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At 47, Bernard Hopkins says, “Maybe I’m Just Better”

18 Apr

In their first fight Oct.15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Chad Dawson tackles Bernard Hopkins and hurls into the canvas. The fight end as a TKO for Dawson that was later ruled a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission.

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday Sun and the Chris Murray Report

Legendary fighter Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins said he has no secrets for his success in recent years against younger, stronger, faster fighters like Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik.

In a career that spans over 24 years and a multitude of title fights against some of the great fighers of all-time, the 47-year-old Hopkins said it has nothing to do with strategy or even his years of experience in the ring.

“Has anybody thought or just think that maybe I’m just better than the generation in the last 12 or 10 years. Maybe I’m just better. Has anybody ever thought that it ain’t the mind games. It ain’t that Bernard Hopkins got the look that he can bully a fighter before a punch is thrown. I disagree with people who say what I do is about a head game,” Hopkins said in a conference call this week with reporters.

“When you take away the person’s ability to do what you want him to do, they say it’s mental like I did something underhanded, under the table or against the rules and you flat out beat a guy because maybe I’m just better.”

Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) will get another chance to prove his greatness against the younger “Bad” Chad Dawson (30-1-0, 17 KOs) for the WBC Light-Heavyweight title on April 28 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk.

The last fight between the two fighters had a controversial ending. In the second round of that first fight, which took place Oct. 15 at the Staples Center Los Angeles, Dawson threw Hopkins onto the canvas and separated his shouldder .

The fight ended with a TKO for Dawson that was eventually overturned and ruled a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission. That ruling allowed Hopkins to keep his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title.

Many boxing observers thought Dawson was in control of the brief fight. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Dawson, along with his promoter Gary Shaw, contend that Hopkins was faking and didn’t want to go through with the rest of the fight.

“I have every advantage, I’ve got the fire in my eyes and people saw that in the last fight. I really wanted to go out and I really wanted to beat Bernard Hopkins,” Dawson said. “Bernard had other plans. I keep saying this Bernard did not want to be in the ring with me that night. Maybe he undertrained and didn’t expect to see what he saw that night. Maybe he needed more time to get in shape, but I’m here and I’m for real, I’m coming to fight.”

As he usually does Hopkins is relishing the underdog role and another chance to prove Father Time wrong and boxing media pundits wrong. Every time he was supposed to look like a man in his 40s, Hopkins has found enough power to befuddle his younger opponents.

“At the end of the day, whether it’s I’m an underdog because they say I should be an underdog, I’m going to continue to show that you might have an opinion whatever, but that don’t mean you have to be right,” Hopkins said. “It’s my job to prove it come April 28th . I’ve been right more than I’ve been wrong. April 28th is the only thing that I want to say, the only I want to show and you’re going to see it when you come up and shake my hand and tell me how great I am I’m going to say thank you and go back to sleeping in my own bed, something I haven’t done in the last nine weeks.”

With each victory over younger opponents, his dogged determination to not age in the ring and a Spartan-like training regimen, Hopkins has managed to stay relevant in a sport that has few very stars that are known beyond its base of hard core fans.

“Any and every big name that was around his weight class in the last 20 years, he has fought and won against,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “I think that’s what built the status he has which is a legendary status. He did make history because he beat George Foreman’s record to be the oldest champion ever. You add all things together and people are taking notice that this is a very special athlete and that’s what makes Bernard Hopkins so popular.”

But Dawson and Shaw believes it’s time for Hopkins to exit the stage.

“If it goes 12 rounds, I want to win 11`or 12 of those rounds,” Dawson said. “I’m looking to go out and beating Bernard in a great fashion that no one can say, but this or but that. I don’t want a close fight I want to beat him decisively.”

Added Shaw: “I promise you Chad Dawson will walk out of that ring victorious. He’ll have the Ring (Magazine) belt, he will have the WBC belt and I wish Bernard Hopkins a lot of luck on his entry into the (Boxing) Hall of Fame.”

Hamels Gets Some Much-Needed Run Support in Phils Win over the Mets

15 Apr

After giving two-run homer in the first, Cole Hamels shuts down the Mets the rest of the way, finishing with 10 strikeouts.

By Chris Murray

For the CM Report

Without the firepower of slugging first baseman Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in their lineup, the Phillies formula for success will simply come down to grinding out games with good pitching and the ability to somehow manufacture with good base running and timely hitting.

