I’d Draft Olajuwon Over Jordan

Around 7:30pm today Blake Griffin will become the first overall draft pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. That is probably the only certainty about today’s draft. Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio and a few others are the only potential NBA’ers that the common fan has heard of prior to today.

This will shape up nothing like the 1984 NBA Draft. That batch of players gave the world names like John Stockton, the Round Mound of Rebound aka Sir Charles Barkley and the best player ever to lace’em up, His Airness himself, Michael Jordan. And in a talent pool that so deep, The man that was taken first overall was Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.

There are many factors and metrics that teams use to make their decision in the present moment, but even in hindsight, and in the face of Michael Jordan and the infamous Sam Bowie, I, too, would make the same choice that the Houston Rockets did.
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Culture Wars

I did not watch Black in America because I do not need a documentary to show me what that experience is like. If CNN would like to help me out they can greenlight a project called, Movin’ On Up: Black Folks from Meager Upbringings Making it Big in America.

Recently, I wanted to take steps towards movin’ on up, so I went to the mall to purchase some clothes that I felt a 24-year old (25 in a few weeks) should be wearing. At the end of hours of shopping I walked back to my car toting bags from “Aeropostle,” “Gap” and stores of that ilk.

I left the mall feeling like a sell-out.

Explanation of the pose: I was in the middle of saying, “I don’t know how to pose in a pink shirt,” when Sigel snapped the picture.
(Don’t worry, I left the mall with nothing you see, or can’t see, in this picture)

Can black people separate them self from hip hop/urban culture while remaining a part of black culture?
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Actor Jon Voight Calls the President a False Prophet

I was watching CNN yesterday when I saw a video clip of actor Jon Voight voicing his opinion about President Barack Obama. In this country built on the perception of free speech and political freedom Voight has done nothing wrong. I just think that he put his foot in his mouth over and over again.

Let me count the ways…
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“Don’t he know I’m Ron Artest?”

Update: Kobe was given a slap on the wrist flagrant 1 for elbowing Ron Artest. He will not miss any game time. Derek Fisher is suspended for game three.

If you haven’t seen the craziness that went down in game 2 make sure you watch that video.But let’s talk about what will or will not happen. Let’s start with the Golden child of the league.

Kobe is the sneakiest dirty player in the league.  He got away with elbowing Shane Battier in game 1 (Artest addresses this in the next video), and he elbowed Artest in the th’oat and managed to get Artest thrown out.  Dwight Howard elbowed someone and he got a one-game suspension. Do you think Bryant will get the same treatment? Probably not!  Kobe is the money maker of the league and they cannot even fathom a night of Laker basketball without him.  AT MOST Kobe MIGHT get a fine for about $15,000.  This guy can do whatever he wants and get away with it look at how much he walks, carries and fouls.

His teammate Derek Fisher wins the prize for the Old School Move of the Night. He brought Scola back to the days where concussions were simply a part of playoff basketball. Now, if you judge what he did by today’s NBA standards then the officials did the correct thing by ejecting him from the game but he SHOULD NOT face anymore punishment.

If I were in charge of this, I would give D-Fish a slap on the back, tell him “good move” and keep it rolling.  But NBA players these days are bigger punks than Chris Brown.

And now for my favorite part of the show… my main man Ron Artest.

Let me preface this with the a little lesson as to where the “91″ comes from in Landis91.

That being said… Artest reminds me of Dennis Rodman. This is the most psychological player in the game today. He knows how to get under people’s skin, and don’t let Kobay fool you, he would like nothing more than to haul off and give it to Ron-Ron.

Sadly, I feel that, much like The Worm, Artest has dug his own grave and now he is laying in it. He got judo-chopped in the neck and did not retaliate. What he did was go back to the Golden Child and show him that when Artest looks in the mirror he sees pride, he sees power, he sees a bad ass mutha that don’t take no crap of nobody! The refs thought Artest was trying to start trouble so they T’ed him up.

His second tech was the worst part, though. Every Kobe lover that watched the whole thing should agree with me. After being split up, Artest reenacted Kobe elbowing him, his hand just HAPPEND to be around his neck and it looked like he pretended to threaten to slit Bryant’s throat. Now, come on people… Artest is a head case, but he isn’t THAT stupid. Paul Pierce throwing up Blood signs thinks it would be stupid to threaten someone’s life on the court. The referee didn’t see it that way and they sent Artest to the showers. Lucky for us, he wasn’t done giving the media gems.

All that is left to say is this…
The self proclaimed Kobe Stopper Hater in me cannot WAIT for game 3 to roll around because it will be a fun time in Houston.

My solution to all of this would be to get ex basketball players to officiate the game.  It’s obvious that these old guys don’t understand the passion that comes along with the game.  And they must really not understand that the levels get turned up about 300 notches when it’s in the post season.

A little jabber-jawing is healthy for the game and it brings the best out of every player.  Kobe SHOULD NOT have gotten T’ed up for telling Shane Battier that he can’t guard him.  It’s the truth. What’s so bad about saying that?  If anything, it should motivate Mr. Hotdog Neck to step his defense up and stop trying to face-guard 24 on a jump shot.  OBVIOUSLY Kobe doesn’t have to see the rim when he’s shooting.  Try blocking the ball instead of his eyes.

Kobe wasn’t afraid of Artest when they were nose to nose.  If the officials didn’t break that up, things would have been OFF THE HOOK for the rest of the game.  Kobe would have carved up the Rockets like the side of Artest’s head, and 96 would have continued to talk crap while the number next to “LAL” would continue to soar.  That’s the kind of basketball I love. When two sides put all of their anger, passion and strength into a game it ensures that the best man wins.

Unfortunately, the league doesn’t want the best side to win.  They want a Kobe/LeBron final.

Have Fun.
13.

