Al Thornton is moving up

This post was originally featured on YaySports!.

(The Cavalier did not write this post. It was written by Jordi, who has permission to continue the epic tale of Naja Ashei. Because that’s parody, yo.)

Anyone who has read my blog The Serious Tip for any amount of days knows that I am a Florida State alumnus and a huge Seminole fan. So it made my cold heart (40 degrees in Tampa - gah!) warm ever so slightly when I read that NBA.com has ranked former Florida State forward and current Clipper Al Thornton third among rookies so far this season.

Long before Bill Simmons had feelings for Thornton, I had already confessed my admiration. Way back in college, I even rode the campus bus with Al one day. As he sat there doing what eventual NBA players do, I remember thinking, “One day he will play in the NBA and I will be blogging about the NBA and I will write about this day.”

In other news, remember the cupcake that Gerald Green used in the “Birthday Dunk”? It was recently inducted into the Cupcake Hall of Fame.

See, that’s parody. That’s funny.

Using other people’s gimmicks or ideas and passing them off as your own? Completely unfunny.

Kinda like Gallagher floating.

Grapefruit League Tour Stop 1: Seminoles vs. Phillies

As I did last year, I am again planning on visiting a few spring training games throughout Florida in 2008. The games are cheap, the weather is nice (usually), and there are about 8 or so spring training parks within a couple of hours from Tampa.

This year's tour however, began on a poor note. Tuesday night I ventured over the bridge and through the rain (again!) to Clearwater, spring home to the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one visiting Clearwater. Also making himself known shortly after I entered the stadium was Tlaloc, the Aztec God of Rain, or Chac, as he was known to the Mayans.

From the concourse at Brighthouse Networks Field, myself and hundreds, if not thousands, of Seminole and Phillie fans waited as Tlaloc washed away our hopes of baseball. Instead of the crack of the bat and the comforting feeling that spring was once again upon us, we were given a deluge of precipitation and an onslaught of ill weather. You could almost see this mighty god smiling down as he toyed with our patience, stopping his waves of water for several minutes, only to have them resume at a higher ferocity when our optimism began to rise. After nearly an hour of toying with our emotions, the evil ways of Tlaloc won out and the public address announcer declared the game cancelled.

On a positive note, in addition to the exchange potential of my original ticket, I was handed two more tickets by nearby fans to exchange for future Phillies spring training contests of my choice. That's free baseball. And although it is not a contest against my beloved alma mater, there is nothing wrong with free baseball.

David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel is neither funny nor original

Last August, I wrote a passionate post about Gilbert Arenas’s "stealing" of Ian Edwards’s joke about sharks. I argued that the case in point was copyright infringement, and that no matter how "big" or "small" a person, writer, comedian, etc, their work should be credited. I even gave a hypothetical example of Deadspin’s Will Leitch "stealing" from me. Because of my stand on copyright, this post became one of my most commented, with over 30 instances of reader input.

Little did I know, six months later, one of my more original ideas would end up in someone else’s column.

On Monday, Cork Gaines of RaysIndex linked to a piece written by Orlando Sentinel columnist David Whitley. In his column, "Who cursed the Rays? Could it be . . . Satan?!", Whitley attempts to explore the reaction of the Church of Satan to the Tampa Bay Rays' franchise name change. Regular readers of my blog, as well as visitors from Deadspin.com and RaysIndex.com might remember I wrote about the exact same topic five months ago.

To be perfectly honest, my piece, entitled "Church Members Upset Over Devil Rays’ Name Change", was satire. It was entirely fabricated. I did not interview the head of the Church, nor did I talk with any of its members. That said, when I first read Mr. Whitley’s column and his claim that he “sent [an email] asking if somebody could give us the Devil's perspective on being dissed by Tampa Bay”, I actually hoped that he could acquire the real story. However, this was not to be.

Following his attempts at humor by exaggerating the Rays' earlier franchise mismanagement, Whitley goes on to fabricate a quote by the Devil himself.

"Hey, it's not my fault Vince Naimoli thought he could take on the Yankees with a Wal-Mart payroll," Satan said. "And whose idea was it to play home games inside the world's largest dumpster?"

This attempt at satire is clearly similar to the ideas on my post, even down to the Yankees reference.

