My Adventures While In Italy: Entry 11

Ciao! I would like to welcome everybody once again to the eleventh edition of, “My Adventures While In Italy” here on Bobby’s World at yardbarker.com. I’m going to keep my introduction short, so why don’t we just hop right into it. January has been a very disappointing month for my team. We had been unsuccessful when given great chances to take the next step in our season. Our team just hasn’t been able to win close and meaningful games that we needed, hopefully the month of February will bring better luck. For instance we had not one, or two, but three chances to win just one single game in pool play for eurocup. By not winning this one single game, we didn’t advance out of our pool and to the playoffs. So now were back to having one game a week, that’s something I’m not looking forward too. But our striking out didn’t stop there.

I’m still learning the ropes and finding out certain traditions that go on around here in Italy. So there’s this thing called, “The Italian Cup” (for the Italy league) which is a three-day playoff that represents the half waypoint for the league, top 8 teams play in it. Well once again we were in the same position like the eurocup ordeal. If we would have won the last game (which was at home) before the cut off date to determine the teams we would have qualified for the “Italian Cup”, but we didn’t. Here’s the thing, it’s one thing to be on a bad team and know it. On the other hand, when the team is good but isn’t reaching their potential on a consistent basis that is nerve racking. On a good note, we did win or last game, so were back into the eighth spot. There is only 1 game now separates us from jumping all the way up to third spot, so were still right there with all the bad luck we have had so far. Here’s a video of me with the game-winning dunk that I made over two dudes in the remaining seconds of the match.

I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It

If you haven’t noticed it’s February already, which means its “Black History Month”. I come to recognize and appreciate my black heritage all year in my everyday life. Given the magnitude to promote black history in this particular month, I’m going to my part but with a twist of course. Did you know the celebration of BHM originated in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as "Negro History Week"? He decided on the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Woodson thought these two Americans greatly influenced the lives and social condition for African Americans. In the future, if you ever hear somebody say (I know I heard it sometimes growing up), ”Why is BHM celebrated in February?” You now know the real reason it’s in February and not because it the shortest month of the year.

For the most part, we use this month to celebrate the accomplishments of African Americans in every field from:

Inventions, Heroes

Scholars, Infamous Firsts

Authors, Politics

Entertainers, Scientists

Poets, Important Cities

Activist, Athletes

Involvement in the Civil Rights Movement

So let me ask a very simple question. What does black history month “really” mean to you? I know as a kid my answer would have been entirely different compared to the one I would give today; it should change for good enough reasons. When I was younger I would of probably something like this: BHM means having an assembly at school, putting up posters of important black people in history on the classroom wall (some of my teachers left them up year round), teachers spending some time teaching us about famous blacks from the past and present, watch some documentary’s on PBS in class. For a kid in elementary school, I would think that would be good enough exposure I guess, you don’t want to throw too much at them all at once. I remember when I first watched Roots; I was like seven or eight years old. I was really mad at white people for like the next two days, I never seen of even imagined harsh treatment of black people before that when dealing with the past.

Regardless of what background you came from to arrive in America, it’s vital you understand how the groundwork of America was brought about. We were merely taught only a portion of what we need to know. Millions of Africans ended up in America only because they were kidnapped to fill the needs of a slave economy there and that’s it. For almost 250 years blacks were tortured, enslaved, deprived of educational opportunities, dehumanized, killed and raped for no reason. My ancestors became American by requirement not by choice. BHM also sparks an annual debate about the continued helpfulness and equality of an elected month dedicated to the history of one race. Some argue that BHM is irrelevant because it is a superficial habit now, to some degree I agree with that statement. BHM is a ritual now; the amount of effort people put into the month isn’t the same like maybe it once was. My predecessor’s deserves more than month of importance in the year 2010. To make sure that generations (of all races) in the future will truly understand the significance and meaning of black history and why everything is the way it is today in America.

With all the great intentions Carter G. Woodson had for “Negro History Week” his real purpose was to try and spark a change in American culture and bring black history to the forefront in American history. With time, most people realized that and it from a week into a month, which was progress in the right direction at that time. I’m hoping Americans do not accept (or maybe don’t see the next possible solution that is required) a month as good enough any longer; it is time for the next step. The only clear-cut answer I can come up with is to make it more relevant in every child’s school curriculum. I truly believe required courses should be implemented from sixth grade all the way until completion of high school. I say this because until I went to college (we all know everybody doesn’t want or can’t go to college) and took some classes with the focus on African American studies. I really got an in depth insight on certain matters I didn’t before, it changed my thought process for the good. I know everybody else in America can benefit as well. I was lucky enough to get that knowledge for free; others people had to pay (that’s if they decide to take the class at that) to receive it. The things I learned from those college classes can be taught in middle and high school as, the sooner the better.

