweetdeck (follow me at twitter.com/rellevent21) browse a few Web sites and turn on ESPN.

The end of the Browns-Ravens game was going off, followed by SportsCenter, followed by -- 24 hours of college basketball?

Games started at 12 a.m., 3 a.m., 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

So, let me get this straight? ESPN in conjunction with the schools and the NCAA is having college age students who, almost certainly, have classes on Tues-Thursday classes early in the morning, playing basketball at these odd times?

Isn't it suppose to be about scholarship, about the academia? About making "student-athletes" better people?

How does playing basketball at those times, the night before a busy class day, advance the institutional and NCAA academic mission?

Simply, it doesn't. Just another example, in the long string of hypocrisies laid down for the NCAA.

At 8:30 a.m. in the morning, I'm barely functional. It's hard for me to check e-mail at work, let alone dribble a basketball, sweat, work hard to please my coach and alumni, knowing i have a paper due at 1 p.m., class at 2:30 p.m. and study hall at 8 p.m.

College athletes do all this and you still won't pay them?

'Bring back that blogging feeling'

2009-11-12T15:37:00.004-05:00

Over the last year, my blog posts have dropped off dramatically. For the 13 people who still read this, sorry about that and thanks for reading.

I think the biggest issue I've had is that my creative outlet has been beaten to death. Writing 10 stories a week, every week for the last two years leaves little time to hash away at issues and likes and dislikes on the blog.

Just this week, I've written seven stories on three different sports for my job.

Couple those issues with the invention and rising popularity of Twitter and the blog just isn't the best place for me to share ideas, opinions and discourse.

HOWEVER, I think it's still vitally important to me. Maybe not to anyone out there still reading, but I started this blog as a place for me to showcase my thoughts and beliefs.

While 140 characters works well sometimes, there are moments when more is needed. This is my vow to continue to blog, as I have for the past five years.

It's amazing, I created this two days after President Bush was reelected because of my friends who said "I'm moving to Canada."

Two jobs, graduate school and five years later -- it's still here.

Good stuff.

Ledisi - Changes

2009-11-12T15:27:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite songs of the year. Just everything about it is right.

The Second Season

2009-11-12T15:22:00.002-05:00

On occasion, I'll be posting some of my stories from my job on here. Hope you enjoy -- also, tell me what you think of the new look.

http://www.fsubroncos.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111109aaa.html

FAYETTEVILLE - The CIAA Championship trophy was resting, alone, in a dark office on Wednesday afternoon.

No players or football staff come by to look at it, to marvel at what Fayetteville State accomplished in capturing the program's third conference title just four days ago.

Instead, the Broncos are focused on bringing home another championship.

For only the third time in school history, FSU will compete in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

The Broncos will travel to California, Pa. to face California University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. Kickoff is set for Noon.

"All of the celebration and all those things come after football season," FSU head coach Kenny Phillips said during his weekly press conference. "This is an opportunity for us to continue as a football team to try and reach that ultimate goal we set in January of playing in December in the national championship game. But you can't do that if you don't win your first playoff game. We've got our work cut out for us."

FSU (8-3) made the playoffs in 2002 and 2004, losing at Carson-Newman both seasons.

The Broncos are the No. 6 seed in Super Regional One.

Phillips said Saturday's game is an opportunity for FSU to prove it belongs among the nation's elite football programs.

"I told our guys, someone didn't sit down and just say `bam, we're going to put Fayetteville State in the playoffs,'" said Phillips. "This is a special moment because of what we have to do to prove to people that we deserve an opportunity to play in this playoff. We've got to go up to California, Pa. and show these guys that we deserve to be in this thing. We're not just someone they put in just to appease us. We're here because we're a very good football team."

Phillips hasn't decided who will start at quarterback on Saturday.

Tyler Hosler, who started the Broncos' last six games - all wins, was replaced by Benjamin Williams in the third quarter of FSU's 21-10 win over Bowie State. Williams led FSU on two scoring drives and was named the CIAA Championship game's Offensive MVP.

"We don't have to do anything spectacular," Phillips said of the Broncos' passing game. "We just have to go out there and play within the game plan and don't turn the football over. Those guys don't have to throw for 500 yards a game. We just need to make sure when they give us an opportunity to make a play, we need to make a football play."

Kendon Doe, a senior wide receiver for FSU, said having two quarterbacks with lots of game experience is a positive.

"Either guy that's starting is going to do a good job," he said. "We've been behind both quarterbacks the entire season. They have our confidence and we have theirs. I expect them to do what got us here."

FSU has won nine of its last 10 and six straight on the road. The Broncos' last road loss came against Shaw, 19-12, on Oct. 12, 2008.

This season, the Broncos' defense is allowing only 11.1 points per game away from home. All six of the Broncos road wins have been by at least 10 points.

"We have some seniors on defense and they are great leaders," senior linebacker Joseph Brown said. "What they want to do is make the most of their last season. I think they've done a great job of making sure we have a successful season."

Added Phillips: "I compare it (this year's defense) to the defense we had in our first championship in 2002. They were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in about five categories nationally. These guys have a done a great job defensively in keeping us in football games. These guys are not far behind that football team."

Cal U, the region's No. 3 seed, has won five-straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division titles and advanced to the PSAC title game.

The Vulcans (8-3) offense is paced by quarterback Josh Portis and senior wide receiver A.J. Jackson. Jackson, an All-PSAC West First Team selection, had conference-bests in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions per game.

"We're not going to change our entire defensive scheme because of the wide receiver," said Phillips. "We're going to make sure he isn't free in the secondary. It basically comes down to, we have to be able to put some pressure on the quarterback to have some success. We're going to take this challenge like we take any other challenge. We're going to take it full steam ahead. "

Dixon making big impact

2009-11-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

FAYETTEVILLE - Stretched across his oversized left forearm is one word that represents Jamaal Dixon's stature.

"Biggs."

More than just a nickname given to him during his standout career at Gates County High School, "Biggs" represents Dixon's size, play on the field and dreams.

All three are colossal.

A 6-foot-6, 280-pound defensive lineman at Fayetteville State, Dixon is the only true freshmen starting on one of the best defenses in the CIAA.

Saturday, Dixon and FSU (7-3, 6-1 CIAA) will play Bowie State in the CIAA Championship game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

"I'm going to be hype because I've never played for a championship in my life," said Dixon. It's going to be nice - I'm really looking forward to it."

On the season, Dixon has 22 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two fumbles and a blocked kick.

Not bad for someone who was playing class 1-A high school football in Gatesville, N.C. a year ago.

"Physically, he has all the tools," said David Bowser, FSU's linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. "His attitude has been great and he has a good background. The guys around him respect him and understand that he's going to be a very good football player at Fayetteville State."

Dixon's starting role at FSU, and chance at a CIAA title, almost never came.

After graduating from Gates County in June, Dixon thought about spending a year at Hargrave Military Academy to shore up his academics.

He received scholarship offers to play at several Division I schools - including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, East Carolina and Marshall - after he finished a semester at Hargrave.

But, a visit to FSU's campus and a bond with the Broncos' coaching staff changed his plans.

"Fayetteville State was the main one who really wanted me," Dixon said. "They sent me a lot of letters and stuff. I have a really good relationship with coach (Kenny) Phillips and coach (Damien) Adams."

So, just before fall practice began in August, Dixon committed to and enrolled at FSU.

"Most of the credit should go to Coach Phillips and Coach Adams," said Bowser. "I think coach Phillips recognized early in the process that we needed to get on the young man. Then Coach Adams did a good job of recruiting him and keeping him on Fayetteville State's radar."

With Dixon sliding between defensive tackle and defensive end, the FSU defense is giving up only 8.3 points per game in its last three contests. The Broncos' have limited their opponents to -38 yards rushing on 88 attempts during the same span.

Dixon said adjusting to faster, stronger and bigger athletes has been his biggest challenge.

"When you're coming from a small school, you're used to being the key to the defense," he said. "Coach Phillips has really good schemes. We have a lot of good players, so it's not all about one person. Everyone's technique has to come together for the defense to work."

Dixon wants to play in the NFL and believes that playing at FSU and in the CIAA won't hurt his chances.

"If somebody has the talent to go to the NFL, they'll find you," he said. "I'm just working on getting faster and being able to go hard all the time. "

A criminal justice major, Dixon credits his mother - who is a police officer - for helping him develop a strong work ethic.

"She was strict when I was younger and I couldn't really do anything," he said. "I can't complain about it though, it made the person I am today. She helped me to be very respectful to my coaches. A lot of people like to talk back to coaches and talk in their faces, but I can't really get into that."

As the 2009 season winds down, "Biggs" is already thinking about next year.

"I'm getting a lot faster and I've gotten bigger since I've gotten here," he said. "I can't wait to get in the weight room and get stronger over the summer."

Powell piling up sacks

2009-11-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

FAYETTEVILLE - Before the ball is snapped, defensive players have to read the offense much the same way a quarterback reads defenses.

Darius Powell's 8.5 sacks, which lead Fayetteville State and rank second in the CIAA, prove that he's mastered his craft.

"Before the snap we try to get a feel for what the linemen is doing," Powell said. "You have to identify formation, down and distance and whether or not their in pass set or a run set."

While it might seem like a lot to process in just a few seconds, Powell honed the skill through years of experience on the field and countless hours in film study.

Perhaps the best display of Powell's unique combination of size, strength and speed came against St. Augustine's.

In the Broncos' 56-6 win, Powell, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker/defensive end, terrorized the Falcons' offense. He had seven tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles and a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown - all season highs.

"I was getting a good jump off the ball," Powell said. "I try to get a timing on their cadence and then when they're about to hike the ball, I just explode off the line."

Kenny Phillips, the Broncos' head coach, said he knew Powell was capable of dominating.

"He probably had his best football game of his young career here at Fayetteville State," Phillips said after the game. "He's an unbelievable talent and we need him to continue to play like he played today."

Prior to Powell's breakout performance, Phillips admitted the FSU coaching staff had difficulty getting the Waldorf, Md. native to play consistently.

"As a defensive football coach, we've been frustrated with him," Phillips said. "We know he has the ability, now we have to keep him focused and make sure he does the same thing each week."

Phillips wasn't the only one who noticed Powell's potential.

"Powell is a monster," said senior linebacker Marcos Esquivel. "Since I saw him practice in camp I thought he could tear this league up. I guess it just took a while for him to get comfortable with the system. When he's on his game, he's unstoppable."

A standout at Westlake, Powell had offers from North Carolina, Akron, Illinois, Kent State, Michigan State, Marshall and Syracuse entering his senior year of high school.

He chose UNC and played two seasons in Chapel Hill before deciding to transfer to FSU.

"I had an inside with one of the players who came here after playing at UNC," said Powell. "He told me this was a great place to go and that all the coaches were good here. I ended up here and I like it."

Over the last three games, Powell has 10 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. It's no coincidence that during that same span, the FSU defense has held its opponents to 8.6 points per game.

"Our preparation has been great," Powell said. "We prepare really well and the defense Coach Phillips runs enables a lot of people to make plays. As long as you buy into the system, you're going to make plays."

On Saturday, Powell and the Broncos will face Bowie State in the CIAA Championship game.

Despite the game's importance and its national platform, Powell said individual statistics and performances don't matter.

"We're just trying to stay focused," he said. "We're not worried about a spotlight. We just want to come out with a championship win."

Rewatch Chris Rock's N*ggas vs. Black People Rant

2009-11-10T12:58:00.002-05:00

And despite it being funny, tell me you don't think it's a tad racist.

Trying not to believe

2009-10-26T10:12:00.003-04:00

The Dallas Cowboys are a hard team to figure out. Perhaps even more of an enigma is the team's quarterback Tony Romo.

He's 0-2 in playoff games and has a history of late-season collapses and poor play in games that matter. Turnovers and errors, probably attributed to his supreme confidence in his arm, are commonplace and often times hurt his team.

We've seen him sulk on the sideline and at times just not look like a leader.

That's bad Romo.

Then there is good Romo.

He is 31-14 in his first 45 games as a starter which is, I believe, the second best record of all-time.

He has the most 300-yard passing games in Cowboys history and his quarterback rating is among the top 15 of all-time.

It's frustrating because his inconsistency isn't consistent. He'll have six straight good games and then a bad game.

On Sunday, he had his third-best QB rating of his career and threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns.

If Romo can stay as "the good Romo" Dallas just might have a chance to do some things this year.

But you just don't know.

"The game’s out there and it’s play or get played. That simple” – Omar Little

2009-10-15T10:13:00.006-04:00

If you didn't know, over the last month I've become nearly obsessed with The Wire. My friends (most notably Aaron, Bomani, Jimmy and Khary) had been telling me to watch it for the last few years. However, I resisted for some unknown reason.

Maybe I wanted to be different or maybe I just didn't want to invest in a TV show about Cops, Drug Deals, Burearcary.

Ultimately though, it seems I was scared of the realness. It's very easy to sit back in our little corner of the world, live our life and not take notice to what's going on five blocks over, let alone a city (Baltimore) 500 miles away.

But as I watched more and more of The Wire, I saw a world that is like Mars to me -- distant, far off, alien and foreign.

It also provides some of the most in-depth look at major entities that help shape now how we think, but what we think about (the concept is called Agenda Setting and Donald Shaw, a professor at UNC, is an expert).

The show reviews how nebulous and gray the lines between what we perceive as "good" and "bad" are in the drug trade, education system, journalism and in local government.

The Wire shows us that we can't simply look at someone (say like Omar) and say he is a good or bad. We have to examine why they are doing what they are doing, what code they live by in said lifestyle, who they effect and what the means they are using.

One of the main things I've learned from The Wire is that really the means are much more important than the end.

RIP Derrion

2009-09-28T17:06:00.000-04:00

Three charged with first-degree murder

Long road leads Turner to Fayetteville State

2009-09-25T12:24:00.001-04:00

FAYETTEVILLE - More than 2,150 miles separate Fayetteville State kicker Austin Turner from his hometown of San Diego.