On a day when Cole Hamels was mowing down batters with 10 strikeouts, the Phillies offense finally provided the other end of that equation and came away with an 8-2 win over the New York Mets in front of another sellout crowd at Citizen’s Bank Park.

After scoring just one in the first two games of this series, the Phillies (4-5) scored seven of their eight runs in the final two innings of the game to put the Mets away. With a huge 10-game West coast road trip on the horizon, the Phillies are hoping to have more than a few games where they can score runs in bunches to go along with their great pitching.

“I think all of our starting pitchers know that they’re very capable of holding the opposition if they’re throwing their type of game,” said Phils manager Charlies Manuel. “On some nights, they will give up some runs. Just like today we gave up two early, they got the lead, we hung in there and we came back, we finally had a couple of innings there where we scored runs.”

Sunday’s game against the Mets was a good example of what could happen if the scoring and pitching come together for the Phillies. Hamels started the game by giving up a two-run homer to Ike Davis. The Mets would not score again.

“Cole’s the whole reason we won today,” said Ty Wigginton, who drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. “They jumped off a 2-0 lead and he didn’t let them get anymore, he shut the door on them. Anytime, you get a pitcher out there battling like that, you want to help him out.”

After the second inning, Hamels settled down and shut down the Mets for the remainder of his time on the mound. In seven innings, the Phillies lefty allowed no runs on five hits along with the 10 strikeouts.

Hamels said he got through that first inning by not panicking and just focusing on the next batter rather than allowing things snowball out of control.

“You put it behind you,” Hamels said. “I think I’ve become pretty good at getting over it and starting back over. No matter what occurred I need to get the next guy out and I think that’s something I’ve had to learn the hard way. You just keep plugging away and if you’re able to do that and keep the intensity and the focus, you’re going to be able to pull away and have games like that.”

In recent years, Hamels has always pitched well enough to win games, but more often than naught, he hasn’t had the kind of run support to help him win games.

Up until the Phillies half of the seventh inning, it looked Hamels was going to be that hard luck loser as the Phils trailed 2-1. Singles by Jimmy Rollins and Hunter Pence put both them at first and second. A wild pitch by Mets reliever Ramon Ramirez put Rollins at third and Pence at second.

Wigginton’s sac-fly tied the game and Lanyce Nix’s double put the Phillies ahead for good. In the eighth inning, the Phillies exploded with a five-run to put the Mets away. Wigginton capped off his day with a three-run double.

“Anytime you take the field, you want to go out and contribute and help your team win a ball game,” Wigginton said. “Definitely the sac-fly even more so than the double. It’s just a matter of getting out there and getting some results.”

Notes–The Phillies activated veteran reliever Jose Contreras today and optioned pitcher Joe Savery to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

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He Took One for All Americans: Jackie Robinson and the Civil Rights Movement

15 Apr

By Chris Murray

According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson was a sit-inner before the sit-ins and a freedom-rider before the freedom rides

For the Sunday Sun and Chris Murray Report

When it comes figuring out the actual beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement, historians will probably point to the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as the starting point.

If the bus boycott was the first chapter in the story of knocking down racial segregation in America, Jackie Robinson erasing baseball’s color line back in 1947 was the ultimate precursor to a movement that ultimately knocked down legalized racial discrimination.

Ten years before angry white mobs shouted obscenities at the Little Rock Nine and 14 years before Bull Connor sent water hoses and dogs on young protestors in Birmingham, Ala., Robinson was a lone warrior on the front lines of an hostile war to integrate America’s national pasttime.

On the field, Robinson endured his share of virulent racial hostility from his opponents on the field and from fans in the stands. And like the young people who would participate in the lunchroom counter sit-ins, Robinson did not fight back against his tormentors. He resisted the hatred with the grace and dignity that King and others  would show throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

“Jackie did it on a platform that was viewed by millions of people, he had to do it with a certain decorum, he had do it with a certain toughness, he had to endure a lot of hatred and perform at a high level,” said Jimmie Lee Solomon, Executive Vice President, Baseball Development, Major League Baseball, an interview I did with him last summer. “Dr. King did the same thing. What Dr. King went through in his 39 years is mind-boggling.”

