Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/24/17
Should we remove Confederate statues? New Orleans says yes
1:47 PMIt was a busy weekend. I was on Outside The Lines on Friday, and we discussed the New England Patriots at the White House, Serena Williams, U.S. women’s national soccer team’s Mallory Pugh and MLB umpires. And, per usual, The Morning Roast was a blast.
To be the president of the United States of America, you’ve got to be sharp. There are so many things to handle that any outside distractions or lack of concentration can mean bad news for the rest of the world, which depends on that stability. So when the commander in chief sits down with The Associated Press and says a bunch of things that are rambling, illogical and not really making sense, there’s reason for pause. Also, because a lot of it was unintelligible. Also, I had no idea that President Barack Obama did this when it came to the Oval Office.
“Better you than me,” President Trump says when Peggy Whitman tells him they are purifying urine for drinking water https://t.co/xpa4Zphn2P
— Deena Zeina Zaru (@Deena_CNN) April 24, 2017
How should we celebrate our history? Is it by removing all the scars and thus possibly risking erasure of a time that, though horrible, still existed? Or do we leave standing symbols of hate, oppression, discrimination and inequality to teach us that we were once an awful place and we should never forget that? That has the alternate effect, however, of normalizing the existence of very harmful cultural norms. Well, New Orleans is taking the former stance and tearing statues down. Meanwhile, states are recognizing Confederate Memorial Day.
It appears ISIS has won. They are tearing down historical monuments in New Orleans now too. It must end. Despicable!https://t.co/hrO0cLozos
— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 24, 2017
As a kid, I watched a lot of cartoons. I was one of those children who had a television as a baby sitter, so quite a few were on my radar, going back decades. But because characters are typically not humans, there’s always a way to interpret who they are through race that will be singular to each person. Of course, depending on who voices them, you’ll feel differently about their identity. But most of the best are black. This story manages to break that down but somehow manages to leave out Hong Kong Phooey and Panthro from ThunderCats.
Fred Hoiberg picked a really odd time to voice his concerns. After the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls to tie the series up Sunday, the Chicago head coach tried to say that Isaiah Thomas, and basically the whole way he plays, is illegal. Sounding like an extremely old white guy, he basically said that IT4 is impossible to guard if he’s cheating. Mind you, for one, we’re still only a week away from the death of Thomas’ younger sister. Also, what league has Hoiberg been watching his whole life? This is how people play basketball now, Fred. Sorry not sorry.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Some folks have no home training and will do anything to win. So when this jerk decided to hit a little kid in an arena timeout game to gain an advantage, the Utah Jazz mascot decided to take matters into his own hands. The dude got everything he deserved and lost the race, to boot.
Adult @LAClippers fan is a dick to kid in fun quarter-time race.@utahjazz mascot DEE-STROYS him.
Kid wins race.#NBAPlayoffs2017 pic.twitter.com/aDlYQwdISR
— Jon Healy (@JonHealy) April 24, 2017
Snack Time: Every time I see Baylor’s name in a headline that doesn’t have a score, I just assume something bad has happened. Now, a guy who supports former football coach Art Briles is trying to rebrand himself. Gross.
Dessert: Y’all can have your promposals. This dress is as woke as it gets.
Daily Dose: 4/21/17
A shooting death last night on the campus of NC A&T
1:00 PMClinton Yates is not here today. He’s hard at work on a $500 device that puts milk in your cereal. Take that, Juicero.
There was a fatal shooting at North Carolina A&T on Thursday night. Campus police said a female visitor at the historically black university was approached by an armed man at one of the school’s residence halls, and after a struggle the gun was discharged. The woman wasn’t shot, but once officers responded to the area they found another man suffering from a gunshot wound. He later died at a local hospital. There’s not a lot of information out at the moment, but this was reportedly the third fatal shooting in Greensboro over the past 24 hours and the third shooting-related death involving NC A&T in the past six months.
(Update: the Greensboro Police Department have stated the man who was killed was not an NC A&T student. The shooter has still not been identified.)
