Straight Sucka Move!

"Hey, we already knew you were an idiot but did you have to go and show everybody?"

"Hey, we already knew that you were an idiot but did you have to go and show everybody?"

During the 1950's and '60's the civil rights movement was packed full of demonstrations. There was the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott ignited by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat in 1955 to the sit-ins at lunch counters across the south where blacks weren't allowed to eat. All of these demonstrations were done to make life better for future generations. That is the general purpose of a boycott.

The assistant coaches at the University of Illinois must have missed that class. As the team prepares to play in Saturday's Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, not all of their coaches are following suit. Three Illini assistant coaches have threatened to boycott the bowl game against the UCLA due to a contract dispute, according to multiple media reports. Interim coach Vic Koenning couldn't be sure Friday if Jeff Brohm, Joe Gilbert and Chip Long would participate in the bowl.

"I'm trying to stay out of it," Koenning said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "That's their deal. Some things happened in the middle there and we didn't realize we didn't have two-year contracts until we were released (a few weeks ago)."

Although I applaud the coaches for trying get their money because no one wants to get screwed. However, what are they really accomplishing by boycotting the bowl game? If their plan was to not coach in the first place why didn't they take off when Ron Zook was fired weeks ago? Why did they go through bowl preparations for the past month and now decide that their money wasn't right?

By even threatening to boycott destroys their credibility on all levels especially with the kids that they are supposed to be teaching how to become men. Not to mention all of those parents that they promised to look out for their kids.

Would they be any more or less fired by not coaching the game on Saturday? It only tells me that they don't have good sense because if they weren't going to coach, why waste the time preparing for the game and flying out to the bowl sight? That was real stupid!

Boycotts are supposed to make things better for those coming behind those that boycott. So in essence it wasn't a boycott at all. It's actually just three grown men that have made a fool of themselves and have probably destroyed their professional reputations in the process. If I were a college administrator I'd question their ability to make good decisions and would refuse to hire them as a result of it.

C'mon bruh! If nothing else you owe the kids that have given you everything they've got, the last 60 minutes of your freaking time! They can't play the game without coaches on the sideline. It's like driving your 9 year old half way to school only to pull over and tell him to walk the rest of the way. That's a straight sucker move!

Sometimes it ain't about the money bruh! It's about doing what's right! Coaching one freaking game that you've already prepared for is the right thing to do. Don't treat somebody’s kid like that! Think about all of the parents that have paid good money to come see their child play in probably the biggest game of their careers. It's Illinois for crying out loud, they don't go to very many bowl games. So this is their national championship. Making an emotional decision can ruin the kid’s day and most importantly the coaches that are involved in the boycott's career.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Poison!

"The New and Improved BBD!"

In 1990 Bell Biv Devoe, which was a spin-off group from the world famous New Edition, released a hot joint called Poison! It was one of the hottest songs of the year selling 4 million records and therefore becoming certified platinum four times. It was about not getting into a relationship with a certain type of girl because it can be poison. Well...21 years later Penn State is now that girl!

Every since the child sex abuse scandal broke a couple of months ago the school has been straight up poison. They're losing all of their big time recruits and nobody wants to coach the Nittany Lions with good reason. Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchek who is a Penn State alumn says that he has no plans to leave the Titans to coach his Alma Mater.

"You all know Penn State means a lot to me. I obviously went to school there and I'm real concerned for what they've gone through the last couple of months. I'm flattered that people think I'd be a great fit for the coach there," Munchak said Wednesday after practice. They have not contacted me in any way or talked to me about the possibility of working there. I have not reached out to them. I have a job that I enjoy quite a bit."

Let me interpret what Mike was really saying. He was just singing the original song, "You can't trust a big butt and a smile that girl is poison!” No way he’s leaving a comfortable situation to take on the tress of rebuildig a program that’s in shambles right now. There isn't a kid in America with options that would go anywhere near Happy Valley at this point. Whoever takes that job already understands that it will be a battle on the recruiting trail that he'll lose just about 100% of the time.

If I'm an opposing coach going into the living room of a kid that is even considering Penn State. I'll just bring up the scandal. Parents don't want to send their kid to an institution where there was a massive cover up of sexual child abuse. The problem wasn't just some idiot operating on his own. Everybody in the program knew what was going on. From the AD down to assistant coaches, janitors and God knows who else knew what was happening. That place is poison for real.

They're going to have to gut the joint in order to start over. There can't be a remnant of anybody from the last administration, coaches included, even living near campus for me to feel comfortable sending my kid up there athlete or not.

Man for the next 2 to 3 years the Nittany Lions are going to look like the "Wildcats" with Goldie Hawn coaching. As a matter of fact, they should give her a call because this joint is something straight out of a movie. Are you kidding me?

If a kid does decide to go to Penn State it’ll be because he didn't have any other major offers. His choices were Indiana University of Pennsylvania., The Boys School of Transylvania and Penn State. When they take the field they're going to look like the Australian Camel Jockey Team. I mean it's gonna be a complete joke bruh!

I just hate that the current players had to go through all of this foolishness because they actually have a good team. They're ranked # 22 in the BCS and will face #20Houston in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on Jan 2nd. Nittany Lions fans better cheer like this is the national title game because they've got a long road ahead of them.

I can just picture recruits riding past Penn State right now with the tinted windows pulled half way down bumpin' that Poison! The Penn State coaching staff is in the middle of the street looking like the guy at the stop light with the squeegee trying to clean your windows. They’re saying, “C'mon man just let me holla at you real quick” as the recruit peels off on his way to Ohio State or Michigan for their official visits!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow Ya Boy on Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

The Silencer!

"Let me tell you a secret! Hatin' on me just makes me better!"

With a full season nearly under his belt Cam Newton has made a lot of hater's eat and regurgitate their words. Last year this time the media was completely ripping this kid apart and all he did was go out and win a Heisman Trophy and a BCS National Championship. That just put a match on the fire for all of the hater's to cook their marshmallows. By the time the 2011 NFL draft rolled around it was down right ignorant.

Before Carolina selected Cam No. 1 overall in April's draft Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly described him as "very disingenuous -- has a fake smile ... and a selfish, me-first makeup." Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw told his fellow Fox NFL Sunday analysts that he preferred every other quarterback taken in the first round over Newton. ESPN's draft analyst, Mel Kiper, warned teams that, similar to Newton, "Akili Smith was a one-year wonder out of Oregon. Look what happened with him with the Cincinnati Bengals. The negative previews were endless but the barbershops across the country held him down.

Now all of a sudden ESPN the Magazine wants to call him the Next big thing. Bruh, you're about a year late with that headline. "The Hood Journal & Constitution" wrote that joint last year. C'Mon Man! If you didn't see that coming you need turn in your press pass and get out of the business. By throwing us a headline that we knew about a year ago is insulting to our intelligence.

I'll be cool with you just admitting you were in the hater's lounge and have finally washed your hands of that foolishness. Now you can hang out with the intelligent people of the world. Like it or not Cam will most likely win the Rookie of the Year Award as well. My man JayZ said it best on his 2nd album, In My LifeTime Vol.1, on that “Lucky Me” joint back in '97, "How can you fairly assess a situation from the outside looking in? There’s gotta be them times you’ll be wrong. Nah Mean? How can you go around and hate a person you never even met before?"

 People were upset at a kid being a kid. Yeah he got into some trouble at Florida and bought some stolen computers. However, if truth be told most of the people that were piling on were probably involved in the whole calling card scam back when they were in college. It's computers now but 25 years ago it was long distance calling cards. Unfortunately, that's what kids do. Yeah he had some trouble academically but that's what kids do! Also the NCAA didn't find Cam guilty of any wrong doing in the recruiting scandal. That was Mississippi State hatin' because they couldn't sign him. Holla At Ya Boy!

Everybody forgets that they were kids and did much worse than Cam did as a college student but now that they've got a microphone or a pen and paper they suddenly become God. Well...I call it like the ole timers used to say, "Like it sho nuff T.I.S." These folks are Natural Born Hata's!!

