A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

December 17th, Saturday... OMG! As if things were not bad enough, the worse has settled in! The Los Angeles Lakers lost out on Chris Paul (Thank you David Stern), lost their award winning 6th man Lamar Odom and received nothing in return, and now their Michael Jordan clone Kobe Bryant is getting divorced from his wife of 10 1/2 years! I'll tell you, when it rains (in Cali) it pours! Things were looking pretty good when the lockout ended but now dark clouds loom.
How much can the Lakers take? The tried to rid themselves of Pau Gasol, didn't happen. Phil Jackson is gone and so is the infamous Triangle Offense Kobe thrived in. Mike Brown is the new coach (post LeBron James/Cleveland Cavaliers). Who knows what that means? Kobe's pissed off! The Lakers got swept by the Dallas Mavericks and now have sent Odom there...
Truth be told, I was never a fan of the Lakers so it might be fun to watch them sink slowly into the abyss of the NBA. Time for new meat to talk about!
"This gone be good!"

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

December 7th, Wednesday... LeBron James has come out of the closet! No, he is not gay... Never was. He is now tired of playing the "villain" role in the NBA. You see, LeBron was vilified when he left Cleveland and joined the Miami Heat of the NBA. There was this contrived drama... He made people wait for his decision because he became a free agent. He's from Ohio so the owner of the cavaliers and the fan base felt betrayed, blah, blah, blah...
Now he has had time to reflect and he is tired of being in the "villain" role. Here is what bothers me about this BS! Be the professional that you have achieved to be. Stop playing roles and play the game! You have always been a spoiled punk-ass! Maintain the role. You are paid! No one will disrespect you because of it. You will be worshipped by the pathetic masses that have nothing else to do with their time as usual. All you have to do is play the game and keep your mouth shut!
Every time athletes become false profits, they fail in some respect. You cannot have it both ways. be the "superstar in your chosen profession OR heed the call and become a pontificator and procrastinator and call it a day! Your choice. (Message: Professional sports pay better unless you become a pastor of a mega church!)

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

July 9th, Thursday/ In the words of the rap group, Public Enemy, "Don't believe the hype!" Here is where those words apply... "King" James (basketball global icon LeBron James)apparently has used his (perceived) royal influence to disallow the viewing public to bear "witness" to him being "posterized" in a pick up game at the Skills Academy in Ohio, somewhere. It has been reported that a sophomore basketball player from Xavier University did the deed on LeBron and the "King" ordered his NIKE henchmen to confiscate the tape. BOOOOO!
Now, that particular incident does not make LeBron the bad guy. That opinion was solidified a while back when The Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals when LeBron would not shake his fellow Olympian, Dwight Howard's hand to congratulate him. Getting dunked on is just the exclamation point!
Whatever is being written about LeBron (even this) is just bullshit. He is, more than likely, nothing like what is being said about him. He has been spoiled long ago when the vipers got their hands on him, early. To have expectations that he is so loving and caring to the basketball viewing public is a knock on the viewing public, not "King" James. Those who bear "witness" hold out all hope that LeBron is a great guy and maybe he is. He is just not that to John Q Public. His money is not directly coming from the fans. I'm sure, if you ask him, he will tell you that. The public's deal with LeBron is a cash and carry deal. You pay to see him play and he plays. End of story. There will be no visits to your neighborhood and dinner at your house. He will not play with your children... When told, he will show up at an organized event, sign autographs, have light chit-chat with you then move on to the next scheduled appearance. "King" James is not the king! Hell, he doesn't even have the ring to prove it!

CRAP/ My Journal by Al Brathway

June 8th, Friday/ Last night I watched the first game of the NBA Finals. It was a good game... Both teams played hard! LeBron James did not fair too well against the Spurs defense but I imagine that he will figure it out during the course of the series. Having said that, I think the Spurs will win the series because they are my team. I just don't understand why they don't get the attention they deserve?/ So, I'm sitting there, watching, and I had this eerie feeling come over me. I was starting to identify with the Spurs in some zen like fashion. It felt like there was a ghost in the room with a Spurs jersey on or something. Everytime the Spurs had the ball on offense or they did something great on defense, I felt this... this something pass by me or go through me or hover around me. At first I thought it was just a draft in the room but as time went on the feeling was more pronounced. It wasn't cold or hot... It was just... There! And it felt soooo gooood too! I felt myself getting real happy... Giddy in fact!/ So I'm watching the game and, now, I'm starting to reflect on my high school days when I played basketball. I remembered being on a predominately white team, yet I was the best freethrow shooter. Here I am, 6'3, 185lbs., playing forward, averaging 15pts. and 10 rebounds a game, taking all kinds of punishment from the opposing team's power forward... Going to the foul line and sinking foul shot after foul shot after foul shot at an 85% clip... My memory is getting more and more vivid. I'm starting to remember all kinds of things I've done that helped the team win... Then, all of a sudden, things started to go BLACK! I wasn't feeling so "giddy" anymore. Tears started to stream down my face... The game ended and the Spurs won but I wasn't feeling all that great anymore. I was having the same feelings I had when I played high school basketball. I was instrumental in winning games for the team but... I didn't feel like "the man!" And then it hit me... It was my moment of truth. I started to understand why I identified with the Spurs so much! It wasn't because they won or Tim Duncan or the coach or any of that type of shit. I liked the Spurs because, like them, I was great and hardly received any recognition too, and now I'm sitting there, watching, and being reminded about how my sorry and painful adolescent life unfolded!/ CRAP!