Silver Not So Sterling In Ruling Against Donald.

My attempt to avoid finding myself in total disagreement with Magic Johnson has failed.

Magic is my hero.  I still consider him to be the greatest basketball player of all time.  Michael Jordan was never as fun for me to watch as Magic was.  What Magic could do on the court was simply....... magic.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson did not create this firestorm of controversy.  Magic was captured, by photo, in the presence of Donald Sterling's dime piece.  For some odd New Jersey Bridge scandal type reason, Sterling decided to record his love of Magic, but his disdain for black people and the mistress.  When Sterling no longer gave a dime to his dime, she dropped a dime on Donald.

That's the story.  We all know it and no one seems to dispute the nature of the details.  Whether you focus on the fact that we are all party to an extortion effort or the simple reality of the hate filled words, the facts are the facts. This was a recorded lover's quarrel, and black folks got dissed on it.

Black people: You ain't neva' said that same kinda stuff
about white people?......Ninja please....you too Magic .

Now, any person reading this post who has never said anything foul against another race or culture while in the confidence of people who do the same thing as well, raise your hand? Since the new Pope doesn't read my post yet, I assume that we have very few hands raised, but let's go deeper.

Any black person, Magic Johnson included, who hasn't spoken about white people in a racially bigoted manner, raise your hand?.  I am a ninja (my replacement for the N-word) from the projects, so don't make me give you the look. T.D. Jakes, I see you out there grinning, but your hand is not raised so that's cool.  Not one ninja in my entire family better raise their hands, that's for damn sure.

I got another one for you.  

Is it housing discrimination to not put a black family in the middle of a bunch of Korean people?....YES! Especially if they really need housing right away. Sterling paid a hefty price legally for behaving in this fashion, and the scuttlebutt in LA was that he is a discriminatory slum lord.

If that, which was legally decided upon in the court of law, was not enough grounds for removing Sterling, then what makes this latest incident more worthy?

MAGIC!

Hey baby...where's Donald?

Let's assume that the black person who Donald scolded his mistress over was not Magic Johnson.  Would we care so much about this story?  Would Magic? Magic was among the first to call for removing Sterling from the league, and it is hard to think that he did this for any reason other than the public embarrassment it represented to his mega-rich ass.  If the black guy she was seen with was ......ME, do you think they would have banned him for life ?


Magic is an LA rich man.  If anybody in the world knew about Donald Sterling, the slumlord embarrassment to the NBA, it was Magic Johnson.  What did Magic and everyone else who care to know about Sterling think of him before this video revelation?


Everybody thought Sterling was exactly who they have proof of him being now.  Yet, no player, former or current, can give you a story of Donald Sterling the racist owner.  His lawsuit against Elgin Baylor was an age discrimination lawsuit that was  handsomely settled out of court, even though the courts found in favor of Sterling. For many years, Elgin Baylor ran the very organization that other teams threatened to send you to if you did not perform for them.  Even Baylor couldn't claim being racially discriminated against when he considered a world where other black executives and coaches operated with a much shorter leash than he enjoyed for years.

Talks have begun about Magic Johnson organizing the group to purchase the team from Sterling.  Does the fact that Magic could not raise his hand to my earlier question disqualify him from ownership or does he have to get caught on tape before he can be disqualified.  If a homey from the barber shop from way back in the day comes out and reveals the things Magic might have said in quiet confidence, does that hold any weight?

While listening to Sacramento Mayor (and former NBA player) Kevin Johnson on the Dan Patrick show, I heard him close his remarks about Sterling by saying that "institutional racism" can not be allowed.  Sadly, we have done nothing against the institution of racism except slap a muzzle on it.  Sterling is the closest examination of honest racial dialogue that we have been given in a long time, however scathing it appears.
If we remove him from ownership just for being a bigot than who among us is truly qualified to replace him?

Not I, that's for sure.

Niggers and crackers have pissed me off equally over the years.  Took me a long time to understand why I shouldn't call Mexican's wetbacks, but I am certain I have said that before. My homophobia was sickening as a teenage boy, and maybe even a little bit after that.  I think it took chronic tendinitis to get over my fear of old people.  Now, half way through life expectancy I love me some elderly folk and can see clearly how age discrimination is a dangerous concern to our society. In my realm as a hiring manager, I could have been unknowingly guilty of it as well.