Trip? No trip! Cam just went out and handled his business. If you really want to see what a real hustler is made of. Question his ability to succeed. He went out and destroyed the league this year in every sense of the word. He set multiple NFL records and threw pie in the faces of all of his hater's and I personally enjoyed every minute of it. Here are the NFL records that he set in just one year in the league:

• Most passing yards by a quarterback in debut game (422), September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Most passing yards by a quarterback in first two games (854), September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers
• Most passing yards by a rookie in a game (432), September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers
• Most passing yards by a rookie in a season (3,893), 2011
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first career start, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Sixth quarterback to throw for 400+ yards in back to back games
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first two career starts, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers
• First rookie in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in back to back games, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers
• Fastest player to throw for 1,000 yards (at Arizona Cardinals, vs. Green Bay Packers, and vs. Jacksonville Jaguars.
• First player in NFL history with at least five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns in his first five games
• First rookie in NFL history to throw for 10 touchdowns and run for 10 touchdowns in a season.
• Fourth rookie quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season.
• Most rushing touchdowns in single season by a quarterback (13), achieved on December 4, 2011 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I hope you've noticed that I'm always ridin' with the guys that the media and general public find a reason to hate on. For example, LeBron, Cam and now even Tim Tebow were all public enemy #1 at some point. I ride hard for them because people have no legitimate reason to dislike these guys. I love to see people overcome hater's and succeed because it shows the real testament of a person's inner strength. If you can listen to folks tell you what you can't do and then go out and still succeed, you're my type of person.

I was born with one full arm and folks have been telling me what I couldn't do since day one and I'm still running down the side line like Devin Hester. Like I always say, "If 50% of the people in the room aren't hating on you. You need to step your game up!" You know that you're moving in the right direction when the winds of hate start blowing stronger in the opposite direction. When less people are happy that you've made moves and when you look to your side very few people are smiling because of your success. That's when you know you're handling your business. Congratulations to Cam Newton for silencing the critics this year and I look forward to ridin’ with the next to be hated on!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Calling Audibles!

"The nation's top QB recruit, Gunner Kiel, chooses top ranked LSU!"

Last July the #1 quarterback recruit in the country, Gunner Kiel, committed to play at Indiana University. I wrote several articles about how it made no sense for this kid to go to IU because it was one of the worse programs in America. He has since de-committed and has chosen to play at LSU! The 6-foot-4, 200-lb senior from Columbus East High School (Columbus, Ind.), chose the Tigers on Tuesday over Notre Dame, USC and Vanderbilt, although he held offers from nearly every major program in America.

Now that decision makes all of the sense in the world. However, last summer when I said that it didn't I got slammed on twitter because I'm an Indiana University alumn and folks called what I was doing blasphemous. Really? Blasphemous for telling the truth? C'mon Man!

Let me say this, I've got a degree from Indiana and that's where the buck stops. I'm going to always keep it real or all the way 100 which ever comes first. Why would the best quarterback in America go the one of the worse programs in college football history? Why work hard to become the best if your intent is to stand in the back of the line anyway. He could have just been an all-conference performer or worse to go the Indiana. Why become the #1 recruit in America if you're not going to use it to your advantage? What's the point in making a million dollars if you have no intensions on moving out of the ghetto? Why have everybody call you a VIP if you're going to continue to travel in coach anyway?

Like I always say, take your heart out of it. If it were your kid would you have encouraged him to go to Indiana? Absolutely not! Now if he were the best punter in the country it would make sense because he'd be punting all of the time.

Going to play at LSU or a program similar to it, is what the very best are supposed to do. Schools like that have rosters full of guys that were at the top of the list in their respective positions. The best of the best are supposed to play together. That's why LSU will be playing on January 9th in the BSC National Championship Game and have been ranked #1 for most of the season.

It's no accident that schools like LSU, Alabama, Texas, USC, Oklahoma etc are ranked in the top 10 every year. They simply get the best players all of time. While you’re playing, be on the look out for Michigan to get back to the first class section next year. I’m just sayin’! LSU will probably sign multiple players in the top 20 in the country in February. That's what programs like that do. Indiana wouldn't have known what to do with a player like Gunner Kiel. He'd be in constant mayhem trying to just get rid of the ball bruh. Now he's in good hands like All-State.

All of the delusional Notre Dame fans thought that they had a shot to get him once he de-committed from IU because his uncle Blair was a standout for the Irish years ago. I told them that they didn't have a shot either and my Twitter account again went nuts. Notre Dame is not your father's Notre Dame bruh! They are a mediocre program at best and can no longer get the best kids coming out of the school now because they've got nothing to show them. Their winning tradition stops in 1988! These kids weren't even alive back then.

Les Miles job was easy! Gunner is a very intelligent kid and knows how to turn on the television very well. He's seen the Tigers blasting boyz all season long. He saw them sprint through the SEC and show up in New Orleans last week to prepare for the national title game. He knows that both of LSU's signal callers are seniors. He's not crazy. IU, ND or LSU? Get your head beat in for the next few years or beat heads in for the next few years? He's a quarterback so he just called an audible and from the looks of things he called the right play! That's why he's enrolling at LSU in a few weeks.

He has an opportunity to start next year for the defending SEC Champions or maybe even the defending national champions. By enrolling in school for the spring semester he gets a chance to play spring ball and compete for the starting job for the fall. Extremely intelligent kid and I just knew that he wouldn't let me down.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Smellin' Like Roses!

"Get down son, I got this!"

Chi-town stand up! More specifically South Side throw ya fingers in the air! Your boy D. Rose pulled a Kobe against Kobe at Kobe's crib in front of Kobe to beat Kobe. I know that’s repetitious saying Kobe that way but without Kobe it wouldn't feel this way. He put the boyz on his back and repped the mid-west in LA just like the Windy City expected for the reigning MVP to do. When you get back free Harold’s Chicken with extra sauce for everybody!

When the whole building knows who's going to take the last shot and you successfully take that joint! You've suddenly become what they call clutch and worth the $93 million they just pushed your way! Rose scored 22 points and hit a short go-ahead shot with 4.8 seconds to play as the Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:44 for an 88-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Then he was his usual humble self in the post game interview. "If it weren't for my teammates, making the steal and getting the ball to me at the end, there's no way I could have gotten that shot off to help us win that game," Rose said. Hey young bruh, keep doin' ya thing!

With that supporting cast the Bulls should have enough to make a deep run in the East just like they did last year. I would think that it will come down to Chicago and Miami because the boyz from South Beach are looking like straight up gangsta's this year. They went through Dallas and car jacked, picked pocketed and took jewelry off of every baller in sight on Christmas Day. They showed up pissed because the Mavericks chose to celebrate last year’s accomplishment in front of them. They raised the NBA Championship banner and received their rings before the game.

That's like walking down the street in the middle of the night counting money in front of a group of crack heads! Everybody watching that joint knew that it was coming and if you didn’t see it coming. You were the idiot counting the money! Last year was last year and the Heat put boyz on notice by slapping all cowboy hats and stepping on every pair of boots in the building. This is not a game! The Mavs violated Section 10 Article 6 of the Ghetto Handbook of Survival! Don‘t ever count your money in front of cats that are thirsty!

The season kicked off in full effect on Christmas Day and to be honest with you I loved it. I would be cool with the season starting every year on Christmas Day with a 66 game regular season. That 82 game joint is way too long! Nobody is paying attention to the first month anyway. Remember how guys like Shaq would wait until October to have surgery to miss the first month or so because the season was too long?

 If it were a regular season with 82 games there is no way Kobe would have played yesterday because of his wrist injury. However, with the season being condensed he had to put his hard hat on and go to work. That's how it should be. Get rid of the fluff and give it to me straight with no chaser! If you can’t smell it then you’ve got the flu because the NBA is Back!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
　

The Shoe Game!

"How many can  really afford to step their game up?"