I will never entirely realize the struggles my ancestors went through. Since future generations will be even farther apart from those actual events than I am today, the only way we will be able to open their minds and constantly remind them is make black history a priority in school education, a month isn't enough. Black history is just as important as knowing who the first president of the United States is or knowing the Constitution. Check out Morgan Freeman and see how he feels about BHM.

0 Comments

My Adventures While In Italy: Entry 10

Happy New Years everybody and welcome to another edition of, “Bobby’s World” here on yardbarker.com. Coincidently this is my 10th entry and its 2010 so maybe this is a sign for good things to come for me in the near future. With the New Year comes higher expectations, additional goals to be had and accomplished with a sense of starting over and putting a new spin on life from this moment on. I have made many resolutions (all within reaching capabilities I think) and I am looking forward to see how things pan out. I wish everybody the same enthusiasm and luck towards yours, regardless how little or big they are. If you aren't my friend of facebook yet, just click my fb link on this page (down and to the right) and request me. I don't discriminate either, I welcome and accept anybody who wants to be my friend in return.

I was able to go home for 5 days (like I stated in my last post) and spent them in Seattle (3 days) and Los Angeles (2 days). The 5 days I was given was almost in jeopardy of being less than that. My first (of two) flight from Rome to Amsterdam was delayed. We was left on the runway for an hour, I fell asleep before I had a chance to hear the announcement (flight was at 6:30 am so I was pulled an all nighter) so I didn’t realized what was going on until we were getting ready to finally land. My layover in Amsterdam was supposed to be an hour and some change, but with the delay of my first flight the likelihood of me now missing my second flight from Amsterdam to Seattle was a real good possibility. The flight attendant said I would most likely miss my connecting flight. If that was the case, I was going to be really mad, tall, black man in Amsterdam. The odds seemed to be against me, my other plane was boarding at a totally different Terminal and on top of that I had to still go through customs. There’s no telling how long (or short) those lines will be and any given moment, especially depending on how many flights arrived at the same time too. I felt destined for failure, but I was going to try my best and make that flight regardless of the circumstances being thrown in front of me.

So soon as I got off the plane, I began with a speed walk. Couple minutes later, it gradually turned into light jog. Then I became aware that if I was going to really try to make this flight, I better do it right; so then I ran the rest of the way. The lines were short at customs, which was pretty much the deciding factor on if I was going to have to make it on time. Then I did some more running and before you knew it, I made it to my gate. The plane gods helped me out a little because that flight was also delayed. Which kept the doors open a little longer, so I guess it was meant for me to get on that aircraft after all. Only thing was that I just knew my checked in bag wasn’t gong to be quiet so lucky to make it as I was. I had to wait until the following day after I landed to get it, but those were the least of my worries though.

I had so many things I had to do while I was back in the States; it was just a matter if I had enough time to accomplish them all. Just to make sure I didn’t forget anything, I made a “To Do” list while I was on my 10-hour flight headed to America. By the time I landed, my list had about 30 check boxes of random tasks to be marked off. I got everything done for the most part. I didn’t manage to go to all my favorite food places that I wanted but I got to most of them. More importantly I got see my family and especially my little girl. We did so much in the 3 days I had with her, but it does makes leaving her that much more difficult for me and I know for her as well seeing me leave. She doesn’t entirely understand why daddy is always leaving for long periods of time yet (she’s getting better at it though). When I was back this time around, on many occasions Aaliyah did tell me that she misses me and loves me. Which is weird because I would usually have to say it first, but by her doing this lets me know its on her mind and its really there and she’s able to let me know it sincerely. Then just like that, I’m in car leaving the airport in Rome headed back home. My time back home seriously felt like a dream sequence or like I was just daydreaming or something. It came and left me so fast, now I must wait until mid-spring to be able to enjoy my American life again.

I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It

*Birthday Edition*

January 9th was my birthday; I’m officially 26th years old! Everybody knows that birthdays are a great thing to celebrate and be apart of. It shows you pulled off another year on this earth. If your lucky, you can get a party thrown for you, receive some free gifts, drinks, etc. But when you start reaching certain birthday milestones in your life, it makes you start to wonder more than you used to about your future, past and even present. Now that I can finally say in my late 20’s, I wonder even more about random stuff than ever.

