“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

I always look forward to the NBA All Star Weekend every year. As a sport fan I just love the three days of events.

Of course my favorites to watch is the three point contest and the slam dunk contest. And this year it did not disappoint the viewers at home and in person because it was pure enjoyment for basketball fans.

The three point contest came down to the “Splash Brothers” Klay Thompson and Steph Curry of the champs Golden State Warriors with Thompson winning the contest. The young man as we know can really really drain buckets as we know Curry can.

But the true excitement was in the dunk contest that came down to a battle of young high risers in Zack Levine who is from here in Western Washington state of the Timberwolves and Aaron Gordon of Orlando. The brothas put on a show!!

It was one great dunk after another great dunk. It came down to a dunk off and in the end Lavine repeated as the Slam Dunk winner. BUT in my opinion and many others, Gordon won. But anyway the contest left everyone with a smile on their faces and left us knowing why we enjoy the NBA.

But ladies and gentlemen the entire weekend showed why the NBA and of course the NFL are so popular to young people and for sure young African American kids and youth in the inner city and out.

But the question is why is baseball lagging behind in reaching young inner city kids in playing baseball. The kids turn to football and basketball by age 12.

This is a fact. All you have to do is go to any major city and look at the make up of high school baseball teams compared to their basketball teams and football teams. Then you will know what I am saying.

Young inner city kids do not see Major League Baseball players doing national marketing of products like NBA/NFL ex and current players are doing.

Kids see KD, CP3, KG, Kobe, Barkley, Lebron, Curry, Blake Griffin, Damian Lilliard, Paul George, James Harden, Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Cam Newton and others on TV. But do not see Andrew McCutchen or other African American baseball players on TV selling sneakers or Burger King or Wendy’s products etc. The question is why?

Most baseball players have zero personality. No charisma. They are not into hip-hop or rap or r&b. They love rock or country music.

A lot of NBA and NFL players are very very stylish and dress to the nines unlike baseball players. MLB thinks it is 1955 instead of 2016. With “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and “America The Beautiful” sang at the 7th inning. Same ole same ole that has went on for decades. Baseball and apple pie.

I am a Adult School Crossing Guard on the side for the Seattle Public Schools and I can ask kids who is Andrew McCutchen or Matt Kemp or David Price and they will not even know who they are. But I can ask what number Curry or Lebron or Kobe wears and they will know. This is sad.

Our Seattle Mariners will have a grand total of ZERO African American regulars when the season starts and only ONE African American on the team. Plus zero African Americans in their front office.

So when I go down to Safeco Field for interviews, it will be with the visiting team who might have a African American player because my goal is reaching young African American kids about the game of baseball.

Sorry to say I saw a Seattle Mariners commercial the other day with a little white kid and his dad at a game. That is not reaching African Americans and the youth of the inner city. It just is not.

So big thanks to the NBA and NFL for knowing this is 2016 not 1948. And playing Kendrick Lamar or Ice Cube or James Brown or Earth Wind and Fire at games unlike baseball who is playing Elvis and Creedence Clearwater or the Beatles at their games. I will be doing another story on this topic very soon.