However, the gap between the culture of his home state and the culture the sophomore has experienced in two years at FSU might be even larger.

"North Carolina is very different from the west coast," said Turner. "The west coast is all I've known and lived in. It's very slow and very southern, but the people here are a whole lot nicer than they are on the west coast."

Southern standards that are commonplace in North Carolina, were foreign to Turner when he enrolled at FSU in Aug. 2008.

"I'd never had sweet tea," Turner said. "It's kind of thought of as an east coast thing on the west coast. I fell in love with it though and I drink like a gallon a day."

Turner attended San Diego Mesa College after high school and then began his search for a four-year university.

"I was looking for a place to play after my first year at junior college and I went to a special teams camp in New Jersey," said Turner. "After that camp I got a phone call from Fayetteville State and they offered me a scholarship."

Turner, who committed to the Broncos and head coach Kenny Phillips in March 2008, said one thing about FSU stood out from other schools recruiting him.

"Trust is a big thing with me," he said. "When I was trying to decide where to go, I felt comfortable and I trusted coach (Kenny) Phillips. He was the main one I was talking to about what they thought about me. I wanted to go somewhere where they wanted me and FSU seemed like they wanted me. They said I was the missing piece to put them over the top."

Added Phillips: "We had another kid on the board when got his video tape in. We really liked what we saw from him as a kicker and a punter. We were very impressed with what we saw with him."

While his off-the-field transition has been choppy at times, Turner's gridiron assimilation has been seamless.
Through four games, Turner leads the CIAA with eight made field goals and has been named the CIAA Specialty Player of the week twice. Turner has connected on all 12 of his extra point attempts and is second in the conference in points per game (9) and punting average (39.7).

"So far, for taking almost two years off of football, I'm much farther -- progress wise -- than I thought I was going to be," Turner said. "I'm happy with the performance but I think I can get much better. My goal is to put points on the board for the Broncos and I think I've done my job. I was put here for a reason and I feel like my reason was to bring a championship home."

FSU has scored 12 of 14 times it's entered the red zone (85.7 percent), a ten percent increase from 2008, which is tied for best in the CIAA with Shaw.

"It's a great turnaround to be able to have a guy that can make a long field goal," Phillips said. "His range is anywhere under 50 yards. If you can get him around 48 or 49 yards, he can make those consistently. With that kind of weapon on your side, that's great, instead of a year ago where we had to get the ball within the 15-yard line to kick a field goal."

In the Broncos' 30-20 win over Bowie State, Turner booted a 49-yard field goal - the longest in FSU history.

"Before Austin leaves here, he'll probably own every kicking record at the university," Phillips said. "He is going to turn out to be the best kicker to ever kick at this university."

When asked about Phillips' comment, Turner responded confidently.

"To be the best in school history, no matter what it is, would be a great accomplishment," he said. "It's very humbling, but I've always grown up wanting to be the best in everything. I've been here for going on two years now, I love this place and I love the coaching staff. But, I'm looking for more. I want to be the best in CIAA history, in Division II history and in college history. I'm trying to go above and beyond."

President Obama's speech today

2009-09-23T09:48:00.004-04:00

If you didn't know, President Obama is speaking to the U.N. General Assembly today and will reportedly tell them that "America can't go at it alone."

While I haven't been particularly excited about everything (though I've been excited by somethings) the President has done since January, this is a good step.

A part of the challenge (really the biggest challenge) of the 21st century is taking the relics and fossils (those are insults) who ran the world in the 20th century and modernizing -- or eliminating -- them.

This is going to sound very, ummm, socialist but it's where we are. For too long, we've worried about our particular country and not about our planet.

I'm not one to jump on one craze after another just because it's in, but this is as great, magnicificent, innovative, troublesome and dark a time as we've had in world history.

We're on the precipice of either harmony and greatness or chaos and folly. The line between the two is very thin and I believe President Obama is making the right step today. His political experience may be lacking, but I believe Obama is up to the task.

Is it bold and controversial? Sure. But, the only way to change things is to attack the status quo and we all know that change doesn't come without struggle, strife and conflict.

Still, it's necessary. Props to President Obama for having the courage to do it.

FlashForward

2009-09-21T22:51:00.003-04:00

This show looks really entertaining and I find the premise absolutely fascinating. However, I hope let it tell its own story and don't try and make it LOST Part II.

Offering humanity a crystal ball

Excerpt:

PASADENA, Calif. - It's the question that drives one of TV's most talked-about and nervously anticipated dramas since Lost first captured the popular imagination five years ago: If you knew what your future held, what would you do?

FlashForward, based on the novel by Ottawa science-fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer, is a time-bending ensemble thriller in which, suddenly and without warning, every person on Earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, each person glimpses where they will be exactly six months from then - in FlashForward time, on April 29, 2010, at 10 p.m. Pacific Time.

For some, the future will be full of joy and hope. For others, it will a time of sadness and resignation, or even terror. For still others, the future won't seem to exist at all.

Everyone, though, will face the same existential question: Would you accept what you saw and live life to its fullest, or would you do everything in your power to prevent what's about to happen?

It's a concept that intrigued David S. Goyer, co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and (his) producer (wife), Jessika Borsiczky when they first came across Sawyer's book

Initial intrigue morphed into a near-obsession. And now, in Goyer and Borsiczky's hands, FlashForward is about to be realized as a full-fledged network series.

FlashForward debuts Thursday, Sept. 24 on ABC and Canada's A channel.

``I was driven by this idea, this debate about whether one can change the future,'' Goyer said. ``If you saw your future, what would you do about it? There's a lot of drama and suspense to be mined there.''

Cowboys rally around Romo

2009-09-21T22:45:00.003-04:00

Maybe they should rally around him and trade him.

Dallas focuses on rebounding...

IRVING, Texas - Only two games into a new season and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James already finds himself in an all-too familiar spot.

James was standing at his locker the day after a loss trying to explain what's going wrong.

After missing the playoffs in the 2008 season that started with Super Bowl expectations and ended with that blowout loss in Philadelphia, there has already been a big letdown in front of the largest regular-season crowd in NFL history.

"Even though it's the second game of the season, it's an adverse situation," James said Monday, only about 13 hours after a 33-31 loss in their inaugural game at Cowboys Stadium on a last-play field goal by the New York Giants.

"It'll be a crying shame if we just fall apart right now," James said. "We've just got to bounce back, pick ourselves up.'

'I'm still standing, I'm still strong'

2009-09-16T09:54:00.000-04:00

So yea, another month, another post about why I haven't been updating. Honestly, Twitter has consumed much of the thoughts that I used to post on this blog. It provides instant feedback and is much more interactive.

But I vow, two months before this blog's fifth birthday, that I'll maintain and get back in the groove. But in the meantime, peep me at twitter.com/rellevent21

Old boss getting some shine

2009-09-02T11:02:00.001-04:00

LINK

Excerpt:

The chat room poster was singing a familiar tune. His favorite team, a historically black college in Alabama, wasn't getting the attention he felt it deserved. He blamed everything from a scaled-down media industry to fans not complaining to the local sports editor to inept sports information departments.

As with all such discussions, I waited for a particular name to pop up -- the institution where, when it comes to running a well organized sports information department, the rulebook is being rewritten for HBCUs.

Those of us in the mix know exactly who I'm talking about, so say it with me: N.C. Central University.

The Eagles currently have three full-time and two part-time staff members. Now, I can hear ACC folks going "So what, we have 20."

This isn't about you.

First, for an HBCU, five people are akin to 20. And second, the department is run by Kyle Serba, associate athletics director for media relations, like there are 20.

Nothing goes on with NCCU sports that the media don't know about -- whether we decide to publish it or not. NCCU people quite understand their disadvantage of being caught in the middle of three ACC schools in ACC country. They have little margin for error. Yet, unlike the other three, the Eagles' SID staff have more on their plate than just sports.

"The title of a sports information office here is including communication and media relations," Director of Athletics Ingrid Wicker-McCree said. "With us being in the middle of three major Division I schools, we didn't have a choice. We had to increase the volume, the output and with that comes more human resources because we want to highlight everything that we can about our students, and about our staff and program."

Harsh words can do harm

2009-08-28T07:56:00.001-04:00

We all like to be congratulated for good work.

Whether we admit it or not, a mere pat on the back can not only validate us, but make us work harder.

Think about how you felt in high school, college or at your last job when the boss walked over and simply said, “good job.”

Isn’t that the one of the best feelings in the world? Doesn’t it make you appreciate what you’ve done, all while giving you extra motivation to elicit the same response another time?

For most people it does.

That’s why it distresses —and to some degree vexes — me to see the behavior of high school coaches from time to time.

The verbal barrages of vitriol spewed from some coaches on the court, field or diamond can be tough to bear.

Chewing out John Doe, your starting point guard, with explicit and at times insulting language isn’t exactly a sign of leadership. Calling Jane Doe by her name after she makes an error in a softball game isn’t a good look.

Neither a coach’s swagger nor manhood (or womanhood) is enhanced by maliciously spraying insults on someone half your age.

Certainly discipline, passion and energy are a part of sport – it wouldn’t be competitive without them. Still, there is a fine line that coaches must toe.

Most high school athletes are more concerned with getting their first car, who’s going steady and what time the horror movie starts than putting in extra practice on a Sunday afternoon.

After all, they don’t play for money. An overwhelming majority of them won’t play after they graduate high school and less than one percent will receive a full scholarship to college.

“We're trying to provide a very wholesome positive experience,” said Ronnie Chavis, the county’s athletic director, in a recent interview. “Sometimes, our parents overlook what athletics provide for their children. Athletically, you have to have good grades, good attendance and you have to stay out of trouble.”

Coaches seem to overlook those facts, too.

Former UCLA football coach Henry Russell Sanders once said, “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” He may be right, but that was talking about college football, not Fairmont, St. Pauls, Lumberton, South Robeson, Red Springs or Purnell Swett.

This is not to say that players should be pacified and placated by their coaches. On the contrary, some of the best lessons children learn are from their coaches. However, it seems that unacceptable behavior by coaches is accepted as normal.

What’s worse is that fans interpret a coach’s schtick as commonplace and often try to emulate it. At the end of the day, how coaches treat their players says a lot about their character.

If I ever have a child who plays high school athletics, I’ll be listening intently to see how the coach talks to them. When soccer practice sounds more like a Bill Parcells-led training camp, it will be time for (insert name here) McMillan to go.

Don't be that guy

2009-08-20T08:43:00.001-04:00

Optimism is an inclination to anticipate the best possible outcome.

It's a mindset that predominates every weight-lifting session, football field and training room this time of year, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Well, there's nothing wrong with realistic optimism.

Most of the world operates in the realm of realism, but, just like anything, fandom has its extremists.

You know that guy.

The fan of a local team who, despite the head coach telling him that his team's starting quarterback has two broken legs and a staph infection, believes it's going to beat the state's best.

The guy who calls into sports talk radio on Monday and extolls his team's performance and its potential, despite the 62-6 loss it suffered over the weekend.

That guy is why realistic optimism is so important. It's a balance and check on what Voltaire called panglossianism or baseless optimism.

It's much easier to be hurt or feel victimized when you expect to get a miraculous deal on a BMW, knowing you only can spend $12,000 and knowing that BMW's cost much more than that.

Unrealistic expectations and baseless optimism be a hinderance on your favorite team too.

"Nobody expects more out of me and my team and coaching staff than I do," Lumberton head coach Mike Brill said. "I could hear some of the comments, but I'm not going to let it affect what we're going to do. Now, it can get in the players head. The players are realistic. They know if we have the capability to win the state championship or not."

So, as high school football begins its three-month reign over the sports conscious of many in Robeson County, I'm starting a realistic optimism campaign.

To join this movement, all you have to do is answer no to the following questions:

n Can Purnell Swett beat the New England Patriots?

n Does Lumberton have a sprinter faster than Usain Bolt?

n Are oil and water a good 1-2 combo?

For those who answered no to all of these questions, welcome to the campaign.

For those who didn't, perhaps it's time for optimism adjustment.

Please don't confuse realistic optimism with pessimism, because the two are vastly different.

As a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I'm a fan of the schools' sports teams (it doesn't compromise my objectivity).

But, as a realistic optimist, I hope the Tar Heels do well — though I don't expect them to.

A team whose leading receiver started the 2008 season at running back and has only eight healthy offensive linemen can't — realistically — be expected to win nine or 10 games.

Separating hope and optimism from realism can be difficult, but I urge you to try beginning Friday.

Please, don't be that guy.

Military recruiters in "challenged" high schools

2009-08-18T08:16:00.002-04:00

What are you thoughts on this? Is it simply smart marketing? Are their racist overtones — if the recruiter tells a student that they need not consider higher education?

IS the military a good option for those who know they aren't going to college?

District 9

2009-08-18T08:11:00.002-04:00

I highly recommend this movie. It's not at all what you think.

Some reviews here: LINK

Excerpt:

It's an unforgettable science-fiction actioner.
It's a commentary on the human condition.
It's a drama about undying love.
It's arguably the finest use of computer-generated imagery the big screen ever has seen.
The grownups-only "District 9" is one of the best movies of the year. In fact, it's one of the best films I've ever seen. Far more complex, intelligent and thought-provoking than any other show I've seen in 2009, "District 9" has staying power.

