Your Black Sports: Report: Plaxico Burress ‘Accidentally’ Shoots Self

New York Giants receiver  has told the team that he accidentally shot himself Friday night, a league official told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

The incident happened at the Latin Quarter nightclub on Manhattan’s East Side. The club is a sprawling 15,000-square foot, two-story restaurant and club located in the Radisson Lexington Hotel. Katia Laine, a manager at the hotel, told The Associated Press that police officers had been to the club.

Burress went to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, where he stayed overnight. He was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon.

A league official told Paolantonio the bullet went through the skin and muscle tissue of Burress’ right thigh, and did not hit any major arteries, and there were no broken bones.

The Giants, in a statement Saturday afternoon, said Burress suffered a wound to his right thigh. The team did not specify in its statement how the shooting occured [...]

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Your Black Sports: Stephon Marbury Frustrated, Refuses To Play

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — The New York Knicks needed Stephon Marbury to play, then suspended him a game and docked him nearly $400,000 in salary Friday after claiming he refused.

The disgruntled guard insists he never told coach Mike D’Antoni “no” and plans to appeal.

Just another chapter in Marbury’s turbulent tenure with his hometown team.

D’Antoni wouldn’t go into specifics of their conversation that took place before Wednesday’s loss in Detroit, though he made it clear he asked the point guard to play because the Knicks were short-handed.

“I don’t want to get into it, guys. I think I already told you, I asked him to play. We just asked. You’re a coach, and we needed him to play,” D’Antoni said after practice Friday. [...]

Marbury will not be paid when he sits out Saturday’s home game against Golden State and will lose an additional game’s pay for Wednesday’s actions [...]

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Your Black Sports: Eddie Jordan Firing Sparks Outrage

[Eddie Jordan reviewing the 2007-2008 season in May]:

Eddie Jordan Fired… But Why?
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

On Monday, Nov. 24, The Washington Wizards fired veteran coach, Eddie Jordan, who helped transport the Wizards to the playoffs four years in a row. Over the last few days, however, many fans/sport columnists, pundits, and even coaches have expressed their regret over this brash and unexpected decision. Here are a few reactions:

We’ve all seen this movie before: A general manager stocks his roster with a dysfunctional mixture of players, but since he’s the one who procured the players he thinks they’re better than they really are. Eventually the team loses, and the coach is canned – because it’s easier to fire the coach than to fire the players, and because the GM is certainly not going to fire himself. This is approximately what happened to Eddie Jordan in Washington. [...] Since he’s been in Washington, Jordan has done a magnificent job with this team even though Arenas and Etan Thomas have been periodically down and out – repeatedly leading them into the playoffs.

- Charley Rosen from MSN Sports

More Reactions At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Houston Police Accused Of Assaulting Donald Driver’s Dad

Three Houston police officers under investigation for allegedly beating the father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver have been taken off patrol duty.

The decision was welcomed by Marvin Driver Jr.’s family members, who said they now want the officers fired and brought up on charges.

“We just want justice,” Michael Driver, Marvin Driver’s son, said after a news conference Friday outside his father’s home.

[...]

Family members of 56-year-old Marvin Driver claim he was arrested early Monday morning outside his mother’s home, where he also lives, for outstanding traffic warrants. But before arriving at a Houston jail, they say, he was taken to a gas station, where he was beaten by at least two officers and had something forced down his throat [...]

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Your Black World: Ex-NBA Star Kevin Johnson Breaks Many Barriers

We enter a new era of Sacramento politics with a new type of leader: Kevin Johnson, ex-NBA star, mayor-elect by landslide, a jumble of virtues and contradictions who will never be boring.

Johnson could be exactly what Sacramento needs right now. He could help shake Sacramento’s undervalued sense of itself. Or he could be a disaster. Anything seems possible and nothing seems impossible with Johnson.

At Monday’s unveiling of his transition team, Johnson was surrounded by movers and shakers basking in his presence. [...]

The woman screening candidates for Johnson’s chief of staff is Michelle Rhee, chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C. Google her. She could be Secretary of Education someday. Yet here she is, in Sacramento, helping out our new mayor.

The man helping Johnson reach out to the Latino community? Amador Bustos, whose company virtually owns the Spanish-language radio market in Northern California.

Yeah. Sacramento is ready for new leadership. Sacramento yearns for it. That’s part of the reason so many people responded to Johnson so positively [...]

More At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Politics: Did Tiger Woods Pave Barack Obama’s path?