Mayor Johnson was in the presence of several other former NBA greats when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the ruling against Sterling.  At the time, he said those in the room all applauded the ruling. Either they are happy that racism is being removed or that it is being silenced.  If racism is embarrassing, silencing it's voice will not fix the problem.  By removing Sterling the NBA might be less likely to find itself associated with a videotaped racist, but does the ruling against Sterling change the hearts of other owners who are like him?

I grew up in a house with a plaque on the wall that read:

                     -"You have not converted a man                                    because you have silenced him"

The more I live the more it makes sense.  We will not convert Sterling by silencing him, or improve America by pretending people like him do not exist, or don't deserve a prominent place in society.  The truth is that Sterling is just one of many prominent/rich bigots who we have most likely silenced, but not converted.

Not Magic Johnson of course.....just the other rich bigots.

Patrick Roy Teaches Life Lesson While Leading Av's To Victory

I am a passionate person with a passion for life and all things Colorado.  That includes the Avalanche (when they are winning) so my passion fire burned hot as the Av's took on the Wild in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoff chase.

The Colorado Avalanche are a very important team in Colorado. They are the team who helped us to capture our first major sports championship prior to Elway and the boys joining in on the act.  We enjoyed that run in true Colorado sports fashion.  Inside of those two championship journey's was plenty of reason to doubt.  The first title came in the face of immense opposition  while the second championship was captured in a way that resembled this season's opening round game against the Minnesota Wild. Back then, the Av's were a capable team that took it on the chin early in the finals only to find its fire from a legendary spark plug named Ray Bourque. Bourque inspired the team to get up off the mat when they had been knocked down and appeared beaten.

As I listened to the game on radio, (I much prefer it to television) I found myself standing face to face with the volume dial as I shadow boxed my way through the entire last minute of play. The Av's had once again picked themselves off of the mat and were mounting an attack against their opponent.

If you don't follow hockey, you are not likely to be reading this post, so I won't review the game much at all assuming you already watched it.  In short, the Av's scored first and appeared to be delivering some good blows at a goalie who held strong.  Minnesota responded quickly and often to everything the Av's offered up in this game and eventually gained confidence in their goalie by extending the game to a 4-2 lead in the 3rd period.  When the Av's scored to put the game within one point, it became a forgone conclusion that Patrick Roy would pull his goalie if the team could not generate the offense they needed to tie the game.

Roy not only pulled the goalie, he did it with over 3 minutes left in the game.  Historian's worldwide instantly stood in amazement wondering if any coach had every done such a thing with so much time to play in a playoff game. Coaches the world wide tweeted the letters WTF across the worldwide web trying to see which handbook this was drawn from and why did Roy have the only copy.

This coach (Me) immediately dropped the pool stick that I was holding and walked directly up to the radio, as if standing in front of it would get me right out onto the ice.  My eyebrow's remained stuck in the sky as I listened to see how each team would respond to this move.  I was hopeful for a score, but afraid bad luck would intervene since it had a 3 minute window to play with.  Bad luck usually needs much less time to do its damage.

As bad luck would have it, a puck popped loose an headed straight for the Av's net. The radio description of the puck that headed towards our goal felt like the final blow until Erik Johnson saved the day.  In a miraculous bout of effort and luck (the puck never got flat so it eventually slowed) Johnson stopped an imminent goal and justified the confidence of his coach.

I come from the Jim Thompson "Positive Coaching" school of thought, and I am keen on what happens when coaches invest belief and confidence into their players.  Great coaches are on a mission to help you see your capacity and to give you the fight to fulfill it to the best of your ability.  If you ever begin to doubt your own ability (as young teams often do), great coaches have enough confidence in themselves and in you to fill the void.

Confidence in sports is a unique thing because their is a wide gap between the words and the actions.  As a coach, I can say I believe in you but if I never put you in the game or let you stay there when you are not succeeding, then there is a  gap between the words and the actions.  Great coaches are looking for an opportunity to tell their players that they believe in them, but they are desperate for a chance to show it.

Patrick Roy is a legend in sports for reason's that had nothing to do with coaching.  This season, and in this game, his legend grew in a special way.  Roy saw a chance to display confidence in his team, but he wasn't exactly a river boat gambler.  His team had practiced this approach for a long time leading up to that moment, so they were confident in the approach.  In fact, it is something that most teams will do when faced with game desperation.

