Knicks

My love affair with the New York Knicks

Year: February 1991
Event: NBA All-Star Game

My first memorable encounter with basketball occurred as a four year old watching the NBA All-Star Saturday festivities. Only four things stick out in my mind that I remember to this day:

- My pops getting Bernard King, Ricky Pierce, and Karl Malone to sign his program
- Seeing MJ and Barkley outside of the Omni Hotel
- Seeing the Fresh Prince sitting courtside talking to Kendall Gill. (At the time, I thought Will Smith was the scariest person on the planet. In my defense, my parents were sort of like the black Flanders, and rap music was public enemy #1 in my house.)
- Seeing Derrick Coleman hugged up with a woman who had half of her hair shaved off. Little did I know, that woman was Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa

Seeing the event live made me have an interest in basketball, and I needed to pick a team. Initially, my favorite team, by default, was the Charlotte Hornets. I attended the games and was a genuine fan. However, the Hornets always played scared. At the time, I was not able to identify their problem as “fear”; in my eyes, it was a matter of them not trying hard enough. Something held me back and I was not able to understand fully what it was. The next year, the Hornets drafted Larry Johnson from UNLV. He signed an $84 million dollar contract, and bought a house in Lake Wylie on the water. He was a local celebrity. He opened a barbershop. The Hornets kept playing scared. This was fall of 1991. I was five.

I started watching basketball more. I joined kindergarten at VCC, and all of the kids were hoop fans. I needed a team, but I did not identify with the Hornets. The main teams that came on that season were: Portland, NY, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland. Every Sunday, my dad and I would eat Sunday dinner, and watch the NBA on NBC. Aside from church, this was probably the most consistent activity on Sunday for seven years. I had no idea who my team was going to be….

and then I watched the Knicks play.

Fear? None.
Intense? Always.
Exciting? Of course.
Underdogs? Absolutely.

Problem solved, I was a Knicks fan.
Little did I know what I signed up for when I made my decision. Here is how the next seventeen years went:

1992 & 1993 – lost to MJ’s Bulls both seasons in the playoffs. (The Hornets made the playoffs for the first time in 1993, and faced the Knicks in the 2^nd round after beating the Celtics. Alonzo Mourning hit the series game winner. Charlotte had a pep rally for the team in Southpark Mall.)

1994 - lost in the Finals to the Houston Rockets. (Starks went 2-18 in game 7, and had his shot blocked by Hakeem in game 6. The game 6 three pointer would’ve given us a championship. I cried…random sidenote, I remember game five being interrupted because of the OJ chase. Damn you Orenthal.)

1995 – lost to Reggie Miller’s Pacers, courtesy of Ewing’s bad knees, and a missed layup.

1996 – MJ returns from his baseball experiment, and beats the Knicks…again.

1997 – beat Charlotte in the first round, but lost to Miami after being up 3-1. The PJ Brown Flip. After the flip, half of our team gets suspended and we have no chance of winning games six and seven. Pat Riley beat us. This begins the Heat vs. Knicks rivalry in the late 90’s…also known as thug ball.

1998 – beat Miami in round one. LJ and Zo had a legendary fight….lost to Reggie Miller’s Pacers in round two.

1999 – beat top seeded Miami with an Allan Houston buzzer-beater. As an 8th seed, we reached the finals. Lost to the Spurs in five games. I watched game five in Shreveport, LA.

If you thought those years were rough, when we were losing in the playoffs, things got absolutely dreadful the next decade.

In an era marked by a drug abusing owner, inept coaches, terrible draft picks, and Stephon Marbury, we failed to win a playoff game for ten years. We made one playoff appearance in ten years. We paid Larry Brown $50 million for five years, he lasted one season. We paid Jerome James $30 million for five years. In four years, Jerome never averaged more than 3 points a game. We paid Stephon Marbury over $20 million in his last season as a Knick, and he never played a game that season. Isiah Thomas had a sexual harassment lawsuit.

And this doesn’t even include the draft history:

We drafted Channing Frye over Andrew Bynum.
Renaldo Balkman over Rajon Rondo.
Frédéric Weis…who never played an NBA Game…over Ron Artest.

