Hello Derrick, It's Me God

If you’re looking for someone to mock Derrick Rose’s faith in God you’re in the wrong place. Without getting too deep into Theological debate I will say this, I’d rather believe in a Supreme being unseen than “man”, who history shows can’t even conduct himself as anything above an animal when given unchecked power. Another admission, I’m a Bulls fan, an Illinois native, and nowhere near being objective or rational -in other words I will talk about Ben Wilson and what he would have done with that 1989 Illinois team until they lay me down.  in fact (here’s a little peek into my crazy) I consider the Illini 1989 Champions by default due to his untimely death, because there’s no way Glenn Rice outplays him in that 89’ Final Four Game. I’m not a “hardened” Chicago Sports fan though, and I don’t consider it a badge of honor to tip toe on that line between passionate sports fan and douchebag- so I totally get the young man (D-Rose) wanting to make sure he’s 100% before coming back. I just wish he’d take a long hard look at the mental side of his apprehension to getting back to work.

His gift is a unique one, the way he contorts his body and explodes from his core is unlike any other athlete to play the Point Guard position, and this makes freakish athleticism and “burst” kind of what Derrick Rose “does”. Not only was Stephon Marbury right when he said “God delivers Point Guards” but he may have been prophesizing the arrival of someone like Rose-sorry Steph. Unlike Marbury Rose also kind of  “does” humility and faith, to listen to him talk is to hear a down to earth athlete who is grateful for extraordinary gifts; which leads me to his statement last week about God being the only “knower” of his return-and what it means to me TONIGHT. To me you have to give God room to do his thing, just as he gives us situations to figure out through our own free will- God is a collaborative worker and a “point guard” in his own right. Rose is the one, who injected God into the discussion, and if God gave him the ability to rocket into the lane and dunk over 6’10 Centers then I have news for Derrick Rose; God can help him with the fear he’s wrestling with at this very moment.

In fact God even gave him an insurmountable foil in which to process this fear, a platform in which he can show Derrick that all things are possible through him... and a Goliath to illuminate his “David”.

The last time Derrick Rose saw LeBron James he had to shrug like a kid who just found out that no matter how good he is he can’t beat his Big Brother. The game’s greatest player “turned the screws” on Rose and despite being 5 inches Taller and some 70 lbs. thicker “The King” played Magician and made Rose disappear on the biggest stage. Since that time injury made “Chi Towns Finest” that much more vulnerable, and since then James  not only became a Champion but Rose’s MVP campaign was re-filed in the revisionist history machine and determined an asterisk - one of those silly things people do to those they truly love (James) when they’re in a “lovers spat”. It was all for show, with Derrick being that “nice guy” caught in the middle, the one you weren’t really “into”. The Miami Heat is already the most Dominant Team since Kobe’s and Shaq’s Lakers and they’re close to making Jordan’s Bulls something old dudes talk about in the barbershop and nothing more. 

Jordan’s Bulls, the team that gave Chicago its heart again, the team that shed light on the city as a whole including the preponderance of Chicago Prep stars like Rose and Ben Wilson. God can keep us prudent when need be, but part of God’s plan is for us to see what isn’t there, in other words many of us forget that God is the Father of audacity, that voice telling you to take steps forward despite your fears. Many men have done things that go beyond their presumed talent level when they’ve kept their minds on God, where else do we get the seeds of upsets and sports theatre? Without God there is neither 1983 Wolf pack nor FIU. Men don’t pray before games without good reason, many of them pray because they’re about to attempt something that only God knows they can do.

Even we as fans and media tend to lose faith in what athletes can do, if you don’t believe me research the Sports page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune in July of last year.

Once Dr. Brian Cole cleared Rose to play (understandably) fear set in, not the fear of competition but the fear of pain real and imagined-not doing what you love for long stretches can make you question everything. Faith is meant to safeguard from the fear and anxiety that grip us all, Rose is merely in need of a reminder that true believers are tested all the time. When worry sets in it’s not the relationship to fans he is jeopardizing it’s the closeness and faith he has in God, fans like me are just men who have to combat our own fears.  We can’t gauge where he’s at, but we do know that when we show uncertainty in our homes it can permeate right down to the youngest child like a contagion. 