Just not at three and a half minutes.  60 seconds of an empty net is about all that any normal coach can endure without passing out from sheer anxiety.  By leaving the Avalanche net empty for over 3 minutes, Patrick Roy shifted the series and probably the playoffs all in one gutsy call.

Prior to that moment, Colorado sports fans were witnessing a much less painful variety of the Denver Broncos over the last two seasons.  An immensely talented team was once again outmatched or outlasted in the playoffs.  Minnesota put on a defensive display that ignited their offense and the concerns of Avalanche nation that all of our excitement was probably a season too soon. The moment Roy pulled the goalie, the Wild took on a defensive posture that eventually came to resemble the fetal position.

In the last minute of play, the Wild hoped they could simply absorb the Av's blows and just beat them on the score card. As I stood at the face of my radio swinging punches like a boxer, I became convinced that the same team that stopped an obvious open net goal would find a way to tie this game and win it in overtime....and they did it.

Not every defeat is quite the same.  Some of them have lasting effect.  Barring another injury, the Av's have probably finished off the Wild by snatching their hearts out in the first game.  The heart of an athlete will regrow, but it takes some time.

What also takes some time is the journey of legend.  Sure, for us sport fans it seems like the speed of light as we recollect the flashes of brilliance that connect us to our sports heroes.  For Elway, it was all of those amazing comeback moments with the spinning helicopter play against Green Bay in the Superbowl as the flashes in time that established his legendary status.  For Roy it will be similar, but his legend is gaining images that started on the ice and are extended to the coaching box.

First it was the opening game assault on the glass partition between him and the opposing coach, and now
 we will talk about the day he pulled the goalie at 3 minutes and won the game.  In both situations, he was making a statement that every coach, every parent and every leader of others could learn from.

"I Believe In You"!

If Race Is our #1 Issue, Should It Be Our #1 Conversation?

Electing Barack Obama not only represented the beginning of Hope and Change, it allowed America an opportunity to ease long standing guilt.  The White House of only white men  gave race critics plenty of room to complain.  When president Obama moved his family in to the White House, he ushered in a term called post-racial America; an America where race no longer is the limiting stigma that it used to be.  The America that asks, "how did Oprah and Obama happen if America is so racist"?

Whether you chuckle at the very notion of post-racial America, or you believe that we can never move on until we simply move on, America is constantly making a topic out of matters of race while simultaneously running from any genuine conversation about it.  

The truth about the Obama presidency is that Obama has closely followed Clinton's moderate, to right leaning policies, so it seems reasonable to expect that republicans could find as much common ground with this President as they did with Bill.  Shunning the single payer option for a Federal version of RomneyCare  is as right leaning as is the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), Obama's NAFTA equivalent.  To many black people (including me), going through life answering to the name "Barry" instead of Barack is a sign of Barack's propensity towards anglo assimilation instead of the black power persona given to him via connections to Jeremiah Wright or My Brothers Keeper.

Barack Hussein Obama, who has family roots from Kenya, was always going to have a hard time bridging the racial divide in America.  I have a hunch that Barry Obama, the Harvard Graduate who deports more Mexican's than Bush ever dreamed of, might have been received in a different way by those still hung up on his skin tone. During the Bush year's, the KKK was dying into a marginalized group.  Under Obama they are alive and kicking and a group that is back on the move. The fear that white America is becoming a minority speaks to the ear of many  white Americans, even if extremism isn't how they express this concern.

As Black America evolves politically, we remain largely unified on the idea that we have yet to reach the place that Martin Luther King Jr. had dreamed of for America.  Even Herman Cain, once seen as a republican front runner for the presidency, cried racism when seedy stories from his past curtailed his run at the white house. For every moment that we feel progressed as a nation relative to matters of discrimination, we are constantly taken back by stories of voter suppression and of states who've flipped their "white only" signs around in order to write the words "heterosexual's only"

Not every apparent racial debate is naturally divided along racial lines.  Voter suppression, immigration, entitlement reform (which now includes the ACA) are all matters of public policy that do not differentiate on racial lines but  have been primarily drawn on lines of social status (the givers versus the takers).  Yet, when you separate the masses and look at the faces, race can not be ignored as an obvious element within these stories too.  Nancy Pelosi says that immigration reform would have already been signed if the said immigrants were Irish. The difference of course has much to do with the opened border we share with Mexico versus Ireland, but many people would say that Pelosi is right.