Robinson in the midst of hostile crowds, taunts, and players sliding into second base with hard spikes, excelled on the field in what was a tumultuous rookie season. He batted .297 for the Brooklyn Dodgers  and led the National League in stolen bases. Robinson won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. He was  also fifth in the balloting for the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

In fact, King himself acknowledged that Robinson fired the first blow in the fight to get America to  live it up to its ideals of freedom and equality guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution: “A pilgrim that walked in the lonesome byways toward the high road of Freedom. He was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.”

Both during and after his playing career, Robinson toured the South speaking on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement and was one of the most requested speakers. He often told supporters that he would gladly take full citizenship rights for African-Americans over him getting into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

One of the things that very few people know about Robinson was that he was also an advocate for Black sports writers. Back in 1989, I interviewed Mal Goode, the first African-American broadcast network news correspondent, who told me that Robinson was upset over the fact there were few Black sports writer, outside of the Black press.

While Robinson bore the brunt of those early days with the utmost of humility, his strength to not fight back ultimately took its toll on him phyisaecally. By the time, he reached the age of 53, Robinson was battling diabetes and would ultimately die of a heart attack in 1972.

Even near the end of his life, Robinson was still fighting for the integration of baseball to go even further at the point. Prior to Game 2 of the 1972, Robinson told fans that day he would like to see the day the baseball would have Black managers in the dugouts.

If there is one final irony of the year Robinson broke the color barrier, it was that he led the National League in sacrifices.  On April 15, 1947, he took one for the team in a bigger way and we are a better nation for it.

Can the Phillies Win With Small Ball? Win over Marlins Could Provide the Blueprint

12 Apr

Speedy outfielder Juan Pierre hopes to help a Phils offense that will be without Chase and Ryan Howard.

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

With Ryan Howard and Chase Utley on the shelf with injuries, you knew the Phillies were going to start the 2012 season having to come up with creative ways to come up with runs.

The Phillies lost three of their first four of the 2012 games because their offense sans their power hitters was completely out of rhythm. Of course, Phillies fans went into worry mode even though there’s well over 150 games left. Oh, woe is the Phillies, will they ever hit again?

In Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the Miami Marlins, the Phillies may have found a lineup geared to playing the small ball that both general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and Charlie Manuel talked about last October in aftermath of their loss in the National League Division Series.

With speedsters like lead-off Juan Pierre, Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino along with Hunter Pence and rookie second baseman Freddie Galvis who run hard on the basepath and create havoc on the basepaths, the Phillies demonstrated that they come up with the big inning with a small ball.

The big inning of that game was the Phillies third inning in which they batted 10 men and scored five runs on four singles and just one extra-base hit. This inning happened mainly because the Phillies were aggressive on the basepaths.

After pitcher Roy Halladay grounded out, Pierre got the festivities going with a single to right. He stole second on a play that replay showed he was clearly out. But since the umpires called him safe, Pierre eventually scored on single by Placido Polanco, who took second on the throw to the plate.

With Polanco in scoring position, Rollins gets a single to left. He not only drives home Polanco, he takes second on a fielding error. A Pence single brings home Rollins. The Phillies rightfielder takes second on the throw and is driven home by Victorino, who would eventually steal second.

Later in the inning, Victorino steals second and then scores on a two-run double by Galvis to give the Phillies a huge lead and that was your ball game.

What should ultimately stand out here is that the Phillies were aggressive on the basepaths, stealing bases and hustling for the extra bases when they could. But in order for it to work on a consistent basis, they still have to get those singles and those extra-base hits.

“I think it’s going to be a blue print even those guys (Howard and Utley)get back,” Victorino said. “There’s no reason to change. We’re going to be built on that and why not use it and make it a part our game—whether it be bunting or stealing bases in that situation.”

In the locker room after Monday’s, Phillies leftfielder Juan Pierre told me that all the Phillies needed was to string a few hits and that would get the ball rolling. He turned out to be prophetic…at least for Wednesday’s game

“Victorino can run, Jimmy can run and I can, I think that’s the ideal. My job is to go out there and create runs and put pressure on the defense,” Pierre said. “We got enough veteran guys in here that can calm down and stringing some hits together will definitely help that.”

With the Phillies starting rotation of starters like Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Vance Worley, the speed game, if it’s consistent will definitely help a group arms capable of shutting any team down.

“We have a lot of ways to score runs,” said Halladay, who allowed just one run on seven innings against the Marlins. “Anytime you have speed, three or four guys that are base-running threats, can bunt and do the little things, you always have a chance to score runs. That’s a hugh addition for us and we have some guys that can really swing it, too.”

