…and, ABC News, your debate stunk.

I understand that there have been a lot of Democratic debates (last night made the 21st) but, seeing how they sunk to the levels of tabloid journalism in presenting this debate, they could have left it at 20.

Many bloggers have already panned this debate. It was over 50 minutes before a single policy question. Instead, we were treated to a rehash of Rev. Wright, Hillary Clinton’s Bosnia story, an obscure reference to 60’s radical William Ayers and — *gasp* — flag pins.

However, it’s not just me and bloggers. Just check out the comments on ABC’s web site. There are over 12.000 at this point and from what I have read, the general consensus is that ABC did a horrible job last night.

Popularity: 75% [?]

Golf is not exactly known for its diversity (although I see that changing). So, maybe it’s just a knee-jerk reaction on my part but, the recent words of Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman (followed, subsequently, by an apology) really ticked me off. Tilghman, supposedly, was trying to express how dominant a player Tiger Woods is and suggested that young players should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley” in order to compete with him.

Now, considering the history of lynching in this country (the OVERWHELMING majority of which targeted black people), this is not something that is exactly the stuff of jest.

But, who knows, maybe it’s just me…

Popularity: 25% [?]

When people complained to me about Barry Bonds and steroids my response always went like the following — “Who’s to say that he had some unfair advantage? For example, how many times did he go to bat against a pitcher on steroids or an outfielder on steroids”. Not excusing steroid abuse but, it didn’t begin or end with Barry Bonds.

Well, it looks like I have some vindication today. The dreaded Mitchell Report (pdf) was released today and it named some 80 players accused of juicing.

Among them are pitching hero Roger “the Rocket” Clemens, Albert Pujols, Andy Pettitte and many others.

So, while many vilified Bonds and said his home run record should have an asterisk by it, I wonder if these same folks we be as loud about the records that may be held by some of these offenders.

Popularity: 14% [?]

You know, I used to think Isiah Thomas was a sensible brother. Now, I really don’t know.

To be honest, I had heard some things in passing about him being named in a sexual harassment suit but, I had not really followed it. But, something I read recently made me do a double-take.

The plantiff in the case is former Knicks vice president Anucha Browne Sanders. According to Ms. Sanders, she was subject to some rather foul, berating language at the hand of Thomas. In a 2004 incident, she alleges that Thomas called her a “f—ing ho”,”b–ch”,”f—ing b–ch” and “ho”.

In another incident, Thomas supposedly told her, “Don’t forget, you f—ing b–ch, I’m the president of this f—ing team.”

But, believe it or not, this was not the worst part of the story for me. This was:

(Jeffrey) Nix’s testimony came a day after a jury watched Thomas’ video deposition, where he said that white men weren’t allowed to call black women “b–ch,” but black men could.

“I’m sorry to say, I do make a distinction,” Thomas said in a videotaped admission viewed by a Manhattan federal jury yesterday.

“A white man calling a black female ‘b–ch,’ that is wrong with me. I am not accepting that. That’s a problem for me,” he said.

But asked if he’d have a problem with a black man calling a black woman “b–ch,” Thomas said, “Not as much.”

Okay…now I have a headache.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Okay, let’s just put this out there and be done with it…O.J. Simpson has been arrested in relation to an alleged armed robbery in Las Vegas.

He and a group of men stand accused of breaking into to a hotel room and robbing a man at gunpoint for O.J. Simpson memorabilia. Simpson says he was just getting his property back and that no guns were involved. Regardless, of the use of guns, the way in which the went about getting the memorabilia (back) is suspect.

Thanks for indulging me on this one. Hopefully, I won’t be bringing this up, again.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Often, I intentionally refrain from high-profile stories because we get beat over the head with them enough. Instead, I normally choose those stories that get overlooked in the media in order to help give them more visibility.

I’m breaking with my normal M.O. to share some thoughtful analysis I read in regards to the Michael Vick situation and our reaction to it.

Jamele Hill, in writing for ESPN’s Page 2, reminds us of how easily we lose what my mother would call our sense of “priority and proportion.”