Don't take players for granted

2009-08-13T09:05:00.001-04:00

People take a lot of things for granted in life.
In the United States, we often fail to realize the depth of our freedom.
There are many countries where this column, The Robesonian and anything with an ounce of opinion would be silenced and discarded.
We don't blink when we flip on the light switch nor do we pause as water calmly flows from our faucets.
In many places around the world, the fresh water and power we cavalierly utilize are rare delicacies — celebrated as if they were holy grails.
Fans and supporters of Lumberton High School should take note and appreciate what they have.
Jason Maynor, the Pirates' senior quarterback, isn't Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. But, more important than what he's not, is what he is — Lumberton's best quarterback and best chance at a Southeastern 4-A Conference championship.
"I think he doesn't get the credit he deserves," Lumberton quarterbacks and running backs coach Mackie Register said. "He pretty much runs our offense and it's a pretty complex offense, because you have to know what players are in the right positions and there is a lot of footwork involved with certain angles and stuff. He comes out every day before practice and throws, he's one of the first players out here every day, trying to make himself better."
A criticism leveled against Maynor in the past was his inaccuracy throwing and his inability to make the Pirates' passing game consistent.
Register and Maynor think those criticisms — founded or unfounded — are a thing of the past.
"He's getting better every day," said Register. "He's getting better at reading defenses, making better decisions and when to throw the ball away and when to run the ball. He's not forcing in as many balls as he did last year."
Said Maynor: "I'm a lot better than last year. We have a weighted football and everyday after school, I'd throw it. I think I'm better strength-wise and with my accuracy."
Lumberton will have five new offensive linemen this season and Register believes Maynor's new-found accuracy and confidence will help the linemen and the running game.
"With our line being a little inexperienced, if he can complete some passes it will take some pressure off the running game," Register said. "We're better at passing this year, so it's not just something we're going to do to set up the run. We may throw the ball more than two or three times a game this year."
Pirates fans and supporters should support Maynor in his last season at quarterback.
If not, a year from now, Joni Mitchell could be quite popular at Alton G. Brooks Stadium.
"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

TJMS-Russ Parr

2009-08-11T07:25:00.003-04:00

When I get to work late, I often have about 30 minutes of radio to listen to in the mornings.
The options are pretty much random CD, Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS), Russ Parr, Steve Harvey or Mike and Mike on ESPN radio.
For as long as I can remember — all the way back to riding to school with David Jackson in the seventh grade — I've listened to Russ Parr (with oliviaaaa foxxxxxxxxxx).
He just appeals to me a little bit more than the other guys.
But, 14 years later, should I still be listening to Russ? Isn't TJMS or Steve Harvey the choice for "grown folks?"
Aren't I supposed grow up and want to listen to the adult jokes, social commentary and positive black though discussed on TJMS?
If I am, why haven't I?
To me, the mornings are much more fun, listening to impressions of Denzel from 'Training Day' or hearing the Katt Williams word of the day or the horoscopes.
So, please tell me, what does it say about me that I find the same things funny at 27, that I found funny at 13.
Am I immature? Have I not grown up? Let me know what's up.

Jordan exhibit opens at hall of fame

2009-08-06T07:55:00.003-04:00

I wonder how much all the Nike gear in there is worth...

MJ, him-J, fadeaway, perfect...

Excerpt:

SPRINGFIELD - Enshirnement is more than a month away, but Michael Jordan's presence is already being felt at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

A Jordan exhibit, celebrating the superstar's career and impact on the sport, will open Sunday at the museum.

Featuring artifacts, a timeline and a movie to capture the essence of Jordan's career, the showcase will serve as a lead-up to his enshrinement in Springfield Sept. 11.
New Michael Jordan Exhibit

"It's just a great project," said Matt L. Zeysing, the Hall of Fame historian and archivist.

"The exhibit highlights Michael's entire career, not just with the Chicago Bulls but in college at North Carolina, and with the U.S. Olympic Dream Team (in 1992).

"Michael's appeal had crossover popularity. A young kid, living in the city, would grow up and love Michael Jordan, but the mother of that kid would love him, too."

The hall's five-member Class of 2009 will include NBA greats Jordan, David Robinson and John Stockton, and coaches Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer.

Risk takers are often most succesful

2009-08-06T06:59:00.000-04:00

Success doesn’t come without risk.
You could probably argue that those who have achieved the most in life — people like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods — have taken more risks than most of us.
Take Oprah, for example.
In the early 1990s, although she was already the No. 1 rated talk-show host in the country, she switched her format from entertainment and pop culture to women’s issues and health.
It takes a lot to try and improve when you’re already on top.
The Carolina Panthers would be wise to adapt Oprah’s — and others’ — playbook.
Why not add Michael Vick?
Despite Jake Delhomme’s five-interception meltdown against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC playoffs last season, the Panthers should be among the NFL’s best in 2009. They return 21 of 22 starters and added the ACC’s sack leader, Everette Brown, in the second round of the NFL Draft.
Delhomme is clearly the starter at quarterback and signing Vick wouldn’t be a threat to him.
However, Vick is clearly more talented and more of a threat than backups Matt Moore and Josh McCown
Last season, the Panthers’ running back duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart was among the best in NFL and made the Panthers — arguably –— the NFL’s best rushing team.
Imagine the possibilities with Vick in the backfield on third-and-4 situations. We all know the “wildcat” formation is en vogue, thanks to the Miami Dolphins. Vick is the quintessential "wildcat" quarterback.
He’s still the only quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and some analysts have called him the most athletic player in the history of the NFL.
Now, that’s saying something.
To his credit, Panthers head coach John Fox didn’t close the door earlier this week when asked about Vick.
"We always have an interest in anybody that makes us better," Fox told The Associated Press on Monday. "Right now I think we're pretty set at quarterback and like the guys we have. I wouldn't want to rule in or rule out anything. I tell you that all the time and we're always looking to upgrade. At this point we feel comfortable with where we are."
That’s the ultimate non-denial, denial.
Fox has seen, up close, how much of a game-changer Vick can be.
During his time with the Atlanta Falcons, Vick constantly threw and ran past Panthers' defenders, frustrating them to no end.
Adding Vick is safe – PETA said it has no plans to protest at the grounds of the team who signs Vick – and most important of all, cheap.
Creativity and risk-taking are why the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers are consistently among the best franchises in their respective leagues.
If the Panthers hope to stay on top of their division and the NFC, signing Vick is the type of risk they’re going to have to take.

Parents should learn lessons

2009-07-29T10:08:00.001-04:00

It's been a tough year in sports.
Just this month, we lost former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, boxers Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest and Philadelphia Eagles' defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.
Death is obviously a part of life.
We all will experience it one day and though that sounds horribly morbid, consider it an opportunity to cherish the limited amount of time we have.
My favorite transcendentalist and poet — yes, I have favorites in both categories — Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "It is not length of life, but depth of life."
Depth of life is important, because too often we caught up in one particular aspect of life and neglect the others.
As we head into the start of the fall sports season — particularly high school football — we should take pause and attempt to fully grasp what sports are and what they are not.
Many people attribute their adult success to parents or a high school teacher or coach that taught them values, morality, discipline and leadership.
All of these qualities, when taught in an appropriate manner, can help our world become a more cohesive, peaceful and better place.
Take North Carolina head coach Roy Williams for example.
When he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 7, 2007, he cited his high school coaches influence as equal with that of legendary North Carolina head coach Dean Smith.
"My high school coach, Buddy Baldwin, was the most influential male in my life," Williams said. "Coach gave me confidence and made me feel I could do anything and I could be somebody. I know I would not be here today were it not for him. I wanted to be like Buddy Baldwin."
Williams is just one story, however. There are thousands, maybe even millions, of high school athletes who not only have been influenced by their high school coaches, but who might be in much tougher situations — prison or worse — if it weren't for their guidance.
Sports at their most rudimentary level are fun. Sports are games invented as a diversion from our stressful and at times overwhelmingly-chaotic lives.
Sports can bring all races, creeds, religions and sexual orientations together and transcends the petty differences that we let consume our thoughts.
Sports can take people who have nothing but humanity in common — say a 43-year-old jewish woman from Oregon and a 22-year-old christian black man from North Carolina — and make them enter into discourse and banter about their favorite team or favorite player.
They are as powerful a unifying tool as we have in our world.
That's the positive power of sports.
However, like most things, the positive side of sports has an adversary.
Sports' adversary is a creepy, menacing shadow that infects its hosts like a virus.
It manifests itself after a bad call by an umpire or referee. It slithers into the consciousness of parents when their child — who we all know is the next Lebron James, Albert Pujols or Peyton Manning — doesn't get in the game.
In fact, overzealous parents who are attempting to live through their children and take the games too seriously are probably the most annoying thing to deal with as a sports reporter,
It's understandable that you want your child to be successful and you want him or her to see the spoils of hard work and dedication.
But at what cost?
Would you rather lose the right way or win the wrong way?
That question is of course rhetorical, but imagine how much more fun sports — and life — would be if we subscribed to the former not the latter.
So, as you head out to South Robeson, Fairmont, Purnell Swett, Lumberton ad St. Pauls High School's and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke this fall, remember that it's just a game.
A game that, when treated fairly and justly, can bear productive and ripe fruit that can change the world.

This would be awful...

2009-07-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

Wild Rumor: Miley Cyrus Auditions for Batgirl

Excerpt:

A hot and heavy rumor has begun circulating the web suggesting Miley Cyrus is not only interested in playing Batgirl in Batman 3, but that she has already auditioned in front of Warner Bros. Pictures executives.

Sure, and I was promised 20% of Batman 3 ticket receipts.

The report originated from The Globe who claims an insider told them, "She was sort of hopping around the room and had even written some dialogue for herself. The problem is, some people aren't really convinced Miley has the acting chops to pull it of."

Better yet, apparently Miley donned a full on Batgirl suit for this audition. Obviously her reps have no comment on the report.

This gem comes on the heels of Gary Oldman letting slip during Comic-Con that Christopher Nolan would begin shooting Batman 3 next year with a 2011 release. Then Oldman retracted his comments leaving us all as clueless as a few weeks ago.

Comic-Con

2009-07-24T08:04:00.002-04:00

Yes, I'm kind of hype for this. Yes, one day I'm going to go.
No, I'm not a nerd. Well, maybe I am, but I'm a cool nerd.

Hollywood, networks in full force at Comic-Con

Excerpt:

LOS ANGELES - Hard-core geeks, "Twilight"-swooning tweens, "Star Wars" nostalgists, pale-skinned comic-book collectors, SpongeBob SquarePants, costumed zombies, Oscar winners including Denzel Washington, Peter Jackson and James Cameron and perennial attendee Kevin Smith are descending on San Diego this weekend for the 40th edition of Comic-Con.

What began in 1970 with 300 comics aficionados gathering at the city's U.S. Grant Hotel has mushroomed into one of the largest promotional bazaars on Hollywood's calendar: For movie distributors eager to sneak genre wares to super-receptive audiences, it eclipses trade events like exhibitors' conferenceShoWest, and this year -- for the first time, as far as TV networks and cable channels are concerned -- it will upstage the annual summer Television Critics Association press tour show-and-tell, which takes place in September, by offering a first look at the fall season.

Attracting 125,000 attendees, Comic-Con saw its $75 four-day passes sell out two months ago, earlier than ever before. This week, they were commanding twice that price on Craigslist.

The Hollywood invasion, escalating steadily in recent years, has been greeted with mixed reactions from longtime participants.

As fans began gathering Wednesday night, one man admitted: "A lot of people bemoan all the Hollywood stuff, but I don't care. I love that stuff." Meanwhile, a young woman who has attended for the past nine years complained: "I'm sick of the crowds. I used to come for all four days, but now I'm only coming for one."

COMICS GETTING SHORT SHRIFT?

Is all the attention being paid to movies and TV shows muscling aside Comic-Con's original purpose, described in its mission statement as "creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms?"

Organizers of the annual conclave say no.

"Anybody who thinks there's a lack of comics isn't doing a lot of looking," Comic-Con director of marketing and public relations David Glanzer says. Estimating that 20,000-30,000 will attend events in the convention center's cavernous Hall H -- where the big movie presentations take place -- during the four days, he adds, "That leaves 100,000 people who have little to do with Hollywood."

Iron Man 2 wraps shooting

2009-07-20T09:07:00.001-04:00

Scheduled for release in May

Excerpt:

After 71 days of shooting, principal photography on Iron Man 2 came to a close on Saturday, July 18. Like any good director proud of his troops, Jon Favreau climbed a ladder on the set after the final take and thanked the crowd for a job well done.

"Shooting Iron Man 2 was a fantastic experience and we couldn't be happier," President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige told Marvel.com after the speech. "Although there were many challenges in making this film, having Jon Favreau, Robert Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow and almost the entire crew from the first film back on board, allowed us to hit the ground running as everyone was instantly familiar with each other from day one."

Seriously...

2009-07-15T09:30:00.003-04:00

I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. It's been pretty much the perfect confluence of anti-updating events — increased pressures at work, other writing obligations and summer time.

While I certainly enjoy updating the blog, I'd much rather go to the lake, spend time with my girlfriend and friends or cook on the grill then I have discourse about current events, sports, entertainment and what Michael Jackson's best song is.

So, that's my update. I promise things will get back to the way they were eventually — one to multiple updates per date with lots of comments and arguing.

For now though, I'll do my best. After five years, I'm not going out like this.

Trust.

— Rell

Will the internet shut down today?

2009-07-07T12:39:00.001-04:00

Because of Michael Jackson's memorial service? Over 1 billion people expected to show up.

MJ Dedication post

2009-07-01T09:48:00.004-04:00

I don't have a long drawn out tribute prepared for Michael Jackson. I'm not going to psychoanalyze his every move or point out why you should or shouldn't like him.

I'd rather focus on the music and leave the sociology, psychology and other disciplines in regards to Mike for the experts.

My first Jackson memory was, surprisingly, Off The Wall. Even though it came out three years before I was born, OTW really resonated with me a lot more than some of his other records.

In fact, it wasn't until middle school (after Dangerous came out) that I really listened to Thriller intently. I knew I was supposed to like, just didn't know why.

I loved most of Bad and really liked Dangerous (that was the first time I was old enough to really understand music).

Despite their lack of commercial "success" — even though both sold at least 10 million records worldwide — Invisible and HIStory were two really good albums to my hears.

In death, I'm glad that people will fully recognize his musical achievements. Jackson changed music forever, several different times.

We should thank him for that and leave the other stuff to people who actually know about it.

