MATT BARNES IGNITES MELEE?
Never saw this one coming… sweet Suns forward Matt Barnes and his fabulous tattoos got the boys fired up during the Suns-Rocket game. Barnes ignited the flurry after taking a ‘cheap shot’ at Rockets guard Rafer Alston…never thought in a million years I’d see Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Yao Ming and Shaq-daddy contributing to such an entertaining mess.
No punches were thrown and no players left the benches. Matt Barnes explains…”I tried to get through a screen, and I guess I was too rough for him, so he tried to retaliate,” Barnes said. “It was just a bunch of pushing, I didn’t think anyone should have gotten thrown out because there were no punches thrown. But the refs did what they thought was necessary.”
AOL Fan House asked Barnes if he thought that maybe Alston overreacted to the initial play; he wasn’t sure. “I don’t really know what he was thinking, he thinks he’s tough so … I don’t know really. He ran up on me, and, it was really just a bunch of pushes. No one threw any punches, no one did anything serious. But the refs had to get control of the game so they figured throwing us out would do that…I thought you had to throw a punch to get kicked out of a game, really. All I did was push him, and he pushed me, I mean, T-Mac pushed Steve all the way to the ground and didn’t get thrown out of the game, so …”
So…let’s hear from the other real-fake-brawling babe, Alston: “He (Barnes) just took a cheap shot at me. If you look at the replay, the ref is standing there watching it. It was a dirty play, he raised his arm. Good thing he didn’t connect and knock my teeth out. I was just setting a screen, we were trying to get two for one … I don’t know if he was frustrated by his game or their game or or whatever was going on, but there was no call for that. There was no call for my reaction really but sometimes, when someone goes at you like that, you just react.”
Boys will indeed be boys…
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Delinda Lombardo
A little explanation about my previous post regarding Baron Davis.
First of all, I ‘buried’ the post on my own accord. I was not asked to remove it by anyone. And yes, all of it was true. I’m not afraid to say it, print it or confirm it.
I posted it simply to prove a point, to see if my hits would go through the roof. And they did. You all responded beautifully and as expected. (This excludes my regular readers of course).
When I write about the good stuff, charity events, hotties holding kids, giving back to the community etc, it’s not quite as interesting as an article about sex, drugs and ballers is it?
That piece on Boom is the tip of the iceberg compared to the stuff I see going on everyday. No surprise there. Without the sugar coating there’s a demon hidden among most of us.
The problem is that you-the ‘gossip rats’-(not my regulars)- lap-up valueless scandal over things I feel are much more important- I can almost feel Elvis Costello cringe as he sings the immoral words of Nick Lowe: ‘What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?’ A motto engrained in my soul since he first uttered those words.
Granted, my blog wasn’t the forum for that post, but I assure you it wasn’t a rash decision to publish it. It wasn’t done out of spite, hatred, anger, or ‘oh I wanna be famous’, it was posted to prove a point. You’ve been mere pawns in the larger issue of what sells more books: Scandal or Charity work. Often times, in order to gauge the public interest, a publisher will ask a writer to run an article…so in this regard, I thank all of you gossip rats for inadvertently promoting me and my material. And before you say you won’t buy my book, you’ve already proven you will.
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Delinda Lombardo delinda@athlebrities.com
STIRRING THINGS UP
James Blake, Ara Abrahamian, the Spanish National Basketball teams, the under aged Chinese gymnasts…what the hell is going on? Yes, where there are games there is controversy. Surprisingly, most controversy lately isnt about freeing Tibet or the Chinese government supplying weapons to rebels who are slaughtering people and displacing them from their homes in the Darfur region of the Sudan, its all about the fairness and spirit of the games. While athletes are being yanked and spanked for doping, it’s the unruly and perhaps racist athletes that are making the headlines.
The good peeps at the Telegraph have discovered the latest photo in a series of embarrassing images to emerge from Spain. The latest “slant eyed” pose comes from members of the Spanish Tennis Federations female players and support staff. Allegedly shot back in February, the original photo caption reads: “Estamos preparados para China”, which translates as “We are prepared for China.” Why should we care? Because its all part of the larger picture. Aside from the fact that if any of our athletes here posed ala ‘slant-eyed’ they would have been fined and most likely kicked off the team. These ‘Chinese slant eyed’ photos are not funny. Sorry.