After reading Whitley’s column, I immediate emailed Mr. Whitley and informed him of this coincidence. This email was followed up by another email also to Mr. Whitley by Cork Gaines. Gaines also informed me he CC’ed Whitley’s editor for emphasis. Over 24 hours later, I have not received any response from Mr. Whitley nor his editor, and to my knowledge, neither has Gaines.

David Whitley claimed to have done "much research" in finding the Church of Satan website (www.churchofsatan.com, by the way). Had he simply incorporated "Devil Rays" after "Church of Satan" in his search, he would have easily found my post. It is the first web site listed.

I'm not out for your head, Mr. Whitley. I don't want you fired. Nor do I want to take the food out of your kid's mouth. All I want is a little credit where credit is due.

Festivale Fanatico de Rays 2008

Over the bridge and through the rain, I attended Rays Fan Fest 2008 last Saturday. Contrary to what some people think, the Rays actually do have a few fans. Not only were there a few thousand people in attendance (total rough estimate), but the event also drew appearances from a smattering of celebrities including Harold Reynolds, Hard Hittin' Mark Whitten, one of the legion of bloggers over at DRaysBay, and Baseball Prospectus writer Will Carroll. I can't speak for everyone but I definitely had a good time, especially considering the event was free.

On a related note, if you check out Will Carroll's pictures from St. Pete, I'm in one of his Fan Fest pics. I'm not saying where, but I will say that unless the camera lies, I need to drop a few pounds before hitting the beach this summer. Thanks for the public humiliation motivation, Will.



(About the pic: that is not me, but I couldn't resist an old Fan Fest picture featuring infamous Devil Rays bust Dewon Brazelton.)

An NBA First - A Nole for a Gator

Amidst the hoopla and circumstance surrounding the big name NBA trades late last week, a Florida sports related historical first occurred. Never before in the history of the NBA had a former Florida State Seminole and a former Florida Gator been part of the same trade. On February 21st, however, the Denver Nuggets traded Von Wafer, former Nole and the 39th pick in the 2005 draft, to the Portland Trailblazers for Taurean Green, former Florida Gator and the 52nd pick in the 2007 draft.

Although neither school has been a long-standing traditional basketball powerhouse, there have been 36 Seminole NBA draft picks and 16 former Gators in the NBA. 52 players in 60 years of the NBA draft and only now are a Nole and a Gator traded for each other. I wonder how other traditional rivals fare (Ohio State-Michigan, Duke-UNC, etc)?

JJ Grey and Mofro: Tampa, Fla. 2/22/08

Friday night, I attended the first part of JJ Grey and Mofro's epic two-day concert at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, Fl. For those who never heard of Mofro, Billboard describes their latest album as

"A glorious, soul-drenched delight...down-home funk, blues and Dixie-fried rock, unmistakably Southern, undeniably soulful"

I'll admit, I caught on to the Mofro bandwagon kinda late. Although I heard about them while I was in Tallahassee, the only album I have is their latest, Country Ghetto. But after hearing that, and having numerous people tell me that their show is not to be missed, I took the chance to see them live.

About the show:

In a word: amazing. Although I didn't know more than half of Mofro's songs (those from their first two albums), the band lived up to expectations. A lot of groove, soul, blues, and southern-rock. Stuff that makes me proud to live in the south. And that's what JJ Grey tries to do: invoke a non-redneck southern pride. Not the Dixie flag-waving Confederate type of pride, but a different, back-to-nature, "oh-why-are-they-building-another-housing-development?"-type of Florida pride. So many of the songs lament of things and times long gone, where grandma's home-cookin' of grits, cornbread, collar greens, and fried chicken made it worth getting up on Sunday. Musically, Mofro incorporates trumpet, sax, slide guitar, blues harp, and piano to a drum beat full of funk. For some reason I thought the saxophone was really impressive. I haven't seen one of those live in a long time.

As mentioned, I only knew about a third of the band's songs. Most of the crowd however, knew all of them, which led to some interesting call and response sing-alongs. Surprisingly, for a blues club the call and response that disappointed me the most was Mofro's cover of Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Workin'". At first, most of the crowd didn't know to respond. Fortunately, they got it quick. Or I would have had to slap someone.

About the venue and crowd:

Skipper's Smokehouse is one of those new-age blues venues. Not quite the old juke joint, it's a good place to see live music. Hippie memorabilia, old show posters, and other random miscellanea decorate the walls. As it doubles as a restaurant, there is the whole seafood, beach vibe going on. Nothing wrong with that.

The crowd, however, took some getting used to. Granted, there were some beautiful college-age women there, but accompanying them was some of the most rudest people I've ever been in a crowd with. People who see an inch between two people, and they think they can fit themselves and their girlfriend, her friends, and their boyfriends closer to the stage. At heavy metal shows these are the first people to get pushed into the mosh pit. Trust me, the band doesn't get even better when you are two feet closer.

Oh, one more complaint. To those who smoke out at the show: if you don't bring enough to share, please get high before you show up. Thanks.

(Note: Pic not from Friday night's show. Acquired via Google images.)

YaySports!: Where Roundie Henchmen Live Forever

This post originally appeared on YaySports!.

(The Cavalier did not write this. This was written by Jordi who bears the burden of trying to post after yesterday’s sad news.)

A bit of NBA happened tonight. Some things changed. Some things stayed the same. New faces in new places. New faces in new laces in old places. And some other stuff.
76ers 2,345 Knicks 0. Actually it was only 124 to 84, but that’s six dozen of one, half of another. Or something like that. Wake me when Isiah gets fired. And bring back John Starks.

Speaking of former Knicks, one of the last great Knicks, Kurt Thomas, is now a Spur. The last time the Knicks went to the Finals, they played the Spurs and Thomas and Marcus Camby had the responsibility of stopping Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Now Thomas will be backing up Duncan. I guess you get where you fit in.

Shaq and his newfound friends are right now taking on Shaq’s old friends. Why I am sitting in one room typing while the game is on in another, I have no idea. I should be watching. Anyway ...

Raptors 127, Magic 110. In a battle of the next generation of dominant big men, DinoBosh scored 40 and Dwight Howard scored 37. Subtract their points and the Raptors still win by 14. Which means they have a better team. They will go further in the playoffs.

Cavaliers 106, Pacers 97. LeBron messed around and got a triple-double. So that’s good. Boobie got hurt though, so that’s not good. No, a hurt Boobie is never good. Huh-huh. Huh-huh.

Ok, 1:30 left in LA-PHX. I’ll be back.

Hola. Kobe is good. And the Lakers are better than the Suns. But the Shaq trade does make the Suns better. And milk does a body good.
Deeee-troit Basketball. Deeee as in deee-feat. Again. But because they play in the East, the Pistons can lose every game from now until the end of the season and still make the playoffs. Amazing.

Chris Paul > Jason Kidd. The Jason Kidd trade won’t lift the Mavs to mythical heights. Speaking of the Mavs though, the other day I had a cuban for lunch. Wow, was it good. For those of you without restaurants of Cuban or Latin cuisine in your area, you are so missing out. Cubans are good and they are cheap.

In other news, Mike Bibby’s old team is showing Mike Bibby’s new team that they are better even with Mike Bibby on Mike Bibby’s new team. And the Celtics are beating the Warriors.
Speaking of the Celtics, Celtic fans, etc, Stillajew’s posts on this site are here and here. (Warning: the first post has a whole bunch of melodramatic primadonna-ing in the comments. So for your own sanity, if you choose to read, it may be best skip the comments.)

(Additional note: in the aforementioned comments, a few people go on and on about the online world and real friends, etc. I didn’t comment then, but here is my opinion now for what it is worth: to me, sports blogs with a regular commenting group such as this are a lot like your local sports bar. If you are a regular at a bar, odds are you probably have “bar friends” - people that you only see and talk to there. You probably don’t have too much in common outside and might never run into anyone from the bar beyond its doors. But while you are there, you are part of a community. And now, sadly, after yesterday’s news, there is and will always be one empty stool at the bar known as YaySports!NBA.)

The Need for a Global Baseball Draft

Last Monday, fellow blogger and international aficionado StopMikeLupica wrote a riveting piece on the decline of Puerto Rican baseball players in the Major Leagues. According to SML, since 1989, when Major League Baseball declared prospective ballplayers from Puerto Rico had to be drafted and could not be independently signed, the number of Puerto Ricans drafted has decreased approximately 800%, from 55 in 1989 to 7 in 2006.

In response to this phenomenon, SML writes that perhaps MLB is treating Puerto Rican ballplayers unfairly by "treating them as Americans" and making them wait until they are 18 to enter the ranks of Major League Baseball. SML also states that the odds are currently against Puerto Rican ballplayers as the island boasts few places to continue honing baseball skills, with no high school teams and only the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy and weekend leagues to provide training. For this reason it is no coincidence MLB teams have begun to look elsewhere for talent, spanning the globe and establishing baseball academies through South America and even as far away as China.

There is no doubt baseball is a growing sport throughout the world. As Jonathan Helfgott writes in his recent essay "The International Game", as established leagues in Cuba and Japan continue to prosper, other small leagues have come to existence in countries such as Australia and South Africa. Through these leagues and events such as the World Baseball Classic, potential prospects from around the globe have begun working towards possible opportunities in the Major Leagues.

Unfortunately, Major League Baseball has decided to divide the world into two distinct classes in regards to acquiring prospective talent. Under the current labor agreement, the rules governing North America (including Puerto Rico) are different from those governing the rest of the world. Whereas teams must wait until North American prospects are 18 years of age before signing them to professional contracts, these organizations can pursue and sign non-North Americans as young as 16 to professional contracts.

Until MLB institutes a global draft, prospects from poorer regions, such as Puerto Rico, included in the current MLB Draft rules will be at a disadvantage. In their article, Worldwide Draft on baseballguru.com, Arturo J. Marcano and David P. Fidler, authors of Stealing Lives: The Globalization of of Baseball and the Tragic Story of Alexis Quiroz, outline the obstacles of a potential worldwide draft. Marcano and Fidler discuss five principles (democratization, centralization, harmonization, specialization, and implementation) needed to create a fair and competitive global baseball draft.

Although briefly inferred in Marcano and Fidler’s “centralization” section, Major League Baseball should annex individual team foreign academies and incorporate them under one single corporate banner. These MLB academies could then provide open source scouting and facilitate the development of more self-sustaining foreign leagues. These leagues in turn could eventually then be responsible for their own training and development and take the onus off Major League Baseball. Ideally, all prospects would hone their skills in leagues similar to those in Australia, South Africa, and Japan.

Of course, MLB is notorious for having its teams operate in a non-level economic environment. An environment that may only get worse as small market teams are forced to raid third world countries for talent, while larger market clubs are able to sign not only their costly domestic draft picks, but also incorporate established stars from around the world.

For the sake of the prospects, their livelihood, and competitive balance, it is time for a global draft. If the NBA and the NHL can draft prospects from around the world, why can't Major League Baseball?

This blog does not pay the mafia

Now that The Serious Tip is a commercial entity, certain business-like decisions have to be made. Among these are how to cover the extraneous costs that come with being a commercial entity owner. To quote the wisened philosoph, Mr. Thorton Melon,

"First of all you’re going to have to grease the local politicians for the sudden zoning problems that always come up. Then there's the kickbacks to the carpenters, and if you plan on using any cement in this building I'm sure the teamsters would like to have a little chat with ya, and that'll cost ya. Oh and don't forget a little something for the building inspectors. Then there’s long term costs such as waste disposal. I don't know if you're familiar with who runs that business but I assure you it's not the boyscouts."

However, thanks to the confidence and organizational chutzpah of several Sicilian business owners, people are starting to say "no" to the Sopranos, Gottis, and Corleones of the world. To this small band of entrepreneurs, I say bravo, and I am proud to join your league.

"A WHOLE PEOPLE WHO PAYS THE PIZZO IS A PEOPLE WITHOUT DIGNITY"

By the way, if standing up to the mafia means I can't get rid of my waste here at The Serious Tip, so be it. I'm not backing down. But don't be surprised if this place starts looking like the Collyer House.

The NBA is practicing voodoo

This post originally appeared on YaySports!.

(The Cavalier did not write this. Neither did Jack Cobra. He is circumnavigating the globe. As for the Cav, well, he’s somewhere.)

Why tempt the fates, NBA? After an All-Star Game in the City of Sin, why come next to the City of Black Magic?

I can just see it. Somewhere some mysterious voudon queen is rubbing her gris-gris and mumbling chants.

“Oh, NBA, you did it now. You gonna wake up those long lost ghosts. You been cursed, NBA. Don’t you bring your bad troubled times to New Orleans. You gonna have to scrub those steps with brick-dust. Best to bring your lucky gris-gris. Your Chubby Like A Baby is no match for New Orleans’ Devil Baby.

Best to watch your time here, NBA. Ol’ Marie Laveau ain’t dead - she just gone into hiding. Just biding her time. Don’t go wakin’ her. Go away, NBA. Just go far away.”

The NBA would have you believe New Orleans is a swinging town full of crawdads and jazz, Mardi Gras and gumbo. But they don’t mention the spells, the zombies, the ghosts, and the vampires that call America’s Most Haunted City home.

And don’t think you are immune because you are reading about hoops online. The influence of evil is everywhere. Even this site. Behold:

“One of the most supreme and powerful loas is Damballah-Wedo, the serpent god. He is represented in Voodoo rituals by a snake. The dance with the snake symbolizes the unity between our world and the world beyond. The dancer and the snake become one.”

Dancing with a snake. Being one with a snake. Befriending a snake. And look closely at “Damballah-Wedo”. Can you see “We All Do Mamba HD”? In High Definition.

Oh yes, suddenly it’s all making sense.

An Airfield or an Ace?

While surfing the international news, I discovered a report that stated the United States spends 17.5 million per year to use Kyrgyzstan's Manas Airbase.

17.5 million.

Or approximately five million per year less than the New York Mets will pay pitcher Johan Santana for the next seven seasons.

So this begs the question, would you rather have an airfield in the middle of Central Asia or an ace pitcher?

Let's first examine the benefits of having an ace pitcher:

Acquiring Johan Santana means acquiring quite possibly the best pitcher in baseball. This of course means more wins, higher attendance, more ticket sales, hopefully a playoff berth, maybe even a championship. Unfortunately, this final result may also cause riots, destruction, mayhem, and general disorder through the metropolitian area.

What about renting an airfield for a year?

Acquiring a Situational Operations AirField (SOAF) - kinda like the LOOGY of military bases - means you can use 37 acres, four watchtowers, 300 tents, a fitness room, a chapel, a post office, a recreation room, and a $5 million, 60-bed military hospital. It's like your own little town. Imagine the party potential if you can convince your friends to visit. And while baseball might not be the national pasttime of Kyrgyzstan, you can probably find it in your heart to root for the local Yak Racing team.

So on one hand you have seasonal fame and the eventual sacrifice of civil order and on the other, the sacrifice of social contact for one year in your own area of self-sustaining blissful solitude, albeit cold, barren, and 25 miles from civilization. But you get to see yaks.

Tough call, if you ask me.

Jason Kidd is in Dallas, errr.... Maybe Not.

This post originally appeared on YaySports!.

(The Cavalier did not write this. He is preparing to fast-foward. Fast-forwarding, sir.)

In case you haven’t heard, Jason Kidd is returning to Dallas (Correction: maybe). He got traded for Devin Harris, a few spare tires, a Ronald McDonald costume, and a bag of peanuts. Dallas and New Jersey later swapped two Jay-Z albums for three Conway Twitty freestyle dance remixes.
In honor of the Jason Kidd trade, I made up a song. Actually, I didn’t make it up, I made up new lyrics to an already existing song. (Sung to George Strait’s “All My Exes“)

“Oh, my ex she ain’t in Texas. And now I get to play with Nowitzki.
Oh, my ex she ain’t in Texas. That why I wanted out of New Jersey.”

Yes, I am full of trademark infringement today. I know.

Anyway, here are some things to discuss:

- Why won’t David Stern let Dwight Howard increase the rim to 12 feet in the dunk contest?

- How did the Spurs score 41 in the fourth quarter to beat the Cavs?

- When is Congress going to investigate the resurrection of Larry Hughes?

- Remember Mr. Hughes from the (then) WWF? I just remembered him.

- Who put the bang in the walla walla bang bang?

- And finally, not to get all political, but would you vote for this guy to be the next President of the Unites States? (Yes or No)

That is all.

(Update: One of the spare tires in Jason Kidd trade has said he doesn’t want to go to New Jersey. I don’t blame him. I went to New Jersey once and I wasn’t impressed. But some people seem to like it. Like Bruce Springsteen.)

The Serious Tip Dot Com Now Got It Goin' On

News Flash:
The Serious Tip has acquired the rights to The Serious Tip (dot) com and The Serious Tip Blog (dot) com. After hours of deliberation, representatives for The Serious Tip and The Internet agreed to terms allowing the site to be hosted at the following addresses for the infinite future. According to The Serious Tip, the deal took skillful politicking and artful negotiation.

"We were sweating there in the final minutes", said Jordi Scrubbings, writer of The Serious Tip. "I was afraid we weren't going to get the deal done. Once The Internet agreed to pay for our sixth pitcher of beer though, I realized we had it in the bag. Either that, or we got the Internet really drunk."

Lawyers for The Internet also admitted the deal with The Serious Tip was one of its more difficult, although between drunk drivers killing webpages and sharks with laser beams cutting half the world's service, the Internet had other concerns than dealing with an independent blog with global aspirations.

With the transaction finally complete, loyal followers of The Serious Tip are encouraged to change their bookmarks, update their feed readers, and spread the word. The Serious Tip.com now got it goin' on.

Representatives for the Internet drive a hard bargain.

Bring Back Morganna!

While reading a news report about an Iranian exchange student jailed for making unwanted advances to a fellow student and kissing her breasts, I started thinking, whatever happened to that lady that used to run on to baseball fields and kiss unsuspecting players?

Has it really been eight years since Morganna the Kissing Bandit and her bountiful bosoms graced us with their presence?

Since 2001, no one has been able to track down the buxom baseball beauty. According to SI.com, after Morganna called it quits, she retired into anonymity in Columbus, Ohio.

Sadly, modern Internet communications have not been kind to Morgana. Although she has a Wikipedia page, she doesn't have a myspace page and the only YouTube clip of her is a heavily edited appearance on a sports talk show hosted by Lyle Alzado. There are no clips of her running out on the field. No video of her kissing anyone. No captures of her massive mammaries bouncing to and fro.

Surely somebody can commemorate Morganna's place in sports history. For without Morganna, would amply-breasted women have any place in sports? Would we have oogled Jenn Sterger? Would anyone have cared about Sarah Spain? What about the Packers bikini babes? Because of Morganna, big breasts and sports have come together like lamb and tuna fish peanut butter and jelly. And for that, she should be honored.

Perhaps instead of investigating what was stuck into Roger Clemens' rear end, Congress can look into the disappearance of a true baseball treasure. Someone somehow someway needs track down Morgana, create a "Tribute to Morganna" web site, and start a campaign to get her elected into the Hall of Fame. Whereas Buck O'Neill's omission might have been a travesty, the current ignorance of Morganna's contribution to our national pastime and to sports in general is a slap in the face to all that is decent in the world.

Bring back Morganna!

(UPDATE: Apparently, Upper Deck tried, but pulled their attempt at the last moment. - See Lion in Oil: I Bet You Have Never Seen Hillary Clinton Like This Before.)

Helping heal the Congo one song at a time

According to World Music Central, Congolese musician Shiko Mawatu has been recently nominated for an NAACP Award for Best World Music. Mawatu was nominated not only on the merits of his sound, lyrics, and production, but because he has chosen to "bring attention to a country and its people devastated by war".

Whether or not Mawatu wins the NAACP award, his album, Kimbanda Nzila, has already made a tremendous impact in his homeland. According to Jazz News,

"He decided to make the album not only to uplift broken spirits of Congolese and those who love them, but to help raise money to build water wells for the forgotten ones and to give some proceeds to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation on its wonderful project of building a hospital in Kinshasa, Congo." (Ed. Note: Kinshasa is the capital of the Congo.)

For those unaware, the Dikembe Mutumbo Foundation is an organization started by NBA player Dikembe Mutumbo with the goal of improving the living conditions in the Congo, Mutumbo's homeland. According to its website, "The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation is dedicated to improving the health, education and quality of life for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Foundation strives to accomplish this goal through an emphasis on primary health care and disease prevention, the promotion of health policy, health research and increased access to health care education for the people of the Congo." Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the organization has been the construction and opening of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center in Kinshasa.

Hopefully Shiko Mawatu wins the NAACP Award for Best World Music. Hopefully the recognition he gets in the United States stimulates massive sales of his music and the Mutumbo Hospital gets more than enough money to sustain operations.

Imagine if American artists did as Shiko Mawatu and dedicated sales of an album to an impoverished region. What if a best-selling, socially conscious artist such as Nas, Kayne West, or Bono donated part of their profits to causes such as refugee aid in Darfur, aid for the still-recovering 2004 tsunami victims, relief for areas of New Orleans, or even struggling American school districts? Imagine if every performer followed their lead and took home a little less from their worldwide tours and gave a small percentage of their revenue to charity. Can you imagine how much of a difference that would make? It's easy if you try.

For more on Shiko Mawatu, visit his homepage.

For more on the Dikembe Mutumbo Foundation, click here.

For a small sample of Mawatu's song "Afrique", go to the Dikembe Mutumbo Foundation homepage and play the introduction video.

YaySports!: Where Blog Abandonment Happens

Few bloggers are more unpredictable than The Cavalier of YaySports!. A self-proclaimed disinterested Cleveland Cavaliers fan, the eccentric genius has in the past year run his site much like Osama Bin Laden - dropping an occasional rambling message while his acolytes (myself included) keep hope alive. He termed his negligence towards his blog "Blog Suicide", and it was supposed to be part of his epic plan prior to releasing "The Mother of All Sports Blog Media", a secret movie known as "Who Shot Mamba?".

As of Thursday morning however, mere hours after I filed my weekly Thursday post on the site, YaySports.com was shut down. After contacting the Cav and expressing my disbelief, I was told that a "redesign" was in progress and that the site could be closed for as long as a week. In light of this revelation, and my disappointment therein, I have decided to re-post my artistic depiction of new teammates and blogger favorites Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic on my own site. It might not be much, but I was proud of it, damnit.

Get your xxxxx-large game worn gear here

Among the many ways Florida State University attempts to bring in some extra cash is by auctioning off game worn basketball jerseys and other sporting apparel. Although I personally would not buy smelly, sweat-soaked jerseys worn by large men, that sort of stuff may appeal to some people. Especially when the jersey in question belongs to a prominent former alumnus (current NBA player Alexander Johnson, for example). However, the most recent FSU auction is for a game worn jersey off the back of none other than Nigel "Big Jelly" Dixon. Yeah, Nigel Dixon.

Back when this site was in its infancy, the nascent days if you will, I wrote a "Where are they now?" piece on Dixon. For those who don't remember, or for those who are trying to forget, Nigel Dixon was the FSU basketball center from 1999 to 2002. During this time, the underachieving, nearly seven-foot tall Dixon weighted in at close to 400 pounds.

Although he has since slimmed down and traveled the world playing in various leagues, I cannot understand why anyone would buy a "Big Jelly" jersey. For what reason? This jersey can't possibly fit anyone but Nigel Dixon. I guess you could hang it over a window as a curtain, or cut it open and use it as a bedsheet, or hide a class of kindergarteners in it, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

Kwame and Darko are BFF

This post originally appeared on YaySports!.

(The Cavalier did not write this. He is busy dancing with the Devil in the pale moonlight.)

Their backgrounds could not have been more different, yet their presents more similiar. These two downtrodden souls, searching for reconciliation. Legends had torn the very essence from them. They were lost souls, the cursed victims of potential. Only through fate are they now able to find solace in each other.

Although I can’t predict new found glory on the hardwood, I do foresee a lifebond growing between these two men. Their closeness will allow them to grow as people and although remaining individuals, they will become one.

In other “Best Friends” news, I must sadly report that frequent commentator “Boney” removed me from his list of myspace friends. Although I have like 300 friends, sadly most are of the superficial sort - assorted rock bands, revolutionaries, and supermodels. But Boney was a person. Someone you could touch, feel, and kick in the groin. But alas, we are no longer myspace friends.

I think they played basketball last night. They could have, I didn’t watch. Perhaps they called the league off after the Shaq trade. (Update: Chris Paul had 40 points - he’s good.)

Update on a minor league investment

According to Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered, the funds acquired during the initial public offering (IPO) for minor league baseball player Randy Newsom been returned. In an interview with Newsom, Baseball Prospectus writer David Laurila asked the prospect about problems the company, Real Sports Investments, may or may not have had with the Security and Exchange Commission. Although Newsom denies any SEC involvement in his interview, Slate.com reported "Newsom and his company, Real Sports Investments, neither registered their offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission nor sought approval from Major League Baseball before issuing the first-ever baseball player IPO."