If the Phillies can make this small ball thing, they could be tough to beat by the time Howard and Utley. But they have to be consistent.

Howard and Utley Making Progress, But Still Have a Long Way to Go

12 Apr

Phillies Ryan Howard still rehabbing left Achilles injury he sustained in Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series.

By Chris Murray

of the CM Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

It’s still going to be a long time before you will be seeing injured Phillies, first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Chase Utley back in the starting lineup, but they are making progress.

However, there is no timetable for their return to the Phillies lineup.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Howard visited Dr. Mark Myerson  in Baltimore  on Tuesday and said his surgically repaired left Achilles tendon is getting better.

“His Achilles is doing great, his strength is increasing and the wound is improved,” Amaro said. “It’s not all the way healed. That’s the priority right now. It’s get the wound healed. It’s healing up well, but it’s not 100 percent yet.”

Amaro said the team will be talking to the wound specialist at Jefferson Hospital to make sure t the wound on Howard’s left leg is healed. He said the wound came as a result of an infection last month that compromisd the stitches apparently had a hole big enough to fit two fingers inside of it . Wednesday, Howard was in the infield fielding ground balls during batting practice.

“He’s done a little jump rope, he’s done some strength things and we’re making sure we’re doing things that aren’t going to compromise the wound,” Amaro said. “The tendon is in great shape. It’s intact, it’s in good shape. Ryan’s strength is better and better. In fact, it’s better than it was when he started doing hitting and that kind of stuff. We’re just waiting on the wound.”

But even when Howard comes back completely healed the question will be whether or not he will be at full strength. Athletes who typically get Achilles injuries take about a year to be completely 100 percent. Amaro said one of the “benefits” of waiting on his Achilles wound is that he is strengthening his calf.

“I’m sure it will affect him, how much it will affect we won’t know until he’s playing and we see how he’s doing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amaro said Utley is getting stronger rehabilitating his injured knees.

“He’s becoming more stable and he’s progressing,” Amaro said. “We’ll know more about him when he see on the West Coast. We’ll see him in San Francisco or Arizona (next week). When see him we’ll know a little bit more on how he’s progressing. He’s improved.”

Amaro said the real test for both players will be when they start playing on their minor league rehab assignments.

Phillies Still Searching for Answers on Offense in Loss to Miami

9 Apr

By Chris Murray

For the CM Report and the Sunday Sun

Cole Hamels struggled in the Phillies opener giving up four runs on eight hits while getting no run support.

With Ryan Howard and Chase Utley on the shelf with injuries, the Phillies (1-3) are still in search of offense and can’t seem to find it anywhere four games into the season.

The Phillies 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Miami Marlins in front of a sell-out crowd at Citizen’s Bank Park in the home opener is yet another example of what happens when one of their best starting pitchers has a bad day and the offense is not clicking.

“We’re four games in and the bottomline is we haven’t been hitting the ball hard enough to score runs,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said in his postgame press conference. “In the last four days, we’ve been putting the ball in play, but not too hard. We definitely have to move the ball a little better than that.”

The Marlins roughed up Phils starting pitcher Cole Hamels for four runs (three earned) on eight hits in during his five and two-thirds of inning of work. Oddly enough, he struck out nine with no walks, but Miami got just enough runs off Hamels to put the Phillies in a deep hole early.

“I thought I made some really great pitches at times,” Hamels said. “I felt like all four pitches were working. I had two or three that I didn’t really throw effectively and gave up a homer.”

Marlins second baseman Omar Infante led the charge with a pair of home runs and two runs batted in by first baseman Gaby Sanchez. Miami also got run-scoring single from Hanley Ramirez and a solo homerun from Austin Kearns off closer Jonathan Papelbon.

As good as Hamels and the rest of the pitching staff are, Manuel said if the Phillies don’t start hitting on a consistent basis, it’s going to eventually take its toll on the team.

“If we don’t score runs, it’s definitely going to add pressure to our pitching,” Manuel said. “But we have a lot of good veteran pitchers, but at the same time, it could take its wear and tear on them if we don’t score runs. We gotta find away to better and we’re going to work at it.”

Meanwhile, the Phillies offense was shut down by the pitching of  Miami’s Anibal Sanchez, who allowed just two runs on six hits in six and one-third of an inning—three of those hits came when the Phillies scored two runs off him in the seventh. Up until that point, he had allowed just three hits and did not allow a lead-off batter to reach base until that inning.

