Classic. Pam Shriver and Darren Cahill are calling this match one of the best they’ve ever seen. Serena Williams is going for her 11th Grand Slam title and Elena Dementieva gave her everything she had and more before ultimately succumbing 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 . I’m not a huge tennis fan, but this was really a great match to watch. Both women played Rasheed Wallace hard and Serena fought off a match point in the second set at 5-4 to spur the comeback. Dementieva made some great returns but Serena subsequently pumped the fist seemingly every single time. There were challenges that just didn’t go Dementieva’s way in the second set that could have swayed the match and despite Serena missing on her forehand a couple of times late, she broke Dementieva to win at 8-6 in the third most likely because of her dominating serve and will to win. This is Serena’s second straight Wimbledon Final. Dementieva, 27, has yet to win a Grand Slam (She was an Olympic champion for Russia in Beijing) but seems talented enough to one day do so. Venus plays at 12 against Dinara Safina and if she wins, another all Williams Championship Final is in store.

Joe Dumars has had what should be considered a typical week for an NBA exec. He fired his head coach and former teammate Michael Curry minutes away from the free agency signing period…sending shockwaves through the organization…and has no coach in place before summer league begins, but being one of the most determined GM’s in the league, Dumars will do whatever to get the Pistons back among the NBA elite so risks have to be taken. Though free agents can’t officially sign until July 8th, the Pistons have locked up former UConn stars Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to multiyear contracts. Ben Gordon’s deal is reportedly 5 years, 55 million with Villanueva receiving a 5 year, 35 million dollar deal. Look for Gordon to compete for NBA Sixth Man of the Year award for seasons to come based on his scoring explosiveness…specifically in the 4th quarter. I’m sure after the Pistons were butt kicked out of the playoffs by LeBron and the Cavs, Joe reminisced about his former teammate Vinnie the “Microwave” Johnson and recognized the Pistons had to do something about their offense fading late in pivotal games. Ben Gordon, the former Chicago Bull, is definitely the answer. Gordon is Andrew Toney like with his scoring binges and has been known to put up 20 plus in a quarter. In Villanueva, formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pistons get a versatile forward who fits the Pistons hardworking likeness. He’s long, athletic and young. He’ll probably play both forward spots. Crazy how Dumars has done all of this without a coach in place by most likely selling a D Rock City championship pedigree to the top free agents on his wish list. Incredible the Bucks didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Villanueva and Dumars pounced. As far as a head coach, Avery Johnson would be a great fit for Detroit and when Doug Collins withdrew his name from consideration, Pistons fans envisioning the Little General on the sidelines is almost inevitable. When will the ‘Sheed shoe drop?

As evidenced in the recent passings of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Alexis Arguello, we never know when our number will be called. I know we all have wished we were at a certain sporting event no matter how historic, you may even be makng plans for the next big event.

Today I’ve made a bucket list comprised of three events that I wish I had attended, three I would like to attend in the next calendar year and three in the future.

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82-8 with 65 of his wins coming by knockout. Alexis Arguello was a beast. He was everything that was great about boxing during his career. A career that saw him win 3 world titles in 3 different weight classes–the sixth fighter to do so. He was a smooth yet classic boxer. Passionate, hard hitting, determined and talented. His battles with Aaron Pryor were top notch during a great time for the sport.

Well, sad to report, but it appears the ex-champ and current mayor of Managua, Nicaragua…his birthplace…committed suicide via gun shot wound to the chest. An autopsy is being performed to find the exact cause, so please withhold judgment. So much death is going around. Do not take anyone for granted.

The NBA Free Agency period kicked off this morning - one of the biggest potential signings has Rasheed Wallace headed to Boston (Great! Now they may have a center shooting from behind the arc). My concern is with the 76ers who need to take the next step before all of this young talent becomes stagnant. I don’t know if these potential moves will help their position this season as much as it puts them in a better position for the 2010 free agency class.

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When the Flyers signed  former Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery earlier this month, two questions came to mind - what took them so long and how long will the marriage last?

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Soap box time.

Just like sports, everything is not simply about the here and now just to stroke the insecure egos of man and woman. Check yourself.

Call me ideological, but I can care less.

Is something wrong with me? Am I one of the few that listened to my Mom and Pop when they drilled into our psyche “If you can’t say nothin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all?”

I wonder.

Maybe it was the lackluster show that exacerbated a monstrosity of ridiculous and unrelenting criticism. Maybe it’s our current culture. I don’t know. I never watch BET because I’m not attracted to it’s superficial, bubblegum, stroke the mainstream programming.

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Because of Michael Jackson’s death, the 2009 NBA Draft was surreal. I didn’t watch as attentively as I have for almost 30 years. Blake Griffith obviously went one. Will he be as good as Boozer or end up like Marcus Fizer? Being from here, I wanted Tyreke Evans, but Jrue Holiday was a fine pick for the Philadelphia 76ers (will Allen Iverson return? I think so). He’ll provide versatility on both sides of the ball after the Sixers most likely lose Andre Miller to free agency (possibly somehow to the Lakers, you heard it here first). Elton Brand comes back, but the Eastern Conference just became a juggernaut after Orlando acquired Vince Carter (power move) and Cleveland acquired Shaquille O’Neal (not sold). Edge Magic. I thought after the Conference Finals that the team with more of an edge would win and now that Vince will have joined Orlando, I can see him lighting a fire under the coaching staff, bench and of course the players on the floor.

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I can’t even get into the draft. I had a post I’ve been working on all day, passed out from a lack of sleep the last week and woke up to 100 text messages. Most were friends, associates, co-workers, questioning if Mike had died or not. There was a period where everyone was waiting for confirmation because the first outlet to report his death was TMZ. Ultimately, when I heard it was a shock. I’m still in shock. The majority of the texts said Mike was a big part of my childhood. Whether you like it or not, Michael Jackson is the greatest entertainer of all time. He was the reason Black folk are on MTV. His videos were events. My family and I would sit around the TV and wait for his world premiers to drop. Thriller’s video was so unique it changed the game. I remember dancing to Rock With You with my first girlfriend in sixth grade. Nothing about his talent was fake or produced in a studio. It was all him. Talent learned from him. Like they say, often imitated, never duplicated. Any video where you see dancing was influenced by Michael Jackson. Remember the cocky dude who couldn’t stay in step at the end of the Beat It video? The magnitude of his death will be felt for decades. He transcended race, class, music, life. I hope his kids were able to learn from his talent and transfer Mike’s gift to whatever potential they have embedded in their soul. God bless the entire Jackson family. Read more »

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I think it was Jemele (via Stephen A.)who alerted the twitterspere about Shaq’s trade around 11 or 12 last night and for the next 3 hours the entire sports world was abuzz with reactions, rumors, and predictions for next season. I was debating Bomani Jones about what was the better draft…’84 or ‘96 and also my normal Nash smash for history when the news hit. Here’s my tweet after the trade went down. For all the criticism the NBA gets, when big stuff like this goes down, there is nothing like it in sports. Shaquille O’Neal does it like no one else. Shaq’s move to join LeBron in Cleveland put the entire draft in his sickdiculous shadow. Crazy stuff. I wonder how it’s all going to play out. Is it Super Bowl time so we can find out ASAP? IMO, trades like this only exacerbate thinking that teams are better than they actually are. Dwight Howard has to be licking his Leviathan chops. Bang on him Dwight like you are the prototypical John Connor trying to eliminate John Connor from the primitive back end of Krypton. In the NBA, the best team always wins. I’m still going with Boston over LA with Andre Miller working the triangle in his home town. I’ll have a draft preview up on Ebonyjet.com later.

A Cleveland breakdown. Hope it works out for you LeBron. (Plain Dealer)

Same thing from Phoenix. Steve Kerr better get this team back on track quick. (AZ Central)

Phil Jackson will not have a part time gig. (The Daily Breeze)

Yao’s still has a bad foot. (Houston Chronicle)

Ray Ratto on the US upset of top ranked Spain. Don’t follow soccer like that, but I know enough that his is a shocker. (SF Gate)

Cats are killing football coaches now? RIP (Des Moines Register)

When being underrated is a crime. Rass Kass is possibly the lyricist GOAT

So bad, had to rock Kass twice

The last and most provoctive part of Todd Boyd’s interview will go up next week.

Elaborating on the intro in Part I, one has to understand that my view of life is grounded in my view of history as it relates to sports. I went hard on Ricky Rubio (Dr. Boyd and I elaborate on Rubio and also Kobe Bryant in the next part) because I don’t want history to be affected by the here and now. It is personal to me, but nothing personal to Rubio no matter what you say or think. If we improperly over hype this kid now, history will be adversely affected regardless of how his career ends up. What about Evans and Holiday? Don’t they have size? Why are their weaknesses highlighted as well as Jennings? The post was a segue into this interview, but you’ll have to wait until the last part for our chat on the 18 year old hope. In this part, we start with Black ownership. We also get into why the NBA means more to Blacks than any other race, Black reporters and the effect we potentially have on history and why his first three books are written. Simply put, this was a great conversation I had with the good Dr. and I hope you find it entertaining as well as it continues.

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Looks like Rubio is sending shock waves through the league as big trades are going down with minor NBA team players. This is always a very interesting time leading up to the draft as we wait and see how teams will jockey for position before during and after Thursday’s draft. What trade would you like to see go down?

Our peoples Michael Lee breaks down the Wizards/Suns trade. (WaPo)

Amir Johson traded for just traded Fabricio Oberto. Oberto will be released. (Detroit News)

Bill Rhoden comments on Epiphanny Prince going pro. (NY Times)

Phil Jackson alludes to making his gig with the Lakers part time. Why hasn’t Kareem ever seriously been considered for the Lakers position? (L.A. Times)

Evans’ cousin sentenced to 9-20 years for murder. Big case here in the area. (Philly.com)

Sixers going back to same logo used during championship seasons. Uh…can we get past the first round first? (Philly.com)

Native and African Americans chronicle history together for first time in Louisiana. (Digital Journal)

The history that Black radio is afraid to tell. (Ebony/Jet)

Cynthia McKinney and others sail for a cause. (The Peninsula)

Hell yeah!

As I was finishing up another segment with Dr. Boyd that mainly dealt with Kobe Bryant and to a lesser extent Ricky Rubio, I had a feeling a trade went down. I’d heard earlier about a Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen to the Pistons for Rip, Tayshaun and Stuckey, but Joe would be stupid for making such a deal especially with Allen being in his last year of his deal. In this business you know the wheels are turning frantically leading up to the draft so don’t put to much into my thought. When you are as durable athlete as Richard Jefferson was last season, you are always going to be trade bait. The San Antonio Spurs were trying to get younger and shipped defensive stalwart Bruce Bowen, serial NBA veteran Kurt Thomas and do it all in the interior big man Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks for the Jefferson. All three former Spurs are in the last year of the contracts with Jefferson owed 29.2 in the last two years of his deal. Jefferson, the 8 year vet out of Arizona will provide versatile athleticism on the wing for a team looking to make one more push before Timmay gets up outta here. Obviously this was a money move for the Bucks who most likely will make a big push to resign Charlie Villanueva and up and coming Ramon Sessions after their rookie scale contracts expire after this season. If Manu Ginobli can come back anything close to what he’s been before he became injury prone, then this puts the Spurs a little closer to competing for the title once again. Bowen, 37, leaves teh Spurs with 3 championships.

The second part of Dr. Todd Boyd’s interview should be posted tomorrow.

Where will Lance Stephenson end up in school? (NY Daily News)

Gloria and Emilio Estefan to become minority owners in Mami. (Miami Herald)

Woman puts man in sleeperhold and stops robbery. (SFGate)

Gwen Knapp writes why Donald Fehr didn’t do his job on steroids. (SFGate)

Thoughts on DC after deadly Red Line crash. (WaPo)

Clarence Paige asks: What if Congress apologized for slavery and no one cared? (Chicago Tribune)

Yeah, 200 years…

Hasheem Thabeet changed last year’s tournament by his damn self. Now there are whispers he won’t amount to much in the NBA despite his above average height and shot blocking ability. I get Blake Griffith going one, but why isn’t Thabeet a consensus number 2 pick? We live blogged the Gold Medal game against Spain and Rubio’s line was an average 6 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. What in that line warrants a number two pick? I’ve said this many times, but foreign players have benefited basically because of a war. How many of our top stars didn’t make the trip to Athens because of security concerns only to be mad hated on by OUR own media? Nash and Nowitzki have three MVP trophies? What?!? Look, if the kid comes in and wrecks shop in the league then I’ll give him his props, but until then stop swinging on his nutsack. Straight up. I don’t care who you are. Bring your A game and debate me here or in your forum before Thursday’s NBA draft. Put up or shut up and that includes you too Lang Whitaker, Ben Osborne (hell anyone at SLAM for that matter. Especially after this garbage. Ya better than that.), Myles Brown, Doug Gottlieb, Bobby Knight, Mike Breen, Doug Collins…uh who else? I guess most of you have forgotten how talented Jonny Flynn is huh? Why is he not being mentioned in that spot? Teague will bang it on him. Curry will shoot his eye out. Hell Patrick Mills did. Maynor? Come on.

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I’ve wanted to interview Dr. Todd Boyd for many years now and I’m honored to finally get the chance. I caught up with him yesterday and we kicked it for about an hour and twenty minutes. With this interview, I decided to highlight another perspective of what we talk about here daily. I also wanted to overstate the importance of having more diverse Black voices in journalism. It’s my opinion that some are threatened by a Black voice here or a another Black voice there. What they don’t understand is that by having more objectivity on any given story, history will be affected in a way teaching us all and advancing the thoughts and minds of our youth more readily. Sal, put some brothas up on the wall! No one wants to take over. I could care less about jacking someone’s job because I personally know no one can do it like me and I don’t profess to do it like anyone else. I just want to do my thing and watch the microphones get a little closer frame by frame, game by game despite knowing another name will always get the fame just the same. We don’t get into that in the first part. We talk about Dr. Boyd’s early walk…how he eventually ended up at USC as the the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Critical Studies in the USC School of Cinematic Arts (Damn Doc, that’s mouthful bruh). Check out his blog. Oh, did you know he co-wrote The Wood?

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Don’t misconstrue this fellas. Deal with this on a real rap level (I was there) and don’t see this as running barefoot…wild flowers in tow…with a tight ass mesh shirt and skipping with your girl in the park singing Tip Toe Through the Tulips alright?

This ain’t about that.

This is about loyalty. Loyalty amongst friends makes for a happy existence. I have very few people in my inner circle because if you can’t trust your peoples, then who can you trust? If there is no loyalty, life becomes a frustrating exercise in maddening paranoia and your mind will never be free to trust. I can smell it a mile away and I don’t care if I’m banging on bongos with calloused and bloody hands while my girl is belly dancing…both broke, hungry as hell and sleeping on wet cardboard boxes, she’ll remain forever my soul beautiful if she’s ride or die. There is no love without loyalty. Just saw on the news where a couple has been together for 80 years in nearby Springfield, PA. Now that’s love huh? Security is last on the list because it don’t mean shit if you don’t have the other two. A lot of women will disagree on this (or not) but that’s how I roll. My daughter knows to get hers without having to depend on a man. Her aunt is a great example. There is no knight in shining armor who will rescue you from the doldrums of poverty if that’s all you are looking for because when you get it, you’ll be just as unhappy as you were before. You have to go get it yourself right? Respect and honor = loyalty. What say you?

Allow me to open up by saying that I missed you guys terribly. TSF Family is as near and dear to me as my writing. The toughest time was during the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl, it was hard to even go to the site. I felt like I had let a multitude of people down including the one person that gave me the opportunity to shine. I wish there was some warning that I could’ve given prior to my hiatus, but when the Man Upstairs calls an audible in your life; you’d better be prepared to run the hot route.

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Brandon Marshall has some off field issues, granted, but even in his NFL youth is one of the most talented receivers in the league. He’s put his name on the block…which really doesn’t mean anything in today’s professional sports…and let’s for the sake of the discussion say he gets traded. If you had the keys to your organization, would you make that move and why? He either is gonna be a beast for the next 8-10 years or fall off. There will be no middle. He’s too talented for that.

Since we are on a Hip Hop vibe here the last few days, I’ll post an interview with Professor Griff in the morning. Doing an interview with Todd Boyd today. Any questions, please shoot them to my email and not on the site.

To the links.

One agent could deliver two point guards to the Sixers. (Philly.com)

Jesse Jackson’s commentary on the rise of guns and hate. (Chicago Sun Times)

The much anticipated Lox renunion is in fact real. (SOHH)

Davey D posts a lost interview with Tupac Shakur. Good work D. (Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner)

Muslim Hip-Hop: The Dawah Hope, The Dawah Reality and Changing The Game. (Muslim Poet)

Supreme Court rejects final appeal in ‘Cuban Five’ spy case. (Miami Herald)

In my first interview with Chuck D on Michaeltillery.com (only a shell is still up on the server…won’t be there long.), Chuck said he thought Hov was the GOAT. I was surprised by the admission but understood his explanation. It touched off a huge debate across the web on various Hip Hop message boards that still goes on today. Well, Mos Def read an article somewhere and questioned whether or not Hov is in fact the best of all time.  He issued his initial challenge here (tongue and cheek, but it is real). I can’t wait for this to go down. I will be front and center. Trust.

Back at it.

The Rooney Rule has been expanded to include NFL high level vacancies. Really interested in your thoughts on this. (PFW)

Thoughts on Sammy Sosa reportedly testing positive for PED’s in 2003? (Chicago Tribune)

Verbum Dei: Black Institution or Done? Andre Miller’s high school makes historical coaching hire which has split its administrative and alumni base. (The LA Sentinel)

The Mighty Mos issues a rap battle challenge to Jay and Kanye. Damn right. We’ve all been waiting for something like this for a long time. (MTV)

An open letter to the class of 2009. Congratulations (Real Talk Express)

Surviving the summer. (Final Call)

The remix of one of my all time Hip Hop tracks:

Barry Bonds’ timing mechanism. Reggie Jackson’s swagger. Tiger Woods’ precision. Michael Jordan’s desire. Tim Duncan’s consistency. Derek Jeter’s professionalism.

After last night, now we can add Kobe Bryant’s level of commitment.

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It hasn’t quite been a muggin’, but it sure looks like it huh? What do you think? Do the Lakers win it all tonight on Orlando’s floor…sending pre-teen Magic fans on a tearful lifelong journey of what if regret?

That was me when Magic went 42, 15 and 7 to go along with Silk’s 37 and 10 rips. My little black and white TV went out because I smacked the mess out of it and watched Magic smile historically on my sister’s TV as she slept. Still stings.

Damn right I cried. Cried like I had on one of those onesy jawns you could moonwalk with…yeah the ones my two rock heads used to wear. Damn Messy Marvins…

Oh, my bad.

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We all saw this coming. Michael Vick has been released by the Falcons. There are many many fans who will miss the thrills he gave them during his time under center in the ATL. This gives Mike a chance to sign with any team in the league. Personally, I would like to see him go to San Franciso. Coach Mike would make sure Mike does everything he’s supposed to do and will also ensure everything stays in house. Whoever picks up Vick will have to deal with constant media and Peta pressure.

There is going to be a bevy of press reporting this over the weekend and into next week. Most pundits you hear and read will say he’s old, he’s not a quarterback, he’s a running back, a wide receiver or a kick returner.

BS.

This is how I see it:

Right now, he’s one of the best athletes in the league with one of the strongest arms as well. After Goodell decides if he’s gonna suspend Mike or not, I would sign him to an incentive based contract, give him all the support I could and let him show what he can do.

He’s paid his debt to society when he served jail time for dog fighting.

Mike was contrite before entering Leavenworth and humbled himself before the world.

Time to move on.

He’ll have a huge chip on his shoulder to prove to the world he’s not a wildcat quarterback. It’s ridiculous to think there are 30 better quarterbacks in the NFL.

He’s not a running back. He’s a quarterback.

Get over it. Stop thinking it. Doesn’t matter what the pundits say.

He never really had a shot at seriously competing for a Super Bowl in Atlanta despite taking the Falcons to the NFC Championship. Hopefully he’ll go to a team where there are receivers in place so he can show the world just how talented he still is.

Watch and listen how teams hype up their qb’s so their collective fan base are ultimately against signing Mike.

Mike if you or any of your people read this, I want to interview you.