I know that I am dating myself here, but when I was growing up, at least in my house, when an African-American person was doing well in sports, we tended to root for them. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Dick Allen, the late Norm Van Lier were some of the athletes that my family followed and rooted for. (It should be noted that the more flamboyant athletes or entertainers were disliked in my house. Ali, Little Richard were not favorites of my grandparents.)
It appears that this is no longer the case in women’s tennis. Up and coming African-American player Sloane Stephens had some harsh for the Williams sisters, especially Serena. In an interview in ESPN The Magazine, Ms. Stephens reveals that her relationship with Serena Williams has completely deteriorated since Stephens beat Williams at the Australian Open in January.
Ms. Sloane is quoted in Marin Cogan’s story as saying “She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia,” Stephens says emphatically. “And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.” Despite attempts by hier mother to calm her down, Ms. Sloane continued: “Like, seriously! People should know. They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that — no, that’s not reality! You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?”
There is some fire behind this smoke since Serena sent Stephens a tweet two days after their quarterfinal match: “I made you.” “I was like, ‘You really don’t think I know that that’s about me?’” Stephens tells the magazine.
In the interview conducted in late March, Ms. Stephens debunks the myth that she and Williams have shared a close bond although both played a part in allowing that narrative to spin out of control during the Australian Open. It goes way back – Ms. Stephens describes an incident when she was 12 and first saw Williams play, in Delray Beach, Fla., at a Fed Cup tie “I waited all day [for an autograph],” she explains. “They walked by three times and never signed our posters.”
Stephens adds of the poster: “I hung it up [in my room] for a while. I was, like, devastated because they didn’t sign it, whatever, and then after that I was over it. I found a new player to like because I didn’t like them anymore.”
I will say one thing of Serena Williams, she took the high road when asked about the comments. “I don’t really know. I don’t have many thoughts,” Williams told reporters in Spain after defeating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the Madrid Open, answering the one question posed to her about Stephens. “I’m a big Sloane Stephens fan and always have been. I’ve always said that I think she can be the best in the world. I’ll always continue to think that and always be rooting for her.
Now, it is hard to be friends when you are competitors, and perhaps Ms. Williams is starting to feel threatened by young players and the inevitable tug of Father Time on her skills and abilities. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had difficulty in being friends when they were in their primes on different times. Michael Jordan had few friends on other teams. So, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to hear that maybe Serena Williams isn’t all sweetness and light. However, maybe that is what has made her great all these years?

Finally, we see the cry baby in billionaire Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. Yes, Wrigley Field needs millions of dollars in improvements, and yes, he is hamstrung by the fact that historic Wrigley Field is a monument and requires permission before serious changes are made. He is also hamstrung by the politically connected owners of the rooftops across the street from left and right fields; rooftops that get the baseball product at an 85% discount (the owners have refurbished the rooftops with bars and stadium seats, and only pay the Cubs 15% of their revenues).
The team and the city have come up with an initial deal that would build a new scoreboard in left field that would end the roottop bars on Waveland Avenue. The owners, who through campaign contributions, have alderman Tom Tunney in their pocket, have been fighting any proposal tooth and nail, but even Tunnel seems to have caved under the political pressure of the Cubs and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. So, the rooftop owners are threatening litigation over the deal.
The suburb of Rosemont jumped into the fray a few months ago offering free land to build a new Wrigley Field. The Cubs seem to have been surprised by the offer and graciously declined, but yesterday, Ricketts stated that without additional revenue streams, he would consider moving the Cubs to a suburb.
This is the third owner of a major sports team to play the game of civic blackmail, and while the previous two teams did get what they wanted, the owners became vilified in the city. Mayor Richard M. Daley gained votes when the Bears threatened to move out of the city if there wasn’t a new stadium or a refurbished Soldier Field. Daley for years said let them move, but we’ll sue so that they are not called the “Chicago” Bears. Then CEO Michael McCaskey, who was already one of the most hated figures in town, became almost a pariah, and it was only when Ted Phillips became President of the team did the Bear lease deal, which was one sided toward the Park District, and when the Bears offered to provide more of their own money to finance the deal, did Soldier Field get redone.
White Sox fans still hate Jerry Reinsdorf for threatening to move the White Sox to Tampa. In this case, it may have been Michael Jordan that helped keep the Sox in town – the Reinsdorf owned Bulls were in their hey-day of winning championships, and if Reinsdorf moved the Sox, the fallout would have been felt by the White Sox as well. The White Sox got their stadium, albeit unluckily because it was the last stadium to be built before Baltimore’s Camden Yards brought together old school charm and modern amenities.
Now it’s the Cubs turn. Ricketts seems like a spoiled little rich kid who’s dad, founder of Ameritrade, gave him the money to play Fantasy Baseball for real, and at first, the Ricketts’ kids who were the faces of the franchise were engaging, popular owners. They appeared at fan events, met fans, talked with them, etc. They signed hot GM Theo Epstein away from the Red Sox where he helped end the Bosox nearly 90 year World Series drought.
However, the losing continues, and according to the fine piece in the Sun-Times a few weeks ago, the staggering debt that the Ricketts’ amassed to buy the club is forcing them to spend money on the on-field product like a small market team instead of a big market team that owns its own ballpark, leading to speculation that Cub fans won’t be patient with more years of losing and could Epstein get impatient waiting for the financial clouds to lift?
I also don’t feel for the Ricketts since they knew that the rooftop owners’ agreement was a bad deal; knew that Wrigley Field needed work; and should have realized that there wasn’t enough cash flow from baseball operations to cover all of the debt, plus field a top notch ballclub.
So, they are taking the usual tact – give me what I want or I’ll take my playground and go home. Reportedly, there are other suburbs other than organized crime laden Rosemont who would love to lure the Cubs to their town. The question is whether the mayor would take a hard line against the team like his predecessor did with the Bears – “go ahead and move, but you can no longer be the ‘Chicago” Cubs.”
It is hard to feel too much for any of the particulars: the Ricketts in over their heads; the rooftop owners who thought they could underpay for entertainment forever as long as they kick back money to the alderman; Tom Tunney who is once again showing off the dirty side of Chicago politics; and Mayor Emmanuel, who has built his own political machinery. It’s hard to feel sorry for the people in the neighborhood because their property values are high and protected from falling by the existence of the ballpark.
Will the Cubs be allowed to renovate Wrigley Field, or will they become the Rosemont Cubs, or the Elmhurst Cubs? The only certainty is that tax payers, and fans will be the ones footing the bill while Ricketts plays blackmail.

