My book

I've been getting lots of encouragement about writing a book. I've always been interested in it, but have absolutely NO idea of how to start. Plus, the type of book that I want to write: The athletic-industrial complex and the role that young black men play and the disproportionate amount of power that they lack. That story has been told. One of my co-workers, however, suggested to me that I would have a unique perspective since I've been a college athlete and a coach at the Division I level. She has a point. I just have no idea how to get started. Originally, this blog was started in 2004 to hopefully spur progress in that area...alas, I was unsuccessful in staying consistent.

Any thoughts?

Monday Night Football: Next Generation

Just wanted to jot down some notes about the new Monday Night Football crew. If you have just come out of a coma, MNF will be on ESPN and the announcing trio is Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser.

My critique:

Mike Tirico: Solid and steady as always. Consummate play-by-play guy. I've always enjoyed his work on the college fb broadcasts and he is going to continue his excellence on MNF.

Tony Korhneiser: Surprisingly, GREAT! I've listened to his radio show and obviously enjoyed him on PTI like most of America. I have to say, however, when I found out that he would be the 3rd guy in the MNF booth, I really didn't see how that was going to work. Alas, so far is doing what he does best: being Tony. Smart, funny, trademark razor-sharp wit.

And that brings me to...

Joe Theismann: In a word: Yuck. In the first half, all Joe has done is basically undermine 90% of everything that has come out of Tony's mouth. Kinda like, "Shut up nerd. I played the game, you didn't." Plus, I'm not getting very much good "football analysis" from him. He is playing a great role as "Captain Obvious", though.

Some of my favorites from him tonight:

• "Brad Johnson is not a downgrade from Daunte Culpepper"
• "Offensive linemen must move their feet to make blocks"
  

Wow.

Oh well, as some famous '70s rocker sang: "Two out of three ain't bad".

The Prodigal Son Falls From Grace

(I know I'm late with this, but I'll weigh in anyway)

Justin Gatlin. The face of USA Track and Field. The future of US sprinting.

Oops.

Gatlin's recent positive test only further underscores the basic fact that MANY world-class sprinters are using some sort of performance enhancement. It's kind of comical to watch the outrage and shock of the media and even those who follow the sport closely.

I'm afraid that this type of "breaking news" isn't going to stop anytime soon for the following reasons:

1. The testers will always be 1-2 steps behind the dopers.
2. The compensation structure in Track & Field is basically "Perform for Pay". In other words, you need to run fast to get paid. Endorsement contracts for track athletes aren't very lucrative. You make your money at the meets.
   

As I alluded to in another post, the doping measures will soon be getting ugly. The days of pharmacological means are coming to an end, and genetic manipulation will be the new thing.

I can hear the testers banging their heads against the wall now...

What time is it? What YEAR is it?

"Its been a long time, I shouldn't have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to..."

Man, I can't believe I let the blog die like that...just when it was gettin ready to takeoff (yeah, right).

Well, recent events in my life have inspired me to begin writing again. Really more catharsis than anything. The nature of the posts to come may be more egocentric (for a short time) than the original ones, but please bear with me.

Thanks for coming back...