Posts Categorized: Sports

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Lakers and Clippers voted to boycott remainder of NBA season

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The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are so emotionally drained over the shooting of an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin that they voted to boycott the remainder of the NBA playoffs.

According to reports, the Lakers and Clippers were the only teams to take such drastic action after Jacob Blake was shot 7 times in the back.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the other teams voted to continue the playoffs. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted, "The Clippers and Lakers voting on perhaps not continuing with the season was considered more of a polling, than a final vote, sources tell ESPN. The resumption of the playoffs remains still up in the air."

NBA insider David Aldridge tweeted, "Told the players’ meeting ended "ugly," per a source, with uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow. The union will be present at the special Board of Governors meeting, per a source." It appears that the games slated for Thursday will be postponed as well. "Discussions on continuing season will extend into tomorrow, sources tell ESPN, but appears unlikely the three playoff games on Thursday will be played. "Everyone is still too emotional," one high-ranking source tells ESPN. "There needs to be more time to come together on this," tweeted Woj.

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Jemele Hill still in her feelings about being demoted to staff writer at ESPN

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Screengrab: Instagram

Jemele Hill still feels some kind of way about losing her highly visible job at ESPN.

On Wednesday, she joined former First Take host Cari Champion in bashing former First Take analyst Skip Bayless.

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Vice TV

The two women were promoting their new TV show, Cari and Jemele: Stick to Sports, on Vice TV. But, judging from Hill's past, it's doubtful she will stick to sports.

Hill, 44, wrote a column for ESPN2 and previously co-host His & Hers with Michael Smith.

She also made regular appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN First Take, Outside the Lines and The Sports Reporters.

But Hill couldn't keep her personal beliefs separate from her profession, which caused problems with the higher ups at ESPN.

During the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Hill was suspended after referencing Adolf Hitler in an article.

But she really irked her superiors on September 11, 2017 when she wrote a series of tweets referring to President Donald Trump as a "white supremacist."

ESPN issued a statement about Hill's comments, saying they "do not represent the position of ESPN. We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate."

Hill apologized after realizing her value as a Black female sportscaster was rapidly shrinking.

"My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light," she said.

A month later, ESPN suspended Hill for two weeks for a "second violation of our social media guidelines".

In January 2018, she was demoted to a writer's position at The Undefeated, ESPN’s website.

In October 2018, The Atlantic announced Hill was joining the magazine as a staff writer.

Hill's dramatic fall from grace was complete.
 

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Seahawks cut rookie who tried to sneak woman dressed as Seahawks player into hotel room

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Kemah Siverand is out of a job. Siverand, an undrafted free agent cornerback out of Oklahoma State, was cut by the team after he attempted to sneak a woman dressed as a player into the team hotel.

According to the NFL Network, the Seahawks caught Siverand on video earlier this week trying to sneak a woman into the hotel disguised in Seahawks gear.

Unfortunately, because of her curves in the wrong places, the disguise didn't fool team security, who busted the 25-year-old rookie.

The Seahawks restrictive safety guidelines prohibits visitors in their hotel rooms during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Clear message on the responsibility everyone has in the NFL’s COVID-19 world: Put the team at risk, suffer the consequences," tweeted Tom Pelissero on Thursday.

The safety protocols include extensive daily Covid-19 testing protocols until at least September 5.

Siverand recently created a Youtube channel to document his rookie experience. The videos have since been deleted.

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NBA Unveils Black Lives Matter Logo On Court

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The NBA unveiled a Black Lives Matter logo on the court at the NBA "bubble" facility at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

The NBA's season is set to restart on July 30, with all players quarantined inside the bubble away from their families and friends. The NBA season was suspended on March 11 after two players tested positive for the coronavirus.

The official @NBA Twitter account shared photos and videos of the logo painted in black letters on the court.

ESPN reporter Malika Andrews posted photos of the player's bench that shows seats spaced evenly 6 feet apart.

The bench spacing made no sense to NBA fans.

"I'm all for precautions but what is the point of socially distanced bench when they’re playing hard and physically on each other for 2 hours and all being tested daily?" tweeted one user.

Another user wrote: "What's the point of spacing out bench chairs if it's a contact sport on the court?"

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NFL’s plan to play national Black anthem before games comes as a surprise to Black people

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Black NFL fans were surprised after the NFL announced it would play the national Black anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing" before the "Star Spangled Banner."

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the hymn became recognized as the national Black anthem in 1920. But it was popularized by AARP singer Beyonce who performed it at Coachella in 2018.

Chris Conley of the Jacksonville Jaguars took to Twitter to explain the song is a rallying cry for Blacks from the Jim Crow era.

"For those who aren't familiar with it, this song seeks to remind us of our past as a country and to strive to be better. It speaks to all of us not just black people even tho it became a rallying cry for blacks in the Jim Crow era. It is a beautiful message birthed from pain.

"The league taking the oppurtunity [sic] to play "Lift every voice and sing" (the black national anthem) is sweet. It's a great way to honor those who started this movement year and years ago."

But not everyone sees the need for the NFL to play 2 national anthems before every game.

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino tweeted: "There are many great songs, which mean a lot, to a lot of people, but there is ONLY one National Anthem. The division must stop if there’s any hope for us."

