Some rants and raves from Latino wannabe SRM Genius who calls me an internet tough guy and tries to threaten me online when I'm a very easy person to find in real life. Here's how REAL internet tough guys articulate themselves online and express their inner most feelings in the most mature way possible. It's very easy to do on the internert because you can curse a lot and make the pretention of being HARD without having to actually man up to the individual you're speaking about. EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT THAT DIFFICULT TO FIND IN REAL LIFE SO IF SOMEONE REALLY WANTED TO SE ME IT WOULD'NT BE HARD TO GET UP WITH ME. So here's "Tough Guy 101" a class from SRM Genius on how to prove your toughness online:




Shut your fake #### up, you know nothing about me, and you'd be best served watching the way you speak to me lest I come find your wannabe ####. You think I ain't a real Hispanic come test me punk, I'll show you why your #### #### WANTED to be cool with all the chicos. See you have never been the only non-black person in a group, although from the look and sound of you, you are probably the LEAST black wherever you are. You wouldnt understand that black boys called ANY non-black person a white boy in my neighborhood you ignorant ####. Just like if a black hispanic was in a group of white people they'd call him the black guy, that is not a contradiction, ####.

Tu eres un maricon de mierda. Me cago en ti y la #### que te pario. Ben busca me si eres un hombre verdadero mariconcito. Tu habla mucho mierda de tras de una computadora.

Go get it translated from one of your "Latino Brothers" you piece of trash.


Come square up in person like a man punk. I wish you would but you're an internet tough guy like everyone else around this place. I spit in your face you worthless heap of flesh and bones.



If you haven't noticed, my absolute favorite team to hate on is the Patriots. You talk of fickle fans? You may be too young to remember, but nobody used to go to Pats games, they were the doormat of the AFC East along with (ironically) the Colts. And just a few years back you Bostonians were wanting to be rid of the likes of Manny Ramirez and Paul Pierce. Enough of the Hypocrisy.

I'm not defending Kobe, I just hate Shaq and he's a punk. He said he's better than Kareem, Please. Kobe probably knows what his #### taste for all I know or care. I just think Shaq is an overgrown ####.

     versus   
 
                                             When crime does pay

I met Darryl Strawberry once.

I was working the front desk as a night auditor at the Doubletree hotel in Norfolk, Virginia during one of Darryl's journey's to the minor leagues. His team was staying at the hotel, and after a game in which he showed why he was way too good to be playing "Triple A", he and his teammates came through the front lobby. No bodyguards, no press, no legions of fans, just Darryl and a couple of his minor league teammates. I walked over to him shook his hand and told him that I was honored to meet him and that it was a pleasure to watch him play, both sincere comments. I mean, here was Darryl Strawberry a man who could do one of things that sports reporters for eons had said was one of the hardest things to do in all of sports, hit a major league fastball, and he could do it with ease, casually walking through the Doubletree hotel in Norfolk, wearing a pair of jeans, a jean shirt and some loafers, looking not like a god, or a legend, but just looking like Darryl Strawberry.

My man-love was obviously very evident as one of the young ladies working with me said that I was awfully excited to see him, and by the way isn't he a drug addict; she would go on to ask. In my lifetime I've met a lot of drug addicts, as well as drug dealers, but none of the dealers and addicts that I've met ever won a World Series, that is, except Darryl Strawberry.

They say that which doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.

If Darryl Strawberry was playing professional baseball today, he would certainly be the recipient of a one-hundred million dollar contract, easily. Darryl Strawberry was a natural. He was an athlete so extremely talented that he played a career worthy of hall of fame mention in spite of playing on what was probably the equivalent of half of a body. Barry Bonds on the other hand has been playing most of his career with the equivalent of a body and a half.