The Phils got their only runs of the game  on  a two-run double by rookie second baseman Freddy Galvis that scored Shane Victorino, who led off the seventh  inning with a single and Carlos Ruiz, who reached on a fielder’s choice. It was Galvis’s first major-league hit after going hitless in his first 12 at bats.

But despite of the slow start offensively, the Phillies aren’t stressing  about their offensive struggles just first four games of the season.  Even without, Howard and Utley in their lineup, Victorino said the offense is capable producing enough runs to win games even in come-from-behind situations like they have in previous years.

“Just because we haven’t done it in four games, don’t worry about it,” Victorino said. “Absolutely, we’re a good enough team that we can come back. I don’t see why we can’t.  It’s just that we haven’t done it  and so of course that question is going to be asked. Yes, we’re a good enough team that we can come back.”

For all the talk about the Phillies offense without Howard and Utley, the team has always found a way to win games when they’ve had players on the disabled list. Manuel said his team will figure it out at some point during the season.

“We’ve got guys that’s supposed to be able to hit,” Manuel said. “When you take those guys (Howard and Utley) out of the lineup it has an effect on you, but at the same time, we’ve always been able to work through that and that’s what we’ve gotta do.”

Opening Day: Baseball’s Auld Lang Syne

5 Apr

Hall of Famer Ernie Banks always gave long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans a reason to be optimistic on opening day.

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report

For baseball fans, hearing the words “Play Ball!” on Opening Day is about as joyous as watching the Big Ball drop from the Manhattan skyline on Times Square at midnight every New Year’s Day. It’s the collective shout of Happy New Year! for baseball fans every year with the noisemakers being the crack of the bat or the emphatic pop  of a 95-mile an hour fastball into a catcher’s mitt.

With the new season on the horizon, fans of even the worse teams in baseball are singing, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and Auld lang syne.” It’s absolution from the past season’s sins and a resolution to be even better.

Opening Day for a lot of teams around major league baseball is the time that they make their New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming season. The Baltimore Orioles would resolve to climb out of the American League East cellar and not lose 93 games as the way they did in 2011. The Philadelphia Phillies are hoping the new season will end with their first World Series title since 2008 after disappointing ends to their last three post season appearances.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals are hoping they can somehow win another World Series crown despite the loss of superstar first baseman Albert Pujols.

The Washington Nationals, with a rejuvenated Stephen Strasburg, have hopes of ending the Phillies reign in the National League East as do the Miami Marlins with their new skipper Ozzie Guillen and All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes.

And like some of our bold declarations of losing weight, drinking less, or being better husbands and wives, the promise of Opening Day will be lost in the inevitable ups and downs of the long season. For some teams, the optimism of spring will be burned out by a long hot summer and their pennant dreams will fade like a Raisin in the Sun and will be a dream deferred until next year.

Other teams will see the dream within their grasp only to have it whither away in the cool winds of September and October. At the end of the day, only one team will be able to pop the bubbly and celebrate the promise of Opening Day.

And that’s what we truly love about baseball, especially at this time of the year. It’s a reminder that both good and bad times aren’t forever and that there’s always hope that things will be better no matter what has happened the previous year.

In the course of our mundane lives, we celebrate New Years Day with the pomp and circumstance of fireworks, champagne and pickled herring because we believe that no matter how much we have screwed up during the year, things will get better.

When January 1 hits, it’s our chance to start all over again and to hopefully get things going on the right foot. Maybe we go on a winning streak where we have a few more dollars in our pocket or maybe our dream of getting that promotion finally comes to fruition.

But just like that 162-game baseball season, things happen and it doesn’t necessarily go your way. Things that you just can’t control can complicate your circumstances. For a lot of us just being able to stay in the Pennant Race of Life is a victory in itself.

Baseball’s Opening Day and New Year’s Day are like an annual baptism. It is a chance for us and our favorite teams to reborn and renewed in the spirit of all that is good.

While we and the teams we root for often come up short of the glory, the new year and the new season is a reminder we always have a chance to make things right.

Y’all Need to Take a Chill: The Rising Tide of Bigotry and Hate

23 Feb

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Sunday Sun

One of my favorite scenes from the Spike Lee movie Do the Right Thing was what I’ll call “the Stereotype Rant”.