Did Tiger Woods pave Barack Obama’s path? Are you joking?
By: Dave Zirin
Originally Appeared In NY Daily News

It’s always dangerous, but never boring, when a newspaper sports columnist uncorks a political thesis. Enter Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. Bianchi thinks that there are some unsung heroes who deserve credit for helping put a black man in the White House – and they are athletes. “If you’re searching for tangible reasons why it became possible for Barack Obama to make his historic run at the presidency … look no further than the golf course, basketball court or football field.”

Bianchi believes that, since sports have conditioned white America to accept African-Americans as heroes and leaders, black sportsmen deserve a pat on the back. He wonders: “Where else but sports can you go to Amway Arena and see 15,000 mostly white fans cheer and celebrate the accomplishments of a team that is mostly black?”

Sounds lovely. But it happens to be embarrassingly wrong – and an insult to the reason that millions waited on long lines to cast their vote [...]

More At Your Black Politics

Your Black Sports: Players Shut Down Brandon Marshall’s Political Statement

No Obamamania for Brandon Marshall

By: Dave Zirin

All Brandon Marshall wanted was the opportunity to be part of the moment. The Denver Broncos wide receiver wanted to feel connected to the thousands who have flooded into the streets and the millions in a state of shock and awe around the world, celebrating the election of Barack Obama. [...]

Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened, or how the crowd would have reacted. We will never have that image of a football player bringing politics to the field. Marshall did score a touchdown, but as he removed the glove from his pocket, his teammates stopped him.

The problem was that Marshall’s touchdown came with only one minute and twenty-two seconds left to play, putting the Broncos ahead, 34-30. His teammates–particularly fellow wideout Brandon Stokley and tight end Tony Scheffler–saw what he was about to do and stopped him, fearful of an automatic fifteen-yard penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

One can be charitable toward Stokley and Sheffler, given the moment in the game–although the image of two white players surrounding a black player to block his political statement is the antithesis of the very ideas Marshall was attempting to communicate [...]

More At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Serena Calls It Quit For The Year — Stomach Problems

DOHA (AFP) — Serena Williams’ chances of ending the year on a high note evaporated unexpectedly when she withdrew Friday from the Sony Ericsson championships with a stomach muscle problem.

The younger of the two world-beating sisters had been in tears during her oddly one-sided 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 defeat to Venus Williams during their round robin match Thursday – and it emerged that she may have suffered the injury then.

“I had zero pain last night,” Serena said of her post-match experience. “But I didn’t serve well and I think that’s why I was doing that. I might have been over-compensating.

“When I got home I didn’t feel pain. But when I woke up I was in pain. I have had this before and so when I felt this it was like a red flag. I went to see how I felt in practice yesterday, and it was hard when I was hitting ground strokes. I didn’t want to risk it.”

Serena was challenged by a British journalist who suggested that sometimes in a major tournament such as this she should play through the pain for the sake of the event and for the sponsors.

“I think what I should do is make you work out, have a severe stomach strain and play for the sponsors,” she chided.

When the journalist suggested he would have, Serena responded with satirical laughter, adding: “You really should. You should go for it and live the dream!”

Later she explained: “I had this once in LA and played through it and I was out for six to eight weeks. So when I had these symptoms I thought I must start the new year well. I can’t afford to be out for so long.”

The setback means that Serena is unable to take the chance of avenging herself for her Olympic loss to Elena Dementieva, who went on to take the gold medal in Beijing in August [...]

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Your Black Sports: Iverson Traded To The Pistons

The Detroit Pistons shook the NBA in a big way Monday-landing former MVP Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets.

The Pistons gave up All-Star point guard and former NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups and top reserve Antonio McDyess.

The trade was confirmed by a basketball official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.

Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg declined to comment, and messages were left for a Nuggets spokesman as well as for an agent representing Billups and McDyess.

The blockbuster deal comes two games into the season for Detroit. The Pistons have been a model of consistency in recent years, but they were determined to change their core following a third straight exit from the Eastern Conference finals last summer [...]

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Your Black Sports: Judge Says Michael Vick Must Appear In Person

A judge reportedly denied a request by Michael Vick’s lawyers to allow him to plead guilty to state dogfighting charges via videoconference from federal prison on Thursday.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday that Surry County Circuit Judge Samuel E. Campbell denied the request during a hearing in Sussex County court. Vick’s attorneys made the request so that the disgraced former Atlanta Falcons quarterback would not have to leave prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is serving a 23-month sentence for a federal dogfighting charge.

The state’s attorney objected to the defense’s request, and Campbell agreed, as there is no allowance in Virginia law for someone to plead via videoconference, according to the paper [...]

Continued At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Isiah Thomas Overdosed On Sleeping Pills?