I remember when I was a teenager (or even younger than that) and just couldn’t wait to be an adult so I could do whatever I wanted when I wanted, you can rest assure I don’t think that any more. I didn’t realize until later on in life but staying with your parents was like living in a free hotel. You get a free room, food, laundry, transportation, clothes, toys, anything within their means. Those were the days; I remember it all to well, waking up to the smell bacon in the air then getting out of bed and running straight to the table to eat. On occasion when I do go home to visit the parents, I might get one of those every so often but it just isn’t the same anymore.

I used to always imagine (teenage years again) where am I going to be at in my life when I’m 20, 25, 30, 40 and so on. Now that some of those milestones have been checked off, I’m left thinking about my past and missing it extremely. Now I’m thinking about my future at this current age and having a better sense of predicting it a little bit easier because I’m an adult more than ever unlike when I was kid.

There’s nothing like being a young person while in college, I tell you that much. I was fantasizing about missing college back when I was a sophomore in college; that’s how much I knew I loved it and was going to miss it. If I could pick a stage of my life and stay there forever I’m choosing college 85% of the time.

I feel frightened but yet excited because more life changes are just waiting for me around that corner now. Like marriage, more kids, getting a home base to call my own, hopefully soon watching my baby girl grow up on an everyday basis. As you become an adult longer, even more responsibilities continue to get thrown your way and its not like they stop once you get to thirty either, it keep going and going and going. I remember when I was a child and when I heard the mailman coming to the house, I would run to get the mail and bring it to my mom. My mom would say to me, “put it on my dresser in my room, its nothing but bills anyway”. Mom you was right about that one.

Getting older you start to realize your body making changes. I know this time last year I didn’t have 5 new grey (on top of the 3 I already had) hairs on head and on my face that’s for sure. Its also slowly starting to take a little bit longer to lose the soreness and random pains my body likes to get from time to time playing basketball. I know I wasn’t worried about that as much when was in high school and college.

I thought I came up with of some ideas to keep myself feeling young a little bit, but then soon realized those same ideas can back fire on me as well. I figured stay around older people so you always can hear them say, “Man your still young” when I complain about my age. Or the phrase, “I remember when I was your age” when something triggers them to reminisce about their past. Those comments will always make you feel better for a moment. But then again, hanging around them too much might make you feel older as well. Seeing them so much might make you put your self in their shoes sooner than you want to. My other idea was to stay away from younger people because if you’re around them too much you’ll start to think back when you were their age and get depress (Now you’re the older person from my first idea). The flip side of my second idea I came to grasp with was that hanging around younger people doing fun stuff could make you feel younger as well. So I came to the conclusion have friends of all ages, but only hang around them depending on the situation, do both in moderation.

I know being 26 (or any age for that matter) is what you make of it. Age is nothing but a number but sometimes your body doesn’t get that memo, just your brain. I know there’s a guy or girl out there in the world that’s my age and feels older than I do because his or her life is at totally different point compared to mines. I’ll just keep hoping for the day when we the human race will invent something similar to the “fountain of youth” where our bodies don’t grow old and we can be young forever. Is that realistic? Probably not because after awhile that would cause over populating on earth and then men would be force to get vasectomies and women their tubes tied. Then that kills the other part of the human life experience, having and raising kids of your own.

I would like to also wish a Happy birthday to Carly, Hans, James, Lorenzo (facebook friends), Virgin (teammate in Italy), A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys), Dave Matthews (of the Dave Matthew’s band), Jimmy Page, Chad Ocho Cinco, Bob Denver (rip), Richard Nixon (not really) and Steve Harwell (lead singer of the group Smash Mouth). They are also fellow sharers of this lovely day as well. As we as all my other Capricorn's out there.

1 Comment

My Adventures in Italy: Entry 9

Happy holidays to everybody and welcome to “Bobby’s World” here on yardbarker.com. This was the longest break I took between blogs and now I’m back! During that down time, a lot of people were asking me when was I going to write my next entry. So I took that as people are really looking forward to my writings and opinions, thanks. Three weeks isn’t really that long though, I must admit I did catch the lazy writer syndrome. If you think about it, writing is like having homework to do, so lets just say I didn’t feel doing homework. So here is your Christmas blog/present from me to you since I’m pretty sure no more writing until 2010.

Let me start off saying that I get to home go for Christmas! Obviously not as long as I want (5 days) but I can’t complain I guess. The way I have designed my trip is that I’m going to go Seattle to see my baby girl first and then Los Angeles to see my family for Christmas. I decided to do the majority of my Christmas shopping this year online while in Italy. I figured by doing this I get to relax a little more once I’m back instead of running around with my head cut off looking for gifts for everybody. Even with that part done, I still have so much on my “to do list” to get accomplish while I’m back. I cannot explain in words how excited I am to see my baby girl. I haven’t seen her since August and I know she has grown so much and developed her personality even more now, daddy’s coming baby….

