A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Saturday, July 26th... I watched the American Olympic basketball team play Canada last night and I got to thinking... They keep making a big deal about who is on the squad and how big a marquee player that player is for his respective NBA team. Then I realized that each player is one of the main players on the offensive side of the ball. That's cool... Gotta have fire power! But the problem for the Olympic team, over the years, has never been on the offensive end. The problem has always been the defense! Then I got to thinking... The NBA always recognizes 15 players at the end of the season for their defense... And... None of the 15 players recognized are on the Olympic team (I don't think. My bad, Kobe is on the team!). Where is Bruce Bowens? Where is Tim Duncan of KG? Okay, they don't have to play if they don't want to but come on! Why are we being forced to believe that a leopard is going to change its spots? Kobe Bryant is the only player that WANTS to play defense. Last time I checked the big men had a problem playing defense on the perimeter (and ALL of the Euros can SHOOT! All of them!)There is definitely a problem with the basketball terminology. There is no pick and roll in the Euro game... It's pick and flare and shoot the jumper! Our players seem to wait for the roll part and it hardly ever happens. Maybe it's the widened lane that eliminates low post play but whatever it is, the Americans need a basketball shrink as well as a good coach on the bench./ It looks like the NBA is responsible for the latest malfunction. They do not market defense, therefore it is not really encouraged to play and the style of play is dummied down to fit into the frame work of the time constraints. 24 seconds per possession is not a lot of time to get a shot off, so forget the fundamentals and shoot off the wrong foot; and, if you are a 2 or 3 position player, stay out of the 4 or 5 position to get your shot and vise-versa. If Michael Jordan or Allen Iverson or whomever is designated to handle the ball 98% of the time, is playing, make sure he gets to shoot 9 for 30 a night! Movement of the ball and the players is only encouraged until the designated shooter gets the ball... Then it's "get your ass out of the way and let him do his thing because we are paying him 1 million dollars a minute!"/ Hey, trust me, I get it! "It is what it is!" Just stop trying to feed me this BS of offense heals all basketball wounds. Offense fades from one minute to the next in a basketball game... But defense? Defense is nothing but hard work and hard work is the American way! If you don't believe me, ask all the the hard working people that work for minimum wage! (And also ask them how tired they are, especially when they get their check at the end of every 2 week pay period! It's damn sure not 1 million dollars a minute!)

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Friday, July 25th... I just read an article about Nancy Lieberman, the 50 year old Hall of Famer, who was signed to a seven game contract with the Detroit Shock in the WNBA. This transaction is the result of the big brawl that took place the other night when players were fined and suspended. Okay, I get that. The Shock needed a player, she was available, it makes a good story... whatever. What I don't get is what is the big deal about her throwing 2 stinking assists (okay one was a "no look" pass!)in a loss? I mean there was a big ass article about her! I wonder what would have been said if the Shock won the game? They lost the game! They lost! I could see if the no look pass was thrown as time was running out and the game was won at the buzzer! I could get with that... But they lost! Or, it would have been a big deal if she was a leg amputee and had a prothesis and threw a no look pass to win the game at the buzzer. Or, what if she had no arms and threw the pass? Or, what if she could telepathically throw passes, or, swallow a basketball and shoot it out of her ass for a pass to win the game at the buzzer? Now that would be a big deal!

Passing Judgment/ A Commentary by Al Brathway

So I'm watching TV today (I'm off from work for reasons I cannot explain) and I'm flipping channels... I have to say BRAVO to the show Shear Genius! I have seen the show from the beginning of this season and I have to say that this show has set race relations back quite a few hundred years. Now, I'm not saying the show is rigged but tell me why a brother is picked to work on white folks hair, with the understanding that the task is going to be real difficult for him, and then cut his ass out in the first episode like the removal of an extension? Okay, he was cocky... Maybe too cocky but so is the big-headed gay dude with the glasses and the bad attitude. (So far he's done nothing but criticize everybody else and win one challenge!) What are they doing with him? Is he gonna get his own show or will he return on another hair show to criticize other hair stylists? The score could be evened up somewhat if they brought the brother back and let him criticize other people. (I can hear him now..."If you really want a challenge, try cuttin' a sista's hair without fuckin' it up and her goin' postal on yo' ass!") I don't know... I just feel like even TV does not want Blacks to watch it. I mean, who's reality is a "reality" show created for? Sure I am exaggerating (a little) but c'mon. Seriously, am I supposed to find that real estate dude on "Flipping Out" compelling? Neurotic, yes... Silly, for sure... But not compelling... (Wait a minute, he does kind of compel me to want to choke his scrawny neck!) "Housewives of Orange County?" They don't even live like that! And the New York version? Please!!! I guess if I want "reality" on TV I should go back to watching network news. At least I will see more brothers... (Their heads will be down and they will be handcuffed but I will recognize them...)