There seems to be this waiting process with Rose, but God is waiting on him to set aside his fears and there’s no better game than the one that should strike fear in any NBA team. I know it’s easier said than done but it isn’t supposed to be easy, that’s why we marvel at the men who do what we could never do-the impossible is a physiological requirement of all athletes is it not? If they were ordinary would you pay to see them? If Rose “is” who he is then there’s a slingshot with his name on it and a Historic 27 game win streak waiting to be squashed by the most unexpected of underdogs. He should know that the only thing that can slow him down is weight, the weight of family who derive income from him and a City that watched him grow up- but none of these people can give him the courage to ignore his anxiety; they can only exasperate it. If he can lace up the Adidas tonight he’ll learn a lot about himself in relation to God, something he may not even be able to learn in prayer.

The first thing he’ll learn is Satan is the prototype bully, a coward, you know; A bitch, but if he senses the least bit of “punk” in you he’ll roll over you like a prime Mike Tyson. Remember Mike knocked 30 cats out before anyone realized he was not only emotionally fragile but about roughly 5’10 and some change. He’ll also learn about what makes guys like MJ and Kobe tick, that ability to thirst for big moments knowing full well part of that thirst comes with upstaging peers with little or no remorse.

LeBron James is the perfect rival for Derrick Rose to face in his comeback, because win or lose James has a lot of wisdom to share with Rose about getting past mental blocks, he just moved aside the biggest in Basketball History. Nobody is asking Rose to come all the way back and log 40 plus minutes through the play-offs, I’m just suggesting (as well as Dr. Cole) that he would be doing himself and the Miami Heat a huge service symbolically in choosing tonight  to get out there and  work up a sweat. What do you have to lose when you have faith? What possibly can happen if you put all of your fears in God’s hands?  

In Proverbs 3:5, 6 it is written to “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”. The Doctors can do all they can do, Tom Thibodeau can’t be counted on to do anything more than what he did this morning because it is a players league. Only Derrick Rose can take his sweaty palms off the wheel, take a deep breath, strip off the warm-ups, and let go and let God.

Bernard Hopkins Avoids Andre Ward, Writes own Stay of Execution

Tavoris Cloud deserves an assist for his performance Saturday night; he did what his style dictated he would do and allowed us to once again marvel at Bernard Hopkins. It was one thing to be my cynical self but it was completely another to enjoy watching a fellow old guy defy the odds; I got caught up in the moment just like you. Bernard was the quicker man, and he showed why he is a marvel to us all, the ride was historic and I loved being on it-until he opened his mouth. Immediately afterwards Hopkins, one of the most calculating figures in the sport went to Andre Ward (ironically subbing for Roy Jones Jr.) and pronounced his undying respect and the “fact” that no amount of money would put the two in the ring together. 15 million Dollars to a man who is hell-bent on getting every penny he believed was denied him in his prime is not enough to step in the ring with a Golden Boy of Wards credentials- a kid who in Bernard’s youth represents everything that kept him obscured. A young man in his prime, a young man too skilled and poised to fall for any of what Bernard put on Cloud and will put on Nathan Cleverly of Wales. The kid who dismantled Chad Dawson, who let’s face it gave Hopkins the heebie geebies despite his fragile mental make-up. For someone who made his brand on authenticity we seem to give him a pass when he isn’t necessarily keeping it real, because he is doing something we won’t ever see again.

And that’s OK, because that’s where I get an opportunity to keep it real with boxing fans.

Bernard Hopkins WANTS NO PART OF ANDRE WARD

I remember growing up there was a bully named “Stacy” who liked to beat up guys he knew had zero chance of defending themselves; he also liked to bark a challenge to the bystanders and anybody else who “wanted some”. One night, in rare form he beat up another lamb and went into his act when my cousin Troy ( a real tough guy) happened to be walking by, when he asked the crowd if anybody wanted “some” Troy spoke up; “I want some” and without missing a beat Stacy replied “I’m not talking to you”. Bernard Hopkins beat a tough, limited, straight ahead Champion (I won’t short him) and announced that he knew Cloud would be Champ again, and then seconds later contradicted and crowed “ I destroy young fighters” via the microphone. Clearly, like the bully from my childhood he wasn’t talking to Ward, he was talking to Nathan Cleverly and his ilk because Ward would end his career if they ever met. That is why 15 Million Dollars isn’t enough, because that money would represent more than a Payday, it would represent a retirement package and a lifetime bloody images on the Internet. Yes I know, “Hard Nard” isn’t “scurd” of nobody but understand this, “Real Recognize Real” and Bernard has decided it’s best to Love Ward than to put himself in a situation that could end very badly. Kobe likes to say “these young boys can’t fuck with me” but ask yourself something; do you think he’s talking about LeBron? and if so how has that worked out for him over the last 4 years?.