If you have been reading my blogs consistently, you know that my team started off on a very slow note. Since then, we have gotten out of that hole we put ourselves in and made it back to .500 record mark. We did win 5 games in a row (combined from both leagues that were in) and I played great during that streak as well. I come to realize even more now that I just got to think, “f@*k it” and go do what I need do while on the court with this team, and as long as we win nobody can say nothing to me. I’m here to help the team win and play good at the same time. At the end of the day, nobody here can stop me but me from doing that. Our overall win streak did come to an end when we lost our last game in Ukraine (Dec. 15) in eurocup play. Even with that lost, when we return from our Christmas break to conclude pool play. With two games left (1 away and 1 home), if we win both we will win our pool and advance to the playoffs, so we control our own destiny with that situation. In the Italy league, we still have won 3 straight wins and feel good going into the break with ¾ of the season still remaining.

Even though I had a short trip to Mariupol, Ukraine; I did find out a couple new things while there. One, it takes a whole day to get there and the same going back. We flew from Rome to Kiev (the main city in Ukraine) because there isn’t no direct flights to that city from Rome and once we landed there we had to get our bags wait 4 hours to check-in again to fly to Mariupol (which was another 2hrs in the air). Once we landed in Mariupol we had to bus another hour and a half to the hotel. I’m starting to think maybe that had something to do with why we loss, too tired from traveling. Second thing, when we were out and about in the city I decided to exchange “only” 20 euros (European money) into the Ukraine local money to maybe buy something for somebody or even myself. I was startled by how much money the lady gave me back. She gave $240 Ukraine dollars back and it wasn’t a mistake either. The money there seems to be very cheap and my teammates and I were discussing how easy it would be to save money if you played there (which I still wouldn’t unless it was ridiculous amount of money). The third thing I found out was how cold it was there. The temperature was close to -10 during the day and dropped to around -17 at night. I would prefer to be way too hot rather than too cold any day of the week. The last thing I found out while there was where most of the worlds fur jackets are located and being worn. Looking at the locals living their lives from the window of our bus, I saw every single woman with some kind of mink, chinchilla, fox, squirrel, beaver, coyote, raccoon, rabbit, muskrat, lamb, otter and weasel fur jacket on. It didn’t stop there; they had every different fur color too. Their fur jacket game is legit there, if I every get one for somebody I definitely know where to go now.

I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It

Now, I would like to discuss (for no specific reason, just a random thought that was going thru my mind and wanted to elaborate on it) what consist for a person to be called a “groupie”. Many people like to toss this word around sometimes to freely (women hating on women, men hating women, and vice versa), while others don’t use it enough in certain cases. First of all, having a crush on a certain celebrity, athlete, certain field a person works in or whatever catches your eye doesn’t exactly make you a groupie. What may makes you one in my eyes is how far of an extreme your willing to go and take to get what you want. A lot of women (some men too but this isn't about us, its for the ladies this time around) don’t know where the fine line is, but this is where I’m going to help out. Another clarification, a groupie that doesn’t mean you’re a hoe either, but you can definitely be both if you allow yourself to be. Some girls know they are a groupies and don’t care. Since they already acknowledged themselves as one (or not one), just continue doing what you’re doing, live life and be happy. This is actually pertaining to those few misinformed women who honestly don’t know or think they fit in that infamous category “jersey chaser”.

Ladies, I know some of you have wondered and end up baffled because you don’t “feel” like a groupie so you think you aren’t one. Well, if you ever had to question yourself at any point this means you definitely showed some “groupie” tendencies. The answer to this matter isn’t going to be precisely black and white either; there will be some grey areas. I can only provide my outside the box point of view of being an athlete to help you come to that crucial conclusion. Hopefully once I’m done guiding you into the right direction, those grey areas you can fill in finally and most importantly with honestly. If you ask me, there is nothing wrong with being a groupie, I can’t judge a person's choice of lifestyle (I do slip up sometimes though); I do know that I can at least respect a person who can be honest with them self and be real about how they want to live their life at the moment (or maybe it was in the past).

