It's fight night in "The Lou," and I'm hanging out at the Scottrade Center with the boxing crowd, awaiting the main event betweeen Cory Spinks and Deandre Lattimore. Hanging out here with Glenn McBrady, our boxing writer at the American.
Up and coming local boxer Dannie Williams just got the crowd lathered up with a dynamic 23 second knockout of a young man named Ryan Pederson of Kansas City.
It was Pederson's professional debut. How unfortunate for him. Just seconds in the fight, he found himself on the business end of a vicious left hook, courtesy of Williams as the bloodthirsty crowd roared.
We should be going on live on Showtime Cable pretty soon as the co-feature with St. Louis Devon Alexander is next on the docket. After that, it's the Bull vs. the Matador.
The fun is just beginning.
Stay tuned.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Young Bull vs. Old Fox
They say that styles make fights and that is never more evident that Friday night's IBF junior middleweight championship boxing between St. Louisan Cory Spinks and Deandre "The Bull" Lattimore. I'm starting to get a little excited about this fight. Not because it's for a world championship, but I like the aspect of city bragging rights which will be on the line.
Cory's previous championship bouts here in St. Louis created a lot of buzz, but there's something I like about this one a little more.
They are fighting for belts and prestige and of course, a chance for bigger money fights. But they are also fighting for city pride, their neighborhood, their families and friends.
There's nothing like a little neighborhood bragging rights scrap that's going to be played out in front of thousands of people, not to mention a national cable television audience on Showtime.
I'm going to have more fun watching the fans in the stands that I am the actual fight. As emotions start to build up, it could get quite dramatic out there.
Although Spinks and Lattimore hail from "The Lou," the similarities seem to end right there. They couldn't be any more different from each other.
Cory is 31 and a veteran of the ring wars, especially the title fights while Deandre is 23 and getting his first taste of a championship bout.
Spinks has won four world titles during his professional career while Lattimore is hungry for his first world championship belt.
Spinks is the slick boxing technican who tries to outpoint his foes with his hand speed, defense and constant movement. Lattimore is true to his nickname, "The Bull." He wants to take the fight to his opponent with his punching power.
Spinks comes from local boxing royalty as his father and uncle were both former world heavyweight champions. Lattimore is trying to make his own name as he moves up the boxing ranks.
The press conference earlier this week was also a lively affair. Spinks had his crew of older guys behind him as they started woofing at Lattimore and his younger crew, who returned the barbs in kind.
It should be a fun evening on Saturday night at the Scottrade Center, St. Louis style.
Cory's previous championship bouts here in St. Louis created a lot of buzz, but there's something I like about this one a little more.
They are fighting for belts and prestige and of course, a chance for bigger money fights. But they are also fighting for city pride, their neighborhood, their families and friends.
There's nothing like a little neighborhood bragging rights scrap that's going to be played out in front of thousands of people, not to mention a national cable television audience on Showtime.
I'm going to have more fun watching the fans in the stands that I am the actual fight. As emotions start to build up, it could get quite dramatic out there.
Although Spinks and Lattimore hail from "The Lou," the similarities seem to end right there. They couldn't be any more different from each other.
Cory is 31 and a veteran of the ring wars, especially the title fights while Deandre is 23 and getting his first taste of a championship bout.
Spinks has won four world titles during his professional career while Lattimore is hungry for his first world championship belt.
Spinks is the slick boxing technican who tries to outpoint his foes with his hand speed, defense and constant movement. Lattimore is true to his nickname, "The Bull." He wants to take the fight to his opponent with his punching power.
Spinks comes from local boxing royalty as his father and uncle were both former world heavyweight champions. Lattimore is trying to make his own name as he moves up the boxing ranks.
The press conference earlier this week was also a lively affair. Spinks had his crew of older guys behind him as they started woofing at Lattimore and his younger crew, who returned the barbs in kind.
It should be a fun evening on Saturday night at the Scottrade Center, St. Louis style.
*
Cory Spinks Image Courtesy of: daylife publishers.
Deandre Lattimore Image Courtesy of: world boxing foundation.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Big Dummy
The Fred Sanford "You Big Dummy" Award for this week has to go to Dallas Mavericks center Erick Dampier for his postgame comments as his Mavericks lost to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. After watching Spurs guard Tony Parker shred the Dallas defense for 38 points in one drive to the hoop after the another, the 6'11" Dampier lamented his team's defense and vowed to put Parker on his back in the next game. He publicly guaranteed that he will be the one to put a hard foul of Parker and knock him down when he goes to the hoop for the first time.
