Men & Their Damn Feelings

By Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin

For every romantic relationship you have, you stand to lose 2 or 3 close friendships in that period of time.

Much is made about men and their emotions. Men should be macho and the devoid of feeling. Those who show emotion have ostracized and called "bitches" or "pussies". On black twitter we call that acting "light skinned". 

While browsing through my timeline on twitter, I find many men, several of them friends of mine gathered up in emotion complaining of problems with their women, problems finding women, sometimes an angry deposition to women in general.

A while back I jokingly went on a tirade with the help of my roommate to portray myself in a woeful state brought on by a woman. In reality at the time had been talking to 3 or 4 women at the time. Not really caught up with any of them. But I will give a quick rundown:

Girl 1

Me and my two friends as well as another student rented a house where of course we threw parties. At one such occasion this girl whom my best friend had relations with 2 years prior had brought a friend to our party. My friend made off with his old flame and I took the young lady to my room. I attempted to make out with her but she hesitated because she had a boyfriend in the army. After a while I cut my losses and bid her adieu. We texted a bit and I'd say hello every now and again because she worked the front desk at a common place on our campus. I made a massive contact list to send a group text to everyone alerting them of a party of ours. One night I stepped on a landmine. I sent the text at 8:00pm, she texted back at 9:00pm and the longest "argument" I'd ever had with a woman started. We "talked" from pregame to party, party to mid-party, all while I was entertaining guests. She went on and on for about 3 hours while "laying next to her boyfriend" and I got to the point that I figured "this girl wants to cheat on her boyfriend with me but, god, she's trying to convince herself that she shouldn't by trying to convince me she shouldn't and I'm getting a fucking headache from this". We never texted again and I tried to avoid her at all costs in public.

Girl 2

This one was a freshman and I was what you'd call a super senior, I was 22 at the time. I'm a big USC football fan and we were about to throw a party on a Saturday. A bunch of my roommate's teammates came to our house to pregame. I was upstairs watching the Trojans blow a game to Arizona State. You know, one of those 14-11 games. This girl shows up and starts wilding out all over the place, one of the girls Aziz Ansari calls a "whoo girl". Fuck her. She had a friend with her who was the polar opposite it terms of personality but equal in attractiveness. I couldn't stand any of those dudes so I stayed out of the kitchen except to grab a beer or a drink. I went down and grabbed a beer and looked at this cute little thing looking like a lost puppy. We talked for a little and got her number. We texted and ate together a few times. She was an athlete so I promised to come to some games (I never did, I had no car, so I car pooled with my friends to campus). She texted me out of the blue and asked if I was just talking to her for sex. This is the moment of truth, how you answer this question shows your mettle as a man. I feel that when a girl asked you that question you ought to answer with your heart. If it is "yes" say it. If it is "no" say it and mean. If you lie, you are setting yourself up to be a scumbag. I said "no" because honestly I had never thought of sleeping with her...since the first time we met. She took my word for it. Then one night at a party she got too drunk and so I begged my friend to take her to her teammate's place where I helped her by making sure she was hydrated and took her and her friend back to her dorm. She texts me the next day and shows her gratitude by telling me she only thought of me as a friend. 

Here's some insight into me; I don't believe in the friendzone or being friendzoned. Understand me ladies, I have more than enough female friends, meaning women whose company I enjoy in a completely platonic manner and no romantic feelings. As soon most women understand that, the sooner they will stop calling men immature for not talking to them after they rebuff their advances.

Girl 3

The bane of my existence. When a girl compares herself to another girl who's sheer mention haunts a university, you ought to get away. The other girl was an insufferable broad who sought drama like I seek a new burrito joint in the city (that's a lot). They said my girl resembled this girl. I didn't see it because I never found that girl attractive. Girl 3 was from the same area as my best friend so he knew her for a while. They buddied up on the fact that their exes were dating. Then an incident occurred, I can't go into detail, but it was not fun. My friend and her became enemies but her and I grew closer. We tweeted cute things to each other (if Timehop brings them up I might vomit on the spot). We texted. Fact of the matter proximity was a problem. I say that because there was another guy who lived in her dorm that was talking to her (and likely much more) while he was also talking to an ex of my best friend (they were all involved in the above incident). This guy had it out for me and my buddy. He would stare at us at parties, at school, in the cafeteria, everywhere. Either he wanted to do something, or felt we were going to do something. Girl 3 loved all of it. She appreciated the attention. She probably had to change her underwear every time she thought of us beating the shit out of each other. Truth be told, because of something stupid I did the year before, I would never do something impulsive because of woman. More on that later. Should I also mention that the other guy showed up to my house and says to me “-----------, you can have her dog, we shouldn’t be fighting over hoes”. I told her of this gentleman saying I could have her as if she was the last slice of pizza and he called her a hoe in the same sentence and she still went on to have a relationship with the guy. Suffice to say I walked away because those two were made for each other.

