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LOVE-LOVE-LOVE: HE AIN’T HEAVY HE IS MY BROTHER!
By Bernard A. Chavis

John McEnroe deserves kudos for making a very
bold step to revive American tennis. He
recently opened an $18 million dollar 20 court
tennis facility on Randall’s Island in New York.
The most successful player in US Davis Cup
history was always ready and willing to
represent his country in Davis Cup play, when
others looked the other way.
The passion he displayed on the tennis courts is
matched by his commitment to bring the US back
to its rightful place of prominence in this
sport for a life time. His passion for this
country and tennis is unquestionable. Unlike
many who talk a good game and do nothing McEnroe
has put his money where his mouth is.
I share his long standing frustration to get the
USTA, (the governing body of tennis in the
United States by an act of congress) to
construct and put into effect a well thought out
and systematic agenda to bring the United States
back into the forefront and develop the next
generation of players to carry on the great
tradition of American tennis.
With the exception of Venus and Serena Williams
and perhaps Andy Roddick and James Blake the US
program has fallen on hard times. Where are the
current likes of the caliber of past top players
such as Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier,
Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe. There is no
question that the USTA has the resources and
money for this.
When I last checked Donald Young a 21 year old
African American who had a sensational junior
tennis record has been relegated to playing on
the pro satellite tour. What ever happened to
Lavar Harper Griffith who would now be another
African American player who just a few years ago
showed promise? When I last checked he had been
relegated to being a practice player of the US
Davis Cup team!
It will be interesting to see if the USTA will
find a way to partner with John McEnroe on this
project. His younger brother Patrick is the
USTA’s General Manager of Player Development. A
very interesting situation, John is the
outspoken innovator and Patrick is the company
man.
In issue the Sports Illustrated (May 31, 2010)
John was asked if he hoped to work with Patrick
he said, “He hasn’t called to congratulate me.
I don’t know what that means.”
The USTA has an annual operating budget
exceeding $200 million and top notch training
facilities it should be a no brainer. Enter
internal politics and unwise financial deals and
you may have hit on the problem. An article in
the New York Times newspaper (Nov. 24, 2009)
revealed that the USTA paid former Chief
Executive of Professional Tennis, Arlen
Kantarian more that $9 million in 2008.
The USTA Player Development program has
undergone many transformations over the years
while having very little to show for players
developed and money spent.
A few years ago as National President of the
American Tennis Association I had the
opportunity of being a member the USTA Plan for
Growth Steering Committee.
The organization had committed to spending $35
million to grow the game. I was the only African
American on the committee of about 18 that
included tennis legend Billie Jean King. I
offered that the growth of the game lays in the
urban inner city areas of the country. This is
where the majority of the population lives. My
comments were ignored. This remains true today.
This is not racket or rocket science.
Maybe this is the problem with the USTA
hierarchy this makes to much sense. Let’s hope
that the current situation and John McEnroe’s
bold initiative wakes up the establishment and
Patrick McEnroe remembers who he is and where he
came from.
Bernard A. Chavis, Author
The Games of Tennis, An African American Journey
LeBron James Better Than Michael Jordan? I Don’t
Think So?

I want to be as fair as I can
to LeBron James. He came into the NBA as
arguably the most hyped and talked about high
school athlete of all time. He did not
pronounce himself “King James.” The media put
that crown on his head and for the most part
this young man has worn it well exceeding almost
every expectation.
Looking back there were signs
of intoxication. James chose to wear the No. 23
jersey. Now I understand that move was to pay
homage to Michael Jordan, however, that only
serves to fuel the conversation that LeBron
James is declaring himself the next Michael
Jordan.
In terms of his off the court
business moves, LeBron is coming close to being
a global icon, some would say he has achieved
that goal.
I am here to tell you any
argument or comparison of LeBron James to
Michael Jordan needs to STOP right now. After
the last two seasons of being knocked out of the
playoffs, and particularly the way the Cleveland
Cavaliers were bounced from the NBA semifinals
earlier this week, there is nothing to talk
about.
LeBron and the Cavaliers quit
in the fourth quarter of their last two games.
Their last performance was worse than choking in
my view. When you choke you’re at least trying.
LeBron James is a great
player—throughout the regular season. At this
point in his career, LeBron James has morphed
into an Avatar built for ESPN and other sports
stations highlight reels.
Comparing LeBron James to
Michael Jordon is cruel and not fair to LeBron.
In fact, it’s probably a borderline call to
compare LeBron James to Kobe Bryant. Jordan and
Kobe never quit.

This is not to
say that years from now, when LeBron’s playing
days are over that he won’t eclipse both Michael
Jordan and Kobe Bryant, but from what I can see,
it’s simply unfair to do that now.
Michael Jordan has six
championship rings. Kobe Bryant has four
championship rings. LeBron James has none. At
this stage of his career the only measuring
stick for LeBron James is championship rings.
So the question in my mind is this: “Can LeBron
James win a championship in Cleveland, Ohio?”
The Cleveland Cavaliers team
have tried to surround LeBron with a cast of
players but this efforts have fallen short. I
think it’s time for LeBron to move on to another
city and get motivated with the only challenge
that cements him from true greatness—a NBA
championship.
I don’t want to hear any
comparisons of LeBron James to Michael Jordan,
Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson or any other great
player until LeBron wins a championship.
Outside of that STFU!
Let’s just wait until LeBron's
career is over and then we can accurately
reflect on his entire body of work and then
discuss his place in NBA history.
Gary A. Johnson is the
Founder & Publisher of
Black Men In America.com a popular
online magazine on the Internet and the
Black Men In America.com Blog. Gary is
also the author of the new book
“25 Things That Really Matter In
Life.”
Hopkins and Jones, Jr.: A Senior Moment At The Fights!
By Harold Bell

When I was a
youngster growing up in Washington, DC there
was an over the counter bottle of pick-me-up
medicine called Geritol. It was designed for
men and women in the twilight years of their
lives. Geritol was thought by those who were
40 and over if they took a couple of spoons
it would make them the
Energizer Bunny in the
bedroom. Geritol was the Viagra in the 60s
and 70s.
I was at
ringside when Bernard Hopkins faced
off with Roy Jones, Jr. at RFK
Stadium on May 22, 1993 in Washington,
DC. The two soon to be boxing legends fought
for the vacant IBF Middleweight title.
The stadium
seated 49,000 and there were less than 5,000
fans on hand for a forgettable performance
by both fighters.
Roy was
awarded a unanimous decision but from my
seat at ringside the judges could have
easily made the same decision and given it
to Bernard. I would not have blinked. It was
definitely not a fight to rival Marvin
Hagler and Thomas Hearns. I had seen
better fights at the Girls & Boys Clubs
located in walking distant of RFK Stadium.
It is hard
to believe that these two great fighters let
their egos, politics; unscrupulous promoters
and being
“The Man” cheat fight fans
out of a rivalry for the ages. Seventeen
years later their entourage is now made up
of paramedics from any nearby hospital in
the city of the fight. Arthur aka arthritis
is a constant companion that follows them
from their bedroom to the ring. Dementia and
Alzheimer’s disease is lurking around for
the next weight-in.
If Geritol
was still on the market Roy and Bernard
would be the perfect spokespersons for that
product. Bernard is closer to 50 than 40
and Roy is only a few years younger.
I am really
at a loss trying to figure out who would pay
to see these two
“Geritol Warriors”
from back in the day. It is too bad “Ol’
Blue Eyes” Frank Sinatra is not here to
sing the National Anthem; he would be 95
years old this year and he would feel right
at home at the fight.
If the
Commissioner finds ticket sales a little
slow they could lure boxing fans by offering
the first 5,000 arriving in wheelchairs free
admission. The fight game is in critical
condition if this is its biggest attraction
in 2010.
The fight in
DC left Bernard with some bitter memories it
was his first big payday. On paper his share
of the purse was to be $700,000. The thieves
in his entourage took theirs off the top and
after taxes he received $50,000. In 1993
Bernard, “Was
not as smart as a fifth grader.”
This was one
shortfall he could not blame on Don King. The
truth would come out in Federal Court—it was
there he learned that Don was not the only
unscrupulous promoter lurking in the corners
of boxing rings.
It rained
all day on May 22, 1993 and the bad weather
was partly responsible for the poor turnout
and you can add the worst boxing promoter in
DC boxing history, Cora Masters Barry. She
would later be convicted of stealing from
the commission. Cora’s boxing hero—Don King.
I had the
opportunity to watch Bernard up close and
personal since 1993 without the pom-poms. In
199,5 he returned to Washington, DC to fight
Segundo Mercado in a return match at
the Capitol Centre in Landover,
Maryland. The first fight was held in
Mercado’s hometown of Quinto in
Ecuador. Mercado knocked Bernard down twice
in that fight but he picked himself up off
the canvas to rally and held on for a draw.
This fight
marked the only time in Bernard’s career he
had been knocked off of his feet. The IBF
scheduled a rematch in Landover, Maryland at
the Capitol Centre. Bernard would win his
first world title with a seventh-round
technical knockout over Mercado. In November
1997 he returned to the DC area to out box
Andrew Council in 12 rounds to retain his
IBF middleweight title in Upper Marlboro,
Maryland.
Bernard
Hopkins has been a nightmare for homegrown
DC boxers. His nickname
“The Executioner,” is a
familiar name to several boxers from the
area. He clearly executed their careers in
the ring. They thought their
do-do didn’t stink. The
names include Andrew Council, William
Joppy, Simon Brown and Keith Holmes.
Bernard Hopkins
has been a true ring warrior. He has
defended his title 20 times in the past two
decades. This makes him truly
“The Iron Man” of boxing. I
find it difficult to believe that Bernard
would ever duck anyone who wanted to fight
him (in or out of the ring). There are some
brothers you can take out of the ghetto but
you can’t take the ghetto out of them and
Bernard is one of them.
In the
meantime, Roy Jones, Jr., has been
called the best all-around pound for pound
fighter ever. In my humble opinion Roy was
nobody’s Sugar Ray Robinson, but his
accomplishments are not to be overlooked.
In Roy’s
first title defense he defeated Steve
Frank, whom he stopped in 24 seconds of
the first round. By the end of 2000, he had
defended his IBF title 12 times without a
loss.
He is one of
the most unique champions of all time. Roy
was a decent basketball player and played
for pay while still boxing. When he fought
Eric Lucas a future world champion,
he became the first athlete to participate
in a paid basketball game and a boxing event
on the same day. In Jacksonville, Florida he
played a game in the morning and defended
his title that same evening.
Roy the
showman never missed a trick or opportunity
to be different. He held a press conference
in the ring just before he fought Bryant
Brannon. He started the press conference
by taking questions while sitting in his own
chair in the middle of the ring. He then
defeated Brannon in two rounds on a TKO.
He topped
that by having a group of dancers the famous
“New York City Rockettes”
lead him into the ring before a championship
fight. Roy is also a rap recording
artist. In 2001, he released
Round One: The Album on CD.
During this
time in his career, Roy was considered one
of boxing's top four
"pound for pound"
fighters. In November of 1994 he met IBF
super middleweight champion, the undefeated
James Toney, the No. 1 ranked member
of the
"pound for pound"
contenders. They met in Las Vegas— Roy was
on the top of his game when he dropped Toney
in round three. He secured an easy unanimous
decision to win the IBF super middleweight
title. He then moved to the top of the
pound for pound ladder in
boxing.
I think his
most remarkable ring accomplishment was
moving up the ranks from middleweight to the
heavyweight division.
On March 1,
2003, in Las Vegas, Roy defeated John
Ruiz with a 12-round unanimous decision
for the WBA heavyweight championship. Roy
weighed in at 193 pounds and Ruiz at 226
pounds. Roy became the first former
middleweight title holder to win a
heavyweight title in 106 years. He also
became the second man in history to advance
from the Middleweight to the Heavyweight
Championship. Roy is the first fighter to
start his career as a junior middleweight
and win a heavyweight title.
He proved he
“was smarter then a 5th grader.” He
knew going into the fight that Ruiz was a
bum and had no chance of beating him. After
the fight, Roy decided to keep campaigning
as a light heavyweight. He eventually gave
up the WBA heavyweight title without ever
defending it. This move made Roy the first
heavyweight champion since Rocky Marciano to
retire undefeated.
The two
legends have one thing in common they both
march to their own drum beat and their
careers have not been without controversy.
Bernard is
an ex-convict who went from the
“Outhouse to the Penthouse”
in the world of boxing. He owes much of his
success to his loyal friend and boxing
trainer Bowie Fisher. Bowie was
looking out for Bernard when he could not
lookout for himself.
I was up
close and personal when Sugar Ray Leonard
kicked his long time trainer Dave Jacobs
to the curb over money, but I was in a
position to convince Ray to re-hire
Jacobs. Dave Jacobs could not carry Bowie’s
jock strap as a trainer and fight technician
but Bowie didn’t have anyone to plea his
dismissal.
Success and
new money has its drawbacks in the black
community. Loyalty is a word that is only
whispered among former associates and
friends in the inner-city. You would think
that most successful black athletes had
money before they ever met the goose who
laid the golden egg (Boxing, NBA, NFL and
MLB). Meet Bernard Hopkins.
When Bowie
Fisher asked for his fair share Bernard told
him
“Hit the road Jack and don’t look back.”
Bernard then
turns around and makes a deal with the
“Devil” to promote his
fights, the notorious Don King. He
knew going in that Don had been accused by
almost every fighter he has represented for
theft. Don King Productions, Inc. had
become so familiar in Federal Courts of
America he was allowed to enter the
courthouses without going through the metal
detectors. Bernard is more like Don King
than he cares to think.
The
relationship eventually soured as many
thought it would. During that period I would
see Bernard and I would ask him why Don
King Productions, Inc? His response,
“It is just a matter of time and I am out of
here.”
During the
promotion for the Felix Trinidad
fight there was more controversy when he
threw the Puerto Rican flag on the floor in
press conferences in New York and Puerto
Rico. In Puerto Rico he had to run for his
life to avoid a good ass whipping from an
angry mob. Bernard caused more controversy
when he bet $1,000,000 on himself to win the
bout.
The New York
City showdown would unify the middleweight
division. The fight was a classic Bernard
Hopkins Clinic. I didn’t have Trinidad
winning a round when the fight was stopped
in the 12th round.
It was now
Don King time. When the decision was
announced in the ring Bernard said,
“Goodbye Don King.”
The victory
over Trinidad made Bernard the first
undisputed Middleweight Champion of the
world since Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1987.
Controversy has been no stranger to Roy
Jones, Jr. For example in 2004 after
beating James Toney a man called the
best pound for pound fighter in the world,
Jones celebrated his win in Nassau, Bahamas
by being arrested for being armed and
dangerous at the airport. His three fights
with Antonio Tarver left a lot of
questions. Tarver took two out of three and
Roy still declared he was the best in the
world.
Roy returned
to HBO to continue his role as an analyst
for its World Championship Boxing series. He
called the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs.
Shamba Mitchell mismatch and the
Jermain Taylor vs. Bernard Hopkins
rematch on December 3, 2005. His return to
the network was short lived; he was fired
from his ringside analyst role in January
2006. HBO cited his reported lack of
commitment to attending the network’s
production meetings. He probably forgot
about the meetings.
Don’t be
surprised if Bernard and Roy both are
no-shows. It is possible they can have a
senior moment and forget they are supposed
to fight.
About
the Author
Harold
Bell, is a sixth generation Washingtonian.
He is a pioneer in radio and television
sports talk shows. His work with at-risk
children in the streets of DC is legendary.
You can learn more about Harold Bell by
visiting his official web site:
http://www.hbsportslegends.com