I "always" here women tell me this phrase, “ Nothing but athletes try to talk to me”. Ok, I really find it hard to believe that only athletes can only hit on a woman, especially if they’re attractive enough. But, lets just say only athletes do hit on you (which I doubt), my question is where are you at when this is taking place? I’m willing to bet my whole life savings it was in a club more than not. I know I "never" heard this line from a woman before, “I go to bible study every Tuesday and nothing but athletes keep hitting on me”. Ladies, nobody in the history of the world has the unknowing sense of being placed in the same environment with athletes or celebrity’s everyday of their life inadvertently. You know where to go to find them or be around them, lets stop the bs for a minute. Women/groupies know where to go to meet men/athletes and the first place is the club. Especially if an athlete is hosting a party at a certain club on Saturday night, some women make sure to get together their girls to go out that night, I wonder why (you know why, keep it real)? This is what I call a “level 1” groupie. A girl who isn’t going to be around athletes all the time but like being in their presence every so often. The next classic line I hear is, “That’s all I’m attracted to”. I guess you can’t control what you’re attracted to (or is that just another excuse) right? Athletes for the most part tend to have nicer bodies, are taller than the average man and can make a nice living playing sports. Regardless of those features athletes do present, there is an enormous difference between what you like and what you want in your life, all that is a mind set which you can change at anytime. Every women has dated somebody who wasn’t as athlete at some point, so now this is all your attracted too? Maybe because that’s all you want to be attracted to. If you’re starting to feel like a groupie a little bit, don’t feel bad. There are more levels on being a groupie or how smart you decide to hide it.

We just talked about “product placement” being level one of a groupie, now were going to talk about how aggressive you are when around athletes (2nd and 3rd level). The third saying I always hear from ladies is once they decide to go a club, “I go to the club to have fun not meet people”. Ok, that’s what you tell yourself and others until you get there and then it’s a different story (you call an audible like in football). Some women/groupies play it smart and wait to see if the men/athletes will approach them to start conversation (level 2, the sneaky ones you get a asterisk), well played I must say. You play the game smart and that’s how it should be, make them come to you if they want you. You made the effort to get dressed up, put make up on and get to the club tonight, now the men/athlete must do their part. On the other hand, some groupies (level 3-4) aren’t for the games (and the competition with other women) and let it be known that their interested in your services queit fast. They will confront you, walk past you constantly, stay in your vision to try to keep your attention on them and even physically grab you (my booty has been sexuality assaulted many times in the club). Now, what else is there to do to get a higher level on the groupie scale? That’s easy. Bragging on athletes you know (or been with) is another level increase added to the ones we already talked about. Opening your mouth is only going to bring harsh criticism from others; keep your business to yourself ladies. Another level boost is the group you decide to go with to find men/athletes. I know everybody heard the saying, “birds of feather flock together”. A woman who isn’t a groupie will not go out (or at least not as much) with a group of girls who are known for being “jersey chasers” because she knows people are going to think she is too and that’s the last thing she wants people to think about her.

To fully decide what level of a groupie (if you are one) you may be, consistency is now determined. Everybody changes or have different stages in their life depending on what life throws at you, so I understand what you did may not be what you are now. If you just found out you are a groupie, I’m not encouraging you go to relay the message to everybody (unless for some odd reason you want too). I’m writing this for your own personal insight (just being stupid too) on how you go about things just in case you wasn't educated enough. I repeat, do not ask me if I was talking about you because I’m speaking in general to all people of the world. Not just one person, if the shoe fits Cinderella don’t blame me. Remember it’s your choice of life style at the end of the day, do whatever makes you happy. Just don’t be in denial because you don’t like title that comes with it. I think this entry makes up for the time I was away don't you think? :-) Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everybody, see ya in 2010…

*I was rushing a little bit so there may be some grammar errors in this entry. So don't be talking trash telling me I can't spell or didn't explain a thought I wrote well enough, Im done getting graded for writing ok*

6 Comments

My Adventures in Italy: Entry 8

What’s up everybody and welcome to another blog entry. Last week was Thanksgiving and hopefully everybody had a good time with they family and friends. My actual Thanksgiving Day was spent having two practices (obviously they don’t celebrate that here like we do in the states) and no time to eat traditionally like everybody else, instead the following day was my holiday for thanks. Since we only had one practice on Friday, the wives (2) and girlfriend (1) of my American teammates made a great feast for everybody to enjoy. Once I started eating, I soon realized as I was looking around at everybody smiling and talking that this is my Italy family. This would probably be the first and last time we all were going spend Thanksgiving together (never know if life will bring all of us together again because of our unstable basketball careers) so we definitely made the best of it that’s for sure. I was also very thankful that they invited me to join and share a memory with them.

