The Dream

As the games of the 30th Olympiad began this weekend. I had a blase, blase feeling about it. Back in the day, when it didn't seem so commercial, I was looking forward to seeing our athletes represent. It could of been just me ignoring the commercials. As for the this year's events, I figured I would see them when I see them.

Then I was hanging out Friday night at a restaurant that had wide screen TV's. It was then I saw what I call the Opening Ceremony Olympic Walk where all of the countries enter the stadium. Pageantry has it's place. When you see the faces of people from all over the world who have in some cases trained their entire life just for this moment in time showing their nation pride, it can't help but grab you. They are just happy to be there.

And then, like Ray Charles says why he likes country music, it's the stories. Right off the bat there's the story of archer Im Dong-hyun, the South Korean who set an Olympic record. The twist is that he is legally blind. He has 10 percent vision in his left eye and 20 percent in his right. He says he sees only blurred colors and lines when he peers toward the target, which is about 76 yards away. By the way, he broke his own record in the event. Then there's Nur Suryani Mohammed Taibi, the Malaysian woman who found out within days of each other that she would be both an Olympian and a mother. She is due in September. She has to wear a special harness to compete in her sport. Her father, Mohammed Taibi, said, "I'm proud of her. I've told her: If you can compete in the Olympics, that's such an achievement already — all the more when you're pregnant."

Like Ray said, "...the stories, man."

War of the Hearts

I'm still conflicted.

For the past few years, I have struggled (as a sports fan) as to where to place my football loyalties. Since childhood, I have been a Redskins fan. Despite the offensive name, I have cheered for the burgundy and gold from the days of Charley Taylor and Larry Brown to Art Monk and Darrell Green. I was there through our dynasty years in the 80's and have stayed a loyal fan with the team through our more recent leaner years.

Then I went off to college at Towson State (now called Towson University) in Baltimore, Maryland. While there (which includes living there for six years), I have developed lifelong friendships both on a personal and teammate level. Like I always say, you never get tired of winning championships, no matter what the level of competition. But like Houdini says about friends, how many of us have them?

Then came the Ravens.

I have always had respect for the Ravens since they came to B-More in 1996. They showed me something by drafting a offensive tackle with their first pick (#4) as a team. Their management, led by the Wizard of Charm City GM Ozzie Newsome, has always seemed to push the right buttons to get the right guys in the right place at the right time. By picking at least five (?) future Hall-of-Famers that include Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Jonathan Ogden, the Wizard will probably be one of the few to get in the Hall as both a player and front office guy.

I have become more immersed in the Charm City life more so in the last few years, including my recent recovery from my injury. I go back to the O'Dells and Pascal club nights. On most Sundays, I'm at Club 29 rooting for dare I say (?) the purple and black. Chances are that I will probably end up living there.

 

On the other hand, I am a DC guy. Like Dorothy said, there's no place like home. I root for all of the home teams, including the Washington Kastles tennis team who is trying to repeat as league champs. My frustration with the Skins getting the latest flavor of the month only to have that taste gone by the time we get it was taking it's toll on me. It would be so much easier if the Skins management was better.

 

On that note, they may have turned the corner. Ever since owner Dan Snyder hired a real GM in Bruce Allen, the Skins have seemed to made more sensible football decisions. And, as I said before, I am all in on RG3.

 

My watershed day will probably be December 9th, when these teams meet. How's that for timing?

Culture Shock

The NCAA brought the pain to Penn State like Method Man in handing out what may not be the death penalty, but it's very close.

The Nittany Lions will lose a total of 90 scholarships over the next four years, was placed on probation for five years and was fined 60 million dollars. In addition, Penn State forfeited all their wins from 1998 - 2011 (which include six bowl wins and two conference titles). Head coach Joe Paterno, who was the winningest coach in college football history, fell to 12th after forfeiting 111 wins.

Let's take this from the top. For all you Penn State'ers who said that they should not be punished because the people that helped to create this are no longer there, the NCAA said ah, no. The NCAA said in their ruling that not only that Penn State did it, they would do it again if they had to. They told Penn State that this was a culture thing and you better understand. Like I said in my blog about this last year (November 10th), at the least Joe Pa should have pulled his boy up and said "what's up?". Instead, he went Godfather style and said, "I'll take care of it." In this case, it was both the crime and the cover up that's equally bad.

