All Day
All Day Podcast: 7/7/17
A cartoonist, a cartoon historian and a cartoon character?
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When I first set out to make this week’s pod, I hadn’t really put a whole lot of thought into the thread of subjects. To be quite honest, I really just shoot for what comes to mind and interests me, then go from there. Rob King, ESPN’s senior vice president of SportsCenter and news, was in town, so I thought it was a good time to sit down and take a look at the life of someone who makes one of the network’s flagship programs go.
As it turns out, King was a cartoonist as a child and through college, which was what he planned for his career in journalism to be. Instead, he ended up in Philadelphia, where he ran the sports desk and eventually moved over to front-page duties. Long story short, he’s a fun and experienced guy, and the conversation indicated as such.
From there, we go a different route into the world of JAY-Z. A buddy of mine posted a story from a blog called Cartoon Brew that I had never heard of to that point. You can read it here. It breaks down the imagery in the video for “The Story of O.J.,” which basically turns quite a few stereotypes from old American cartoons on their head to create an entirely new framework through which to see the short.
Amid Amidi is the author of the piece and an animation historian who’s authored many books on the topic. He’s admittedly not a huge hip-hop fan, but my man knows comics, so you should definitely check that out to hear him break down the animation world.
Click the picture to see the full cover from @SLAMonline 🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/K0Folasj8F
— Big Baller Brand (@bigballerbrand) July 6, 2017
Lastly, with LaVar Ball penning the cover story for the latest issue of SLAM magazine, which features his sons on the cover, I had to speak on it. He writes from the heart about what his entire life plan has been for these boys, and after all this stuff regarding their success, I genuinely got a little emotional. LaVar is such an inspiration in my eyes, and I hope that after hearing today’s pod, you’ll understand why.
Enjoy!
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 7/6/17
Chauncey Billups didn’t need the disrespect in Cleveland
10:59 AMIf you missed me Wednesday with Ryan Hollins on The Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio, you can check out the podcast here. We’ll be doing it again Thursday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., so check us out!
Rep. Steve Scalise is back in the hospital. After a man decided he was going to shoot at elected officials who were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game, the Louisiana representative was battling for his life. He was out for a while, but his status was never really understood to be in the clear. Meanwhile, a representative from Kentucky is using this opportunity to try to loosen gun laws in D.C. while keeping the Capitol itself protected since, clearly, guns are dangerous. What a craven move.
President Donald Trump is headed to Hamburg, Germany, for the G-20 summit. If you don’t recall, the last world trip he took caused all sorts of issues because he doesn’t particularly play well with others on the world stage. He first stopped in Poland, where he indicated that no one really knows what happened regarding the U.S. election, which is bizarre. Anyways, over in Germany, where this showdown is set to kick off, people are dressing like zombies in the street. For me, as far as artistic protests go, this one is awesome.
I’m slightly scared of glasses. For years, I never had any problems with vision. Then after years of looking at television and computer screens, it was clear that I needed help to see. But because of vanity, I’m yet to actually cop a pair of lenses, and because of physical capability, contact lenses are not an option. I seriously have no idea how people jam those things in their eyes every day. But, for one person who did, a scary result came of it: Her eyes went rogue. This seriously scares me silly.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner is really trying hard to screw this up. After the team got to the NBA Finals, he decided to fire his own general manager, which is insane. After that, he went after Chauncey Billups — you know, the former NBA star. Apparently Billups is looking to get into the business and figured a team that already had a few stars was a good start. But Billups doesn’t exactly need the job, per se. So Dan Gilbert lowballed him, creating a really awkward situation. Not good in Cleveland.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If you’re in Nashville, Tennessee, next week, I have some instructions for you. As soon as you arrive, or right now, go to the venue Basement East. Then stay there until July 12. Why? Because the Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard has a new band called Bermuda Triangle, and they’ll be performing. It should be incredible.
Snack Time: If you haven’t seen the video version of JAY-Z’s “The Story of O.J.” yet, it’s on YouTube. Peep below. But if you aren’t familiar with all the visual representation in the short, check out this breakdown.
Dessert: Statik Selektah and Joey Badass have some new bangers out. Perfect for midsummer chillin’.
NBA
The Ball family empire expands to Facebook
with a new reality series about their lives
4:15 PMWe are one step closer to the Balldashians ruling the entertainment world. Back when LaVar Ball and his band of boys and brothers burst onto the national scene, it was clear to some of us which route they were taking. For those who could see clearly what the father of Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo was doing, the next step was obvious: reality TV. Now, with the launch of a new docuseries set to debut on Facebook, that plan is coming together.
A message from Zo yesterday
👉🏽 https://t.co/SHW4hTXuzW 👈🏽 pic.twitter.com/oCiadQCDLs
— Big Baller Brand (@bigballerbrand) July 5, 2017
I tried to tell you all about the Balldashian Empire awhile back on ESPN Radio. We’re not quite there yet, because in my fantasy world, the logical extreme must be played out. We must have an actual partnership between the two families. Be they business or love-related, or both. It’s gotta happen.