LeRoy Butler, retired safety of the Green Bay Packers, won’t be coming to a Wisconsin church anymore because he tweeted support for Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out as gay this week.
“Congrats to Jason Collins,” Butler tweeted April 29, the day Collins came out in a Sports Illustrated cover story but a church at which he was supposed to appear in support for his new book “The LeRoy Butler Story: From Wheelchair to the Lambeau Leap.”
didn’t have the same charitable spirit.
Through Twitter, Butler was told that the church wanted to cancel the event. The church (whose name he has not revealed to his credit) he was told that he had a contract with the church that includes a “morals clause” that allowed them to cancel and not pay. Butler was supposed to be paid $8,500, but the church tweeted back that “if i removed the tweet, and apologize and ask god forgiveness, I can have the event, I said no,—“
Butler later tweeted that “some parents went to the church and complained about my tweet” supporting Collins. “So sad,” he wrote on the social networking site. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Butler said he pointed out to the church’s pastor that the apparent attempt to cancel his speech was an example of the type of bullying he planned to discuss with the congregation.
Butler recently tweeted that the church apologized for the incident and thanked him “for not releasing the church name.” But they aren’t going to have him come to their church.
Butler played 11 years for the Packers, from 1990 to 2001, and helped them win a Super Bowl in 1997. He was a four-time All-Pro selection, and is credited with inventing the Lambeau Leap, the iconic touchdown celebration in which a Packer leaps into the Lambeau Field stands to celebrate with fans.
Eventually, the church’s name will come out – we know that, and they deserve every bit of attention and scorn that will come from it. I am not religious, but I think that many people are more Christ-like in treating others how they would like to be treated; giving concern and help to the poor and sick; than these co-called “Christians.” I’m glad I’m not one.

I have not seen anything more than headlines, but apparently Walter Payton College Prep School’s baseball team will be playing Far South Side Gwendolyn Brooks High School this Saturday night. I don’t know if the school was shamed into playing, or the Chichago Public Schools PR decided that they needed to diffuse the situation, but the teams will play, which is important.
Kids have to be allowed to play.

As you may know, I have been bored by basketball, especially the NBA version for over a decade, so other than the superstars, I don’t really know a lot of the players. As a result, I don’t know a lot about Jason Collins, but the Washington Wizards forward has taken the step we knew would eventually occur – in an interview released in Sports Illustrated this week, he announced that he was gay. He is the first openly gay active player in a major sport.
Athletes have come out of the closet before, but always after their retirement. Collins didn’t have to say anything. He wasn’t “getting out in front of an upcoming story. He came out he said felt ashamed that when his friend Senator Joe Kennedy marched in the recent Boston gay pride parade, he would have been ashamed to root for his friend.
Collins is a brave man, but already tons of people from Kobe Bryant, to President Obama have Tweeted their support.
Sport is the great Mount Everest to gay rights. Sports is the ultimate machismo area. It may be the last place of unbridled testosterone (real and added). Sports heroes are macho; they are the male ideal. They are heterosexual, or at least don’t show it. Add to that the fact that generally the fundamentalist upbringing of many African-Americans and Hispanics insists that homosexuality is a sin. So, for a young, African-American to come out of the closet is a tough thing to do.
But we, all of us who believe in equality, need to support Mr. Collins and all those who come out as a result of Collins “opening the door” if you will. No, we don’t need to go around saying “I have gay friends,” even if you do. That’s patronizing and what we minorities have seen over the years. No, we have to stand up when the small minded haters boo Mr. Collins, or some of the players to come. We need to make these bigots who yell, blog, Tweet, these gay men and women know that this is not acceptable. Even when those bigots are other players and reporters.
So, I cheer Jason Collins. You will face some tough times, but you have courage. Of course, you are 34 years of age, and is a free agent now. Will any team take a chance on Collins next season? And if he really is done as an athlete, will the NBA afford to not have some team pick him up next year?
Still, Mr. Collins should know that he won’t be standing alone – there’s lots of gay and straight people who support every adult’s right to love who you want and marry and commit to them. You have the right to be happy.
The true point will be when someone comes out and everyone goes “OK.” Ho-hum.