After all of this I remember something my much more intelligent older sister advised me to during my freshman year of college, I'm paraphrasing, "Don't wife these bitches, hit it and quit it, son", she has her masters she knows what she's talking about. In all seriousness, what she meant was that college is a tough environment as is with education, social life, partying, and keeping up with family that to add the headache of relationship could be too much.

Throughout life I feel there will be people that you get involved with that snatch a piece of you that you need and they don’t really want but they take it anyway. It’s happened to me in the 8^th grade with a young lady that has done very well for herself and yet again during the best year of my life so far.

That year I did very well in school because I took more writing and literature classes, so I played to my strengths. My intramural team won the championship, which to a non-athlete that likens himself to one is a great feat. My social life was awesome. I met lifelong friends and had very few enemies. I was actually truly happy.

Then, let’s call her Girl X, Girl X came into my life. She wasn’t particularly great looking, a 6.5 or a passable 7 on some days if the sun lit a certain way. Her friends hung out at our suite which was almost like a hotel a few times a week. For some faint reason I felt an attraction.

I had always been shy from kindergarten to even this day when it came to girls especially the ones I really liked.

I went away for Thanksgiving break and went out with my boys from back home and texted her from this bar through the urging of my friends after telling them how I felt.

She was never concerned about ruining our friendship or anything so I convinced her to give us a try or at least I thought I did.

She made half assed efforts to hangout and get to know each other. I find that much more agonizing than friendzoning. At least if I was friendzoned, as I said before, I would have got out of dodge, by promising to keep things platonic but never speak to her again.

Apparently she had eyes for a friend of mine, actually the first person I told I had feelings for her to, ironically. But, unfortunately for her he was already courting another girl and saw Girl X as a “friend”. Also my friend and I were going through some issues at the time, as a matter of fact our entire group had internal issues like the 1977 Yankees or something.

With all of this going on my head was all over the place. I didn’t eat much and wasn’t much fun to be around. I became a caveman. I was like the kids on South Park when Bebe got boobs.

Here’s the thing I regret, and I will finally admit it here, and apologize to my buddy again.

I was walking down some stairs at a party and he was walking up. I passed him and he passed me. He reached out to embrace me and shoved him off. He yelled up to “what’s your problem bro”. In reality that meant, why are you pushing me away I’m your friend. But, my dumbass, at the time took it as “Alright asshole, your girl likes me, get over it.” I hurled an open beer can at him and a bunch of dudes grabbed us and separated us.

The next day, I played it off saying it was about the conflict in our group and not the girl. To be honest until recently I believed that myself. But, it was about her.

It’s been a while but I still see her and questions pop up in my head.

“Why did I want her?”

“Do I still want her?”

“If I she texted me out of the blue and said she realized she wanted me, how would I feel?”

I could have lost a good friend I had good times with that day. Fortunately I didn’t but our relationship is definitely different since the “beer throwing” incident.

So when you talk about men and their feelings, here are mine and their reasons. Share yours, instead of whining randomly on social networks leaving you open to ridicule. Since I was open about my experiences drop some of yours “anonymously” in the comments so we know why you feel that way.

Oh, and here’s the 2012 Intramural Championship Team,

The Decision? The Return? No, The Evolution

by Jeramy Kopacko

Let me start with by saying I have been on leading the hate chants on LeBron since The Decision. If you’re apart of the cult following, keep reading.

Today, we saw the next chapter of LeBron James: The Return. Within minutes, all of Cleveland forgave their hometown superstar sellout. The jerseys were pulled out the trash, the billboards read “Witness” once again, and Dan Gilbert apologized. Happily ever after, right?

We can’t forget. It happened, he said it, not one, not two, not three… and he didn’t. He fled to join other superstars. He fled to leave the scrutiny of losing. He turned his back on his city.

Four years later, Lebron is back with 4:1 odds of winning a championship. Which, of course, comes with all the publicity and comparisons. Did anybody stop and examine this free agency? Did anyone talk with Lebron live over the decision?

Alright, you’re confused. Let’s step back and time travel.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

This quote was made famous on July 19, 2010 by Michael Jordan, just 11 days after the controversial “Decision” aired. LeBron James made it known that he was leaving his hometown of Cleveland to “take his talents to South Beach.”

