1. Why does Michael Vick have to be sorry after coming out of jail? He served his time and at this point doesn’t have to show any remorse. It isn’t like he is up for parole and has to show someone that he is a changed man. Of course he shouldn’t engage in the same activities that landed in jail, but he sure doesn’t have to be sorry for it.

2. Tiger Woods has been criticized lately for using profanity and throwing tantrums on the golf course. Everyone has their own personality and this is just part of what he does on the court whether people agree with it or not. Additionally, he has cameras on him more than any other golfer so it is easy to see why he is filmed this way.

3. The Williams sisters are constantly criticized for different things. What if they didn’t have to compete with each other? Yes, one Williams would probably have the most grand slam titles in the history of tennis.

Did you know that the best Supercross rider is a black guy named James “Bubba” Stewart? Go to his site and check him out.

I’m so sick of this thinly disguised racial hate that I’m determined to support black athletes who are champions. When I say champions, I don’t necessarily mean athletes who have raised the trophy for their respective sports. I mean athletes who have excelled in their sport and have reached an elite level.

I’m not a Philadelphia Eagles fan, but I’m now going to support Donovan McNabb because he has too many haters and he has proven himself over the years. I’m going to throw my support behind other athletes of color because of what they do on the court/field; they deserve to have some support instead of the media constantly tearing them down.

What do you think about “Champions of Color?” Are you down with them?

Rickey Henderson is known for a lot of things, but somehow, being one of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball is not one of them. He is the career leader in runs scored and stolen bases as well as the single season record holder in stolen bases with 130 in 1982. Henderson is also 2nd in career base on balls and has more leadoff home runs (81) than anyone in the history of the game as well. In other words, Henderson was the greatest leadoff hitter of them all and whether it was getting on bases, driving them crazy on the base paths, or hitting for power, pitchers were continually outdone by Henderson.

Among the things that followed Rickey Henderson throughout his career were the quirky/funny stories. How Henderson would start talking in third person about how “Rickey did this” or “Rickey can do that.” How Henderson would have a special routine when he would catch the ball in the outfield sometimes. There’s another story where Henderson once framed a million dollar check bonus instead of cashing the check. All was a part of the Rickey Henderson legend. The only problem with this legend was that a lot of times, this overshadowed his play on the field. His ability to get on base, terrorize pitchers while he was on base and then score more runs than anyone in history is an ability not held by a lot of players. Add in the fact that he could hit for power and you have a total player.

What I hope people understand is that Henderson is now a Hall of Famer for more than his ability to steal bases. You do not have the records Henderson has or have a MVP season like Henderson had in 1990 without being a great all-around player. It is time that Rickey Henderson gets his due and that only could happen as he became a Hall of Famer.

I personally believe the beginning of Vince Young’s downfall had more to do with Young’s personality than his play. Young had a segment about him on 60 Minutes and he was crushed for it. Media outlets and call-in shows called him “spoiled” and “selfish.” Now this segment was at the beginning of last season, which was ironically was the beginning of the end of Young’s popularity in Tennessee.

Young struggled at the beginning of his second season. He threw interceptions at an increased pace; he also got injured in week 6 and they missed a week. Even with Young struggling, the Titans were 6-2 halfway in the season and then they really struggled, losing 3 games in a row. Now 6-5, the fans in Tennessee began to criticize Young. Even with the criticism, Young led the Titans to 4 victories in 5 games to make the playoffs, but he again struggled in the playoffs against San Diego. The Titans had a good season, but Vince Young seemed to be catching a lot of flak.

In his third season, Young get injured in the first game of the season and never get back his starting job from Kerry Collins for the remainder of the season. After the game, rumors spread that Young did not want to go back in the game because the fans were booing. The next night, the Titans claimed they were looking for Young and afraid that he would commit suicide. Young claimed that he never wanted out of the game and was no threat whatsoever in committing suicide, but how did it get like this and why did those reports get to the media?