I'll give you a few minutes.

The Sad Part is “Love” won’t pay Wards Bills

Lennox Lewis made a lot of “step aside” money in his day but Ward is the man in another division (168 lbs.) who happens to be the best Light Heavyweight in the world. Clearly “SOG” can take Roy Jones’s job (sorry Roy) at HBO tomorrow but he’s still in his athletic prime with a lot of fighting ahead of him. The kind of “love” Bernard is showing is the kind that starts in his mirror, it says I love “me” so much that I won’t allow this kid to put me on his resume, I most certainly don’t love Boxing enough to facilitate the coronation of the next “guy”. Bernard loves history when it suits his mythology, being only the “Archie Moore” who beats Yvon Durelle not the one cooked in harsh light of exposure provided by young Cassius Clay. He’s no longer the rebel, and like most rebels he became a part of the establishment that kept him in obscurity and he’ll do no favors for Andre Ward. Post-Fight he made everything about upending a Dictator ( Don King) who was long faded much like he kicked over the urn of what was Roy Jones-anything to make you think he’s still the Che’ Guevara of Boxing. 15 Million Is a grandiose figure, and if you’re a macro thinker not really a lot of money to a notoriously thrifty guy who can see the cost of a brand identity lost. Remember, his “brand” isn’t about winning but the inability of the next generation to kick his ass- Andre Ward can do that for him and he knows it. 5 Million Is a lot to a young Champion who deserves to break through to the PPV bracket and I’m sure HBO is itching to get Ward exposed to a larger audience in light of the Mayweather defection. Hopkins likes to say “the ring retires fighters”, this is true but part of this axiom is smoke and mirrors if you know who not to get in the “ring” with.

The same thing is going on with Adrien Broner and Floyd Mayweather, & hopefully Broner's jump to Welterweight can expose the class subjugation that threatens to slow the natural evolution of a great sport. Hopkins is using political power, false admiration and financial deprivation to make Andre Wards life as a Boxer that much harder because he can-and his track record as a warrior allows him to get away with it. Reputation is everything in Boxing, and now older fighters are leveraging it to commit infanticide on a generation of young studs who I believe can take them RIGHT NOW. No other sport allows this manipulation of the narrative (Brett Favre came close); every other sport forces older athletes to exist on merit alone or be overtaken by young lions. Boxing used to have that kind of ecosystem despite historic corruption, even the greatest fighters we’ve ever seen had to suffer the indignity of a newer (sometimes inferior) lion pushing them over the cliff. But back then it was the old guy that needed the money, not the other way around- in ways this resembles our current economy where old financial masters get richer and college grads move in with mom. Hopkins is no worse than the 4^th (I think Lucian Bute beats him) Light Heavyweight in the World! And that is a huge accomplishment, but anything that detracts from Andre Wards development as a “name” in our sport is a detriment to our sport. I don’t care about Bernard’s “respect” for Ward, if he respected him and his own #15 Pound for Pound ranking he would make the fight- and if he respected our intelligence he wouldn’t bullshit us about his reasons for not fighting Ward.

When he was a hard young man he overcame politics and dished out executions, now that he is “the man” he can use politics and PR to issue out his own stay of Execution- and that’s mighty “Golden” of him.

Bernard Hopkins: Fight or Filibuster?

Boxing fans are cynics by nature; we want to believe the worst because well…we see the worst most of the time. When we make the decision to sit down and watch a fighter we consider the match-up and that fighters past history in the ring because ultimately most of us have lives to lead. Veteran fighters not only give us the perception they will handle themselves consistently, they also give us the guarantee that will see a skill set they’ve honed over the course of a lifetime in Boxing. Predictability drives ratings, and those who have been around for a long time who have been schizophrenic in behavior will never be Ratings Kingpins-so if they want to stick around the alternative is political power. At the Barclays Center Bernard Hopkins will enter the ring against Tavoris Cloud at the age of 48 to try and make history and I’m not that sure what we’ll get. For you see Hopkins is a unique study in schizophrenia in the ring, and I’m not complimenting him on his profound completeness as a fighter-I’m pointing out that like most great “pure” actors his performances tend to be all over the place. I do see a Co Star (Cloud) who can bring out the virtuosity in the old man; shorter, basic, looking for the KO but you never know when Father Time starts working on a mind steeled in the Cellblock so many years ago. 