In 1986 I was a sophomore at Purdue University and even though Adidas ran the shoe game at the time I was a diehard Nike fan. When everybody was rocking the shell toe joints and hot Adidas jogging suits because of the popularity of Run DMC I was holding Nike down. If you weren't rocking Adidas it was Fila or Puma but very few people were wearing the Swoosh. However, I was the lone wolf on the yard rocking Nike. I even made a poster of myself with all of my gear laid out in my dorm room. Then one day one of my boys from Ohio moms sent him a pair of Air Jordan's (J’s) and boyz were like what are those?

They were red, black and white high tops and he was the only cat on campus rocking them for about 24 hours. Everybody called home with a care package request and depending on how far home was. Some boyz went home to get them. Til this day I've never owned a pair because they never did it for me. However, I'm still loyal to the Nike brand. The problem is some people are beyond loyal and down right ignorant when it comes to the Air Jordan’s.

On Friday the latest version of the Air Jordan, The Concord, was released in stores across the country and folks acted a fool in their quest to obtain a pair. Complete mayhem ensued at malls all over the country. Folks were lining up at midnight for the shoe. There were fights, people being killed and trampled for a pair of sneakers bruh.

You aren’t trippin’ you read that right! Boyz are fighting and killing each other to get the opportunity to PAY somebody $180 for some sneakers? You heard me, $180 for a pair of shoes that will never look brand new again after the first step. I know all about cleaning them because it was my generation that perfected the art of cleaning sneakers. However, once the stitching gets dirty the first time they never look the same bruh. Trust me!

Here in Indy they tore the mall doors off of the hinges and trampled people to get in. There wasn't a natural disaster and folks weren’t desperate for food and water around this piece. They were doing this to PAY somebody for a pair of shoes. Not just kids bruh! These were grown folks out there!

I would say that 95% of those that were in line to buy those joints will be sitting in the dark next week because they didn't pay their light and gas bill. Stop me when I start lying bruh! Kids will show up to school in January with those joints on and will be standing in the free lunch line. Ride past any bus stop in America right now and boyz are waiting for the #2 with a transfer in the new Jordan’s.

I'm not mad at folks for wanting the latest pair of J’s because I know some grown folks that have been and will always be loyal to Jordan’s. My cousin Lovell, who is a corporate executive I might add, is the biggest Air Jordan fan I know. The difference between him and these clowns out here is that he paid ALL of his bills, saved some money, fed the kids, took care of his wife, made sure everybody else was eating before he bought a pair, online. People that put Jordan is his proper place didn't take their last like a drug addict in an alley and start fighting to give it to somebody that has more money than they have.

I’ve always had a problem with giving folks that have more money than I do, my money. Especially if there is no even exchange. That’s why I refuse to gamble in Vegas because they’ve got way more money than I do and I can’t take the thrill home with me. I feel the same way about sneakers now because I’m never in a pair but that’s just me.

Lets' keep it real or all the way 100 which ever comes first! I'm not mad at Jordan at all for selling shoes but he's not thinkin' about all of those clowns out there killing themselves to put them on. He's already rich! He could care less about whether some kid eats or not because their mom took her last and bought his shoes. There are babies in ghetto's all over this country right now with J’s on that can't even walk.

If I had a search warrant right now I bet I would find 8 out of 10 project addresses with multiple pairs of J’s at the residence. However, on Monday those same idiots that were at the mall on Friday will be trying to borrow money with their new outfit and Jordan’s on! Big Momma would always say? “You all dressed up with nowhere to go” but baby your shoes look good though!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Hindsight Is 20/20!

"This game has always been violent!"

The ole timers would always say that hindsight is 20/20! What that means is that everything is always clear as a bell after the fact. It's easy to be a detective and see all of the clues leading up to the crime once it's been committed. Grandma used to say, "the best sense is bought sense" that's why they call it wisdom. You don't get it until you've been through something.

That's why I find it amazing that former players are suing the NFL in a federal law suit that brain injuries have left them struggling with medical problems years after their playing days have ended. I would think that a suit claiming that the NFL hasn't provided enough medical insurance and support to help them in their retirement would be more appropriate.

They maintain the NFL knew as early as the 1920s of the potential for concussions to harm its players. The men claim a range of medical problems stemming from their playing days, including memory loss, headaches and sleeplessness. They are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.

"The NFL has done everything in its power to hide the issue and mislead players concerning the risks associated with concussions," the players argue in the lawsuit.

The issue of concussions is serious business. However, for a former player to sue the NFL for the risk of concussions is like a race car driver suing NASCAR for car accidents.

I'm not making light of concussions but it's only been in recent years that the football community as a whole has embraced the fact that the medical diagnosis of concussions were prominent in the game. Back in the day if a kid suffered a major hit they called it getting your bell rung. Coaches would tell them to sit out a couple of plays and they'll be alright. Cats have always stumbled off of the field seeing stars with dizziness and feeling nauseous. That wasn't just in the NFL bruh! That was happening in Pop Warner as well!

It wasn't until former players started having medical problems and dying did the football community start looking into the connection seriously. One of my good friends, Tory Epps, who played 6 seasons in the NFL died at 38 years old after complaining of years of continuous headaches just 6 years ago. Was there a connection? I would think so. After Dave Dureson committed suicide and his brain was examined it was shown to have what has been called Concussion Syndrome. Dave knew that he suffered from it but no one took him seriously. However, during the time in which he and my boy Tory played there was a different culture and the medical community wasn't diagnosing concussions in football the way they are now.

We understand now that there is a link between sustaining years of devastating blows to the head and concussions but to sue the league because of it doesn't make sense. That’s like Muhammad Ali suing the WBA because he has Parkinson’s disease. When you signed up for Pop Warner football everyone knew that it was a violent sport at that time.

The older you got the more violent the game became. Even in the violence of guys suffering major injuries we all willingly continued to play. Let's keep it real or all the way 100 which ever comes first! You didn't have to play in the NFL before it got violent bruh. If you don't believe me ask all of those kids that have been paralyzed as a result of playing this game.

Over the years guys have had extremities shredded, lost consciousness and been paralyzed right before your eyes. The risks have always been there. So to sue the league because you claim that they hid the risks associated with concussions is ridiculous. The question is, if the league had known then what they know now and had explained to you what the risks were. Would you have turned in your equipment? Probably not bruh!

Boyz have always known that football was a violent sport and all parties understood that the risks of major injuries were out there. Now that it has become proper protocol for the league to diagnose concussions and they have a system in place we can call that progress. The medical community has not only recognized the connection in the NFL but in all sports. My nephew, who as a freshman football player at Ball State last year, was ruled ineligible to participate for the rest of his college career because of multiple concussions. Also my teenaged son was diagnosed with a concussion from an elbow to the head while at basketball practice just recently. He wasn't able to resume activities until he passed a concussion test at the team doctor’s office.

If the NFL doesn't address the issue of concussions now I think they should be sued. However, you can't go back to 1920 and say that they knew of the risks then. Medicine and technology changes and gets better as more evidence becomes available. Remember what I said about wisdom earlier. That law suit is crazy! That's like someone's family trying to sue the automobile industry because they had a loved one die in a car accident in 1970 because they weren't wearing a seat belt. Hindsight is 20/20 bruh!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Shake Them Hata's Off!

"I'm shaking these boyz Jay!"

In 2009 an NCAA investigation revealed that Derrick Rose's SAT scores had been invalidated, making him retroactively ineligible to play for The University of Memphis. The rumor was that someone else had taken the point guards test for him. As a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis's entire 2007–08 season. Now, while I don't condone D. Rose cheating on his SAT I can understand why he may have done it.

He had no intention on going to college in the first place but the NBA has this stupid rule that a kid must either go to college for a year or sit out for a year. The NBA forced this kid into a hole and unfortunately, he did what he had to do.

During his rookie season I was at a Pacers/Bulls game and saw a guy holding up a sign that read, "Hey Rose, I took my own SAT's!" I immediately thought to myself that he should have gotten someone to take his SAT because his seats were terrible. I tripped off of the fact that he bragged about taking his own test but it didn't get him floor seats. Who looks like an idiot the fan or D. Rose?