Race has conspired against America from the day that it was allowed to be a dividing line between its citizens. Yes Mitch McConnell.  The opposing party to a seated president has always fought the good fight of legislative give and take.  Never have they done it using kamikaze warfare.  To educated observers, the end game of this republican power play will resemble that of Jim Jones during the Jonestown massacre.  It is virtually impossible to explain away your "true motives" when your end game seems to disregard your own safety.  Wallowing in the mud just to get a little of it on your enemy might be a way to cloud the waters on Obama's legacy, but at what cost.? Republican's have always opposed Democrat policy,...... just not like this.  Are they truly attacking the left, or are they left with no other explanations for their intense focus on the failure of America's first brother?

If it is fair to say that the race of Barack Obama has conspired to grind politics (immigration, ACA repair, entitlement reform) to a halt, then it is probably fair to say that race remains our number one issue.

While no one wishes to be labeled a complainer, only unresolved complainers get offended by the label.  (I am personally a classism complainer ) No matter how right you think you might be,  the challenge is to find a way to address issues that matter to you without sounding like a complainer, even when complaining is your only recourse.  Martin Luther King Jr. complained about the nature of this nation and his complaining got him memorialized. Yet, even Dr. King saw the lines between poverty and color blur as he pressed towards a better America for blacks, who's primary challenge was the impact of racism (poverty) and not simply  the viciousness of hate.

There are black people who will falsely tell you that minorities can not be racist' (by definition) because racism is an act of powerful people against weaker ones. Whether the crime is racism or bigotry, there are plenty of examples of how we all let stereotypes of race taint our image of the world, leading to our abuse towards the people in it. As a result, we all expand racism and classism in our own way.  In effect, no one cares to address something that everybody practices.

With as much as we discussed these things in grade school, why is America still full of  racial stereotypes?  

The easy answer is that we forgot the lessons we learned.  We  limited our conversation to those mandatory classes, and forgot to reinforce that, while stereotypes are generally true, they are viciously dangerous to employ.  Our teachers always told us that there are no stupid question because they knew that the height of human ignorance is a question unasked. By asking questions about geometry we indirectly master the language of the craft.  

Race is no different. Without a healthy conversation surrounding race, we do not have the strength of vocabulary needed to further the discussion. In the absence of the proper words for discussions of race, most of us mess up when seeking to learn about others.  Eventually we came up with a term called political correctness (which means the other guy is simply way too sensitive) and refuse to go down that road ever again.

Political correctness has been the fuel to the growth of racial division, but now it is high tide. We must link arms and test these waters for change.  Change is necessary because we take way too much comfort in our stereotypes. Absent of our stereotypes, we are forced to do the work it takes to get to know people independent of their persona, which is largely driven by race and class.  

When it comes to genuine discussion, our reluctance to "go there" as it relates to race is because it is a sensitive scab that just doesn't heal quickly.  Some say that our problem is that we won't leave the scab alone long enough for it to fully heal and fall away.  Some believe that in time, racial division might heal itself because technology has joined people together in a way that removes the ignorance, and thus the fear that we have towards one another.  Unfortunately, this method of racial progress demands the death of several generations of ignorant people who continue to proliferate racial division by breeding the same fear that was bred into them.

President Barack Obama has been extremely aware of the presence of the racial extreme's in America.  Obama needed a significant turnout from his base, so he has tried to be as cool a black man as he knows to be without being a President of just the black people.  As a result, he has offended many of those who voted for him to represent their unheard voices, while simultaneously offending those who generally oppose cool black guys.

It is hard to ever say that 'the time is now' to have this discussion because it is not easy to get any one of the races to embrace their role towards change.  What is an obvious reality is that the Obama family forces everyone (even other blacks) to see black people in a different light.  Before the Obama's, it has been nearly impossible for America to see any black man as smart and passionate and articulate enough to outshine the white guys who have dominated the white house.  Now that the Obama family has come along, the world has an opportunity to see black Americans in a much less monolithic way.  We are more than entertainers.

It is also very hard to gain an understanding about someone else when you start with too many preconceived notions (stereotypes).  Every action that a person does when cast beneath the shadow of a stereotype is darkened by that shadow. Even your positive traits can be rationalized away by someone who generally see’s you in a negative light.  Whites and blacks and all races do this to each other; holding securely to our stereotypes until we meet someone who forcefully snatches them from our grip by defying them all, and then we simply count them as an exception to the rule as we continue to discriminate against the rest. 