When the New York Jets drafted Gino Smith last week, the writing was on the wall for Tim Tebow. The Christian poster boy played very little last year after being picked up after the Denver Broncos signed Peyton Manning, and now Tebow is a man without a team, being released by the Jets this week.
In short, Tebow just isn’t a very good pro quarterback. He was a terrific college QB like Eric Crouch and other QBs who were successful runners and limited passers. Of course, Tebow’s open proselytizing made him the darling of the Bible Thumpers, and his last quarter heroics against albeit prevent defenses causing numerous wins made him a celebrity and a popular speaker at mega-churches.
But, like Crouch and others, Tebow believes that he is a quarterback, despite woeful completion percentages in the first three quarters of football games. Of course, a lot of credit needed to be given to the Denver defense that kept them in games allowing Tebow to go to work late in games. But Tebow couldn’t unseat one of the weakest starting quarterbacks in the NFL, Mark Sanchez. There were unattributed comments from teammates that Tebow wasn’t very good.
According to rumors, there are teams that would be interested in Tebow, but as a tight end, but Tebow doesn’t want to do that. The CFL has offered him a job, which has been a place where quarterbacks who the US teams don’t believe in can go and prove themselves. It worked for Warren Moon and Doug Flutie, not so much for many others. Similar offers were given to Eric Crouch and he never took them, and he ended up out of the league, and one of the great NFL draft busts.
Will Tim Tebow be out of football soon demanding to be a quarterback, or will he accept a move to another position, like Antawn Randall-El and it appears, Michigan QB Danard Robinson is willing to do, being drafted as a running back. I know that I have been a Tebow basher here, but I kind of feel sorry for him today. The bright future he has felt confident in is now challenged.

There is a big story evolving in Chicago from over the weekend, Walter Payton College Preparatory High School is a magnet school, ironically built in the neighborhood where the old Cabrini-Green Housing Projects once stood. Saturday night, Payton was supposed to play another magnet school: Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, but one which is located in the Roseland neighborhood. That was too dangerous to the parents of the baseball team.
Payton’s baseball coach, William Wittleder, told several news outlets Saturday that some parents didn’t allow their sons to travel to Brooks Academy because of safety concerns. As a result, Coach Wittleder didn’t have enough players to field a team and the school was forced to forfeit the game. Wittleder said that he went to Brooks to apologize to the opposing coach and explain the reasons for the forfeiture.
Principal Tim Devine sent an e-mail to parents in which he said that “the reasons for the cancellation stem from leadership issues within the baseball program,” and “there were other, less salacious, causes for the game’s cancellation.” Which means that the principal didn’t want to anger the yuppie parents by suggesting that they are as racist as other people in the community and Wittleder is probably on his way out of a job.
Principal Devine also lashed out at the news media (a convenient target) criticizing the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC Chicago for their “poor quality of reporting.”Devine said neither outlet reached out to him for comment.
There may be other reasons for the forfeiture, however. CPS spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said that several factors led to the forfeiture, including that Payton athletes were only made aware of the game Wednesday. Other conflicts included no bus transportation to Brooks, Advanced Placement tests and players who were benched for missing practice for college visits and practice AP tests. Brooks’ baseball coach, Bryan Street, told the Sun-Times he would never agree to another game with Payton.
If it was poor planning with no bus transportation and right before college exams, then those are appropriate reasons for holding your young athlete out of the game. But sport is supposed to bring people together, like it did when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Like it does in the Olympics. Both schools are magnet schools, which mean that student have to pass tests to attend, and are probably much less dangerous than other high schools. (Note – I attended a magnet Chicago Public High School and there were no problems in school; the surrounding neighborhood was another matter.)
But if there is any grain of truth to the story, parents have to understand that we live in Chicago, which is a tough town. And if a 15-year-old girl can be gunned down four blocks from President Obama’s home one week after appearing in his second inauguration, we have to understand that there is a level of risk. Stray bullets have no intelligence and no remorse. If you’re concerned about the game, it’s Saturday night – drive down there and watch the game. Investigate the games played at Brooks (there have been no incidents) before you make a knee-jerk decision.
In other words, don’t pre-judge. Hey, isn’t that the derivation of the word “prejudice?”