On Wednesday the Chicago Bulls' superstar point guard and the league's reigning MVP, agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $94.8 million, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher. I'd like to see that idiot holding the sign now.

Let's keep it real or all the way 100 which ever comes first. The SAT isn't a great indicator of how successful a person will become so why even use it? I can remember back in 1991 when my homeboy Glenn "Big Dawg" Robinson was coming out of high school and he didn't score the 700 points needed to qualify for freshman eligibility at Purdue. People in the media began to call him dumb etc.

I called the local newspaper and blasted the reporter responsible for the negative press on G. Rob because he was from my hood and my school. I explained to him that the SAT was culturally biased and that it doesn't tell us how well a person will do in life. He obviously disagreed so I explained.

The SAT at the time had two sections verbal and math. Now it has a written section. Math is math all day long. However, on the verbal portion there are words that are culturally biased. Meaning that they are only used in certain cultures. Most of the words on the exam that are needed to make comparisons aren’t used in the ghetto. For example, Saucer is to plate as lid is to what? Well...kids in the ghetto never call it a saucer. It's called a little plate.

He still couldn't buy what I was selling. So I turned the game around on him. I came up with my own analogy. F-150 is to Ford as Deuce and a Quarter is to what? Silence! The answer is Buick all day long in every ghetto across America. The Buick Electra 225! However, that's not on the test. Depending upon where you grew up and what you've been exposed to will often determine how well you do on the SAT.

Do kids from the hood do well on it? Some do very well but they are the exceptions to the rule depending upon what they've been exposed to and how gifted they maybe. Now they grade the SAT on a curve. The higher your GPA is the lower you have to score on it. So more kids are passing it now. It wasn’t like that years ago. I’ve you didn’t hit 700 you were just short.

I scored 642 points on the exam and you get 200 for putting your name on the joint. I could barely read when I came out of high school but I went to both Purdue and Indiana Universities. I've got a Bachelors Degree from Indiana in Sports Science and have been a sales executive in Corporate America for more than 21 years. I sell insulin in the pharmaceutical industry in particular. Just like the SAT didn't stop The Big Dawg or D. Rose it didn't mean anything to me either.

The Big Dawg went on to make more than $100 million over his career and he also won an NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs. D. Rose has become the rookie of the year and the youngest player ever to win the league MVP. Put your seat belt on because he is about to do even greater things. As for me, I’ve consistently been a national and global leader in the sales industry including just recently becoming a National Sales Champion in 2010 and finishing in the top 2% in the world. SAT? In my Chad Ochocinco voice, "Child Please!!!"

If you know of a kid that didn't score well on that joint, pick him or her up and dust them off and tell them to keep it movin'! I know a whole lot of boyz that didn't do well on it but have become very successful as a result of the so called failure. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

True To The Game!

Georgia's Mark Richt, "I got u bruh!"

Loyalty is probably the most important aspect of any relationship. Knowing that someone has your back means everything. You’re willing to do anything for people that have proven their loyalty to you. Well…Georgia head football coach Mark Richt is as real as they come. However, the NCAA doesn't give him that same stamp of approval. The university was hit with minor rules violations because Richt was overly loyal to his staff. What? You read that right. Richt’s loyalty to his staff got him into trouble with the NCAA.

He felt like his staff wasn't being compensated properly so like a real "G" he paid more than $57,000 to them out of his own pocket. Now that's a power move right there. "You won't pay my boyz! Don't trip! I'll take care of them myself!"

According to an investigation by the Atlanta Journal Constitution Richt made payments to former recruiting assistant Charlie Cantor, $10,842 over an 11-month period through March 2011. As well as to former linebackers coach John Jancek, $10,000 in 2009 after the previous university administration declined to give Jancek a raise when he turned down a coaching opportunity elsewhere.

Richt didn't stop there. He paid director of player development John Eason, $6,150 in 2010 when his new administrative position called for a salary reduction after he stepped down from an assistant coaching position on Richt's staff.

He then went deep on boyz and paid a total of $15,227 when the school -- citing "difficult economic conditions being experienced by the University" -- refused bowl bonuses to 10 non-coach staff members: director of sports medicine Ron Courson, video coordinator Joe Tereshinski, strength coaches Keith Gray and Clay Walker, football operations manager Josh Brooks, high school liaison Ray Lamb and four administrative assistants.

Lastly, he paid a five-year longevity bonus of $15,337.50 due to tight ends coach Dave Johnson when he took a job at West Virginia in 2008 just short of his fifth anniversary coaching at UGA and $6,000 to fired defensive ends coach Jon Fabris in 2010 when Fabris was unable to find a job after his UGA severance package expired.

Call it what you want but I call that being true to the game! He didn't have to pay any of those guys a dime. Especially the last two because they were no longer on his staff. I see why people in Georgia love this guy. He's a man's man and a players coach. You know his staff and players are willing to do anything for him at this point. Don’t talk bad about Mark Richt anywhere in Georgia or you’ll have to fight in somebody’s parking lot.

What I can't understand is why the NCAA cares what he does with his own money. Talk about having too much control! They’ve got way too many rules and it's getting to be down right ridiculous. They don't want to see anybody getting paid but themselves.

This man paid his people out of his own pocket and they’ve got a problem with that? That’s ignorant on all levels but I say Go Dawgs! I’ve suddenly become a Georgia Bulldog fan or should I say a Mark Richt fan! I’m pulling for whatever sideline he’s on from now on.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from David Ching that covers the University of Georgia for DawgNation was used in this report. 　
　

Take It Like A "G"

"The sign of a pure genius!"

I want to give big props to the city of St Louis for showing Cleveland how to act when your beloved superstar decides to sign with another team. Albert Pujols just recently signed a 10 year $254 million deal with the Angels because St. Louis(The Lou) didn't come to the table right and he had the option to do whatever he wanted to do.

The Lou didn't freak out and start running down the streets screaming and hollering like Chicken Little because the sky was falling. They didn't start crying in sports bars or burning jerseys. I even took a pulse of the hood in Cleveland because I just knew they would be supportive of a brother gettin' his money and going to South Beach to try to win a title and they even let me down. How can you hate on a brother for doing what he had to do? But not St Louis! They took Pujols leaving like a straight up "G"! In other words "take it like a man" but in the ghetto it's called "taking it like a gangsta"!

Players sign with teams for all kinds of reasons and they stay for as long or as short a period as they deem necessary. Pujols had all types of success in The Lou and now it was time to go to Hollywood. You can't be mad at him for that. Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes first! If you had a chance to live in St. Louis or Hollywood which would you choose? South Beach or Cleveland? It's a no brainer especially when you've got the bread to live at the highest level.

It's not like LeBron or Pujols were going out to those cities to come up bruh. They're way past sleeping on the couch and waiting tables to get discovered. They roll into town on the VIP list. Everywhere they go they're eating and drinking for free and parking right out front. So why not live where you can get it all the way in?

Pujols has already won World Series Titles so he's cool. All LeBron was going to keep doing in Cleveland was winning MVP's and continuing to go to the All-Star Game every year. He had to leave Cleveland in order to win. You can't hate on him for that. I hear you saying, "Man he didn't have to do an hour long TV special to announce it though!" I'm saying you're lucky he didn't do a two hour show because I would have. Professional sports are about money, deniro, scratch and bread!

The NBA survives off of promoting individual players images. That's why the upcoming commercials for the Christmas day matchups say for example "LeBron vs. Dirk" as opposed to Miami vs. Dallas more often than not. So why not do the special if everybody is willing to watch it? Like him or not Lebron was the most powerful man in the NBA last year. It was because of his special that people became interested in the game more than in past years.