To save time, space, and me from killing myself, the Knicks never won more than 40 games from 2001-2009, and every player we drafted during that timeframe, no longer plays for the Knicks. It was madhouse, and we were the laughing stock of the league. Even the Clippers made the playoffs during this time span.

Fuck.

2010 – We clear cap space, and thanks to Donnie Walsh, we build a playoff team. We sign Amare Stoudamire, and Ray Felton. We are a legit team, and for the first time in years, we are shown on national TV.

2011 – Carmelo Anthony is traded to the Knicks and signs a three year extension.

And this is where we are now. People jumping on the Knicks bandwagon because of Carmelo. Although I’m happy my team is doing better, and has a chance to contend for a title the next few years, I am pissed that all these bandwagoners are taking my seat on the bus.

When you love something, you suffer. I have suffered with the Knicks for many years. Through thick, thin, and Eddy Curry. Real fans know what time it is: time to celebrate. We have hope. We have something to be legitimately optimistic for, instead of lying to ourselves, and having conversations with other fans like this: “With Marbury and Zach Randolph, we could make a run at the 8th seed.” I laugh at it now, but in 2007, we were dead serious.

I don’t know how to end this blog. That’s my Knick history. I’ve been down for a while. To the newbies, one piece of advise: when the real fans are talking, just wear your #7 jersey, and do not talk. To the OG’s: keep hope alive.

Peace.

Evolution of Women (From a Male's Perspective)

Like J. Casanova I too apologize for not posting last week.  They really do need to make a blogger app for droid so I can post on the road.  Great weekend with a great friend tho.  So worth it. Also like Jonny, my blog will be inspired by a conversation him and I had over the weekend.  The evolution of women and men and how it affects our interactions.

Since I’ve been in the dating game I have noticed certain things about men and women.  The main thing that I’ve noticed is that today’s woman is a different breed.  I mean think about it.  Women have everything on their side that says they should rule the world.  Everything that says we should have had a woman president before a black president.  They are more organized, more protective, stronger when it comes to raising and caring for family, and hell even better hand writing.  Boys and girls usually go to their mother when something goes wrong for her advice.  Way before they go to their father.  Mommy can fix everything, and daddy is a mediocre substitute or the nigga who can get in contact with mommy easier.  The great equalizer, and honestly the thing that gives man the ultimate advantage is emotional stability. Sanity.  Women are crazy.  Every single one of them and its not their fault.

 When I say crazy, I don’t mean lock them all in a psych ward and throw away the key, but they have a much larger percentage of those who act irrational at times.  Guys are too simple to be irrational.  We go with what makes sense.  Women will know they are being irrational and still want someone to accept it as normal.  That makes sense to women. The man’s brain will never be able to wrap around that.  This leads me to my discussion about the dating scene.

My generation of women has evolved to another level.  They are so ambitious and feel like they can conquer the world, but they lack the vision on what exactly they will be able to accomplish.  Men realize there is a rationale to what they can do.  It’s been proven for centuries.  We have limitations and besides that elite 1% of dudes, we realize and except this.  We just do the best we can do and call it a wrap.  Because women started off a little farther back in the race of life, and were seen as second class citizens for such a long period of time (which I absolutely do not agree with) they have been making up hella ground in “life” realm.  It has gotten to a point where more women have college degrees and are taking the work environment by storm.  All of this is great. 

 

But think about it yall… who seems to be the least satisfied with life?  Who seems to be confused about their direction in life more often?  Women.  It is bc of this Steve Harvey has his special about why BEAUTIFUL SUCCESSFUL women are SINGLE as HELL!  They don’t know what they want and they can’t express it.  This is exponentially true for my generation, which is why COUGARS exist.

Cougars are older women who go after younger men. But truth be told, younger dudes are hunting down these cougars just as much.  The dudes who know what they want out of life I should say.  It is only recently that shows like “Cougar Town” come out and the word cougar takes front and center stage in the dating world.  Women out-number men and women are forced to widen their vision on what is acceptable to date.  Therefore they looked to the younger demographic. Younger guys have found out that the women they were promised to find when they were young boys are not their age.  The women who want that solid dude to fill the traditional roles as a man are older.  Men have an instinctual desire to provide and to protect in order to show their love.  Older women want this, younger girls don’t “need” shit according to them.  Cool. Do your thing, but I’m holla at Vanessa Williams.  And I aint mad at Nick Cannon.

