“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

I am a tremendous sports fan. I have always mixed entertainment and sports with “Music Inner City TV” and “Music Inner City Radio” and now “Sports Inner City TV”. I have tried to bring you information others in my area are not bringing to the table. And LOVE the sport of boxing.

As you know the great icon Muhammad Ali has passed away at age 74. In my opinion and many others, he was the biggest sports star ever in sports history in America. Let’s tell the truth. Who is bigger than Ali? Babe Ruth or Micheal Jordan? No way! The biggest name in sports history has to be Muhammad Ali. He was great of course inside of the ring and outside of the ring.

He came on the scene as a very quick and agile young fighter out of Louisville and made a name for himself in the Olympics and was on his way to stardom. Becoming a very young heavyweight champion by beating a man no one thought he could beat, Sonny Liston.

And then Ali continued on as a undefeated fighter until he met the late Smokin Joe Frazier. Himself a great fighter. And Smokin Joe ended his winning ways. Muhammad Ali’s fights with Frazier were vicious bouts. All three of them. He took terrible blows to the head over and over and over. Some say Ali should have retired after the third fight. Of course he did not. We have to remember Ali sat out the three and a half years for not refusing to go into the Army when he was drafted, he lost his prime years as a athlete.

When he came back into the ring, he did not do all the dancing around the ring he used to do. H e did a lot of the “Rope-A-Dope” he made made famous. So as a result, his fights with Frazier and the late Ken Norton Sr. Ali took a lot of heavy shots. Even in his fight with big George Foreman, he took big punches.

Truth be told, Ali fought way way too. Former heavyweight champ and a person who really has not got his due, Larry Holmes did not want to fight his idol.But he had to. And the beating Ali took from Larry was really really sad. Go to You Tube and see for yourself. Larry asked the ref to end the fight over and over and the ref did not. But finally he had to stop the fight. It was sad. Also sad was the fight with Trevor Berbick. Ali’s last fight as a pro. People were very very happy that Ali ended his career.

But ladies and gentlemen the damage was done to Muhammad Ali. His speech continued to go downhill and in 1985 he announced he had Parkinson’s. We watched his condition get worse and worse over the years. But his popularity NEVER went downhill. Ali was and is loved all over the world. People in China, Russia, Australia, Japan, North Korea…everywhere the name Muhammad Ali is known.

I have been lucky enough though my TV show to get to know the eldest daughter of Ali (one of his nine children), Maryum “May May” Ali.  She has been on my program numerous times over the year. When ever she has a project going she is working on, we have her on “M.I.C-TV. She does a lot of work in the inner city down in L.A. She is a very nice and down to earth lady.

Well Ali was left us now and he is in the boxing ring in heaven with Smokin Joe, Norton Sr, and Ernie Shavers and Ernie Terrell. Guys Ali defeated in the ring. I am glad there is You Tube where we can go and watch just how great the icon was. He did so much for African Americans in speaking up about racism in America. Ali loved children too. He would do card tricks for kids all the time.

Guys on sports radio and elsewhere here in Seattle and nationwide CANNOT relate to what Ali fought for because many of them are not African American. But African Americans like myself want to say THANK YOU to Muhammad Ali, you will ALWAYS BE THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME IN AND OUT OF THE RING!!

“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

As a African American man in America and a tremendous sports fan and basketball fan, I am very happy to say NBA players Steph Curry and Lebron James who are meeting in the NBA Finals are great role models for inner city youth to look up to.

Curry of course is a two time MVP and is trying to lead the Golden State Warriors to a repeat as NBA champs along with his Splash Brotha Klay Thompson. And James is trying to lead the Cleveland Cavs to a NBA title and make the city of Cleveland very very happy. Because the city has not experienced a sports title in decades and decades and decades.

Curry and James were brought up differently. Lebron was brought up in the inner city of Akron, Ohio in a single family home. Meanwhile Curry is a son of a former NBA player in Dell Curry. Who like his son was a great shooter. But ladies and gentlemen the Curry’s and James mom did a wonderful job in bringing up their superstar kids.

Steph is a great father to his children and so is Lebron. Truth be told Lebron Jr. has basketball scouts looking at him already at age 12. He is a young baller already. I have seen him on You Tube folks and he is a future star just like daddy.

Of course we do not hear about Curry and James in trouble with the law. Hangin out at clubs at 2am or smoking bud or getting DUI tickets. For sure they are great role models. I do not understand all the haters against Curry and James. Why is this happening? I say cats are flat out jealous of Curry because of his “baby face” and himself being a two time MVP and his ability to kill teams with his three point shooting.

And folks are jealous of Lebron because of his abilities on the court and himself being in the NBA Finals for SEVEN YEARS IN A ROW! And also because James is making hella dollars in endorsements and hell he is even acting in movies. Lebron and Curry have career many dream of having. They are living the American dream for sure.

