The Williams Sisters - Two Classy Women

The Williams Sisters - class act all the way...let's be frank, some people don't like the Williams sisters because they are black....others do not like them because years ago their father made a few racist comments....

Today older sister Venus beat younger sister Serena to win her fifth Wimbledon crown...three hours later, they teamed together to steamroll their opponents in winning the women's doubles title...they are both tough tennis players who are deadly on the grass surface of Wimbledon...but it is off the court that impresses me more...they are quality role models for both African-American and white youth...

You never hear neither sister linked to issues or problems...a mugshot?...both sisters are more interested in fashion and clothes than to have a photo is an orange jumpsuit...they are not mouthy nor arrogant...neither live their lives in the tabloids like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, etc., etc.,...for instance, Spears, who is around the sisters age, gets more press for acting like a whore...she is a mother of two young children, and instead of being a "mom," she is getting out of cars with no panties and shaving her head at the spur of the moment...

And I undestand why some do not like Richard Williams, their father...he is outspoken and off-base with some of his comments...but he did a helluva job in raising these two women...they could have easily been consumed to the street life of Compton while growing up...but he made sure they stayed clear of trouble...think about it, two African-American girls from Compton are class women in the tennis world...so yes, it is possible to make it in this world if you have the right guidance...

Now that his daughters no longer need his guidance, maybe he should offer it to Brit or Lindsay?...it seems like they need some no-nonsense guidance...

Rafa or Fed?

For the last month, Roger Federer has heard the talk "he's done," "his better days are behind him," "Nadal is the man to beat at Wimbledon"...after getting trashed at the French Open finals less than 5 weeks ago, Federer has a chance to shut up all his critics including Pardon the Interuption (PTI) co-host Michael Wilbon, who may have been his harshest critic....Wilbon flat out stated that Federer is "done" and questioned if he would ever win another major because of the mental beating he took at Roland Garros (6-1, 6-3, 6-0)...

Yes, Sunday's Wimbledon championship match between Federer and Nadal is a watershed moment in the current tennis world...Nadal needs this win to show the world that he is more than just the greatest clay court tennis player in the world...a win on grass, which is Federer's favorite surface, would mark a historic shift in tennis indicating that Nadal is now the best player in the world...

Over the years, critics have been waiting for Federer to fall...American Andy Roddick was supposed to overtake Federer only to never live up to the hype...James Blake?...the guy has never made it to the finals in any major....all the European wannabes were supposed to take over only to end up losing to each other...

In the end, Nadal has been a thorn in Federer's side of late...Rafa owns the overall series record 11-6...however, that number is very deceiving because Nadal is 9-1 all-time against Fed on clay surfaces...in all other surfaces, Federer has a 5-2 mark...

Sunday should be a great match...these two met for the Wimbledon crown the last two years....in 2006 Federer won 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 and last year he took Rafa in a tough five setter 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2...

My prediction - Nadal will give Federer a tough battle, but in the end, Federer will make his critics eat their words by winning in four tough sets...

Happy Birthday Boss!

July 4th is not only the birthday of this great country, but also the birthday of George Michael Steinbrenner III - THE BOSS

Steinbrenner was born on July 4, 1930 in Rocky River, Ohio...

HAPPY 78th BIRTHDAY BOSS!!!

God Bless America and God Bless The Boss!

American League All-Star Team

This was an odd year in picking my American League All-Stars....for instance, I felt there was not a credible back-up for A-Rod at third base while there were at least four-five players I could have had on the roster at second base....I had Joe Crede at third for a few seconds, then decided to drop him after noticing he has 15 errors this season....what the heck, I went with the rookie Longoria from Tampa instead....I had some tough choices for the final few spots...C.C. Sabathia or Dice K?....what about B.J. Upton?....Placido Polanco or Howie Kendrick?...Ervin Santana??....Felix Hernandez??...believe it or not, I have only 1 Tiger compared to 5 Rangers and 2 Royals....anyway, here is my 2008 American League All-Star team...

Starting Lineup
Catcher - Joe Mauer, Twins - The Natural just keeps getting better....
First Base - Justin Morneau, Twins - about a month ago this looked like a lock for Youkilis, but Morneau has turned it on of late...
Second Base - Ian Kinsler, Rangers - I could have went with Polanco, Kendrick, or Roberts here, but Kinsler is quietly having an MVP like year in Texas...
Third Base - Alex Rodriguez, Yankees - Alex is down in homers but at the top in batting average...
Shortstop - Derek Jeter, Yankees - how can you not put the greatest Yankee since Mickey Mantle in the starting lineup of the All-Star Game to be played at Yankee Stadium?....
Outfield - Manny Ramirez, Red Sox - Manny is just Manny - another solid year...
Outfield - Josh Hamilton, Rangers - this kid is freakin amazing....to start an All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium - who would have thunk it just a few years ago?...
Outfield - Ichiro, Mariners - a down year for Ichiro is a career year for some...
Designated hitter - Milton Bradley, Rangers - forget Big Papi, Bradley is having a monster year....yeh, we all know he is a head case, but the guy is deserving...
Starting pitcher - Cliff Lee, Indians - even though I feel he will come back to earth, I have to admit, he has had a strong first half....