According to NBA.com last years first-round games on ABC, ESPN and TNT were watched by an average of 4.15 million people, up from fewer than 3.2 million the year before. In 2007, the first round averaged fewer than 2.7 million viewers. TNT drew the highest average rating ever for games on cable. The network's 23 games averaged a 2.7 rating - representing the percentage of American homes with televisions tuned in - easily eclipsing the previous high of 2.3 in 2009. Why? Because people were tuning in to hate on LeBron because of the special. Pure genius bruh and you can't hate on that!

Also according to CNBC.com, LeBron was the new king of NBA jersey sales with Kobe Bryant holding down the second spot last year. It was because Cleveland couldn't take it like a "G" that everybody else got paid. Hatin' never benefits the hater! It only benefits those that are being hated! If you keep talking bad about me. It only generates interest in me and therefore I capitalize off of the interest.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Meddling!

"It's a whole lot easier to do this than time bruh!"

Some things just aren't meant to share the same space like love and hate! Then there are things that don't mix like oil and water. Being a professional athlete and being a gangster don't mix nor do they have the ability to share the same space because they both are full time jobs. So why was Sam Hurd meddling in street business?

He was arrested in Chicago on federal drug charges Wednesday night(in December of 2011), and the criminal complaint against him describes Hurd as regularly dealing large amounts of drugs in Chicago. The investigation into his attempt to buy large amounts of cocaine and marijuana began in July 2011, when he was still a member of the Dallas Cowboys, and concluded when he personally met with an undercover agent Wednesday at Morton's The Steakhouse in Rosemont.

At that meeting, Hurd told the informant that he wanted to buy 5 to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week for distribution in the Chicago area," according to the complaint. He allegedly negotiated to pay $25,000 per kilogram for the cocaine and $450 per pound for the marijuana. Bruh, that's almost $700,000 worth of dope a week which on the streets is about $3.5 to $4 million a week depending upon how it’s cut. This dude was trippin' big time. He was a football player not a gangsta!

He reminds me of ole boy in Corleto's Way when Al Pacino told the lawyer after killing the mob boss, "You in a whole nother world now! You can't learn it in school and you can't get a late start!" Sam Hurd thought that because he had a little money that he could get into the dope game. If it were that easy bruh everybody would be doing it. The streets don't play and neither do the feds.

You knew that he was out of his element when his boy got popped (arrested) in Dallas back in July attempting to buy 4 kilograms of cocaine. They confiscated $88,000 and the car which  belonged to Hurd. He then went to the police to pick it up. 1^st mistake! A real gangsta understands that his boy is responsible for the $88,000 regardless of how it gets lost. There are no rules in the game to say that if I lose the money in route I'm off of the hook for it.

Plain and simple, Hurd was meddlin' in something that he knew nothing about and should have been trying to perfect his ability to run routes than trying to be Money Man Mitch from Paid In Full! Remember in the movie after his boy Ace got shot; Ace told him, "Get a new life cuz ain't no love in it, cuz it don't love you back!" Then Mitch told him, "I love the game! I love to hustle! I be feelin' like one of them ball playin' cats like Bird or Magic. I got doe! I can leave the game but if I leave the game are the fans gone still love me?" Let me explain something to you bruh. Hustla's don't hustle for the sake of the hustle. They hustle because they want the fans. So if you already got the fans. Why are you hustlin'? 

So often they both grow up in the same hood, on the same street and more often than not in the same house but at some point they have to make a decision. I'm either going to be a ball player or a gangsta but I can't be both! So why did Sam Hurd get to this point in his life and not understand that? He should be happy that he only got popped as opposed to dying in the streets for meddling in somebody else's business. You can't come to a new city and try to take over the dope game when boyz are already in business.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @  me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Playground All-American's

"Don't waste away on the playground!"

Sports fans all over the world become fascinated with the talents of professional athletes like LeBron, Kobe, Carmello and most importantly Jordan in his prime. The rest of the world had to wait until  those guys burst unto the college or professional ranks to get a glimpse at their unbelievable talent. People living in the ghetto see it everyday right out of their kitchen windows. In the hood they’re called Playground All-American's!

There are guys right now playing in cages all over the country that have the talent to make any NBA roster in the league. The problem is, they didn't handle their business and got left behind. In order to make it to the next level a kid has to go to class and make the grades in order to become illegible to play so that they can be seen. Unfortunately, not everyone has the discipline or the support system to make that decision.

I don't know what it is but some kids can look at their circumstances and make the decision early on that they are not going to live the rest of their lives in poverty. Then there are others that don't find the circumstances all that bad and never do anything about it. That's why it's so important for kids to have support systems to help them understand that they have the talent and the opportunity to make something of themselves. The supports system consists of not only parents but coaches and administrators at the school to recognize the raw talent and act on it. That goes for non-athletes as well.

I'm not talking about just making it to league bruh. I'm talking about using sports to be able to go to college for free which opens up all kinds of opportunities. Once a kid is in school he/she is exposed to all types of coaches and administrators that will be able to guide them into a new world. However, the challenge is getting the kid off of the playground and into the gymnasium to start the process. Otherwise, they'll waste away on the playground.

The And 1 Street Ball Series was a great window into the world of the Playground All-American that we've known to exist for years. I'm always saddened to know that there are guys with the talent of Lebron playing in the projects for free everyday. For whatever reason some kids choose to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them. While others aren’t be able to overcome the cards they were dealt. Let's keep it real! It all comes down to grace and mercy.

Nobody gets to choose their parents or the level of their parent’s education. Nobody gets to choose the neighborhood that they were raised in or the influences good or bad that they were raised around. More often than not socioeconomics and Big Momma will be the deciding factor. Socioeconomics puts the ball in play and many times will determine how fast it moves and then there’s Big Momma doing all of the praying. With that being said, we need more daddy’s praying and participating to help lower the roster of Playground All-American‘s across the country.

Believe me bruh, it doesn't pay to be known as a playground legend because hood status doesn't change your address. It's cool to be like "Cheers" where everybody knows your name but why not change your circumstances while everybody screams your name?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

HUSTLED!

"One of these guys works for the NCAA and is hustling everybody else!"

In the world of inter-collegiate athletics the stakes couldn’t be any higher, literally. Major colleges and universities are making money like professional sports franchises. In March of 2007, Sports Illustrated did a cover story entitled, “The Program, Big Wins, Big Money, Big Spirit”. It examined how big schools like Ohio State, which happened to be on the cover of that issue, and several other big time institutions are making in excess of $100 million per year, primarily with their football and basketball programs. There are a few exceptions to that rule like the Universities of Tennessee and Connecticut because of their women’s basketball programs. Not only are they generating revenue through ticket sales but they are selling ancillary products in the on-campus bookstore's as well, like jerseys.

Now the NCAA says that it’s legal to sell them because the student-athlete’s name isn’t on the back of it. What? So their defense is that they aren’t selling the kids likeness. Um, I wonder how many #2 jerseys were sold in Alabama before Cam Newton showed up at Auburn or #4 jerseys in Ann Arbor before Chris Webber put The Fab Five on his back and so on and so forth?

Now my problem isn't with schools making money. It's with how they distribute it. I just believe that the student-athlete should see some of it in the form of a monthly stipend of let’s say $300 to $400.
 I also believe that a percentage of all jersey sales should go directly to the student-athlete when he or she either graduates or leaves school early for any reason. Lets face it, some students have no intention of graduating from college when they enroll. A prime example would be players like John Wall that played at Kentucky a few years ago. He was only in school because the NBA told him that he had to show up for a year. The Wildcats made a fortune in jersey sales with his number on it. That's not fair to the kid or his family even if he is a millionaire today. What if he hadn't been drafted for whatever reason. There are plenty of kids that were standout players in college, have graduated and were never drafted; but their jersey's were sold for four years. Don't even get me started on the video games that depict the players likeness.

I can hear the naysayer’s now, “They’re on scholarship are you kidding me! It’s a free education!” Well is it? Sounds more like a job to me. The other students don’t have to manage the load of going to class and practice. Most importantly, the student-athlete is making the university rich. It isn't the students tuition that builds all of the fine structures on campus. It's money generated from the athletic departments that allows the schools to flourish. Tuition simply pays the bills. When was the last time 100,000 people paid $78 per ticket and $20 to park to see a kid take a Chemistry test bruh? Have you ever seen the schools Rhodes Scholar's button down and pocket protector sold in the bookstore?

