All Day
Daily Dose: 4/18/17
Our favorite power couple appears to be no longer
12:54 PMBaseball has had a whole lot of racism in these streets for quite a while. If you’re older than 40, you know who Al Campanis is. He was a racist who was VP of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Need a history lesson? Here you go.
Carmelo Kyam Anthony, what you doing, baby? First, there’s the terrible news of you and La La breaking up, which is heartbreaking on so many levels. Y’all were the celebrity couple we were all rooting for, and then we all realized that people are still people and everyone has problems. But us fans all rode it out, rooting for each of you individually and collectively, even when those things seemed to being going awry. Now you’re breaking up, and we’re not ready to choose. News of Melo getting a side chick pregnant doesn’t help the cause. Jesus, take the wheel.
David Fizdale is awesome. If you don’t know who he is, fair enough. He’s the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, the trillest team in the league, and he’s not here for your nonsense. Not remotely. He’s a rookie head coach in the league, but he’s in the playoffs with his team and he’s doing it without his best player, Tony Allen. They’re up against the Spurs, so it’s a tough go, but Monday night’s matchup was particularly unnerving for Grizz fans. And Fizdale delivered one of the all-time great postgame pressers in playoff history, to boot.
Emotions are running high on the @memgrizz bench.. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Mu4fc96GgC
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 18, 2017
You want to know how supremacy works? I’ll explain. It’s an intricate system of power, portrayal and privilege that shapes how people feel about themselves and others, to believe that when the ruling class has something that works, it makes sense. But if others have it, something’s wrong. That’s it. Personal agency is stripped away, and the concept of human value is reduced to a dollar amount. So, with all that in mind, you might want to hear the story of how a Native American tribe was summarily extinguished when they found oil on their land.
Major League Baseball is about to do something really dope. Like, really, truly fun, that we rarely see out of the game. Here’s the thing about baseball: There’s so much to the sport that will never really translate to TV because if you’re not close to the field, it just doesn’t make sense. The umpires are a perfect example. They talk a lot during games, and what they have to say is, in fact, quite informative to any game. Now, it appears that MLB is looking to mic up Blue to explain various replay calls. This is nothing short of amazing in my world.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Good news! There’s a new late night show coming to Comedy Central, and we’re here for it. Also, you missed out if you never saw Kara Walker’s sugar sphinx, but you might want to know what she’s up to these days. Hint: It’s awesome.
Snack Time: If you’ve ever had a pet, you know how much joy they bring to your family. This optical illusion ad campaign to show that value is really, really excellent.
Dessert: This track bangs. Straight up.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/17/17
Fearless Girl is more important than Charging Bull
2:48 PMWe did The Morning Roast three the hard way again this week, with me in Bristol, Connecticut. Why was I there? Because Aaron Dodson and I hosted a Jackie Robinson Day radio special Saturday.
A lot of people smoke weed. Your librarian, your doctor and likely your local police chief. This is just a fact of the matter in today’s America. You know why? Because from what I understand, marijuana usage makes people happy and makes them feel better. It helps people with seizures. It helps people eat. It helps people sleep. Which is why Canada is getting ready to legalize it. It’s also why various states have decided that criminalizing its sale isn’t worth their time. Meanwhile, fun fact: More than half of Americans have tried it, according to a new poll.
The guy who created the Charging Bull statue is not happy. His name is Arturo Di Modica, and he claims that a little girl is compromising the artistic integrity of his work. When someone erected the Fearless Girl statue across from Charging Bull, the world came to celebrate the former, which is a pretty dang good symbol for where we are in this nation and world with feminism. Di Modica’s taking the whole fight to court, and it’s pretty embarrassing from a self-awareness standpoint. Whether it’s a corporate stunt or not, it’s worked. Deal with it.
Here’s the thing about the White House Easter Egg Roll: It’s for children. As in, little kids come to the South Lawn for the purpose of finding items left around by a fake rabbit to celebrate a Christian holiday, and it’s an officially sanctioned event. Point being, in the overall scheme of things, it matters not and is strictly a ceremonial event for fun. Unless you screw it up. But because this group feels the need to reaffirm its existence every second of the day, the president says things like this to a group of non-adults. Awkward.
The Atlanta Hawks are afraid of the Washington Wizards. Every team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference is afraid of the Washington Wizards. Fans of the Washington Wizards are afraid of the Washington Wizards. By that I mean everyone knows they’ve got talent. They know they’ve got talent, and they know that you know that they know that. So they’ve taken a fun strategy in the playoffs: Beat people up and talk mega trash. I could not be more here for it. Paul Millsap is complaining because it’s too physical. News flash: Get used to it.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Hey, if you play a superloud, screaming maniac on TV, don’t be surprised when people think that’s who you are in real life. Alex Jones, that InfoWars guy who you only hear about when he’s going nuts about the conspiracy theory du jour, says it’s all an act, but his ex-wife thinks he’s crazy.