And the instinct to survive sets in.

Bernard Hopkins like any great old warrior has taken the liberty to moving the goalpost whenever he sees fit. Like Holyfield he tells anyone who will listen that he’ll leave when someone beats him up, but the catch is he’s so skilled he can make even fights he’s losing muddy unwatchable eyesores. He will wait all day long to throw counter shots, clinch, inexplicably find himself in some of the most bizarre falls and spills and leave the ring with his role as elite fighter and compelling figure intact. Hopkins like most Hall of Famers can boast a highlight reel of destruction but he can also boast a highlight reel of obstruction, Saturday night he will add to one depending on what Father Time and Tavoris Cloud decide to do. Chad Dawson fell to Bernard’s Fistic Filibuster twice if you ask me, psyched into losing his cool in the first fight and psyched into imposing his clear dominance fully in the second bout. He’s brilliantly nerve-wracking in that way, he can make you marvel at his deep reservoir of Boxing IQ (See Both Pascal Bouts) or leave you anticipating just what he will say about the god-awful thing you just witnessed. Even his “Revenge” against a washed up Roy Jones turned into a foul fest, only Hopkins in rare form can reduce a harmless Jones, a career “good guy” into a dirty fighter. He can give you a Master class like the Thesis he authored against Antonio Tarver in 2006 or the Winky Wright calamity, which felt like a traffic jam that ends with your car getting dinged.

Like Rand Paul on the floor of Congress earlier this week Hopkins can make 36 minutes feel like an hour and a half with constant anti fistic tactics. When he’s made up his mind to divert and impede the process of a fight to give off the illusion of skill we’re all in for a long night. One can forgive Ishe Smith and Cornelius Bundrage because the skill they exhibited was honestly all they had; Bundrage makes everyone look that way because he’s an honest fighter with a remedial skill set. Hopkins can fight, but you have to make him, and nobody outside of Andre Ward is skilled enough to make him and therein lays his platform-you can’t beat him up. He’s like that when promoting a fight, he takes his resume and filibuster’s, threatens and implies violence until you believe him. If you don’t believe him he’ll say something that will make you run to your laptop to editorialize on his ill words-but rarely a “fight”.

Hopefully I’m wrong Saturday and we see the old Philly Bernard perfectly comfortable with making putting an ass-whipping on a strong aggressive kid like Cloud. If not, I’ll take check in early and tune in for the post fight interview In the morning because it will be more entertaining than watching Hopkins use his experience to do everything but fight.

Not a Word on This Fight in relation to this time in Boxing History

I find it suspicious that the PED cloud is thicker than it’s ever been in our sport and yet we are all eyes in on a 48 year old Light Heavyweight. The “haves” clearly seem to have the money and access to stay clean while the middle class fighters are getting popped with positive results as of late. Bernard Hopkins and his Promotional Firm are members or Boxing’s Aristocracy and yet we are supposed to believe the mythology and narrative surrounding the legend. Hey, it’s clear the man is a monolith of clean living and blue collar work ethic but I also believe he likes money and will lose a portion of his identity once this ride is over. I still don’t believe how naïve we can be about PED’s considering the number of us who run to the GNC…merely to look good when we take our shirts off! These are competitive men, and I’ll say this AGAIN the average age of Boxing’s Top Ten Pound for Pound Ranked fighters is 37! Remember it was only a few weeks ago that Michael Jordan put out hints that he has a "team" of people “exploring” what it would take to get him down to 218 lbs., and your crazy if you don’t think part of that “list” would include Germany- a place Hopkins can afford to go. I blinked on my skepticism about Adrian Peterson's Robotic performance this past year and left my post in the chamber only to see Ray Lewis’s old ass bring Deer Antler to the Super Bowl so I won’t hesitate anymore. I don’t believe Kobe is on Mamba Juice and "Hard Work and Dedication" won’t see Floyd Mayweather through the end of this Showtime/CBS deal. If Hopkins brings out a performance for the ages and looks like the Hopkins who took Trinidad apart 12 years ago will you fight? Or will you sit by numbly and accept Boxing’s Filibuster.

Evolution is something that allows us to pat ourselves on the back, because it's natural to want to believe the time your living in is when man is at his optimum-it's a YOU thing. We should change our egotistical mindset from "Bigger, Faster,Stronger" to "Richer, Slicker, and Greedier".