Let’s look at what a full athletic scholarship really is. It pays for tuition, books, room and board. Sounds like enough, right? Wrong. What happens when the student-athlete needs clothes, a pair of shoes, toiletries or something as simple as pizza money on a Saturday or Sunday evening when the cafeteria is closed. The average student can go get a work study job etc. Ball players can’t work because it’s an NCAA violation for him or her to work during the school year. Even if they could work, when would they find the time? I can hear you saying, “that’s when they should call their parents”. Well, not everyone has that luxury.

 Some kids come from very poor backgrounds and their parents simply don’t have the money to send them. Many times the parents think that the university is taking good care of their child. The coaches did tell them that they would look after of their baby boy or girl during the recruitment process didn't they? I realize that the coaches do as much as they can for these kids but their hands are tied to some degree by the NCAA. So now what?

Well, that’s when the “hundred dollar hand shake” comes into play. For those of you that aren’t familiar with that term. It’s when a big time booster or alumni of the university shakes a players hand after the game and the kid walks away with a folded bill or bills. Now I’m not saying that by paying the athlete we will stop the illegal exchange of money all together. However, I do believe that we would see a decline in kids getting involved with agents or shady boosters because very few of these kids are looking to get into trouble. They have simply gone into survival mode. Many of these kids feel like they are being taken advantage of and nobody wants to get HUSTLED.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves

The War Zone!

"The fight that could've been avoided!"

I always say that the best place to be from is the ghetto because if you can survive there you can make it anywhere. When you grow up in a war zone unfortunately you see things that most people never experience in life unless they go off to war. Recent clinical studies have shown that kids raised in the war zone suffer from Post Tramatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) the same way veterans in the military do. The only difference is that veterans are treated for it. Therefore, that can make it very difficult to transition because instincts kick in when they aren't always needed.

On Saturday the annual Crosstown Shootout between Xavier and Cincinnati, which has been played 79 times since it started in 1928, was prematurely ended with 9.4 seconds left because the two teams began fighting. The Xavier won the game in a blow out 76-53.

As a result 8 players in all were suspended. Cincinnati suspended senior Yancy Gates, junior Cheikh Mbodj and freshman Octavius Ellis six games each and freshman Ge'Lawn Guyn for one game. Xavier suspended freshman Dez Wells and walk-on Landen Amos for four games, junior guard Mark Lyons for two and senior guard Tu Holloway for one game.

I've listened to all of the commentary over the weekend from analysts, coaches, school presidents etc. about who was at fault and to a man everybody is blaming the players solely. I completely disagree! Not only are the players at fault but the officials, coaches and administrators of both schools to blame. When big time universities go into the war zone to recruit players; they not only get their talents but they get their baggage as well. Don‘t be so naïve to believe that you can just uproot a kid from the ghetto and think he‘s not bringing it with him to school.

Unfortunately, respect or disrespect in the hood becomes a matter of life or death. It may not sound like anything to a person from the suburbs or rural America but everyday a kid’s life is on the line in the ghetto. So when you've got guys that live by those rules, regardless of them being college students, you're at risk of the bomb going off.

That's why it's mandatory to have people on your staff that can relate to those players so that they'll be able to alert you when something is going wrong. I can remember being at parties or events growing up and when the mood would change it was time to leave. The mood changed prior to the game starting and during the first 4 minutes of it I saw the fight coming. It was clear as a bell.

Right at the half the players got real chippy and at that point both coaching staffs and officials should have brought both teams together and had a talk right on the floor. This type of situation occurs daily in the hood between rival schools. The coaches and officials take control of the situation before the bomb goes off. Neither Cincy nor Xavier recognized there was a problem and if they did they didn‘t handle it.

So for Cincy head coach Mick Cronin to show boat after the game about being embarrassed, throwing guys off of the team and wondering whether he'll even have a job or not was complete garbage. Now don't get me wrong the players have to be disciplined and held accountable for their actions because that's part of the transition I was talking about earlier. However, Cronin was fine with having those players when he rolled into the war zone to get them.

You've got to take the good with the bad and learn how to recognize the warning shots when they’re being fired bruh! They were being fired off the entire game and nobody heard them but folks like me that grew up hearing them daily.

I thought that it was irresponsible for the Xavier coaching staff and sports information department to have their players speak to the media after the game because they were emotional at the time. They obviously said some things that they regret but the school set them up for failure.

Again, if you're going to go get these kids from the ghetto you've got to be culturally competent in order to have success with them. Otherwise, the bomb is going to keep exploding in your face. Now I know that there are people that will argue that I’m completely wrong and if you’ve never been to the ghetto then I am. I didn’t grow up in a world of what should be. I grew up in a world of what is and the fuse more often than not is lit. So the question is, are you going to help put the fuse out or keep blaming kids for growing up in poverty?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Immortalized!

"I know Big Momma is watching and she's pissed!"

Remember when you took your 4th grade school pictures and you put on your favorite outfit, rocking whatever hair style was in at the time? You thought you were the stuff until twenty years later you pulled that joint out and looked a complete mess? Even though it was stylish at the time it didn't transcend through time. I had an afro that I had to put a hot comb on in order for that joint to stand up. So by the time we took pictures half of my hair had fallen because I was sweating from walking to school. So you know it was bad. The good thing is everybody in the world didn't see.

Robert Griffin III immortalized the worst hair cut ever to hold a Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. Big Momma would call them plats, not braids! I've been saying it all season long every time they would interview him after a win. "He needs to cut his hair bruh." He goes to Baylor, is highly intelligent, well spoken and I'm not seeing what I'm hearing. He sounds corporate but looks well...you fill in the blank!

I’ve got mad love for RGIII however because he's a trailblazer. He could have gone anywhere in America to play ball but he chose Baylor. A school that had averaged only 1 conference win per year for more than a decade. Who does that? RGIII or Superman as his teammates call him does. He even rocked the Superman socks with the cape on them last night too. Now that was hot! Trailblazing bruh! He pulled a Kobe and put the entire university on his back and took them to NYC to pick up the joint. When his name was called as the 77th recipient of the Heisman Trophy he was a poised professional… with plats.


"This is unbelievably believable," he said. "It's unbelievable because in the moment we're all amazed when great things happen. But it's believable because great things don't happen without hard work."

My man got up there and sounded like he'd been there before. Very mature kid… with plats! Very intelligent kid… with plats. Very motivating speech… with plats. I'm sorry dog; I can't get over the plats. I know Billy Sims rocked the afro in 1978 when he picked up the Heisman but the fro was in style at the time. Everybody that was anybody had a fro in '78! So Billy represented the brotherhood well. I can remember all the kids saying, "Right On Bruh!" Billy did us right when he got up there because his fro was shaped and bouncing!

However, nobody is wearing plats bruh! I mean NOBODY! I guess that's RGIII trying to be a trailblazer again huh? Sorry my guy, nobody's getting on that train, bus, limo or bike with you on that one. Now he's got to look back on the immortalized pictures of the most outstanding night of his life and see plats. I'm just glad Trent Richardson didn't have to immortalize the dreads pulled back into a stiff pony tail. What was that bruh? He looked like the girls in the Trojan Fingertip Massager commercial. Just rock the dreads down that's why you've got them. They're supposed to be hanging and the brotherhood would have appreciated that. Not pulled back in a still pony tail!

RGIII needed a “No” man last night! He needed that guy that grew up with you that will tell you what you really need to hear when you need to hear it. He needed him on the road with him all week long saying, “Hey bruh, I know you’ve been rockin’ them joints since the 3^rd grade but now is a really good time to get rid of ‘em. I mean you can’t go out there lookin’ like that bruh!” Big Momma would have said something but she’s afraid to fly and hasn‘t figured out that cell phone thing yet. You better believe she’s got him in the kitchen right now cutting them off after watching the Heisman Presentation last night! She's cursing the whole time because you know she told him to cut it "before he went up there with them city folks!"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Don't Hate The Playa (Stern)!