NEW YORK (AP)-Authorities were called to the home of former New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, where police said a 47-year-old man was taken to the hospital and treated for an accidental overdose of sleeping pills early Friday morning.

Several local media outlets reported police confirmed it was Thomas who was taken to the hospital.

But reached on his cell phone, Thomas, who is 47, told the New York Post he had not been treated for a sleeping pill overdose, and that it was his 17-year-old daughter Lauren who had a medical issue.

It “wasn’t an overdose,” he told the newspaper. “My daughter is very down right now. None of us are OK.”

Harrison Police Chief David Hall refuted Thomas’ statement about his daughter to the New York Times on Friday night.

“I understand that this person claims it was his daughter; he is lying,” Hall told the newspaper. “It was definitely not his daughter, it was a male. We know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female.”

Hall had earlier said the case was not a suicide attempt [...]

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Your Black Sports: Stephon Marbury Politicks With The Homeless

Stephon Marbury watched the final presidential debate in the common room of a homeless shelter on the Bowery with a bunch of guys he met at Two Boots pizza. He kept his eyes on the tiny TV, laughing and scoffing along with the residents as McCain spoke-Marbury does a pretty good imitation of the senator-and smiling when it was Obama’s turn. “Look at Obama,” Marbury said, pointing at the screen. “You feel him. We feel him. You can feel his spirit when he speaks.” At one point, when the debate turned to the economy, Marbury snorted. “Middle class? We don’t have a middle class anymore.”

As the millionaire said those words, the homeless agreed. “I love Starbury,” an excited resident said, referring to Marbury’s affordable sneaker and clothing line. “I can get hot shoes for like $30. Jordan wants me to pay $100.” Others gave him career advice. “Hey, you know, I see you doing good in the sixth-man role,” one resident offered. “It’s just a game,” Marbury answered, pointing at the screen. “There’s more to life.”

Reposted From Your Black Sports

Your Black Brothers: Black Men and “Boyism”: From Politics to Sports

Black Men and Boyism: From Politics to Sports

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

“These weekly insults to Black manhood that we have been programmed to believe are entertainment and not direct racist warfare, further reinforce, perhaps in the unconscious thinking of Black people, a loss of respect for Black manhood while carrying that loss to ever deeper levels.”

- Dr. Frances Cress Welsing in “The Isis Papers.”

Sen. Obama’s astronomical rise to political stardom has been fascinating for any number of reasons, but most especially, helpful in decoding the underlying racist perceptions of Obama, held by neo-liberal, otherwise known as, “well-intentioned” Whites. Renowned poet and activist, Amiri Baraka, once described this group as “little liberals who think Obama is just some trendy new-flavor.” These “little liberals,” are no doubt, fully responsible for the overt commodification of Obama by big-business enterprises. More saddening, however, is the reality that Sen. Obama, a Black man, is increasingly being perceived by this specific class of White liberals, as more a boy than a man [...]

Full Article At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Brothers: Are Black NBA Players Losing ‘Handle’?

In less than 72 hrs, two of Black America’s most brightest and “ballest” NBA stars were humiliated on the court by a white, or non-black basketball player.

First up, it was Sacramento Kings point Guard, Beno Udrih’s wicked crossover against Kobe during a pre-season game (Not Pretty):

And then came the horror now simply known as, “Stuart Tanner v Devin Harris.” In an impromptu game at a London street park last week, New Jersey Nets star, Devin Harris was offered to play a dorky looking UK fan. Unbeknown to Harris, this fellow is somewhat of a StreetBall legend in the UK, and Harris, sure enough, soon found out how much of a legend he was:

- Get it together guys

Reposted From Your Black Brothers

Your Black Sports: Sarah Palin’s Extreme Sports – By Dave Zirin

Sarah Palin’s Extreme Sports

By: Dave Zirin

Ever since Andrew Johnson welcomed the New York Mutuals to the White House in 1867, presidential politics has exploited professional sports. It’s a foolproof way for politicians to show voters they enjoy competition, fair play and are salt-of-the-turf Americans.

Sports signifies different things to different voters. Football (JFK) and baseball (George H.W. Bush) are good. Windsurfing (John Kerry) and hunting “varmints” (Mitt Romney)–not always so good. And no candidate should ever bowl in a necktie, unless he can seriously roll.

Barack Obama’s game is basketball. He shot three-point baskets with the troops in Iraq and his high school b-ball videos have become a YouTube sensation.

[...]

A month earlier, John McCain made his own ESPN appearance. He’s also known to work the crowds at NASCAR events. But no one in this election uses sports like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. At times on the campaign trail, sports is her primary form of communication with voters outside of her narrow, Christian fundamentalist base. Communication is critical for Palin, since she mangles the English language so consistently that she’s become the subject of ridicule. Talking sports–whether as a mom on the sidelines of her kids’ hockey games or a as an outdoorswoman who loves to hunt and fish–gives her the opportunity to seem genuine, friendly and accessible.