Reserves
Catcher - Dioneer Navarro, Rays
First Base - Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
Second Base - Brian Roberts, Orioles
Second Base - Howie Kendrick, Angels
Third base - Evan Longoria, Rays
Shortstop - Michael Young, Rangers
Outfield - Carlos Quentin, White Sox
Outfield - Vlad Guerrero, Angels
Outfield - Magglio Ordonez, Tigers
Outfield - Jose Guillen, Royals

Pitchers
Starter - Joe Saunders, Angels (L)
Starter - Vicente Padilla, Rangers (R)
Starter - Justin Duchscherer, Athletics (R)
Starter - C.C. Sabathia, Indians (L)
Starter - Scott Kazmir, Rays (L)
Reliever - B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays (L)
Reliever - Mariano Rivera, Yankees (R)
Reliever - Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox (R)
Reliever - Bobby Jenks, White Sox (R)
Reliever - Joakim Soria, Royals (R)
Reliever - Joe Nathan, Twins (R)
Reliever - Francisco Rodriguez, Angels (R)

National League All-Star Team

The National League was difficult to select because of the depth at all the infield positions....First base was incredibly tough to select....Berkman was my starter - that was not the problem....but I had Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Connor Jackson, Derek Lee, James Loney, and Prince Fielder to choose from as the reserves....at shortstop I had to leave somone like Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Theriot off the team....catcher was another difficult position....I could have easily went with both Molina brothers....interestingly, the outfield was slim pickings...besides Matt Holliday, there is no other stud outfielder....

Starting Lineup
Catcher - Bengie Molina, Giants - it's time that one of the Molina brothers get to start an All-Star Game...
First base - Lance Berkman, Astros - Berkman stands out among the boatload of talent at first base...
Second base - Chase Utley, Phillies - Uggla or Utley - flip a coin....
Third base - Chipper Jones, Braves - this dude was over .400 most of the first two months...
Shortstop - Jose Reyes, Mets - he gets slammed a lot by the media, but he does have nice numbers...
Outfield - Ryan Braun, Brewers - 7 out of 10 baseball fans don't even know who this guy is...
Outfield - Matt Holliday, Rockies - the best outfielder in the N.L....
Outfield - Kosuke Fukodome, Cubs - this guy is one of the real deals from Japan...
Designated hitter - Dan Uggla, Marlins - Uggla lost the coin flip at second base....so he starts at D.H....
Starting pitcher - Tim Lincecum, Giants - this hard thrower has lost only 1 game this year....

Reserves
Catcher - Russell Martin, Dodgers
First base - Connor Jackson, Diamondbacks
First base - Adrian Gonzalez, Padres
Second base - Garrett Atkins, Rockies
Third base - Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
Shortstop - Cristian Guzman, Nationals
Shortstop - Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
Outfield - Nate McLouth, Pirates
Outfield - Pat Burrell, Phillies
Outfield - Randy Winn, Giants

Pitchers
Starter - Cole Hamels, Phillies (L)
Starter - Edinson Volquez, Reds (R)
Starter - Ben Sheets, Brewers (R)
Starter - Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks (R)
Starter - Ryan Dempster, Cubs (R)
Reliever - Brian Fuentes, Rockies (L)
Reliever - Billy Wagner, Mets (L)
Reliever - Brandon Lyon, Diamondbacks (R)
Reliever - Brad Lidge, Phillies (R)
Reliever - Kerry Wood, Cubs (R)

Is She Hot Special Edition - Britney Spears

Okay, we all know the story and saga of Britney Spears...it seems like light years when she was that naughty school girl in her video... she took the nation by storm...then there was her relationship with Justin and her image of this good girl who had a naughty side...after her break-up with Justin, the bottom fell out...then began all her troubles and marriages and kids and drama, etc., etc., etc.,..yes, Spears was once the hottest thing out there...but is she still hot?...

My thoughts - to start with, she is still only 27-years-old...honestly, if she wasn't so messed up, the photo of her at the top is not bad...too many times the media portrays hot women as having to be rail thin...if Spears wasn't a whack job, she could have shown women, and especially teenage girls that a woman does not have to be anorexic in order to be sexy....but of course, that message was completely lost because of who Spears is....is she trailer trash - yes....is she a whack job - yes....but she still has some hotness to her...so this leads to the question:

Do you think Britney Spears is still hot?