In contrast, guys haven’t changed.  There are still those immature guys who’ve always existed who don’t want to grow up. And there are those men who have all their ducks in a row and are succesful, as well as everything in between.  Women are no longer the matriarchal house sustainers of the past, and that is WONDERFUL.  But they don’t know how far they can go and they will never be happy where they are bc they will always want more. (See my post titled “So Ambitiuous”).

Conclusion.  Guys will continue to find older women more and more attractive as time goes by and medical advances occur.  We will become fearful that the women we wanted to find when we got older do not exist in our age bracket and thus we will find happiness in these older women. Not bc they are less crazy, but they understand their life does have limitations and happiness is not impossible.  It takes insight to realize that only ONE person can be at the top at a time.  Hell 8^th place in a race against 400 people is still great.  Besides, we ALL already one that one race 9 months before we were born.  Enjoy the fact you won life.  Be happy everyday and realize you can be all that want and need to be if you really think about that need part as well.  Achievement is great, enjoyment in what you have is greater.

L’chaim

P!ed P!per 

God Bless 5ivebruhs

My bad on missing last weeks post, I was preoccupied. Fellow 5ivebruh contributor The P!ed P!per came to visit my neck of the woods this past weekend and needless to say we had a blast as usual. That last night got yo ass tho didn't it bruh? LOL! Anyway without disclosing any specifics about where I actually live in order to maintain anonymity, I will say that the weather was off the chain and there was beach drinking involved. Solid weekend. Top 30 all time. Now when you hear "Top 30 weekend of all time" that's discounting the fact that we can only remember about 15 of those most likely. We just know that we've probably had 15 other ones that were just as adventurous. We got into (and out of) some interesting situations together. Some of those situations are the stuff of box office screenplay.

For those of you who are not actually familiar with the concept of 5ivebruhs, it was started less than a year ago by us as newly graduated college buddies who knew the possibility of losing touch over time was upon us. We wanted to act quickly and find a way where we could all contribute and talk about the things we like to talk about. Back in college, it wasn't unusual to have guests over our house who were just waiting on us to start some analytical or completely asinine conversation about women, politics, music, each other, relationships etc. Graduating college kind of reminded us that we would no longer have the opportunity to do it in the same way. 5ivebruhs provides us that outlet and allows people who may or may not know us to hear our opinions and comment.

For that reason Ive got to say, God Bless 5ivebruhs.

I'll leave you with an interesting snippet of a conversation that The P!ed P!per and I had on the way to my crib from the airport.

He was talking about how he doesn't understand why people don't want to have children. His rationale was that every person should want to leave a legacy. He went on the say that if he died without children he would feel incomplete for not carrying on that legacy that was taught to him as a child.

I responded with this (and I think this applies to everyone) it doesn't matter if you die today or 30 years from now. The things that I have learned from him will be things that I teach my children. Its the man or woman that you decide to be everyday that affects people in ways that you will never know. Your legacy is already in motion. That's just something to think about.

Keep reading 5ivebruhs. We'll keep writing.

Sigh

Remember when music video's were inspired, visual representations of the theme and meaning behind the music they were projecting.Yeah I don't either. I mean I remember reading about it in my pop culture classes in college, but rarely are modern music video nothing more then commercials for S*** that I would never be able to afford, and girls I would never mess with. But when okayplayer tweeted Kayne was about to drop the "All of the Lights" video I got excited. "All of the Lights" is arguably the best song on arguably Ye's best album. Not only that, but the movie he released before the album was arguably the most artistic thing done in the hip hop world during 2010. I was hoping for a video that carried meaning, was visually appealing, and made me see the depth of my favorite song that I could not have heard by simply listening to it. There's no way it can go wrong. All star features, Hype Williams was directing, and its Yeezy. Remember "Jesus Walks", "Goldigger", "Touch the Sky", "Diamonds". All amazing videos. "Jesus Walks" had three separate videos, all different in their meaning and theme. And don't tell me you weren't creep out by those little African kids with their freaky black eyes in "Diamonds".