Obama has shattered many stereotypes of black people, but he has not removed common questions. Barack Obama has unsettled dust that had long since found a comfortable resting place. He has been a steroid to the leadership journey that  other black leaders started years ago.  Sometimes, their is a legitimate curiosity as to what a black man might do in the face of leadership. Other times, people just want to see what your hair actually feels like. In the end, we haven't given enough black leaders a fair chance to know what the data will show, and we haven't given enough white people a chance to touch our hair. One day we might finally discover that black leaders succeed and fail just the same as others.  One day we might realize that the only true difference does lie in the skin tone and hair texture.

The Obama’s are cool and smart and composed and charismatic and black.  They are the Huxtables who made it to the very top of the mountain.  They make many people have to observe and rethink their impressions of all blacks because if there is one family  like this, there has to be two.   Most importantly, while they help us to accept that we have come a long way, they remind us daily of how far we have yet to go. Especially with matters of race.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
When is the right time to stage an intervention?  

The time is ripe for this debate that we have long since tip-toed around.  We are more polarized than ever because those who are most benefited by divisions of race and class are afraid of what happens when these institutions fall.  The KKK was able to thrive for years by feeding off of the contrived fear that had been developed against blacks and Jews.  As that fear dissipated, so did their power base.  Racism and racist organizations survive from fear. Fear is a funny thing because the less man fears God, the more likely we are to become fearful of one another stifling the quality of our conversation.  In my mind, racism grows because it continues to be fertilized by fear and watered by ignorance.

When race is implicated as a contributor or an impediment to social class, minorities develop class envy breeding a widespread inclination for unhealthy consumerism (keeping up with the Joneses) that only increases the class divide.  Classism is the ugly institution that feeds off of our pursuit to afford an unhealthy version of the American Dream.  Classism thrives from our inability to define the dream for ourselves and not succumb to a force fed dreamlike illusion.  In the end, classism wins if it convinces anyone of us that what I lack is directly related to what you have.  When you then associate this same notion to skin color, you create a destructive convergence which some are describing as the most intense polarization of modern history.

We first allowed fear to polarize us, but now we are letting the fear of our dying familiarity (aka stereotypes) overwhelm the fear of impending change. Our stereotypes are not only easy and familiar to us all, they keep us safe from the unknown and the uncomfortable.   Every black man you once feared isn't necessarily your opponent anymore.  Some of them are like Herman Cain and a few are like Spike Lee who both moved away from city folks when their money elevated their class, but are probably  similarly stereotyped by the suburbanites who they call neighbors.  

Racism may not be gone, but it finds a way to temper itself when confronted by wealth. For people without money, racism seems the same as it ever was.  For those who have money, racism is a taboo topic that most will shun within every environment that money controls.   A person's color might influence our initial impression, but a keenly purchased watch or pair of shoes can offer a sufficient head fake.  Thanks to black conservatism, electing a black president and nice watches and shoes, racism is no longer painted on the face of America even if it remains in our bloodline.

So is racism a legitimate problem worthy of a legitimate conversation, or is the alleged abuse of Barack (because he's a brother) much to do about nothing?....and what do black people's hair actually feel like? 

Who know's because we just won't 'go there.  In order to get a check up, you have to be willing to visit the doctor.  When it comes to getting a checkup on racism, America has yet to make the appointment.

What I know for certain is this.

When you seek to find common ground, you quickly discover how easy it is for any two people moving towards each other to close the gap between them. My hope is for the death of fear and the hope of change wherein lies the conversations of a brighter tomorrow.

Golf Offers Discipline Like No Other Sport.......Discipline Is Good.

My backyard golf course has fostered many important lessons.  In golf, you either block out distractions, or play poorly.

Do you know how much money we spend each day to house and feed prison inmates?  Me either, but I bet it is a lot.

How about the cost of caring for them as juveniles before they finally make it to the big house?  Do you know how much that might cost America?  I am sure it is really expensive as well.

Some of the worst of today's prison inmates actually started in the social service system as children of other prison inmates, or were rescued from broken families before they climbed the criminal ladder to become inmates themselves. Do you think our money was well spent?

My life was never as tumultuous as many of the young men that I grew up with as a kid, but I certainly had  friends and family all around me that suffered from the impact of maturing in a social environment that seemed less interested in your success and more interested in your compliance.  For me, the combination of seeing negative images and positive voices kept me from falling onto the wrong side of the story myself, but I always think about the kids who didn't make it through as I thank God for all of those who did.