"Hey, I didn't make the rules bruh!"

The first law of nature is self preservation. The first rule of business is covering your butt. Once the rules of the game are laid out let the negotiations begin. Everybody involved has an interest and not everybody's interest is the same. With that understood why is everybody trippin' off of David Stern for putting the axe on the Chris Paul trade? He's a businessman protecting his business.

Currently the NBA owns the New Orleans Hornets. Their intent is to sell the joint to somebody. If they had allowed the trade to take place Thursday that would have landed Paul with the Lakers, Pau Gasol with the Rockets and Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom and Luis Scola with the Hornets, the league loses. "Who with the Hornets?" Stern says, as he is spilling his coffee down his leg when they called him with that foolishness.

The next thing out of his mouth was, "How am I going to get this team sold without a franchise player or some semblance of one. Are you kidding me?" The only team that benefits from that trade is L.A. A negotiation is a supposed to be a win-win for everyone involved. I can hear Stern saying, "Man ya'll gone have to do that over and holla at me later! Cuz ya'll trippin'!"

Well, the NBA on Friday afternoon gave the Hornets clearance to re-open conversations with all teams about possible deals that would make sense to Stern. Keep in mind, David Stern is a brilliant commissioner and that's why the NBA has flourished over the years. He's been the head man since1984 bruh! If you can remember he was the one that resurrected the league from the ashes with Magic and Bird.

When they came into the league it was Stern that decided to turn the game on its ear and start promoting players as opposed to teams. He took the Magic vs. Bird personal rivalry and put it out front for all of us to see. As a result the game got more popular. Players started making more bread and apparel companies started selling more gear. So don't hate on Stern for handling his business and seeing that the Lakers were pulling the oakey doke on some unsuspecting GM that didn't understand that the game is bigger than the trade.

Now the trade has to go down because New Orleans must deal Chris Paul before his contract expires next year because otherwise he's going to walk. If the contract expires the Hornets get nothing for him. So they've gotta figure something out or they'll end up like the Cav's did when LeBron took off. See Dan Gilbert sat around thinking there was no way LeBron was going to leave the crib and so he didn't make a move. Consequently, LeBron took off and they got nothing for him and instead of Gilbert telling his fans that he was the idiot in that situation. He made King James look like the heal.

If he'd traded him before hand he would have gotten value for him i.e. several players. Then they wouldn’t have been THE worst team in the league last year. Maybe they would have been the 3rd or 4th worst but that's all Gilberts fault not LeBron's. King James was just protecting his interest in the game not Cleveland’s!

Business is Business bruh and if you've got some you better handle it! Stern did what he was supposed to do in that situation because he was only protecting his interest. If the NBA didn't own the Hornets at the time of the trade he would have been cool with it. Just like he was cool with Jordan and Pippen bringing in Rodman; KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen hooking up in Boston or LeBron, D. Wade and Bosh kickin' it on South Beach. It doesn't matter to him as long as it's good for the league. So don't hate the playa, hate the game!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Sucka Move!

"Cam Newton gives up the money ball!"

Possession is nine tenths of the law. In other words,  if you've got it then it belongs to you. This past Sunday Cam Newton's biggest fan, 16 year old Katie Brown, was lucky enough to have front row seats at the  Carolina  vs. Tampa Bay game. Her dad surprised her with the tickets and she was on cloud nine to see Cam play decked out in her “Mrs. Newton” jersey. When he scored his 13th rushing touchdown of the season, breaking the NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback he ran over and gave her the ball.

"It was the most amazing moment," Brown told the Associated Press. I thought he was going to do his Superman celebration like he normally does, but then all of sudden he started running over and pointed right at me," she said. "I was in shock. I thought, I must be in a dream."

Wow, Cam Newton giving her the ball was a nice gesture. However, it wasn't  what the NFL had in mind because it wasn't just any ball. The Pro Football Hall of Fame wanted it so that they could put it on display because of the significance of the record. So the Panthers assistant equipment manager Don Toner was given the task of getting it back.

"I just asked her real nice, 'Would you mind exchanging that ball — we kind of need it,'" Toner told the AP. "And she was real sweet about it. She didn't hesitate. She was so excited she was trembling. She was just giddy about what had just happened."

In exchange for the ball they gave her a kicking tee, a game ball and four hats. They also said that the team would also send her something in the mail. Say what? That was a complete sucka move! What was her dad thinking or if he wasn't with her whoever was with her at the time? The Panthers ran a complete street corner hustle on this kid. I'm upset because no one stepped up to help her make a better decision. There is no way I would have given up that ball without walking out of that stadium with a brief case handcuffed to my wrist.

In order to get that ball from my baby girl the negotiation would have started at $250,000! That's real talk bruh! We've got a mortgage that they would have helped to pay off with that ball. Hey the NFL's got more paper than I do and there is no way we would have fallen for the oakey doke and given it up for nothing.

It's worth nothing to us but it's worth everything to them. So that means we've got all of the leverage. They're charging folks to get into the Hall of Fame so that means the ball is worth some jack and I'm Jack in the Box. Pay us and we'll be on our way. Otherwise, we're going home with the ball because it didn't cost us a dime.

You can't let someone take advantage of you especially if they've got more bread than you. That's uncivilized! Even if they wouldn't have given up the $250K we would have gotten something, a lot of something but a kicking tee bruh? Every time I think about it I get upset. They may as well had given her a used water bottle, a sock and a mouth piece. It’s absolutely insulting is what it is. You better believe that if some guy gives me a ball or anybody with me.  I'll suddenly become the guy that you would love to hate because I’m not leaving without the money. Then I can buy my own ball and just tell everybody that it was Cam Newton's.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Lotto!

"The Colts are on the verge of hitting the jackpot in getting Andrew Luck!"

The Indianapolis Colts are on the fast track to finishing with the worse record in the league. That means they're  about to hit the jackpot in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes. With the worse record in the NFL they will get the first pick in the draft in April. It's a marriage made in heaven. They couldn't have scripted it any better.

However, Peyton's dad has already put on the playa hata's custom and he's break dancing. He's not in favor of the Colts taking Luck if they in fact get the first pick. "I don't think it'd necessarily be great for either one," Archie Manning told FOX Sports Radio on Tuesday, according to ProFootballTalk. "I think Andrew's the type of mature player ... he can walk right in. I mean, these other three or four guys that are playing this year, [if] they can walk in and contribute, Andrew can, too."

Archie is exactly right! Andrew can come right in and contribute today. That's why it makes sense for the Colts to draft him and trade Peyton. Take your heart out of it Colts fans. Peyton is going to cost you more than $26 million next year and he's one missed assignment away from ending his career. He's had 3 neck surgeries including his neck being fused. They've got a young left tackle protecting his blind side and your defense is horrible. Well the defense has always been terrible even when they won the Super Bowl. Peyton's offense just always scored more points.

They need to prop Peyton up against the wall in a shiny blue box until April. Dismiss any thoughts that he has of coming back to play this season so that they can get something for him. If you let him play and he gets banged up you can't get anything for him. For the money that he's worth they can reconstruct their defense easily. Archie Manning is speaking from a dad's position and not like a General Manager.

"I used to play with his dad [Oliver]. ... I'm in New York, I heard from him last night," Archie Manning told Fox Sports Radio, according to ProFootballTalk. "Peyton's also tried to help Andrew and kind of be a friend. I doubt if either one wants to play on the same team."

Poor Peyton Manning! He's a sure fire Hall of Famer and one of the best to ever play the position but business is business bruh! If Joe Montana can be traded to Kansas City at the end of his career with 5 Super Bowl rings surely Peyton can go with one. Everybody gives Archie a pass but he's that dad that's always in the way in little league ball. The guy that never leaves practice but never wants to coach. He just wants his kid to be the starting quarterback and carry the ball or pass it on every down. If it doesn’t happen he curses the coaches out.

