Pissing off a segment of the community because you told the truth is a good thing for all these days

By Gregory Moore, Blackathlete.net columnist

SAN ANTONIO -- I thought it was hilarious as heck when a friend of mine called me the other day and said I got his listeners looking for me.

“Greg, you’ve started some [bleep] up here,” my friend told me. “They’re even calling the show after ours and wanting to ask who the heck you think you are with that conservative banter. Do you have any idea what you’ve done when you said that Black people need to quit using sports as the excuse for getting out of the ghetto?”

Oh but of course I know what I said was controversial in the Richmond, Virginia demographic of a little sports radio show I do every Saturday morning. Of course I knew that if I said that it’s time for Black people to stop using sports as the crutch to get out of poverty that I’d have people wanting my ‘head’ on a silver platter. But yet has anyone ever thought about that maybe the very reason why Black people get so upset when somebody makes this statement is because it’s true?

When was the last time an African American child told anyone in his family that he wanted to be a doctor of pediatrics and not a doctor of slamology? When has a struggling mother NOT tell her gifted athletic son that she wants him to have an education FIRST and if that education allows him to use his athletic gifts to jump start his financial well being, then all the better? When has a group of counselors REALLY sit down with the football team and tell those who are academically ineligible that their playing days are over because their grade point averages are more important to the school than their yards per carry average or how many games they have won?

When it comes to Black adults who truly know that it takes an education to get out of the ghetto, how many of these adults are truly going about that task of changing the mindset of the kids they come in contact with and the parents who they barely speak too?

All of this has come to life because of what Maurice Clarett has done in recent days. With more and more young Black men thinking that sports is their way out of impoverished areas, more and more adults need to show them that there are more opportunities not trying to be the next major superstar these days. The problem with this is that the examples out there are few and far between. It is so much easier for these kids to try and emulate a professional athlete and aspire to reach that point than to think that they can gain equal satisfaction in more meaningful careers; some of them sports related.

But as I told my friend, I’m not going to back down from what I said. I can’t back down until somebody proves me wrong and that won’t be happening any time soon.

FOX, ESPN MAKING BIG MISTAKES IN FOOTBALL COVERAGE CHANGES.

I watched Monday Night Football last night and I’ve got to say that I am not impressed at all by the tandem of Mike Tirico, Joe Thiesman and Tony Kornheiser. While I’m at it, I seriously doubt that I will be watching Fox’s coverage of the NFL pregame show either since they want to use Joe Buck and the crew on location. It’s just hard to believe that NBC is about to take over the ratings war and they’ll do so by default because Mickey and Rupert just haven’t done their homework on product branding.

NFL pregame shows are important to fans because they do provide the analysis and entertainment value that many football fans have grown accustomed to. The reason why Fox’s pregame show has been so successful is because they had a foursome tandem that got along well. ABC’s Monday Night crew worked because it was not only that of Al Michaels and John Madden but because it was on FREE television. Now that has changed and I think looking at ESPN on Monday Night for football is a mistake the network will soon realize. As for the Fox product, with Buck running the show on location and not having someone like Pam Oliver to help change the demographics of the show, Fox’s product will lose ground too.

On a brighter note I enjoy seeing NBC back in the mix with Bob Costas and friends. ESPN and Fox may want to really look at how the peacock has revived an old product, brushed off the dust and revamped it for 2006. Right now I’m a Sunday night fan now.

SPURS’ BOWEN MAY NOT MAKE USA BASKETBALL SQUAD

San Antonio Spurs fans are going to be disappointed and probably think that there is some type of conspiracy theory if Bruce Bowen doesn’t become one of the twelve members of the team that will compete in this month’s World Championship in Japan but there is a good possibility of this happening.

Bowen has not played a great deal during the exhibition games that the men’s senior team has won and it seems that the current group of young players may actually be willing to showcase that they are determined to right an egregious wrong that previous teams have allowed to happen. If that is the case then expect Bowen to not be a part of this twelve man rotation.

Bowen’s absence on the team, if that happens, should not be looked upon as a slight by USA Basketball or anybody who is affiliated with it. It seems that Jerry Colangelo and company are serious about making a concerted effort at trying to compete seriously on the international basketball stage. If that is the case and Bowen is the next player cut, then he’s helping them win gold by not being on a team that is talent laden. However if Colangelo and company were truly serious about winning in these tournaments, he would stick with his twelve man rotation for the upcoming games and extend an invitation to only six other players to be a part of the rotation; including Bowen, Gilbert Arenas, Amare Stoudamire and three others.