We had another home game for our league here in Italy (Lega Basket) on Saturday (Nov. 21). With a win, we had a great chance to improve our record to 3-4 but did the opposite to drop to 2-5. We had another very controversial call with 8 seconds left that didn’t go in our favor. With that call, which the ref had no reason to make (again) gave us once again a tough lost to bear with. Two days later, we had our first eurocup game on Tuesday (Nov. 24) on the road in Berlin, Germany. I didn’t get to sight see (no time) but I think the arena we played in was located across the street from part of the Berlin Wall where its period of influence came to an end back in 1989. Anyway, we lost at the buzzer with a put back shot they made which is the worse way to lose a game in the history of losing. We just couldn't box out and get 1 defensive rebound to send the game into overtime. So were back to putting ourselves in a hole once again needing to win our very next game (Nov. 29 at Biella) to stay in chase for a playoff spot in both leagues.

We toughed it out and won the game in Biella to keep our spirits up, I had 20 pts and 9 rebs. I had to play good because the 2 games before that I didn’t fair so well. I realized in the 3 games we won so far I played great and was involved. On the other hand, the 6 games we lost so far I wasn’t able to make an impact for many different reasons (foul trouble, being benched, not being involved and able to contribute so just another player on the court). At times, I’m catch trying to figure out when to make an impact in games (over thinking probably) but now I know what I must do. Before it’s too late, we have to find out what our team identity is (the same way every game) and win the close games on a more consistent basis so we can start winning because I know we have the talent to do it. Our next 2 games will be at home for both leagues (Dec. 1 eurocup game and Dec. 6 Lega Basket game), so we will see what happens this time around. Hopefully we can finally make it 2 wins in a row for first time this season. Also, the drive to Biella takes around 7 hours (that’s just going in one direction); so the majority of this blog is actually being typed as I sit up and against the window of the bus with my 3 pillows under me (1 for the legs, butt and back and my airplane pillow around my neck too). I have ice on my knees and my headphones on listening to my ipod touch (got to preserve my computer battery life for typing), good times right?

I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It

I had a different topic I wanted to discuss this week for my, “I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It” section but had to push it back until my next entry because of the latest incident involving the great Tiger Woods. I’m pretty sure everybody has heard of the Tiger Woods incident by now, if not here’s the story. I love Tiger; he is a remarkable golfer and has a flawless reputation on the field as well as off, maybe too flawless (you will see why). I can’t help but think something devious is going on with this supposedly car accident he had hitting a fire hydrant and then a tree. Now, when I originally heard the news it was towards the end of my Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night (Nov 27). One of the player’s wives told us Tiger got in an car accident so we hurried into the other room to watch FOX News. They had the nerves to say that Tiger was in serious condition and from that we all thought his golfing career could possibly be over with; then a day later come to find out it was just a busted lip and some scratches. Why do news stations make stuff seem worse at first for no reason, even if they don’t know what the situation is fully yet? This just further lets me know they will say anything (even when they don’t know the truth yet) when trying to report the news first because they want to get an advantage against their competitors. With my imagination and the little information I have on the matter, I’m going to try to perform my version of Sherlock Holmes on this event before/if everything comes out. Since Tiger doesn’t want to talk to authorities and just nip it in the bud (doesn’t have to say what the dispute was about, that isn’t none of our business) so the media can move on from this faster, everybody is simply going to give their take on what happen.

The incident supposedly happened around 2:45am. Supposedly Tiger was trying to leave his estate, so I’m thinking he had an argument/fight with his wife and he was leaving to get away from her for a little bit. They also said Tiger hit a fire hydrant and then a tree. This is normally what people do after they hit something, first you stop and then you get out the car to see if there is damage made. Obviously he was in a hurry for some reason and decided to keep it moving, but evidently still didn’t get far after that. Plus Escalade's (that’s what he was driving) has a beeping sensor and a camera. So when you’re going in reverse this helps you out when you’re getting close to objects (I know because I have one as well). Now the question is why was Tiger in such of a hurry? At first, I initially thought he was drinking so that’s why he was hitting stuff. But after careful consideration, I changed my mind; I’m still going with the couple arguing about something. This is the interesting part of everything thus far to me; Tiger’s wife busted the back window out of his car supposedly so she can pull him out of the car. So your telling me the petite Mrs. Woods pulled Tiger (he’s diesel now by the way) from the front seat into the back seat and then out the car? Come on now, I don’t think Tiger was that dazed and confused not to be able to open his own car door. From the way that sounds, Tiger must have been really knocked out (they did say he was laying on the grass for a while). Seems pretty heroic if you ask me, maybe the car was on fire too and Tiger had only minutes before the car was going to blow up, but we all know that wasn’t the case. Now its time for my version, Tiger’s wife was chasing his butt down the driveway with his Nike 9 iron while he was leaving. When Tiger saw that, he got distracted while driving in reverse so he hit the fire hydrant. Once she caught up after the first crash, she proceeded to bust the car window out, then Tiger started thinking “Oh s**t, this b***h is about to beat my ass with my own 9 iron, I better to keep it moving”. So he tried to keep driving but failed because he finally hit a tree and said, “F**k it”. Then the couple realized they were outside and neighbors are soon going to be looking out their windows and calling 911. Some parts may not in the right order but that’s how it went down, case closed.

