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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Believe it or not.......
The Atlanta Hawks (losers of 3 in a row and 6 out of their last 10) are still holding on to that eighth spot in the NBA's Eastern conference playoff run. At 21-27, the Hawks are trying to keep Philadelphia and Indiana at arms lenght. Last night, Atlanta fell behind early against the Central Division leading Detroit Pistons, came through with a hugh third quarter, only to fade in the final 2 minutes before losing 94-90. Such is the state of the Hawks. This city is so starved for a winner....There were 18,729 at last night's game. ( Philips Arena only seats 18'227). Of course at least half of them were Piston fans.
This season, we've seen the Boston Celtics wheel and deal themselves to the best record in the NBA. The New Orleans Hornets lead their division. The Lakers are improved.....while Dertoit, Dallas, Utah and the likes hold firm.
But the Hawks have done nothing..... via trade, draft or free agent signing to improve the team. And thus we get a mediocre team playing average basketball .....with a packed house....rooting for the other team.
Don't watch that much Women's college basketball .....but I did catch the final m
inute of the Rutgers - Tennessee game. In a blatant clock malfunction, Rutgers was beaten by Tennessee when a foul was called with 0.02 seconds left on the game clock. The Lady Vols trailed by one point , made the 2 free throws to win the game. Problem is .....the clocked ticked down to 0.02 .....but got stuck on 0.02......for at least 2 full seconds! Had to feel bad for Vivian Stringers' team. First Imus.......then this? Just a guess....but I have a feeling this hurt a lot worse than the words a 60 year old white man.
Friday, February 1, 2008
As we embark on another Black History Month, let us pause to ponder a few little known facts..........
Brought to you by our friends at "infoplease.com" ........African-American Firsts: Sports
- Major league baseball player: Jackie Robinson, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers.
- Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Jackie Robinson, 1962.
- NFL quarterback: Willie Thrower, 1953.
- NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, 1922–1937.
- Golf champion: Tiger Woods, 1997, won the Masters golf tournament.
- NHL hockey player: Willie O'Ree, 1958, Boston Bruins.1
- Tennis champion: Althea Gibson became the first black person to play in and win Wimbledon and the United States national tennis championship. She won both tournaments twice, in 1957 and 1958. In all, Gibson won 56 tourname
nts, including five Grand Slam singles events. The first black male champion was Arthur Ashe who won the 1968 U.S. Open, the 1970 Australian Open, and the 1975 Wimbledon championship. - Heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson, 1908.
- Olympic medalist (Summer games): George Poage, 1904, won two bronze medals in the 200 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles.
- Olympic gold medalist (Summer games): John Baxter "Doc" Taylor, 1908, won a gold medal as part of the 4 x 400 m relay team.
- Olympic gold medalist (Summer games; individual): DeHart Hubbard, 1924, for the long jump; the first woman was Alice Coachman, who won the high jump in 1948.
- Olympic medalist (Winter games): Debi Thomas, 1988, won the bronze in figure skating.
- Olympic gold medalist (Winter games): Vonetta Flowers, 2002, bobsled.
- Olympic gold medalist (Winter games; individual): Shani Davis, 2006, 1,000 m speedskating.
Other African-American Firsts
- Millionaire: Madame C. J. Walker.
- Billionaire: Robert Johnson, 2001, owner of Black Entertainment Television; Oprah Winfrey, 2003.
- Portrayal on a postage stamp: Booker T. Washington, 1940 (and also 1956).
- Miss America: Vanessa Williams, 1984, representing New York. When controversial photos surfaced and Williams resigned, Suzette Charles, the runner-up and also an African American, assumed the title. She represented New Jersey. Three additional African Americans have been Miss Americas: Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991), and Kimberly Aiken (1994).
- Explorer, North Pole: Matthew A. Henson, 1909, accompanied Robert E. Peary on the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole.
- Explorer, South Pole: George Gibbs, 1939–1941 accompanied Richard Byrd.
- Flight around the world: Barrington Irving, 2007, from Miami Gardens, Florida, flew a Columbia 400 plane named Inspiration around the world in 96 days, 150 hours (March 23-June 27).
Growing up .......blacks learned who "Daniel Boone" was..........Christopher Columbus, Ponce De Leon...........etc. What we were not taught were the feats of
John Mercer Langston, Joseph Rainey, and Edward Brooke.
These were three great Black Americans .....but somehow, someway were kept out of the history books we were schooled on.................... Stay tuned..............