3 Mistakes Men Make Approaching Woman

Peep Ca(n)non From Left Field for more like this.

Ok so boom, like… I’m at the bar, right, I’m at the club (I love using that to kick off a post). When I order a drink I just get service from whoever is quickest to get to me. On this evening there were are two bartenders: one white male and one black female.

What made it worse was that at one point I didn’t have anymore singles so I left the guy four quarters. I’m sure he wanted to pelt me in the back of my bald head with every one of them.

Now, before you start saying that I’m just trying to impress her with my ballerific $2 tips, I am 90 percent sure that she doesn’t even like dudes which doesn’t hamper my love for Queen Latifah. One of my girl friends has a girlfriend, but whenever we hang out at this spot her and this same bartender ALWAYS hit it off and she gets free drinks and such.

This perplexes me even more because it’s not like I think I’m going to get anything out of tipping her more. In fact, I’m just wasting money.

Tell me why dudes order the most ballinest drink when they are in earshot of an attractive female? Do you think she’s going to run up to you and “jump on the bike arm” as Niggz would say? Negative.

Why do guys think that females are attracted to their cars. My brother tells me about this guy that sits in the parking lot at school and revs his engine every time an attractive female walks by. Not only is that dumb because of high gas prices and a low economy, but no female will actually care about your car.

The last thing I hate to see the fellas do is to pretend they are more sophisticated than they actually are. I do a lot of people watching and often times I hear a guy talk about how he listens to jazz or that his taste in music is eclectic, or sometimes he writes poetry. The worst is when he says, “I want to get into business.”

Don’t fake the funk.

And if you have to pretend to be something you’re not, she is not worth it or you two aren’t compatible anyway.

Oh, and take off those stupid sun glasses. It’s night time AND we’re inside.

Have Fun.
13.

Padded Preview

Joe Budden – Padded Room
4.5/5

The only reason I gave this a 4.5 is because I can’t wrap my mind around the concept of a perfect album. But this one is pretty darn close. There are ZERO skipable tracks on Padded Room and no filler songs.

For those that listen to individual songs, everyone one is good on its own.  And for those like me, that enjoy an album as a whole, we can’t ask for anything more than what Joe Budden has given us.

Right from the jump, Joe Budden appeals to every type of listener with the opening track, Now I Lay. The upbeat track starts out with a familiar line and uses that to springboard the listener into the depths of the mind of a man gone crazy.
NOTE: This song sums up the whole album in three and a half minutes.

While he has the casual fan hooked he throws a club-sounding track, The Future, at them with The Game on it. But if real Budden fans listen you just might be able to see where he is going with it. The song is cool enough to play wherever you normally hear catchy music, but it does not sound out of place in the context of the album.

If I Gotta Go prepares the listener for the emotional ride they are about to be faced with. Many questions and concerned about the reality of life are brought up.  You get a good idea of the types of things that Joey struggles with when the lights go out and nothing can be heard but your own thoughts.

As the BPMs are increased on the Scarface-sounding Don’t Make Me (the movie, not the rapper), you realize that death and bad luck are just around the corner and that can work the nerves of any man, no matter how sane he is.

Those that have been following JB need no introduction to Blood on the Wall. For those that don’t know, think about an introspective diss record over a beat from DMX’s “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.”

In my first three listens, In My Sleep is my favorite song.  When I listened to the leak I didn’t even like it, but I accidentally left the zshare on loop and walked away.  When I came back I forgot what I was listening to and it made all of the nonsense make perfect sense. For example…
“Stuck in a room with an elephant/ Opened my closet and dapped up my skeleton/”

Something else that doesn’t make a lot of sense is continuing to think about how your Exxxes have impacted you. But is it really them, or does the problem come from within? Budden ponders this question in a style that only he  can.

No matter who or what the problem is, a lot of times, when you look back on the situation you often say the same thing: I Couldn’t Help It.  But sometimes good things come out of bad situations.

Adrenaline is the rock-influenced culmination of all of these thoughts combined with an insane call-to-action. And, yes, Regular Joe SINGS on the hook.

Much like track 2, Happy Holidays is a sonically average song with a message underneath. The meaning behind this song is something that many people can identify with. So make sure it doesn’t go over your head.

Remember how JB’s first album had about three sounds woven into one album? It would skip from on to the next, all the while retaining integrity. The transition from the previous track to Don’t Tell is just like that. This song is a lot like a song on MM3.  The title doesn’t immediately come to mind, but if you like the Mood Muzik series you will DEFINITELY enjoy this song.

As things get out of hand in this story, it’s easier to let your fate be in the hands of someone else.  That’s why Joseph said he needs an Angel in My Life.

But keep in mind, angels are just the carriers for the Big Guy. So when they drop Joe of in front of God himself, Joey says some real shit to the Man Upstairs in the final song Pray for Me.

MAKE SURE YOU BUY THIS ALBUM! If you don’t, it just may be another decade before we get another album from this man.

Have Fun.
13

NY Post Calls Obama A Monkey

I guess you won’t be hearing “My President is Black” playing anywhere near the headquarters of the New York Post.

New York’s daily tabloid periodical ran this cartoon in today’s issue.  Did they really think this would fly?  With all of the steps something goes through before hitting the shelf, did no one see this cartoon as offensive?  Not one editor on staff decided to put the kibosh on this drawing?

I understand that tabloids feed off of controversy and go for shock value, but come on.  Two white cops shoot down a chimpanzee and analogize him with Barack Obama?  Come on, homie.

I’m sure the fictional chimp did not pose a real threat.

 

Sean Delona was the creator of this drivel and it was published by the New York Post.

Does the New York Post have nothing else to comment on besides the race of our president? The key word in that last sentence was “our.” Just because he doesn’t look like you does not mean you have the right to make comments like this.