My top MJ songs (80 minutes worth, in no particular order):

Will You Be There
Off The Wall
Human Nature
Billie Jean
Bad (Video version)
Smooth Criminal
The Way You Make Me Feel
Leave Me Alone
Who is it?
Thriller
Rock With You
PYT
Butterflies
Remember The Time
Dirty Diana

I'm pretty sure "Remember The Time" is my favorite MJ track though.

Heal The World

Police: Duke University official offered adopted son for sex

2009-07-01T09:45:00.001-04:00

What a sick individual.

Excerpt:

A Duke University official is accused of offering his 5-year-old adopted son for sex on the Internet, according to the FBI and court documents in the case.
Frank M. Lombard is the associate director of Duke University's Center for Health Policy.

Frank M. Lombard, 42, was arrested last week at his home in Durham, North Carolina. During an Internet chat, Lombard allegedly offered the child to the person he was chatting with, who was a task force officer from Washington's Metropolitan Police, the FBI said in a statement.

The chat was initiated after a confidential source facing child pornography charges told authorities they had witnessed a man, allegedly Lombard, performing sex acts on a child over the Internet.

During the chat, according to the complaint filed against Lombard, he told the officer that he had performed multiple sex acts on the boy and that the officer could do the same if he came to Durham.

According to a transcript of the chat, reprinted in the complaint, Lombard allegedly told the officer that he had to hide the abuse from his partner and that he drugged the child with allergy medication.

Lombard was arrested June 24, and two children at the home, including the 5-year-old, were removed from the home by the North Carolina Department of Social Services, the FBI said.

Ahmadinejad: Neda's death is 'suspicious'

2009-06-29T11:19:00.001-04:00

President urges country's authorities to identify those responsible for it

Excerpt:

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday called the death of Neda Agha-Soltan "suspicious" and urged the country's authorities to identify those responsible for it, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.

The 26-year-old's death has come to symbolize Iranian resistance to the government's official election results since it was captured on amateur video. Within hours of its being posted online June 20, she had become the iconic victim of the Iranian government crackdown.

But Iran has been pushing back against eyewitness reports that she was shot by pro-government Basij militiamen perched on a rooftop near a demonstration.

Ahmadinejad told the head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, to probe the incident and make the results of his investigations public, Fars reported Monday, nine days after Agha-Soltan was killed. Photo See gallery of Neda and the affect of her life.

"The massive propaganda of the foreign media, as well as other evidence, proves the interference of the enemies of the Iranian nation who want to take political advantage and darken the pure face of the Islamic republic," he said in a letter to Shahroudi, according to the news agency.

Two good takes on MJ (Jackson, not Jordan)

2009-06-26T16:39:00.001-04:00

from the same person — Bomani Jones.

The first thing we need to say about Michael Jackson

Why you like Mike more than I do

A lesson in self-loathing...

2009-06-23T11:00:00.001-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, our Uncle Clarence Thomas!

Where's Kim Jong-il?

2009-06-22T16:14:00.001-04:00

I can't seem to find him.

That’s right. If only Kim Jong-il would do a better job “keeping up” with the latest techno craze, I might have an outside shot at getting some news coverage on the present situation involving a potential nuclear war. But no, a curmudgeon to the end, Kim Jong-il simply refuses to give in to newfangled technologies in efforts to compete with the far-more-sexy Iranian news.

News agencies around the globe are so captivated by the sex appeal of any story relating to the recent Iranian election because it has been Twitterized, YouTubed and Facebooked to the brink of social media overload that any “other” developing international headline (like one that involves a seemingly-immanent declaration of Nuclear warfare against the United States, for example) has no hope in competing for coverage.

Twelve stories, two video links and a CNN interactive web poll asking reader impressions of our involvement in the Iranian elections currently dominate the front page of CNN.com. However, absent from the page entirely - is any mention of North Korea, the pesky little nation planning a missile test launch toward the U.S. in the very near future.

While one could technically argue they haven’t entirely missed the boat when it comes to focusing on news that truly matters, citing the numerous examples presently ruling media attention. After all, with a live ticker inviting readers to chime in on the question “Will [musician] Rihanna testify at Chris Brown’s hearing?” (They even placed this ABOVE the Iranian election coverage. Gasp!), U.S. Open results, celebrity gossip about “Jon and Kate” and of course breaking coverage of a “Dog walker trampled to death by cows” dominating the “latest news” section – there simply isn’t enough room for a story about the ongoing tensions with a country actively trying to weaponize plutonium.

Besides, the public couldn’t possibly be interested in the North Korean vessel we are presently tracking – despite the fact the North Korean government assures “any attempt to board its ships would be viewed as an act of war,” promising "100- or 1,000-fold retaliation” if we proceed. Who cares if the following, nearly-impossible-to-find info in a BBC.com story about the North Korean missile systems has any merit?: “North Korea's longest-range missile - the Taepodong-2 - has the potential range to reach Hawaii and parts of Alaska.”

I refuse to take any threat to international peace seriously unless it has been tweeted about so thoroughly that mainstream media considers it hip and trendy. So yes, Kim Jong-il, I blame you. It’s time for you to let go of your stubborn old ways – ditch your allegiance to that beloved friendster account of yours and become a part of whatever the latest social networking trend the world is flocking to so I can get some news coverage of what’s going on.

Twick or Tweet?

2009-06-22T08:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, so Iran is corrupt. We get it. But the latest leap in “acceptable” journalistic practices scares me – and this is coming from a guy that made his name studying Facebook.
As one of the strongest advocates for assimilating “new media” into the holistic approach to reporting on real-time news events (naturally, given my research thus far) I am always the most skeptical when it comes to critically evaluating each source to identify whether it is in concert with verifiable reports and to denote which elements I derive from sources veiled in Internet anonymity. Otherwise, a slip-up – especially on this scale, would discredit the value of my work and undermine any of my future efforts extolling the value of social media for research and reporting purposes. Even as a new media enthusiast, I disapprove with the methods employed thus far – and on the fence about the remedy. Whether it should be coordinated in a manner laden with disclaimers, or reported as conjecture in commentary sections, I’m not sure, but the current discourse skates ethical lines that I would not utilize.

One interesting thing to consider: If the social networking sources are indeed blocked (as the stories deriving information from them suggest), then such a reality would preclude internal Iranian information from “leaking out” of the country’s confines. The concept of deriving information about social networking sites being blocked from social networking sites discredits the information being reported (or extremely discredits the source). There are always anomalies, like proxy-dodging sites for example, which allow individuals to skirt blocked content – but the individuals web savvy enough to pursue this mode of censorship evasion are neither representative of the Iranian populous as a whole, nor are they common skills for the average field journalist (lest they are complete internet nerds such as myself – in which case they would fare poorly in hostile environments in the first place).

It is certainly possible the answer for how these reports manage to reach our media sources, if they are indeed internal - is the fact that most of the protesters are allegedly of the recent-university-graduate age, based upon the demographic data we have been given on our end. If Iranian cubicle culture is anything like ours (see also: Dilbert), then it has honed their skills in avoiding workplace restrictions on web usage. If that is, in fact, the case – then they certainly do not represent the voters of Iran, and are far more likely to represent Mousavi supporters embedded in their own cause.

The other interesting caveat of that same technology is that proxy evasion allows anonymous sources from other nations to pose as internal Iranian correspondents. If we were to take the extremely paranoid approach to viewing the dynamic (by “extreme,” I mean the one that involves wearing aluminum foil hats to keep the “aliens” from reading our thoughts), one could go so far as to say that CIA or another western covert organizations are fueling the anti-Ahmadinejad press in order to force the hand of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to depose the leader for foreign interests. Whatever the case may be, it needs to be approached less recklessly, if for no other purpose than to reduce the number of future retractions.

Late Pass — Spike Lee not a fan of Tyler Perry

2009-06-20T08:55:00.000-04:00

Got of lets him have it in this interview. I'm not a Tyler Perry fan and I know they are talking about something else, but someone should rip Spike for "Kobe Doin' Work."

Spike Lee Rips Tyler Perry

Excerpt:

Spike Lee had an interview with Ed Gordon on Our World with Black Enterprise scheduled to air this weekend. In the interview he complained about “coonery and buffoonery” and both of Tyler Perry’s shows “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” comparing them to characters from minstrel shows.

“We’ve had this discussion back and forth. When John Singleton [made 'Boyz in the Hood'], people came out to see it. But when he did ‘Rosewood,’ nobody showed up. So a lot of this is on us! You vote with your pocketbook, your wallet. You vote with your time sitting in front of the idiot box, and [Tyler Perry] has a huge audience. We shouldn’t think that Tyler Perry is going to make the same film that I am going to make, or that John Singleton or my cousin Malcolm Lee [would make]. As African-Americans, we’re not one monolithic group, so there is room for all of that. But at the same time, for me, the imaging is troubling and it harkens back to ‘Amos n’ Andy.’”

I'll be watching this in the fall

2009-06-19T04:18:00.000-04:00

ABC hoping 'Flash Forward' is new 'LOST'

Excerpt:

ABC's new drama "FlashForward" could be fixing to unseat "Lost" in the hearts of viewers looking for character-driven stories with an overarching mystery.

The network took the unusual step of screening the show Wednesday for media types in New York and Los Angeles, in part because it doesn't want too many copies floating around, raising the risk of spoilers.

"For us, it's much more exciting for the audience to not know everything in the show," said executive producer Jessika Goyer.

"FlashForward," which will launch Sept. 24, revolves around a mysterious event that causes everyone on Earth to black out for just over two minutes - and which gives each person a glimpse into his or her future.

The show unfolds as the characters deal with what has been revealed about their lives - and the central mystery of what happened.

It stars Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Sonya Walger, Courtney B. Vance, Brian O'Byrne, Christine Woods, Zachary Knighton and Peyton List.

Goyer said the show was based on a novel she and her husband read eight years ago.

When they sold the series to ABC, they provided the network with a bible of where it goes after the pilot.

"We know beyond the first season what the broad-stroke arcs of the mysteries are, and broad stokes where the characters go, which is the important part," she said. "We know what caused it, we know who's involved ... there's very little we went in not having a game plan for."

G-14 Classified

2009-06-18T23:04:00.002-04:00

If we're going to get hit by an Asteroid, Armaggedon/Deep Impact-style, we won't know about it until the military decides we can.

Military hush-up: Space rocks now classified

Excerpt:

For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere — but no longer.

A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned.

The satellites' main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists.

The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified.

"It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change," said one scientist familiar with the work. "It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy ... a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy."

Scientists say not only will research into the threat from space be hampered, but public understanding of sometimes dramatic sky explosions will be diminished, perhaps leading to hype and fear of the unknown.

Janelle Monae's Funky Otherworldly Sounds

2009-06-18T20:58:00.002-04:00

I've mentioned her before, but if you missed it -- reacquaint yourself with Janelle Monae.

Janelle Monae has said she uses her imagination as an escape from a rough childhood

Sportsnation TV show

2009-06-18T09:26:00.003-04:00

If you know me well, then you'll understand that I really like Colin Cowherd. Along with Bomani Jones (twitter.com/bomani_jones), he's my favorite sports talk radio personality.
He's a smart dude and I can just respect and understand the angles from which he comes.

Now, he's going to co-host a daily hour show on ESPN called Sportsnation. It's first day is July 6.

I think it'll be good. Better than ATH.

LINK

Excerpt:

ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer also welcomed Robert Iger, CEO of parent company Walt Disney, and Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, at the event at Times Square's Nokia Theater.

"The fans will have unprecedented input in the show's daily rundown," said SportsNation coordinating producer Jamie Horowitz about the new show. "Our goal is to bring the fans into our production meetings. The fans choose the topics, provide the angles and decide how much Brett Favre talk is really needed."

I'm constantly in awe of Nike's Ad Agency

2009-06-17T09:17:00.000-04:00

These Kobe/Lebron commercials are just great. I know they've used puppets before, they styled this one a lot differently. The agency made one of the country's biggest sports debate into a comedy/parody and it's really funny.

Here are two good ones.

Twitter is not just about posting what you did today...

2009-06-16T09:34:00.002-04:00

It can cause revolutions.

Witnessing a new chapter in the quest for freedom

Excerpt:

The spirit of liberty finally arrived at Tehran's Freedom Square. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians demonstrated Monday against Friday's election, which handed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an improbably lopsided victory.

The mass protests followed a weekend of street demonstrations, rioting and other expressions of discontent. These events were brought to the world in real time through social-media networks and online video.

Tehran's authoritarian leaders clearly were caught off-guard. They had managed to take down the telephone system opposition supporters used for texting but for some reason were slow to eliminate other social media. As open defiance of the election results broke out, citizen journalists used new media to spread the word. And the whole Web was watching.

Iran is a highly computer-literate society with a large number of bloggers and hackers. The hackers in particular were active in helping keep channels open as the regime blocked them, and they spread the word about functioning proxy portals. Hackers also reportedly took down Mr. Ahmadinejad's Web site in an act of cyberdisobedience.

The immediacy of the reports was gripping. Well-developed Twitter lists showed a constant stream of situation updates and links to photos and videos, all of which painted a portrait of the developing turmoil. Digital photos and videos proliferated and were picked up and reported in countless external sources safe from the regime's Net crackdown. Eventually the regime started taking down these sources, and the e-dissidents shifted to e-mail. The only way to completely block the flow of Internet information would have been to take the entire country offline, a move the regime apparently has resisted thus far.

Man, I'm sorry yall

2009-06-16T09:15:00.001-04:00

It's been forever since this blog was updated. I vow to do better. 12 days, I'm pretty sure, is the longest hiatus in the blog's five year history.

I'll be back soon and it'll be like the good 'ole days!

Whitney Houston comeback album a go?

2009-06-04T11:39:00.001-04:00

That's what Billboard is reporting.

LINK

Excerpt:

The wait is over -- Whitney Houston is finally making her comeback on Sept. 1 with an as-yet-untitled album on Arista Records. For her return, the label has set up a countdown on the New Jersey-bred artist's official site, WhitneyHouston.com, which will also preview selected tracks slated to appear on the album in coming weeks.