During this scene, Lee’s character Mookie went on a rant that featured stereotypes of Italian-Americans, Pino, portrayed by actor John Tuturro, hurled insults at African-Americans, Stevie, a Latino kid (Luis Antonio Ramos) slammed Asians, Officer Long (Rick Aiello), a white police officer, spewed stereotypes of Latinos and Sonny, an Asian store owner (Steve Park), finished the rant by spewing some anti-Semitic bile.

In what can only be described as a true cinematic irony, the voice of reason in this scene was, of all people, Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson, playing the role of DJ Mr. Senior Love Daddy, called for a halt to the invective by yelling, “Hold up, timeout! Y’all take a chill! Ya need to cool that sh—t out and that’s the double truth, Ruth.”

I’ve been feeling a lot like Mr. Senior Love Daddy over the past month due to the latest bouts of bigotry that have hit the national spotlight. From the near constant use of racist stereotypes by the Republican candidates for the presidency and other offices, to the list of homophobic tweets hurled by a prominent national pundit to the stream of racial insults hurled at rising New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin, I think that it’s time for us to take a chill on the stereotypes and racist, sexist and homophobic invective.

If nothing else, the fact that the villains in all of these cases are a multicultural group should tell you that even in a 2012 America presided over by an African American president, we still have a long way to go in terms of creating the Beloved Community that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of.

Since the sports world is where I hang out most often, let’s start there first…and with the most recent.

The rise in the popularity of Lin, point guard for the New York Knicks, has been fun to watch. The Harvard-educated journeyman who had been on two other teams and had spent time in the NBA’s Developmental League before getting his chance to play in the nation’s largest media market, has been an inspiration to all…especially the Asian American community.

But for some, Linsanity has been an excuse for unpacking some pretty heinous Asian-American stereotypes. For writing the headline “A Chink In The Armor”, after a Knicks loss, ESPN fired a copy editor. The network also suspended the SportsCenter anchor who repeated the slur during the evening’s broadcast.

Calling Asian Americans “chinks” is the same as calling an African-American the N-word and it’s just as wrong.

But not to be outdone in the Racial Stereotypes contest, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., a man not known for his tactfulness under any circumstances, said Lin wouldn’t be getting all this publicity if he were Black and the Knicks MSG Network, the network that broadcasts Lin’s games by the way, that featured a picture of Lin coming out of a fortune cookie.

Now I understand that this is a big adjustment for some of you, having an Asian American in the NBA. I mean Yao Ming just retired a year ago, right? But how about making that adjustment without sticking your foot in your mouth during the process, okay?

But while sports is where the most recent example of our need to express our Inner Racist comes from, it’s not the only, nor it is the most important, place.

Perhaps the loudest noise in the body politic of American bigotry is coming from the candidates vying for the Republican Presidential nomination. If you’re Newt Gingrich, you’re behind in the polls and you’re running in a Southern primary, the one way to get votes from that good ol’ boy NASCAR crowd that’s still pissed off about the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and having a Black Man in the White House is to conjure up negative stereotypes of Black people on food stamps.

Not only did Gingrich suggest that poor Black kids become janitors and erroneously calling President Obama the greatest “food stamps president in history,” he also verbally smacked down Black conservative pundit Juan Williams who dared to suggest during a debate that stereotyping of African-Americans as the prime recipients of food stamps was offensive.

The next day, a South Carolina woman at a campaign rally walked up to Gingrich and thanked him for putting Williams in his “place.” For Black Southerners and for African-Americans in general, “putting someone in their place” is code for admonishing any Black person who would dare to stand up to a white man.

For all that, Gingrich got a huge ovation from the mostly white crowd in South Carolina at the debate and of course, the former House speaker, who was trailing in the polls prior to the debate, eventually won the primary.

Years ago, the late Alabama Governor George Wallace said that when he ran as a moderate Southern Democrat for governor, he didn’t get elected. But when he started using racist rhetoric, the crowds and the votes multiplied exponentially and he became governor of Alabama. President Lyndon Johnson acknowledged as much when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and lamented that he had lost the South to the Republicans (and the former Southern Democrats that now run the Republican Party) for decades.

But while the South is where we’ve come to expect such bigotry when it comes to politics or pop culture, it’s not the only place where it’s happening. A couple of Los Angeles shock jocks referred to the late Whitney Houston as a “crack ho” during a conversation about the singer’s recent death and a pundit from Fox suggested that California Congresswoman Maxine Waters “put down the crack pipe” after she referred to Republican House leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor as demons.

