Wale Ovechkin Does ESPN First Take...

Wale gettin' ESPN love now??? That's a great look.

Via: elitaste

For Those Who Missed It...

COT DAMN...who's harder to understand, Floyd Mayweater, Sr. or Paq-Man?

Via: worldstarhiphop

Check out these SICK Documentaries coming soon...

Kobe...

King James...

The G.O.A.T...

Via: worldstarhiphop

NEWBOs = New Black Overclass

Stop What Your're Doing and PAY ATTENTION!!!

It's an American success story. Self-made black multimillionaires, many of whom grew up poor, 
have made vast fortunes in the sports, entertainment and media industries.   

The new moguls made their millions under the age of 40, primarily by taking more ownership and control over their brands than their predecessors. Collectively, black athletes in the NFL, NBA, and in Major League Baseball earned nearly $4 billion last year and the nation's 20 highest-paid hip-hop entrepreneurs brought in more than $500 million.   Now, with their newfound wealth come responsibilities to their family, friends, and community.

Based on Lee Hawkins' forthcoming book of the same title, NEWBOs: The Rise of America's New Black Overclass examines the growing responsibilities of black celebrities in the Obama age. The project features personal stories and interviews with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.  It's an inside look into how each successful NEWBO surmounted challenges to achieve the American Dream.

Baby...

 

LBJ...

Bob Johnson...

T.O...

Knowledge. Inspiration. Whatever you wanna call it. Straight-up brilliance on the behalf of Lee Hawkins.  

Via: dimewars

Sporting News...Two Bulls' Legends Pass Away

R.I.P. Norman Van Lier & Johnny "Red" Kerr

Norm Van Lier, one of the most popular players in Chicago Bulls history and one of the NBA's top defensive players in the 1970s, was found dead in his home just blocks away from the team's arena Thursday. He was 61.

The cause of death was not immediately known, authorities said.

Van Lier's death was discovered on the same day that former Bulls coach Johnny "Red" Kerr died.

Kerr, 76, coached the Bulls to the playoffs in their inaugural 1966-67 season and spent more than 30 years calling their games on local broadcast outlets.

Van Lier, who most recently worked for Comcast SportsNet Chicago, had been scheduled as a pre- and post-game analyst for Wednesday night's Bulls game with the New Jersey Nets.

Comcast officials became concerned when Van Lier did not show up for work and could not be reached Thursday. An employee was sent to his apartment near the United Center on the city's near West Side, said Jim Corno, president of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The employee tried unsuccessfully to get inside.

Authorities responded to a subsequent well-being check and found Van Lier unresponsive shortly before 1 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed Van Lier's death but said a cause was not immediately known.

"Norm Van Lier was one of the all-time greats ever to put on a Chicago Bulls uniform," team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. "Along with Jerry Sloan, he set a standard for Bulls defense and toughness which we will never forget and which we will always strive to replicate."

Full story here.

Johnny "Red" Kerr, the former Chicago Bulls coach who spent more than three decades as a broadcaster for the team, died Thursday. He was 76.

Kerr died at his home after a battle with prostate cancer, Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said.

"His name was synonymous with basketball, both here in Chicago, and throughout the entire NBA," Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said. "Those that were fortunate enough to have known Johnny were touched by both his tremendous compassion for people, and his lifelong passion for the game of basketball. We will miss him greatly."

Full story here.

NBA Bailout Plan???

The NBA has lined up $200 million to distribute to teams interested in additional cash, which the league considers a sign it remains strong in a slumping economy.

Between $13 million and $20 million will be available to each of 12 teams that have expressed interest in the funds, commissioner David Stern said Thursday. The money can be used for any purpose, including helping teams deal with operating losses incurred because of the economy.

It should not, Stern said, be construed as a bailout. At a time when credit markets have been frozen, investors saw the NBA as a safe bet.

"It's exactly the opposite" of a bailout, Stern told The Associated Press "This was a show of strength in the creditworthiness of the NBA's teams."

The NBA declined to name the teams interested in the money.

The league has an existing $1.7 billion credit facility, essentially a line of credit established by lenders from which teams can borrow. The league had been interested in growing the facility when the credit markets seized up last fall.

"They told us there's no chance of any additional funds being raised for any sports league, and indeed, the credit facilities that had come up for other leagues were being termed out rather than renewed," Stern said.

JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America recently approached the league to say $150 million might be available, a figure that eventually grew to $200 million.

"It's a great sign of confidence in us and that's wonderful that the market is opening up, so we'll take it," Stern said. "And we turned to our teams and said, 'OK, we've got this much more to distribute under the facility for those of you who want it now.'"

Full story here. 

Just Manny Being Manny....

Manny Ramirez has rejected yet another offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers announced Thursday night the star outfielder's agent Scott Boras had declined a $25 million, one-year contract with a $20 million player option for 2010. It was the club's fourth offer to Ramirez this offseason.

"We want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves," Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said in a statement. "When his agent finds those 'serious offers' from other clubs, we'll be happy to restart the negotiations."

Full story here.

Mike Vick Update...

 

Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick will be allowed to serve the last two months of his sentence under home confinement because there is no room at a halfway house for him, a government official told The Associated Press Thursday.

Vick is serving a 23-month sentence at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in eastern Virginia's Surry County. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs.

Vick's lawyers have said they expected him to be moved any day into a halfway house in Newport News. But because of a lack of space, Vick will be released instead to his home in nearby Hampton at some point on or after May 21, said the official, who has knowledge of the case but requested anonymity because the individual was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Full story here.

Yankees Address A-Rod Issue...

Alex Rodriguez was told by the New York Yankees to keep his cousin away from the team.

The message was given to the star third baseman on Thursday, said a person familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team did not make an announcement. The message applied both to spring training and the regular season, the person said.

Rodriguez was also told the cousin should not be anywhere the team congregates, which presumably includes the team's hotel when it travels and the ballpark.

Speaking at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., general manager Brian Cashman said only that the matter of Rodriguez being picked up from his spring training opener Wednesday by his cousin "has been handled."

Rodriguez took a similar tone following New York's 5-1 victory on Thursday over the Tampa Bay Rays.

"It's been addressed," he said. "And, no further comment."

A day earlier in Dunedin, Rodriguez homered and walked twice before getting into a SUV driven by Yuri Sucart. He's been identified as the cousin who provided Rodriguez with performance-enhancing drugs obtained in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez admitted using them while playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001-03.

Rodriguez acknowledged to the Yankees that having the cousin meet him at the ballpark in Dunedin was a mistake, the person who told The Associated Press about the situation said.

Full story here.

Via: ESPN

Misc. Video(s) Of The Week...

Check out these non-hoopers gettin' it in on the hardwood...

Primetime x The Kid x Mike Conley, Sr....

McNabb At Syracuse...

Julius Peppers At UNC...

Killa Cam In High School...

Sports News...

Guess Who's Bizzack...

Tiger Woods announced Thursday on his Web site that he will play in next week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. It will be his first tournament since having reconstructive ACL surgery after winning the U.S. Open last June.

With the birth of Woods' son, Charlie, on Feb. 8, speculation had intensified about Woods' return.

"I'm now ready to play again," Woods said as part of a five-paragraph statement posted on tigerwoods.com.

The Match Play Championship begins Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., where Woods will end his 253-day break from competition.

The timing could not be better for the PGA Tour, which has seen television ratings plunge after the world's No. 1 player had to miss the second half of the 2008 season, including two majors, the Ryder Cup and the FedEx Cup playoffs.

READ!!!

Johntel Franklin scored 10 points in the game following the loss of his mother.

The coach never considered any other option.

It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.

Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before.

Only this time it was different.

"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said.

Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.

It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states.

The teams planned to get together after the game and share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost never took place.

Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captainJohntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.

Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.

"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."

Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players.

Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on.

The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.

"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.

"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."

There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws.

Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing.

Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play.

"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."

That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up.

He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim.

His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand.

It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on.

They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands.

"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."

Franklin would go on to score 10 points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.

Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team was there for him.

"I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."

Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there.

"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is."

Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles and plans to play football in college. He just has a few games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat 71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton.

It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.

"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."

None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats.

Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a trip they'll never forget.

"This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night."

Great Story. 

MUST SEE!!!

Check out what happened before the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game...

LMAO. I'm crying. Dude tore his ACL, but I'm sorry, that's hilarious. He went through the rim - LMAO.

Via: ESPN & Rivals.com