This off-season, Young has said he wanted to play and get his job back. Well, he will not have that chance as long as Kerry Collins is healthy. How ironic is it that Young, the person who got them out of being the worst team in the 2006 may be facing his last season in Tennessee in 2009? Well, it is just another turn in the career of Vince Young in Tennessee.

This was where his famous feud with Shaquille O’Neal always came into play. While Shaq thought Kobe was all into himself, Kobe thought the very same thing about Shaq, especially when Shaq would show up out of shape and use the season to play himself into shape. This led to conflict between the two superstars that also led to the split between them in the offseason of 2004, which got more attention in any sporting event that season. Shaq was traded to Miami and Kobe was left to take the total blame for the fall of the Lakers.

What never gets talked about is how the Lakers got rid of everyone and bought a whole new team to Kobe, one that did not nearly resemble the team that went to the NBA finals in 2004. Kobe had to start over with a team that not only had no shot for the championship, but a team that did not even make the playoffs. All of the blame went to Kobe, who had also just gotten over a rape trial that threaten not only his freedom, but also his marriage. Not much seemed to have gone right for Kobe, but it made him grow up, something that he had not been able to do early on in his career.

After three seasons of not making it past the first round of the playoffs, Kobe had enough and squarely put the pressure of improving the Lakers on the front office. In turn, they brought in players such as Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown, but the two biggest moves that made the Lakers championship contenders was when they bought in Derek Fisher, who came back to the Lakers after being on the first three titles with Kobe, and Pau Gasol, who brought Kobe a number-two option, something Kobe had never had before. The front office did their job and now it was up to Kobe to do his.

Since the trade for Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant has been on a roll. He won his first MVP later that season and led the Lakers to their first NBA finals appearance since 2004, but they lost to the hated Boston Celtics. During the summer, he led the national team to a gold medal victory over Spain and his new teammate Gasol. Finally, Kobe led the Lakers back to the NBA finals and this time, they won the title that had eluded him for seven years and he won the NBA finals MVP. He celebrated like it was the first time, which for him it may have been. Now there was finally a championship title that he could enjoy.

I’ve been a fan of the LA Lakers every since they drafted Magic Johnson. There has been no player, in the history of the game, to play with such joy as the Magic man! But these Lakers are lead by Kobe Bryant and it has been a bumpy ride. Forget going into all the drama and hate – the Lakers are at the top of the mountain again!

CONGRATULATIONS LAKERS!!!!!!

Both Morrison and Redick were heralded coming into the NBA because of what they both accomplished in their college careers.  Morrison was originally from Montana, but moved to Spokane, Washington later on and played college basketball for Gonzaga University for three years.  Morrison was not heavily recruited out of high school, but he was good immediately at Gonzaga and within two seasons, he was averaging 19 points per game at Gonzaga.  It was his last season that everyone remembers as Morrison averaged 28.1 points as he led the nation in scoring and was the winner or the runner-up in just about every national player of the year award in college basketball that season.

J.J. Redick was the most hated player in the country for 3 years, but he was also the most accomplished as well.  Duke was the most popular college basketball team in the country and Redick was the catalyst behind a lot of the success at Duke during his time there.  His forte was his perimeter shooting and his accuracy from the free-throw line.  He played in the ACC, known as the best conference in the country when it comes to college basketball, set many records in the conference such as most consecutive free throws made, most career ACC tournament points, and he was the ACC career point leader until Tyler Hansbrough broke his record in March.  He was the ACC Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006, the Naismith College Player of the Year, and the John R. Wooden Award in his last season at Duke.

If these two were so great in and for college basketball, why have they not done well in the NBA?  Well, the answer used to be their defensive ability since neither one has exceptional athletic ability.  In Morrison’s case, injuries have hindered his ability to attack the basket and to play defense.  In Redick’s case, he has never been able to get his shot on his own and he does not have the size or athleticism that a lot of players have.  The thing is that one of these players will have something that eluded them in college and that was a championship.  What is sad that they will have very little say in who actually wins the title.