Palin’s politics may be beyond the fringe, but her sporting interests are effortlessly mainstream. In this sense, she resembles the current occupant of the White House [...]

Read Full Article At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Monta Ellis Suspended For 30 Games For ‘Moped Accident’

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)-The Golden State Warriors suspended injured guard Monta Ellis for 30 games without pay Saturday for violating his lucrative new contract by getting into a moped accident.

Ellis, who agreed to a six-year deal worth $66 million in July, severely sprained his ankle in a low-speed crash in late August. The suspension will cost the guard slightly less than $3 million.

The Warriors counted four preseason games in the suspension’s length, which means Ellis can’t return to the club until after Golden State’s 26th regular-season game, against Indiana on Dec. 17.

Ellis, who recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament, was unlikely to return before then anyway, but the suspension means the guard won’t be paid during his absence. Ellis’ agent, Jeff Fried, met with Golden State officials during the week to settle Ellis’ punishment.

Ellis compounded his mistake by initially lying to the Warriors about the accident. He told Chris Mullin, the Warriors’ top basketball executive, that he hurt himself playing pickup ball in his native Mississippi, but came clean about the accident several days later.

The guard will be allowed to spend time at the Warriors’ training complex for rehabilitation during his suspension, but Golden State president Robert Rowell is taking a risk of possibly alienating the player expected to be the centerpiece of coach Don Nelson’s up-tempo offense after Baron Davis‘ defection to the Los Angeles Clippers…

More At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Vince Young And The NFL’s Depression Denial

Vince Young and the NFL’s Depression Denial

By: Dave Zirin

Your sports page may have recently induced an unpleasant sense of déjà vu. A pro football star, by all accounts, seemed caught in a spiral of depression. Friends and advisers were worried enough about suicide to call the police. After an ensuing public-relations fracas, the player and the team assured us that it was all a grand misunderstanding.

Two years ago, this was the story of Dallas Cowboys star receiver Terrell Owens. Less than 24 hours after Owens had sleeping pills pried out of his mouth, his PR flack said that the police report was a fabrication and “Terrell has 25 million reasons to be alive” – an ugly reference to the dollars he was due in his contract.

This month it was Vince Young, quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. During a Sept. 7 victory over Jacksonville, Young threw two interceptions, sparking a chorus of boos from the home crowd. Then he seemed to be refusing to re-enter the game – and was injured shortly after he did return. The following night, when he didn’t return calls to his cell phone, the police were sent to find him. He had apparently uttered the word “suicide” to his manager, and perhaps a team therapist, and made clear that he was in possession of a gun.

But now Young and the team say that this is a whole lot of noise about nothing…

Read Full Article At Your Black Sports

Your Black Sports: Dave Zirin: Leave Josh Alone

Leave Josh Alone

By: Dave Zirin

Dallas Mavericks All-Star Josh Howard has been raked over the coals of public opinion this week for daring to say what more than a few athletes think. He was caught on someone’s cell phone camera saying that he doesn’t stand for the national anthem because “I don’t celebrate this [expletive]. I’m black.” Judging by fan and media reaction, you would have thought he was barbecuing some bald eagle over a flaming pit of American flags. You would, given the peals of outrage, never know that there’s been perhaps some more pressing news in the papers this week.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, to his eternal credit, has posted some of the anti-Howard emails he has received and they are the most vile, racist trash you could read outside a Klan chat room. (http://blogmaverick.com/2008/09/18/thanks-for-the-advice-on-josh/).

Many of these courageous e-bigots actually attempt to link Howard’s mini-rant to the ascension of Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Their crude threats reflect a white fear as old as the United States itself: that no matter how much blood black Americans spill for this country, their loyalties are dual and divided. It’s a fear that — in a backhanded way — acknowledges that racism is still so prevalent in our society that loyalties of the descendents of slaves must be suspect. But instead of confronting the reality of racism, the e-bigots among us instead lash out in both frightening and filthy fashion.

Well, count me out. Count me out as someone who will pile on Josh Howard. Howard is someone who said, during his 2004 senior year at Wake Forest University, that the war in Iraq “was all about oil.” He then saw his draft stock plummet to the point where he was picked after no-talents like Reece Gaines and Ndudi Ebe. I saw one scout even call Howard a risky pick saying that “Anti-war views may reflect rumored erratic behavior.” Count me out as someone who thinks anti war views are erratic…

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