My only issue is that the NC2A didn't go in Penn State's pocket deep enough. The 60 million dollar fine was just equal to the school's average annual revenue of the football program. While the money will be used to help fund an endowment for "external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims", I say "Really?" Just one year? The alumni will make that up at the next fundraiser.

At the end of the day, we are talkin about child abuse. What if it had been more than just one person?

NBA History

You never know where you will learn something. While getting my car worked on this weekend, I peeked out a documentary made by NBA Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar about what he called was the "greatest team that you never heard of." The Harlem Rens (short for renaissance) played out of the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom at 138th St and Seventh Avenue from 1922 to 1948. They were created by future Hall-of-Fame manager Bob Douglas, who made a agreement with William Roach, the owner of the Ballroom to help promote the ballroom.

The Big R Five as they were called became America's first all-black, black-owned fully professional basketball team. Players included team captain and point guard Clarence "Fats" Jenkins, James "Pappy" Ricks and Frank "Strangler" Forbes. Aside from loving the nicknames, these guys also played in the Negro baseball Leagues. William "Pop" Gates and Charles "Tarzan" Cooper are Hall-of-Famers. John Isaacs, who has a street named after him in Harlem, was a youth counselor at the Madison Square Boys and Girls for more than 50 years after his playing days.

These players helped the "Rens" compile a 2,588 - 529 record. According to the Basketball Hall of Fame website, this team at one time won 88 straight games. The team took on all comers, which included wins against the Boston Celtics, the dominant team of the day. "I was raised hearing that the Celtics were the greatest team of all time," said Richard Lapchick, son of Celtic Joe Lapchick. "My dad's friends would say that and all our neighbors would say that. But he would correct them and say, 'The Rens were every bit as good as we were in the beginning and were better than us in the end.'"

Their success paved the way for the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters in 1927. It is here that I come clean and admit that I did not know that the Globetrotters actually were from Chicago.  

The Rens peaked in 1939 by winning the first ever World Professional Basketball Championship. First ever, black or white. Their title included a win over the rival Globetrotters in the third round.

Despite this win, they were still denied entry in what is now the NBA. Glad to see times have changed.

Hopeless Romantic

I'm all in...again.

Last time I made this statement I was talkin about my Washington Redskins and their top draft pick, RGIII, regarding the anticipation for the upcoming season. This time I'm caught up in the rapture like Anita Baker about my Washington Nationals. Going into the All-Star break, the Nats have the best record in the National League (49-34), four games ahead of the Braves in the East.

This year's All-Star roster includes four Nationals that include pitchers Gio Gonzales and wiz kid Steven Strasburg, who have a combined record of 21-7 record going into the break. The other picks include shortstop Ian Desmond (.285 BA) who is on pace to hit 34 home runs and over 100 RBI's and even younger wiz kid Bryce Harper, who will be the youngest player to ever play in the summer classic at 19.

I personally think that the major difference is the addition of manager Davey Johnson. It seems that in Baseball the manager can make all the difference in the world. Johnson, who has won more than 1,200 games in his major league managerial career (including a Olympic bronze medal), has provided a steadying influence in the clubhouse during this recent run. He always looks to push the envelope.

So, like I said...

The 4th

On this Independence Day I slept late, watched my Nationals win and bounced between a Star Trek TNG marathon, the History Channel series "The Presidents" and "America, the Story of Us". Add a nice sit down dinner at one of my favorite diners and that was it.

And that's exactly the point.

It's days like this that remind me of the decent place in the world that we live in. I know, I know, there is racism, civil rights issues and various disagreements about various things. But doggone if it is still is one of the best places in the world to live. It truly could be worse. In some places, I would be jailed for writing this blog. In some places, I wouldn't even have a blog.

Since Crispus Attucks took the first bullet at the Boston Massacre to us taking our freedom from the Brits, we as Americans have always valued our way of life.

Part of the reason for this are our troops. Their sacrifice can never be measured in real enough terms. As having two brothers who served, I always have appreciated the sacrifice our troops have done for us so we can do the things that we do.

Now, if you will excuse me, I will now watch my Law & Order - Criminal Intent marathon. Because I can.