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Thursday, July 24th... Last night I watched a documentary CNN did called "Black In America" and I wondered, "why is Black life in America so fucked up?" Why did Blacks have to be schlepped on a boat from Africa to live in this bullshit? Whose bright idea was that? (Well, we know whose idea it was!) It's like it does not matter if you have money, mean and opportunity or if you are broke as hell with no place to go, the quality of life for Blacks is a pain in the ass! Maybe it's me but I find it strange that the color of someones skin can create such a prejudice, and, yet there is this mad rush to tan at every opportunity. Is it jealousy and payback for said jealousy? I mean, if there is a GOD in Heaven and He?/She?/Whatever? and there is a devoted belief to said GOD,and the belief that GOD created the Earth, shouldn't ones discontent be directed to the Creator and not a race of people? I don't get it! I guess that's why politics was created. A system had to be in place to lay the blame on when shit goes down. Politics is like the invisible man that takes the heat for said screw up yet nothing can be done about the screw up because you have to be able to prove who did it; but, it's not clear who is guilty. And, it's justified because it's just the politics of it! I gotta tell ya, my hat is off to the fore fathers who thought this shit up. How cool was it to be able to enslave a race of people, ship them to a foreign land, incarcerate them, be married and also have a concubine, have bucknaked sex with your slave whenever you feel like it in front of your wife, get your frustrations off (when your wife would not give it to you because you had bucknaked sex with your slave in front of her) by beating the crap out of your male slaves, and blame the whole twisted mindset on the politics of the times! AND, the psychological damage that resulted from such behavior has had a lasting effect from generation to generation of Blacks... WOW! AND...AND... It's not getting any better and won't get any better. If there is an "after life," is the same system in place for a Black's soul to endure the same treatment all over again? Is there such a thing as "Eternal Torture?" I mean, will my soul be able to get a one bedroom apartment for $700.00 a month or will gentification set in and my soul will be tossed out on its ass... Kicked to the curb as it were? Oy!

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Wednesday, July 23rd... I was writing to a friend and I was telling her that I'm thinking about going into advertising. My plan is to use the advertising game to get into the movie business. I'm gonna move to Cali and get a job wearing a sandwich board for a fast food restaurant like El Pollo Loco while looking for acting jobs by signing up as an "extra." I could play roles like being an old vagabond. As I work my way up the food chain, I would get to meet some shady producer, whose office is on Hollywood Blvd somewhere. Yeah... I can see it now! It would be a rags to riches story that would add to the already interesting chapters that is my life! Then, I would pitch my blockbuster idea! Picture this...(Put your hands up and make a frame with your thumbs and pointer fingers!)A Rupal type character, on crack, in a movie titled Transvestites: Fact or Fiction... (It could be a documentary!) A griping tale of a schitzo tranny finding both his/her inner chi at the exact same time and the conflicts it causes him/her. (By conflict I mean something like going into a men's room, dressed beautifully in a white dress, at a public place and using the urinal while suddenly being attacked by Mother Nature w/out having a tampon to fit into a huge phallic penis!) The camera would capture every moment in his/her life... Where he/ she eats, sleeps, hangs out. His/her friends... The parties, the pitfalls... His/her sex life! Imagine how awkward his/her sex life would be? I would interview and find out what his/her family thought about his/her sex life? I would interview former Johns... I would interview his high school sweetheart and find out what she thought of his lifestyle and if there were any signs of his/her inner conflicts back in the day. Things like if they fought over makeup or clothing! Imagine seeing this in an IMAX theatre! His/her living condition when the bottom falls out. Imagine the squaler...the violence... What do you think? A little too John Waters?

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Tuesday, July 22nd... Man! I have to apologize. I have been on a world wind tour of NY/NJ and now I am back at my desk to share the experience. NY was great! Between the gunfire and the pitbulls, Brooklyn was as lively as always... (I walked around when it was deemed safe!)I enjoyed the sights and sounds of my old neighborhood. The different dialects of the Caribbean fill the air as the arguments continue on the street corners all hours of the day. I love the smell of meat patties and jerk chicken as the combination penetrate my nose and head straight for my brain, allowing me to envision what it must be like to live on an island other than Staten (Island). The women are scantily dressed and walking around freely as if danger is on vacation. My head snaps around as though I am watching a tennis match. I also got a kick out of watching jobless 18 year olds drive around in 6 Series Beemers and Escalades and wonder how they made that happen(?). I went to Manhattan to take in the sights. It always amazes me to see the different hustles people come up with. There is an actual Mariochi (Is that spelled right?) Band that rides the Q train, playing their music as subway riders fill their ten gallon cowboy hats with change as they stroll through the cars. (Ahh, only in New York... and Mexico!) I'm going back up there next week. I want to monitor the progress of the gentrification movement taking place. Not to worry, my passport is current in case I have to move back to Africa by order of the NBA! (The Nets are moving to Brooklyn and the rents are going up!