Then "All of the lights" happened, and the hip-hop world let out a collective "WTF". A friend of mine summed it up perfectly.

I didn't know getting a seizure could be so boring

Yep. Scalp, flashing lights, some unexplainable little black girl, more scalp, more flashing lights, Rihanna's boobs for no apparent reason (you know its bad when Rihanna's boobs can't save the video), more scalp, and the back of Kid Cudi's head. Oh, in case you were wondering when Kayne shoots "cop lights" Hype flashes a shot of...cop lights...brilliant! No Fergie (her verse was taken out), no Elton Jon, no Alicia Keys. About inspired as a "Black swan" that was literally 2 hours of Natilie Portman holding a swan, and no Milla Kunis at all. Sigh. So no I am not going to post "All of the Lights" on this blog. But to get the bad taste out of your mouth, I present I'm going to give you 4 inspired Ye videos, that didn't look like they were done by a freshman film student.

I know I've seen that Jacket Before

In an effort to support our brothers, here is a clip from Maurice Whitfield's upcoming webseries Touye Pwen.


We assure you. He's really a nice guy in person.

Belated Valentines Post

I had an epiphany this past weekend. I was working on an audition monologue, and was having some difficulties making it fresh and original. I know this monologue like the back of my hand, having done it for every major audition I’ve had over the past year. Yet it was becoming stale, repetitive, and boring.So, I went back, and re-read the piece(Something I haven’t done since I first memorized it, yeah I know, lazy actor) . I want to highlight how truthful the character’s state of mind is. I think each guy has had this conversation with himself, or a close friend at some point in his life. The text is from Craig Wright's The Pavilion. To give a little background; the main character, Peter, confesses that he is still in love with his ex-girlfriend from high school. He muses on why he can’t seem to forget her, even though years have passed, and both have developed other relationships. Take a second to read it:

I want to go...I want to go where maybe I could have gone with her you know?... if I had been...I don't know more strong or something. When I saw Kari for the first time, Smoke, Ill never forget it. it was like the second or third week of high school and I walked into the audiovisual lab and there she was. And I swear-i couldn't put this into words back then, but I've been thinking allot about it lately-it was really like I could recognize her or something. I don't mean it like we met before or anything. We had never met. It was just...it was as if in her face...in her beauty...I was finally seeing the beauty of everything you know?...the unreachable beauty of the whole world that I had always felt inside and tried to hold on to but never could, it was all in her. To me. That's how I saw it. And I just knew that if I could be with her...by her side you know?...then I could finally feel alive and apart of things. I'd at least have a chance. Now I know it sounds crazy with everything that happened, and there's allot of water that's gone under the bridge, and allot of time has passed, and there's been allot of stupid shit that's happened, and I've done most of it, but when I see her now I still feel the same way. I look at her now and I still see her face, and I think "Oh there you are...the world. Where have you been?" I love her, you know? I screwed up back then, there's no getting around it, but I love her. I think she's great. I love her.

 I’m a romantic, so the idea of walking into a room, and recognizing your soul mate is appealing. I think what we lose in that search for “the unreachable beauty of the world” is the very attainable beauty within ourselves.

To be “in Love” is a funny thing. No matter how many centuries we’ve tried, humanity has yet to accurately describe that state of mind. So, we spend our lives searching for it, with out an accurate road map (sounds a little bit like religion). My father said this to me recently about love, “The one may be out there for you, or she may not be. It doesn’t matter, eventually you have to learn to live for, and love yourself. Fuck anything else.” Find the love for yourself, the love for the moment, and the love for those around you. "The beauty of the world" lies in the beauty of the present, on the details, not on the abstractions, and the seemingly unattainable. To quote the Buddha:  

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. 

The “one” may come or may not, but ultimately only the present matters.

This blog is inspired by Blue Valentine (The Kid’s Are Alright is a better movie), James William’s uncanny ability to recognize the truth in a situation, and the fact I’ve spent the last month in 5 hour rehearsals working on a Shakespearean romance. So, love has been on the brain. Happy Valentines Day.