And Texas Senator Ted Cruz called the NFL's plan "asinine," saying "How many national anthems do we have?" and "Is there an Hispanic national anthem?", "An Asian-American national anthem?"

 

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The Number of NFL Teams That Contacted Colin Kaepernick is 0

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Two weeks ago, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said if teams are interested in signing Colin Kaepernick, they would have his blessings.

Earlier this week, Mike Silver of NFL Network said multiple teams have shown interest in signing the free agent quarterback. He said interested teams planned to contact Kaepernick.

So far, that hasn't happened. Despite the encouraging words expressed by former and present NFL players in his favor, not a single team has contacted the social activist.

NBC's Pro Football Talk thinks it's possible that teams are waiting for training camps to reopen after the coronavirus hysteria dies down.

Regardless, it's one thing to express interest to a reporter or to anyone else who, you know, isn't the person in whom a team has interest. It's quite another to actually express the interest to the person in whom the interest exists. If/when that ever happens, that will be significant.

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Roger Goodell Now Says He Would ‘Support’ and ‘Encourage’ An NFL Team Signing Colin Kaepernick

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Last year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell signed rapper Jay Z to a joint partnership with the NFL to produce halftime shows and a social justice campaign.

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Jay-Z and the NFL were reportedly in talks for over a year. But amidst their celebration, Jay Z and Goodell didn't anticipate the firestorm of controversy that would ensue.

Many were upset that Jay-Z didn't bring blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick in on the discussions.

Goodell stayed silent and sidestepped the drama, preferring to let Jay Z defend himself.

Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL for kneeling during the National Anthem.

Now Goodell acknowledges he was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest."

Goodell also said the phrase "Black Lives Matter" and, he said it was a step forward for the league.

During ESPN's "The Return of Sports" special on Monday evening, Goodell was asked about the possibility of Kaepernick returning to the NFL.

"Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it's gonna take a team to make that decision," Goodell said.

He added that teams are free to sign Kapernick if they believe he will contribute to the team. "I welcome that, support a club making that decision, and encourage them to do that," he said.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon questioned Goodell's timing.

"I think we should have been questioning why Roger Goodell didn't say black lives matter when he was born, or when he became commissioner or when he was reelected commissioner... It's not cool that Roger Goodell said it. He should've been saying it."

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Josina Anderson Out at ESPN, Jason Whitlock Shown the Door at Fox Sports

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Two prominent Black sports reporters lost their jobs at major sports networks this week. ESPN sports reporter Josina Anderson parted ways with the sports channel after nearly 10 years, and Jason Whitlock, 53, was shown the door at Fox Sports.

According to reports, Anderson's contract expired with ESPN and it was not renewed. The same goes for Jason Whitlock whose contract expired at Fox Sports.

Anderson, 41, is very active on Twitter.com but she did not acknowledge the news of her departure.

The NY Post reports the network's decision not to renew Anderson's contract was not Covid-19 related.

Whitlock, a controversial and outspoken host, was often criticized for his views about sports personalities such as LeBron James. And Anderson once reported that former NFL player Michael Sam's teammates refused to shower with him because he was in a same-sex relationship.

Whitlock, who hosted "Speak for Yourself" with Marcellus Wiley, slammed James for speaking out about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while running through a majority white neighborhood in south Georgia earlier this year.

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Ex-Bulls player Horace Grant says Michael Jordan ESPN documentary was ’90 percent BS’

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Former Chicago Bulls player Horace Grant says the recent ESPN documentary about Bulls legend Michael Jordan was "90 percent bullsh*t."

Grant says criticism of Jordan was "edited out" of the final cut the "so-called documentary" titled Michael Jordan: The Last Dance.

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Grant (pictured center) won three NBA championships with Jordan (holding trophy) before joining the Orlando Magic. He said the documentary painted Jordan in a better light than reality.

"I would say [the documentary was] BS in terms of the realness of it," Grant told ESPN 1000's Kap podcast.

"It wasn't real -- because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary."

The NBA allowed Jordan to "retire" gracefully following the 1992–93 season after it was reported that Jordan had a gambling problem and bet on his own team.
 

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CeeDee Lamb defends girlfriend after embarrassing incident during the NFL draft

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Social media is buzzing over video of CeeDee Lamb reacting to his girlfriend touching his cell phone during the 2020 NFL draft.

For the first time, the NFL draft was held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A nervous CeeDee is seen sitting on a sofa between his mother and his girlfriend as he awaits the phone call that will change his life.

Photo by NFL via Getty Images

As the minutes tick by, the Oklahoma Sooners star was anxious that he hadn't been drafted by a team.

CeeDee was expected to go early in the first round. Both CeeDee and the Cowboys were surprised to see he was still on the board.

The star wide receiver was so nervous when his phone didn't ring that he nearly yanked his girlfriend's arm off when she reached over to check if his phone battery had died.

It wasn't just his aggressiveness when he snatched the phone, but the way he cut his eyes at her for having the audacity to touch his phone. The debates were so fierce online that CeeDee defended his woman in a tweet:
 


 

Below is another angle that shows his mother's reaction to CeeDee displaying his true colors on national television.