Remember when Eli came out of Ole Miss and the Chargers drafted him? It was Archie in the way pulling the strings for him not to sign with them because supposedly Eli didn't want to play for San Diego. Was it Eli or was it really Archie that didn't want him to play for them? How arrogant was that move bruh? This isn't daddy ball anymore it’s the NFL and his kids are grown men. Get out of the way.

If the Colts organization hasn't learned anything from this experience they should have learned that they need to have a contingency plan. Putting a team together around Peyton's brain only works if Peyton is on the field. For the past 8 to 10 years every free agent and draft pick they've gotten was hand picked to play with Peyton's brain and not a system. That's why the wheels fell off when the brain when down. You can't afford for that to happen again.

The Colts would be insane not to draft Luck if they're fortunate enough to get the first pick because he is the most NFL ready quarterback to come out in more than 15 years. You gotta take him and trade Peyton Manning!

Holla at Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter:@jaygravesreport

THE BREAD!

"If you ain't talking about this you ain't talking!"

Now that everyone that's going to jump off of the bandwagon has already crashed and burned. Let me talk to those that are still standing at the edge of the cliff thinking about jumping too. Every year at the end of the college football season folk’s start screaming for a playoff. It wouldn't be so bad if it were only the occasional fan that really doesn't know what's going on but when ESPN Analysts that get paid to follow the game start talking crazy I've got to speak up.

Every year Kirk Herbstreit brings up the dumb idea of playing a plus one after the bowls have already been played. He also goes on to say that he can't believe that schools like Boise State didn't get into a BCS Bowl because it's come down to filling up hotel rooms. What planet has this guy been on for the past 20 years?

College football is about Money, Scratch, Deniro, Bread! That's all it's ever been about. So to suggest that it's about anything else would be naive. If it weren't about THE BREAD we would already have a playoff. Herbie has been going to games for free too long. That's his problem. To think that fans would travel to a BCS bowl one week and then turn around the following week and attend another is insane.

It cost more than $2600 to go to Miami for the Orange Bowl for 48 hours just after the Christmas Holidays. Trust me I know! You've got to get plane tickets, hotel on South Beach (no sense in going if you gotta stay at the Motel 6), rental car, game tickets and food. Now what makes you think that people are going to do it all over again the following week? Complete brain fart Herbie! Like I've been saying all along, start the season a week early. Have the top 4 teams play the first weekend of December and have #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. The two higher seeds play at the crib. The winners go the ship! It's just that simple but to think that regular fans have that type of bread to spend is asinine.

That's what the Super Bowl has become over the years. It's all corporate. The regular NFL fan doesn't get to go to that game anymore. That's where all the major players in business entertain clients. You don't see the regular Joe at the Super Bowl anymore. That's what makes the bowl games so great! The same fans that followed the team all season long is right there staying in the same hotel or groups of hotels with the team during bowl week.

Everybody needs to understand that these host cities and the schools make a lot of money off of these games for the entire week of the bowl. So unless you've got a plan in place to pay them off. It ain't gonna happen! That's like trying to get the dope man to move out of town without offering him an alternate stream of income that's just as viable as the one you're trying to talk him out of. Good luck with that!

Why do you think that Ohio State (6-6) is playing Florida (6-6) in the Gator Bowl on January 2? Anyone else with those records would be playing in the Boo Boo Bowl on December 17 at 3am! It's about selling tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and TV ad space at the very least bruh! Urban Meyer just took over for the Buckeyes and he wants to recruit in Florida. The story line has been written and it's on and poppin'! It’s about the Bread and BIG SLICES of it.

You wanna know why Michigan and Va Tech is in the Sugar Bowl when Boise State, Kansas State and Arkansas finished with higher rankings? Bread! Say it with me again, "It’s About the Bread!" Michigan is the winningest program in the history of college football. You don't think that the folks in New Orleans knew that when they sent out the invite? Remember, the Big Easy is still rebuilding after a bad sister named Katrina came through there in 2005. So the question is, will Kansas State, Boise State, Arkansas or Michigan sell more tickets, hotel rooms and drink more liquor? Stop me when I start lying bruh because I'm in full throttle.

Like Eddie Murphy said in the movie life, "Let's talk turkey!" When it comes to college football it's all about the Benjamin's and they don't need Puffy and Bad Boy to help them sing it. So take your heart out of it this time of year because the bowl committees don't care about your school unless it’s bringing some bread to town and they‘re willing to spend it! The only prerequisite to understanding college athletics is knowing how to make a sandwich!

P.S. Tebow won again for all you haters out there!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Pandemonium!

"Fans storm the field after Oklahoma State destroy the Sooners!"

The greatest game in the world just got even better. If you aren't feeling the excitement of this college football season you should check into the nearest funeral home and be embalmed. Don't even have them put you in a casket just tell them to bury you out back because you've been dead for a while. How can you not love the pandemonium that is college football right now?

Yeah folks are complaining about the BCS but other than having a BCS Final 4 it's perfect because of the excitement that it creates every Saturday. The final weekend was even better. LSU spotted Georgia 10 points and boyz all over the country started reading them their last rites. Then the Tigers commenced to beating the doors off of the Bulldogs just to let “boyz” know that they are undefeated for a reason. The Honey Badger did what the Honey Badger does and it was on and poppin'! The #1 Tigers secured their spot in the French Quarter for some good old fashioned crawfish etouffee and football in January!

The team on the other side of the ball now becomes dicey. All season long I've been saying that Alabama should be playing LSU in a rematch because I just knew that Oklahoma State was going to eventually turn into well...Oklahoma State. Yeah the wheels fell off a few weeks ago against Iowa State on the road but they put them joints back on and kept ridin'! All season long the computers have favored them because of their strength of schedule so all they needed to do was keep winning and be impressive in the Bedlam game.

Well let’s just say this; it was a Beat Down Production brought to you by the makers of Wood Shed Beatings and Blow Out Hair Gel on Saturday in Stillwater. They completely carjacked the Sooners in the parking lot, emptied their pockets and took their girls all in one swoop blasting them 44-10 to win the Big 12 Championship outright. It was the Cowboys first conference title since 1948 bruh! The Pokes are for real and head coach Mike Gundy is now on the campaign trail trying to get them elected. I just hope he doesn't get any advice from Herman Cain and end up in a hotel room in Vegas somewhere $1000 poorer!

"I don't think there's any question Oklahoma State should play in the big game," Gundy said. After seeing that joint last night I believe that they should play in the title game too. They changed my mind probably because I'm an Oklahoma season ticket holder and going into that game OU was 82-16-7 against the Pokes. Getting that thang put on us made me think differently after it was over.

Now I can't say that Bama should play them after my boys just got assaulted at gun point in Stillwater. That would be uncivilized. It would be different if they had just beaten the Sooners but they went through them like Pop Warner. Yeah, I know Alabama was only beaten by 3 points in overtime to LSU! I get that bruh but like Mike Gundy said after the game, "Bama has already played them and lost so let us get a shot at them now?" Maybe I'm trippin' and drinking the cool aid because I don‘t know what to think. Who really is the #2 team in the country Alabama, Oklahoma State or Stanford? Honestly, Bama is but we would all like to see it play out though.

That's why I say that there should be a BCS Final 4 this coming Saturday and have #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 play it on the field! The two highest ranked teams would play at the crib and the winners of those games go to the Ninth Ward in January! For those that don't know that's the Hood in New Orleans. You have to stop by there first to get the best food when you get into town. We call it picking up some brown bag before you take care of business!

By having the top 4 square off it would bring even more excitement to the already fever pitch that we've got right now. I love it and I can't wait to see how it's going to shake out. Will it be a rematch or will the Cowboys strut into the Big Easy to get it in with the Tigers? I think that the BCS should Holla At Ya Boy because what I just laid out would work and everybody would be cool with it. Keep everything else the same and let’s ride!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport