Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The NBA's Atlanta Hawks owner has discovered that he is, Lord help him, a "racist"! How do we know this? He tells us.
Owner Bruce Levenson "outed" himself by producing an email he wrote back in 2012. Now, to the untrained eye, this email might read like a standard analysis of how to attract a larger and more diversified market share. But Levenson now realizes that he was practicing ... racism! So in the interest of purging the NBA of all "racist" owners, Levenson is reluctantly now offering to sell his team.
What exactly did the "incendiary" memo say?
It discusses what Levenson calls a serious marketing problem: a too-small fan base of affluent season-ticket holders, specifically white ones in a city that's majority black. You don't think General Motors or Taco Bell isn't conducting similar analyses? And doesn't President Barack Obama whine about financial "inequality," that the net worth of blacks trails of whites? But when Levenson says the same thing in a marketing memo, he becomes a bigot -- and a self-admitted one at that.
The memo actually chastises whites -- not blacks ?- for their "racist" fear of danger in going to the downtown stadium. Levenson writes: "My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base. Please don't get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arena back then. I never felt uncomfortable, but I think Southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites I would read comments about how dangerous it is around Philips, yet in our nine years, I don't know of a mugging or even a pickpocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place, I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games."
If anything, white people might be a bit ticked off at being described as racist scaredy cats.
Curiously, the 2012 memo surfaced as part of a team investigation into a "racist" remark made by their general manager. Even though his specific comment was never made public until later (he described a player from Africa as having some "African in him"), the general manager apologized, received an undisclosed punishment, but remains on the job. But the team owner now describes himself as too racist to continue owning the team. Huh?
Oh, sure, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed cried as if he had just been water-boarded: "The published remarks made by Atlanta Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson are reprehensible and offensive. The statements do not represent the City of Atlanta's history of diversity and inclusion, and we will be clear and deliberate in denouncing and repudiating them. I applaud the NBA's efforts to enforce a no-tolerance policy of discrimination."
Something stinks.
Haven't the Hawks been losing $3 million a year? And didn't Levenson try to sell the team before? Sports Illustrated writes: "In 2011, Levenson thought he had a deal to sell ... only to have negotiations fall apart at the 11th hour. The NBA landscape has changed dramatically since then, with sales of the Milwaukee Bucks ($550 million) and Los Angeles Clippers ($2 billion) sending franchise values skyrocketing and the promise of a lucrative new television deal serving as a carrot that has prospective owners tripping over themselves to overbid. A team like the Hawks, which Forbes recently valued at $425 million, could fetch double that.
"'I think what happened was he saw how much teams were going for and wanted to make some money,' a rival team executive said. 'What (Levenson) said was wrong, but to me it seems like an excuse to sell.'"
And isn't the timing awfully strange given Donald Sterling's "involuntary" sale of his team, the Los Angeles Clippers, for an eye-popping $2 billion following the disclosure that he, too, is a "racist"?
And isn't Levenson's "outing" himself as a "racist" a Sterling-like ploy to convince the IRS that a sale -- at a time when NBA franchise price tags are rising to shocking heights -- was "involuntary," thus possibly hoping to invoke an IRS provision that allows a deferral of capital gains taxes?
Thus is the status of "race relations" in 2014.
One NBA owner, deemed "racist," sells his team for nearly double that of its most optimistic appraisals. Meanwhile, another owner intends to give another wealthy "savior" the opportunity to purge the Altanta Hawks of their "racist" owner -- while, of course, paying handsomely for the privilege.
Wait! This just in: I've discovered that I, too, am racist. Yes, it's a belated discovery, but a discovery nonetheless. To purge my neighborhood of the stain, I involuntarily place my house up for sale -- starting at three times its appraised fair market value.
Bring your checkbook.
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
BBC Host On Soccer: Fifa Corruption 'Makes Me Feel Sick'--Run Like A Dictatorship
 |
Anger: Gary Lineker says the decision
to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is ludicrous
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
|
Gary Lineker has claimed he feels sick at alleged corruption within Fifa and labelled the decision to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as "ludicrous".
Lineker was part of England's bid team for the 2018 tournament won by Russia, and insists that England should not bid again if the only way to win is by bending the rules.
In an interview with GQ magazine, the former England striker said: "I was with David Beckham having a burger the night before the Qatar decision. We were out trying to get support; Prince William and David Cameron were out there, too, and I said to Becks, 'We are the only country doing this. The whole thing smells; it is a done deal."'
"It makes you feel sick, actually, the whole Fifa thing, the corruption at the top level is nauseating. Sepp Blatter likewise has run it like a dictatorship for so long and he comes out with so much nonsense."
Asked about the decision to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Lineker, now one of the BBC's top sport presenters, replied: "Ludicrous. I am not against it going to different parts of the world, but you'd have thought they might have known it would be very hot in summer. You have to be careful what you say, but the corruption is just ... yuck."
Read the full story: www.telegraph.co.uk
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Friday, August 1, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
 |
| Lebron Jmaes via www.hoops-nation.com |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Celebrations aside, LeBron James' decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA could complicate the Republican Party's plan to nominate its presidential contender on Lake Erie's shores in 2016.
If James leads his team into post-season play then, the GOP could find its preferred June 28 start date for the convention impossible because of the site conflict. Convention planners typically take weeks to customize the space with lights, seats and the traditional balloon drop from the rafters — impossible tasks if the Cavaliers go into post-season play.
That leaves Republicans looking at their backup date of July 18, still earlier than parties typically nominate their presidential hopeful in recent years, but later than RNC chief Reince Priebus preferred.
"All options remain on the table as we're still very early on in the negotiation process," RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said. "We're excited about Cleveland, and LeBron's return is further evidence that it's a city on the rise."
Priebus insisted his party's convention be scheduled for early summer 2016, roughly two months sooner than has become the norm. That would give the GOP's next presidential nominee quicker access to tens of millions of dollars in general election cash.
"The candidate can be broke, but they're not able to raise general election money until the convention is held," Priebus said earlier this week.
But James' return to the Cavaliers from the Miami Heat could complicate that timeline and perhaps Republican efforts to win the White House. Teams with James have made it to the league finals in five of the last eight seasons, and his move to Cleveland is unlikely to reverse that trend.
Cleveland on Tuesday won the unanimous backing of a RNC panel, all but guaranteeing the GOP's 2016 presidential pick will accept the party's nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio. RNC lawyers are now in negotiations with Cleveland's organizing committee over the exact terms of the bid, including how many weeks of early and exclusive access Republicans can expect in the Cavaliers' arena.
Read the full story: www.news.yahoo.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Tommy Smyth, the longtime ESPN analyst, remembers having to rack up big long-distance charges calling overseas to learn scores of soccer matches. Star player Brandi Chastain learned to kick a ball before the world’s top women players even had a World Cup tournament of their own. Bruce Arena, the veteran coach, recalls a time when maybe one soccer game a year appeared on American television. Today finding live soccer on TV requires a remote control and a thumb.
“I’m actually sick of it,” Arena jokes. “It’s too much.”
As the World Cup gets underway this week in Brazil, the world’s most popular game is years removed from being an American curiosity or even a niche sport. Twenty years after the United States hosted the tournament, fandom here has grown to levels large enough to sustain a men’s professional league, command lucrative television contracts and give millions of young boys and girls something to dream about.
But the state of soccer in the United States is still a complicated subject. The so-called sleeping giant has certainly stirred since the 1994 tournament catapulted the sport into American consciousness, but its strides have been uneven and at times sluggish.
In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 46 percent of Americans say they feel the sport will become more popular in the next decade, but there has been little change in the number who consider themselves fans of professional soccer over the past two decades. Some 28 percent identify themselves as fans today, compared with 31 percent on the eve of the 1994 World Cup.
Soccer participation has also seen changes in the past 20 years. More than 12.2 million Americans played soccer in 1994, a number that rose to nearly 13.8 million by 2004, according to research from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. But since then, the number of players has slipped to 12.7 million. And while more adults are playing than ever before, the number of young players — among those age 6-12 and 13-17 — have fallen below their 1994 marks.
For fans, the sport is more accessible than ever, with 19 Major League Soccer teamsspread across North America and international matches available on cable television at all hours of the day. U.S. television viewers had access to all 380 matches of the English Premier League, and a record 31.5 million Americans tuned in to the most recent season at some point, according to Nielsen ratings.
Sunil Gulati, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, is quick to point out the long list of successes the sport has seen in the past 20 years, noting that with progress, the room for growth shrinks with time.
“I’m pretty sure if somebody said to me in ’93 or ’94, this is what it could look like 20 years, I would take where we are in a heartbeat,” said Gulati, who also serves on the executive committee of FIFA, the sport’s international governing body. “Now that doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with where we are — we still have long way to go — but you look at all that we’ve done and not a lot of countries did that much in 20 years.”