Stop right there.

This isn’t an attack. Let’s examine the situation. LeBron went in front of live television to publicly announce where he was going to sign in free agency. More importantly, basketball became entertainment like the WWE Raw. He ridiculed the his hometown, the fans, the organization, and himself. The ultimate form of  disrespect to the team that drafted you.

Back to my point.

The media ran rampant on this. Every sports journalist reported it as a slam against LeBron’s ego. Jordan, the arguably greatest player, calling out the face of the NBA. Classic story: “Former Great calls out New Star.” Here’s the plot twist: he wasn’t.

Charle Barkley is quoted saying “There would have been something honorable about staying in Cleveland and trying to win it as 'The Man’.” The same thing happened. Which turned into comparing the 90s era of basketball to the common day. Don’t.

This was the league’s elite giving advice to the next generation. They've experienced the spotlight, the glory, the riches, fame, MVP, titles, and so on that comes with the talent. They’re trying to pass knowledge they’ve obtain the hard way.

So today, around noon, SI releases an article of an essay. An essay written by LeBron announcing his decision to return to Cleveland. An easy written by Lebron, himself, announcing his continual lack of leadership and return to the better team.

Time to change your opinion.

Now, let’s let Lebron speak:

“If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a better player and a better man.”

I want to really emphasize “like college for other kids” and “a better man” out of this statement. LeBron was a basketball cover child at 16. LeBron was drafted at 18. LeBron was Rookie of the Year at 19. All Star Game MVP at 21. League MVP at 24. Do you see what I’m getting at here?

Lebron’s biggest enemy was himself. If this past season’s loss proved anything, it’s that LeBron is ready to return to Cleveland to be The Man. In an loss effort, LeBron put up arguable MVP numbers in a Finals loss. What was Dwayne Wade’s team in 2010 has evolved to Lebron’s team in 2014. If we really look at this announcement today, we see someone returning with maturity. We see a boy leave and return a man. We see his first test: teaching Andrew Wiggins the same.

PEDs: The Fat Magilla Gorilla in MLB's Room

by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin

In no way am I an advocate of steroid usage or any other PED usage in sports.

People hitting 60-70 homeruns year after year is not fun to watch in my opinion. If that were the case they'd play the sport with nerf balls and play on little league fields.

What I do believe in is the idea that if you committed an idiotic act with which there are consequences and you serve the punishment, you should not be further faced with much more punishment just because.

Red Sox pitcher John Lackey kind of sort of made comments disparaging Baltimore outfielder Nelson Cruz who after last year's Biogenesis Investigation by Major League Baseball was suspended 50 games as per the punishment for first time offenders of their PED policy.

Cruz went 5-5 against Lackey and based on his league leadership in homeruns was selected by the fans to start the MLB All Star Game in Minnesota next week.

Lackey criticized fans for having "selective memory" on Cruz's PED history.

That's his opinion, but, what about the "selective memory" Boston fans have toward their beloved postseason hero David Ortiz, who in 2009 was discovered to have been on list of positive tested steroid users from 2003. That list was meant to be private but with the amount of players that were on that list who were later found out to be PED users you cannot be too sure Ortiz is squeaky clean.

The Red Sox and Ortiz put together a press conference to clear the air which cleared up nothing as Ortiz simply said he doesn't know why he's on the list and no one felt the need to follow up.

PED use is asinine. Cruz for example was paid $10.5 million for last season while with the Texas Rangers. 50 games amounts to 30% of a 162 game season, so Cruz lost $3.15 million in his suspension. Alex Rodriguez is losing his entire salary for this season due to his suspension. His salary this year is a little less than $30 million.

If you want to gamble that kind of money in order to hit more homeruns or have a faster recovery time from injuries be my guest. This year will have been eleven or so years since MLB and the MLBPA implemented a drug policy and we are still having people test positive and get suspended. If the problems continue the penalties should not cost players just money but should also put their careers in jeopardy.

Start off with an entire season for a first timer and then 3 years for a second offense. You would not get to a third offense which is a lifetime ban. If you lose three years of baseball to steroids your career is effectively over, especially if you are older.

If player X is 22 years old and gets suspended and loses a year from a first timer suspension he will be 24 when he returns. He plays 2 years then he is 27 in that third season back, he faces his second suspension and loses another 3 years. When he returns from that suspension he is 31. At that age his ability is question and  may have gotten a few seasons in over ten years but has lost millions of dollars in suspended season.

Player X or any other player ought to think long and hard about seeing that shady doctor or having their cousins become their drug mules with those penalties.

