khandor’s sports blog

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy is [im]famous for a variety of different reasons …

I’m a man, I’m 40

but, instead of focusing attention mainly on what he does with his body, perhaps, what media should be doing is shining a bright spotlight on the words the man actually has to say to his team, following his short “dance of celebration” and a big comeback victory, on the road, against a high calibre opponent:

Tragically, the State of Georgia executed Troy Anthony Davis last night:

———————————————

Georgia Prisoner Is Put to Death

Mr. Davis was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. local time, and his death brought to a conclusion a case that became a cause for anti-death penalty advocates around the world.

The execution began at 10:53 p.m., according to pool reporters who were present. Also on hand were two family members of the officer slain in 1989 by Mr. Davis—Mark Allen MacPhail—and they stared at him throughout the process.

———————————————

after 22 years of legal appeals on his behalf had finally been exhausted.

A good many years from now, however, what history might eventually show is that:

———————————————

Troy Anthony Davis and the Truth

I have tried to write about Mr. Davis before, but have not been able to find the heart for it. I called. I signed petitions. I did what little I could do for a man I firmly believe was not guilty of the crime of which he was accused.

I did not know Mr. Davis, but I hope that whatever gods may be grant him peace tonight.

What I do know, though, is that his death yesterday is emblematic of myriad problems with our system of criminal justice. In our ideals and our hopes, we want the Justice System to be a neutral arbiter – a way of sifting out the truth and ensuring that justice is done. Alas, it isn’t so.

We know that eyewitness testimony, especially in stressful situations, is unreliable. We know that, when under pressure by police to name someone as the guilty party, a witness will do so. Sometimes, under the stress and pressure, witnesses will even come to believe they saw something they didn’t see.

Seven of the witnesses against Mr. Davis have since recanted their testimony. Several have testified that the police applied intense pressure for them to name Mr. Davis as the killer of police officer Mark MacPhail.

———————————————

the American ‘justice’ system was fundamentally altered on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 – hopefully, for the better – when a convicted prisoner was killed by his own government without having even one piece of ‘forensic’ evidence against him.

Troy Anthony Davis and the inhumanity of the death penalty

If this isn’t THE most linked to video clip in the blogosphere today …

then, how the internet works exactly is still mostly a mystery to yours truly.

Tackles, scrums, lineouts, free grips and lifts, rucks, and mauls … all covered in an on-line ‘tutorial’ lasting only about 2 minutes.

Hmmm …

Nets Are Scorching has an interesting post today concerning former New Jersey player Bill Melchionni.

From a slightly different perspective, however …

When looking at the following video clip, what exactly do you see happening between Bill’s nephew [i.e. Lee Melchionni, Duke] and Deron Washington [Virginia Tech/Detroit Pistons]?

FYI, the perspective of yours truly, posted earlier today, in the comments sections of Nets Are Scorching.

… are:

1. Read the following article;

and, then,

2. Place a telephone call or send a fax – voicing your outrage – to either of the respective contact numbers shown for Judge Penny Freesemann at the end of this article, before 7:00 PM ET.

———————————————

Today, Georgia Murders Troy Davis

The facts speak for themselves. Back in 1989, nine people testified that they saw Troy Davis kill Officer Mark MacPhail. Since that time, seven have recanted their testimony. Please allow me to repeat: of the nine people who testified that Troy killed Officer Mark MacPhail, seven have recanted their testimony. Beyond the eyewitnesses, there was no physical evidence linking Troy to Officer MacPhail’s murder. None. Three jurors have signed affidavits saying that if they had all the information about Troy, they would not have voted to convict. One juror even arrived in person to the Board of Pardons and Paroles to say to their faces that she would not have voted to convict if she’d had the facts. Another woman has even come forward to say that a different man on the scene that night, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, bragged afterward about doing the shooting. Of the two witnesses who still maintain that Troy was the triggerman, one is Sylvester “Redd” Coles.

From day one, Troy has maintained his innocence. But he was the wrong color, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong bank account and the wrong legal team, so he was thrown into the death house with little fanfare. Yet the tireless work of Troy’s family, particularly his sister Martina, brought international attention to the case. From former President Jimmy Carter, to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher, to Pope Benedict XVI, to Reagan’s former FBI Director, William Sessions, to the more than one million people who signed petitions, the call has gone out to spare Troy’s life. But the Board of Pardons and Paroles didn’t care. Previously the Board issued a statement that they would only allow the execution to go through, if there was “no doubt” as to his guilt. They lied.