Playing the Race Card When the Deck is Stacked
With Jokers!
By Harold Bell
As a black man in America I don’t blame all
whites for the racist environment that we now
live in. Racism will be here as long as there
are different colors of people. The only
solution to the problem is to make everybody one
color, even then people would find something to
dislike another person for whether it be for
being, too short, too tall, too fat, too thin,
blue eyes vs. brown eyes, etc.
Evidently, there is a gene that most if all of
us are born with that makes each individual a
competitor. This can be a dangerous gene in a
world where the only color that really counts is
GREEN--a dollar bill is King.
My lesson in racial tolerance came about because
of the white faces and mentors I encountered
early in life such as; President Richard M.
Nixon, Red Auerbach, Angelo Dundee, Hymie Perlo
and Jimmy Connors. They all played roles
in my early mental development as a black man
and sports talk show host (Inside Sports).
They helped shape my thinking along the divided
racial lines in America. Thanks to their
influence I closed out my sports talk show with
a phrase I coined “Every black face I saw was
not my brother and every white face I saw was
not my enemy.” It was a tough lesson but it is
a lesson that I have never forgotten.
There were times some white friends and
associates would become too comfortable and
words would slip out, but I understood. There
are times some whites don’t know when they are
being racist (Jimmy The Greek, Howard Cosell).
For example; former Boston Celtics Sam Jones,
Jim “Bad News” Barnes and I were riding
around town one summer day making pop calls and
found ourselves on Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest
DC. We were in the neighborhood of Celtic coach
Red Auerbach and we decided to make a
surprise call on him.
Red and his wife Dotie (class act) lived in a
gated community and you had to go through a
security check point to get to their condo. I
was a familiar face to the guard so he waved us
on through. The security desk called up and
announced us and we caught the elevator up to
the apartment.
Dotie was standing in the door waiting for us.
She invited us in and told us Red was out at
Woodmount Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland
playing cards. She was having lunch and asked
her assistant to fix sandwiches for us, but we
said no thank you.
We had time on our hands and decided to ride out
to Woodmount and surprise Red. Not a very
bright idea!
The attendant ushered us into the clubhouse
where Red was seated at a card table with
several other members. He looked up and spotted
us and muttered “Damn I can’t get away from you
nigg—and he never completed the word. He kept
on playing like nothing had happen and we made
like we never heard anything. We stayed for
lunch and had a great time.
On the ride back to town Sam, Bad News and I
laughed about the almost choice of words by
Red. We realized we had invaded his space and
he temporarily lost it. We crossed off the slip
of tongue as being human. Sam remembered how
Red had admonished Bill Russell in
practice for using the N-word.
White folks have never been black so how could
they know when they are being racist? And they
don’t have a copyright on racism. I know some
blacks who are “off the hook” and are some of
the biggest racist in their own community, light
vs. dark skin and African vs. American blacks.
In one a recent response I said “Bleacher Report
would be a great vehicle to discuss race in
sports.” We can run but we can’t hide.
This brings to mind a column written by
Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon.
NFL Hall of Fame player Bruce Smith
before ending his career in Washington was
complaining about racism in the city of Buffalo
,home of the Buffalo Bills. Despite his status
as one of the NFL’s best players he often felt
the sting of racism in the city and he wanted
out.
In his column, Wilbon quoted me saying on
Inside Sports “Harold Bell said trying
to outrun racism in America is like trying to
outrun the Moon and Sun.” Nothing has
changed and it still holds true today.
Wilbon’s biggest problem is he likes to sit on
the fence and fall to one side or the other
depending on the topic (safe or risky). There
is never any consistency. He has mastered
saying nothing to offend unless it is safe.
For example; When Washington Wizard’s “Shooting
Star” Gilbert Arenas was being dragged
through the burning coals of public opinion, he
doubled team Gilbert with community activist
Rev. Al Sharpton trying to get him banished
from the league.
Gilbert’s choice to bring 4 guns into the
Wizard’s locker room was on the verge being
labeled, “Weapons of mass destruction.” His
show of weapons for whatever reason was
definitely not a ‘Kodak Moment’ for Gilbert or
the NBA.
I am still trying to figure out why Wilbon had
to solicit a comment from Rev. Sharpton. He is
a man of dubious character.
Rev. Sharpton has a
tarnished history of his own, his tongue is
anything but gold when it comes to the truth,
and “you don’t throw bricks when you live in a
glass house.” I found his advice to NBA
Commissioner David Stern to make an example
Gilbert was out of his league, have you heard
the latest “Shout Out” between Rev. Sharpton
and radio and television personality Tavis
Smiley? Gilbert Arenas take notes.
My question is where were Wilbon and Rev.
Sharpton on Martin Luther King’s birthday when
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg co-host of Mike &
Mike in the morning referred to Rev. King as
“Rev. Martin Luther Coon King?”
The Great Black Sports Writers a Bleacher Report
reader mentioned in a response to my last column
computers must have suddenly ran out of ink and
black talk show host microphones went eerily
silent. ESPN Talk show host, another dubious
character John Thompson led a brief
discussion but discovered he was out there by
himself and dropped the topic it like “Hot
Potatoes.”
Have we forgotten radio shock jock Don Imus
and his depiction of the Rutger’s women’s
basketball team? He was suspended for one year
for describing the black players as “Nappy
headed hoes.”
Rush Limbaugh was
kicked to the curb by NFL owners for speaking
ill of the skills of Donovan McNabb the
black quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Limbaugh was hoping to become a part owner and
member of one of the most exclusive “Good Old
Boys Clubs” in America--the NFL.
Wilbon’s partner on ESPN PTI Tony Kornheiser
was recently suspended for two weeks for making
fun of fellow ESPN Sportscaster Hanna Storm’s
clothing. Greenberg call Dr. King a COON, he
never apologized and he is still front and
center on ESPN radio and television!
Kornheiserer is overrated as a sportscaster and
was definitely in over his head on Monday Night
Football. Unlike Wilbon, he will take a stand
on something, and never sits on the fence
waiting to be pushed to one side or the other.
He is the more consistent of the two, which is
not saying much.
To show how wishy-washy Wilbon is on March 3,
2010, he wrote a blog titled, “Ovechkin needs to
be checked.” Alex Ovechkin is the face
of hockey in the Nation’s Capitol and has single
handedly turned the Capitol’s franchise around.
The signing of Ovechkin has made the Capitols a
contender for the Stanley Cup every year he has
been in the league and a Washington Capitol’s
ticket is the hottest ticket in town.
Wilbon points out that Canada’s Sidney Crosby
is a better and more accomplished player. He
cites that Crosby at 22 years old has already
won an Olympic Gold Medal, a world championship
and the Stanley Cup.
His beef with Ovie is that he is a bully because
he shoved a female fan’s camera in her face in
Vancouver and he broke the camera of a man
asking for an interview. Wilbon claims there is
video of each incident---So what!
Check out the next statement by Wilbon. He
says, “How this has gone largely undiscussed and
is nearly annoying as Ovechkin’s churlish
behavior.” Wilbon, you sound like the pot
calling the kettle black.
He even hints that Ovie is a dirty player when
he says “his opponents have wondered whether his
knee-on-knee hits are accidents. His own coach,
Bruce Boudreau, wondered this season whether his
star was out of control.” Wilbon even compares
Ovie with Gilbert Arenas when he said, “The
worst thing Ovechkin can have around town is too
many apologist. Look where it got Arenas.”
His next observation I had to read over three
times to make sure I was reading it correctly.
He says “Some how, Ovechkin’s lapses in judgment
(or disregard of civility) went largely
unnoticed. Ovechkin is damn lucky he’s not
black and playing basketball. My BRETHEN in the
national and local media would have put on their
Sunday church robes and preached him to death by
now. We’d have read about those thug basketball
players and such.” Come on Michael Wilbon keep
it real.
I cannot believe Wilbon played “The Race Card”
with Ovie and never got around to playing the
same card with ESPN’s Mike Greenberg.
His BRETHEN in national and local media? I hope
Wilbon is not talking about Michael Smith,
Kevin Blackistone, Jason Whitlock, Bill Rhoden,
Terrence Moore, and Stephen A. Smith.
I still have yet to read their columns on
Mike Greenberg referring to Dr. King as a
“COON.”
Wilbon’s colleague at the Washington Post Dan
Steinberg took issue with him on the same
day in his blog. Steinberg says, “I know this
does not belong in the sports section, but hey
it was this or a rant against my colleague
Michael Wilbon for writing that ‘Crosby is so
far ahead of Ovechkin right now Ovie would need
a telescope to see him.” Steinberg reminds
Wilbon that it was less then a month ago that
Wilbon dubbed Ovechkin ‘The Best Player in the
NHL.’ How wishy-washy can one columnist get?
Washington Post Columnist Mike Wise
disagreed with Wilbon on his column written
about what led up to the death of Redskin player
Sean Taylor. Much like Tiger Woods,
Wilbon ain’t listening to nobody either.
In 2008, Michael Wilbon had a heart
attack. I e-mailed him a note wishing him a
speedy recovery and told him I was looking
forward to seeing him back on the sports
landscape real soon. I also advised him to slow
down and stop trying to be a know it all and
every man. I also said “You might find this
e-mail hard to believe since I disagree with
some of your observations in the world of
sports, it is nothing personal.” This was his
response,
“Harold, I don't find it difficult to believe at
all...I know you take shots at me all the
time...I also remember the guy who when I was
new and didn't know didly who sat me down and
talked to me and had me on his radio show and
taught me who the good guys were among the local
high school coaches...I remember all of that...I
don't understand why you take it personally when
people disagree...people are supposed to be able
to disagree and still get along...But I don't
ever forget you and your wife Hattie reached out
to me when I was 22 years old and didn't know
anything and anybody...Just because I disagree
with you doesn't mean it undoes all the other
stuff...I appreciated you reaching out then and
even more now...Thanks”...MW
Michael’s response saddens me. In the 30 plus
years I have known him he has never written, or
verbally discussed his displeasure with me
disagreeing with some of his columns. I
understand that I am fair game for criticism
when I put my written thoughts in the public
domain, from friend or foe.
When he writes a great column I make sure he
knows how much I enjoyed reading it. When we
encounter each other on the streets of DC or in
a pressroom he smiles and makes small talk about
his latest book with Charles Barkley, his
$1500 suit or asks about my wife Hattie.
Michael, a LIE will change a thousand
times----the TRUTH never changes. “The Race
Card” is not an option or a crutch to use when
you are trying to cover-up BS. It is time for
you to MAN up!