For those who don't want to read my post, I present Mila Kunis :-):

commercials

i love this commercial for three reasons:

1. i've seen this happen at work too many times
2. the two black dudes were talking about the white dude...which is very likely
3. eric, the white dude, does look creep as shit.

enjoy.

Is Profiling Racism?

So I know that once you read the title of this article, you had an answer pop in your head immediately.  And more times than not, the answer was YES, profiling is racist but I want you to read a recent situation I was in.  Read on.

So for my 24^th birthday decided to not only celebrate the weekend before with a party bus around DC, but I also made a visit to NYC to see two of my best friends.  We went out and had a great time. Danced with white chicks with no rhythm and even got “stalked” by one weird one named Andrea.  That chick has issues.  The drinks were flowing and the DJ was hitting on all cylinders.  Shit was awesome.  After hitting about 3 bars we decided that it was time to get home.  It was 230 in the am, a nigga is getting old.

This is where we were confronted with a “racist” situation.  We, three young nicely dressed black men in the lower east side of Manhatten, could not get a cab.  And you might think, its NYC maybe all the cabs were full. Or maybe they were on call. Or maybe there weren’t any around. Hell naw.  There were cab aplenty completely equipped with lights, fare trackers, gas and a foreign nigga driving.  But none would stop for us.  There was even one that waved us away as we approached his empty cab just to drive down 40 yards and pick up one white lady.  This means he settled for less money because they are able to charge a higher premium for more riders.

 

We got pissed.  One of my boys then made it his mission to track down every cab he could and ask for a ride.  Whenever  a cab refused us a ride, my boy flicked them off and bid them ado with a loud “Fuck you!”  Needless to say, this didn’t help us in our endeavors.  Finally, Ishmael Guevera stopped and picked us up.  He had been driving a cab for only 5 months, and he was the man that night.

He was a younger guy, so I had to ask him, WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T THE OTHER CABS STOP FOR US! IS IT BECAUSE WE WERE BLACK?!  We were quite infuriated by this point. And you know what the dude said? Yes, it is because we are black that cabs didn’t stop.  I was not surprised because I knew racist bitches existed.

But then my boy Ishmael dropped some knowledge on us.  And it gave me a whole new perspective on racism.  He informed us that while cabs don’t like to stop for black people in Manhattan, it was not for the reasons we thought.  We thought they didn’t pick us up because black people leave bad tips or they try to get out of paying or tend to be aggressive towards people.  The list goes on and on.  None of these are the reason the cabs didn’t stop for us. 

As it turns out, the cabbies were being economic.  It turns out that people of certain ethnic backgrounds are concentrated to certain parts of the city.  Hispanics in Queens, whites in Manhattan, blacks in Brooklyn and Asians in Flushing.  Brooklyn is mad far from Manhattan and THAT is why they didn’t pick up blacks.  Not that the area is bad or anything, but that they LOSE money by driving to Brooklyn, because on their way back to Manhattan they do not have a fare for about 30 minutes.  So one fare for an hour of driving makes them $30, whereas 5 fares in Manhattan in that same hour makes them over $100.  Would you pick up black people? I would have to say I wouldn’t.  I need money.

So this makes me wonder, is profiling racism?  I know racism includes profiling, but profiling doesn’t necessarily constitute racism.  Just food for thought.

L’Chaim

P!ed P!per

Real Life Super Heroes?

Im a little late on the post. Sorry folks...school is kicking my ass at present. Anyway, with the popularity of comic book movies it was only a matter of time before someone decided they wanted to form a group of masked crusaders to hit the streets and fight crime. Today's comic book films stray away from the previous treatments in which the world in which comic book heroes existed was pure fantasy. Today, screenwriters are exploring the notion of a comic book hero that exists in the world we live in today; The "real world" if you will. This has apparently inspired some citizens to take the law into their own hands and fight crime in their own communities just like our masked heroes that we watch on the movie screen. Take a look at this cat for instance. Phoenix Jones. He lives in Seattle, Washington and has taken on an anonymous identity, banded together with some other guys and patrol the streets at night fighting crime (or trying to). Check this shit out.



And Phoenix Jones is not the only cat doing this shit. There's an entire network of people all around the country doing this in most of America's major cities. There is also a documentary coming out about these guys. Here's an interview with the filmmaker.