This month in Brazil, the U.S. national team will look to show the world how that progress translates to the pitch. Pele, the Brazilian legend who helped introduce soccer to a generation of Americans three decades ago, has seen the United States’ relationship with the sport slowly evolve over time and still predicts a brighter future.
Read the full story: www.washingtonpost.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
 |
| Willie "The Rat" Cammisano |
Wiping away tears before sharing a passionate kiss for the cameras, new NFL pick Michael Sam and his boyfriend were the picture of joy on Saturday.
As the photograph of their embrace quickly spread across the internet, Sam celebrated being the first openly-gay player drafted to the NFL - and viewers wondered about the identity of his man.
He has now been named as Vito Cammisano, a 23-year-old fellow University of Missouri alum, who starred on the school's swim team - and who apparently comes from one of the state's most infamous mobster families.
Online records indicate that he is the grandson of William 'Willie Rat' Cammisano. The mob leader served time in prison for extortion and contempt of Congress in the 80s, AP reported.
After a long rap sheet of crimes from theft to bootlegging, accusations of murder, and refusing to cooperate with a Congressional probe into the mob, he passed away in 1995, aged 80.
After his death, his son, William 'Willie' Cammisano Jr., took over the reins but he was arrested in 2010 for running a $3.5 million illegal sports betting organization and sentenced to a year and a day in prison, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
His brother - Vito's father - Jerry Cammisano, was also swept up in the family business and served 14 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $200,000 for his part in leading the sports betting ring, according to the release.
Records show Jerry Cammisano began his sentence in February 2011, and photographs show him grinning beside Vito at his graduation ceremony last year, indicating he did not serve further time.
Read the full story: www.dailymail.co.uk
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
In a historic announcement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has handed Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling a lifetime ban from the NBA, along with issuing the maximum allowable fine of $2.5 million. Of greater significance, Silver has also instructed NBA owners to oust Sterling as owner of the team. The announcement sets the table for an epic legal fight over ownership of the Clippers and the powers of the commissioner.
Legality of Sterling's suspension and fine
Silver has broad authority under the NBA's constitution and bylaws to suspend and fine an owner for conduct detrimental to the NBA. According to Sliver, Sterling admitted it was his voice on the recording in which he made racist remarks. Even if the recording was unlawfully created under California law -- the recording would likely be unlawful if the conversation was confidential and Sterling didn't give consent -- Silver is authorized to punish Sterling based on the recording's impact on the league. It is safe to say that Sterling's comments, which elicited the rebuke of President Barack Obama, have deeply harmed the NBA and its relationship with players, sponsors and fans. Sterling seems to lack a viable argument that his conduct was not seriously detrimental to the NBA.
Sterling is also disadvantaged in challenging the suspension and fine because of how a court would treat such a challenge. A court would review Silver's decision under the deferential "arbitrary and capricious" standard of review. This standard would essentially require Sterling prove that the NBA -- and specifically Silver, acting as the NBA's ultimate arbiter -- failed to follow its own rules in how it investigated Sterling and punished him. For instance, if the NBA failed to authenticate the recording, concealed evidence or not requested a meeting with Sterling, Sterling might have sufficient grounds. Silver's remarks during the press conference, however, suggest all relevant rules and policies were followed. Absent Sterling proving there was a procedural defect of serious importance, Sterling likely has no viable appeal to either the fine or suspension.
ROSENERG: Lifetime ban fitting punishment for Sterling
As a practical effect, the suspension all but excommunicates Sterling from both his team and the NBA. He is forbidden from any contact with players, coaches and staff, and he is barred from attending games or practices. Sterling is also prohibited from participating in league activities. He is now, essentially, in NBA exile.
The fine of $2.5 million may seem inconsequential given that Sterling is worth reportedly $1.9 billion, but it was the highest amount of money permitted by the league's constitution and bylaws. Had Silver issued a higher fine, and justified it on policy or moral grounds, he would have provided Sterling with an opportunity to raise a legal point. Specifically, Sterling might have argued such a penalty is "arbitrary and capricious" because it would not have followed NBA rules. Silver, an attorney, wisely adhered to the rules instead.
Read the full story: www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Friday, April 4, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Related: Debate On Renaming The Washington Redskins
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
Read the full story: www.newsbusters.org
Related: Debate On Renaming The Washington Redskins
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