I believe I covered the potential for conflict with MLB when I asked "How much rights to licensing can Major League Baseball have over someone who is "owned" by share holders?" earlier this week. The whole deal seemed off-kilter to me. I guess it didn't take MLB too long to squash Newsom's venture.

Of course, due to the closure of his stock sale, Newsom and RSI had to refund the money paid by his "investors". However, as there were 2,500 shares of initial Newsom stock, and each sold at $20 a piece, that should be $50,000, right? Then why does Slate.com report RSI is returning only $36,000? What about the other $14,000? When I went to the RSI web site on January 31st, no shares were available. Was the company stopped prior to selling all the stock?

Word to the wise: next time you want to "invest" in a baseball player, do what fans have done for years: buy plenty of rookie cards.

Florida State did play North Carolina, right?

Last Sunday afternoon, while much of the nation was getting ready for the Super Bowl, the Florida State Seminoles played the North Carolina Tar Heels in basketball in Tallahassee, taking the third-ranked team in the nation into overtime before losing 84-73.

If you didn't hear about this game, I understand. Perhaps you were busy. Perhaps you were getting ready for the "Big Game". That's understandable. For most of you.

What isn't understandable is the complete lack of mention of this game by several prominent FSU blogs. Even national sports blog AOL Fanhouse barely mentioned the game, only discussing the first quarter injury of UNC point guard Ty Lawson. Who won, however, is never discussed.

At least AOL Fanhouse acknowledged the game. So what were FSU sports blogs talking about if not one of the more thrilling Seminole basketball games of the season?

Tomahawk Nation was busy talking football recruiting. Yeah, that's more important than the current athletes.

Scalp'Em.com went from posting about putting a dome on Doak Campbell Stadium to discussing FSU's new athletic director. Of course, these topics are of extreme importance and must be written about immediately before any athletic score.

Even Andrew Carter's Chopping Block at Orlando Sentinel.com failed to mention the game. Carter, an Associated Press men's college basketball Top 25 poll voter, is normally pretty good at talking hoops. You would think he would give a game between the local squad and the number three team in the country a mention, even if just a link or a score. But nothing. His last post is about the upcoming FSU football schedule. Upcoming as in six months from now.

Last year, out of necessity, I posted quite a bit about Seminole Basketball. This year I hoped one of the FSU sports-centric sites might pick up where I left off. I guess that isn't the case.

Let the countdown to Super Bowl 2009 begin

Now that Super Bowl XLII is officially over, it's time to begin preparations for Super Bowl 43. Why am I getting excited for a Super Bowl that is 360-plus days from now? Because it will be played in Tampa.

That's right.

The Super Bowl is coming here.

The parties, the celebrities, the hedonism, the bachanalia, and all the trimmings and trappings. And some kind of football game, I think.

I can't wait.

(For exactly how many days are left, see my new handy dandy little countdown at the bottom right of the site.)

Random Bar Thought

So I just got back from a night gallavanting around town ...

At one bar I visited, there were several deaf people. They had to signal the bartenders in sign language or write down what they wanted. So I got to thinking:

Does deaf people's sign language get sloppy as they drink more? You know how people with normal hearing slur their speech when they are drunk? Does the same apply to the hearing impaired? Do they sign slower? Do they sign the wrong words? What if they get pulled over? Do they sign "Occifer, I swear I only had one beer."? Will the cop know the difference?

These are the things I wonder about.

Blacker than Black

A little over a week ago, scientists from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York announced that they created a substance that was blacker than any black previously known. According to National Geographic.com, this "array of tiny carbon cylinders standing on end like bristles on a brush ... reflects only 0.045 percent of the visible light shined on it".



The object at the far left is a "black standard" used by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. The object on the far right is a piece of glassy carbon. The blackest black is the middle object. As you can see, it is "blacker than black".

Oddly, this material's theme song was released over 15 years ago.

Yes, that is Dead Mike from the hip-hop classic CB4. Which, may I state, is a completely underrated movie. I can't recall ever seeing it on BET, VH1, or VH1 Classic, who instead show "movies that (supposedly) rock" like Beetlejuice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Showgirls, and UHF. Damn shame.

(Source: National Geographic.com "A Blacker Black" 1/25/08)