Archive
Allen Iverson Wants to Return to NBA..Who Will Give Him a Shot?
Your Black World Staff
According to a recent report, former NBA star Allen Iverson is looking to return to the NBA. Iverson, 36, most recently played ten games this past season for the Turkish club Besiktas, before his season was ended due to an injury to his right calf.
Although his last couple of seasons in the NBA were pretty average, especially by the high standards he set early in his career, Iverson is convinced he still has something to offer an NBA team. It’s hard to forget the Iverson who crossed up Jordan, or the Iverson who lit up the Lakers for 48 points in the 2001 NBA Finals. The question many NBA teams will ask themselves is does this 36-year-old version of AI have any of that left in him? Read more…
Why Doesn’t Allen Iverson Have a Job?
Dr. Deborah Stroman, a leading scholar on Leadership and Sport, was asked why Allen Iverson can’t find a job. Here is what she had to say.
“Money is only one aspect of a good veteran not being picked up by a team. The other factor is leadership. If the organization is trying to develop new leaders, the coach and/or general manager will not gamble the new leader’s development and team chemistry with the introduction of a veteran leader. And this veteran leadership may be displayed by performance or verbal acumen. For example, you may have a veteran wide receiver or running back who doesn’t talk much but has the potential to dominate on the field. A younger player may be drawn to that performer as a role model and not the new leader (often times the quarterback) who is trying to gain influence and control of “his” team. Or the veteran leader may be charismatic and draw attention to himself and away from the leaders that the organization is rightfully trying to impose on the other players. The organization feels that the signing of the veteran player is just not worth the risk.”
Williams Sisters Considering Buying a Share of Miami Dolphins
Serena Williams and her sister Venus are in preliminary talks to become part-owners of the NFL‘s Miami Dolphins, the 11-time grand slam winner confirmed on Wednesday.
"There have been preliminary talks and hopefully it will work out," Serena Williams told reporters after her second round win over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova at the Toronto Cup. "That would be a great opportunity for both of us.
"We’ll see what happens, you never know."
If they did acquire a stake in the Dolphins, the Williams sisters would join musicians Jimmy Buffet and Gloria and Emilio Estefan, who became minority partners in the team earlier this year.
Buffett, owner of Margaritaville Enterprises, signed a deal in May, which includes the team’s stadium being renamed after his LandShark Lager beer for the 2009 season.
The Williams, who live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, are not described as big NFL fans but view the Dolphins as a vehicle to promote themselves.
"Venus and I are always trying to expand our brand," said Williams. "If the opportunity presents itself we would love to see where it can take us.
"Hopefully we’ll be able to expand our brand."
Let Vick Play and Stop Praising Him
By Glenn Minnis
Like most fair-minded and even moderately temperate souls, I am of the unwavering belief that Mike Vick has now paid his debt to society, served his time, and should again be free to live his life in the most upwardly mobile fashion he’s blessed enough to navigate.
Being convicted of a crime, in and of itself, should in no way result in an automatic death sentence. Some of those who’ve sought to bury Vick by mercilessly stripping him of his already earned riches and NFL livelihood struck me as hypocrites of the highest degree in their straying beyond the law by insisting that Vick’s transgressions not only be punished by the legal system but that his world forever be left in ruins.
That doesn’t strike me as justice, but rather overkill. And yet, I couldn’t help but feel as if the Vick Express on the road to redemption veered recklessly off course this week when he was to be honored in his Virginia hometown as something just short of a demigod.
‘Celebration for Mike Vick’ event organizer and Southern Christian Leadership Conference chapter president Andrew Shannon intimated that hundreds of youths were expected to be on hand to cheer Vick on and hear him speak before an unforeseen scheduling snafu caused the entire event to be scraped.
I’ll call it divine intervention.
Admit it, in a world where black and minority men make up far to high of a percentage of those incarcerated, the image and implications born of Vick being paraded as some sort of cause célèbre of indisputable virtuosity before so many impressionable minds could be more than just a bit dysfunctional for its audience. Idolatry, you see, can be a form of imprisonment of its own.
Does Anyone Want Mike Vick?
If any NFL teams are interested in Michael Vick(notes), they’re not saying.
A day after the quarterback was conditionally reinstated to the league, only the Baltimore Ravens would directly acknowledge evaluating him.
“We’ve had long discussions about Michael Vick and we have a feeling about how he would impact our team and not impact our team,” coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday.
General manager Ozzie Newsome declined comment. Previously, he has said the Ravens have enough quarterbacks.
Other teams either refused comment or insisted they wouldn’t pick up the former Atlanta Falcons star, who served 18 months in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring and was released from home confinement on July 20.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games—if he can find a team.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest.
Two clubs that might have seemed like a logical destination—the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals—said they wouldn’t pursue Vick.
