Soraya Mathias Blog

It’s easy to sell your apologies…especially when you’re worth millions but will that work for Kobe this time?

By: Taren Vaughan

Over a week later, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant is still issuing apologies for his outburst in last Tuesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. After being called for a foul by referee Bennie Adams, Bryant showed his frustration not throwing a towel on the court but by dropping the “F” word and not the one that most would have guessed.

His response to Adams’ call was by calling him a “f***ing f****t”. Bryant claimed the anti-gay slur directed towards the ref was not in any way a display of his views of homosexuality and that he now sees how his anger-filled comment has affected everyone:

“In this situation, seeing how many people were affected, it helps you understand the weight that comes from that word”

Well clearly he understands the weight because not only did his outburst affect a number of fans, those who are homosexuals and those who are not, it cost him $100,000 too. As this is chump change to the Black Mamba, it is still money wasted because simply because his mouth got a tad bit too reckless. In addition to being overly apologetic for his behavior, the Lakers and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) are working together to put an end to gay slandering altogether.

In the heat of the moment, there are a lot of things that people say and do that they don’t necessarily mean. And when you are talking about a competitive sport like basketball and it’s playoff time at that, “f***ing f****t” is probably one of the milder things that you will hear coming out of a player’s mouth.

Excusing his behavior is not even an option for the Laker franchise so no “brushing this all under the rug” technique will be used. And it’s very obvious they are well aware of that as apologies have been issued most promptly. But even after the “I’m sorry” ‘s have run their course and the dust settles, will Bryant be known as the league’s “Gay Basher” for the rest of his career?

Even after his string of apologies for this most recent incident, some people are led to believe that it was all for show:

“Kobe is arrogant to me so it’s hard to believe that he is sincere about his apology when it comes to this situation. But I will say that as a former athlete myself, I know that you can let a lot of things slip out of your mouth out of pure frustration with no real intentions of hurting anyone’s feelings”

Oliver W.
Age: 31
Des Moines, IA

“I am a Kobe fan but when you say or do something out of order, you should be held accountable for it, pro athlete or not. Now whether or not he meant what he said, I don’t think we will truly ever know the answer to that question”

Ashley F.
Age: 20
Austin, TX

Makes you think…are athletes really sorry for their actions all the time? Or only when it’s caught on camera for the world to see?

What will be the outcome of Tennessee’s program now that Pearl is gone?

By: Taren Vaughan

As many have been anticipating, Tennessee’s head men’s basketball coaching position has now become vacant as Coach Bruce Pearl was shown the door today by the school’s athletic director Mike Hamilton. Pearl’s dishonesty concerning his player recruitment tactics is the cause of his termination, something that has been quite an issue for other collegiate coaches in the past.

His dismissal was a result of a number of violations on his behalf, one related to investigators’ discovery a photograph of Pearl with two high school prospects at a cookout. And when questioned where the picture was taken, Pearl fell clueless, claiming that he had no idea where the picture was taken. Turns out, they were in a place that he knows quite well actually…His own house. The blatant dishonesty was topped with not one violation, but a total of ten which made his firing not something that too many people are dwelling on. Pretty clear that he brought that on his own self. Regardless of the poor choices he made that put is career at stake, one thing for sure that can not be contested is what Pearl did during his years at Tennessee.

Don’t let Tennessee’s early exit from this year’s NCAA tournament fool you because it was not by far a reflection of the quality of the program. Under Pearl’s leadership, the program made a great turn around, earning their rights back as a competitive ball club. He successfully led the Vols to the NCAA tournament all six years that he was with the program and left with an overall 145-61 record. Very impressive Mr. Pearl.

But back to the matter at hand though, when you fail to follow the rules, the axe will shortly await you. As of yet, the NCAA has not made their final ruling so further penalties may go against both Pearl and the school.

Now that Bruce Pearl’s reign with the Volunteers has come to an end, the question remains: What will be the future of this program? Will they continue to make their appearances in the Big Dance and hold on to their rep as a competitive bball squad? Or will they slowly fall into a slump?

Readers give their thoughts on recent trade that is sending Carmelo Anthony to the NY Knicks.

By: Taren Vaughan

Aside from Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to name a few, Carmelo Anthony is yet another superstar that any team in the NBA would be crazy to pass on. And would give up almost there entire bench if they could to secure him a spot on their roster. Although the New York Knicks didn’t give up everybody, they did however trade away some notable players like point guard Raymond Felton, who was finally finding his spark after several lukewarm seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats. With this trade, the Knicks sacrificed four of their current players, a first round draft pick, two second round picks and $3 million.

Was getting Carmelo worth all of that? Let’s see what some of our readers had to say:

“I always thought Melo would end up in NY with Amar’e. I just had a gut feeling about it the entire time. The combination of the two is what any coach would hope for, and most of them never get the chance to have two players of that caliber on the same squad”

-Michael B.
Age: 24
Washington, DC

“People keep saying that the Knicks gave up a lot in this trade, way more than they probably should have. Yeah, six players and 3 mill is nothing to smirk at but you gotta understand what they are getting in return. Two words…Carmelo Anthony. And let's not forget that they also acquired Sheldon Williams and veteran Chauncey Billups with this trade too”

-Kendall R.
Age: 31
Charleston, SC

“The Knicks have 28 games left in the season right now. So if the question is will this trade help them improve their position in the East? Chances are it won’t go down like that. You can’t put together a top notch team near the end of the season and expect them to blow every remaining opponent out of the water. It takes time for them to get familiar with each other’s playing styles first”

-Ricky S.
Age: 36
Brooklyn, NY

So what exactly are the Knicks trying to pull here? Perhaps a powerhouse squad like The Miami Heat, jammed pack with talent? If that’s what they are going for, there is a small problem with that. They are deep in the season now. And as we saw, even after adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh to their team, the Miami Heat had to form the chemistry that they now have; it wasn’t an instant win for them. Could be that the Knicks are gearin’ up for next season with this trade. Either way you look at it, a Melo-Mar’e combination is sick, hands down. Just hope that they have a great supporting cast and a hell of a point guard to help them get the Knicks back on top again.