As far as for people like Lackey, put a sock in it, because the next big PED scandal may include the guy sharing your clubhouse. Nelson has served his suspension and signed a one year deal at lower than what his market would have been without the suspension. He is performing extremely well on said contract and deserves to be an All Star. You cannot hold his past PED use against him, if that were the case then the league should place lifetime bans on all offenders.

The policy is in place for players to be held accountable and right their wrongs. To forever ostracize players after they have served their time is just plain wrong.

 

Say Hello to the Bad Guy...uhhh I Mean Jason Kidd

by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin

I am a gigantic Stone Cold Steve Austin fan. I mean if I ever met the Texas Rattlesnake in my lifetime, no matter if I were 44 years old I'd probably cry like pre-teen girls do when they see that delightful young lady Justin Beiber.

He was my favorite wrestler, go as far as to say my hero. In wrestling good guys go bad at some point to make them more interesting, they call this a heel turn. The WWE had the audacity to do this twice. Once by aligning him with his mortal enemy Vince McMahon and another when he turned on the WWE to join the ECW/WCW faction in the hilarious Invasion storyline.

Both times I followed him even though he was a "heel", I just felt that he had his reasons and that's good enough for me.

Last week Hall of Fame point guard and recent NBA coach Jason Kidd was "traded" from the Brooklyn Nets to the Milwaukee Bucks to become their head coach.

He and general manager Billy King had a relationship that turned coldly tumultuous. Kidd was only on the job for a few months and about half of a year from shooting airballs in the playoffs for the Knicks when he suggested the Nets hire someone over Billy King because he felt King didn't know what he was doing.

King swung the Pierce/Garnett trade. A bold move that helped the Nets become contenders. I think he knew what he was doing. I don't think he knew what he was doing when he hired a coach that was way in over his head.

The history of Jason Kidd is a colorful one. He was drafted from the University of California by the Dallas Mavericks in 1994 and got a share of the Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill. He was traded to Phoenix(more on that later) and later on to New Jersey. He took a swamp of a franchise that oddly enough resided in a swamp to two straight Finals and may have been the real MVP of the 2001-02 season not Tim Duncan, no disrespect. His time in Jersey came to a close and he returned to Dallas through a trade and finally won an NBA title in 2011 albeit as a role player. He played his final year as locker room veteran leader on the Knicks helping them win the Atlantic Division before retiring and becoming the head coach of the Nets.

Now here is the colorful part.

In his first few years in Dallas he played with Jimmy Jackson with whom there was a rumored love triangle with R&B singer Toni Braxton which caused a rift between the two. Both were eventually shipped out elsewhere.

He and his wife Joumana had a physical altercation at a Taco Bell drive-thru of all places. He was ordered to take anger management classes and the two eventually divorced because she was not much of an angel either.

Byron Scott was his coach during his two trips to the Finals with the Nets. The two fell out of favor and Kidd pressured the front office to trade him or fire Scott in a classic "he goes or I go" situation. Well Scott was gone and Kidd stayed.

In came Lawrence Frank, who Kidd clicked with. They were successful early on but the departure of Kenyon Martin et al forced the Nets into a rebuild and Kidd in his latter thirties could not endure a long rebuild. Makes sense. Being that by the time that rebuild ended Kidd was their head coach and as  coach pressured management to bring Frank in as an assistant, the most lavishly paid one at that, he then pressured them to oust him.

I have always loved and respected Kidd as a player. The guy recorded a ton of triple doubles as a point guard. He was a fearless leader. I feel that Kidd truly had his reasons for this move to Milwaukee.

Kidd suggested hiring a team president over King. He didn't suggest himself as first reported or anyone else for that matter. Maybe he felt that a Russian billionaire and a guy who hadn't been the most successful general manager with the Nets or 76ers could use another voice on matters of basketball operations.

Kidd was given a team expected to be among the NBA's elite as his first job. He now has reign of a team that is on the younger side and likely more open to being coached by him. Remember, he coached Kevin Garnett, a guy drafted only a year after Kidd was.

Kidd may seem like a bad guy but in reality, he, Billy King, and the Nets may all be better after this ordeal.

NBA Offseason Primer

by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin

Been a little busy at work and finding new work so I'm putting this out there now. I planned on doing this before the draft, actually right after the Finals but this will suffice. In this I will cover trades that might, could, and should happen. Moves in free agency that might, could, and should happen. Other tidbits and I'll start with a draft review.