HISTORY DENIED IN BLACK AND WHITE!
By Harold Bell
He grew up in the cotton fields of Mississippi
where his mother earned two-dollars a day
picking cotton. He would leave those cotton
fields for the city of Detroit and leave behind
the mental and physical chains of slavery.
Spencer Haywood
left those cotton fields for the playgrounds and
high school basketball courts in Motown.
Instead of picking cotton he made a career out
of picking rebounds off the backboards and
scoring baskets at record rates.
His high school basketball performances earned
him a scholarship to Trinidad College where he
averaged 28 points and 22 rebounds a game for
one season. He returned home to play at the
University of Detroit and averaged an eye
popping 32 points and 22 rebounds.
Trinidad and the University of Detroit were just
warm up stops on his basketball journey. He
would be only 18 years old in 1968 when he led
the United States Olympic team to the gold medal
in Mexico City. This was the same year
sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos
made their historical statement against racial
segregation in America. During the
presentations of medals they silently raised
their black fisted signature gloves in protest.
The protest was heard around the world.
George Foreman
followed their act of defiance by waving the
American flag in the ring after winning a Gold
Medal in boxing. Those were three unforgettable
moments and one moment Spencer would later
say “I would rather forget. Tommie and John
were putting their futures in jeopardy and were
banished from the Olympic Village for their
defiant act. If you were black and you were not
going to support them, it was best you kept it
to yourself.”
Instead of returning to the University of
Detroit Spencer joined the newly organized American Basketball Association
(ABA).
In Denver he immediately became the face of the
new league when he averaged 30 points and 19
rebounds a game. He was named
the league's
Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year.
Despite his basketball glory and bright lights
and big cities, Spencer never forgot the cotton
fields in his native Mississippi. He remembered
the long hours his mother labored in those
fields picking cotton for pennies on a dollar.
His choice to leave college was easy, turning
pro he would be able to make those cotton fields
just a bad memory.
In 1970 with the support and encouragement of
his mentor and high school coach Will
Robinson, he decided to challenge the NBA’s
volunteer slavery rule, “No college no play.”
The challenge would be a very lonely journey and
sometimes it was hard to tell whether his new
NBA Seattle Supersonic teammates were playing with him or
against him. The one man he knew was in his
corner was team owner Sam Schulman.
Schulman was the NBA’s Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavs)
long before Cuban.
He marched to his own drummer; while Spencer was
suing the NBA for trying to bar him, Schulman
was suing the league for violating anti-trust
laws. If those were not enough headaches for
Spencer, the University of Detroit and the ABA
was suing him for leaving school early and
breach of contract respectively.
Those were difficult times for a young man who
had not yet celebrated his 21st
birthday. There were times when he was served
with injunctions just before the tip-off of a
game and banished from the arena. He slept in
cars and in the team bus waiting for the game to
end. The injunctions became a guessing game.
It was hard to tell where and when the next
injunction would be served.
Spencer played in only 33 games in the 1970-71
NBA season, starting, stopping and starting
again with each temporary injunction.
The Supreme Court, the highest court in the
land, ruled in his favor and he later became “Public Enemy No. 1” in the NBA.
He had to grow up early and he became a
“Man
Child” before his time. There will be 24
players playing in the NBA All-Star Game in
Dallas, Texas in 2010, 21 of the All-Stars came
into the NBA and became instant millionaires
thanks to Spencer’s kicking down the door to
free agency.
He blazed the path for the likes of
Moses
Malone, Darryl Dawkins, Kobe Bryant, Kevin
Garnett, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Chris
Bosh, Dywane Wade and Kwame Brown.
There are too many of them who don’t have a clue
to who Spencer is as he relates to them and the
NBA.
They don’t know, thanks to the NBA and brothers
in so-called major media who refuse to take a
stand and have fallen for just anything as it
relates to Black History. It looks like
most of them (media) have been brainwashed by
the NBA and have followed their lead in
pretending Spencer Haywood is just a figment of
their imagination. For proof, do a Google
search for “NBA History: African-American
Influence and Breaking Down Barriers.”
Spencer Haywood’s name is nowhere to be
found. The sad part of this puzzle is that no
one in the media has asked the question why?
Spencer’s groundbreaking accomplishment was more
important than Earl Lloyd becoming the first
black to play in an NBA game or Red Auerbach
playing five black players for the first time.
Free agency impacted every NBA player black and
white.
Earl Lloyd
was denied his rightful place in NBA History for
50 years until I asked NBA legendary coach the
late Red Auerbach to join me in a
campaign to get him inducted into the hall of
fame. Earl was finally inducted in 2002. NFL
Green Bay Packer legendary safety Willie Wood
was also ignored for decades. He stood by and
watched as his teammates were voted into the
hall of fame one by one. He was left on the
sidelines and reduced to a cheerleader. In 1985
I started an “Induct Willie Wood”
campaign on my sports talk show ‘Inside
Sports,’ and he was inducted in 1988.
Boston Celtic coach and benefactor,
Doc
Rivers was recently quoted as saying, “For
the most part, Spencer has just been taken for
granted by many of us. But what he did was huge
for everyone. We should all be thanking him.''
After the court ruled in Spencer’s favor he
continued to play heads and shoulders above the
rim.
In 1972 and 1973, he was on the All-NBA first
team and became a chartered member of the
All-Star game. During that era he was one of
the five best players in the league.
I met
Spencer Haywood shortly after his
arrival in the “Big Apple” New York
City. I was introduced to Spencer by CBS and
NBA color analyst Sonny Hill. Spencer
would later become a regular on my sports talk
show ‘Inside Sports.’ Sonny Hill
played an important role in my success as a talk
radio personality.
The trade to the New York Knicks took Spencer
over the top when it came to the fast life and
drugs. He took the Big Apple by storm and made
all the rich and famous parties driving a Rolls
Royce and with his wife, Iman, one of the
world’s top fashion models on his arm. Frank
Sinatra once said in a song, “New York, New
York if you can make it here you can make it
anywhere.” Spencer Haywood had made it!

