Athletes & Babies, NO TRAPS!

I'm not buying that an athlete can be trapped into having a baby!

Yes I understand that you have a plethora of a$$ and titties floating your way.

Yes I understand that the majority of you are awkward looking and/or just straight ugly and probably didn't even get any play growing up and now that you have money you're being swarmed with options.

But whether someone you were dating for a while, or a groupie chick... I can't understand how you can be trapped into having a baby.

Did she rip your dick off your torso in your sleep and stick it up in her?

Did she tie you up and pin you down and force you to have sex with her without using a condom?

I don't want to hear no ish about her poking a hole in a condom because you should have came prepared with your own stash of condoms if you were really interested in protecting your assets, rather than only having coochie on the brain.

***Granted there are a handful of circumstances where a condom could have broke, but c'mon now. Watch this mess that aired on ESPN's Outside the Lines yesterday.

Yes... Travis Henry has 8 different confirmed children, by 8 different baby momma's; and a possibility of 11 when the paternity results come back on twins. This is just straight craziness. I don't believe in the dumb jock theory. YOU WERE NOT TRAPPED INTO ANYTHING HERE BRUH, you're just dumb as hell. I can't even imagine how many bumps you must have on your dick. There is no way you boned that many chicks raw (since we all know it was waaaaaaaayyyy over 8 or 9, that's just the number of chicks that happened to get pregnant in the process) without getting a STD. There is NO possible way. Eeewwe, that's just nasty.

Former NBA player Jason Caffey has 10 kids with 8 different baby mommas.

The list goes on with athletes that have multiple children with multiple baby momma's that they aren't with. Evander Holyfield, Chad Johnson...wait my bad... Ocho Cinco, Shawn Kemp, Larry Johnson (NBA), Ray Lewis, Marshall Faulk, Santonia Holmes (that reportedly had 3 kids by 2 women before even getting out of college), and the list goes on.

71% of African American children are raised by a single mother. We tend to think this happens in the ghetto and lower to middle-class neighborhoods, but no... a lot of these women have money from the $20,000 child support payments per month, but the athlete father isn't there. Still equals a single parent situation.

As you saw from the video, one of Jason Caffey's sons is 15 years old and has only seen his father 1 time in his entire life. C'mon ya'll, we gotta do better than this.

But I want to say that this is an extreme. I am not saying its every athlete. I have friends that have A baby out of wedlock... that equals 1, and they learned their lesson, that are in the league and they do everything possible to do right by their baby mother... similar to the situation that Dwight Howard is in. Some even try to work the relationship out with the baby mother for the sake of the child. Now I don't believe in being in a relationship with someone you don't love just because you think it's best for the baby, because in essence it's not. A baby deserves to be raised by two loving parents, and that doesn't always mean they have to be in love with each other, but at least their heart is in the right place. That's a helluva lot more than I can say for these fools that can't even take time in the off season to see their kids.

OK, my rant is over on this subject, someone please help me out if I am missing something here and I should be pitying any of these athletes who have several children by several different women.

Female Football Fan's Dream

Yes we love this game in and of itself, but we can appreciate the extra bonus of being a football fan at times like this. During Locker room post game interviews, Visanthe Shiancoe had a towel slip-up while the cameras were rolling and we are eternally grateful for it.

NFL becoming sissy's game?

Yeah, the blog break is officially over after I just heard that Justin Tuck was fined for his hit in last week's game. Everyone knows I am a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan and even I thought it was a clean hit. When he got the roughing the passer call, I knew it was a crock of you know what, but I was happy because it gave us some yardage that we couldn't get because their defense demolished our offense that entire day. But to fine the man $7500? Are you serious NFL... since when did the NFL become of game of pussy's. I am beyond livid after having worked with Tuck on several occasions, I know this is not his character at all. Yes there are some nasty players out there that play dirty but Tuck in NOT one of them. Even though I hate the Giants... if I had to defend anyone on that team it would be him. On and off the field he is a good guy so I was happy to hear that he is appealing. If he does not win, I honestly feel the NFL should just turn the game into flag instead of tackle since they want the hits to be so soft. Let the damn men play! The game is really starting to be a circus act with all these penalties and fines and fiascoes. Are you not making enough money NFL? Sure you are... so why do you need to nickel and dime the players with these asinine calls and fines? OK... I'm done!

Defense UP, Offense DOWN

Why can't we get both sides of the ball in sync?

Biggups to Jay Ratliff, Marcus Spears, Ken Hamlin, DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer... my hat goes off to you. I have complained about our defense not stepping up and this week you did.
All of you kept us alive in the first half when Romo fumbled the ball 3 times and kept Arizona from scoring after recovering them.

Second half, I know you were tired. Our offense was rarely on the field, and although you gave up some big plays in the secondary... I appreciate your effort. Larry Fitzgerald is a beast so without getting much rest in between drives, it was going to be hard to have the best coverage on him.

Now with that said, our offense (with the exception of Barber, and Crayton in the first half) didn't show up to play.

We need a new QB... many have said it before and I'm finally starting to believe it.
Romo is our weakest link. He sits in the pocket too damn long, he never secures the ball, and he has to make better decisions.

Actually I take that line about needing a new QB back. I'm not going to diss him just yet. That's my QB, but you gotta do better Tony. Come on, you have the best RB in the league (BARBER IS THE TRUTH), one of the top 3 WR's in the league, one of the top 3 TE's in the league, and you can't seem to get them the ball. Plus Andre Gurode is one of the top 3 centers in the league, he has you covered. Watch a lot of tape this week please Tony, and get your ish together.

Jason Witten didn't make easy plays that he should have, TO barely got any looks. Offense needs to get their ish together.

My boys now 4-2... uuugghhhhhh!!!

Sports Voice of Harlem

It's amazing how you think the industry is so big and little things remind you about how small it really is and how important it is to network. I had been in dire need to speak to an another woman in sports about the challenges I had recently been facing being a double minority (black and a woman) in an industry that is predominately ran by middle-aged white men. I heard about Ms. Stephanie Stepp, the struggles she had in the television world, how she looked towards radio as an alternative, and how that move has catapulted her career a lot faster than television ever could. After speaking with her I felt it only right to share some of the things she shared with me to the blog world.


What inspires you?
I love what I do. Just love it! There's nothing in this world, but God that could make me quit. Not my color, gender or someone else's tactics.

What separates your radio show from that on say ESPN radio?
What makes my show different from other shows is me. Anywhere I go I bring what I have to the table. There's only one me. I try not to be anyone else.

What was your most memorable interview?
To date, my most memorable interview was former running back and current Cleveland Brown Hall of Famer, Jim Brown

What one thing would you say is the reason for your success?
I don't walk around thinking I'm black, I'm a woman, it's going to be hard for me.

What are some challenges you’ve personally had to face being an African American Female working in the sports industry?
The greatest challenge overall is not giving up when things aren't happening fast enough. When I'm broke and can't pay my rent on time. When my talents and abilities aren't always enough because in some cases I don't know "the right people" as some would think. It's 2008, whoever doesn't like seeing my face in the locker room, at press conferences or TV is not my problem. I have bigger fish to fry.

What advice would you give to young females trying to get into this industry?
My advice is to find a way to keep going when your tank seems empty. Surround yourself with positive people who want to see you succeed and believe in yourself.

What's next for you???
A TV show, I want to do TV and radio simultaneously... and I want to write a couple books about childhood experience as well as about working in this industry. I have a passion to write about mother/daughter relationships and living in NYC being from Baltimore, and I'm quite sure at one point in time about the sports industry itself. I'm currently working on a book tribute to family members and friends with drug addictions. It's tentatively titled "AA."

Her radio show "What's going on?" airs on 90.3 FM every Sunday from 3pm-4:30pm. If your not in the NYC area you can listen online.

AND EVEN THOUGH I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT THE GIANTS BEATING MY COWBOYS, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY CHECK OUT "WHAT'S GOING ON?" THIS WEEKEND AS SHE WILL BE BROADCASTING LIVE FROM FOXBOROUGH.

She also has a myspace page - www.myspace.com/whcr

Black Magic Documentary

I had the opportunity to see a screening last night of the "Black Magic" documentary and it was truly amazing. Being an alumni of an HBCU made it all the more special for me to get apart of the history of the soil where I spent 4 years of my life.

If you haven't heard about it, its a 4 hour documentary that ESPN will be airing March 16th and 17th in 2 parts. The documentary tackles the injustices during the civil rights movement while using an angled that I don't feel has ever been presented before, from the mouth of the basketball player.

Street ball legends that shaped the way kids play basketball today, coaches that took chances and played African Americans knowing they might lost their jobs, the late night secret matches that HBCU's held against all-white schools in order to prove that they were better than them, but secret because at that time it was forbidden that the teams play each other. It was an absolute privilege to have been able to see the film last night. We actually saw a shorter version, not the entire 4 hours so I will still be tuning in, in March.

The most rewarding part about the screening was that the man they called Black Magic (pictured here) was in attendance. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe as well as Cleo Hill both sat on a panel following the screening with the Producer of the documentary, Dan Klores, along with ESPN's Jemelle Hill, and NBA player Jalen Rose. One thing they discussed was an incident that happened in Orangeburg where some students were gunned down by police. One of the students was a basketball player. It showed just how corrupted the justice system was in relation to African Americans, and because of the documentary, the case if being re-opened and investigated. Maybe justice will finally be served in that case, even if it is some 40-50 years later.

One point that stuck out with me about the panel discussion was there comparison to the HBCU school now, and how it was when they were playing. They talked about how they feel its a bad idea for all the HBCU's to try to move up into Division I schools when they don't have the recruiting dollars or the school records and successes to get top high school players to attend their school over say a Duke, Georgetown, etc. That HBCU basketball has always been and will forever be about the fellowship. It took me back to my days at North Carolina A&T State University, where no matter how bad our team was, we still went to every game and showed our AGGIE PRIDE.

I'm getting off tangent but seeing the old clips they showed of the Greensboro 4 sit-in just made me so proud to have decided to go to an HBCU, and gave me a different aspect on the history of those schools. This is definitely a film that you are not going to want to miss. I suggest you all check it out when it airs.