Watch this video from Spain…its disturbing on so many levels…the actions of the guy and the fact that no one came to the aid of this Ecudorian girl make me sick to my stomach.
And no, racism is not limited to Spain. Racism is rampant in Europe. There’s a fantastic expose from ESPN on the subject that I urge you to watch. The video is from 2006, but as we’ve seen lately, racism is timeless.
Now, all this Spainsh racism is throwing quite a kink in my adoration of one certain Spainsh treat. Yes, Im talking about Rafael Nadal. While I believe there is inherenat racism in Spain and most European countries, (as well as here) I have no reason to suspect Nadal is in any way, shape or form a racist. I am not labeling all people from Spain racist, I’m simply stating that the country as a whole needs to check itself…
But Rafa need not check himself…precious has clinched (at a minimum) his first Olympic medal-a silver-after spanking Novak Djovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the semifinals. On Sunday, Nadal will face Fernando ‘the cheater’ Gonzalez who won his match against James Blake…and caused a bit of an uproar for the ungentlemanly manner in which he won. I gotta give James ‘Booty’ Blake props for his reaction to the 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 loss to Gonzalez during the real-fake-live coverage of the match.
On the first point of the 18th game of the final set, with Gonzalez serving at 8-9, Blake tried to pass a charging Gonzalez by hitting it right at him. Gonzalez swerved, the ball landed long and Blake quickly realized the point had been put up for Gonzalez. He walked to the umpire’s chair and a long discussion ensued. Soon, it became obvious that Blake thought the ball had nicked Gonzalez’s racket on its way out, and if so, should have been his point. Unable to get any satisfaction from the chair umpire, who claimed not to have seen the ball touch Gonzalez’s racket, and by the rules, could not call for a replay on this, Blake eventually turned and looked at Gonzalez, back on his baseline, then walked slowly back to receive the next serve. (LA Times)
Blake waited until the news conference before calling out Gonzalez. He said his shot hit Gonzalez’s racket. “In what’s supposed to be a gentleman’s sport, that’s a time when you call it on yourself. Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn’t call it. I’ve spoken all week about how much I’ve enjoyed my Olympic experience, how much I love the other athletes,” he said. “These guys go out and compete their hardest. Win fair and square. Lose fair and square. So this is a disappointing way to exit the tournament, when you not only lose the match, but lose a little faith in your fellow competitor.”
“I’ll still have fond memories of the Olympic experience,” Blake said. “I still have a chance to get a bronze medal. But . . . it is a little disappointing. It disappoints me a little more in my competition, than the whole Olympic spirit, because I haven’t seen anything like that in these Olympics…We know when [the ball] touches us. And he knew that. You call it yourself because it is the right thing to do. Should I expect him to do that? Maybe not. Maybe I shouldn’t expect people to hold themselves to high standards of sportsmanship. But yes, I did expect a little more in the Olympics. We are competing under the banner of this event, to promote sportsmanship, to promote goodwill amongst countries.” I back ya up James, as do most people who were watching…sucks that Gonzalez advances to the gold-medal match Sunday and Blake will play for the bronze…but props to Blake for speaking up. I hope Gonzalez chokes on the gold…come on Karma, we need you this Sunday.
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Delinda Lombardo delinda@athlebrities.com
SPAIN BASKETBALL TEAM ADS: MEN’S and WOMEN’S
“We’re surprised by the remarks of racism,” said Juan Antonio Villanueva, the communications director for the city’s 2016 Olympic bid. “Spain is not a racist country — quite the opposite.”
Players on Spain’s Olympic basketball team are stepping up to defend the ad showing them using their fingers to apparently make their eyes look more Chinese. “It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way,” said Spain center Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers). “I’m sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive.” Point guard Jose Manuel Calderon (Toronto Raptors) said the team was responding to a request from the photographer. “We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture,” Calderon said, “Without a doubt, some … press didn’t see it that way.”