Producers and songwriters said to aid with the set include will.i.am, Sean Garrett and Akon, although there is no confirmation on whether a duet with Akon, "Like I Never Left," which leaked last year, will make the cut.

"The voice is there; I don't think anyone could ever take that from her. As long as we apply that voice to hit records, she'll be right back where she left off," Akon told Billboard.com back in 2007.

Lumbe Bill passes House

2009-06-04T09:44:00.001-04:00

This is a pretty big deal for folks down in Robeson County North Carolina. The Lumbee Tribe is one of the few — for whatever reasons — American Indian tribes not recognized by the federal government.

They've been trying for quite some time to gain that status, as it would bring in millions of dollars to Robeson County (one of the poorest and most uneducated in North Carolina).

Now, it has to be passed by the Senate — which is no small task. President Obama has said he'll sign it into law if it passes the Senate.

Should be interesting to see what happens.

LINK

Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read

2009-06-01T12:20:00.001-04:00

I found this very interesting.

LINK

Excerpt:

WRITING is one of the greatest inventions in human history. Perhaps the greatest, since it made history possible. Without writing, there could be no accumulation of knowledge, no historical record, no science - and of course no books, newspapers or internet.

The first true writing we know of is Sumerian cuneiform - consisting mainly of wedge-shaped impressions on clay tablets - which was used more than 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia. Soon afterwards writing appeared in Egypt, and much later in Europe, China and Central America. Civilisations have invented hundreds of different writing systems. Some, such as the one you are reading now, have remained in use, but most have fallen into disuse.

These dead scripts tantalise us. We can see that they are writing, but what do they say?

That is the great challenge of decipherment: to reach deep into the past and hear the voices of the dead. When the Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered in 1823, they extended the span of recorded history by around 2000 years and allowed us to read the words of Ramses the Great. The decipherment of the Mayan glyphs revealed that the New World had a sophisticated, literate civilisation at the time of the Roman empire.

So how do you decipher an unknown script? There are two minimum requirements. First, there has to be enough material to work with. Secondly, there must be some link to a known language. It helps enormously if there is a bilingual inscription or identifiable proper names - the Rosetta Stone (see image), for example, is written in both ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek, and also contains the name of the Ptolemy dynasty. If there is no clear link, an attempt must be made to relate the concealed language to a known one.

Good story on Jordan, Kobe and LeBron

2009-05-29T09:13:00.002-04:00

Props to Jimmy on the link.

Air standards seem out of reach

Excerpt:

The next time you see one of those innovative Kobe-LeBron puppet commercials, savor it, because it may be the only matchup we get this season between the game's two biggest and best stars.

With LeBron's Cavaliers on the brink of summer vacation and Kobe's Lakers in a dogfight with the Denver Nuggets, who knows if we'll get to see the real deals try to one-up each other with the same passion as their marionettes?

You can't blame Nike for pushing the potential dream matchup, and the roommate concept was a nice touch.

It was also right on the money. Figuratively speaking.

LeBron and Kobe are indeed roommates, living under the same roof built by Michael Jordan. Let's call it a mobile home -- one that's, of course, crazy mad plush -- because everywhere they go, the ceiling of their Jordan-constructed digs travels with them.

Everything they do on the basketball court is compared to Jordan. Obviously, that's a compliment to their great skills, but it's also a near-impossible standard that often clouds the judgment of their critics.

I mentioned to LeBron a few weeks ago that he's always being compared to Jordan. His response was a healthy one that I'm sure allows him to keep his sanity.

"Man, there'll never be another Michael Jordan," he said. "You'll drive yourself crazy trying to be the next Michael Jordan."

AOL still exists?

2009-05-28T12:09:00.001-04:00

Who knew?

TWC/AOL to split

Excerpt:

Time Warner unveiled plans Thursday to spin off AOL as an independent company, an end to the massive media marriage formed in January 2001.

"We believe that a separation will be the best outcome for both Time Warner and AOL," said Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes, in a prepared statement.

The $100 billion merger between AOL and Time Warner was applauded at the time as a visionary attempt to meld old media with new media. But synergies between the two never materialized.

Time Warner's (TWX, Fortune 500) stock has plunged about 80% since the merger. The company's stock closed at $23 on Wednesday, down from $115 on Jan. 10, 2001, adjusted for splits and dividends.

Time Warner currently owns 95% of AOL and plans to purchase the remaining 5% stake from Google (GOOG, Fortune 500).

Scenario for today

2009-05-26T09:30:00.002-04:00

I just want your first instinct.

You're granted a second chance and life by God. After you die, he'll allow you to come back.
However, he limits you to coming back as two things.

1) a roach
2) Clarence Thomas

You can always decline the invitation and stay dead.

What would you do?

Oh and President Obama just nominated the first hispanic supreme court justice.

I'm addicted

2009-05-20T12:02:00.002-04:00

to Twitter. I never though it would happen to me, but it has.
I apologize to all those I told I would never do it.

http://twitter.com/rellevent21

CHUCK LIVES ON!

2009-05-19T09:26:00.002-04:00

Hypeness, indeed friends, reigns.

Excerpt:

But as you've seen as you read all the stories above, there's a catch to the "Chuck" renewal. To ensure another season, "Chuck" will have to cut its budget (as is apparently the case with "Dollhouse," which is also coming back). The show will have to let go a couple of writers, and some actors who were series regulars in Season 2 may only be recurring guest stars in Season 3.

I absolutely don't want to lose the Buy More mayhem from the show (and I've not seen any reports that that will necessarily be the case). And the writing on the show was so good in Season 2 that the thought of losing any ace "Chuck" scribes is a tough development to ponder.

But critic Alan Sepinwall is optimistic about "Chuck's" potential Season 3 awesomeness: "I have faith that Fedak, Schwartz and company can make the show work on a tighter budget, and maybe, if the ratings are decent enough (and compared to some of what NBC has aired since the 'Chuck' finale, 'Chuck' looks like a world-beater for them), that 13-episode order becomes 22."

John Wall picks Kentucky

2009-05-19T09:22:00.001-04:00

One of the most racist states (outside of South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi) rejoices over its 19-year-old, dark skinned savior.

Irony?

Lost Season 5 Finale

2009-05-14T11:42:00.003-04:00

Some reviews and links regarding last night's Season 5 Finale.

All I'll say is that LOST is getting very Matrix-like, which isn't a bad thing.

Season Finale of LOST is electric

Touched by a Jacob

Lost Redux: What Just Happened?

What if celebrities were real people?

2009-05-13T15:18:00.000-04:00

Funny link.

More good news for Chuck

2009-05-12T12:15:00.000-04:00

NBC won't go 'Legally Mad,' and what that means for 'Chuck'

Excerpt:

Reports began trickling out last week, after NBC announced most of its shows for next season, that "Legally Mad" hadn't been that well-received in screenings but was still in play because of the financial arrangement with Warner Bros. There were also reports that linked its fate with that of "Chuck," another Warner Bros. show whose fate is still up in the air.

The speculation was that NBC would agree to pick up a third season of "Chuck" if the studio agreed to drop the penalty for "Legally Mad." Variety now says, however, that the two decisions aren't related and that "Chuck" is a decent bet to return next season.

UNC School of Law's Interesting Graduation

2009-05-11T10:45:00.004-04:00

My good friend Ada Wilson (congrats) graduated from UNC's School of Law on Sunday. Graduation, from all accounts, is an event intended upon celebrating the achievements of loved ones and thanks the family who helped them reach said goals.

Not at UNC School of Law's 2009 commencement ceremonies. The speaker was former Attorney General under President Bush, Michael Mukasey.

Instead of discussing life and the challenges that awaited the new lawyers (he tried to say his approach was in fact doing that, when it wasn't) he basically defended the waterboarding and torture of Jose Padilla — a terrorist.

I won't get into my politics on the subject and I think UNC, the graduates and the School of Law would've smart to do the same.

Don't let the day be about posturing about how great and diverse your campus is, let it be about the people who worked for three years — extremely hard — and reached nearly impossible goals set for them.

Star Trek's Warp Drive: Not Impossible

2009-05-06T22:08:00.001-04:00

Good story on Yahoo! Should I go to the 12 am showing on Thursday or wait til around 3-4 p.m. on Friday?

LINK

Excerpt:

The warp drive, one of Star Trek's hallmark inventions, could someday become science instead of science fiction.
Some physicists say the faster-than-light travel technology may one day enable humans to jet between stars for weekend getaways. Clearly it won't be an easy task. The science is complex, but not strictly impossible, according to some researchers studying how to make it happen.
The trick seems to be to find some other means of propulsion besides rockets, which would never be able to accelerate a ship to velocities faster than that of light, the fundamental speed limit set by Einstein's General Relativity.
Luckily for us, this speed limit only applies within space-time (the continuum of three dimensions of space plus one of time that we live in). While any given object can't travel faster than light speed within space-time, theory holds, perhaps space-time itself could travel.
"The idea is that you take a chunk of space-time and move it," said Marc Millis, former head of NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project. "The vehicle inside that bubble thinks that it's not moving at all. It's the space-time that's moving."
Already happened?
One reason this idea seems credible is that scientists think it may already have happened. Some models suggest that space-time expanded at a rate faster than light speed during a period of rapid inflation shortly after the Big Bang.
"If it could do it for the Big Bang, why not for our space drives?" Millis said.

Death of Newspapers

2009-05-04T22:04:00.002-04:00

Newspapers' death is really inevitable -- It's just a matter of when, not it.

Here is a really good story from a digital pioneer about why newspapers aren't really needed anymore.

Newspapers and thinking the unthinkable

Excerpt:

Nothing will work, but everything might," says Internet pioneer Clay Shirky wrote recently in an essay titled "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable" that explains why digital technology, with its capacity for instantaneous, unlimited copying and sharing, has rendered newspapers' old business model obsolete. Those who want to save newspapers are looking for answers, Shirky says, but will find none. "Society doesn't need newspapers. What we need is journalism," he writes.

My Obsessed Experience

2009-05-04T20:19:00.003-04:00

I went and saw that movie after church on Sunday with Amanda. First off, I didn't expect there to be that many people at the show, because Wolverine had just come out and that's kind of a big draw.

Still, the theatre was nearly full AND there might have been two to seven white people there.

Black women love Idris and black men love Beyonce -- that's the first thing I learned.

Secondly, if you are late to a movie, save seats for your friend, leave to go get her and then get upset when those seats are gone, you need to get a dose of reality.

Then, if said friend brings with her a Cookout Tray (I couldn't tell if she had a Milkshake or a Huge Tea) you all really need to work on your food etiquette.

Now, if you're eating your Cookout Tray and yelling phrases at the screen after every scene like "Oh H NO!" or "I WOULD MESS THAT WHITE GIRL UP" then you -- again -- need to work on your movie etiquette.

As for the movie, what a horrible, poor, excuse for a movie. It was done in a way, that it almost poked fun at itself -- there were times that I thought the director and producers were actually making a parody of movies like that.

In fact, they were dead serious and most of the time I just laughed.

The last thing (not really, but that's all I'll add) there was a scene where Beyonce -- the one without a degree and a job -- forcefull told Idris (the six-figure making investment banker) to "get our of her house."

Now, I'm no math expert but someone with no degree and no job can't be paying for a house like that.

So, in real life, she would've gotten put in her place.

"LOST" recap

2009-04-30T14:18:00.001-04:00

Goodbye, Daniel

Excerpt:

As the castaways of Oceanic 815 celebrated the 100th episode of “Lost,” what did we viewers receive as party favors? Another episode in which the big reveal is that a supporting character is secretly the child of two other supporting characters. (Will we next learn that Ben is the son of the smoke monster and the four-toed statue?) And another episode in which the plot increments could be measured only at the sub-atomic level.

We’re now less than two weeks away from the “Lost” season finale — ostensibly the last major cliffhanger its creative team can cook up, before the show’s final season begins in 2010 — and yet events are unfolding so slowly, we have to wonder more than ever: Do the producers of “Lost” really know where they’re going with this thing?

"Captain Awesome" hopes for third season on Chuck

2009-04-28T10:16:00.001-04:00

Chuck absolutely has to have a third season. It's too good, too smart and too well written to be canceled. Especially when shows like Heroes (which I used to love) haven't gotten any better since the next-to-last episode of Season 1.

Captain Awesome.

Excerpt:

Talk about unfair.

Quizzed via e-mail about his Chicago-area roots, Ryan McPartlin, who plays Captain Awesome on "Chuck," mentions his favorite hot dog place (Portillo's), his favorite pizza (Lou Malnati's deep dish) and his favorite breakfast place (Adelle's in Wheaton).

"My life revolves around food," he said.

Anyone who's ever seen McPartlin on NBC's "Chuck" -- and noted how frequently the actor appears shirtless -- would be shocked to learn that he's such a fan of carbohydrates. In moderation, of course.

Gatorade Tiger

2009-04-26T22:33:00.001-04:00

I gave it a second shot and liked t much better this time.

Good advertising by Gatorade -- I think the commercial is why I like it again.

Sad, huh?

Another Star Trek review

2009-04-23T11:42:00.004-04:00

We all knew J.J. Abrams was a genius, but this is about the fifth good review I've read on his reboot of the "Star Trek" franchise.

Consider me hype.

Also i love the word "buzz."

'Star Trek:' To boldly go where no prequel has gone before

Excerpt:

Geek buzz flying around the Internet suggests that "Star Trek" could be one of the summer's biggest movies.

Director J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the cult sci-fi franchise doesn't open across the world until May 7 and 8, but early reviews after London's Monday premiere are excellent.

The hype building around the 11th "Star Trek" film suggests that it could turn into a movie event to rival last year's Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," and introduce "Star Trek" to a legion of new fans.

Hot director Abrams, the creative talent behind TV series "Lost" and last year's much-hyped homage to Japanese monster movies, "Cloverfield," is the man given the unenviable task of re-working the franchise for the next generation -- without alienating its loyal fanbase.

