I read an article from the Seattle Times and came across an interesting tidbit....

"Before last season, each team presented a version of the same slide show. The first slide depicts rap mogul Jay-Z seated courtside in an oxford shirt, sweater and necktie. "I'm not a businessman," a caption on the slide show reads, "I'm a business, man." The slide show preaches the importance of image and the need to change the public perception of NBA players." (Source)

Who in the hell left the gate open?

Today, Sandra Rose, pointed out the discrepencies that are Shawn Carter's grill.

"They can spend money extravagantly on unnecessary things, but can't spend a couple of dollars to fix their teeth? No wonder Jay Z rarely smiles - and for that we are grateful."

"Not only can you see his crooked front tooth, but are those weed stains on his teeth? Wow, has Jay ever sat in a dentist's chair in his life?" - Sandra Rose

In spite of having more than enough money and making the Forbes list, Mr. Carter chooses not to take care of his teeth. And neither does Sean "Diddy" Combs. 50 Cent got shot in his mouth and has great teeth. Even Kanye has nice teeth.

I have no real point.

I read Sandra's blog and then read the article that mentioned Jay-Z on a NBA slide show about image.

And it made me laugh.

I thought about the NBA players I've seen over the years with bad teeth (Reggie Miller) and bad skin (Dennis Rodman) and it never was an issue.

And I noticed its because they are men.

If Beyonce was sporting Jay-Z's grill would he still be interested in sporting her on his arm?

Can a woman have acne and blemishes and still be considered sexy, like Diddy works so hard to perserve and maintain?

I noticed Alicia Keys has some acne problems, but she wears make-up so you would never know it.

Is Jay-Z really a good example of image?

All he really has is stylist.

Business-wise, he's overrated. (Rihanna and who else?, What's his percentage of the Nets, and does he really own the 40/40 Club?)

And he's 40.

Why tell 20 somethings to portray the image of a 40 year old man?

Do you know what Jay-Z was in his 20s?

Allegedly a drug dealer and but realistically a starving rapper.

There are better examples.

Diddy never sold drugs, why not show him instead?

And he really did start his own empire.

Maybe he was the next slide.

Then came Usher.  

I guess Jay is more relatable to the players now, but I would never want to see my employer do a presentation on image and use Jay-Z as an example.

Am I supposed to take that seriously?

Should I be offended?

It's just ridiculous!