Snack Time: A coming-of-age movie on a Caribbean island that involves a goat? Sure, I’ll give them some money. They need it to get it done.
Dessert: If you still weren’t in the mood for baseball season, just watch this.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/14/17
James Baldwin’s papers find new home in Harlem
9:56 AMQuick announcement: On Saturday from noon-2 p.m. EDT, Aaron Dodson and I will be hosting an ESPN Radio special for the 70th anniversary of Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day. Should be a fun one, kiddos!
The United States dropped on a bomb on Afghanistan. It’s still not really clear why. According to officials, 36 ISIS fighters were killed, but judging from the size of the bomb, who knows how many other people died in the attack. The bomb has a nickname — “Mother of All Bombs” — which in itself is a bit scary as a concept, both the title and the shorthand for explosives. It’s the largest non-nuclear device of its kind used in combat. Here are the details on exactly how it was deployed.
How much of James Baldwin’s work are you familiar with? In the new movie I Am Not Your Negro, the legendary author’s last work is explored through the eyes of today’s news and societal progress in America. But that’s just one movie that reflects one unfinished book. He had plenty of other published works and private papers, which will soon be on display at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, thanks to his estate. In general, the concept of being important enough to have “private papers” is pretty dope.
If you’re into weed, Canada might be the place for you. Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made good on a campaign promise to legalize recreational marijuana use in the country with something called the Cannabis Act. It’ll be up to each province to figure out how it wants to regulate things, which will lead to some interesting political discussions across that country. But it’s not all bongs and vape clouds. The penalties for breaking the rules will be pretty stringent, considering that growing and smoking it will no longer be illegal.
It always interests me what non-playoff NBA teams do once the tournament starts. Plenty of teams miss a chance to get a title and the panic that ensues is intriguing. For example, the Orlando Magic fired its general manager. Granted, it hasn’t been to the postseason in five years. And the Los Angeles Lakers sort of screwed themselves by ending their season on a winning streak, but they say they have a plan in case they don’t get a top 3 pick. But come on, it’s the NBA. There’s no way they don’t find a way for Lonzo Ball to end up at the Staples Center.
Free Food
Coffee Break: The greatest American comedy of all time, for my money, is Coming to America. Now that a sequel is officially in development, some people are nervous about how it could affect the legacy of the previous film. Good news, though, the original writers are actually back on board.
Snack Time: You know your cable news network has a branding problem when a local station, in Boston no less, doesn’t even want your name in its broadcasts.
Dessert: The new trailer for the Dear White People Netflix show is incredible. Can’t wait for this show.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/13/17
Maxine Waters will not be undersold
12:30 PMI’m still upset about Charlie Murphy. Know that when Domonique Foxworth, Mina Kimes and I first started The Morning Roast, Habitual Line Steppers was a show name that we strongly considered calling the program. RIP.
The first time I heard Maxine Waters’ name, it was in a song. As a high schooler in the 1990s, I was massively into Rawkus Records and basically everything they released. One such project was the Lyricist Lounge tape, and there was a track called “C.I.A.” with KRS-One, Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha and Last Emperor. It was peak rap/rock if you even want to get into all that, but whatever. “I want all my daughters to be like Maxine Waters” was one line from KRS. Anyway, she’s the only one in Congress truly standing up to the president.
When black women disappear and nobody bats an eye. We know this. On the totem pole of “people whom society considers important,” they are lowest. Now, we have a very disturbing tale of another black woman whose life ended under questionable circumstances. Sheila Abdus-Salaam was the first black woman to serve on New York state’s highest court. She was found dead on the bank of the Hudson River. She was from D.C. and graduated from Columbia Law School. This is a really sad story.
Just so you know, “grooming” is a word for animals. When you go get your hair cut, you are not being groomed. Anyway, some people take this SUPER seriously when it comes to their dogs. And for as much of a “do you” person as I am, folks who decide to make absurd caricatures of animals creep me out. If you are paying people money to dye your dog’s hair, that’s weird. Sorry, it just is. But because I feel that these monsters need to be exposed, here’s a bunch of pictures of wackos doing psycho stuff to animals that have no choice.
We all know how we feel about Gucci Mane. In short, he’s the gawd. Now that his life is in complete makeover mode, people forget about Goon Guwap. The streets will never forget his contributions. On that note, let us never forget the time that someone orchestrated an elaborate hoax that involved him saying, “I might be” to a judge when asked whether he was guilty of a crime. That’s what came to mind when Carmelo Anthony was asked about getting traded by the Knicks and he said, “They might.”
Free Food
Coffee Break: You know how Fox News is constantly doing all those “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING ON SPRING BREAK?!?!?!” segments? Now Bill O’Reilly is the one going on spring break since advertisers are pulling out of his show left and right.
Snack Time: I feel like there are life-changing GIFs that come out every week. Maybe I’m too attached to that medium. Or perhaps this is just the golden era of GIFs and you can never take that away from me! Check it out.
Dessert: When this movie comes to your town, go see it. Trust me.