Bighouse Gaines, Spencer Haywood and Harold Bell
and UM Coach Gary Williams (Far
right)
When Spencer was at the top of his game as a NBA
“Power Forward” he was one of the best.
There were several other players who I thought
was his equal, Gus Johnson of the
Washington Bullets and George McGinnis of
the Philadelphia 76ers. They also put the
POWER into the forward position. They had
the finesse of ballet dancers with a
linebacker’s mentally. When they met head to
head it was pro basketball at its best. I would
take anyone of these guys and match them with
any similar Power Forwards in the NBA’s
50 Greatest (Barkley, DeBusschere, Lucas).
I would bet Spencer, George and Gus would win.
Spencer’s love affair with the Knicks was over
before he could say “Where is the next
party?” He suffered a knee injury and that
didn’t help his career. Spencer had more time
on his hands than NBA games and depression set
in and the drugs were breakfast, lunch and
dinner. In 1979 the Knicks shot an air ball to
the Los Angeles Lakers and traded him, it was
the beginning of his end.
Evidently, the Knicks thought, with the Lakers
Spencer would feel more at home. The Lakers
were known as Drug Central of the NBA. It was
said the best high in the NBA was found in the
Los Angeles Lakers locker room. He hit rock
bottom at the end of the 1979-80 season when the
team suspended him in the midst of the NBA
Finals because of his drug use. Spencer went to
sleep on the court while stretching.
The Lakers met the Philadelphia 76ers in game
six of the NBA Championship finals, and 6’9
rookie Magic Johnson started at Center in
the place of the injured Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
The Lakers defeated the 76ers and Magic scored
42 points, handed out 12 assist and pulled down
15 rebounds. Spencer never got to see the game
because he was high on drugs. The Lakers
released him. His next stop was Italy, France
for a year and he
then returned to the NBA to play with the
Washington Bullets from 1981 to 1983.
When his contract was up in 1983 I could tell
that Spencer had a lot on his mind and he still
had a mission to fulfill. One of the things we
talked about was him getting his ring from the
Lakers for the 1980 championship season. He was
voted a share of the money but never got his
ring. He was also concerned about his daughter
Zulekha now that he and his wife Iman
were having their problems. He seemed to be
more concerned about reclaiming his NBA name.
Spencer had a passion for children and had no
patience for politicians who used children only
as a sound bite. He was proud of being sober
from alcohol and drugs and the constant battle
it took to stay that way. I took him for his
word because he never did drugs or alcohol in my
presence. Spencer knew all the athletes and
sporting personalities who had drug problems in
DC. The celebrity drug community in every city
is a small and close knit group. The names he
gave me I already had because of my street
network. Some these same personalities are
still sitting on NBA benches and hiding behind
television microphones.
The great Power Forward I once enjoyed watching
was now just a shadow of himself, his greatness
seldom found its way on to the basketball court
at Capitol Centre. Despite his diminishing
skills he was still a great human being and a
joy to be around. He always kept it real.
He cared little about material things. I
remember when he was leaving town for over a
week on a road trip with the team. He wanted to
leave his Rolls Royce with me to have it
serviced while he was gone. Hattie my wife
almost had a fit and refused to allow me to keep
his car. I called Spencer and told him the bad
news about her being worried about me having an
accident. He then asked me to put her on the
telephone. I gave Hattie the telephone and two
minutes later she was saying “Okay.”
I don’t know what he said, but Spencer had away
with words. She later told me he said “Hattie I have insurance and Harold has a
license, what’s the problem?”
I was disappointed when I read the story by
Tim Povtak senior NBA writer for the blog
FANHOUSE how the NBA had pimp him and
brought him to his knees while he tried to
re-claim his name.
The story said that Spencer had tried to lobby
the league for several years to name the NBA
entry rule after him, like the Supreme Court
that still bears his name, but that effort
wilted.
I appreciate the writer
Povtak being
diplomatic and using the word “Lobby”
instead of begging, because that is
exactly what it sounded like to me.
According to
Povtak, the rule has been
altered a few times through the collective
bargaining agreement with the union, yet the
premise has remained the same. Thanks to
NBA
Union Representative Billy Hunter if it
ain’t about him you can count yourself out.
The Billy Hunter that I know is not
going to stand up for anyone but himself. He
sold Spencer out to the NBA.
Povtak
goes on to say “It took the league years to
gradually warm to Haywood after what he had
done. He has been sober now for 24 years. He
has spent the last 15 years as a league
ambassador, traveling the world to promote the
NBA. He served as a board member for the NBA
Retired Players Association. He speaks often to
young players about the pitfalls that once
swallowed him.” It sounds like the NBA made
him do community service to re-claim his name
and they are now throwing him a bone during NBA
All-Star weekend.
I am going to address the first sentence in the
paragraph above, “It took the league years to
warm up to Haywood after what he had done!”
What had he done? I am reading between the
lines that what Spencer had done was drugs and
he fought the system that wanted to keep him
from earning a living playing professional
basketball. Were the crimes he committed,
crimes enforced across the board?
If the NBA is punishing Spencer for doing drugs
and if drugs are the issue then the NBA Hall of
Fame should be half empty.
I would hope the NBA is not punishing him for
standing up for his civil rights against their
bias rule on free agency. If that is the case
according to the ruling handed down by the
Supreme Court they were the problem and not Spencer Haywood.
But there is a problem that is Spencer’s and his
alone. When I read he said "I have two
daughters who play basketball, but even they
don't know who I am in regard to what I did
once, there were times when I was beaten down so
badly, I felt almost ashamed of what I did.”
That was not the Spencer Haywood the proud
black man that inspired me to keep telling the
truth, keep my head up and stay strong!
First, Spencer, have you heard of
Home
Schooling? Who can teach your children
about your history better than you? Your
children are your legacy and you and only you
must make sure they are armed with the real
story as it relates to you.
Our history is being stolen, ignored and others
have used it for their own financial gain for
over 400 years, for example; “Inside Sports”
was a title my wife Hattie thought of in 1973
for my new radio sports talk show. John
Walsh a writer for the Style section
of the Washington Post decided in 1978 to take
our title to New York City and discover Inside Sports Magazine. He followed the
same pattern of Christopher Columbus when he
discovered America with native Indians already
occupying the land.
This was my fault I should have trademarked the
name as I was advised from the very beginning.
I made it easy for him. Guess who owns the
trade mark to Inside Sports, how about News
Week Magazine and the Washington Post
newspaper? When I changed my show title to
The Original Inside Sports, Walsh changed
the magazine’s title to The Original Inside
Sports Magazine! Walsh left a paper trail
that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could
follow (http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Walsh_John.htm).
It is too bad it was not murder he committed in
America what he did is called “White Collar
Crime,” people like Walsh don’t have
original ideas of their own so they take from
others.
Spencer, you had a front row seat as the NBA and
Billy Hunter proved they could care less
about your pioneering efforts. There will be
black brothers in media who will congratulate
you on your pioneering efforts at NBA All-Star
weekend. The faces will look familiar so ask
them “where have you been for the past 24
years?” See if Billy Hunter can look
you in your eyes and say “Spencer I tried.”
Keep it real!
Our history will be overlooked and made out to
be a joke if we don’t take charge, for example;
Mike & Mike celebrated Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King’s birthday recently on their morning
show heard and seen on ESPN nationally. Mike
Greenberg in a discussion about Rev. King
called him out of his name when he referred to
him as “Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Coon
King, Jr.” The silence from blacks heard,
seen and read at media outlets like PTI,
FANHOUSE, AROUND THE HORN, WASHINGTON POST and USA TODAY
was deafening. Not a
protested word was heard or read!
Boxing promoter
Don King says “Racism
is the biggest business in the world.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB8aUCvjUnY).
Spencer, if we don’t keep our own history it
won’t be kept. Most will celebrate Black
History Month the same way NBC television tried
to do in New York City. The cafeteria’s black
chef made up a menu of fried chicken, collar
greens, potato salad, chitlings, yams and
cornbread and a drink of choice (no desert,
watermelon was out of season). The menu title
“Black History Month Menu All You Can Eat.”
What happen to food for thought with names on
the menu like, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey,
Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, William
DuBoise, Paul Roberson and the list goes on
and on?
In 1993,
Jill Nelson penned a book titled
“Volunteer Slavery” as it related to
black writers and employees of the Washington
Post newspaper. According, to her book when she
joined the Washington Post in 1986 she became a
Volunteer Slave. Jill and Spencer have
something in common, twenty-four years later
little or nothing has changed.
In all honesty and fairness we cannot continue
to lay all the blame of racism at the doorstep
of the NBA and the Washington Post. We (Blacks)
must take some responsible for not being able to
see the forest for the trees!
Check and see who owns and calls the shots at
BET, Essence Magazine, Radio One and
TV
One. Ebony Magazine recently sold
their archives to the Internet giant Google.
This means in the future if we want information
about our history we are going to have to buy it
from Warner Brothers, Comcast and Google.
In 2010, forty-two years after the assassination
of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, I
have to ask myself why is it we have not
developed our own giants in media? Where are
our media outlets that can compare with or
challenge, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, CNN, USA
Today, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, Vanity Fair, etc?
Where are the voices in black media who we can
compare with or challenge Larry King, Bill
O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Russ Limbaugh, Howard
Stern, Diane Sawyer, Barbra Waters and Katie Couric?
The more things change the more they remain the
same. Mississippi and two-dollars a day are not
as far away as we think!
If you see my friend
Spencer give him this message from Smokey
Robinson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_KKyw8V-l0.

To
learn more about Spencer Haywood,
click here
to buy his book, "Spencer Haywood's The Rise,
The Fall, The Recovery."
You can read more articles by Harold Bell on
our "Talkback
Page."
 
He Came From Gouldtown . . .
To Become a Philadelphia
Star of the Negro Baseball Leagues
New Book Release: He Came from Gouldtown, by
Harold Gould with Bob Allen
Harold Gould was a right-handed pitcher who
played for the Gouldtown (a town named after a
family member) New Jersey baseball club from
1942 to 1946.
He went on to play
with the Philadelphia Stars of the Negro
Leagues. Harold Gould has just
published an autobiography of his life, with
special emphasis on his years as a pitcher
during the Jim Crow years of America's pastime.
Born and raised in his native Gouldtown, New
Jersey, Harold Gould had been scouted by
and became an ace pitcher for the
Philadelphia Stars in the latter part of the
1940's. He travelled the baseball routes of his
day around the country and into Canada as well,
pitching against Satchel Paige and playing with
and against a host of other famous and less
known baseball greats of his era.
His book, titled HE CAME FROM GOULDTOWN,
released mid-December 2009 by Catawba
Publishing, is an oral history of his life,
conversations on his various careers, including
baseball, with Dr. Bob Allen, formerly of
Penn State and now teaching at Cumberland County
College of NJ.
Harold Gould's book can be ordered
directly by contacting Harold and Gwen Gould:
gweneg@comcast.net.
For further press information contact Dr.
Allen:
lhadd@aol.com.

From left to right: Stanley Glenn,
Harold Gould, Mahlon Duckett, Bill Cash, the
late Wilmer Harris.
Urban
American Outdoors wins 2009 MIDI Award

Wayne Hubbard of Urban American Sports
CLASSIC
INTERVIEWS THAT ESPN WISH THEY
COULD GET!

Only
Legends Can Interview Legends
The Greatest--ALI and ME with Harold Bell
THE LEGENDS OF INSIDE SPORTS NOW AVAILABLE ON CD & DVD
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PLUS:
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RAY LEONARD, COLLEGE BASKETBALL'S "BIG HOUSE" GAINES AND GARY
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INTRODUCTION BY: JIM BROWN, GEORGE FOREMAN, GERALDO RIVERA and DON KING
Muhammad Ali, ex-wife Veronica and Harold Bell
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You’ll get Harold's flagship interviews with Muhammad
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Order your DVD today for only $11.99 (plus
shipping and handling) and watch a part of history.
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About Your Host
Harold Bell is the Godfather of Sports Talk radio and
television.
Throughout the mid-sixties, seventies and eighties,
Harold embarked upon a relatively new medium--sports
talk radio with classic interviews with athletes and
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What People Are Saying:
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My Air Shoes.com
TAKKLE.com - High School
Sports, Football, Wrestling and more

One-Legged
Athlete Elected to Florida High School Hall of Fame
TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida High
School Athletic Association announced today that
one-legged athlete Carl Joseph is among the eight
former Florida prep stars chosen for induction into the
FHSAA sports Hall of Fame.
Joseph, now 48 and living in Tallahassee,
is believed to be the first disabled athlete to achieve
this honor at the state or national level.
Born without a left leg, he transformed
himself
from the
object of pity and ridicule as a child to one of respect
and awe at Madison (FL) High School. Winning over
dubious coaches along the
way, he was a 3-sport standout, earning eight varsity
letters and Big Bend Conference awards.
In high school, he was able to hold his
own against two-legged athletes, usually getting the
better of them despite playing -- or rather hopping --
on one leg. It was when he dropped his crutches (or
propped his wooden leg against a tree) and hopped onto
the playing field that he became an extraordinary
athlete, seemingly defying the laws of physics and
reason.
Captain of the varsity football team and
starting noseguard, he couldn’t be blocked by only one
offensive lineman, so he was double- and triple-teamed.
He registered 11 solo tackles in one game. Career
highlights include chasing down and sacking a
quarterback, blocking a punt, recovering 15 fumbles,
batting down numerous passes, and intercepting a pass.
He could also punt if needed.
Joseph won three varsity letters in
track. He could sail the discus 130 feet and the
shot-put 40. He excelled in the high jump, winning the
district championship at 5 feet 10 inches. In practice,
he cleared 6-5.
The pace of basketball limited Carl’s
playing time. He was the eighth man on the varsity his
senior year, averaging four points and three rebounds a
game. A tenacious defender and rebounder, he could dunk
and swat shots into the stands.
During the tense early years of forced
integration in Madison (Pop. 3,500), Joseph’s
inspirational football exploits were credited with
uniting the black and white communities. He created
immense interest and renewed civic pride in a football
team that had been drawing sparse crowds at home. By his
senior year, bleachers were overflowing in Madison and
on the road.
Former college football coach Jackie
Sherrill, a mentor to Joseph, reacted to the
announcement by saying, “Congratulations to the
selection committee for recognizing a young man who is
not in the record books for points, total yardage, sacks
or tackles but rather for his ability to inspire the
sports world and motivate us to believe we can do
anything if we really never, ever give up.”
Frank Yanossy, Joseph’s high school
football coach, said, “There is no one individual more
worthy of this award.”
Joseph, now a special needs teacher and
prep football coach, was elated by his selection. “I
feel really blessed that after all these years an honor
like this could happen to me,” he said. “When I was a
little kid, I used to actually dream about playing
varsity sports in high school. But now, to be among
these great athletes, that’s something I never could’ve
imagined.”
Joseph, who is a bishop in his church and
a gospel singer, said his inclusion in the hall of fame
gives hope to everyone, especially disabled people,
“that anything is possible if you put your mind to it
and never quit.”
Officials at the National Federation of
State High School Associations in Indianapolis were not
aware of any disabled athletes among the 350 inductees
in their hall of fame. Personnel at several state high
school sports shrines said they had no knowledge of any
disabled inductees.
Florida-bred sports stars already in the FHSAA
Hall of Fame include Chris Evert, Emmitt Smith and
Christ Collingsworth.
The hall of fame induction ceremony and
awards banquet will be held in Gainesville on April 26.
Links: Carl's YouTube video,
Carl's web
page
and
FHSAA.
Harold Bell's Legend of Inside Sports