 Society is not made up of Barry Bonds'; it is made up of Darryl Strawberrys'. Most of society has to work for a living, often in jobs, or careers that we did not necessarily plan on performing when we were children. Our delusions of grandeur faced to meet head on with the realities of life and our own internal failures. Yet, we try to put on a straight face and go about our daily lives, with the hope that one day, our ship will come in and we can be rescued from the nightmare that is our ####-hum daily grind. Some of us enjoy rooting at sporting events and supporting our beloved teams as an escape from the harshness and struggle of trying to keep our jobs, and make a way for our families. Most professional athletes do not have to face those anxieties in their professional careers. Barry Bonds will not ever have to worry about how he's going to feed his family, that is, unless he shops at the same supermarket that Latrell Spreewell does. Darryl Strawberry did manage to improve the quality of life for his family if not himself, even though he never received the type of salary that today's juiced up sluggers earn. While that's neither his fault nor the fault of today's players, it just seems a little unfair, but then again that's been the story of Darryl's life.

We all watched as Darryl Strawberry continued to trash his future, place his and his family's lives in jeopardy, and let illegal drugs suppress his god given talent. Yet he still managed to be a force at the plate wherever, and whenever he played the game, picking up a couple of world championships along the way, something that to date Mr. Bonds has yet to accomplish, and therein lies the paradox of Darryl and Barry.

I can imagine Darryl Strawberry living  in a small town similar to where my family lives in Windsor, North Carolina, working at the Perdue Chicken processing plant down the street, spending his summer  evenings grilling some hotdogs and burgers at the local little league games, telling all who would listen his war stories about the big leagues. I can picture it because he was almost doing just that. That's what all of us Darryl Strawberry wannabees do everyday. I would sit there with Darryl, share some beer and burgers, and never once ask about the cocaine, the prostitutes, the spousal abuse or any of the decadence that went on his life. I wouldn't ask him about it because I already know that story. I would just be enamored, and ecstatic that one of us got his fifteen minutes of fame, and has the hardware to prove it.

I would relish being his friend, the guy who picked him up off a nightclub floor one night when he was in drunken stupor. I would long to be the guy that Darryl would call to come bail him out of jail at three a.m. for a D.U.I. Darryl, in return, would teach my son how to hit a curveball, and allow me to pick his brain about other players he played with and against, and how it felt to play in Yankee Stadium, and I would be so thankful for the opportunity to be that close to greatness. I don't think that I would've gotten the same type of bonding by being Barry Bonds' chauffeur or butler.

Darryl Strawberry abused illegal drugs, so did Barry Bonds. The drugs that Darryl Strawberry indulged in forced him to play on only partial potential. His vices always ensured that he would never be able to play to his full potential. The drugs that Barry Bonds indulged in, allowed him to reach his full potential and surpass it. The funny thing about it all is that it appears that Barry Bonds still played on a more level playing field than Darryl Strawberry ever did. I don't believe for one second that Bonds had an edge against, Mark Mcgwire, Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco, and Sammy Sosa among others. No in fact, I believe that those, as well as much of the current players on major league baseball rosters are all playing on a level field, which is why I don't care if they are juiced or not, and I think that's enough said about that. Baseball needed the Macquires, the Bonds', the Sosas' to save the game, because as I stated earlier, the kids of today don't have time for real baseball, they are too busy creating their own rosters on a PlayStation somewhere.

In video game terms, Barry Bonds is like a player with a 101 rating out of a possible 100, unstoppable, un-pitchable, automatic. Darryl Strawberry would be like having a player with a 55 rating that you have to master his swing to hit a homerun, and that mastery will only come with hours upon hours of practice, but once you got the swing down pat, it too would be automatic.

I can imagine what it must be like to be like Darryl Strawberry, despite your best efforts always falling short of the mark, and disappointing all of the people who love you despite being given chance after chance to succeed, but being like Barry Bonds is somewhat different. I don't know what it's like to be like Barry Bonds. I will never have to go to work in front of thirty-thousand people every day, many of whom despise me, and compete against superstars with millions of dollars at stake. To do what he did at his age as well, is really unfathomable.  It is admirable, and impressive to see how a talent like Bonds manages to thrive in that kind of pressure cooker environment, even if it took a Popeye impersonation to get the job done. Unfortunately, as great of a player as Barry Bonds was, to me and many others, he's no Darryl Strawberry.      