Here's a website with some more information about these people.

http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/

Random NBA Thoughts

Today’s Topic: Random NBA Thoughts

If you don’t like basketball or the NBA, this post is not for you.

- I’m extremely excited about the NBA All-Star game; it has the potential to be the best game since 2001. The teams are evenly matched. The game is in LA. Should be good. The talent level in the NBA now is the best it’s been since 1992.

- Most importantly, I believe this season shows who the alpha dogs will be in the NBA for the next few years. A lot of young talent in the league, very impressed. The frontrunners for players with less than five years experience: Derrick Rose (possible MVP this season). Kevin Love (stuck on a bottom feeding team). Blake Griffin & Eric Gordon (Clippers..more on them later). Russell Westbrook & Kevin Durant (playoff team).

- I bought my stock in Kevin Love when he came out of UCLA. As of now, my investment is looking pretty good. Even when he was stuck playing behind Al Jefferson, the potential was there, so I held on to my stock. Now, he’s leading the league in rebounds, avg 22 ppg, and is shooting 45% from three. He’s 6’10 260; he’s like Moses Malone/Dirk. He’s worked on his game, but he’s stuck on a losing team. Once he gets out of his rookie deal and moves to another team, people will start giving him more credit. Arguably, Love’s been better than Blake Griffin, but because Griffin’s game is more exciting, he receives more recognition, and publicity.

- I worried about Blake Griffin once the Clippers drafted him. The Clippers are a graveyard franchise. Historically known for torn ACL’s, knee injuries, overweight players, and losing. Since 1984, the Clippers have only won one playoff series. Once Griffin was drafted, it was only a matter of time before he tore an ACL, and officially became a Clipper (Benoit Benjamin is a lifetime member). Sure enough, during his first preseason, Blake suffers a season ending knee injury. I figured: “that sounds about right.” Out for the season, I did not think his career would amount to anything simply because he is a Clipper. Blake bounced back though, he’s been ballin. If you’re a fan of basketball, him and Kevin Love are two big men you have to watch play. Great IQ’s. Solid footwork. Competitive. They’ll be this generations argument for best PF. My generation was Duncan vs. KG; Duncan won. Before that, it was Barkley vs. Malone; Malone barely wins.

- This next generation of basketball fans needs a cultural icon. For my generation it was Allen Iverson. When Jordan was on the rise to being an icon, I was 5/6 years old. I remember the commercials, shoes, and highlights, but I was too young to fully grasp what was going on. I was caught up in the hype. I distinctly remember where I was when AI was drafted, and have witnessed the change in not only the league, but in black America, specifically black men. AI represents my generation. Everything from his look, to how he approaches the game gave so many men between the ages of 20-35 an identity, for better or worse. Before AI, there were no tattoos, celebrated crossovers, braided hair, platinum chains, players wore suits to games, and listened to R&B. Once he arrived, he influenced the players around him, and they conformed to his look. It created a generation gap between players. The older players saw his image as detrimental to the league; others embraced it, and copied him. There is a dress code in the NBA largely because of AI. Players have multiple tattoos now because AI said it was cool in ’97. They watched AI has a child, and are now mirror images of him. Black men in this age group ride for AI; Kobe, not at all. They like AI because he reminds fans of themselves. Allen Iverson is a fiercely devoted family man who is notorious for partying and cheating on his wife. An extremely competitive person who hates to practice, yet hates to lose. The smallest guy on the floor trying the hardest. Sees the big picture, hates small details. This personality will never win a ring, and yet it will be the most intriguing personality in the league because it is complex. Just like his fans. This is what made AI a cultural icon. He was an original. Not contrived by Nike, or David Stern. He did what he wanted, and corporate America came calling to him. Similar in a way to what Lil Wayne is doing now...back to the original point, there isn’t a cultural icon playing in the NBA now, and I don’t see anyone with that potential. Lebron James is popular and good at basketball, but kids do not want to look or dress like him. Same with D. Wade, Kobe, and Boris Diaw.