Bernie Chavis
BERNIE CHAVIS SHOWING LOVE-LOVE & LOVE: BLACK HISTORY
AT U. S. OPEN TENNIS!
By Harold Bell
On September 3, 2008 a former hoop star turned amateur
tennis player Bernie Chavis will make history as
an author on the hollow grounds of the U. S. Tennis
Open. Bernie is a native Washingtonian who now
lives in the suburb of Meadowbrook, Pa. He will
showcase and autograph his new book titled “The Games
of Tennis-An African American Journey (Breaking
Racial Cultural Barriers in Tennis and---Society).”
His journey is far from his roots as an outstanding
all-around athlete in the DC Public schools of
Washington, DC. Bernie was All-Met in football and
basketball at Eastern High School. He parlayed his
athletic skills into a basketball scholarship to
Villanova University in Philadelphia. The city of
brotherly love has been home ever since.

High School hot shot Bernie Chavis and teammate Robert
Cephas
His remarkable journey into the elitist World of tennis
takes a hard an objective view of the not too friendly
love affair between blacks and whites. Despite the
groundbreaking efforts of tennis greats Althea Gibson
and Arthur Ashe in the 50’s and 60’s “LOVE”
has nothing to do with it.
Unlike most outstanding athletes who are born with that
competitive spirit Bernie knew when to quit. When he
discovered he could no longer run and jump with the
young boys on the talented rich basketball courts of
Philadelphia he walked away. His next court would be a
tennis court. It was there he could apply the same
techniques that made him an outstanding basketball
player to play at the highest level capable—foot work
and hand and eye coordination. He fell head over heels
in love with the game. The most enjoyable aspect of his
new World, he could compete and play with men his own
age. Once on the tennis scene he discovered the many
doors that were closed to people of color on the other
side of the net.
Bernie remembered growing up in a segregated Washington,
DC (the Nation’s Capitol). He never forgot the second
class citizenship experiences of his hometown. He says,
“One of my first recollections highlighting the impact
racism concerned the Howard Theater, the most popular
movie and entertainment center in Washington’s black
community.”
He had a difficult time trying to figure out why was it
that white folks could flock to one of the busiest
sections of the black community and have an
All-Access Pass but he was forbidden from entering
any of “their” establishments anywhere in the city.
Bernie’s childhood friend and my high school teammate,
the late Spotswood Bolling, Jr., was a part of a
landmark decision handed down by the U. S. Supreme
Court in 1954. He was a part of the Brown vs.
Board of Education decision. The decision was
Bolling vs. Sharpe and ruled upon on the same day by
the same Supreme Court.

Harold Bell and Spotswood Bolling Spingarn HS teammates
There were two different decisions made because Brown
vs Board of Education was national and Bolling vs
Sharpe was to insure desegregation locally. DC then
as now had no Congressional Representation it is
still called “the plantation on the Potomac.”
In the early1980s shortly after turning to tennis as an
alternate athletic outlet, Bernie discovered “The more
things changed the more they remained the same.” While
playing tennis at the Garden Fair Tennis Club
located near his home he developed a personal friendship
with the manager of the facility, Bob Fossler.
One day Mr. Fossler indicated to Bernie that all the
tennis boards he was involved had begun to seriously
discuss the need to diversify the composition of their
organizations and to engage people of color. Remember
this is almost 40 years after Jackie Robinson and
Althea Gibson made their professional debuts.
Fossler then invited Bernie to be a member of one of
those boards. Upon his recommendation Bernie submitted
his application and was accepted. His membership placed
him on the board of the United States Tennis
Association Middle States Philadelphia Area Tennis
District. Thus began his roller coaster ride inside
the sport of tennis’s dark and blind side.
Bernie joining the USTA was just appetizer, he has
served as National President of the American Tennis
Association (ATA), the oldest African American
sports organization in America and President of the
U. S. Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) in the
Middles States section. He would later be named the
first black to serve as President of the USTA
Philadelphia Area Tennis District (1994) and the
first to referee a USTA national championship
tournament, the Men’s Senior Grass Court
Championships at the Germantown Cricket club in
Philadelphia. In 2005, he was named a “Living
American History Maker” by the Berean Institute
of Philadelphia. Like Frank Sinatra, Bernie has
taken the blows and did his way.
I would love to be a book on the shelf to witness and
capture the reactions of friends and foe during the
signing. The more interesting moments will be to see if
any of today’s black tennis stars and future black stars
show up to support his courageous effort to make their
paths easier. Richard Williams the father of
tennis stars Venus and Serena will be the
first in line and I am betting his daughters won’t be
far behind. On the other hand James Blake the
bridesmaid of the men’s tour will distant himself until
he sees the William sisters purchase their first book.
His advisors will caution him to keep his distant.
The Games of Tennis-An African American Journey is a must read for
every person of color who thinks that they have arrived
and that includes parents, teachers, coaches and all
advocates of children who claim they are making children
first.
The book reflects the thinking of America and how it
really feels about people of color. During Bernie’s
journey he discovered that every black face he saw was
not his brother and every white face was not the enemy.
He has never forgotten that it was all white men who
made the decision of Brown vs. Board of Education
and Bolling vs. Sharpe. Their decision was based
on Love-Love and Love.
About the Author:
Harold Bell is a pioneer in sports talk radio in
Washington, DC.