Leave your comments

The Face of College Football

ESPN.com is running a poll in which the fans can vote for the "Faces of College Football"....you are able to vote for only four former players out of a list of 21....the list is as follows:

Sammy Baugh, Jim Brown, Reggie Bush, Dick Butkus, Earl Campbell, Glenn Davis, Tony Dorsett, Tommie Frazier, Red Grange, Archie Griffin, Tom Harmon, Bo Jackson, Bronko Nagurski, Johnny Rodgers, Barry Sanders, Roger Staubach, Jim Thorpe, Doak Walker, Herschel Walker, Charles Woodson, Vince Young...

On June 22, with 22,463 votes cast, the top four were: Frazier (36.7%), Rodgers (28.0%), H. Walker (25.2%), Jackson (20.1%)...six days later, on June 28, with 132,287 votes cast, the top four were: Frazier (43.0%), Rodgers (39.6%), Griffin (35.2%), Thorpe (13.0%)...

Shockingly, Herschel dropped from 25.2% all the way to 7.4% and Bo went from 20.1% to 5.7%...Griffin rose from 19.6% to 35.2%...the benefactor of Herschel and Bo dropping was Thorpe who practically stayed even 13.7% to 13.0%...

Obviously, the Nebraska and Ohio State fans pumped up the numbers for Frazier, Rodgers, and Griffin...

When choosing my four, I broke it down into various eras - the early years, the mid years, and the current years...here are my four selections:
1. Herschel Walker (photo - right) - the greatest college player that I have ever seen...he was a beast...to me, Walker was the best in any era...
2. Roger Staubach - to represent the mid years, I went with Staubach who was a Heisman winner and made Navy a force...
3. Red Grange (photo - left) - to represent the early years, the Ghost was everything to college football...
4. Vince Young - to represent the current years, Vince was a one man wrecking crew his final two years at Texas...he took the position of quarterback and raised it to another level with his arm and legs...

Sunday Stories

Dave Anderson of The New York Times writes how the Baseball Hall of Fame made a change to Jackie Robinson's Hall of Fame plaque... "When Jackie Robinson was on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1962, he requested that the voters among the Baseball Writers Association of America judge him only as a player. He didn’t want his social significance as the modern major leagues’ first black player to be considered. Vote for him — or don’t vote for him — on his merits as a player, as all the other Hall of Famers from Babe Ruth and Cy Young had been measured." ...

Dave Anderson

Gary Carter Saga
Billy Witz of The New York Times writes about former N.Y. Met Gary Carter and how Carter explodes at Witz when talking about managing in The Show.... "It is clear now, some 25 minutes into an interview, that he is agitated. Then he is asked if he has any regrets about the radio interview he did last month in which he campaigned for a job Randolph still held. Carter protests that he was simply responding to a question: Would he be interested in managing the Mets? But actually he did more than that, saying in the interview that he had already contacted the Mets. He is then asked if he violated etiquette." ...

Billy Witz

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times also writes about Carter...throughout the article, Carter's arrogance increases... "He loves the Mets, but they don't seem to think much of him. A few years back, he managed one of their minor league teams and won, a year later did it again and won a title, but then he didn't go along with the plan -- the one that had him advancing to yet another minor league post." ...

T.J. Simers

Other stories
Joe Lapointe of The New York Times writes how the balance of power has shifted back to the pitchers in MLB... "This season’s top pitchers have not equaled the élan of their predecessors from 1968, but their craft seems to be on the rise. Dave Duncan can sense it." ...

Joe Lapointe

Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer writes how the NBA needs to make a change when college players are eligible... "A two-year minimum, with the age limit at 20, would be more in keeping with NFL eligibility rules (three years of college) and would curtail the NBA's sabotage of its own farm system. It would also give more stability to college programs." ...

Bill Livingston

Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle writes about other famous baseball spats after the recent Shawn Chacon incident... "There have been fights involving teammates or players against managers. But few can remember when a confrontation between a player and general manager went beyond an exchange of words and turned volatile." ...

Joseph Duarte

Albert Breer and Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about former Cowboys receiver Frank Clarke and his new job as a nanny... "Once upon a time, the nanny was the most prolific receiver in Cowboys history. He was fast, smart and determined to prove wrong critics of his toughness. He joined a ragtag expansion team in 1960 and was the last original Cowboy to retire. The NFL Championship Game of 1967, the storied Ice Bowl, was his final game." ...

Albert Breer and Barry Horn

Carol Slezak of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Bulls first round pick Derrick Rose... "The Englewood community where Rose grew up has more than its share of poverty and all that comes with it: gangs, drugs, violence and despair. But Rose's mom, Brenda, kept all her kids in line. And Rose's three older brothers -- Dwayne, Reggie and Allan -- made sure to keep him in line. When Rose's special talent became clear, the brothers kept the sharks away, allowing him to concentrate on basketball." ...

Carol Slezak