The 43 year old director says he went back to the beginning to look for inspiration for the latest installment.

"I always felt there was something that had not been done with 'Star Trek,'" he said. "There have been 10 movies, but this is the first time that a movie has dealt with the fundamental, primary story Gene Roddenberry originally created in 1966.

"There are so many versions and narrations of 'Star Trek,' it felt like bringing in another ship and a whole new group of characters wasn't the way to go."

Crystal Mangum to speak at UNC

2009-04-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

She's the one who caused the ruckus three years ago, by accusing members of the Duke Lacrosse team of gang raping her.

Lacrosse accuser to speak, to address justice system, the media

Excerpt:

The woman involved in the Duke University lacrosse team scandal more than three years ago will make a rare public appearance today at UNC as part of an event about social injustice.

Crystal Gail Mangum, who accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006, will speak in the Sonja Haynes Stone Center about “the harsh realities of minority treatment both in the justice system and the media,” according to the event’s press release.

The lacrosse players were later declared innocent by Attorney General Roy Cooper, who said Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong rushed to accuse based on false information.

Mangum, who recently wrote a book about her experiences, will be joined by co-author Ed Clark.

The event series, called “Cracks in the Justice System: Victims of Money, Media, and Misconduct,” is led by Theta Nu Xi Inc. sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. and Lambda Upsilon Lambda Inc. fraternities.

“This is an issue that everyone knows about, but we have never heard her voice,” said Daniele Dickerson, a sophomore and member of Theta Nu Xi.

SAVE CHUCK!

2009-04-21T13:44:00.003-04:00

Seriously, I handled the cancellation of Pushing Daisies decently. However, this is going to be a totally different story.

I'm not "writes letters for causes guy" but I will write one to NBC if necessary.

"It's time to rescue church."

Excerpt:

Abject begging isn't pretty, but "Chuck" (7 p.m. Central Monday, WMAQ-Ch. 5) deserves it.

The show is in danger of cancellation, but this delightful spy dramedy should absolutely get a third season.

So, it's begging time: Please watch Monday's "Chuck" and the April 27 episode, which finishes off the show's second season. I adore this show and would be truly saddened if it didn't return.

In the course of doing this job, I've become much more accepting about TV cancellations. I was at peace with "Veronica Mars" ending a few years ago, I would have eventually been fine with "Friday Night Lights" not returning (but I was glad when NBC renewed it for two more seasons).

Laura Izibor

2009-04-21T09:55:00.001-04:00

KB told me about her a few months ago, but peep this snippet. I'm eagerly anticipating her album.

"I thought you were my black brother man"

2009-04-16T13:52:00.001-04:00

Put Up or Shut Up

2009-04-15T18:41:00.001-04:00

For a while now I have grown increasingly agitated with the number of outspoken critics of people returning to higher education in efforts to avoid “finding a job” in this downturn economy. Today’s nugget of condemnation comes from the author of “Getting From College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World,” Lindsey Pollak, in an interview for The Collegian:

“The economy is going to slap that [being ‘entitled’ and ‘coddled’] out of them pretty quick. If this economy teaches them to be humbled and hardworking, it’s teaching them what their parents and professors can’t.”

Ms. Pollak, mind you, graduated from Yale University 13 years ago (in case you were unaware, the job market was slightly more friendly during this period) and was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Monash University in Melbourne – where she received a Master’s Degree.

After months of reading similar advice columns from alleged experts condemning people pursuing graduate degrees after losing their jobs or failing to gain entry into the workforce following their undergraduate studies I have come to a brilliant revelation. Rather than write a retaliatory entry, blasting the logic extolled by many of these individuals - I decided it would be in everyone’s best interest if I simply devoted my energy to produce an actual method for my adversaries to test the validity of their assertions. After all, I am a scholar – that’s how we roll.

So on behalf of these career consultants I have kindly constructed a research model that, if they prove successful, will not only win them acclaim – but will provide a blue print for fixing the employment woes in our country.

Methodology
Step 1: Quit your job.
Step 2: Erase your prior work experience and any graduate studies you have completed from your resume.
Step 3: Donate your house and any possessions you have acquired since entering the workforce to charity.
Step 4: Also donate any savings you have accrued during your professional career, and take out a loan equivalent to the average student debt.
Step 5: Forfeit that loan money in it’s entirety to a charitable foundation (however you maintain the obligation to repay the loan as initially agreed upon with the lender).
Step 6: Enter the job market in a region where you have no connections from your professional endeavors.
Step 7: Following the advice in your column, land a successful career, repay your debts and return to the financial station in life you occupied prior to undertaking this experiment.
Step 8: Document the entire process it in a book, sell it for millions of dollars and empower everyone with the knowledge of how to accomplish this, “saving” thousands of people from returning to school for further education and fixing the economy in one fell swoop.
Step 9: Everyone wins (especially you, Mr./Ms. Millionaire)!

Once you accomplish this, nobody will ever question your advisement again. Until then, your recommendations mean little to the people you are scrutinizing, and are frankly pretentious. It makes about as much sense as me coaching a Hockey team: So what if I don’t know how to play, and I’ve never worn ice skates? I deserve compensation for my play calling! That is, as long as I stay shielded from the on-ice dangers, and seated safely behind a thick sheet of Plexiglass.

NASA names cosmic treadmill after Colbert

2009-04-15T11:41:00.004-04:00

More proof that Colbert is that dude.

NASA names cosmic treadmill after Colbert

Excerpt:

What do you do when you're NASA and comedian Stephen Colbert wins your contest to name the new wing for the International Space Station? You name an orbital exercise machine after him.

The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT, is expected to keep astronauts in shape.

With the help of a legion of fans, Colbert got the most votes in the space agency's online poll soliciting names for Node 3, which will be called Tranquility after the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

Astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams revealed NASA's decision on "The Colbert Report," which aired on Comedy Central on Tuesday.

"Your name will be in space, in a very important place," Williams said as Colbert reacted in mock disgust to her announcement of the node's new name.

"I think a treadmill is better than a node ... because the node is just a box for the treadmill," Colbert deadpanned. "Nobody says, 'Hey, my mom bought me a Nike box.' They want the shoes that are inside."

Colbert's campaign generated welcome attention for the oft-forgotten International Space Station, but it also presented a dilemma for NASA.

Hudson enduring personal tragedy

2009-04-13T12:14:00.002-04:00

Supposedly her tour with Robin Thicke is going to be tight. I can't imagine going through what she's had to withstand.

I bet her next album will deeply emotional and almost take on a gospel feel.

Jennifer Hudson still standing strong

Excerpt:

Jennifer Hudson sits inside an L.A. recording studio, her eyes hidden behind large sunglasses, her braided pigtails peeking from under a pageboy cap. Eight days from now she will kick off a national concert tour, and today is her first rehearsal with a new band. But while the musicians warm up, she doesn't say much, keeps her head down, fidgets. She's so unassuming that her backup vocalists, two glitzy gals with easy laughs, seem like the only divas in the room. And then Jennifer Hudson begins to sing, and all doubt is erased. It's not just her voice. The music seems to transform her, elevate her. ''In church we call that the Anointing, that's what you're feeling,'' she says. ''Music is my home. When I'm trying to find my inner peace, when it seems like everything is overwhelming, I put music in my ears.''

For most of 2008, Hudson seemed on top of the world. After winning an Oscar in 2007 for her performance in “Dreamgirls,” she had two movies in theaters last year: the summer smash “Sex and the City” and the fall drama “The Secret Life of Bees.” Her debut album, Jennifer Hudson, landed at No. 2 on the Billboard chart, and on her 27th birthday in September, her boyfriend, David Otunga, a Harvard Law School grad and reality TV star (“I Love New York 2”), proposed. ''I don't think I've ever been happier,'' she told a magazine that summer. And then the world turned upside down.

On Oct. 24, Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason, were found shot to death in her mother's South Side Chicago home. Her sister's 7-year-old son, Julian, was missing. Three days later, the boy's body was found in the backseat of a white SUV. Police have charged William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, with the crimes. (He has pleaded not guilty.) In the four months that followed, Hudson made no public statements or appearances, remaining in seclusion. But her first steps back into the spotlight earlier this year were showstoppers: More than 98 million Americans watched Hudson lift the roof off the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. One week later she won a Grammy for Best R&B Album, and delivered a performance of her power ballad ''You Pulled Me Through'' that pulled the crowd to its feet. ''I was in the audience, people were crying, and I was thinking 'How is she going to get through this?''' says the song's writer, legendary composer Diane Warren. ''To live through what she's lived through...where do you get that strength?''

Finding a new love

2009-04-13T10:54:00.002-04:00

Stargell Love has dreamed of playing Division I college basketball for a long time.

Thanks to some drastic life changes that dream is close to coming true.

The former Lumberton High School standout transferred to Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem in July of 2008 at the urging of his mentor and AAU coach Lamont Taylor .

“I left back home to find somewhere I could further on my career in basketball and focus on my books some more," Love said. "I’m more focused up here then I was in Lumberton.”

Taylor said Love's decision was two-fold.

"Academically, Stargell was not going to graduate," Taylor said. "His GPA was terrible and he needed a change, not only for the smaller class size, but the extra attention to catch up.

"But he also needs that exposure. Robeson County is notorious for never getting players the attention they deserve.I knew his abilities and I knew what he was able to do. There was no question in my mind that he could play at that level, it was just that he needed a way out, a way to be seen on the national scene."

A great chance for Love to be seen was at Dave Telep's Carolina Challenge, an annual invitation-only clinic for the best players in North Carolina. Love attended with friend and Quality education teammate Quincy Miller, a former player at Fairmont.

"Stargell is a guy who can get to the rim with speed and power," Telep said. "He's ahead of a lot of his peers with his athleticism. I think he'll be a guy that high level mid-major programs mark early and go from there. If he can demonstrate consistency with his jumper, he's got the body and athleticism to ascend from there."

It was a single meeting with Taylor that spurred on Love's move to Winston-Salem and a rededication to basketball.

"I met with him last summer and told him. this is your last chance," Taylor said.

Love has been reclassified as a junior at Quality Education and, according to Taylor, has made dramatic improvement on and off the court.

Love said that growing up accelerated the pace of his improvement.

“I’ve matured a lot," he said. "By just being out here, not living by myself, but living on my own without my grandma everyday, It’s shown me how the world is going to be. It’s shown me how I’ve got to manage myself and manage my money. It shows me how to eliminate a lot of wants and start focusing on the stuff I need. I just feel better up here, school wise. I miss being in Lumberton, but it’s a sacrifice I had to make.”

A major component of that sacrifice is being away from his grandmother, Evaline Lorick.

“My grandma is everything to me," Love said. "My mother passed away when I was 7 and since then I've been stayting with her. She’s always been there, always been taking care of me and I know she’ll always be there. Being away from her has been tough because I didn’t really want to leave her that soon. I go home everytime I get a chance to.

"She’s getting older and I know she’s not going to be there forever, so I try to do anything and everything she wants me to do for her. She just continues to love me and I love her to death. I’ll do anything for my grandma."

Love plans to spend some time in Lumberton at the end of the school year, but he will be on the road with Amateur Athletic Union program D-One Sports for most of the summer.

Brian Clifton, director of D-One Sports, said Love has the talent and opportunity to become an elite prospect.

With John Wall, the top ranked point guard in the Class of 2009, no longer on the AAU team, Clifton needed a point guard.

"I found out about him through Lamont Taylor. Obviously we knew about Quincy and we had expressed some interest. in Stargell," Clifton said. "Lamont was adamant that he saw something in Stargell and we gave him an opportunity."

Clifton says Love's tenure with D-One will allow him to utilize his athleticism.

"He's fast and we're not going to complicate him with sets — it's more of a pickup style of basketball you could say," said Clifton. "His only responsibility is to catch the ball and run to the front of the rim as fast as he can."

When asked if Love could become a Division I prospect, Clifton answered succinctly.

"He absolutely will be. No question."

Where do Heels fit in history?

2009-04-13T10:53:00.002-04:00

Four days after North Carolina won its fifth NCAA men's basketball championship, fans, sports writers and analysts are attempting to put Roy Williams' squad into the proper historical perspective.

This Tar Heels group finished the season 34-4 and its 17.84 margin of victory per game is the best in school history. UNC walked through the NCAA tournament scoring 121 points more than its six victims.

In fact, the argument could be made that because of Danny Green, Tywon Lawson and Wayne Ellington's decision to not enter the NBA Draft, the 2008-2009 Tar Heels faced the most pressure of any team in the school's illustrious history.

Even more than Dean Smith's first national championship team.

"I think this team had much more pressure, simply because of all the media outlets out there and because they were No. 1 from the preseason," said Jimmy Black, point guard on the Tar Heels' 1982 squad.

Black, who attended the game in Detroit, said watching his alma mater win a championship 27 years after he, James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan did the same was exhilirating.

"These kids were extermely talented. They were fun to watch this year," he said. "They just played exceptionally well. They put in a lot of hard work. For them to achieve their goals is wonderful. It gives all of us a certain amount of pride."

Still, Black wouldn't compare his championship team with this year's unit.

"I don't think that's a fair comparison," he said.

Thad Williamson, assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond and author of "More Than A Game: Why North Carolina Basketball Means So Much To So Many" agrees with Black.

"It's hard to compare teams across years, but I think what this team accomplished was unique," Williamson said. "No other Carolina team has ever gone through the entire tournament in such dominating fashion, winning every game by double-digits.

Williamson said Tyler Hansbrough's presence on the team will make it more memorable.

"The other big reason this team will be remembered so much is Hansbrough," Williamson said. "The way he plays the game, the relentless effort, the ability to finish plays while taking a pounding, has been just remarkable to watch. Everybody wanted to see him go out with a title, and he did."

What's Next?

Despite the graduation of Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Michael Copeland, Green and the expected early departures of Lawson and Ellington, Williamson says UNC still is among the ACC's best.

