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Tag: athlete
LeBron Goes From Playmaker to Peacemaker

LeBron Goes From Playmaker to Peacemaker

By David Whitley, Orlando Sentinel (TNS)

LeBron James is being likened to Superman. A better comparison would be Spider-Man.

Superman can get triple-doubles at will in the NBA playoffs. Spider-Man could probably score 37 points against the Hawks, too. But it’s the words he lives by that matter these days.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” his surrogate father, Uncle Ben, counseled young Spider-Man.

We’re seeing that in the way James is handling the crisis in Cleveland. The city has been on edge since Saturday when a judge acquitted a policeman in the shooting deaths of two unarmed African-Americans. It’s a drama that’s become painfully familiar.

Protesters gather. Justice is demanded. TV crews swoop in to see if the city explodes.

“Violence is not the answer,” James said almost as soon as the acquittal was read.

You’d hope and expect influential local athletes to say something like that. Some do in times of crisis, but others have jumped to conclusions and at least tacitly inflamed high-profile situations.

Look no further than the five St. Louis Rams who came out of the tunnel in pregame introductions last year sporting the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” pose. It was to protest the shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Missouri A show of solidarity was fine, but the manner the Rams chose further divided a racially-torn city.

There was plenty of reason to suspect Brown did not have his hands raised or said, “Don’t shoot.” A Department of Justice investigation eventually concluded Brown attacked the policeman, who acted in self-defense.

The Rams were initially hailed as a latter-day Muhammad Ali, bravely speaking truth. But did their actions lessen any tensions, much less promote a just result?

Or look no further than James himself. He tweeted a famous picture of his entire Miami Heat team wearing hoodies in 2012 as the Trayvon Martin controversy was starting to explode.

Again, a show of concern for Martin’s family and the handling of the case in Sanford was entirely appropriate. But James’ accompanying hashtag — #WeWantJustice — revealed his mind already was made up.

Spurred by players like James, the NBA players union called Martin’s death a murder and demanded the arrest of George Zimmerman.

Maybe Zimmerman was a racist killer, maybe he wasn’t. That argument will live on forever.

But players were convicting him of murder, and it was still a year before his trial. Nobody knew the actual evidence or was in a position to accurately judge the case.

That’s why I wondered how James would react this time. The initial police incident sounded inexcusable. Cops cornered fleeing suspects and fired 137 bullets into their car.

The shooting victims were suspected of trying to buy drugs. They fled when police tried to pull them over. About 100 officers pursued the car for 20 miles with speeds reaching 100 mph.

Police thought the pair had fired at them. They were wrong. But as with all these cases, the facts were complicated and demanded a detached study if you truly want justice.

That’s what LeBron said he’d do. In the meantime, he pleaded for peace and said he’d do all he could to keep Cleveland from turning into another Ferguson or Baltimore.

“Sports just does something to people,” James said. “You just feel a certain way about rooting for a team that you love, get your mind off some of the hardships that may be going on throughout your life or maybe that particular time or period. It just does that.”

By extension, players have an inordinate influence on people’s lives.

Superman has pretty much become the most powerful person in Ohio. It’s good to see he’s up to that responsibility.

Photo: Craig Hatfield via Flickr

Bob Baffert Looks To Overcome Unlucky Post Positions Of American Pharoah, Dortmund

Bob Baffert Looks To Overcome Unlucky Post Positions Of American Pharoah, Dortmund

By Peter Schmuck, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

It had to be one of those what-are-the-odds moments for trainer Bob Baffert, and we’re not talking about the fact that Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah was set as a 4-5 morning line favorite for the 140th running of the Preakness on Saturday at Old Hilltop.

Baffert, who said before Wednesday’s race draw that he is always “post-position sensitive,” ended up with both Pharoah and third-place Derby finisher Dortmund stacked one and two on the rail, with Derby runner-up Firing Line getting the outside post that jockey Gary Stevens said he had been hoping for all along.

So, perhaps Baffert could have been forgiven for launching into a Steve Coburn-style rant about the unfairness of it all, but that’s not his style. He didn’t want to get boxed inside D. Wayne Lucas’ speed horse Mr. Z, but it certainly beat one of the alternatives.