Hill reminds us that Ravens’ linebacker was never this vilified when he stood accused of being involved in the killings of two people (he later plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice). She also looks back on how Rams’ defensive end Leonard Little was treated with kid gloves after he actually struck and killed a woman while drunk-driving. Little got an 8-game suspension and got to serve a 90-day sentence at a time that was convenient to him. So, here we see instances where human lives were lost and there was less public outcry than this Vick circus.

Hill also lets us know about contemporary stories that are being ignored while we talk about Vick. Specifically, she speaks on how we are ignoring the plight of the “Jena 6″, which we as black folks should be greatly concerned. Here we have young men who could languish in prison for decades over what should have been, at worst, a simple assault case.

Vick deserves punishment for his crimes, no doubt. However, what more important issues are we ignoring while we focus on this mess?

Popularity: 34% [?]

Go, Venus! You did it again!

Today, Venus Williams won her fourth Wimbeldon title and became the fourth women in the Open era to have four or more Wimbeldon wins.

She also enters the record books as the lowest-ranked player to win the title. Williams was ranked at 31 going into the tournament.

So, enjoy your day, Venus. You did us proud again.

Popularity: 19% [?]

I can’t tell you what it is about some folks that makes them comfortable disrespecting black people. Perhaps, they feel that they are too rich/powerful to be touched. Perhaps, they are just plain hateful. Or, in some cases, it’s a combination of both.

Don Imus is the reason why I don’t buy into the belief that Democrats can’t be racists. I have heard clips of him saying things that have gotten my temperature to rise but, this has gone way too far.

On his morning show yesterday, Imus referred to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy headed hos.” Imus went on to draw a contrast with the Tennessee women’s team (predominately white) by referring to them and saying “The girls from Tennessee — they all looked cute.”.

Not to be left out of the conversation, the show’s producer,Bernard McGuirk, went on to call the Rutgers team some “hard-core hos” and referred to the Rutgers/Tennessee matchup as “The Jigaboos vs. The Wannabees” (an apparent reference to Spike Lee’s movie, School Daze). McGuirk has been known to make other racist comments such as saying, “One time, a friend, he says to me, ‘Listen, one of these days you’re gonna see Venus and Serena Williams in Playboy.’ I said, ‘You’ve got a better shot at National Geographic.’ ” Rosenberg also referred to Venus Williams as an “animal.”

What is so striking is the casual way in which they refer to black women as “hos” and use the word “jigaboo” so freely, as if it’s part of their normal vocabulary (hmm…).

Below is a video clip of the segment.

 

 Imus referring to black women as nappy headed hos: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 54% [?]

When it comes to pro football, we’ve heard questions about the abilities of black quarterbacks and black coaches to perform but why haven’t we heard questions about the abilities of black placekickers?

Give up?

The answer is, “because there aren’t any.”

Perhaps, this draft could see that change because, UCLA’s Justin Medlock could be the first black placekicker to be drafted by the NFL.

Medlock is considered to be the most accurate kicker in this year’s draft, with a career success rate of 79%.

So, watch out on draft day. We could be seeing another first.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Clown if you want but, if I can find them in my size, I’ll buy myself a pair of $15 basketball shoes.

That’s right, $15 basketball shoes.

That’s the price for a pair of Starburys, the shoe line created and endorsed by New York Knicks guard, Stephon Marbury. The shoe is available at the discount-price sports apparel store, Steve and Barry’s.

Not only in Marbury endorsing them, he has been playing in these shoes all season.

Now, for those that mock a $15 shoe, look at what a San Diego store manager of Steve and Barry’s, Evan Montes, says about it:

“When the shoe first came out, we couldn’t hold it in stock,” Montes said. “(Demand) has slowed, but it still makes up about 80% of our sales, and it is only 10% of our merchandise.”

It does my heart good to see this. To me, this is kind of like the “white tee” thing a couple of years back. People are realizing that you don’t have to go broke to be part of a trend. In a time where it is not unusual to see a kid with no job wearing a $100-200 pair of sneakers, it’s nice to see an alternative that is more in line with the real manufacturing cost of a sneaker.

Now, if they have them in a size 13, I’m there.

Popularity: 31% [?]