NBA DRAFT 2014

Things I liked:

• First and foremost let's talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers. I enjoyed a lot of what they've done this offseason. They've acted like a team building for a future. Ideally with Kyrie, Wiggins, Thompson, and Waiters all remaining healthy and improving, it could be like if they had Lebron, Boozer stayed, Dejuan Wagner didn't break down and lastly making a much better pick than Luke Jackson in 2004. They hired a coach without the Lebron seal of approval. Let me tell you something, for the entirety of MJ's career he had a GM that he cared very little for and who cared very little for him. Jerry Krause built a solid team not a team Jordan liked and they both have 6 rings to show for it. The coach they hired should be successful in a few years after being very successful overseas.
• The Lakers and Celtics made solid picks. I see Randle not as a franchise guy but as a terrific guy to play with. I think he is a really raw Zach Randolph and when he reaches his peak he'll be better than Z-Bo. The Celtics have to be getting prepared (not ready) to trade Rondo. He's a free agent soon and they are a ways away from winning. Rondo's value is "meh" at this point honestly, in my opinion. I feel like if they traded him anytime before he was a free agent it's going to being a trade like "oh that's what they got for him" but sometimes those trades are alright when you have replacements for him as in Marcus Smart.
• I'm a Knicks fan so let's get it out of the way...For most of the year I thought the Knicks had no picks and by about March I wanted the Knicks to make the playoffs if only because the Magics/Nuggets pick would not be a lottery pick. They got Cleanthony Early, a first round talent, a steal. Thanasis Antetekounmpo, not a star, not his lil bro Giannis, but he's a player. I compare him to a Michael Pietrus, might knock down a few shots and frustrate the shit out of whoever he's guarding. The French dude at the end, I know nothing about, all I know is he's not Patric Young so let's move on.
• Isaiah Austin...Adam Silver honestly is making a serious case for Sportsman of the Year, seriously.
• Quick hits: Charlotte is nice, Philly fans are going to stay away from Whateverbankownsthenamingrights Arena but will return in 2018 when Dario Saric is somewhere between Danillo Gallinari and Dirk & Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel are at least Hakeem and Sampson 2.0, Jabari will somehow keep the Bucks in Milwaukee unlike KD keeping the Sonics in Seattle.

Things I didn't like:

• Speaking of KD...the Brazilian Durant, really Toronto, really, at 20. I joked with a college friend that my dad had VHS porn from the 70s that was better quality than the highlight reel of the kid. It's not the pick, this dude may actually be the the Brazilian KD, but still it's the 20th pick of the deepest draft in the last 20 years or something. Pick him with your 59th pick not your 20th. They could have drafted Shabazz and traded him to Miami for the 25th,a future 1st rounder, and multiple second rounders (which based on this pick they'd presumably fuck up too).
• Speaking of Shabazz...really Miami? You got held up because this guy who there is a chance albeit a small chance might not be in a Heat uniform anymore wanted. I always said that I don't even know who Pat Riley is anymore. I see the Lakers/Knicks coach as Episode I&II Anakin Skywalker and 1995-2009 Pat Riley as full-on Order 66 Darth Vader. This Pat Riley today has to be the disintegrating pull off my helmet I can't breath Episode VI Darth Vader. Well if this is how soft Pat Riley's gotten then keep getting softer maybe his ghost will show up with Red Holtzman and other ghosts of Knicks past at the 2029 Knicks NBA championship celebration. I threw too many Star Wars references in there but still.
• Not enough trades. As in established player for established player. I mean there's only two teams or maybe just one that gets Carmelo and Lebron.