“At least we’re here, going for the second leg (of the Triple Crown) and that’s more important,” Baffert said. “If they had told me, ‘Look it, if you win the Kentucky Derby, we’re going to have to stick you in the one hole at Pimlico,’ I’d have said, ‘I’ll take that all day long.’ ”

Whether starting inside will be a big disadvantage depends on how well Pharoah breaks. The reason that trainers and jockeys don’t like the inside gates is because the rail positions can limit their strategic options.

“It depends on your horse,” Baffert said. “My horses are fast, so they just have to break well.”

If they don’t, there’s the possibility of getting trapped inside and impeded while the outside horses have the luxury of running whatever race suits their individual styles. Stevens obviously considers the number eight position the great equalizer for Firing Line, which has opened as the third favorite at 4-1.

“I’ve got a lot more options, a lot more options than I would have had if I’d drawn down in the one hole,” Stevens said. “If you’re drawn in the one hole, your cards are dealt to you. American Pharoah’s got speed. Dortmund’s got speed and Mr. Z’s got speed, and they’ve got to come away from there running. If for some reason they don’t, then I’ll seize the moment.”

Stevens certainly knows his way around Pimlico. Three of his nine career Triple Crown wins came here, including his comeback victory aboard Oxbow two years ago. He’s the wily veteran in his 36th year riding thoroughbreds, but Pharoah jockey Victor Espinoza is on a roll after winning the first two jewels of the crown last year aboard California Chrome.

“Victor Espinoza is pretty crafty himself,” Stevens said. “He’s been on top of his game here it seems like the last year and half. He makes all the right moves and he’s got a lot of confidence right now.”

OK, so — all things considered — who’s better positioned to win the Woodlawn Vase?

“I’ve got the upper hand where I’ve drawn,” Stevens said. “He’s 4-5, I’m 4-1 and he better be 4-5, that’s all I can say.”

It’s going to be a very intriguing race that could produce a surprise or two. The three horses that came home together at Churchill Downs are the betting favorites for a reason. But there are four longshots in the middle four post positions, which has got to provide an added measure of uncertainty about the eventual outcome.

Danzig Moon (15-1) could be a factor from the number four post position and Divining Rod (12-1) is placed well just inside Firing Line, but their chances obviously depend heavily on how much the unlucky post-position draw affects American Pharoah and Dortmund.

Baffert recognizes the challenge ahead, but it is nothing compared to the difficulty of winning the annual stampede known as the Kentucky Derby. He drew the 18th slot for that race and Pharoah still got the ride he and Espinoza wanted.

“It depends on the horse,” he said before Wednesday’s draw. “They can have a great post, but if they step back or stumble like Bayern last year…He didn’t break and got eliminated and it’s over. All we can do is get them ready and keep them healthy and happy and hope they break well and get good position.”

Photo: American Pharoah via Facebook

Pistorius Starts Five-Year Jail Term For Killing Girlfriend

Pistorius Starts Five-Year Jail Term For Killing Girlfriend

Pretoria — South African star athlete Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, in the climax to his sensational trial watched around the world.

The Paralympian sprinter, known as the “Blade Runner”, was led from the dock down to the cells to start his sentence for shooting model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.

“Count one, culpable homicide: the sentence imposed is five years,” Judge Thokozile Masipa told Pistorius in the Pretoria courtroom.

It was a stunning fall from grace for the 27-year-old who made history by becoming the first double amputee Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics, inspiring millions.

But during his trial, the prosecution painted a darker picture of the sports star, presenting a dangerously volatile young man with a penchant for guns, beautiful women and fast cars.

Lawyers said however that Pistorius will probably not serve the full term for the offense of culpable homicide, equivalent to manslaughter, and perhaps as little as 10 months.

Pistorius, who had wept and vomited at times during his trial, stood stock-still as he was sentenced, veins bulging in his forehead and his jaw muscles clenched.

He was also sentenced to three years, suspended for five years, for accidentally firing a pistol under a table at a restaurant in Johannesburg in January 2013.

Pistorius had testified that he shot Steenkamp, 29, four times through a locked bathroom door at his upmarket Pretoria home after he mistakenly believed she was an intruder.

Prosecutors had argued that he murdered her in a fit of rage after an argument.

– Verdict hotly debated –

As the court adjourned, Pistorius turned to look at the public gallery, then briefly took the hands of his family members before being led by police to the cells.

Amid a media frenzy, he was later taken to a police van which was escorted to Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru prison.