Finally the draft is over, so now we will endure a long hot summer of speculation on who made great moves and who slit their own wrists. Here, of course is my humble (and sure to be mocked) assessment of:

The lottery picks:

1. I understand Chicago taking Rose #1. He's a hometown boy, he's a winner and their PG's have been playing soft. Still, all of this nonsense about him being the best player in the draft is absurd. Beasley was far and away the best player in the NCAA all of last season and it was a forgone conclusion that he would be the overall #1 until Memphis' great NCAA tourney run. If Beasley had Rose's teammates he would've beaten Kansas in the title game.

2. Riley was almost too smart for his own good when as the draft got closer he started waffling on Beasley. Lucky for the Heat they made the right move. In one season Marion will be gone (if not sooner). In two seasons Wade will be gone (if not sooner). Beasley is a natural scorer and while Mayo will indeed be a star in the league, there will be other PG's available in two seasons, interior scorers will be less plentiful.

3. I like Kevin Love very much, but if McHale was gonna go for an interior player he needed more size, and while it's hard to knock this pick, Mayo along with Foye and Jefferson would've given the Wolves more threats offensively.

4. The best possible scenario for Seattle (Oklahoma?). They needed to surround the defensively challenged Durant with defensive players on the perimeter and Westbrook fits that need perfectly. Bayless would've taken shot attempts away from Durant and clearly the Sonics are looking for KD to be in Kobe mode for his career.

5. Memphis is headed nowhere fast. Mayo is a great talent, but unless they have some plan to get some interior scoring, Mayo is going to exit stage left at the first opportunity. They keep drafting guards (Lowry, Conley, Mayo) and odn't forget they also have Crittendon. Maybe, hopefully, another deal is on the near horizon.

6. Why not draft Garllinari here? He's no less than the fifth best scorer in this year's draft. The impact players were off the board, well maybe not all of them and the Knicks need to rejuvinate the fan base more than anything since winning basketball games isn't going to be easy as long as Marbury is on the roster. New York is essentially Little Italy so they'll love him in Gotham.[ Side note: I'm amazed that Brandon Rush, who was supposed to be a top five pick two seasons ago faded so far. I would've loved to see the Knicks go with an upperclassman with some intestinal fortitude here. Rush will be a star in the NBA for years to come, this was the Knick's chance to show some real draft insight and they blew it.]

7. Eric Gordon, like someone else said earlier, is a an undersized choke artist. He's not a skilled enough ball handler to play the 1, and if he thinks that he'll be getting that jump shot off against 6' 6" SG's in the NBA he's sadly mistaken. A lot of hype behind this kid, but I really didn't see much of an NBA game while in colege. Rip me if you want, there are always huge busts in the top ten, Gordon will be one of them. The Clippers are the perect place for him, he's one Al Thornton punch in the grill away from heading to Europe.

8. Joe Alexander looks like he could be a real good NBA player. He reminds me of Rex Chapman and Chapman was a solid pro. He goes to the rim hard and has a natural knack for scoring. If the Bucks can find time for him, RJ and Mo Williams on the florr at the same time, they'll be a contender for the post season again. A good replacement for Bobby Simmons.

9. The Bobcats could've gotten the same deal from Toronto that Indiana got, instead they get D.J. Augustin. Even if they are shopping Felton, I don't think that Augstin is any better than Acie Law was last year. I don't get it.

10. The Nets are gearing up for the arrival of King James and they are doing a very good job of it. This team is huge now and they have Devin Harris running the point. This is the team of the future in the East.

11. The Pacers have reinvented themselves overnight and getting T.J. Ford, Hibbert and Rush after losing O Neal was a great move. Look out for this team..wait a minute...who's coaching them? Oh yeah Jim O Brien!!!  They're back in a big way. I really like this team now.

12. I don't know much about Jason Thompson aside from what I heard Jay Bilas say, but it's not like the Kings were planning on contending anyway. Why waste the money on someone who'll want $60 million in three seasons?

13. The Blazers end up with Bayless, who will piss off Barndon Roy sooner than later. A lot of people were high on Bayless, I was not one of them. He's a great colegiate scorer but has not shown to be a great passer, which is what he must learn to do first and foremost on a team with a former ROY and the supposed second coming of Duncan.