I could be absolutely wrong and just imagining an episode from “Desperate Housewives” or something. I know Tiger’s agent, image/PR people are working their butts off to find a way to spin this story not to look so bad (good luck). If you ask me, this is what happens when you make an athlete/celebrity look so perfect in the public’s eye. The minute they make a mistake (no matter how big or small) the press and tabloids are going to be all over it starting rumors (I just did). I have no doubt Tiger is a great person; I don’t know him personally but just going off my instincts I can tell. I do know he doesn’t live a perfect life either; celebrities/athletes are normal just like you and me. I think people forget that sometimes and expect people in the public’s eye to think things out more for whatever reason. Don’t get me wrong, they should but still everybody is going to make mistakes regardless how hard you try to not to mess up. Being famous doesn’t mean your going to go about living life perfect, I’m pretty sure most if not every married couple out there has got into a heated argument before and let their emotions get the best of them. Next time Tiger, just stay inside the house and play your video game. We would of never found out about this and you could have saved yourself all this trouble and continued to be prefect to everybody.

2 Comments

My Adventures in Italy: Entry 7

Welcome to another episode of my current relocation to Teramo, Italy to play professional basketball for the year. For some, welcome to my new blog site (again) here on yardbarker.com. Yard Barker is a website for professional athletes of a variety of sports where they can voice themselves to share with the world. It also provides updates on scores and provides sports articles just like any other major sport media outlet service. Its pretty cool, so if you get a chance browse around a little bit.

We won our last game at home (Nov 15) to put our overall record for the season at 2-4. This game would pretty much make or break the rest of our season and we had to win for the sake of our team attitude as well. We had already but our selves in a small hole with the early losing so far, but we can now start climbing out of it a little bit since we won. Nobody likes to lose, let alone from the beginning of the season all the way to the end, that would be 7 months of torture! That would just make the whole season physically tough for me and mentally. I’m still coping with the “out the country” situation and everything that comes along with that, so I don’t need added stuff on my plate to deal with. Our next game is at home again (Nov 21), with that win we can build up some momentum before we hit the road for the following weekend, we can get this train moving in the right direction. Our first eurocup game starts on Tuesday (Nov 24) so the weeks will go faster now since we have 2 games a week. We also get to travel out the country for the eurocup road games, so I get see other countries around Europe now, so I’m very excited for that to begin.

As I promised in my last entry, I want to occupy some space to let everybody understand more about me, “Bobby Ray Jones Junior”. Few people know the living legend personally and where he came from to be the “American Scholar” he is today. Some may know what I have done and accomplished so far in my still progressing basketball career. It’s 2009; you can look right there on the Internet for anything you want. For once, I’m going to explain “myself” in “my words” about “me” to everybody, so lets begin.

So let me start off by getting these routine speculations out of the way before I go any further. Usually at some point, somebody has ask me these questions once I told them I’m from Compton. I do not know Dr. Dre (met him once though), The Game, DJ Quik or Snoop Dogg (went to the same high school my senior year but not at the same time obviously). I have never took part in a drive-by, never shot a person, never been shot and never shot a gun either. I have been in areas on various occasions where shootings has taken place (I got my ass out of there; you know I’m tall which means bigger target). They have mostly happened out of Compton, more than not it was in other places around America I lived or visited.

Now when it comes to the media, music, movies, and other major outlets describing “Compton”, lets just say it isn’t always balance and fair. The music we hear (most people believe everything they hear in music now a days), the movies we see (Boyz N Tha Hood, Menace to Society) all played into the mystique of “Compton” or even L.A. (Gangs) for that matter. This “perception” goes out especially to the people who never been, seen or lived there. Think about it, if you haven’t been somewhere, what else are you going to go off of when learning or finding about something? Regardless if its accurate or not, that’s what you have as information to use to base your view. From the supposedly safest suburban areas in America to the cities in Iraq or other countries around the world, violence is everywhere. The issue I have with the media every so often is how much you are being shown coverage of (negative news) compared to other areas that are the same or worse off. Once a first impression is established, there is no changing it that’s for sure. I know the news and especially the music videos (some of it is the artist doing projecting it to people) rather show unpleasant images before they show the positive ones going on. Everyday, there are just as much good deeds going on in urban areas. I hope eventually they will show the inspirational events (because those do take place) just as much as the allegedly “real ****” that’s going on everyday in the hood, just some food for thought.