"I don't think anyone will have Carolina favorites to repeat next year,"Williamson said. "What's remarkable is that despite losing probably five of the top seven players off this team, Carolina is still better-positioned talent-wise than anyone else in the ACC to compete for another title."

Added Bomani Jones, host of “The Three-Hour Lunch Break” on 620 WDNC AM in Durham: “Six years ago, Duke was the top program in America. Now, it's North Carolina and Duke's not that close. It's that simple.”

North Carolina is likely to return freshmen Tyler Zeller, Larry Drew, Ed Davis and Justin Watts, sophomore Will Graves, junior Deon Thompson and senior Marcus Ginyard.

"They've got some really talented players coming back," Black said.

Also, according Web site Scout.com, the Tar Heels have the No. 1 incoming recruiting class.

The jewel of the class is John Henson, a resident of Tampa, Fla. Henson is rated he No. 1 power forward in the country by Scout.

That doesn't mean Williams is finished recruiting though.

Two days before the national semifinal game against Villanova, Williams reached out to Word of God Academy in Raleigh’s John Wall, the top ranked prep point guard in the class of 2009.

“I see Kentucky, UNC, and Duke as the last three standing for Wall,” Jones said. “Whoever gets him will likely be a top-five team next season. If UNC gets him, it minimizes the impact of attrition and keeps Duke and Kentucky from taking a giant step forward.”

Regardless of Wall's decision, Williamson and Jones think Carolina could be on the verge of a run unprecedented in school history.

"There's no question Roy Williams will have Carolina in the top 10 and in the hunt for at least a Final Four berth almost every year for the foreseeable future," Williamson said.

Said Jones: "Well, it's the second championship in five seasons, which is something Carolina had never done. Dean Smith managed four Final Fours in six seasons, and during the single-bid era. Let's just say this could be the start of something big.”

89-72.

2009-04-07T11:04:00.002-04:00

YESSIR! DON'T FIGHT IT!

Excerpt:

DETROIT -- We were all fools. Check that, you were all fools.

All of you who picked Michigan State. All of you who got wrapped up in Disney presents ... CinderIzzo. All of you who thought an NFL football stadium 90 miles from a college campus could make a difference in two teams separated by 9,000 miles.

Google Map North Carolina and Michigan State Monday night and that's what would have popped up as the distance, talent-wise, between the two programs.

Let's sum up: Close to 100,000 fans have watched the two Carolina-Michigan State games played here this season. They have seen the Tar Heels win by a combined 52 points.

Anyone noticing a trend here? Let's just go ahead and rename the NCAA's money grab of a venue The Tomb That Henry Ford Built. First the Lions, now this for the Spartans at Ford Field. They came, they saw, they spent, these Spartanuts. In the end, 60,000 or so Michigan State fans who tried to will their team to victory watched their team lose its will.

It promised to be quite a traffic jam getting out of a shell of economically-depressed downtown. Look at it this way, Spartan fans, at least the tickets were affordable, right?

Sometimes you pull a rabbit out of your hat. In real life, sometimes you mangle your hand in the garbage disposal trying to grab a brass ring. The first thing you do when playing North Carolina is try to stop its transition game. When the Heels were on a 124-point pace in the game's first 10 minutes it was clear the Spartans didn't know the first thing ... about beating Carolina.

"I felt good, uh, we didn't quit," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after his team's 89-72 championship game loss.

I'm slipping

2009-04-03T11:37:00.001-04:00

Haven't updated my blog in a week! Say what?!?

I'll be back in full-force next week, this was just a busy week at work.

Ex-Red Devil lives out dream

2009-03-30T21:48:00.001-04:00

Basketball has always been in Rehka Patterson's life.

When she was a teenager, instead of doing odd jobs like babysitting or working as a life guard, Patterson was busy breaking down film of Lumberton Pirates boys' basketball games and soaking up whatever basketball knowledge spilled out of her mother, longtime Red Springs girls' coach Eva Patterson-Heath.

That training helped Patterson, who is coordinator of basketball operations for the Baylor University women's basketball team, do what she's always dreamed.

"Basketball is all I really know," Patterson said. "Watching film and coaching basketball is what I love and what I know and what excites me.”

Patterson, 30, was a four-year letterwinner and two-time team captain for the North Carolina A&T women's basketball team before graduating with a degree in public relations in 2001.

She earned her master's degree in education with a sports management emphasis from Baylor in 2004.

While in school at Baylor, Patterson served as the program's graduate assistant was responsible for film exchange, coordinating recruiting correspondence and visits.

After coaching stops at Creighton, Ball State and Eastern Illinois Patterson returned to Baylor in April of 2008.

"I knew from the first time I hired Rekha as a graduate assistant that her attention to detail was exemplary," Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said. "Her resume was perfect. It had no typos or grammar errors, and that’s rare.

"When she finished being our GA I wanted to keep her on staff but didn’t have a position for her. As soon as one came open, she was the first person I thought of."

“The biggest thing I do is to make sure our players are good, whether that be academically or on a personal level," Patterson said of her responsibilities at Baylor. "I do a lot of on-campus recruiting. I cant do any off-campus recruiting or sending any letters at this time, but once they get on campus I show them around and hang out with them. I try to make sure things move smoothly. I'm a fire stopper."

With Brittany Griner, the top ranked prep player in the high school class of 2010 enrolling at Baylor in the fall, Patterson has had a lot of fires to put out.

"All of the leg work on her recruitment had been done before I got here," Patterson said of the 6-foot-8 sensation, who has gained notoriety from dunks posted on Web site Youtube. "We just have to understand that she is the No.1 player in the country and still highly sought after. Her dad has called a couple of times and people have tried to start Web sites. So, we had to contact our compliance office, to make sure we’re not putting her career in jeopardy."

Patterson, who often studied film with her stepfather, former Lumberton High boys' coach Tim Heath, has had an influence that extends beyond Waco and the Big 12.

Her mother, a soon-to-be inductee into the Robeson County Athletics Hall of Fame, sometimes talks strategy with her daughter. That's resulted in some uncanny similarities between the Red Devils and Baylor.

"We talk sometimes after games," Patterson-Heath said. "There are a lot of things that we run in our half court set that we have gotten from her.”

But it turns out that Patterson-Heath has more than a subtle affect on her daughter's coaching technique. Patterson turns to her mom for advice pertaining to off-the-court matters, such as how to keep young people motivated and how to deal with problems they may have.

And all the practices with her mom as her head coach — she was a standout player for Red Springs — certainly have shaped Patterson's coaching style.

"I catch myself saying things that my mom would say or reacting how my mom would, whether it’s her mannerisms or words," Patterson said. "Then I’m like ‘Oh my god, that’s something my mother would do.’"

Baylor was in North Carolina this weekend playing in the regional semifinals. The second-seeded Bears were denied a shot to play for a Final Four berth when they were upset by third-seeded Louisville on Saturday.

Patterson-Heath was looking forward to seeing her daughter on the sidelines.

“Oh shoot, I’m just hoping that I can contain myself.," Patterson-Heath said. "We were excited when she got her masters and now she’s back and working with hall-of-famers. We’re just going to be cheering for Baylor. No red and white and black this weekend. We’ll be in our green and proud parents in the stands.”

In her fifth year as an assistant coach, Patterson dreams of one day being a head coach. But she's in no rush.

“A year removed from college I was thinking I can’t be an assistant coach for too long," she said. "This is my fifth year and I have so much to learn. I’m in a great place with a great coach and great players. I would like to be calling my shots and running my own program.

"I can’t say that in five years I’ll be a head coach and I can’t say I won’t either. I just want to make sure I’m ready.”

When asked about her daughters chances of becoming a Division I head coach, Patterson-Heath responded with confidence.

“She'll be a head coach, no doubt. It’s just a matter of time."

3-point line strips game of integrity

2009-03-27T09:09:00.000-04:00

I used to love her.

Prior to 1986, college basketball was a sport where athleticism, post play and general basketball skill were required to succeed.

The best players shined brightly because of these attributes and, more often than not, the best teams won too.

But 23 years ago, the NCAA put a white-arching line 19-feet and nine inches away from the basket.

The three-point line and shot have developed over time into what ESPN analyst Dick Vitale calls “the great equalizer.”

In other words, less talented teams, with less talented players actually have a shot to beat the behemoths of college basketball because of the three point shot.

That may seem appealing, but in reality, Cinderella detracts from the party instead of enhancing it.

Watching George Mason struggle in the Final Four against Florida wasn’t great basketball — it was annoying. The same can be said for Cleveland State, Southwestern Missouri College of the Arts, or any other directional school that shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as teams like Duke, UCLA, Memphis, Michigan State and Pittsburgh.

See, for all its faults the BCS usually gives us the two best teams in its championship game, while basketball does not.

A huge part of the best teams not making the championship game is the three-point shot.

How many times has your favorite team fallen to one shooter, who seemed to be unconscious from beyond the arc?

For Carolina fans, the names Glen Rice and Harold Arceneaux are forever embedded into tournament lore because of their three-point exploits.

I’m sure James Naismith — the inventor of basketball who’s been dead for 70 years — is turning over in his Lawrence, Kansas grave at the thought of teams bombing away from deep.

For some reason, we have a fascination with that little white arc.

Go to your nearest high school or middle school game or even playground basketball court. The obsession starts young.

Instead of warming up with a lay-up or mid-range jump shot, kids are mysteriously drawn to the line where they start hoisting up long-distance jumpers like Larry Bird.

That’s why tonight’s game — especially for those who like real basketball –—between Duke and Villanova in the East regional semifinals is particularly scary.

On the season, the Wildcats have hoisted 636 three-pointers, while the Blue Devils have put up an astonishing 736.

Neither team has a traditional back-to-the-basket post player and neither team really cares that they lack an inside presence.

The three-point shot has done a lot for basketball over the last 23 years but most of it hasn’t been positive.

So, when Duke’s Kyle Singler or Villanova’s Scotty Reynolds passes up an easy lay-up for an open three, it’s OK to be mad. It’s OK to be upset.

In fact, it’s OK to be down right infuriated. After all, there’s a certain inventor turning over in his grave.

I used to love her — college basketball — but now she’s gone. Rest in peace…

Former Fairmont player becoming top prospect

2009-03-27T09:07:00.002-04:00

It's Feb. 11 and Quincy Miller can't believe where he is.

Miller is at the epicenter of college basketball's greatest rivalry, sitting just two rows behind the Duke bench during the Blue Devils' first meeting of the season with arch rival North Carolina.

He can glance up to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium shows the jersey's of Duke greats such as Mike Gminski, Grant Hill, Christian Laetner and Jason Williams. Also dangling from the historic arena's ceiling are banners for three national championships and a myriad of ACC title banners.

Sitting just a few feet in front of Miller on the Duke bench are Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the newest generation of Blue Devils that coach Mike Krzyzewski has tabbed to carry on the storied program's rich tradition.

And if the Hall of Famer had his way, Miller would join that select company in a few years.

This is life these days for Miller, a native of Chicago who played his freshman year at Fairmont High School. When you're one of the nation's top college basketball prospects comfortable seats and red-carpet treatment are the norm.

Standing at 6-foot-7 and blessed with athleticism and basketball talent, Miller is being wooed by some of the top schools in the country.

"Duke, North Carolina, USC, Memphis, Florida, Wake Forest, Baylor,

Oklahoma State are recruiting me the hardest," says Miller, who rattles off the list of basketball powerhouses as if it were a list of his favorite songs.

The life of a high-major Division I recruit can be challenging, filled with lots of calls from newspapers, recruiting services and coaches. Miller leans on a close inner-circle that he has developed to help him stay grounded.

One member of that group is former Lumberton High standout Stargell Love, who is Miller's teammate at Quality Education Academy in Wiston-Salem and one of his best friends.

"Stargell is doing well up here," Miller said. "We were already tight before came, but now we've just extended our friendship. He's real nice."

In addition to Love, Miller confides in his uncle Lamont Taylor and his mother Aneisha Scott , who still lives in the suburbs of Chicago.

Leaving home

Despite his current success, life hasn't always been kind to Miller.

In 2005, Miller's older sister Keisha, was killed in a car accident . She was only 17.

Miller's father was never around, and the lack of guidance, coupled with the normal temptations any 13-year-old faces, soon made it clear that he couldn't stay in Chicago.

"He was pretty much hanging with the wrong crowd, and he called me one

day crying, saying that he wanted to get away from all the drugs," Taylor said. "All

he wanted to do was play basketball. Because he was my nephew I had

decided I'd go ahead and let him live with me here in Robeson County."

Added Scott: "It wasn't a good area that we're staying in. There wasn't a lot of activities for kids here to do. So he wanted to better himself. He wanted to go down there and make something of himself. He didn't want to be like all these kids and be another statistic."

When he first arrived in North Carolina in the summer of 2007, Miller experienced a bit of culture shock.

"Man, it was just real slow down here," he said. "It was different. I like the people down there though. I came down there so I could change the way I was."

On the court

Not one to shy away from comparisons, Miller likens himself to one of the best college players this decade.

"I try to play like Kevin Durant," Miller said. "I can play inside and outside, I can pretty much do anything just like he can."

Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Web site Scout.com, says Miller has sky-rocketed up the recruiting boards of college programs across the country.

“Quincy Miller, in a relatively short period of time, has distinguished himself as one of the top sophomores in North Carolina," Telep said. "Athletically, he’s extremely gifted and he’s scratching the surface. Over time, he’ll become either an athletic face up four man or a small forward, depending on how he rounds out his skill set."

Taylor, who directs the Robeson Rockets AAU basketball program, said that Miller's ability to play multiple positions is his greatest strength.

"His versatility is amazing," Miller said. "Being that's he's 6-foot-8, he's able to play inside and outside. Up until 2005, he was only 5-foot-10, but he's grown almost a foot since then. He's always had to play the guard position, so he's ball-handling is there. He can pass like a uard, shoot like a guard, but can defend the middle. "He's just getting better and better."