ART MONK PROVES NICE GUYS DON’T FINISH LAST:
WIDE OUT—FINALLY IN THE HALL OF FAME!
By Harold Bell
Art Monk’s
induction into the NFL Hall of Fame was a
long time coming. He is one of the best reasons why
the players and coaches should decide who is worthy
of entry.
Monk played 16 years in the NFL and should have
entered the hall on his first year of eligibility.
He was denied entry because there were many in the
sports media (writers, columnist and editors) who
didn’t like his attitude when it came to the
sporting press. He learned early in his career the
members of the media could not be trusted. They ran
hot and cold, especially those in the Nation’s
Capitol, home of the Washington Redskins.
He never thought he was obligated to give and
interview and answer their stupid questions like
“what were you thinking when you dropped that ball
for a touchdown” or the classic question asked of QB
Doug Williams by a reporter at the 1988 Super
Bowl, “What does it feel like being a black QB
playing in the Super Bowl?” Monk never played their
game during his entire NFL career. He knew 90% of
the idiots surrounding his locker after each
practice and each game never played the game.
One major league baseball manager was heard to say
“The qualifications to be a sports writer in America
all you need is a driver’s license.” Art Monk
could not have agreed more.
During his acceptance speech I think the most
provocative statement he made was when he said, I
was fine with the waiting game you guys were
playing. I am honored to finally be inducted into
this sacred fraternity, but football does not define
who I am.”
What was
Art Monk on a football field? On
Sunday afternoons in football stadiums around the
country he was Mr. Consistent, Mr. Clutch and
Mr. Dependable. Monk was drafted in the
first round (18th pick overall) of the
NFL draft by the Washington Redskins in 1980 out of
Syracuse University. He was a running back at
Syracuse but the Redskins immediately made him a
wide receiver. They have had a lot of success in
turning running backs into great wide receivers.
Running backs like Bobby Mitchell and the greatest
wide receiver in Redskin history, Charlie Taylor.
Taylor was an electrifying runner after the catch;
he could entertain and thrill you with a short catch
over the middle or a long catch down either
sideline. He was also a devastating downfield
blocker. In my opinion Art Monk is second only to
Taylor on the All-Time great wide receivers who
played for the burgundy and gold.
Roland ‘Bubba’ Grimes
and Bryce Bevill are DC homegrown and
Syracuse alumni. They are the co-authors of a new
book titled “TOTAL FOCUS of Character, Academy,
Discipline, and Faith.” Grimes says, “I remember
the day the skins drafted Monk after trading away 12
years’ worth of first round picks under Coach George Allen. None of us had heard of the guy
but from day one he was an absolute stub on the
football field and many of us tried to learn his
game and follow his work effort.
- Art Monk, Harold &
Hattie
Click
On Photo To Enlarge
Art Monk
befuddles the sports media with his discipline and
focus. Not only has he excelled in football but he
also is just as accomplished in his walk with Christ
and leadership in his own home. These are very
difficult domains to balance in the NFL with all the
travel and temptation at every NFL stop. However, I
think the guy’s life is truly just beginning now
that he can invest more time into his family,
community and his role as a trustee at our alma
mater, Syracuse University. Now is the time that he
can be outspoken and advocate on any stage for
anything that tugs at his heart.”
Art Monk’s 14 year career with the Washington
Redskins was a highlight reel of consistency. He
once set an NFL record with a catch in 164 straight
games. When it was 3rd down and five
yards or longer we all knew who the quarterback
would be looking for. He wore number 81 Art Monk.
He was a quarterback’s best friend and cornerback’s
worst enemy. He was a nightmare to most cornerbacks
who seldom stood taller then 6 foot and over 180
pounds. Monk was 6’3 and 210 pounds. To see him
running in your direction was double jeopardy. The
cornerback was left thinking “Is he coming to knock
my head off or to catch a pass?” Advantage the wide
receiver. I will take a great wide receiver over a
great cornerback on any given Sunday. The wide
receiver knows where he is going and the cornerback
has to guess. The cornerback on an NFL team is
usually the team’s best athlete. The cornerback
position is the most difficult on the field.
Congratulations to Darrell Green on his
induction. His NFL 20 year odyssey and tenure was
unbelievable.
When
Art Monk retired after the 1995 season
he held the career record for receptions (940). He
was a three time Pro Bowl selection and a first team
All-Pro in 1984. Monk played on three Super Bowl
Championship teams. In 1984 he set an NFL record
with 106 receptions in a season. He was named to
the All-Decade Team for the 1980s.
He was never a controversial personality in the
locker room or in the community. There were never
any whispers about drugs and he was never seen
chasing skirts all over DC like many of his
teammates. The one thing that I admired about Art
Monk, even though he was surrounded by flawed
teammates who where pretending to be Christians, he
never allowed their behavior to interrupt his walk
with God. Dexter Manley is his friend and not his
leader.
Unlike most of the players you would usually see
gathering at midfield to pray after the conclusion
of a hard fought game, he was serious about God and
his place in his life. He was a model citizen.
Art Monk was a great catch for the NFL Hall of
Fame.
THE BOSTON CELTICS MAKE IT OFFICIAL:
PHIL JACKSON IS NOBODY’S RED AUERBACH!
While the spirit of Red Auerbach was felt in the new TD
Banknorth Garden the new “Big Three” dismantled and
embarrassed the Los Angeles Lakers franchise in the NBA
finals 131-92. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen
reminded Celtic fans of dynasties past. There was Bill
Russell, Sam Jones and K. C. Jones or Larry Byrd, Kevin
McHale and Robert Parish dynasties.
The 2008 Boston Celtics went from worst to first in a
hurry. The new "Big Three" solidified their places in
Boston Celtic lore. Paul Pierce scored a double-double
in points and assists and was named the MVP of the
series. Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and had 14
rebounds and Ray Allen tied an NBA finals record with
seven 3 point shots while scoring 26 points. The "Big
Three" whether they like it or not had lived up to their
name.
The NBA’s Boston Celtics and Red Auerbach are the most
successful team and coach in NBA history. The franchise
has won 17 World Championships; Red won 9 of those as
the head coach. Number 17 came on Tuesday night June 18,
2008 in Boston Garden. The man in charge was a man we
call Doc and not Red.
While America was seeing Black for the first time
(Presidential nominee Barack Obama) the City of Boston
was also seeing a familiar Red as in Auerbach. It had
been twenty-one years (1987) since these two teams last
met in an NBA final. The last thing the city, the team
and the fans wanted to see was a Lakers’ win to move
Jackson ahead of Auerbach. The last time the Boston
Celtics won an NBA Championship was 1987. Red Auerbach
was still the Godfather of the NBA and President of the
franchise.
Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson came into the series tied
with Red and needed a win to move ahead of him in the
championship finals win column. The Lakers blew a 24
point lead to the Celtics in game four at home to go
down 3-1 and a 39 point lost in the finals didn’t help
his case. He returned to Los Angeles hopefully never
again to hear being compared to Red Auerbach.
It is not by accident or coincident that Doc Rivers is
the head coach of the Boston Celtics or Danny Ainge is
the team’s General Manager. Thanks to Red the Celtics
were the first equal opportunity and keeping it in the
family employer in the NBA.
When Doc Rivers became the coach of the Celtics, Red’s
advice to Doc, “Keep it simple.” Red won 9 NBA
Championships by keeping it simple and playing tough in
your face defense, thanks to a man named Bill--as in
Bill Russell.
Make no mistake Doc Rivers is no Red Auerbach, DC's
fearless talk show host Coach Butch McAdams said it best
on a recent talk show. He said, "Doc Rivers as a
basketball coach makes a great television/basketball
commentator."
In defense of Rivers I have always thought that coaching
a pro sports team was overrated. If you got the
"horses" and the respect of grown men anything is
possible--meet Doc Rivers.
This year’s team didn’t have a Bill Russell but their
team defense was the best in the league. In 2007 the
Celtics had the worst team in the league and the media
and fans were calling for Doc Rivers' dismissal. In
2008 GM Danny Ainge pulled off an NBA heist that would
have made Red Auerbach proud. Kevin Garnett is one of
the most gifted big men in the league. He had been the
face of the Minnesota Tmberwolves' franchise since
leaving high school 12 years ago, but basketball success
had not followed him to the NBA. Garnett had become an
unhappy camper and wanted out.
The acquisition of Kevin Garnett and NBA sharp shooter
Ray Allen was a stroke of genius. You add holdover Paul
Pierce and it brought back memories of Celtic pride with
Auerbach, Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, K. C.
Jones, etc leading the charge against Jerry West, Elgin
Baylor and the incomparable Wilt Chamberlain. I am
still trying to figure out how the Celtics pulled that
one off. The answer could easily be---Red Auerbach.
How and why did Minnesota trade Garnett to Boston? It
is rumored that the spirit of Red Auerbach contacted
Minnesota GM Kevin McHale while he was in a deep sleep
one night and said “Kevin you owe me one, trade Garnett
to Boston and we are even.” The rest is team sports
history.
This final match up brought together one of the NBA’s
most heated and hated basketball rivals. The match-up
lacked the marquee value of Bill Russell and Wilt
Chamberlain or Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, but it did
not lack the mental and physical intensity that this
rivalry has known for decades. The only other major
sports franchises that comes close to this rivalry in
intensity is the match-up of Major League Baseball’s New
York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
The World of sports lost a true giant when Red died on
October 28, 2006. He was born in Brooklyn, NY but he
loved his adopted hometown of Washington, DC. The
finals championship left no doubt that Red Auerbach is
the greatest coach in the history of the NBA.
His won-lost record in Human and in Civil Rights was
nothing to sneeze at----he was in a class by himself.
In 1950 Chuck Cooper of Duquesne University and a second
team All-American was drafted by coach Red Auerbach and
owner Walter Brown. Cooper would become the first black
player drafted and signed by an NBA team. The NBA is
now the most integrated pro sports organization in
America. The NBA plantation mentality is no longer
implemented by whites it is now implemented by black
men. Red was not a big fan of NBA Commissioner David
Stern or Wizard’s owner Abe Pollin, it had something to
do with trust and integrity.
Red was the first coach to play five black players at
the same time. He was first to hire the first black
coach when he hired Bill Russell and the first to hire a
black General Manager his name was also--Bill Russell.
During the tenure of owner Walter Brown and Red Auerbach
the Boston Garden was a “Racial Free Zone.” The
stifling racial strife in the city of Boston for the
past several decades was not allowed in Boston Garden
the home of the Boston Celtics. When games were played
in the garden the Redneck riff-raff had to check their
KKK robes and hoods at the gate and replace them with
shirt and tie, blue jeans and tee-shirts.
When the basketball hall of fame had forgotten the
contributions of Earl Lloyd the first player to ever
play in an NBA game in 1950, Red reminded them. Earl
was finally inducted into the Naismith Basketball of
Fame in 2001 fifty years later. Thanks to Red Auerbach,
better late than never.
The Boston Celtics were the underdogs in this year’s
series and were picked to lose to the Lakers in six
games by the so-called experts. The experts can be
found sitting at NBA press tables around the league
during the regular season. Many would not know the
difference from a left hook and a hook shot, but they
are the experts never the less. The Celtics won in six
games---so much for the experts!
This was the eleventh championship final between the
Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics now
lead the series 9-3. The most important statistic was
the one owned by the coaches, Red Auerbach and Phil
Jackson. Each had won nine NBA Championships. A win by
the Lakers would make Phil Jackson the outright leader.
Please don’t think this was lost on the city of Boston,
the Celtic organization, the players or the coaches.
The city of Los Angeles, the Lakers organization, the
players and their coach were also caught up in this
historical footnote in NBA history, more than bragging
rights were at stake.
Did you see Bill Russell and Magic Johnson lurking in
the stands, behind closed doors, in locker rooms and in
bath rooms? They were there to remind the players not
to let them down and what was really at stake.
Phil Jackson had not forgotten that when his record was
compared to Red Auerbach’s, Red made it perfectly clear
that Phil was an NBA opportunist. Red built his
incredible record with just one team—the Boston Celtics
and Phil was an NBA vagabond. Red said, “Phil Jackson is
the television version of Bob Barker, if you got the
players, Lets Make A Deal.” In other words, 'I have
sneakers and I will travel.'
Red Auerbach was a genius and one of a kind. If you are
looking for the definition of coach in Webster’s
Dictionary it is spelled, A-U-E-R-B-A-C-H. Red could X
and O you to death (chalk and black board). He was a
psychiatrist, motivator, P. R. man and an intimidator.
The league’s referees, coaches and players were often
the target of his wit and sharp tongue. He stood 5’7
inches tall and I still remember watching a game on
television and Red challenging the 7 foot Wilt
Chamberlain to a fist fight. Red would later tell me on
my talk show Inside Sports, “I should have gotten an
Academy Award for that performance.” Talking about
getting under an opponent’s skin, when he was sure that
victory was in hand he would light up his famous cigar
on the bench. There were several occasions when he
would light the cigar up too soon and the opposition
would make a comeback and got the last laugh. Those
laughs were far few and in-between.
There were times when Red could be too smart for his own
good. Boston Celtic great and Hall of Fame player Sam
Jones once told me the story about Red having a curfew,
something he very seldom did. It was during a long
winning streak, Red booked the team into a hotel. It
was the night before they would be playing the worst
team in the league. Red wanted to make sure everyone
stayed focused and not take the losers for granted. He
ordered room service (sandwiches, chips, pretzels, sodas
and beer) for everyone in a suite. The players then
retired to their rooms together. The next day they lost
to the worst team in the league by 20 points. Red said,
"That was my first curfew and my last curfew." He
learned, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Bill Russell took a page out of one of Red Auerbach’s
chalk talks and promised Kevin Garnett one of his
championship rings if he did not win a championship
during his stay in Boston. Bill was depending on the
pride of Kevin being man enough to go out and earn his
own ring. Bill was right and Kevin finally took up
residency under the basket in game six and it was no
contest. Paul Pierce can now find a quiet place to
light up that special cigar Red gave him just before he
died. I can vision Red smiling and reaching for his
cigar and the heavenly no-smoking sign turned off
temporally for a celebration.
BLACK MAGIC: IN AND OUT OF FOCUS!
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
By Harold Bell

ESPN’s
airing of “Black Magic” chronicling the rich history of
black basketball in America was a buzzer beating jump shot to
win and a controversial foul call at the end the game to lose.
It was also the most watched documentary in the history of ESPN
television history. The first segment aired in 1.2 million
homes beating the old record of 1.1 million.
The four hour two-part television show carried black basketball
from the playgrounds, high schools, colleges and on to its final
destination---the NBA. This brought full circle the hopes and
dreams of most black athletes, a life in the fast lane of
professional sports. For some it was their only way out.
The show’s title,
“Black Magic” was the footprints in the
sand of the man who revolutionized offensive guard play in
basketball---Earl Monroe. He is also a part-time
magician. I found the show to be enlightening and educational
even though I lived most of it. I was a student/athlete and
played football and basketball for the legendary Clarence
“Bighouse” Gaines at Winston-Salem State. During my era
(59-63) I was the only athlete under 6’5 he permitted to play
two sports. Tim Autry and Emit Gil my football
teammates could not chew bubble gum and dribble at the same time
but they were tall. He called Tim and Emit “My Special
Effects.”
My freshman year I scored 27 points in a losing effort in the
annual Alumni vs. Varsity basketball game. My friend and mentor
the legendary Jack DeFares had returned to Winston-Salem
to finish work on his degree. He lobbied for me to play for the
shorthanded alumni. It was easy to see why Jack was a New York
playground legend and an All-Time great at Winston-Salem. He
simply said, “Keep your eyes on me and follow my lead.” His
slick ball handling and moves to the basket was responsible for
me leading both teams in scoring. Bighouse knew I could do two
things well, catch a football and score on a basketball court.
But he made it clear that he had only one basketball and it
belonged to Cleo Hill. Like it or not I had to wait my
turn. I satisfied my hunger for the game by playing at the
local YMCA and on the Inter-Mural team.
I was in a unique position at
Winston-Salem State I was
there to compare three of the greatest players to ever play for
“Bighouse,” Jack DeFares, Cleo Hill and Earl Monroe
up close and personal.
I was there for the return of
Jack DeFares, I was there
for the departure of Cleo Hill and I was there to witness
the arrival of Black Jesus better known as Earl “The Pearl”
Monroe among other names.
Black Magic participants
Al Attles and Earl Lloyd
were two dear friends and inspired me to be all that I could
be. I was in Landover, Maryland when Al and the Golden State
Warriors upset and beat another close and dear friend K. C.
Jones. The Warriors beat the Washington Bullets in four
straight games to win the NBA Championship. Al and K. C. made
pro sports history by becoming the first two Black Americans to
face-off in a championship final.