I was born and raised in Compton, (DJ Quik song by the way) California until I went to college. I lived in the same house my whole life and had both parents living under one roof as well. I look back and it’s weird now because I think 1 maybe even 2 of my friends in my neighborhood had both parents living with them, in their lives for that matter. Lots of my friends lived with their grandparents, auntie, older brother or sister and adopted. I’m the youngest and it was my older sister who kept me company growing up in the house. Actually, my parents both had kids before me (dad had 2 boys and mom had 1 girl) but I was the only one they had together. I only played two sports in my life. I ran track and of course played basketball. More than not, I was going to be busy on the weekends doing one or the other and even both sometimes. So, as I continued to get older seeing my neighborhood friends would be difficult at times on the weekends (they didn’t plat any organized sports) unless we were in school, or once I was done with homework during the week (playing video games in my house). I remember I would get mad at my parents sometimes because I wanted to play with them on the weekends around the neighborhood instead of going to a track meet or basketball game. Come to find out, it was pretty obvious my parents knew what was best for me back then, get him away from “the hood” as often as we can.

I used to think (while I was still living in Compton) what I seen around me and lived through was for the most part normal for a kid growing up. When something like death or violence happens a lot around you, I couldn’t help but get used to it a little bit. I know it taught me to be ready and always keep your head on a swivel; expect the unexpected, words I still believe to this today. Picture this scenario, you’re a kid playing outside of your house but worrying about cars randomly driving past because somebody died from a rival gang the other day so you know they (rival gang) might try to retaliate at anybody at anytime. No wonder my mama would get mad and try to tell me to play in the backyard and to be in the house when the street lights would come on. Once it got dark, nothing but trouble would be lurking around at night.

I experienced many cases of random acts of violence so far in my young life. My older cousin (no more than 11 or 12) got shot in his own living room right around Christmas in Los Angeles in the early 1990’s. My older brother (18 years old) got shot and killed over a fight in a nearby city (Lynwood) in the mid 1990’s. My childhood best friend (19 years old) got shot and killed in his car leaving a girl house one random night in the Compton (summer of ’02). Another childhood friend got shot and killed standing in front of his house while on the phone in Compton. My sister and her family were shot at as she was dropping her kids off to stay the night at my parent’s house last February (Super Bowl Sunday). What kind of person could do such miserable acts and decide to determine a person’s life as if they’re God? There is no exact answer, but I know some of these traits play into it. An inconsiderate person that wont do anything with their own life and want others to suffer pain and lost like they have, regardless if they knew the people or not. With all that said, there were bad memories but there were absolutely more good memories. It’s just that those bad memories are such big issues to deal and cope with.

Despite the fact that I had an older brother, I didn’t see him very much for whatever reason (I wish I could have now I look back). So I really had no older brother to look up to directly and to imitate growing up. Indirectly I did though, even if he didn’t know it. His name was Tayshaun Prince and he lived right around the corner from me my whole life. We went to the same elementary school all the way up to high school. He was four years older than me so the route I took he already taken it. I was naturally smart in school and so was he, so whenever I did something good in school people would always compare me to him. Every academic or basketball award I won in school he already won before me, it was impossible to top this guy. In a friendly way, I was constantly trying to top him in school and on the basketball court, which inevitably made me strive for greatness in anything I did. The dude was an All-American in high school and won 2 (maybe 3 can’t remember) state championships and a national one as well. He decided to go the University of Kentucky and as I anticipated got drafted to the NBA and even won an NBA championship with Detroit Pistons. I mean damn, once I got to high school I knew I had a lot to catching up to do, but now I’m doomed. Don’t get me wrong, I faired all right in high school. I was won 3 state championships (I hope he had two J) and a national one too (we tied). I got drafted too so I’m hanging in there a little bit. I finally got to play him my first two years in the nba, but we didn’t win any of the games but it gave me a sense of accomplishment to know I finally caught up to Tayshaun (Well not in all ways but you get the point I hope). We spoken a handful of occasions but not enough to where I told him how much an affect he has had on my life and how much I’m thankful for it, I will one day though.

Believe it or not, I wouldn’t trade growing up in that city “Compton”. It takes a special person as well as special family members and friends to help catapult a person out of there and help them make something out of their life. Easily I could have made one mistake growing up that could of drastically affected the rest of my life, I was lucky. I know people and friends back home still living in Compton (or close to the area) that want to leave but they can’t for whatever reason. I hear them tell me all the time don’t take it for granted, which most definitely I don’t by a long shot. I just wish more people had made it out to see some of the better things in life have to offer.

Thanks for listening, until next time… Ciao!

6 Comments