14. Baron Davis is soooooo gone.

Other notes:

Is it me, or do the Utah Jazz go out of their way to draft white players?

Tiago Spliier is not coming to San Antonio right now, but how many people realize that Luis Scola was on their roster last season? This team may actually have seen it's last hurrah.

Why didn't the Wizards make themselves busy with trades for picks? Do they really think that team is going to contend after losing three straight years to the One Man James Gang?

Wow! Have the Suns done an about face or what?!

Where is Coutney Lee going to find shots on the Magic's roster? Shouldn't they have found a big body to put around Howard?

Detroit you are the first team officialy on the (trade) clock.

Problems brewing in Beijing?


The Detroit Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup. The Boston Celtics have won the NBA Championship. Tiger Woods is out for the remainder of the PGA season. The MLB All-Star game is a joke.

So what's next? Imminent disaster in Beijing if you ask me.

The 2008 Summer Olympics kick off in China in August and as a former member of the U.S. Track & Field Team, I am ecstatic to say the least.

There are however several major reasons to be concerned with Games this year and my biggest concerns have nothing to do with the athletic competition.

First let me briefly run down the athletic side of the events.

The ongoing legal sagas involving Marion Jones, Trevor Graham and Tim Montgomery have cast a huge shadow over the U.S. Track & Field organization.

It's hard to imagine who had the bigger fall from grace, Jones, who has been stripped of every medal she won since 2000, including the five medals she was awarded at the Sydney Games.

Montgomery, the former world record holder in the 100 meters, who not only found himself involved in a steroid scandal, but subsequently faced criminal charges for money laundering and eventually was found guilty of dealing heroin. Sheesh!

Trevor Graham, who has coached 14 members of the U.S. Track & Field team, including Jones, Montgomery and C.J. Hunter, the latter two who were both married to Jones at some point and found guilty of doping, has been involved in the federal investigation of the infamous BALCO organization. Graham was found guilty of lying to Federal investigators last month.

Like many MLB players U.S. track athletes will arrive in Beijing with the baggage of having some of the most prominent members of the U.S. track & filed disgraced and banned from the sport.

It won't help that in some of the premiere events of track & field, namely the 100 & 400 meter sprints, the long jump, and 1500 meter run, U.S. men will not only be underdogs to win, but could easily not even secure any medals at all.

There are a few women who could salvage the 'name brand' events for the U.S. Keep an eye out for Torri Edwards, Shannon Rowbury and Porscha Lucas to make some noise on the oval.

Michael Phelps will again carry most of the load the Men's Swimming Team, while the women will not have any clear cut favorites although they do have gold medal potential in most of the short races.

Then of course there's this year's version of USA Basketball's dream teams on both the mens and womens side.

The women who have won three straight olympic gold medals should skate through the olympics and having Candace Parker on the roster just makes the inevitability of a U.S. victory even more...well inevitable.

The Mens team, while as strong as we've seen since the 1996 Olympic team, will still have it's hands full trying to bring home a gold medal.

But despite all of the potential for great athletic competition at the highest level, there is a deafening roar that is louder than any cheers you will hear from any grouop of spectattors who attend the games and that roar is the sound of worldwide protest for the games being held in Beijing to begin with.

It makes you wonder, in lieu of all of the worldwirde protests to China's hosting the Olympics, how in the world did they ever get awarded the games to begin with?

Believe it or not, this is yet another tragedy that the world can blame on the Bush administration.

In March of 200,1 a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet killing the Chinese pilot and forcing the U.S plane, along with 24 American crewman to make an emergency landing at a Chinese air base. All of the crewmen, including 3 women and 8 "Chinese codebreakers" were taken into custody and evidence suggested that the Chines government had begun stripping the US plane of sensitive material.

Prior to the event, the US had been adamant about blocking any bid made by China to host the Olympics, citing China's civil rights violations record. China, in response to US condemnation, issued a 200 page document detailing the US's own civil rights record (touch