As Brian Kammer, one of Davis’s attorneys, said Tuesday after the decision was announced, “I am utterly shocked and disappointed at the failure of our justice system at all levels to correct a miscarriage of justice.” He’s absolutely correct. Demonstrations have been planned for today in cities around the country. I know that Washington, DC, will see people come out at 6 PM AT MT.VERNON SQUARE where the Congressional Black Caucus is meeting. I know that students are marching from Howard University to the White House at noon. I know that students at the University of Maryland are gathering in the heart of their campus at 2pm. I know there is a huge tribute to the late, great People’s History of the United States historian Howard Zinn tonight at Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville and I know what Howard would be doing if he was still with us. He’d be on the march.

I was there when Howard met Troy Davis’s sister Martina, just a few months before Howard died, at a conference of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Martina told Howard, “I’m going to be one of those people that you write about, Mr. Zinn. One of those people who no one saw coming that changed the world. I’m going to save my brother.”  Howard didn’t live  write about Troy but It’s not too late to make Martina’s words prophetic.  I know that Judge Penny Freesemann still has the power to withdraw its death warrant. These are slim options, but I also know that this isn’t over until they send the poison into Troy’s veins. Troy himself has refused a “last meal,” choosing to fight until his last breath. We owe him nothing less.

[Call Judge Penny Freesemann at 912 652 7252. Fax at 912 652-7254].

———————————————

Each of us is our brother’s keeper and, fundamentally, it is our responsibility to stop the madness, when and where we are able to do so.

Instead of trying to ‘put down’ the dynamic duo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade [Miami Heat, 2010-2011], by comparing them to the perceived to be ‘less-than’ dynamic pairing of Jack Sikma and Gus Williams [Seattle Supersonics, 1978-1979] …

———————————————

Bringing it all together

So why were two good players able to team up and win it all when some of the all time greats (Wade and LeBron, Stockton and Malone, Drexler and Porter) have failed to do so? The answer is that they had perfect timing. They were in the league when the requirement to be a top team was much lower and the competitive advantage of a top team wasn’t as high. Additionally the playoffs were easier if you were a top team. Putting this all together let team work prevail! Of course as I’ve chronicled, this is not  the way things are any more. And that’s why modern superteams can still fail and why teamwork is no longer enough to win it all.

———————————————

… what ‘Mr. Dre’ SHOULD really be doing is asking the following question:

“How do the Dallas Mavericks/2010-2011 compare favourably with the same TEAM of Seattle Supersonics?”

The answer, on a person-to-person basis, might actually surprise him … when it comes to understanding the construction of a championship-winning TEAM.

In the wide world of sports … there are relatively few numbers of people who actually “get it.”

———————————-

Tedy Bruschi tees off on Ochocinco

“Drop the awe factor, OK, Ocho, Chad, drop the awe factor,” Bruschi said. “You’re not a fan, all right.  You’re not someone who’s on another team or watching TV.  You’re not an analyst.  You’re a part of it. They want you to be a part of it.  So get with the program because obviously you’re not getting it and you’re tweeting because you’re saying, ‘It’s amazing to see’?  It’s amazing to see because you don’t understand it.  You still don’t understand it and it’s amazing to you because you can’t get it.

“Stop tweeting and get in your playbook.  Wake up!  If you’re just waking up now — I don’t know when this was, six minutes ago? — get out your bed and get to the stadium and watch some film if you still think it’s amazing.  If you’re in it and you know what you’re doing and you execute out there you don’t think it’s amazing.  You know why? Because it’s what you’re supposed to do.  All of a sudden it’s second nature.  ‘I know I was supposed do that, yes I went 99 yards, I threw for 517.  You know why?  Because we’re that good and that’s what we’re supposed to do and that’s what I thought we were gonna do.’  You are still in awe to be a member of the New England Patriots offense. Join the system, buddy.”

———————————-

Mr. Bruschi, most assuredly, is one of them.