Many people seem to believe the Kardashians are career-killers, as evidenced by quite a bit of historical fact. Heck, Rashad McCants even went so far as to openly blame Khloe for his inability to make $70M in the NBA. That’s, of course, completely insane. McCants averaged 10 points a game in the league. Now, he’s chilling comfortably in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league.
This isn’t some stunt from Facebook, either. This series, which will highlight the Ball family, is the second installment in the company’s as-yet-launched original programming lineup, according to Deadline. Meaning, this ain’t your uncle making FB Live videos of himself singing Peabo Bryson songs in his Cadillac on the way to Bible study. They’re talking about competing with the Netflix- and Amazon-type operations of the world.
An announcement from the Big Baller himself @Lavarbigballer | Preorders on the ZO2's will no longer be available after June 22nd. pic.twitter.com/9ZbMg4FXZJ
— Big Baller Brand (@bigballerbrand) June 14, 2017
The past week has been fruitful for America’s Foremost Basketball Family. The new Lonzos (aka the ZO2s) dropped in Independence Day colors and people genuinely liked them, as if that was somehow a surprise. Now they’re inking deals with the majors when it comes to video content.
People tried to act like LaVar was insane when he said Big Baller Brand was going to be worth $1B. Well, you know how many users Facebook has worldwide? You guessed it.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 7/5/17
On July Fourth America, we were reminded of who we really are
10:16 AMHope everyone’s holiday went well. I spent it listening to Luther Vandross records with a buddy of mine, which was an extremely fulfilling experience. It might be a Quiet Storm kind of summer until the weather gets colder.
Me and my fellow faithful black men enlightened by 4:44 praying for rob & chyna pic.twitter.com/mLqtH7Sy8Y
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) July 5, 2017
If you want to know why being black in this country is tough, let me explain. It’s not only that when we are killed by police officers for no reason, those officers often don’t get fired, and walk free. But afterward, the government will spit on our graves, too. Take for example the case of Philando Castile, in which a man was shot and killed in front of his girlfriend and her daughter, ostensibly because the officer was just plain afraid of black people. He went free. Now, the judge has written a letter of support to the jurors who let him off. What a country.
Speaking of the United States, Tuesday was July Fourth. So, as a result, NPR decided to tweet out, over the course of the day, the words of the Declaration of Independence, the document that everyone is actually celebrating when it comes to busting off fireworks and shoveling hot dogs down their gullets. Well, as it turns out, some people have no idea what that document actually says, because people don’t pay attention to history. Shocker. The way this played out over the day would have been funny, if not so painful to watch.
Sticking with our theme, let’s go to Florida. All across the South, and plenty of other places for that matter, there are all sorts of places and streets with names of Confederate officials. We won’t get into an argument about heritage versus hate, because there isn’t one. But in one town, city administrators have now decided that they aren’t going to take a poll from the public on the matter before they vote to remove street names from the Old South. We’ll see how it goes.
There are few things more American than eating contests. Only in this country do people line up to watch other humans shovel as much food into their mouths as quickly as possible — and they put it on television. This year was no different on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Personally, I can’t watch. They make me barf just thinking about it. But Joey Chestnut is the master of his domain and has now won 10 titles. They’re going to have to start thinking about renaming the contest after him. Here’s a recap of the day.
Free Food
Coffee Break: When you shut down a public beach, then show up there with your family, you can expect people to mock you. That’s exactly what went down in New Jersey with Gov. Chris Christie. The pictures of him sitting on an abandoned beach are hilarious. Then, someone made a sand sculpture of it. God bless America.
Snack Time: What happens when you try to kill wasps and you have no idea what you’re doing? Well, of course, you accidentally blow up your garage … with fireworks.
Dessert: Behold one of our greatest national treasures. Chance the Rapper.
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All Day Podcast
The Morning Roast: 7/2/17
NBA craziness and a boxing match worth talking about
Every now and again the job takes me on the road, which means if it’s a weekend, I’ve got to pack up the radio equipment and get to it. This week, that meant it was two of us on the West Coast, with Mina Kimes being in Los Angeles as per usual. Needless to say, my disposition was a tad different.
Hour 1
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We started things off by breaking down what happened in the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn boxing match, which was majorly controversial. Basically, Horn had no business winning and everyone believes the fix was in because the Australian government was responsible for making this fight happen. Personally, I think there’s an argument that controversy isn’t the worst thing for boxing because it at least gets people talking, but then again, why bother if everything is fake and people are lying?
Of course, there was the NBA to discuss, with free agency beginning July 1. The Paul George trade was a huge shocker to most of us who had no idea that Oklahoma City was even considering picking up the Indiana Pacers guard. The ripple effects of that across the league are obvious, but still. Wow.