Santa Helpers: H. Bell, Al Attles, Sam Jones,
K. C. Jones and Roy Jefferson (NFL)
I was there also to encourage the late great legendary
Red
Auerbach to step in support Earl Lloyd’s induction
into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The NBA had overlooked his
career. Thanks largely to Red the Basketball Hall of Fame
finally inducted him in 2002 as a contributor. He was the first
black to play in the NBA. The CIAA barely beat the NBA. Fifty
years after graduating from West Virginia State they finally
pulled his number for induction into the CIAA Hall of Fame in
2000.
Hopefully,
Mike Wise of the Washington Post was watching
ESPN and received an education on who was the first and last
word when it came to “The Improviser” of guard play in the NBA.
Mike and his colleagues are the best examples on why we need to
celebrate Black History 365 days of the year. If we don’t our
youth would believe that “Pistol Pete” Maravich
revolutionize guard play in the NBA. Mike wrote those exact
words in his column during the NBA All-Star Weekend last month.
Pete was a great player in his own right. As Black Americans we
must be careful of what we read and who we read. I will be
looking for his column saying “I made a mistake” but I am not
holding my breath.
The enlightening stories for me, started with
Perry Wallace,
Athletic Director at American University and the first black to
play at Vanderbilt University, the perseverance of NBA player Bob “Butter Bean” Love and without a doubt the hidden story
that Ben Jobes was one of the greatest college basketball
coaches of all time. Coach Jobes’ accomplishments and
basketball success stayed under the radar of major media for
decades. ESPN’s Black Magic made it perfectly clear he
could have easily been a success on any level, but was denied
recognition because he was black.
The real story of the NBA lynching of
Cleo Hill by the
St. Louis Hawks was long overdue. In Black Magic there was
mention of Cleo being the greatest player of his era. He could
have been the greatest player of any area where he was allowed
to play.
Cleo had every shot imaginable. He is the greatest offensive
basketball player I have ever seen with the exception of
Washington, DC’s Elgin Baylor. He was “Michael
Jordan” in North Carolina long before Michael Jordan.
Jordan didn’t really blossom into a great offensive ball player
until the pros. Cleo was a basketball icon and legend on
Tobacco Road long before his pro career. To believe it you had
to be there to see him. When Cleo played you would have thought
the ACC Tournament was being held on the campus of Winston-Salem
State. White folks traveled from all over the state to see him
play. Cleo Hill was worth the travel time and price of
admission. There were times when our own students could not get
into the games. There was nothing Cleo could not do on a
basketball court. His offensive arsenal consisted of left and
right hand hook shots, set shots, a jump shot from any and
everywhere, a great rebounder when he needed to be, he was
fearless driving to the basket and he was an 80% foul shooter.
Cleo could dribble the ball up court to break the press. He was
no slough on defense either, when “Bighouse” needed someone to
stop the other team’s hot shooter, he looked no further than
Cleo or teammate Tommy Monterio.
Cleo was drafted No. 1 by the St. Louis Hawks in 1961 and
everything was uphill from there. When he arrived in St. Louis
the KKK better known as “The Nest” was waiting for him. The
“Nest” consisted of players Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and
Clyde Lovellet. They did everything but string him up by
his neck. When Coach Paul Seymour took a stand against
“The Nest” the owner Ben Kerner fired him. When Cleo
returned to campus to finish up his classes to graduate after
his rookie year he was a beaten man. He would come around to
our room and sit and talk with Barney and me for hours about
life with the St. Louis Hawks. His story was something out of
the 1800’s. In 2008 little has changed black men are still
having their ideas and goods stolen and are asked to go in the
backdoor and side doors to re-claim them. Spooks are still
sitting by the door opening it for some and closing it for
others.
When we start to talk about the injustices of the sports
establishment you have to look no further than Coach John
McLendon. White coaches led by the legendary Dean Smith
stole his ideas and made them their own. The basketball
establishment led by the white media had fans believing for
years that Coach Smith invented “The Four Corners.” A strategy
devised by Coach Mac to take time off of the clock in the
closing moments of a game while sitting on a lead.
How can you vote one of the greatest innovators of the game into
the hall of fame as a contributor? Check the records and see
if Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith have Contributor
before or after their names. In all fairness if Coach Mac is a
Contributor than every coach who followed James Nasmith into the
hall of fame is also a Contributor. The word “Contributor”
needs to be changed, as it relates to Coach Mac and Earl Lloyd. If history is the judge “Brothers and Sisters”
in media will see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and write
no evil.
Johnny McLendon
was definitely “An Officer and a Gentleman” he was in a class by
himself when it came to having a compassion for helping others.
Johnny Mac was a pleasure to be around. He is one of
the best examples on how one can be a class-act and black folks
will Player Hate on you anyway. Barney Hood and I would
often talk about Coach Mac and how he would always be uplifting
when talking about his friends and former players. Fairness is
a lesson that never seemed to have rubbed off on some of his
colleagues.
The man many of us called “Big Daddy” when others called him
Bighouse would some times forget we were watching him. He
could be very selfish and self serving. Bighouse had a big
heart but he could also be heartless. He went ballistic when
his friend and colleague Coach Tom “Tricky” Harris of
Virginia Union hired a white coach, Dave Robbins
(in-focus). Coach Gaines and Harris were poker pals and shared
a lot of basketball history. When his buddy hired a white coach
he felt betrayed. Bighouse slowly burned when CIAA
Commissioner Leon Kerry (out of focus) and his cohorts
hijacked the conference right before his eyes. Some of the
things he said about his colleagues and student/athletes made
many us wonder whether he really liked himself. None of us
escaped his wrath including me, Cleo and Black Jesus.
In many ways we have taken on the characteristics of the
establishment. When it comes to fairness it is becoming a lost
art in the black community. We have also become more exclusive
instead of inclusive. Black Magic for example; How were
the contributions of icons Sam Jones (It is rumored he wanted to
get paid), Spencer Haywood, Curly Neal and last but not
least Red Auerbach and Walter Brown of the Boston Celtics overlooked?

The late NBA Godfather Red Auerbach and his classy wife Dotie
visit Inside Sports
Sam Jones
is in the NBA Hall of Fame and voted as one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest, he could have easily added more insight.
His mentors were two of the greatest coaches of all time, Johnny Mac and
Red Auerbach. Without Red’s
contributions “Black Magic” would still be out of focus and a
dream deferred. Spencer Haywood’s contribution turned
the plantation mentality of college basketball and the NBA into
a “Pay Day Heaven” for today’s NBA players.
In a landmark decision Spencer successfully challenged in court
and won his case to enter the NBA draft before graduation. He
became the first ever NBA Hardship case. Every NBA player
making over $5,000 owes him a debt of gratitude. He should be
in the NBA Hall of Fame and a member of The 50 Greatest Players
ever, for his play on the court and his legal battles in court.
He was working in the community long before the NBA CARED
and he put the POWER in Power Forward. He is
being Black Balled by the NBA for standing up to
be a man in America and for his alleged drug use. If drug use
is one of the measuring rods used for his induction, than the
hall should be almost vacant. One of the show’s characters,
drug dealer Pee Wee Kirkland is a New York Playground
basketball legend and former Norfolk State player. I saw some
his best customers in “Black Magic.” Curly Neal
is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and his name
is synonymous with the internationally known Harlem
Globetrotters, he was also out of focus in Black Magic!
How could Black Magic forget New York basketball icons
Pop
Gates, Jack DeFares and Carl Green?
Sound bites we could have done without: Some things are better
left unsaid, playground and NBA Broadcast legend Sonny Hill
describing former Tennessee State and New York Knicks’ guard
Dick Barnett was definitely out of focus. He said “Dick
Barnett was a functional illiterate.” Dr. Dick Barnett
graduated from Tennessee State and now holds a PHD Degree.
ESPN NBA studio analyst and Winston-Salem State alumnus
Stephen A. Smith and basketball scrub was blackballed from
the show for stepping on “Superman’s Cape.” “Bighouse” was
having trouble winning games at the end of his career (828 wins)
Smith writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer made the mistake of
calling for his firing. He has been out of bounds and out of
focus ever since. What is my excuse for being out of focus? I
walk and march to a different drum beat.
Harold Bell---is a former student/athlete at Winston-Salem State
and a radio and television sports talk show pioneer. You
can learn more about Harold and other sports legends by visiting
his web site www.hbsportslegends.com. You can contact also contact
Harold at hkbell@comcast.net.
The Souls of Black Baseball by an Oral History Project by
Dr. Bob Allen
The Souls of Black Baseball:
Voices from the Field of Dreams Deferred
An Oral History Project by Dr. Bob Allen
Veteran of the Negro League Baseball era,
catcher for the Philadelphia Stars, Bill "Ready"
Cash can spin out a story that takes away your
own breath as he tells it. Like the one about
the 28 day bus trip the team took in the late
40's: going through towns 75-80 miles an hour
because they had to make the schedule; blowing
out motors and getting speeding tickets in the
bargain; playing games along the way from
Philadelphia, winding south 1900 miles away to
Tyler, Texas.
On the field, in 105 degree weather, ready for the dressing rooms, but
not allowed to use them. Had to go under the
stands to dress. Only allowed a short run around
the field for warm-up as an old guy hollered
from the stands, "nigger, I'm gonna shoot you."
Says Bill: "We still had to play ball. Out of
those 28 days we were away from home, we was in
bed four hours. All the rest of the time we
slept in the bus, traveling."
Cash continues the story, taking you on the
northbound loop back home; like always, stopping
now and then after games, at places that were
open to get food, sandwiches, mayonnaise, meat,
sodas, to eat on the way. Games along the way,
night and day. Cash recalls: "One Sunday we
played in Birmingham. They had a little kid 16
years old and his father didn't allow him to
play, goin away with the team. He only played on
Sundays. He was battin' third. Piper Davis was
the manager. I said, Piper, you've got this kid
hittin' third?' He said, you'll find out.' We
were tied 6-6 in the seventh inning and he came
up. Boy, I just knew we were gonna throw a ball
by him. He got 4 for 5 against us that day. I
hit a double off the scoreboard. The next guy
hit a long fly to center field, he went back
against the fence and caught it. I tagged up and
went to third base. When I got there, the ball
was waitin' on me. That little 16 year old kid
was Willie Mays. Boy, he could hit, he could
...of course you know all about him...he could
do it."
This and many other stories, some tragic and
sad, others side-splitting hilarious, are part
of and emerging from an oral history project by
Dr. Bob Allen, a free lance writer and
researcher, and former teacher at the
Pennsylvania State University. Allen's travel
throughout the northeast in the last six years,
and his intention to visit and interview on film
every surviving player from the Negro Leagues,
was based on a three part goal: to preserve,
promote, and promulgate the history and stories
of Negro League Baseball.
To date, the project has collected
366.75
hours of film footage of Negro Leagues
histories. Yet, there is more to be done and
further support to continue the project is
needed. A detailed description of the project is
available to all interested. In summarizing the
project, Allen notes:
... without such histories being recorded,
getting the actors to recall the play, and
enabling future generations to see and
understand the scene of the past "In time, we
forget who we are." As players from the old
baseball Negro Leagues probe the scars and
remember the joys of their finest hours amidst
the apartheid at the heart of the nation's
pastime, this project will memorialize who they
were so that we can better understand who we
might be. Hopefully, it will make a special
contribution to this important history of sport
and American society; be of help and of use to
veteran historians of the sport; and bring to
life and keep alive the lessons and challenges
we can all take up from this fascinating
history.
For further information, enquiries, and suggested
contacts to help Dr. Allen locate and interview
players, or to provide needed support to continue
the project, please be in touch with:
Bob Allen
1007 Golfview Ave. #24 State College, Pa. 16801
814-237-9471
LHADD@aol.com
In The Spotlight
Laila Ali
Click Here To Visit Laila's Official Web Site