Well, as Fred Sanford used to say to his son Lamont, "YOU BIG DUMMY!"
Why was this so dumb for Erick Dumbpier to do. Let us count the ways:
1. As much as we hate it, hard fouls are part of NBA playoffs basketball, BUT, you don't go and telegraph what you are going to do. You don't tell everyone from the media, fans and worse yet, the NBA Commisioner's office that you intend on taking out one of the league's top guards the first chance you get.
2. All eyes will now be on Dumbpier and his teammates. Not only the game officials, but league commish David Stern will be watching closely to see if Dumbpier will follow through on his threat. Not only could he comprimise his own availability in a series that the Mavs have a good shot at winning, but he could comprimise his team's defensive effort.
3. Since when did the Dallas Mavericks get tough all of the sudden. Where was all this bravado and tough talk three years ago when Dwyane Wade was ripping their hearts out while personally taking the 2006 NBA championship away from the Mavs. "Where was the we gotta take Flash out yapping back then?" Perhaps, you were a little afraid of what Miami Heat musclemen Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem might do to your soft team in relaliation.
4. Tony Parker has been going to the basket strong every since he has entered the league as a teenager. Do you actually think a hard foul or two are going to stop him from doing what he has done routinely for the past eight years. To play the game that Parker plays and excel on a consistent basis, it takes a whole lot of mental and physical toughess. So, you take a few whacks at him. He's still coming to the basket at you, then what?
5. What if Parker got hurt from one of these premeditated knuckleheaded cheap shots?
Well, as Fred Sanford used to say to his son Lamont, "YOU BIG DUMMY!"
Why was this so dumb for Erick Dumbpier to do. Let us count the ways:
1. As much as we hate it, hard fouls are part of NBA playoffs basketball, BUT, you don't go and telegraph what you are going to do. You don't tell everyone from the media, fans and worse yet, the NBA Commisioner's office that you intend on taking out one of the league's top guards the first chance you get.
2. All eyes will now be on Dumbpier and his teammates. Not only the game officials, but league commish David Stern will be watching closely to see if Dumbpier will follow through on his threat. Not only could he comprimise his own availability in a series that the Mavs have a good shot at winning, but he could comprimise his team's defensive effort.
3. Since when did the Dallas Mavericks get tough all of the sudden. Where was all this bravado and tough talk three years ago when Dwyane Wade was ripping their hearts out while personally taking the 2006 NBA championship away from the Mavs. "Where was the we gotta take Flash out yapping back then?" Perhaps, you were a little afraid of what Miami Heat musclemen Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem might do to your soft team in relaliation.
4. Tony Parker has been going to the basket strong every since he has entered the league as a teenager. Do you actually think a hard foul or two are going to stop him from doing what he has done routinely for the past eight years. To play the game that Parker plays and excel on a consistent basis, it takes a whole lot of mental and physical toughess. So, you take a few whacks at him. He's still coming to the basket at you, then what?
5. What if Parker got hurt from one of these premeditated knuckleheaded cheap shots?
6. Last, but not least, did Mr. Dumbpier that David Stern and the league office are not big fans of your franchise in the first place because your owner Mark Cuban has made a career out of antagonizing the league office and blasting the league officials every chance he gets.
Anyway, the first time Dumbpier hits Parker with a flagrant foul. The remedy is simple. Immediate ejection from the game and a heavy fine and suspension of at least one game, maybe more.
Folks, this is the National Basketball Association. This is not World Wrestling Entertainment. Get a grip.
*
Image borrowed from Black Voices.
Anyway, the first time Dumbpier hits Parker with a flagrant foul. The remedy is simple. Immediate ejection from the game and a heavy fine and suspension of at least one game, maybe more.
Folks, this is the National Basketball Association. This is not World Wrestling Entertainment. Get a grip.
*
Image borrowed from Black Voices.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Congrats to Briana
I would like to pass along congratulations to Briana Isom-Brummer, a very talented young lady who is a member of the Villa Duchense track and field team. Briana just signed a letter of intent to attend Drake on a track scholarship. Very nice. Briana does a little bit of everything from the hurdles to the high jump to the relays. She was an All-American in the heptathlon during the summer. Here's a tip of the cap to Bri.
The oldies
The National Basketball Association is increasingly becoming a young man's game with LeBron James leading the way. The league gets young and younger every year with a lot of star power under the age of 25.
However, I cannot help but look at what the old veterans are doing. Let's not sleep on the 30-something guys who still continue to play at a high level. The first few games of the NBA playoffs have shown me that they graybeards aren't ready to walk off into the sunset.