ESPN Thunder reporter Royce Young joined us to discuss the specifics, and just what that fan base is expecting going forward.
Hour 2
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ESPN Radio’s Myron Medcalf came along to break down the boxing match, and he had some pretty strong words. Quite a few people think that the fight largely sullied the reputation of the sport since the outcome seemed so patently unfair. We talked to him about whether this would affect the sport overall, and we also discussed the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather fight.
We got back into the NBA and the situation surrounding the New York Knicks, who are in complete free fall. After getting rid of team president Phil Jackson, their future is really in question. There are people who believe LeBron James & Company might end up at Madison Square Garden, too.
Since I told you weeks ago that the Boston Celtics were not in an easy spot regarding their offseason — despite top draft picks and cap space being oh so valuable, apparently — they missed out on Jimmy Butler, and with George in Oklahoma City, things are looking dicey regarding what general manager Danny Ainge is doing. Are they building for the future or trying to win right now? Because as constituted, they can’t do both at the same time. ESPN’s Chris Forsberg joined us to discuss their fate.
Of course, we had to do Top Five. And since the Clippers decided they wanted to put Blake Griffin’s face on a T-shirt along with Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and so many others to try to keep him in Los Angeles, we thought it’d be a good idea to name our own personal “pioneers” who we’d want to see our faces with. Mina went way off the board, and it was hilarious.
Hour 3
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The almighty Adrian Wojnarowski joined us to recap the free-agent signing period, and he was not here for the games. He’s new to ESPN from Yahoo, so it was exciting to have him on. Basically, he knows every single thing about the NBA at all times. Naturally, I asked him about where he gets his glasses from.
Then it was time for Bachelorette talk. Lee is gone, so that awful storyline is finally behind us, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth of quite a few viewers. It does feel like things are getting back on track, but we do wonder where things will go regarding Kenny and his family. We also discussed the awkward situation surrounding Will revealing to Rachel that he normally dated white women.
Lastly, we learned quite a bit in today’s episode, because no matter what, people won’t stop sending me idiotic emails. Alas, they must be addressed. Enjoy!
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 7/3/17
Carmelo is ready to leave the Knicks
1:14 PMI’m writing this on a plane, watching a documentary about Allen Iverson, my favorite basketball player of all time. You can expect this to be a very inspired post.
never forget
Reggie Evans: "How old are you?"
Giannis: "20."
Reggie Evans: "20? …Damn." pic.twitter.com/NS4c8Ek9nM— Harry Lyles Jr. (@harrylylesjr) July 2, 2017
So, President Donald Trump had a pretty eventful weekend. After deciding it was a good idea to openly endorse violence against the media, he doubled down and told the world that one day we would all be forced to acknowledge his accomplishments. Mind you, he’s speaking with quite a few world leaders this week but somehow found the time to drop a Reddit meme on his Twitter feed. Tuesday is Independence Day in the United States of America. Just a reminder of where things are in this nation.
We’ve got another entry into the “things we been done known” category. If you weren’t aware, the specific parts of this nation that make the economy go are typically the most unseen and underappreciated. In other words, the people who do the jobs that some folks think they’re above are beyond vital to making sure that we all can live. So when a new report says Latinos are key to U.S. growth, this is obvious. Because people don’t pay attention to black and brown folks, this is somehow news.
The Essence Festival has come to a close, which means your aunties will have quite a bit to talk about for a couple of months. This year, the homey Mayor Mitch Landrieu showed up and dropped a “stay woke” for the people, Diana Ross reminded the world of how glorious she is and Jill Scott gave us all ‘fro goals for the rest of time. Then, Chance the Rapper hit the stage. One day, when I’m old enough to enjoy this properly, I’m going to do it and do it well. Until then, I’ll read about that life online and wish from afar.
Carmelo Anthony’s life is fascinating. He plays for the New York Knicks but also gets paid a boatload of money to basically just shoot the basketball. He also is married to La La, and that’s come with its own drama. But now, because his team fired Phil Jackson, there’s a thought that he might actually leave New York. Which means he might get to join his close personal friends LeBron James or Chris Paul to hoop wherever he likes. Which means that we might get the banana boat crew back together!
Free Food
Coffee Break: I once met a guy who said that when ordering steak, “anything more cooked than medium rare is uncivilized.” I still laugh at the casual elegance with which he said it, and how he was dead serious in such a matter-of-fact way. Here’s an interesting breakdown of how Americans order their steak. Hint: It’s not a pretty sight.
Snack Time: What if I told you that, in the year of our Lord 2017, Public Enemy was still making music? Would you believe me? Well, you have no choice. Because it’s true.
Dessert: Happy holidays, kiddos.
Whenever you need to explain the sauce to someone, just show them this pic.twitter.com/rb2lICGXea
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 1, 2017