Despite talking with household names college basketball such as Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Billy Donovan almost daily, Taylor says Miller has only recently gained a greater grasp on recruiting.

"The star-struck is gone," Taylor said. "At first, any major coach that called him

he'd sway to whatever major university that was. Now it's let's concentrate on the grades, let's concentrate on getting better. Our goal is for him to be the top 10 in the country by the time he is a senior."

Among the interested parties in Miller's services is Illinois coach Bruce Weber. But Miller's mother says returning to him home state isn't an option.

"We're going to leave this decision to him, but I'm against that, I dont' want him to come back this way," Scott said. "It's not to good around here, so I would have some impact on this down here."

However, there is one school that is out in front of the pack.

"He is favoring Wake Forest. He really, really loves Wake Forest.," Taylor said. "We went to the Wake Forest-Duke game and met all the players. It astounds me more than it does him that my little nephew is getting all this attention."

That attention is just an illustration of Miller's long journey.

"I'm very proud because he's come a long way," she said. "I'm overwhelmed actually, Words can't express the way I feel."

20 years since Exxon Valdez

2009-03-24T08:57:00.004-04:00

By any stretch, you wouldn't consider me a "green" person. I try to eat well, recycle and I even changed the little bulbs in my apartment to the super energy efficient ones.
Still, I have joined Green Peace and while I'm maybe not as active as I should be in the green movement, I think I do my part.

All that said, a story on MSNBC caught my attention as I purused all the news Web sites this morning.

It's been 20 years since the Exxon Valdez registered the biggest oil spill of my lifetime (thus far). I remember the pictures of ducks and seals and whales covered in black gold. It scared me at the time, being that I was only seven going on eight.

But to think that the area is just as toxic today as it was then, really scares me as we move forward and try to end our "addicition to fossil fuels" as President Obama has said.

Oil plagues Sound 20 years after Exxon Valdez

Excerpt:

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound, oil persists in the region and, in some places, "is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill," according to the council overseeing restoration efforts.

"This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4 percent per year," the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated in a report marking Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. waters. "At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely."

The council's findings come two decades after the March 24, 1989 disaster, when the single-hulled Exxon tanker hit a reef, emptying its contents into Alaskan waters. The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.

Other regions

2009-03-19T10:51:00.001-04:00

Sorry, I didn't have time to do the breakdown for the other regions.

My Final Four is Louisville, Memphis, UNC and Pitt.

Louisville vs UNC in the title game and UNC wins it all.

Why not just call Glendale, Phoenix?

2009-03-17T11:07:00.008-04:00

They should just go ahead and skip to the regional final here. Even though most of the players on UConn's team have never won a postseason game (NCAA or ACC tournament) they should coast to the Elite 8. Same thing with Memphis.

No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 UT-Chattanooga — Will Thabeet get a triple-double? The Pick: UConn

No. 8 BYU vs. No. 9 Texas A&M — All the players on BYU are on my age and have what we like to call "that grown man strength." The Pick: BYU

No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa — Honestly, I just don't have the energy to do real research on Northern Iowa. Purdue played really well in the Big 10 tournament — which is like doing really well in middle school football — so, I guess they should win here. We'll see though... The Pick: Purdue

No. 4 Washington No. 13 Mississippi State — Isiah Thomas is the point guard for Washington, which means they can't lose can they? Besides they have Jon Brockman in the paint and Mississippi State will be playing it's fourth game in seven days. The Pick: Washington

No. 6 Marquette vs No. 11 Utah State — Marquette has not played extremely well since Dominic James went down with a season-ending injury. But, they still have loads of talent and I think a six-seed is a nice spot for them. Still, Tyler Newbold is one of the best names in the tournament and the kid is kind of good.

No. 3 Missouri vs. No. 14 — Discussing College Basketball a few days ago with my friends, I saw something that surprised me. "Missouri is No. 13 in the country?" I asked. Turns out Mike Anderson has turned them into his UAB teams and similar to the Arkansas 40-minutes of heck that Nolan Richardson ran when Anderson was an assistant. That doesn't bode well for Cornell. The Pick: Missouri

No. 7 California vs No. 10 Maryland — Being in ACC country, I consider the conference a speciality. Maryland has absolutely nothing outside of Greivis Vazquez and anybody who loses to Morgan State (even though they are a tournament team) shouldn't be in the tournament. The Pick: California

No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 15 Cal State Northridge — This will be their 26th-straight win. The Pick: Memphis

Second Round

No. 1 UConn vs. No. 8 BYU — ESPN's Doug Gottlieb thinks this will be a very tough game. He says that BYU will not be intimidated by UConn and they have a particular set of skills necessary to be the Huskies. I don't disagree, but everyone has a close game in the tournament. The Pick: UConn

No. 4 Washington vs. No.5 Purdue — Is it me or are all the potential No. 4 or No. 5 match-ups really, really boring. I have zero interest in this game, but I do know that Washington has three legitimate All-Pac 10 players. In the end, talent wins I suppose. The Pick: Washington

No. 6 Marquette vs No. 3 Missouri — Maybe I'm inflating Marquette and the Big East, but I just don't believe in Missouri. They seem like a team that is a one-trick pony. If you break their press, what else do they have? Marquette still has good guards, even though James is out. I'm actually leaning towards Marquette here in one of the best stories of the tournament. The Pick: Marquette

No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 7 California — Yawn. Another game that won't be close. Don't believe the hype about Memphis' schedule and lack of playing a big time team. They have unbelievable confidence and swagger (I know it's an overused word). They shouldn't be tested here. The Pick: Memphis

Regional Semifinals

No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 Washington — Jon Brockman could give Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrian fits. He's kind of the west coasts version of Tyler Hansbrough and a double-double machine. Still, UConn has too many athletes and too many parts for Washington to hang with. The Pick: UConn

No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 6 Marquette — Memphis has two all-conference caliber big men in Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggart. Both are experienced seniors and have had stellar college careers that include — two elite eights and a final four last year.

Regional Final

No. 1 UConn vs. No. 2 Memphis — Quick fact: Over the last 10 years one of the teams ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Kenpom's efficiency ratings have won the National Championship in every year but 2003 (Syracuse). This year? Memphis is No.1 and UNC is No. 2. This is a game UConn would win with Jerome Dyson, but without him. I just don't think it will happen. The Pick: Memphis

Mike Tyson doesn't like Indianapolis

2009-03-17T10:51:00.007-04:00

I'm not sure what to think about this region. It actually seems relatively weak — because I don't believe in Wake Forest or Kansas. Louisville should easily walk into the final four (because I say that, it certainly won't happen).

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 16 Play-in game winner — Will Rick Pitino bust out the all-white suite like Colonel Sanders? That's the only mystery in this game. The Pick: Louisville.

No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Siena — One thing you will learn about the NCAA tournament and really sports in general, is to never trust the Big 10 outside of Michigan State. It's basketball — just like it's football — is slow, plodding and excruciatingly boring. I don't know much about Siena, but I know that they aren't slow and they didn't play in the Big Ten. The Pick: Siena

No. 5 Utah vs No. 12 Arizona — Another tried, trusted and true rule of March: If everyone says it's going to be an upset, it's probably not going to be an upset. This seems to be the en vogue pick as the 12 seed beating the 5 seed. I just don't see it — Arizona is always predicted to do something in the tournament and always fails. The Pick: Utah

No.4 Wake Forest vs. No. 13 Cleveland State — Even though they are in the top 10, Wake is as inconsistent a team as their is in the tournament. Please don't buy into the hype of them making the Final Four and all that jazz. They have trouble scoring in stretches and Dino Gaudio hasn't proven he is a high-level coach as of yet. Still, they should (emphasis on should) beat Cleveland State. The Pick: Wake Forest

No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 11 Dayton — I'm a huge fan of Ken Pomeroy's adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency rankings. To me, they are the best indicator of whether a team will be successful in the tournament. West Virginia ranks No. 6 in those ranks so, suffice to say, that I have them going far. The Pick: West Virginia

No. 3 Kansas vs No. 14 North Dakota State — Kansas isn't Kansas of 2005 and North Dakota State ain't Bucknell. The Pick: Kansas

No. 7 Boston College vs. No. 10 USC — For my money, this will be the best first-round game in this region. USC is extremely hot and it's not like they don't have a lot of talent. Demar Derozen, Gibson and Hackett will probably all in the NBA. Meanwhile, Boston College is OK, but I just never really bought them (despite its wins over Duke and North Carolina). I think Gibson dominates in the paint and USC ends Tyrese Rice's career. The Pick: USC

No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Robert Morris — I just don't think Robert Morris can beat Michigan State all by himself. He seems to be a great guy, but 1-on-5 isn't exactly the way to go. The Pick: Michigan State

Second Round

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 9 Siena — Offensively Siena and Louisville are very similar in regards to their KenPom efficiency ratings, but defensively Louisville is No. 2. Siena won't score more than 50 points and Terrence Williams is almost always the best player on the court. The Pick: Louisville

No. 4 Wake Forest vs. No. 5 Utah — What a boring, un-enticing, un-exciting game. I'll be sure to not watch. The Pick: Wake Forest — I guess...

No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Kansas — Losing its entire National Championship team will finally catch up with Kansas. West Virginia's offense will draw Aldrich away from the basket and when he is away he doesn't do much. Ruoff dominates and WVU wins. The Pick: West Virginia

No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 10 USC — Another great game, that doesn't have much scoring I'm anticipating. Michigan State's Kalin Lucas is a superior point guard but, USC actually has the experience factor. Hackett and Gibson have been in the tournament three straight years and made the Sweet 16 three years ago. Michigan States survives because Ramar Morgan shows up, barely. The Pick: Michigan State (barely)

Regional Semifinals

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Wake Forest — The temptation is there to pick Wake for a lot of people, because they are flashy, deep and have a lot of great athletes. But don't believe the hype! Wake has trouble scoring and Louisville is the second-best defensive team in the country. Plus, Pitino could outcoach Gaudio in his sleep. Also, the Terrence Williams applies here. The Pick: Louisville

No. 2 Michigan State vs No. 6 West Virginia — All the battles in the Big East have prepared West Virginia for this slugfest of a game. Two good coaches, two solid teams. Most of the time I'd be inclined to go with West Virginia, but I believe in Ken Pomeroy. The Pick: West Virginia

Regional Final

No. 1 Louisville vs No. 6 West Virginia — Louisville has beaten them already this season, mostly because Alex Ruoff went 0-for-his-life on senior night against the Cardinals. He might play better, but they aren't beating Louisville.
The Pick: Louisville

How to win your bracket pool

2009-03-16T11:35:00.003-04:00

Not going to do the super regional breakdown like we always do. Instead, just here are some things to look out for in picking your bracket.

I have four tried and true, nearly infallible rules that will help you win your NCAA pool or bracket contest.
These were posted in a similar column on King, that you can find here. (http://www.king-mag.com/online/?p=4885)
This is a 2009 reboot.

1) Your team must have a head coach who understands the difference between a fast break and a lunch break. Since 1980, Steve fisher, who led Michigan to the 1989 title with the interim tag, is the only coach not already in the hall of fame – or probably headed there – to win a championship. You could argue the resumes of Tubby Smith, Nolan Richardson and Gary Williams, but I think they’ll eventually be in. The rest of the winners read like a who’s who of college coaches, including names like Crum, Thompson, Dean, Pitino, Calhoun, Tubby, Roy, Coach K, Roy and Donovan. Poor Wake Forest...

2) You must have an animal in the paint that can devour opposing frontlines without regard for his well-being or safety. I'll concede Arizona’s perimeter oriented team from 1997, UConn’s Richard Hamilton-led upset of Duke in 1999 and the Carmelo Anthony driven Syracuse triumph in 2003 as rule-deviants. You won’t find a team since 1990 – outside of those mentioned – that hasn’t had an all-conference caliber post player patrolling the paint. Sorry West Virginia, Boston College, Marquette, Villanova, Marland, Xavier, UCLA, Illinois and Syracuse, all clubs who lack such a big man this season.

3) You must have an experienced point guard because freshman point guards don’t win National Championships. Mike Bibby and Gerry McNamara are the only freshman point guards – ever – to lead their teams to a title. The curse struck Memphis hard last season. Despite Derrick Rose's great play, the freshman missed a couple of free throws and eventually succumbed to this stone-cold rule.
Thanks for playing Washington and Memphis. Kind of sucks for the Tigers — two years in a row that a freshman point guard will keep them from winning the title.

4) An unwritten and very unscientific rule is that you must have three NBA players on your roster to compete. Not just guys who might get drafted, but players who will stick in the league. At first glance that might sound a bit far-fetched, but again the rule proves to be true. Since 1990, only four teams that went on to win the championship, 93’ UNC, 95’ UCLA, 99’ UConn and 03’ Syracuse, have lacked at least three players to stick in the NBA. They’ve all had two. So, so long to Utah, Cleveland State, Dayton, North Dakota St., Michigan State, BYU, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Missouri, Utah St, Cornell, California, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Butler, Arizona State, Temple and Clemson.

So there you have it. One of the following five teams, Louisville, UConn, Pittsburgh, UNC or Gonzaga will raise the nets in Detroit in April. I know that’s not exactly going out-on-a-limb but that is what the rules give us.

Mark it down. Type it. Send it. Fax it. Ship it.

Scientists find "God Spot" on brain...

2009-03-13T09:02:00.001-04:00

LINK

Excerpt:

A belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain, which is programmed for religious experiences, according to a United States study.

Scientists searching for the neural "God spot", which is supposed to control religious belief, believe several areas of the brain form the biological foundations of religious belief.

The researchers said their findings supported the idea that the brain had evolved to be sensitive to any form of belief that improved the chances of survival, which could explain why a belief in God and the supernatural became so widespread in human evolutionary history.

"Religious belief and behaviour are a hallmark of human life, with no accepted animal equivalent, and found in all cultures," said Professor Jordan Grafman, from the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, near Washington