If we had only had golf

As a child, I was mostly like every other kid in my neighborhood.  We all played sports, and most of them either involved an element of violence, or a demand for teamwork, or both.  The problem with being an impressionable child is that violent sports offer a release and an altered reality of acceptability.  Every traditional team sport that we play offers an opportunity to violently enact pain upon your opponent. If you grow to develop your sports skills  without sufficient social skills to balance, it is likely that you will see violence as a reasonable solution to common problems in life.....all from a day in the life of common sports in America.

What is also a common trend is that kids without stable family environments fail to thrive in sports and never develop the most important skill that team sports offers.  Teamwork!  Children who do not learn to constructively fight through their problems may actually choose to fight when problems arise.  This is a learned behavior that violent sports help to develop, yet one that wise parents can mitigate a bit.

In the absence of wise parenting, I believe that  we are losing kids early in life due to poorly channeled aggression that is grossly misguided in our some of our at risk youth.

 I have a solution..........

Golf!

I never played golf as a kid, but as an adult,  I quickly experienced the joy of butchering a few round or so each year in the company of business associates who are golf fanatics.  Now that I am also a golf fanatic, I realize how other golf fanatics utilize every sneaky opportunity to get on the course, and I was simply enjoying the perk of having business associates who golf.

What prompted me to really learn to play comes from the thoughts and theme that I began with.  How much does it cost to deal with a child who is losing their way?  In the case of Sir Mario Owens, it cost us the life of Javad Marshall Fields and his fiance Vivian Wolfe.

In case you are unfamiliar with this case, here is an excerpt from the Fields/Wolfe Memorial Fund website.

While attending Colorado State he (Javad) touched the hearts of many. One such friend was Vivian Wolfe. In June 2005, Javad gave Vivian an engagement ring. They planned to relocate to Virginia; both were looking forward to starting a wonderful life together with their dogs “Coco” & “Face.” On June 20, 2005, Javad and Vivian were gunned downed and killed while driving down a street in Aurora, Colorado. Javad Marshall Fields was scheduled to testify against Robert Ray for his criminal involvement in the killing of Gregory Vann. He observed Robert Ray leaving the scene in a vehicle after the shooting. He cooperated with law enforcement authorities. He was murdered days before he was due to testify for the prosecution. The District Attorney office stated that Javad Marshall Fields never asked for or requested witness protection services.

I came to know about this story more personally because I had the honor, for several years, of donating signs for the charity golf tournament that spawned out of a mother's grief.  Rhonda Fields is that mother, and if she tells you the story herself, she would let you know that her initial focus was to raise money to catch the criminals herself.  In the early days of rage and anger, Fields needed to feel like something was being done about this travesty.

Over time, her focus evolved and her energy transferred into raising money to help educate other Colorado State University students just like Javad and Vivian. (Fields has currently advanced her role in the community by being elected to the State House of Representatives)  The Fields Wolfe Memorial Fund focuses on awareness about intimidation against witnesses and seeks to ensure that we all have the courage to do what Javad did.

It also seeks to offer a way out of the situation that causes young people to fall into trouble.  Through  educational scholarships offered at CSU on behalf of Javad and Vivian, students each year are given the financial support it takes to succeed and become a productive person in society and not succumb to the negative influences of life.

Sir Mario Owens was the gunman assigned to murder Fields and Wolfe.  As bad luck would have it, I would eventually earn the job of producing a poster board for the Owens' murder defense team.  On this poster was a graphic breakdown of this young man's family tree.  Littered throughout was an unusually high amount of family members who suffered from mental illness.  I recall seeing Rhonda Fields during the trial, and it was clear that even she was afraid that his defenders had produced a compelling case for how this kid went astray.

I also recall how torn inside I was when I congratulated her on winning this death penalty case while visions of that gigantic family tree board remained etched in my brain.

I understand why we have the death penalty and have never appreciated our use of it until I saw it comfort someone who matters more to me than any dead criminal.  Yet, everyday that I spend with young men who I hope to teach about life through the medium of sports, I wonder........ which one won't make it? When you haven't already developed the discipline to work well with others and the respect to listen to an adult, what options are left?

Golf!
No really.  Golf is an answer to how we rescue young people that we continue to lose early in life.