- The biggest underachiever in the NBA during my lifetime was Derrick Coleman. He had the skill set to be one of the greatest players ever. 6’10, 230. Instead, he did only enough to get his next big paycheck. Every time I watch the ’94 All-Star game I think about what could have been….damn shame. 2nd on my list was Chris Webber. At least Webber’s problem wasn’t self-destructive. Webber was afraid of the moment, he was afraid of being the man. Coleman drank too much, and didn’t practice.

- I vividly remember the Kings vs. LA during the early 00’s. Webber, the best player on his team, would routinely pass up open shots in clutch situations to Mike Bibby. The Kings would never get over the hump of being contenders in the Western Conference with Chris Webber as their best player. You need your best player to want the ball in the 4th qtr. For Webber, it goes back to the “timeout” called in ’93 vs. UNC. Since then, he has not been the same player. When Webber retired, he had made more money playing basketball than anyone not named Shaq. His skill set could’ve made him one of the all time greats. Incredible hands. Solid ball handler. Great footwork. Inside/Outside game. He had the total package; however, you would not want him to take the last shot in a game. You would lose. In the end, he had a solid career. Made a lot of money, all-star, dated Tyra Banks, and he’s an even better TV analyst. More people would choose Webber’s career, than Robert Horry’s…which is sad.

that’s all folks © porky pig

mommas boy

P!ed P!per reporting live from the Megabus on my way to NYC to continue celebrating my birthday. Yes, this is an epic 24th birthday for the kid. the format of this post may be a little off because I'm doing this joint from my droid, so bear with me.
I'll b up front and honest with u about this topic. I am a mommas boy. And the more I think about it the more I realize that most black men are. There is a special bond between a black man and his mother. Whether this is because the strong black woman is truly the backbone of the black community or if the explanation of the black mans state from the beginning of "baby boy" is the truth is neither here nor there. there is nothing like a black mother. U might wanna say im biased and i might say fuck u. Either way, im right.
Ive come to some recent cross roads in my life, and every-time I come to one of these forks, I immediately call the one who knows me best. Edwina. This doesnt mean that i always take her suggestion and thought as gospel, but I gottta admit, the lady is rarely wrong. and its not that she is infalliable, but she knows me bc she is me, and I her. I truly say this about all black men.

It is because of this special connection that u will rarely get away with disrespecting a black mans mother. I have also seen the use of a black mother silence the raging beast that is an angered black man. For instance there was a time where the cuban stormed from our house in a rage with intent to drive to Maryland from nc. This made no sense, yet nothing we said could have stopped him until we mentioned the fact that his mother would have to pay for the gas in the end. He then stopped and trudged back home.

No matter what is going on in my life I call my mother. And even if I truly dont want to know her take on a situation bc my mind is made up already, i will sit on the phone for over an hour to hear her babble just bc she cares. I had one of these convos wednesday night, and honestly i cant tell u 5 points she made. All i know is she said "pray".

I prayed for guidance. God gave me my mother. I prayed for comfort, again i got my mother. I prayed for strength and the result was the same. She prayed for the same things and she got me. And for that, im thankful.

I prayed for this baby on the bus to shut up and stop crying. He got his diaper changed and apple sauce. From his mom. Thank God.

L'chaim

P!ed P!per

"Lemme Put You On Real Quick"

On a road trip to Atlanta this past weekend, one of the guys riding with me asked me whats my favorite kind of music. I laughed. As a musician that has to be the hardest question anyone can ask me but I quickly thought of some genres that I enjoyed and through them out there. I said "Jazz, Gospel, Hip Hop" but then I said "but I'm really into anything that's new and different." When I said that, the guy got really excited and looked at me like "I'm about to put you on real quick". I love and hate that look, mostly hate. Whenever someone tries to put me on to some shit I end up hurting their feelings because 7 times out of 10 its super wack and usually I don't have a problem letting them know that. This time was different. This cat opened my eyes to a great musician that I had never heard of (which is like Christmas to me). So I will share some of his stuff with you. Let me know what you think.

Heres some older stuff of his but he has a new album out called "The Age of Adz" def should check it out.




Oh and dig what I just bought...its coming in the mail next week and I'm really geeked about it...




"Dont Fight the Feeling!"