African American males do extremely well in these areas…But can they have the same level of success in other sports?

By: Taren Vaughan

For years, African American males have found huge amounts of success in the field of sports. And for many of them, their true niche lies on the gridiron or on the hardwood floor of a gymnasium. Finding an incredible basketball player, football player or track runner amongst a population of Black men is not a hard task at all. They are all over the place. And unless something changes drastically, it will always be that way. As African American men generally gravitate towards these sports, does that necessarily mean that they can not achieve high in other areas of athletics? Is it possible that a Black man could do more than jump hurdles, dunk a basketball or tackle somebody?

One name…Arthur Ashe.

Arthur Ashe was the first Black male tennis player to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open and still currently holds that title. This phenomenal tennis player accomplished a number of things both on and off the court. As a Civil Rights leader, Ashe traveled to South Africa to fight for racial integration and was heavily involved in politics. But his reign as a tennis pro came to an end in 1993 when he tragically died from a disease that has taken the lives of millions of people across the world, AIDS. Ashe reportedly got the disease from a blood transfusion that he underwent during heart surgery.

African Americans still hold high rankings in the tennis category thanks to the dynamic sister duo of Venus and Serena Williams, who continue to break long standing records each year. It is heart warming to see Serena and Venus do their thing but it would be even more wonderful to see another brother pick up where Mr. Ashe left off.

Tennis is one thing. But how well do Black men fair in the water?

Swimmer Anthony Ervin seems to handle the water just fine as he became the first male of African American descent to make the USA Olympic Swimming Team. As a member, he received a gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle. He also was on the silver medal winning men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay. Ervin further set the tone for other Black male swimmers with Cullen Jones becoming the second African American man to do that.

Thought brothers had a fear of the pool? Yet another myth has been busted.

Speed skater Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual Winter Games sport (1,000 m) and was the first to defend his title in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Davis’ win was the most notable achievement of an African American male in the Winter Olympics since the Jamaican Bobsled team. Since his win, he has appeared on the cover of magazines, gone on several interviews and changed the face of Winter Olympics for years to come. Throw Tiger Woods in the mix also as he has single handedly taken over the game of golf period, despite his personal issues off the green.

So as you can see, our brothers are very talented in more areas than they are often given credit for. Yes, it is a known fact that Black men are in a league of their own when it comes to basketball, football and track. Their natural speed, quickness and the ability to grasp the fundamentals behind playing these sports allows them to do so with perfection. But why must they be limited to just these sports? It’s obvious that they can be great in other areas so why not encourage them to do so?

The years of the Black man as just the ball player or the track star are long gone.

Are basketball, football and track the only sports that African American men excel in?

Judging from these men, that is definitely a myth that I am glad to see proven false.

Arch rivals UNC Tarheels and Duke Blue Devils go head to head…But exactly how close will the game be?

By: Taren Vaughan

When you talk about college basketball match-ups, or any college sports match-ups period, the meetings between the Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Duke University Blue Devils, you are mentioning some of the most anticipated games in the history of the sport itself. And they are the ones that grab the attention of millions of fans every year. You could think of it as the Super Bowl of college basketball. Just that much hype is centered on these two clubs going in on each other on the court.

Not convinced at the seriousness of this game?

Put a Duke fan and a Carolina fan in the same room together while this game is on and see how well that turns out.

When I say this game between these two squads is intense beyond measure, I’m not even talking about the players. The fans for both teams can get quite rowdy themselves, shouting a few choice words here and there and let’s not forget those “welcoming” signs that they like to hold up in the stands, giving the opposing team a solid reminder as to how much they hate them. Think hate is too strong of a word to use? Not at all when it comes to the Battle of Blues.

So who is going to be the victor in this first meeting?

Since the start of the season, both teams have gone through their shaky moments. Duke’s star freshman Kyrie Irving suffered a severe toe injury, taking him out of the starting line up for potentially the reminder of the season. Sounds like a familiar story line that the Tar Heels faced back when the team’s former point guard Ty Lawson hurt his toe, by far the most talked about toe on any college athlete that season. As losing Irving was a tough break for Duke, they still managed to remain in good position as far as NCAA ranking is concerned.

The Heels don’t have any toe troubles to worry about this year. But they did however lose a player from their roster barely a week ago. Junior point guard Larry Drew II bid his farewell to Tar Heel Nation as he left the team. Whether his decision to leave was based on letting his ego get the best of him or if it was family driven is something that will always be questioned. Leaving in the middle of a season though? Couldn’t he have at least waited until Thursday?

With or without him, after coming off a 20 point win over Florida State and an outstanding performance from Kendall Marshall, who had 16 assists in the game this past Sunday, they proved themselves to be true competition.

With all that being said, whose it going to be folks?

Will the Heels emerge victorious in the sweat box also known as Cameron Indoor Stadium? Or will the Blue Devils give them a solid reminder of whose house they are playing in?

You better believe those “Cameron Crazies” are armed and dangerous and ready to stifle this young Carolina squad in any way possible, with new starting freshman point guard Kendall Marshall as their lead man.

The Plumlee brothers battlin’ Zeller and Henson in the paint, Nolan Smith trying to expose Kendall Marshall for the youngster that he is and of course the wild and crazy fans that will be bouncin’ up and down and screaming every minute of the game. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Who takes Game 1? Better yet, how close will it be? A pure blow out or too close to call? Time will tell who is going to come out on top…9:00pm to be exact.