Tim Duncan of San Antonio is in his 30s and may be starting his initial descent, but I will still take the Big Fundamental over any player in the league. He is still the best big man in the game for my money. He can still score, rebound, hold down the middle defensively and pass the basketball to open teammates and do it at an All-Star level. The man is still great. His game is not sexy, but it is dominating in an understated way. I have to admit, it's going to be a sad day for me when #21 calls it a career. In my opinion, he's one of the top half dozen or so big men ever to play this game. Without a doubt, he is the best power forward ever to lace 'em up. No question about it.
He still makes others around him better players. As he gets older, he has gracefully stepped into the background a little bit as teammate Tony Parker is becoming one of the league's most dominant guards as he enters his prime years.
Youngsters, I know this is the age of LeBron, Kobe, CP3, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant and they get all the love. But make me this one promise. In between highlights of high-flying dunks and those and1 video dribbling moves, just take a little time to check out what Tim Duncan is doing and learn a little bit about how the game is supposed to be play, especially if you are a big man.
The aging Spurs may not be true NBA championship contenders any longer, especially with Manu Ginobili out of the playoffs with his injury, but Tim Duncan still as a few good years left in him.
Don't let those good years be wasted without learning something.
Boston's Ray Allen and Detroit's Chauncey Billups have also issued some opening statements in their early games. Ray Ray just went off for 28 points in the second half of the Celts' thrilling Game 2 victory over the Baby Bulls. He won the game with an unbelievable 3-pointer with two seconds left with Joakim Noah's hand in his face. I don't know how he saw the basket, but that is what great shooters do. And Ray is a great shooter who has done it in the clutch throughout his career.
The trade that brought Billups to his hometown of Denver in exchange for the ultra-selfish Allen Iverson has to be one of the best moves made by an NBA team in recent memory. Imagine unloading a shot-first, pint-sized shooting guard for an A-List point guard with loads of playoff experience and a championship series MVP to boot. It's no surprise the Nuggets shot up the charts in the Western Conference all the way up the No. 2 seed. He will have his hands full in the first round with the Hornets' Chris Paul, but his 18 first half points in Denver's Game 1 blowout victory showed that he is still a major factor.
Finally, it may be strange, but Kobe Bryant can also be considered an oldie. He can still fly around the hoop and drain the closely contested jumpers better than anyone in the league, people may forget that Kobe joined the league way back in 1996. He is still the most popular player in the league, especially with the youngsters. But sorry kids, Kobe is also an oldie.
So, here is some love for the oldies.
However, I cannot help but look at what the old veterans are doing. Let's not sleep on the 30-something guys who still continue to play at a high level. The first few games of the NBA playoffs have shown me that they graybeards aren't ready to walk off into the sunset.
Tim Duncan of San Antonio is in his 30s and may be starting his initial descent, but I will still take the Big Fundamental over any player in the league. He is still the best big man in the game for my money. He can still score, rebound, hold down the middle defensively and pass the basketball to open teammates and do it at an All-Star level. The man is still great. His game is not sexy, but it is dominating in an understated way. I have to admit, it's going to be a sad day for me when #21 calls it a career. In my opinion, he's one of the top half dozen or so big men ever to play this game. Without a doubt, he is the best power forward ever to lace 'em up. No question about it.
He still makes others around him better players. As he gets older, he has gracefully stepped into the background a little bit as teammate Tony Parker is becoming one of the league's most dominant guards as he enters his prime years.
Youngsters, I know this is the age of LeBron, Kobe, CP3, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant and they get all the love. But make me this one promise. In between highlights of high-flying dunks and those and1 video dribbling moves, just take a little time to check out what Tim Duncan is doing and learn a little bit about how the game is supposed to be play, especially if you are a big man.
The aging Spurs may not be true NBA championship contenders any longer, especially with Manu Ginobili out of the playoffs with his injury, but Tim Duncan still as a few good years left in him.
Don't let those good years be wasted without learning something.
Boston's Ray Allen and Detroit's Chauncey Billups have also issued some opening statements in their early games. Ray Ray just went off for 28 points in the second half of the Celts' thrilling Game 2 victory over the Baby Bulls. He won the game with an unbelievable 3-pointer with two seconds left with Joakim Noah's hand in his face. I don't know how he saw the basket, but that is what great shooters do. And Ray is a great shooter who has done it in the clutch throughout his career.