Click On Photo To Enlarge

Black
Sports Online
Click Here for Sports News
Click Here for Sports Links

“Sports Video Highlights, LLC”

Robert Littal
is the brainchild behind Black Sports Online (BSO). His
story is one of hard work and turning your dreams into reality.
The thing that I like the most about BSO is Robert’s style of
writing. This brother is “freed up.” He has a “tell it as I
see it” style of writing that I find to be refreshing. I hope
you enjoy my interview with Robert Littal.
Gary Johnson
The Robert Littal Interview
BMIA.com:
Hey Robert, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I
want to jump right into the interview. You have some of the
most intriguing and interesting articles on your web site, Black
Sports Online (BSO). Tell us about BSO.
Robert Littal:
The idea has always been in the back of my mind. I have a
journalism degree from The Ohio State University, so I did a lot
of writing, radio and TV while I was in college, even going back
to high school I was the head of my audio/visual department. I
always had my own style of doing things, my professors would say
I had a unique way of doing presenting my opinions which I
believe was a nice way of saying that I didn’t do things the way
they wanted me to. After college I was more focused on my music
career than doing anything with my degree. I had my heart set
on being the next Jay-Z, Nelly or Ludacris. That
all changed while I was watching the NFC Wild Card Game in
December of 2004 Green Bay vs. Minnesota. Some people remember
it as the Randy Moss fake mooning incident. I remember
it as the most bias representation of the sports media I have
ever seen. I was so disgusted by the broadcast team of Joe
Buck and Chris Collingsworth (Troy Aikman was
cool) and their favoritism toward the Packers and Bret Favre
and their obvious bias against Randy Moss that I
literally wanted to jump through the TV and punch Buck in the
mouth. After the game while chatting on a message board I found
that I wasn’t the only one who felt that the announce team and
the media in general had become a parody of itself and weren’t
being unbias in their opinions. While continuing to complain to
a very special person in my life, I was told by her that instead
of complaining about it like I always did, why don’t I do
something about it. It was the best advice that I ever got,
BlackSportsOnline was launched 3 months later in March of
2005.
BMIA.com:
In addition to current sports headlines and features you have
some other articles that are extremely interesting such as
The Top 50 Athletes Wives, Darth Kobe
and Exposed: Confessions of a Groupie. Where do
you get your story ideas?
Robert Littal:
When I am thinking of story ideas I try to think outside of the
box. I try to think of topics that people talk about while they
are just hanging out and relaxing, but from an angle they never
thought of before. I never want to be the 100th
person to hit the same topic I want to be the first, that way my
name is associated with it from the beginning. When someone
says Darth Kobe it is going to be traced back to me. You type
in “athlete’s wives” in a search engine BSO comes up first.
While I wasn’t the first to do an article on groupies, but who
else have been able get groupies, wives, girlfriends and a
professional athlete on the record in a 3-part series?
I like to think of myself as a Forensic Scientist when it comes
to sports. While most people are concentrating on what is right
in front of them I am digging a little deeper. I am not just
looking at the gun shot wound I am looking at the angle it came
from and how that angle turns an apparent suicide into a
homicide. Because sometimes things that look to be obvious are
more complex than you think. After you read one of my articles
I am going to force your mind to think about things you never
thought of before.
BMIA.com:
You used to work in the music industry. Is that correct? How
did you get into sports?
Robert Littal:
For a period of time between my freshman year in college, till
about 2 1/2 years ago I was deep in the music industry as a
rapper and a producer. I had a couple of local hits, but never
got that big break that I was hoping for. Way before the music
though I was consider a sports fanatic. When they had all the
elementary kids do a report on what they wanted to do when they
grew up everyone else wanted to be a policeman or astronaut, my
report was on being an anchor on SportsCenter. This was when it
was only one ESPN, not 1500 versions of ESPN. My mom says when
I was a toddler I would sit and watch full football games
without interruption. It has been in my blood for a long time.
BMIA.com:
Do you see any similarities to musicians and athletes?
Robert Littal:
The lifestyle of an athlete and a musician are similar in the
fact that the fame makes them bigger than life to most people
and in turn their egos are out of control. There is a reason
that athletes want to be musicians and musicians want to be
athletes, they share a common bond. They understand what each
other goes through on a daily basis. There isn’t much
difference between 50 Cent and say Terrell Owens.
There are more similarities between how business is being done.
The music business and professional sports are both cut-throat
professions where when you are not “hot” anymore or you get
“exposed” you are tossed aside without a second thought, no
matter how big in the profession you are. Once again there
isn’t much difference between Rafael Palmeiro and JA
Rule.
BMIA.com:
Tell us about your background. (Where did you grow up? What’s
your family background? Did you play sports?
Robert Littal:
I am from Saint Louis, Missouri, that is where I reside now. I
went to college at The Ohio State University. I tell people I
am the Al Bundy of Sportswriters. I was a Wide Receiver in High
School and in my last game I caught 7 catches for 150 yards and
2 TDs, unfortunately we lost that game, but it wasn’t my fault.
The QB threw an INT (interception) on the last play of the
game. Pass was intended for me, but it was overthrown. That
still haunts me to this day. I have been blessed with a
wonderful family who have supported me in everything I have done
since day one. I am a very lucky man.
BMIA.com:
For your feature Exposed: Confessions of a Groupie,
you interviewed over 50 women about their relationships with
professional athletes. Did you learn anything significant or
surprising about these women?
Robert Littal:
The most surprising thing to me was how many women wanted to
speak to me. All I did was put out feelers around the internet
and next thing I knew my email box was full. I was shocked at
how forthcoming these young ladies were and how willing they
were to validate their stories with pictures, voicemails, hotel
receipts etc etc. What I have learned from interviewing them is
that there are two types of women when it comes to dealing with
professional athletes. Those who accept the lifestyle and are
willing to deal with it because of the advantages it gives them
in life and those who are in denial about the lifestyle because
of the advantages of being involved with an athlete. Because of
this outpouring we are actually devoting columns to women who
want to share their stories with the world, but didn’t have the
avenue to do so before.
BMIA.com:
The women that you interviewed come across as very forthcoming.
What was the wildest incident or story that surfaced as a result
of your interviews?
Robert Littal:
The most interesting by far was Candy from Part 1 of the story.
She was the one who claimed to have slept with over 100
athletes, musicians or just famous people in general. She
provided me with some much information that I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing. She even sent me a video of her with someone
that if I told you was in the video you wouldn’t believe it. I
have already been threatened to be sued by a couple of athletes
who I assume connected the dots and realized the young ladies
were talking about them. But it isn’t a big deal people
threaten to sue me at least once a week.
BMIA.com:
What lessons are there to be learned for women who date athletes
and for men who date groupies?
Robert Littal:
I would say for women who date any celebrities just realize that
there is a trade off for being involved in the lifestyle and
don’t be naďve to the situation you are getting yourself into.
For the fellas they just need to be real careful who they are
dealing with because you never know who is going the next person
to be exposed.
BMIA.com:
Of the athletes that you’ve interviewed, are there any that
standout or considered special?
Robert Littal:
Almost all the athletes I have talk to both on and off record
seem to respect what I am trying to do. Even though some may
think I am harsh in my evaluation of pro athletes I have a great
respect and admiration for what they do in the playing field and
I try my best to get that across in my writing.
BMIA.com:
What do you want people to “get or learn” as a result of reading
your articles.
Robert Littal:
I am like Morpheus in The Matrix; my main goal is to get people
to open their eyes to what is really going on in the world of
sports. The mainstream sports media are like Agent Smith in the
fact they have created this mythical world where they dictate
who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, who we should
cheer for and who we should boo against and who we should hate
and who we should love. One by one I am taking people out of
The Matrix and into the reality of sports. The reality
sometimes isn’t pretty but it is the truth. When I write an
article it is not to try to convince people to agree with me, it
is to get people to at least open up their minds to a different
perspective that will lead to discussions. I am not a shock
jock who is just going to say things to stir up the pot if I
write about something I am going to have logical reasons for it.
I am unlocking minds one reader at a time.

BMIA.com:
What’s the best thing about being Robert Littal?
Robert Littal:
If you haven’t noticed by now I am big on using analogies and
metaphors to describe how I feel about things I think it is a
part of the rapper that is still inside of me. But right now I
feel like Jay Z after he dropped “Reasonable Doubt.”
What you are getting right now is the rawest form of writing
from me because I have no limitations and I have no fear. I am
the boss, so at this point I have the freedom to do whatever I
like. It is that freedom that is the best thing about being me
right now. I think there are many in the media that would
probably like to speak their minds the way I do, but they can’t
because they are puppets to the corporate office. If the big
man upstairs says to go do an interview with Ray Lewis
and be sure to kiss his ass while you are doing it that is what
you have to do. Seeing that I am the big man upstairs I don’t
have that problem.
In a little over a year I have taken a site that was getting
maybe 100 hits a day to where we are on pace for over 300,000
unique hits and over 1 million page views in July. We are
making an impact; we are making a difference which was my goal
from the beginning. Now the goal is from going from “Reasonable
Doubt” to President of Def Jam if you feel what I am saying.
BMIA.com:
I know what you’re saying. Who do you admire?
Robert Littal:
You know who I admire, I admire single parents. Doesn’t matter
if they are single moms or dads it is difficult to raise a child
and having to do it alone you have to be a real special person.
I was fortunate enough to have my Dad in my life, but for the
majority of my life he has lived out of state and my mom and
grandmothers raised me. I only understood how much they
sacrificed for me when I got older. I wouldn’t be half the
person I am without them. I am not big on idolizing
celebrities; I admire everyday people who are out there doing
things that don’t get recognize.
BMIA.com:
What’s the biggest challenges facing the black athlete?
Robert Littal:
The biggest challenge for the black athlete is an understanding
whether they like it or not that are the role models for kids.
White kids, black kids, Latino kids it doesn’t matter they are
shaping young minds. I am proponent of parents being the role
models for their kids, but the reality is such that athletes,
musicians and actors are who these kids are looking up to. What
that means is that these black athletes have a tremendous
opportunity to make a difference in these kids’ lives. So
instead of going on MTV Cribs and basically saying happiness is
gauged on how many pools you have in your back yard, how about
going to a school and preach how you are blessed to have so much
because you can shoot a basketball or run on the football.
Explain to kids how they admire doctors, teachers, lawyers,
architects, etc etc for the hard work they do. Explain that the
only way out of the hood isn’t a “wicked jump shot or slanging
crack rock” as Biggie once rhymed.
BMIA.com:
How can people reading this article support you?
Robert Littal:
The best way to support me is keep coming to the site, keep
disagreeing with me, keep arguing about my points, keep telling
people about
www.blacksportsonline.com
and keep letting people know that if they are interested in the
reality of sports this is the place to be.
Remember than analogy about me feeling like
Jay Z after
he did “Reasonable Doubt” I am now ready to drop “In My Lifetime
Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life”. It is time to branch out and reach a
bigger and wider audience and anyone who is interested in
helping me do that I will always have my ear out to listen.
As for final words, I definitely want to thank Black Men in
America.com for an opportunity to tell my story. I would also
like to thank all the people who have made BSO such a huge
success because I could not have done it without each and every
one of you. This is just the beginning, I am not stopping now,
and I am hungry and motivated to be the top in the profession.
Right now we are still David in our fight with Goliath, but as
Pimp C of UGK once said “I have a pocket full of stones” and I
am ready to go to work. I will continue to bring the truth the
question as it has been from the beginning is “Can You Handle
It?”
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