The NBA playoffs continued last night. Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson was back doing Lance Stephenson things, and Paul George scored 36 points — but LeBron James showed who’s owned the playoffs the past six seasons, bringing the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a history-making 25-point halftime deficit to go up 3-0 in the series. The Memphis Grizzlies snapped a 10-game postseason losing streak against the San Antonio Spurs, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a shot WITH HIS ELBOW!
It’s been one year since the death of Prince. This time last year, the world was shocked when TMZ broke the news that the 57-year-old singer’s body was found at his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Since that time, there have been moving tributes — from Bilal at the BET Awards, as well as Bruno Mars and Morris Day and the Time at the Grammys — mass re-viewings of 1984’s Purple Rain and, of course, controversy. A former Prince producer tried to release an unauthorized new album for the anniversary, but the singer’s estate scuttled that in court earlier this week. The New York Times reported recently that Prince concealed his painkiller addiction by “mixing various prescription pills in bottles for everyday products like Bayer and Aleve.” Nevertheless, The Undefeated is celebrating The Purple One all day.
Quick notes:
1. If you haven’t come across it yet, writer Ijeoma Oluo Ethered/SHEthered/Takeovered/Hit Em Uped Rachel Dolezal.
2. The NFL schedule was released last night. Sixteen teams will play 16 other teams. It doesn’t matter in April.
3. The entire city of Wyoming, Minnesota, might be high. From the police department setting “#420” traps on Thursday to this local man who narced on his own wife because he thought her cocktail straw was drugs.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/20/17
Today’s the day for everyone to make their weed jokes
1:33 PMThe great Domonique Foxworth graced us with his presence for the podcast Wednesday, which is fun. We talked about Kendrick Lamar and Carmelo Anthony’s situation, and Terrika Foster-Brasby talked to Alabama’s Jonathan Allen.
Today is April 20, one of the strangest days on the calendar. The Today in History for this date has tons of strange occurrences, as well as celebrity birthdays. It’s also the unofficial marijuana holiday of the year, a trend that in recent years has grown exponentially. Basically, you can expect to be reading about weed all day. That said, here’s an update on what the laws are around the country these days. Also, a bunch of people plan on smoking outside the Capitol Thursday afternoon, if you want to check that out.
Charlie Murphy’s death is still sad. Over the past couple of days, looking back on his work has been a real blessing. His role as a connective tissue between big-time Hollywood through his brother, Eddie, and the grinding comedian world with his stand-up work is remarkable to think about. So when he was finally laid to rest, the people who came out in support were quite the talented bunch. I owe a lot to him personally, for motivating me to be myself on a microphone. Rest in peace, Charlie.
Update from the hip-hop nostalgia train: We’ve got a couple of big projects in the works. First, Dame Dash has announced that he’s working on a biopic about Roc-A-Fella Records, which COULD be cool, except for one big problem — Jay Z. Something tells us that he might not exactly see eye to eye on how this story goes. On a less feudy front, a new podcast is launching next week that will tell the story of Chris Lighty, the music executive who was so instrumental to the rap game. It’s called Mogul.
David Fizdale is a legend in the game. With one news conference, he let the world know that he is not to be toyed with on any level, regardless of whether he’s a rookie coach. You’ll be hearing the phrase “How’s that for data?” for the rest of your sports fanhood life, trust me. But he also got popped for $30K for being so forthright about what he thought was unfair treatment by the officials. Luckily for the Memphis Grizzlies head coach, his squad has his back. Point guard Mike Conley says that they’ll pay his fine for him.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what would happen if Mike Tyson and Migos found themselves in the same place, you’re in luck. GQ decided to put them together and let the former boxer give the rappers a tour of his mansion. It goes exactly how you think it would.
Snack Time: You know what’s a good idea? Uber for haircuts. There was a time when having a barber on demand was only a luxury for the rich. Now, there’s an app for that.