TRADES THAT OUGHT TO HAPPEN

• One reason I wanted to put this out there a while ago. I knew one person that was being traded before the 2014-15 NBA season was Tyson Chandler. He had to be. The Knicks had only one tradable asset and it was their defensive anchor. Why is he valuable? The only reason the Knicks are keeping Sam Dalembert is because there is no one out there to replace Chandler. An idea I kicked around was the Thunder getting Tyson and Shumpert for Westbrook and the 21st or 29th pick. I think the Thunder would get the better of that and be closer to the title because they could give some of the 60 shots KD and Russell take and give them to the other Thunder players & no one is approaching the rim with Ibaka and Chandler guarding it. The trade that did happen was pretty good, the Mavs got a person they were missing the last three years and without him they could beat most teams out West and EVERY TEAM IN THE EAST. There I said it. The Knicks got a prospect in Shane Larkin, someone I liked but the Mavs picked him first, two picks that turned into Cleanthony and Greek Freak the Elder, also solid prospects. And they got rid of Felton...so two hands up to the Lord.
• Kevin Love- If the only thing keeping a trade of Love to Golden State is Klay Thompson, just stop. I believe the proposal is Thompson, David Lee and the 2015&17 Warriors' picks for Love and Kevin Martin. Thompson and Martin are the same player in 2014 as far as production. Thompson in 2017 is going to be Earth and bounds better that Kevin Martin. If you told me in ~2000~ the Raptors could have gotten Alonzo from the Heat with Eddie Jones for T-Mac, Charles Oakley, and two 1st rounders, I'd say "The Raptors gave up a shot a the Finals probably to be a decent playoff team with a developing T-Mac and by the time he does, everyone on the team is too expensive to keep?" Golden State fired Mark Jackson so I don't really expect them to make smart decisions.
• I fully expect the Rockets to end up with nada in the hoopla. Meaning no Melo, no James. Why? They play in the West where they could probably get both and still lose or play a tiring series in the first round. In the East you could leave a brick on the gas pedal and let the car loose and your team still probably makes it to the Conference Final. In the case when you lose out on a big free agent frenzy, what do you do? PANIC!!! Panic signing, Panic trade. In this case, panic trade, the Rockets probably panic and trade for Rudy Gay's final year, somehow someway.

FREE AGENCY

Let's start with the two people that really matter...

Carmelo Anthony

• I fully and totally expect Melo to remain a Knick, all Knick fandom aside. I think Melo gets it. I assume the man walked around the Garden a few times and bumped into Mark Messier. He's been around the city, he's met Derek Jeter and Eli Manning. This is a city that loves and idolizes their winners. People outside of New York snare at it but it is true, there is really nothing like winning here. We respect the hell out of people that ride it out and despise you if you don't (looking at you Tiki Barber). The only reason A-Rod didn't get booed post-steroids scandal at Yankee Stadium is because he helped get the 2009 title. All that aside he can sign for at least one more year, whether he signs for less to help build a team around him is left to him. I also really believe him when he said he doesn't want to uproot his family being that he moved as a young kid which I know personally is difficult. I really don't see LaLa as a Houston person either.

LEBRON!!!!!!

• Cleveland and Miami. Honestly that's it. Going back to Cleveland would be a nice story. Redeem him with a lot of people. For basketball reasons I think it would be great. He's the winner now. Let old man Suggie tell you a story...A man named Lew Alcidor later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks then was traded to the Lakers and won more championships when he had a couple young players named James Worthy and Magic Johnson help him out. I would love to see that for Lebron. If he stays with Miami, cool, I enjoyed watching them get dogged and lose to San Antonio in the Finals. It was awesome. But when Lebron is hauling knee-less Wade and not as effective Bosh through the playoffs and losing a second round series to the Wizards in 2016 and a first round series to the Cavs, Hornets, or whoever in 2017 with no help in sight would be nirvana...the Lebron hater in me wants that but the basketball fan in me wants the Cleveland reunion with Wiggans and Kyrie welcoming him back.

Other things to watch:

• For the champs, a move I'd like to see is a bold move to trade for or sign Greg Monroe to an offer sheet. The Duncan, Parker, Ginobilli era may soon end but remember it followed the Robinson, Duncan, Elliot era so to pair Monroe up with a mentor like Duncan in his last few years to groom him to be in a future duo with Kawhi would be helpful.
• Once again I bring up the Knicks not just because I'm a fan but because I'm curious about Phil's vision for the team. I foresaw the Chandler trade because I assumed that Phil would replace him with Andrew Bynum on low cost 1 year "redeem yourself" deal. Even before Phil came I thought they would kick the tires on a potential deal for Pau Gasol and reports are saying they likely will. The other thing I have heard is them going after Pau's little brother in the next offseason. Marc Gasol would be a solid replacement for Chandler on the defensive end being that he is also a former Defensive Player of the Year. So we're going to have the Spanish Olympic basketball team as our starting five and Melo? If it happens nice, it'd be nice to see some Penelope Cruz type chicks around the city bars watching Knick games.
• Wade and Bosh. People are saying that these two should take a massive paycut for Lebron to stay and be able to give him all the money he deserves and be able to provide other role players. I say no. Lebron didn't win those championships by himself. Wade had a ring before he came and has one more than Lebron for the foreseeable future. He probably can't get a max contract but he wouldn't have to take a massive paycut to play for Chicago or Dallas. Bosh on the other hand can still make a ton of money in a winning situation too. Playing in his home state of Texas with Dallas or Houston, he'd make max money and compete. 