Too many times I see the police blatter on espn.com and other sports sites regarding a African American. I do not like to see it all. I want to read about African American brothas doing good things. Like the Lebron James Foundation sending hundreds of young people to college from Akron if they get a certain grade in high school. And James remodeling the Boys and Girls Club in his old neighborhood in Akron and more.

Of course when Curry and James do good things you have to search for the stories. This is why my sports site “Sports Inner City Online” is badly needed in the sports world. To bring out information the majority sports media will not discuss on local sports radio KJR and 710 ESPN. But we will here on “S.I.C Online” and also on “Sports Inner City Internet TV” Which is a spinoff of our main “Sports Inner City TV” program on Comcast-Xfinity On Demand/Washington State-Oregon and California. Go to “get local” and then “inner city tv”

By the way I have just learned that the only African American regular voice with his own show on sports radio here in Seattle, Gee Scott has been removed from the air with the “Justin &  Gee” show on the station. His 10am to noon program will be replaced by former and future guest on “Sports Inner City TV” “The Professor” Hall Of Famer John Clayton.

“Sports Inner City Internet TV” hosted by Gordon Curvey. Topics include massive NHL brawl and why they are “allowed” to get away with it, MLB not reaching young African Americans kids and more. Via Ustream TV! Comments? gcurvey@yahoo.com

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ARTICLE FROM theglobeandmail.com (Click here for full story)

The article above is from three years ago but the information in the article is the same or even worse in 2016.

Major League Baseball is doing a flat out terrible job in reaching young inner city youth and I mean African American kids. Young African American kids do not give a damn about baseball after the age of 12. This is a fact.

Take a look at most high school and college baseball teams. And you you will not find many African American players.

I watched a University Of Washington/Oregon baseball game for a little while the other day on TV. There was a grand total of zero African Americans playing  for both teams! This is truly truly sad.

Let’s take a look at what young inner city kids see on TV. They see NBA/NFL current and ex players doing commercials/marketing. They see Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Lebron James, Payton Manning, JJ Watt, Russell Westbrook, Shaq, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Chris Bosh, Paul George, Kevin Garnett and more.

But I cannot name ONE Major League Baseball player doing commercials. No Andrew McCutchen or Matt Kemp or David Price or Tori Hunter or Reggie Jackson or Derek Jeter and others. The question is why is this going on.

Most young African American kids think baseball is boring. Not cool. They see players with there socks up to their knees and they think that is also not cool.

The sport is living in 1954 not 2016. With “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” or “America The Beautiful” at the 7th inning. Stuff that has went on for decades but meanwhile the NBA has Drake and Kendrick Lamar playing at games.

Baseball has to do MUCH BETTER job in reaching young African American kids to get them interested in playing baseball again. Because right now, they can care less about playing or watching the game.

Gordon Curvey

Comments? gcurvey@yahoo.com

“One Man’s Opinion” by Gordon Curvey

You know about the incident regarding Seattle Seahawk star Kam Chancellor and his friends having the police called on them in Redmond a suburb of Seattle, for just trying to obtain some information.

Well readers I had a situation similar to the Chancellor and friends incident recently. It happened here in Seattle at Safeco Field home of the Seattle Mariners. My story like the problems in Redmond was truly sad.

I learned the Mariners was holding a press conference at Safeco regarding the hiring of a new manager of the Mariners. As a member of the media I always contacted the Mariners office first to obtain a media pass to enter Safeco to conduct interviews with players on the field.

But this time I decided to go Safeco Field without calling first. I did not think it would be a big deal since the Mariners have known me for years. I was wrong.

When I entered Safeco I was confronted in a VERY VERY angry way by a lady working at the front office of Safeco. She talked to me like I was very unintelligent and stupid. Asking me if I had permission to attend the press conference and snapping at me when I “tried” to talk.

From the start I did not like her tone of voice against me. So soon I had to let her know how I felt. I told her that I did NOT like the way she was talking to me. And told her she was talking to me like I was a “stupid untelligent “N” word”

After I said that, the ladies in the front office called Safeco sucurity on me and I was kicked out of Safeco!!

I found out later the one who talked to me badly was a former radio DJ at KUBE93 who did not like me then. She is Filipino and other lady was white.

So this person used her hatred towards me from her days at KUBE93 to have me kicked out of Safeco. I will not use her name even though I want to.

Yes I was wrong for going the stadium without calling first, but their was no reason for me to talked to in the manner I was talked to. I was saying to myself why was I being treated in the manner?

As I walked to my car after being kicked out of Safeco I knew the main reason I was kicked out was because I was a African American. Number two was because the Mariners knew I wanted to attend the press conference to ask if the Mariners had interviewed any African American to be the new manager.

I am not stupid ladies and gentlemen. The Mariners called me a few days after the incident to apologize on the behalf of the Mariners in the way I was treated.

So in a way, my incident and the Chancellor/friends incident is alike. African Americans being treated in a flat out wrong way. So readers sorry to say, racism is alive and well here in the Pacific Northwest and in America.

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