Dessert: It’s official: Bill O’Reilly is out the paint. But he will get big bucks on his fall.
All Day
Serena Williams hints at pregnancy
We’re rolling with it because it’s fun and we need fun
Aww congratulations to @serenawilliams 👶🏽#InTune pic.twitter.com/pzJe2uXtew
— #InTune (@Fourens_) April 19, 2017
“20 weeks.” That was the caption on Serena Williams’ Snapchat, presumably revealing a pregnancy. She has since deleted the photo. If you do the quick radio math, this means that she won the Australian Open while pregnant, which is awesome. But again, SERENA IS PREGNANT. Call your mom.
This news adds a major player into the celebrity baby rankings. Her fiance started some famous website, but we ain’t talking about him right now. (Kidding.) Anyways, the internet loves the idea of Serena, and congrats Twitter is in full force, which it should be. The greatest tennis player of all time is with child, and folks are excited.
Serena Williams really just traipsed through a Grand Slam draw with an entire human growing inside of her. Legend. Icon.
— Brandon (@brandonlgtaylor) April 19, 2017
I'll never be as happy for another person as I am for @serenawilliams right now 😍😍😍
— Vi (@Vi_Hola) April 19, 2017
This might be a good time to point out that, aside from being such a dominant tennis player, Serena’s life is fabulous. Celebrity children lead outwardly fun lives, and we can’t WAIT to see this little one. Also, this nugget is kind of amazing.
Serena Williams casually announced her pregnancy on Maria Sharapova's birthday. She's been around Beyoncé too much.
— Teddy Perkins (@Kontra402) April 19, 2017
Game. Set. Match.
All Day
Daily Dose: 4/19/17
Aaron Hernandez found dead in jail cell
12:33 PMI had to write about Kendrick Lamar. That last video just moved me to the point where I couldn’t hold it in.
When someone writes a book about Aaron Hernandez’s life, it will be fascinating. The former New England Patriots tight end apparently killed himself Tuesday night, providing an end to one of the most bizarrely violent episodes in recent history involving the NFL. He beat a double murder charge last week and Wednesday morning was found dead in his jail cell. Hernandez had quite a few run-ins with the law; it was a pattern dating back to his college days at Florida. It’ll be interesting to see what the NFL says about this, if anything at all.
Speaking of the Patriots, things are getting more awkward. Back in February, a bunch of guys from the Super Bowl-winning squad said they did not want to visit the White House as part of their celebration. It’s obviously a tradition that’s well-worn and in the past, and quite a few athletes have said no to the invitation for various reasons. In this case, many were political. But a big shocker comes today. Tom Brady won’t be attending. He and the president are apparently friends, but Tom’s got family obligations, it seems.
Tennis is an exciting sport. The back-and-forth rallies, the grueling grind of facing off against one opponent for the duration — it can be a workout. Sort of like another activity. What happens when the two things come together? Well, you get one of the most hilarious YouTube videos of all time, and a bunch of sportswriters trying to come up with a way to make jokes about it. The match was between Frances Tiafoe and Mitchell Krueger at the Sarasota Open, which instantly just became a far more popular tournament.
The Cubs won the World Series and are still doing the most. First they held a rather extravagant and excessive banner raising, which people sat through the rain and cold to see in person for who knows what reason. Then they had a separate ceremony for the ring unveiling, because in 2017 you can’t just win a title and act like that was the goal all along. Now they’re trying to do everything they can to prevent those rings from becoming cash cows for everyone else besides them. Follow the money, kiddos.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Redman is my favorite rapper. This has been the case since I was in high school, so don’t come at me with your foolishness. He’s also a very funny dude who’s found himself in a couple of movies. He keeps it notoriously real on many fronts. Listen to him break down his top three roles.
Snack Time: I’m enamored with the science of extremely basic things. Tying your shoes is a pretty simple concept, but here’s a question — why do they ever become undone? Some engineers found the answers.
Dessert: Weird how when you get out and talk to people who actually live across America, they can tell you great stories.