SPAINS WOMENS BASKETBALL TEAM PHOTO: ON YES THEY DID And now, we’ll have to wait and see how the world responds to the newly surfaced “ad” of Spain’s Women’s Basketball Team in the same pose.
Spain, as we know, has a bit of a racist reputation…Lewis Hamilton bore the brunt of it in Barcelona last February, as did Thierry Henry, and England’s ‘black’ players during a friendly in 2004 against Spain when Spanish fans taunted the players with “monkey sounds”.
Now, I’d like to think that something is lost in translation here. Advertising in Europe is a bit edgier than here in the States. Ever heard of ‘P*ssy’ Water? Pretty sure there would be a bit of controversy if it were released in the States. Most Euro advertising falls well outside our comfort zone. Most adverts outside of Spain are not so much ‘racist’ as they are ‘shocking’ to some. However, regardless of what Spain’s’ ‘intentions’ were with their basketball ads, I think with their history of offending some of the world’s top athletes, as well as most people living outside of their ‘culture’, that its entirely fair to label them as “racist’…
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Delinda Lombardo delinda@athlebrities.com
Spain continues to maintain its racist image via a photo of their Olympic Basketball team slating their eyes…the ad, which was shot prior to the Games, originally appeared in the Spanish-language newspaper La Marca and now is circling the Internet with alarming speed. The NY Times reports that the team is sponsored by Li-Ning Footwear, a Chinese company founded by Li Ning- the final torchbearer who was hoisted along the top of Beijing National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony. The ad is reportedly about the Spanish teams recent contract extension with the footwear giant and their ability to offend just about everyone who looks at this picture. (Telegraph)
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Delinda Lombardo delinda@athlebrities.com
What Was Baron Davis Thinking?
So it was just a few months ago that Rachel Ray wore a “shemagh” or “keffiyeh” during a Dunkin Donuts commercial and caused a minor uproar…so I gotta wonder what was running through Booms head when he showed up at Chris Webber’s Bada Bling Celebrity Soiree on Saturday night wearing a “shemagh’.
Shemagh: A traditional Arab headdress of Arab men. In the 1960s, the shemagh became a symbol of Palestinian Nationalism and later became a trademark symbol of Yasser Arafat who was rarely seen without his black-and-white scarf….another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawsons Field hijackings.
When I asked Boom what was up with his ‘shemagh’ he just said “Palestine”.
I replied “a salam malakim my brother?” and he just said “Yeah.”
Granted, this controversial little piece of cotton is showing up everywhere in pop culture…not sure if Boom was simply making a fashion statement or should be added to the Homeland Security watch-list, but in addition to Rachel Ray, other celebrities we’ve seen wearing the scarf include Charlie Sheen (in the movie Navy Seals), Kanye West (in his Homecoming video), Young Jeezy (in his ‘Put On’ video) and Chris Brown is wearing one in his ‘No Air’ video…
So Boom, tell us…was it a fashion statement or a political one?
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IS RICK MAHORN THE DEVIL?
In case any of you missed the last five-seconds of the L.A. Sparks v Detroit Shock WNBA game last night…there was a bench clearing brawl which resulted in Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie, Delisha Milton-Jones and Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn getting ejected. “To be honest, I don’t recall exactly what happened,” said Parker, who led Los Angeles with 21 points. “I’ll have to watch the tape.” The brawl started seconds after LA’s Parker was fouled by Detroit’s Cherly Ford…Parker then got tangled up with (Detroit) player Plenette Peirson, fell to the ground and as she was getting up, Pierson intentionally ran into her, setting off the melee…Parker threw a punch at Pierson before being tackled by (Detroit) player Deanna’s Nolan. Players and coaches from both teams joined in, and that’s when Rick Mahorn pushed Lisa Leslie to the ground…Mahorn also grabbed the arm of Sparks assistant coach Laura Beeman…
“I was trying to protect the whole game, the integrity of the game,” said Rick Mahorn; “The WNBA is very special to me because I have four daughters. I don’t even raise my hand to them, and I would never push a woman. This game, I love this game too much.”