I literally had an Oprah, a'hah moment when I started to think about the functional benefits of golfing.  If nothing else, it is hard to beat the pure stress relief of smacking the hell out of that little white ball.  The moment we begin to detect an aggression issue with a child, we should find a way to channel that energy into golf.  The pure rush of violently hitting a ball  has consistently been enough to inspire the need for more.  Team sports might offer a similar outlet, but they demand that you understand the team part first.  Golf does not.

Golf is a sport that turns you into your own coach on the field.  A caddy can guide you, but the final choice is always in the hands of the golfer.  Such a responsibility forces a focus that team sport athletes never quite experience.

Golf is both empowering and humbling at the same time.  As golf builds confidence, it ensures humility as well. Golf is an unconquerable sport that uses mother nature as its wicked partner.  Whether wet greens or dry, high winds or low, even the same golf course never really plays the same way twice.

A golfer is more than an athlete.  A golfer is a thinking person with an ability to quickly analyze and execute a plan of action. The worst golfer has a keen understanding of how to quickly analyze and create a plan, even if the execution gets marred by confidence. The best of golfer can make micro-adjustments with there hands and club within a fraction of a second in order to impact club contact,  flight and roll of the ball.

What I know for certain is that most sports experiences translate into life situations.  Athletes the world over declare how they learned to deal with real life situations from real sports challenges.  Almost every real life challenge has been personified with a sport equivalent (and a matching movie).  We are a nation of sports enthusiast' who raise our children with sports as a nanny .  Even as we accept that every sport ain't for everybody, we are limited with very few non-violent alternatives.

Not Golf.

Golf has been primarily reserved for the elite.  The cost of participation has made golf somewhat cost prohibitive, but I think its time we change all of that.  I see the cost of golf as an investment in our future.  Every kid that we save through golf is a kid we save from a much greater future cost to society.  In effect, golf could be priceless.

Golf is a gentleman's game with rules that encourage the inner gentleman to surface.  Walking 18 holes with a bag in tow is intensely physical, so even kids who are struggling with weight problems can be channeled into the world of golf in an effort to impart calorie burning habits.  With every second hand shop littered with cheap golfing equipment, the cost of golfing can be highly affordable, and again, cheaper than prison, or juvenile detention (or gastric bypass).

Now that I know, I'll admit it.  Golf fanatics are always looking for another way to get out and golf and I could be guilty of this malady.  However, as I look back on my anxious childhood, I am convinced that the serenity of golf could have helped. As I consider the challenges of many kids today I get the same feeling.

Even a bad day of golf is a good for your life, and in the end IT is always worth the cost.

The golf and the life.

UConn and Kentucky Shock Critics, Advance To Final Game

There is so much to write about regarding the irony of tonight's National Championship game with the University of Connecticut and the University of Kentucky.  UCONN and KU will square off to answer questions that millions asked going into this tournament, but few had UCONN and KU as the answers.

Given that truth, it also seems appropriate that we all shut up (or write less) and watch the game.  After all, only the friends and family of these teams had these teams winning it all, but even they didn't put it on their bracket. With such abject failure, who among us has room to forecast that which no forecaster had the vision to see.

In hindsight, there was that pre-season poll which placed Kentucky as the number one team in the nation.  The John Calipari recruiting class was seen as an historic group of freshman.  Had the journey been less rough, there might have been more comparison's to the infamous Fab Five of Michigan than ever materialized this season.

What has materialized is a similar scenario to the one that the Fab Five experienced.  Michigan and the Fab Five made it's way to the National Championship game and found themselves head to head against a more seasoned North Carolina team.

Can Napier seize the title and a top draft selection?

Shabazz Napier of UCONN is clearly the flip side to the freshmen of  Kentucky story line.  Napier is a senior who won a National Championship as a freshman, and stayed around to do it again.  In this day and age, staying in school is the formula for losing draft value as upper class players are generally seen as the left behind.  In essence, they become the REST of college basketball, not the BEST of college basketball.

If the older kids win they will say, "Stay In".  If the young boys get it done they will all be gone (since they have finished their one). What is right and what is best may be the same thing, but maybe not. Maybe the right thing is that every American be free to pursue their dreams even while the best thing is to get as many kids as we can ready for the real world.  Some actually say it is impossible to achieve both.

If the Northwestern University athletes and the labor lawsuit that went in their favor is a sign, young people these days are not only clear about what they want, they are willing and able to go get it.  Much like slave owners of the past, the modern owners of the NBA and NFL's unpaid semi-pro league (aka NCAA sports) have made a critical error in allowing the workers to educate themselves. In a twist of irony, the non-guaranteed education that is sort of promised to each kid is proving to be the most dangerous weapon against those who continue to exploit them.