“He is already accommodated at Kgosi Mmapuru, in Pretoria,” said correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela.

Steenkamp’s family welcomed the sentence, the dramatic end to a trial televised globally that began in March but was repeatedly adjourned.

Steenkamp’s ailing father Barry said he was “very glad” the trial was over and a lawyer for the family said the sentence was “welcome”.

Oscar Pistorius’s uncle said the sprinter’s family accepted the court’s judgement.

“Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society,” Arnold Pistorius said.

The verdict and the sentence have been hotly debated in South Africa, with many expressing the opinion that Pistorius literally got away with murder.

The Steenkamps’ lawyer Dup de Bruyn told AFP that the sentence will likely be served as two years in prison and three years under house arrest.

A member of Pistorius’s legal team, Roxanne Adams, said he would likely serve a sixth of the five-year term — 10 months — before being transferred to house arrest.

– No decision on appeals –

Neither side indicated immediately whether they would appeal against either the September verdict or Tuesday’s sentence.

State prosecution spokesman Nathi Mncube said they had been disappointed with the conviction for culpable homicide rather than murder.

But he added: “We have not made up our minds whether we are going to appeal or not.”

Adams said the defense had “no comment” on whether it will appeal.

The International Paralympic Committee said Pistorius — who won sprint gold medals at three Games — would not be allowed to compete in the next event in 2016 even if he was released early.

Masipa said she wanted to find a balance between retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation, dismissing defense claims that the disabled athlete would face particular suffering in prison.

“It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one law for the poor and disadvantaged and another for the rich and famous,” said Masipa.

She also weighed the ability of Pistorius to cope with incarceration given his physical disability.

“Yes the accused is vulnerable, but he also has excellent coping skills,” she said.

Discussing the gravity of Pistorius’s crime, the judge said he had been guilty of “gross negligence”.

“Using a lethal weapon, a loaded firearm, the accused fired not one, but four shots into the door,” said Masipa.

“The toilet was a small cubicle and there was no room for escape for the person behind the door,” she said.

The prosecution had called for 10 years in jail for the athlete, while the defense pleaded for house arrest and community service.

But Masipa said a community service order “would not be appropriate”.

With the conviction and sentence, Pistorius has lost his glittering sports career, lucrative contracts and — above all — his hero status, tarnished forever.

AFP Photo/Kim Ludbrook

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Discussing Kids’ Sports Injuries, Obama Says He Probably Suffered ‘Mild Concussion’ As A Child

Discussing Kids’ Sports Injuries, Obama Says He Probably Suffered ‘Mild Concussion’ As A Child

By Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — During a White House summit on the epidemic of traumatic brain injury, President Barack Obama said Thursday he thinks he may have suffered a mild concussion more than once when he was playing football as a kid.

He used the story to call upon parents, coaches and fans to stop expecting athletes to “suck it up” and play on despite injuries.

“There were a couple of times where I’m sure that that ringing sensation in my head and the need to sit down for a while might have been a mild concussion,” Obama said. “At the time you didn’t think anything of it. The awareness is improved today, but not by much.”

Now, Obama says, Americans need to change the sports culture.

“Identifying a concussion and being able to self-diagnose that this is something that I need to take care of doesn’t make you weak,” he said. “It means you’re strong.”

Obama has spoken off the cuff about head injuries in sports before, telling an interviewer last year that, if he had a son, he would think “long and hard” before letting him playing football.

But as new statistics and shocking anecdotal evidence have come to light over the last couple of years, Obama has been talking more seriously with fellow football fans on his staff about whether they had a responsibility to help raise consciousness.

The result was Thursday’s summit, where participants revealed commitments of monetary support for research. The NCAA and the Department of Defense are launching a $30 million fund to improve concussion safety practices in college sports and the military. The NFL has pledged $25 million over the next three years for youth sports safety.

An outspoken Chicago Bears fan, Obama said he intends to keep shining a spotlight on a problem that touches everyone from children in Little League to the country’s most admired military and sports heroes.

After moving from Indonesia to live with his grandparents in Hawaii as a child, Obama has said that football helped him fit in with his peers. In his autobiography, Obama wrote that he had “no idea how to throw a football in a spiral or balance on a skateboard,” pronouncing it “a 10-year-old’s nightmare.” Later, though, he gained acceptance in part because he learned how to “toss a wobbly football around.”

AFP Photo/Jim Watson