Mahorn isn’t sitting pretty in my book. Number one, pushing Leslie seemed a bit excessive to me, even IF he was trying to be a ‘peace-maker.’ Number two- ah, obviously you do ‘push women’ because you did. Heat of the moment? Nah…Really, Mahorn, you kinda seem like the type of guy that would lecture someone about the dangers of artificial sweeteners while washing down a baguette the size of Italy with a six pack of Diet Coke. Hypocrite much.
I’m not really sure who’s to blame here. Was Mahorn really trying to keep the peace, or did he lose it and make a bad decision? Sure there’s scuffles between female athletes all the time-whether its Danica acting a fool and getting a towel in the face, or fierce tension between balling chicks. It happens. Again, the thing Im having difficulty swallowing, is Mahorns behavior. Why don’t they have a female coach? Would we be beating up on Mahorn for ‘pushing a woman’ if he were a She? I kinda doubt it. So does that make it okay to have this sort of physical-confrontation between staff and players?
I, for one would have flipped a gasket if a coach put his hands on me like that..there would have been much more than ten-minutes of ESPN coverage…Mad love to Lisa Leslie, after the game she was interviewed…she was classy, calm, collected and incredibly eloquent despite the circumstances. “It’s really sad it happened,” Leslie said, “As a role model, it’s just really difficult-this is not the way we wanna represent ourselves, you know? I’m a mom, I don’t wanna represent myself like this in front of my daughter and then to have a coach push me down, I don’t even know why he was pushing me, I wasn’t swinging or hitting anybody. I was just gonna go help my teammate up.”
The Sparks won 84-81.
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ATHLETES ‘DO RIGHT’ BY ME
Essence. Such a beautiful word…and such great content…once again, Essence is highlighting 50 sexy, single, successful brothers for their annual celebration of Do Right Men 2008. Aside from the fact that these men will make you drool, Essence has broken them down by merit…yes merit- something we forget now and again-something easily forgotten when the six-packs are displayed…but something which is becoming the center of attention in more than one publication…merit is making a come back…thank god Im not the only one who’s had enough of men behaving badly…two ballin’ beasts to behave well enough to make the Essence cut? Ovie Mughelli (L) and Antonio Gates (R).
Ovie Mughelli, 28, Atlanta; Fullback for the Falcons. His Ovie Mughelli Foundation uses summer football camps as a platform to support nutrition, education and health initiatives. “I wanted to impress upon these kids that working hard pays off, and I wanted to make sure other kids have what I did not.” And his motto: “You are not your own. Any greatness you achieve you did not accomplish on your own. It’s your -responsibility to do what you can to bless someone else.” Antonio Gates is from my hometown of San Diego, so back off ladies…the San Diego Charger has been ‘Doing Right’ since sponsoring his first Shoot to Cure HD athletic event in 2005, raising money to provide research toward a cure for Huntington’s Disease, a hereditary disorder of the central nervous system. Gates decided to take action after someone close to him was diagnosed. “It’s very painful to see people who are suffering from a disease that people don’t really know about,” says Gates, who’s doing his part to raise both public awareness and clinical knowledge. His motto: “Only the strong survive.”
DO WRONG MEN: LEBRON JAMES
To each and every one of you who wrote to me about my ‘harsh’ opinion of Lebron James…to each one of you blinded by name, rank and status to care what goes on when the balls not around…I’m not the first one to call him out. Im not gonna be the last and I’m certainly not about to give him a break…
Essence calls out Lebron James (Thanks for having my back peeps)….
DOING WRONG: Where do we start? James sparked a media firestorm when he refused to sign a teammate’s letter condemning the Chinese government’s complicity in the Darfur genocide, attributing his hesitance to “not having enough information.” In April, he was the first African-American man to grace the cover of Vogue, but the image of a wild-eyed James with a basketball in one hand and Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen drew fouls for its perpetuation of stereotypes of Black men. The press has not proven to be James’s only adversary: Last December he was pulled over in Ohio for driving 101 mph, an offense he called “no big deal.” Responding to some of his negative press, James said to The Cleveland Plain Dealer in March 2008, “Everything my name is on is going to be criticized. … Who cares what anyone says?”