Dreaming of Safety-Guest Blogger Kamal Jobe

Today's blog comes from our brother and fellow blogger Kamal Jobe. If you like what you read be sure to check out his weekly posts on: http://cynical06.blogspot.com/
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This post is inspired by conversations I had with two of my close friends this past week. The topic was whether they should play it safe or chase dreams. I think we always reach a point in our lives where we can go after something we believe we will enjoy or something we know we can count on.

My first instance of this was when I began college, and found a true love for philosophical thought, specifically Western philosophy which is grounded more in politics and reason. However, I wanted a career in public relations. I chose what I enjoyed even though I knew there were no philosophy factories, or a huge market for people who can discuss what makes our society run without creating any specific plan based on such analytical thought. I then later chose to play it safe by entering law school instead of going straight into a career. I knew my chances for stable employment were better in attending law school, and my opportunity for growth were higher than if I had entered the Public Relations industry with a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy.

Since the arrest of Miss Cleo and the dissolution and bankruptcy of Psychic Friends Network it is fair to say that nobody can really tell the future with absolute certainty. You never really know whether you are making the right choice in playing it safe or going for what makes you happy, or what gives you immediate gratification. Did I make the right choice? I accrued a substantial amount of debt to get paid a salary that may be laughable to some of my colleagues who began work immediately after college. At the same time I have so much room for growth in my current position that it will balance out in the end. The real question you have to ask yourself is not whether either is better than the other, but whether you are playing it safe or settling?

The difference is settling has a negative connotation. When you settle you are saying this will be fine, I should do better but I won't. In playing it safe you find satisfaction and security, but not the happiness you really desire. As a friend said best, "it's a thin line". You will know you have settled when you realize you have no way of attaining that happiness you once set out for. There is nothing wrong with playing it safe and getting that 9 - 5 white collar office job, as long as you are simultaneously staying active and relevant in the arena you want to be a part of. For my first two years of law school I still actively read philosophical texts because I wanted to be relevant in what made me happy. Actors do something similar all the time. They move out to L.A. or NY get jobs as fitness trainers (more flexible hours) while at the same time going on every audition they can. They play it safe, but still go for what makes them happy. However, if you were to get a 9-5 job, start a family, and suddenly realize they have not gone on an audition in a year; read a philosophical text in months; wrote a song, or began writing that book you set out to write; then my friend you have settled. It is okay to settle as long as you know that is what you are doing and made peace with that decision, but you can't be mad when someone else chooses to follow their dreams or do so while playing it safe.

SN: I no longer actively read philosophy because I have been so far removed it no longer provides me with the enjoyment in once did, but I do engage in intellectual discourse about similar subjects. This is an important point of interest because what makes you happy now may not make you happy 5 years from now, another reason why playing it safe is not all that bad.

Hip-Hop is Art and This is Why

I am an advent fan of hip-hop. Rabid almost, and I will defend it until I die. So when I hear about experiences that help elevate the hip-hop expression, I like to share it. A friend of mine shared this post with me. It’s the Portland Cello Band performing a rendition of Kayne West’s “All of the Lights”. The video proves that “All of the Lights” is not just a simple beat, but an orchestration. West tells a story with his piece. He crafts movements that inflict not only a mood, but also develops a theme that is both recognizable and subtle. The song builds to a climax, and crashes against you. You can hear the ease which he utilizes his instruments, allowing each to contribute and nothing seems misplaced.

What the band does is showcase the ultimate musicality of Kanye West’s ballad. It reflects on the universality of his work, and hip-hop as a whole. The band strips down "All of the Lights" to the melodies and chord progressions. In the lost of the drums, you lose some of the impact the song has, and a bit of the Hip-hop aesthetic. Also in hip-hop you ultimately need both vocals and rhythms to understand the artist’s complete purpose. However, what this interpretation does is showcase the underlining melancholy of the song, which you might miss in listening to original. The cover parallels the blues of Kayne's personal life, and deepens my overall understanding of what this album represents for him. It touches (pardon the pun) a chord in my own life, which is the purpose of any piece of art.  For all of these reasons and more you should watch this video.





Lastly to the people of Egypt, Good Luck on your quest for Freedom.

e

 Oh Yeah Black History Month. Ummmm Heres a quote from James Baldwin.

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.