We are all just as shocked by the outcome of the Northwestern ruling as we are with the outcome of this years National Championship run.  I, for one, am done with deciding what young people can or can not accomplish. Even in tonight's game.

How To Cure BBS (Broken Bracket Syndrome) So You Can Enjoy March Madness Again

Check out the best bracket left in this tournament.........Mine..........Sort of!

When you take the time to play lotto, and you are one of those people who plays the same numbers each time, you are passionately connected to each number as the lotto balls get called, unlike those quick picks where you can hardly remember your numbers. When hope is in the air, it hardly matters where those numbers came from, just that they have a chance to be called. Once the reality dons upon you (again) that you didn't win, you lose your connection to that piece of paper rather quickly.

Such is the nature of today's NCAA March Madness Tournament.  Every year is suppose to be that year in which we resurrect our sullen ego and reestablish our basketball prowess.  Back in the day, somebody you know was always the winner of these things.  Now, it seems to be the last guy or gal that you ever expected winning it all.  What is more frustrating is the method to their madness.

Some choose best uniforms, others lean towards hottest cheerleaders.  There hasn't been one of these quirky directions that has shown the power to win year after year, but the quirky road is clearly paved with more riches than the measured one that lead every analyst on ESPN (and Barack Obama) to wrongly choose Michigan State as the national champion..

If you would like to make the argument that this is a reason kids need to stay in college longer I might be inclined to take you up on that notion just for the sake of my Broken Bracket Syndrome (too many years of excessive indulgence in March Madness without a sniff of choosing one Final Four team).  Broken Bracket Syndrome (BBS) is sweeping the nation as we speak, causing millions who love basketball to throw away their useless lotto ticket of a bracket and to possibly lose a viewing interest in the proceedings overall.

From this day forward, I have found the cure for BBS.  Oddly, it derives from the same ideology behind the  lotto we play each week. The quick pick.

Thanks to PickMyBracket.Com (and photoshop), I have the closest thing to a perfect bracket that mankind will ever see in this era of parity in college basketball.

PICKMYBRACKET.COM allowed me to pick my most important statistic for victory and some quirky selection as the criteria for the final bracket it randomly produces. Each of my selections kept "Rebounding" as the number one statistic for victory on a list that included 3 other selections (offense, assists, defense).

For my brackets, the only thing I switched was the quirky option for bracket building, which included 4 choices; Mascot, SAT Scores, Co-Ed Hotness or Best Party School.  The chances of winning the NCAA bracket challenge is hard so hard, billionaire Warren Buffet put up a billion dollar prize for any one who creates a perfect bracket. With riches at stake, playing one bracket is about as smart as playing one lotto ticket

The 3 brackets I chose to follow all appeared plausible and calculated (kind of computer like), so I instantly appreciated the ease of creating something that I have unsuccessfully labored over for years. The only problem was that they each had a few problems.  In that dreaded first round, there are always games that could go either way.  On this website, the option to make minor adjustments to the random selections it generates does not exist (though I bet you it might next year).

For example, I am certainly a Colorado Buffalo fan who was happy to see them get in the tournament, but noticed that they received a life time achievement award with the #8 seed they garnered.  While it was easy to debate the worthiness of such a high seed for Colorado, it was hard to argue with the #9 ranking that their first round opponent, Pittsburgh received en route to a pummeling of the Buffaloes.

My gut said change that selection, but again,  the option did not exist.

My gut also said that UCONN had to be included in the Final Four of my bracket.  So, on this bracket (see above) I did switch out (photpshop) UCONN for Villanova (the computer selected Villanova instead). In actuality, UCONN was the only team that I can truly take credit for selecting.  The other teams were force fed by a computer that factored in party reputation as a key element in which team to choose. (Clearly CU was chosen over Pitt for this reason).

This year, my quick pick bracket gave me a reason to watch closely even after the first round was over.  If I had the foresight to put my money where my new found bracketology is, I might have made out like a bandit this year.  Sadly, this bracket will only give me remnants of my shattered ego back as I have finally risen to the top of my family bracket competition.

Does it matter that I essentially pulled the lever on a slot machine to win this time around?  Broken Bracket Syndrome is an illness that doesn't scoff at hope for a cure.