Hate of Women? Rodger’s Hate of Rodger

By Shaebaun “Suge” Benjamin

On Friday May 23, 2014 a 22 year old man named Elliot Rodger murdered seven people and wounded thirteen others over the course of an afternoon. During all of this I was the movies watching X-Men: Days of Future Past. When it was over I took the bus to meet a friend. I perused twitter as most of us do as a combatant of boredom. I saw a few things about a shooting at a school, which unfortunately did not shock me as mass killings have become a norm within our society. The Aurora shootings, the Newtown Killings, and the Boston Marathon bombings all happened within a few months of each other and even more recently the incident at Fort Hood just a month ago. The sad part about the last sentence is that I am omitting at least two other incidents where several innocent people were harmed.

When things like these happen the first thing people tend to do is become Nancy Grace or Bill O’Reilly and come up reasons for these things whether they are sensible or not. We blame Muslims for terrorism. Video games, music, and movies for school shootings or funniest of all a hooded sweater made for rain and chilly weather for a person to murder an unarmed teen.

During my twitter reading on Friday, I at first didn’t connect the tweets about the shooting to tweets about this Elliot Rodger character. What I read about him were about him believing he was owed sex for basically his very existence. This opened the floodgates for a bunch of “all of a sudden” feminist critics to go on tirades against the rise of misogyny and its correlation to the horrible thing this man did to these innocent people. This is where this misplacement of blame comes in.

I am in no way excusing the actions of Rodger. It is my belief that this young man was severely dissatisfied with himself and without mental help through psychology or other means he took his displeasure out on others. In effect he blamed his own perceived inequities with himself on others because from his perspective he felt that they, men as well as women, found him inadequate. In his manifesto he recalls certain incidents where he was considered a loser and had difficulty obtaining not only women but male friends as well.

 Tony Montana said it best “first, you get the money, then the power, then the respect, the women come with that”. So rather than learning to stick his tongue out like a lizard as Manny did in Scarface, Rodgers thought he’d go the Tony route and spend oodles of money on his “friends” to earn that power and respect and the women that came after.

In this world today where the perception that this guy‘s whole ideology was misogynistic is understandable if you’re convincing me his motivation was that a female lover or companion can be gained with money and power.

What is misogyny?

It is the hatred of women.

Like most men, I have had my fair share of rejection from women, but by no means do I hate women. That is life. I love all the women in my family and have several female friends that I love and care for. Have I ever felt that I’ve done things for women that I felt should entitle me to some sort of physical reciprocation? Yes. Have I done things for women and thought “Hey maybe a date would be nice?” Yes, but does that make me a misogynist? That is left for you to decide.

In this society twerking and sultry Instagram posts are basically normal behavior for most young ladies and the rise of self promotion through self-taken pictures, what we now called selfies, and any male approval, to be fair, unless it is a male whom the subject approves, is considered the act of “thirst”. How do we decipher admiration from misogyny, or misogyny from admiration?

You watch any hip-hop video you see beautiful women being “objectified” yet there has been no sighting of the muscled-armed-gorilla pimps who force these young ladies to these video sets and into sling bikinis for all our viewing pleasure. That is because they don’t exist. Those women as well as porn actresses, swimsuit models, and other women who are eye candies for misogyny are there on their own volition. Feminists can counter that these women have low self-esteem and hardly respect themselves as human beings.

That’s fine, but, if we can chalk these women’s reasons as lack of self-esteem and self-respect can we spare the misogyny babble and see the motives for these shootings for what they are. They were the maniac and tragic act of person with a lack of self-respect and loathe himself to the point he hated all others.

Another cause for his lack of appreciation for himself may be because his mixed raced background. Rodger’s father was a Caucasian man of British decent and his mother was Malaysian. He spoke of his distaste for interracial relationships, particularly ones that involved white women and men of other races. Growing up around affluent white children and being a shade darker made Rodger an outsider. He wondered in his blog why white women would date black men and Asian men but not him while also disparaging men of those ethnicities. This also demonstrates how instead of finding the faults in himself, he projected it on others.

The Revenge he spoke of was against others in his mind, but in reality was a battle against himself. I do ask that anyone reading this that is or knows someone with issues like these seek professional help to resolve them.

NEW SLAVE(Owner)

By Shaebaun “Suge” Benjamin

It is fascinating to see the amount of slave movies or even films dealing with racism towards blacks that have been made since the 1970’s.

As recently as last year we saw 12 Years a Slave by Steve McQueen, based on a true story win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The year before Quentin Tarantino had won Best Original Screenplay for his film Django Unchained. Lee Daniels made the underappreciated The Butler in 2013 as well.

Most people believe that making these films have stunted the growth in our nation as far as racism. I other hand believe that these films need to continue to be made so we as a nation can see where we came from and how far we have to go. They remind us of a time where I could take a trip to Atlanta (which I often do) and would not be able to eat or use the restroom wherever I’d like because I am African American. Better yet if I went to Florida I could not talk to an attractive white girl in fear of my life being threatened as Emmitt Till was.

But times are different, in Atlanta I can eat anywhere and if you’re a good looking girl I can talk to you no matter your race. What has not changed is the inherent racism in some people.

By now we have all heard Donald Sterling, the disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner, speaking to his female companion V. Stiviano or at least heard of it. In the conversation we hear him tell her that she should not take photos with black men or even bring them as guests to Clippers game.

 The black men in the pictures in question were Basketball Hall of Famer and entrepreneur Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, who if you’ve seen the video of him giving a handicap fan the jersey off his back and cleats of his feet, seems to be an all around nice guy. These weren’t two hoodlums from the street, but, even if they were this guy did not care because they were black.

Sterling is no stranger to having his racism brought to light. The difference now is that someone finally said enough is enough and got rid of him. No knock on former commissioner of 30 years David Stern, but, current commish Adam Silver finally took out the trash.

Donald Sterling made much of his money on real estate by owning several apartment buildings across Los Angeles and has been taken to court for accusations of racial discrimination by his tenants. These include Koreans, Latinos, and African Americans. No matter his record in the courtroom I am of the belief that where there is smoke there is fire.

There have been accounts taken where during interviews with potential head coaches he asked “So, what makes you think you can coach these niggers?” Former basketball legend Elgin Baylor worked under Sterling for 22 years as the general manager of the Clippers. He claimed that Sterling envisioned hiring a white coach to coach an all black team with a southern plantation mentality.

He has even been accused of reverse-racism as it were also for not wanting to pay Clippers player J.J. Reddick what he requested because he thought it was inconceivable to pay that price for a white player.

Silver recently banned Sterling and ordered him to pay a $2.5 million fine. The idea of Sterling continuing to own the Clippers startles me because it reminds me of the slave owners in those movies, namely Calvin Candie of Django Unchained.

Candie, played brilliantly by Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, owned slaves who worked for him as well as mandingo fighters. Mandingo fighters were slaves who fought other mandingo fighter slaves, most times to the death, for money which of course went to their owner. These fighters hardly if ever work the fields or households in order to save energy and focus on fights. When they won they were awarded with fine food and a female slave of their choice to use for their pleasure. In the taped conversation Sterling is questioned by Stiviano as to why he is so ignorant towards blacks but owns a team that employs several of them as well as a black head coach. He replies that he puts food on their table and clothes on their back. That reply sounds like what a slave owner would say in response to abolitionist during the anti-bellum to the Civil War. To those slave owners and likely Sterling, no matter how free you think you are, you are still my property.

The other disgusting part of all this is that Sterling is Jewish and should be aware of the devastation brought on to the Jews for centuries because of their race and religion. When I was younger I thought the comparison of the Holocaust and slavery was incomparable because one lasted five years and the other lasted nearly 400 years. This was until I went to Europe (Munich, Germany to be exact) as a senior in high school where I visited Dachau, a concentration camp. After seeing gas chambers and ovens where people including children were sent to be killed, I realized that the Holocaust and slavery are not to be compared but recognized as tragic injustices in history that we ought to learn from. For that reason I believe that Jews and blacks of all people should be most tolerant and accepting of all people.

The Clippers as of May 30, 2014 are to be sold to the former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer for the sum of $2 billion. That is the largest some for an NBA team by $1.5 billion. The money will likely be split amongst Sterling and his estranged wife Shelly. Shelly reminds me of Mistress Epps who was played by Sarah Paulson in 12 Years a Slave in that she seems to be the calming voice compared to Donald Sterling’s vitriol. In reality like Mistress Epps, Shelly Sterling is just as racist as her husband. She has been a defendant in a few of the racial discrimination suits against her husband. She was accused of the same types of racist acts against tenants as Donald had.

The large sum of money going to the Sterling is a small price to pay for the ugliness brought on to the league by them. What puzzles me is why he stuck around so long? Was it his friendship with the late Dr. Jerry Buss? Buss owned the Lakers until his recent death and was well respected around the league. It is said that Buss convinced Sterling to buy the then San Diego Clippers and move them to Los Angeles. They even moved into the same arena together in 1999 when the Staples Center opened, which is an oddity for two teams of the same league sharing the city.

For whatever reason he stuck around, the time of the Sterling’s and owners like them are over. Good riddance.