The shock jocks were suspended. The Fox commentator, Eric Bolling, tried to laugh it off…and received no punishment from the network.

Race isn’t where the latest slew of intolerance stops, however. A set of Super Bowl Sunday “Tweets” from CNN pundit Roland Martin set off a firestorm of controversy due to suggestions that any man who lingered over the H&M commercial for David Beckham’s new underwear line and a New England Patriots receiver wearing pink shoes should be beaten. A few days later, a video of a bunch of Black kids beating up a Black gay male in Atlanta was posted on YouTube.

While Martin has since apologized for his remark, and the events are in no way connected, the combination of the set of “Tweets” and the beating were symbolic of the homophobia that exists within the African-American community, something that’s kind of ironic when you consider the history of African Americans in this country.

All the gay community asking is for the same equal protection under the law as any other American citizen. Wasn’t that the principle that African Americans marched for in the 1960s? The gay community and the African-American community should be allies in the fight against bigotry and hatred.

Of course, a lot of my hardcore Christian friends will quote chapter and verse about how homosexuality is frowned upon by God. But hatred for your fellow man is far worse. That this is a violation of the whole “love your neighbor as yourself” policy tends to be overlooked by those practicing bigotry…especially those doing it in the name of God.

I really do pray for the day that the better angels within us will prevail over the tyranny of our prejudices and hatred. I pray for a world that is truly post-racial and post-hatred. The way we can start is just to Stop…

……and that’s the quadruple truth, Ruth.

After Last Second Loss to Clippers, the Sixers are Bloodied, but Unbowed

11 Feb

With Andre Iguodala all over him, Clippers guard Chris Paul hits the game-winning basket to beat Philly.

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday Sun and Chris Murray Report

Sixers head coach Doug Collins prides himself on being a teacher and relishes opportunities during the season to give his young players an opportunity to learn new plays as well as refreshing their minds on the fundamentals of the game.

In what has been the most difficult stretch of the season for his young team, Collins has had little time for chalk talk or rest  because the best classroom for his team during the last two weeks has been going up against the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard Tony Parker.

“The most fun part of coaching  is teaching,” Collins said. “It’s being on the floor with our guys and walking through stuff and having practices, putting in a new play.  We haven’t been able to do that.”

And maybe that lack of practice time caught up to the Sixers in a heartbreaking 78-77 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in front of a sell-out crowd of 20, 539  fans at the Wells Fargo Center Friday. It was the first time the Sixers have lost back-to-back games this season.

Clippers point-guard Chris Paul, with Sixers forward Andre Iguodala in his face, sank a 16-foot fade away jumper at the foul line with 3.2 seconds left put the Clippers ahead. Paul scored a game-high 24 points while Blake Griffin added 16 points.

“(Paul) does a good job of using his body,” Iguodala said of defending the game-winning shot. “He just got that extra inch, I almost blocked it actually. He did a good job of getting the shot off.”

On the Sixers final possession, Lou Williams couldn’t get off a final shot as he was surrounded by Paul and forward Kenyon Martin.  Collins put the team’s lack of execution on the game’s final play on his shoulders.

“Whatever it was, it did not work,” Collins said during his postgame press conference. “It was terrible on my part. Put that down—terrible on my part.”

Added Williams: “I caught it and they trapped right away and when you got three seconds, you really can’t get a look at the rim.”

With tonight’s loss to the Clippers, the 76ers have won four of the seven games against teams with winning records and have built a solid 18-9 record and are currently the No. 3 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They have beaten the Los Angeles Lakers, the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls.

“We haven’t gotten killed just yet,” said Williams, who scored 11 points in the loss to the Clippers. “All of these games are learning experiences. One comes down to us trying to make a shot at the end of the game. One comes down to other teams making shots. Nobody’s manhandled us in our building and so obviously we learned something from that.”

In their losses to Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs, the Sixers were gnawing at the heels of those teams for about three quarters. Both teams needed a big scoring spurt to finish the Sixers off. In the loss to the Clippers, it took an incredible shot by Paul to beat the Sixers. Collins said his team played well during this stretch, especially with center Spencer Hawes out with a left Achilles injury.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Collins said. “If you had told me that we would be sitting here at 18-9 with the way we’ve handled ourselves at home and the teams that we’ve had to play, the fact that like a lot of other teams we’ve been short-handed, especially along the front line.

“I’ve said before I thought that Tony Battie and Lavoy Allen came in and rescued us and saved us a couple of home games.”

Iguodala said he thinks the Sixers have become a mentally tougher team over the last seven games.

“It usually runs with you, it carries over for a week or two,” said Igoudala. “Hopefully, it continues with the high level we’ve been playing because we’ve been getting wins against these good teams. I think that part of the stretch is over. Now it’s time for us to continuing playing high level basketball and get wins.”

The Sixers will embark on a three-game road trip, starting Saturday, that will take them to Cleveland, Charlotte (Monday, Feb. 13) and Orlando (Wednesday, Feb. 15). They will be back at the Wells Fargo Center for a game against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

“It was a good week for us, all is not lost, but it would be good to get away and have a change of scenery,” Williams said. “We’ve always played well on the road and so we’ll see what happens.”

Coming of Age: Young Sixers Are Finding Themselves in Tough Stretch of Games

10 Feb

Related posts

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20120210_The_Sixers__Andre_Igudola_is_going_to_the_NBA_All-Star_Game_as_a_reserve.html?nlid=4162874

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=320209002

 

 

By Chris Murray

Could Lou Williams be the go-to guy for Sixers?

For the Sunday Sun and the Chris Murray Report

After playing in six of seven games against some of the league best teams, the 76ers, the No. 3  Seed in the Eastern Conference, have won four out of six of those games coming into Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Wells Fargo Center.

It’s safe to say that the Atlantic Division-leading Sixers are one of the better teams in the league, but they still have plenty of room to grow as losses to teams like the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs would indicate. Sixers guard Lou Williams said his team is not only good enough to hang with some of the league’s elite teams, but they are becoming good enough to beat them.

“We’re just fighting every night,” Williams said. “I think we’re right on the brink of being the team we want to be. At this point, I don’t think we’re using teams as measuring sticks because we feel like we can beat a lot of these teams. Now, it’s just going out and winning games.”

The Sixers, with their unselfish play on offense and a tenacious defense, have managed to win these games despite injuries to their big men like seven-foot-one-inch center Spencer Hawes who has been battling sore left Achilles and a bad back. Power forward Elton Brand has also missed some time with a sore thumb.

Sixers head coach Doug Collins said he has been impressed with the play of his younger backup players like rookies Lavoy Allen, Nikola Vucevic and veteran Tony Battie. During this current run of games these players have contributed through scoring and doing things like playing defense and pulling down rebounds.

“I think the fact that we have some younger guys helps us,” Collins said. “If you look at it around the league, a lot of the guy who’ve played a lot of years that are getting nicked up. What we’ve been able to do is find ways to to win when you have key guys out and you have to be able to do that. The only way to do that is to have depth and then have the guys you bring in do a good job for you.

“I thought that Vucevic and Tony Battie really help save us from disastrous results with all those home games.”

Collins said keeping his team fresh and making sure that they get adequate rest during their off days has helped the Sixers stay sharp during this difficult stretch of games.

“The thing that I’m happy about is the maturity of our team,”Collins said. “I think they’ve responded well to the time off and to utilize the rest time to be sharp in games.”

Another sure sign that the Sixers are evolving into of those good teams in the NBA is their ability to bounce back from tough losses and to stay focused after big wins. After a tough loss to the Miami Heat, the Sixers went on the road and came away with a convincing win over the Atlanta Hawks and followed that win up by beating Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in what was a close contest throughout the game.

“I think we’ve realized that we can beat anybody in the league, we’ve shown that,” said Andre Iguodala. “After a win, we’ve got to look forward to the next game. The games keep coming behind each other, so you got to prepared if you win or lose one you’re diving right back into the next game.”

Even in the midst of their current run of games, there is still talk about among fans and local media pundits about the Sixers needing that “go-to guy” in the fourth quarter. Could Lou Williams be that guy for the Sixers?

In Monday’s win over the Lakers, Williams came off the bench and scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, 13 came in the last 3:48 of the period including the go-ahead three with 2:06 left that put the Sixers up for good.

“The one thing about Lou is that he’ll be 1-for-15 and he’ll shoot the 16th,” Collins said. “You’ve got to have that kind of attitude if you’re going to be that guy coming off the bench on a nightly basis.”

 

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