Blought #31: The Lonely Soccer Fan

Whether you call it the world’s game, football, futbol, or simply soccer; one thing stands true. It is a bit lonely being an American soccer fan. The exchanges of goals and saves accompanied by the prideful chants and harmonious cheers of any given club or country's supporters are only matched by those of drunken college American football fans on Saturday afternoon.

I love soccer. Growing up Black in America during the 90’s soccer had no presence. On television even the NHL got more coverage. During the summer of 2006 I had just finished my freshman year of high school. I was laying around the house bored out of my mind when I decided to tune in to a soccer game. It was the Group E matchup between the US and Italy.

America drew 1-1 with Italy that game later failing to make the knockout round of 16. Italy later went on to claim the championship. That day soccer left two impression on me. The first one was seeing Brian McBride’s face covered in blood after a contested header. I remember thinking “Wow, soccer is a lot more physical than I thought.” The second was “I have a new sport to follow.”

'A man on a Mission with his Skateboard' by Brendan Whitt

Ja' Ovvani Garrison

What is passion and how can it contribute to a cause? As America frantically tries to figure out how to enrich and cultivate those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder to keep the country globally competitive, there are hidden gems that are already doing the necessary work to uplift their communities. Ja’Ovvoni Garrison is a 26 year old skater from Cleveland who is carving out his own mold to make things happen.

Ja’Ovvoni started skating around the age of 12 when his mother bought him a cheap Walmart skateboard. Ja’Ovvoni skated with his friends, watched skaters like Rodney Mullen and Kareem Campbell, and frequently played a demo of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater which he had gotten with a pizza from Pizza Hut.

By 16 Ja’Ovvoni had finally gotten his first real deck. “It was really just my grind to learn.” he said when asked what has kept him on a board all of this time. He basked in the challenges that life and skating presented to him. “My aunt inspired me to make a plan for it.”

The sun was shining radiantly over the Cle. I waited anxiously for Ja’Ovvoni to call and tell me that he was out side. We got in his car and talked for a bit as he checked and sent emails. I asked him some follow up questions about Skaters Next Door and Skate RTA, his urban apparel line, before we pulled off to go pick up his friend from work.

Blought #29: What the 2016 Playoffs Mean to Certain Legacies

Courtesy of ESPN

The Warriors have broken the Bull’s 72-10 record by going 73-9, Kobe Bryant, one of the games all-time greats has finally called it quits and the Playoffs are finally here. Last year’s playoffs seemed to be lacking its usual excitement. The East fielded a sub par list of playoff contenders, half of which missed this year’s playoffs.

The 2014 NBA Playoffs also saw a plethora of Superstars (Kobe, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh and Kyrie Irving among a few others) who either missed the entire season or significant time during the regular season and\or playoffs. In 2014 the playoffs lasted 89 games and saw 109 man games missed. The 2015 playoffs lasted 78 games with a total of 182 man games missed.

LeBron and the Cavs (or what was left of them after Kevin Love and Kyrie went down with season ending injuries in the playoffs) fought valiantly against the budding legend of the Splash Bros., Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors. After a somewhat epic Finals that lasted six games, Golden State captured their second title in the Bay (the franchise also won two titles as the Philadelphia Warriors in 1947 and 1956).

Blought #25: Let Greats be Great!

Last week Le Bron joined NBA Legend Oscar Robertson as the only two players to be ranked in the top 25 in both assists and points all-time. While this is a pretty amazing feat, the story to me isn’t about what Brondo did but rather what he said. Bron made it clear he didn’t want to be compared to Big-O, as we basketball fans know him by.

Le Bron issued a statement after the game saying "I think what we get caught up in, in our league too much, is trying to compare greats to greats, instead of just accepting and acknowledging and saying, 'Wow, these are just great players,'" (Courtesy of Dave Mc Menamin, ESPN). I completely agree.

Cavs Offer Relief for Browns Fans by Giovanni Castelli

The Browns are once again stinking up the joint with a 2-5 record, a 36-year old journeyman starting at the most important position in the NFL while continuing to be a perennial loser since their return in 1999. Lucky for us, the Cavs‬ are back which for Cleveland sports fans is a good thing. They are a really good team, boast the best player in the world and are once again favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

Let's just say the end of October each year has come to signify the end of Browns season and the beginning of Cavs season due to the Browns constant futility on and off the field. Today when asked about the QB situation I heard Mike Pettine say: "If you don't laugh you cry." Really?! I say that when something utterly BLOWS!! Which in my mind means Pettine knows his QB's BLOW!!

Blought #2 'Mike and Us 90's Babies'

In recognition of His Airness’ upcoming 50th birthday, I've decided to share my thoughts on his impact of American culture in the eyes of a 90’s baby (I’m old enough to be nostalgic now).Other than  Kobe and Lebron most of us 90’s kids don’t have much memory of any other player who has dominated the game of basketball. I could bring up Shaq or Dirk but Kobe and Lebron are the only players comparable to MJ. By the time we could begin recollecting any memories of Mike he was past his prime and glory days. He was drafted in ’84, won his first ring a month before I was born, and  retired when I was about six. When you look at Lebron, the guy who has dominated the NBA since I was about twelve, idolized Mike. The guy who most kids looked up to in my generation, idolized the greatest ever. Talk about leaving your mark on the game.

MJ’s legacy isn’t exclusive to the court, but American culture period. One of my favorite movies ever starred Mike himself. In Space Jam, the world’s greatest basketball player was playing alongside Warner Bros. cartoon elite. Mike didn't put on an Oscar winning performance or anything, but watching that movie at five years old was better than an All Star game. The movie was so huge, it even garnered it’s own shoe, the “Space Jam 11’s”

It doesn't matter how much basketball you watch, how many times you’ve seen  Space Jam, or even if you don’t care about the man, the largest impact Jordan has left may be his shoes. His shoe brand has had 28 official player models and a few other models including the Phat and Spizike. Jordan and his shoe has dominated the sneaker culture for almost three decades. That’s a pretty impressive stretch. Kids who have never even seen him play line up for his shoes on those early Saturday mornings (I've been to my share of releases).

What else can you say, the man practically created the endorsement. He endorsed the hot dog you ate, the white t-shirt you spilled mustard on,  and created the shoe that had you wanting to be “like Mike”. Mike has not only left his impact on the game of basketball, but he’s left an impact on American culture as a whole. From my 90’s baby eyes, that impact is pretty big.