Wednesday Morning Starting Five: The Earth Day Jawn
Ethiopian, Kenyan win Boston Maraton. (Boston Globe)
Derrick The Bull Wonder Rose wins Rookie of the Year. Congrats Pooh. Proud of you man. (Chicago Tribune)
Jason Terry wins Sixth Man of the Year. (Dallas Morning News)
Earth Day is today. Like I said on fb, fellas it ain’t just about the ladies. (Earthday.net)
Freddie Mac CFO found dead of hanging. (ABCnews.com)
Athletic Blacks vs. Smart Whites: Why sports stereotypes are wrong. (Huffington Post)
Just a Momment…
Nice links, Mizz.
D. Rose rose up.
That Freddie Mac points to the HuffPo article. I don’t have the time to read that, but suffice it to say, folks are almost always in over their heads when they talk about “race.” Most can’t define it. Most don’t know who did define and why. And that’s just the start of the problem. Big up to Myron Rolle on winning his Hitler Scholarship — er, I mean Rhodes Scholarship. Let’s hope that young Myron knows exactly who Cecil Rhodes was and what his legacy has been.
Todd McShay and Mel Kiper keep saying Matt Stafford from Georgia will be drafted by the Detroit Lions, but I just don’t see it happening. McShay and Kiper are setting themselves up for some major egg on their faces.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/thehuddle/2009/04/does-renewed-daunte-allow-lions-to-avoid-qb-with-no-1-pick.html
The pick could be Baylor’s Jason Smith, an offensive lineman or Aaron Curry. Drafting down could open up the possibility for the drafting of a very versatile and durable Donald Brown from Connecticut along with one of the remaining O-Lineman on the draft board–maybe Andre Smith.
Martin Mayhem, former NFL cornerback (with a law degree) and Florida State alum is the new general manager, and he is the fourth African-American general manager in football. Mayhem is a defensive guy, and current Lions head coach, Jim Schwartz is a former defensive coordinator. Detroit had one of the worst defenses in football.
I think defense will be a definite priority, but improving the offensive line and securing a productive, durable RB tandem is just as important.
A healthy Culpepper is better option than either Sanchez or Stafford– maybe the old school haters from ESPN who are trying to push Stafford (a Joey Harrington waiting to happen), but the Lions can win games in 2009, but if Stafford is picked, 0-16 or 1-15 is very possible.
I am not a millionaire dollar draft ‘expert’, but Stafford wasn’t overly impressive here at Georgia, and I wasn’t really impressed with his leadership qualities either.
Duante Culpper has been the forgotten man in Detroit. Culpeeper just turned 32 and apparently healthy. So to me this Duante Culpepper’s job and wasting a #1 pick on Stafford is not a good decsiion. The Lions need to TRADE DOWN in the first round, and draft DEFENSE. Plus, find a power running back who can help their running game.
Culpepper always had a big arm, but he must learn to be more of a ‘game manager’. At 32, he doesn’t need to be throwing the ball 30-40 times a game. Duante, at times, does hold on to the football and fumble in the pocket, but he needs to realize its NOT ABOUT STATS, BUT WINNING. Baltimore and Atlanta had game managers as rookie QBs, but dominate running games. The Lions need to established a power running game. In Atlanta, Michael Turner had 1,700 rushing. Turner was the reason the Falcons were able to turn their season around.
If Culpepper keeps his ego and weight (currently at 260) in check, and just manage the game, Detroit can compete for a playoff spot in 2009.
Commissioner Goodell continues to say Vick has to show genuine remorse? What in the hell does that mean? Cry on the Oprah Winfrey show? Let a dog bite him 100 times on national TV? Tell ESPN he isn’t a real QB and that he apologizes for beating Brett Favre in 2002 at Lambeau Field during the playoffs?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imq-hSCSw_pJUz5V1OwYgazucdMwD97N7N100
Vick has paid an unprecedented $900,000 (slush fund) for the lifetime care of 47 dogs which were later deemed by experts as adoptable to the public (even though the Humane Society/PETA said they were fighting dogs that should be put to death in April 2007).
Goodell needs to answer to why he destroyed those Spygate tapes…
Percy Harvin has no one else to blame, but himself.
http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/college/florida_gators/2009-04-21/story/gators_harvin_falling_on_draft_boards
Knowing that he would be tested at the NFL combine and still come up ‘positive’ does verify the red flags and character concerns affixed to him.
Percy had worked so hard in the weight room to become stronger and more durable, and now this test could push his draft status way down, and will be automatically entered for MORE drug testing once he enters the NFL.
Dick Cheney is now trying to say Obama is just like Jimmy Carter.
Cheney literally hid from media for months at a time over the past eight years, now he can’t stop talking…. it’s almost like he daring Obama and/or Eric Holder to indict him now.
Cheney may get his wish, but it will be on Obama’s terms…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/04/20/DI2009042001847.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/guillain-barr-syndrome-re_n_190095.html
I hope Refrigerator Perry recovers very soon.
As an African-American community, black folks should take Earth Day more seriously. Green jobs and transitioning to green energy is the future.
>>President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $500 million for green-collar training. It also invests a lot of money to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, which will create a lot of immediate jobs for workers who have skills in energy auditing, says Ellis-Lamkins. According to a 2008 report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors “U.S. Metro Economies: Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy” 85% of green jobs were located in metropolitan areas in 2006.>>
http://www.blackenterprise.com/being-green/entrepreneurs-being-green/2009/04/16/grabbing-african-americans-by-the-green-collar/
Van Jones: Obama’s Black Czar of Green Jobs
http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/04/21/van-jones-obamas-black-czar-of-green-jobs/
I remember seeing him on C-SPAN during Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union a few months ago. He presented a great case in regards to what’s in it for African-Americans and how its important for us to get ahead on this issue of transitioning to a green economy.
So the CFO of Freddie Mac “hanged” himself huh? Just like the DC Madam…../snark
Interesting column about possible blackmail of Congress members by the Bush White House. The writer raises some solid points of questions I asked during eight years of W like how Congress bent over backwards to give this guy’s administration everything they wanted while not even offering token resistance.
Here’s the link:
http://www.counterpunch.com/lindorff04232009.html