The trade that brought Billups to his hometown of Denver in exchange for the ultra-selfish Allen Iverson has to be one of the best moves made by an NBA team in recent memory. Imagine unloading a shot-first, pint-sized shooting guard for an A-List point guard with loads of playoff experience and a championship series MVP to boot. It's no surprise the Nuggets shot up the charts in the Western Conference all the way up the No. 2 seed. He will have his hands full in the first round with the Hornets' Chris Paul, but his 18 first half points in Denver's Game 1 blowout victory showed that he is still a major factor.
Finally, it may be strange, but Kobe Bryant can also be considered an oldie. He can still fly around the hoop and drain the closely contested jumpers better than anyone in the league, people may forget that Kobe joined the league way back in 1996. He is still the most popular player in the league, especially with the youngsters. But sorry kids, Kobe is also an oldie.
So, here is some love for the oldies.
Image borrowed from: slamonline.com
Monday, April 20, 2009
Greetings
Hello Fellow Bloggers,
This is Earl Austin Jr. and I guess you can say I am gradually making my way into the 21st century as this is my first time in the world of blogging. I've been covering sports for newspapers for 22 years, so I qualify for being a stick in the mud. But that is about to change. You can count on hearing from me on a daily basis on a myriad of topics in the sports world, particularly in the St. Louis area where I reside.
As many of you know, I wear several hats in the St. Louis sports media. I have been the sports editor of the St. Louis American for the past 15 years. I have also been the radio color commentator for the Saint Louis University basketball team for the past 18 years. In between, I have squeezed in a couple of books and a few basketball newsletters along the way.
I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this blogging stuff. I'll have three blogs going on a regular basis. On this blog, I'll be talking about everything from high school sports, basketball, recruiting, SLU basketball and whatever else may be on my mind on that day. My second blog (earlsbasketballhistory.blogspot.org) will be centered around high school basketball history in St. Louis, which is one of my favorite passions. This blog will give fans the opportunity to talk and reminisce about the good old days of St. Louis basketball. As many of you know,I wrote a book on on the history of the Public HIgh League and plan to write several more books on local prep basketball history in the future. I'll be popping in every day on that blog with a special memory of mine. I hope you will do the same.
My third blog (straitjacketparents.blogspot.com) is centered around another one of my favorite pastimes. Following the antics of the parents of our young athletes. I have an upcoming book that is dedicated to sports parents entitled, "You Might Need a Jacket: The Hilarious Stories of Youth Sports Parents." it contains nearly 200 stories about the crazy antics of our sports parents, which we call "Strait-Jacket Parents" It will be available later this summer. Stay tuned for more information as we start to promote this upcoming publication, which I think all of you will enjoy. On that blog, people will have the oppotunity to share their own stories and experiences with strait-jacket parents. I can't wait to hear them.
This is also you chance to tell me what's on your mind as well and share you views.
I look forward to exchanging posts and ideas from all of you.
This is Earl Austin Jr. and I guess you can say I am gradually making my way into the 21st century as this is my first time in the world of blogging. I've been covering sports for newspapers for 22 years, so I qualify for being a stick in the mud. But that is about to change. You can count on hearing from me on a daily basis on a myriad of topics in the sports world, particularly in the St. Louis area where I reside.
As many of you know, I wear several hats in the St. Louis sports media. I have been the sports editor of the St. Louis American for the past 15 years. I have also been the radio color commentator for the Saint Louis University basketball team for the past 18 years. In between, I have squeezed in a couple of books and a few basketball newsletters along the way.
I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this blogging stuff. I'll have three blogs going on a regular basis. On this blog, I'll be talking about everything from high school sports, basketball, recruiting, SLU basketball and whatever else may be on my mind on that day. My second blog (earlsbasketballhistory.blogspot.org) will be centered around high school basketball history in St. Louis, which is one of my favorite passions. This blog will give fans the opportunity to talk and reminisce about the good old days of St. Louis basketball. As many of you know,I wrote a book on on the history of the Public HIgh League and plan to write several more books on local prep basketball history in the future. I'll be popping in every day on that blog with a special memory of mine. I hope you will do the same.
My third blog (straitjacketparents.blogspot.com) is centered around another one of my favorite pastimes. Following the antics of the parents of our young athletes. I have an upcoming book that is dedicated to sports parents entitled, "You Might Need a Jacket: The Hilarious Stories of Youth Sports Parents." it contains nearly 200 stories about the crazy antics of our sports parents, which we call "Strait-Jacket Parents" It will be available later this summer. Stay tuned for more information as we start to promote this upcoming publication, which I think all of you will enjoy. On that blog, people will have the oppotunity to share their own stories and experiences with strait-jacket parents. I can't wait to hear them.
This is also you chance to tell me what's on your mind as well and share you views.
I look forward to exchanging posts and ideas from all of you.
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