• Christian vs. Sheamus

After Christian’s entrance, The Miz and R-Truth are spotted in the crowd with tickets and are confronted by security and John Laurinaitis. This would start an angle with them throughout the PPV. Sheamus then came out and we had our opener, which was pretty solid. Sheamus controls Christian early with a headlock before Christian slaps him. Both guys try hip tosses and Sheamus hits a clothesline before chasing Christian on the floor. Christian drop toeholds Sheamus into the ropes and slingshots to the outside, but Sheamus blocks a slap and hits the clubbing blows to the chest in the ropes. Sheamus heads up top, but Christian shoves him off to the floor. Christian hits some punches back in the ring and chokes Sheamus against the top rope. Christian hits some more punches and a diving uppercut off the second rope. He tries a sleeper but Sheamus drives him into the mat. Sheamus hits a scoop slam but misses an elbow drop and Christian chokes him with his boot. Sheamus hits some shots but Christian hits a knee to the gut and a missile dropkick.

Sheamus hits some shots to the back, a knee drop, and some clotheslines followed by a scoop slam for 2. Christian escapes a slam, fails at a Killswitch attempt, and heads up top, but Sheamus catches him with an Irish curse backbreaker for 2. Both guys head up top, but Christian knocks Sheamus off and hits the rope-assisted Pele kick followed by a tornado DDT out of the corner for 2. Sheamus blocks the Killswitch and hits a corner clothesline followed by a knee to the head. Sheamus hits a big shoulder block off the top but Christian takes out his legs on the apron. Sheamus flings Christian out to the floor to block a baseball slide attempt, but Christian spears him on the floor and again in the ring for a near fall. Christian misses a top rope splash before both guys counter each other’s finishers. Christian backflips out of a back suplex attempt, but Sheamus avoids a charge from Christian in the corner. Sheamus then hits the Brogue kick for the win. Good match to open the show, felt a little stretched out though and Christian really needed the win. However, Sheamus winning wasn’t a surprise since normal-sized heels never win clean in WWE. Match Time: 13:41     Star Rating: ***

• Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara

For those who didn’t know, Mistico was the one in the blue attire and Hunico (Incognito) was the one in black. We’ll just call them Blue and Black for this recap. This was a good match but the crowd was completely unresponsive, likely due to unfamiliarity with lucha style matches. They lock up and Black goes for the leg early before attempting a surfboard-style submission, which Blue escapes. Black shoves Blue down, but Blue hits an arm drag. Black holds the wrists, but Blue does a backflip followed by a moonsault attempt from Black. Both men hit hurricanranas before Black hits a kick to the gut, only for Blue to hit a springboard head scissors. Blue arm drags Black to the floor before hitting a tope con hilo. Blue hits a kick from the apron but misses an asai moonsault. Black hits a springboard senton for 2 and applies a chin lock. Blue tries a handspring, but Black dropkicks him for 2, hits a chop, and sends Blue to the floor. Black does a huge plancha over the ropes to the floor and covers in the ring for 2. Black applies a chin lock before both men attempt cross bodies at the same time and collide. Blue hits some kicks, a handspring, and a headscissors followed by a big cross body off the top to the floor. Black hits a powerbomb for 2 back in the ring and heads up top, but Blue meets him there and hits an arm drag off the top. Blue hits an enzuigiri from the apron but misses a senton bomb off the top. Blue then hits a modified sunset flip bomb for the win. Though the crowd was totally dead, this was a really good lucha match. You can’t totally fault these guys for the pace they went at because this is the type of match they’ve been taught to have in Mexico. Had this taken place in AAA the crowd would have been going ballistic. Match Time: 9:47     Star Rating: ***

• WWE Tag Team Championship match: Air Boom(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Another pretty decent match, though this felt like an extended Raw match at times. Kofi Kingston applies a headlock early on before Swagger hits a shoulder block, but Kofi hits a facebuster and holds up Swagger for Evan Bourne to hit a double stomp off the top. Ziggler and Kofi get tags, and Kofi leaps off Bourne’s back with a shot in the corner. Swagger hits Bourne with some shoulder strikes in the corner before Ziggler comes in with some stomps and an elbow drop for a near fall. Kofi gets a hot tag but Swagger cheap shots him on the floor and Ziggler slams his head on the apron before applying a chin lock. Ziggler hits some more stomps and a dropkick, and Swagger comes in and controls Kofi with a reverse headlock. Bourne gets knocked off the apron and Ziggler gets some shots in on Kofi while the referee holds back Bourne. Swagger hits a side suplex followed by a Ziggler elbow drop for 2. Kofi hits a DDT and both guys get tags. Bourne hits a hurricanrana followed by the diving double knees for 2, then blocks a Famouser attempt from Ziggler and hits a standing shooting star press. Swagger then puts Bourne in the ankle lock, but Kofi breaks it up with a big cross body off the top. Bourne gets a small package for 2, and Ziggler hits a clothesline before tagging in Swagger. Swagger tries a superbomb off the top, but Bourne counters with a Frankensteiner off the top for the win. Heat segment dragged on a little but the match really got going by the finish, which came off nice. Nothing too special but pretty good. Match Time: 11:13     Star Rating: **3/4

• Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry(c) vs. Randy Orton

Interesting seeing this go on fourth, as typically WWE really likes to space out the HIAC matches on this PPV. This was another pretty good match, and probably Mark Henry’s best match ever. Orton is all over Henry with punches at the start before they move to the outside, where Orton is able to send Henry into the cage. Orton stomps Henry in the ring and hits a knee drop, but Henry blocks the spike DDT and slams Orton’s head in the corner. Henry stretches Orton’s arm across the ring post, but Orton kicks Henry’s arm and leaps off the apron, only for Henry to catch him and drive him back first into the cage. Orton hits some shots, but Henry powerslams him in the ring for 2. They go back to the outside, where they trade shots before Henry hits a powerslam on the floor. Henry slams Orton’s head against the cage, picks up the steel steps, and hurls them at Orton, but Orton moves out of the way. Henry lawn darts Orton into the cage and presses his face against it.

Back in the ring, Henry hits a corner clothesline and a splash for 2 followed by a backbreaker. Henry applies a bear hug, stands on Orton against the ropes, and puts him in the bear hug again. Orton fights out with punches but Henry tosses him to the floor. He teases the World’s Strongest Slam on the steps, but Orton grabs onto the cage and kicks Henry. Orton drives Henry into the steps and the ring post before hitting a Thesz press in the ring followed by a dropkick, the spike DDT, and an RKO for 2. Orton sets up for the punt, but Henry catches him as he charges and hits the WSS for the win. After the match, Henry wraps a chair around Orton’s leg and tries to hit a splash on hit, but Orton avoids it and attacks Henry with the chair in the ring and up the entrance ramp. Henry eventually low blows Orton and bails. The match was solid but the post match was irritating, as both guys are merely continuing the feud and the HIAC solved nothing. Not a great HIAC but they used the cage, told a story, and had some bright spots. Match Time: 15:59     Star Rating: **3/4

Cody Rhodes then comes out in a suit for a promo a in a filler segment to kill time. He heels on the crowd before unveiling the classic Intercontinental title belt, which apparently will be replacing the current one. John Laurinaitis comes out and says Triple H has ordered Rhodes to defend the Intercontinental title right now. John Morrison then comes out and we have our impromptu match.

• Intercontinental Championship match: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. John Morrison

Yep, Rhodes is still in the suit for those who were wondering. Morrison tries a quick roll up before applying a headlock. Rhodes misses a clothesline and a dropkick and Morrison goes back to the headlock. Rhodes goes outside to take off his shirt and tries to walk away shortly after, but Morrison brings him back toward the ring. Rhodes then tries to get counted out by staying on the floor, but Morrison kicks him in the back and brings him into the ring. Rhodes hits a front suplex and a knee to the gut before applying a submission. Rhodes kicks a rope hung Morrison in the gut, but Morrison counters an Alabama slam attempt with a roll up. Rhodes applies a Figure Four, but Morrison gets the ropes. Rhodes hits some punches, a knee drop, and a headlock with a quick punch to the head. Morrison drives Rhodes into the corner and hits some punches and a dropkick followed by a Flux Capacitor for 2. Morrison hits a Pele but misses the Flash Kick and Rhodes rolls him up for the win. Total Raw match hampered by the fact that Rhodes wrestled in suit pants and Gucci shoes. Due to the way it was set up, whoever lost this thing was going to come off looking bad. Nothing to see here. Match Time: 7:23     Star Rating: *3/4

• Divas Championship match: Kelly Kelly(c) vs. Beth Phoenix

For the third straight PPV Kelly and Beth squared off against each other. Eve and Natalya are once again at ringside. Kelly hits some punches at the start followed by a Thesz press and more punches. Kelly kicks Beth from the corner and hits a diving clothesline off the top, but Beth counters a head scissors attempt with a backbreaker and hits an elbow drop. Kelly is hung up in the tree of woe and Beth hits a baseball slide before applying a modified dragon sleeper. Beth throws Kelly down by her head and spanks her before hitting a backbreaker and stretching Kelly’s back over her knee. Kelly gets a quick cover for 2 but Beth hits a rope-assisted suplex. Beth chokes Kelly against the ropes, but Kelly hits a neckbreaker before both go for roll ups. Kelly flips out of a Glam Slam attempt, but Beth drives her into the corner. Beth charges in the corner but misses, and Kelly hits a handspring elbow and a bulldog off the top for a near fall. Eve and Natalya brawl on the floor and Beth puts Kelly in a unique double leg submission. Natalya taunts Kelly on the mic as she struggles. Kelly gets the ropes, and Natalya hits Kelly with the mic while the ref is busy holding Beth back. Beth then hits the Glam Slam for the win. Good to see Beth finally win the Divas title but the match really dragged and suffered from some sloppy spots and a lack of crowd heat. It was going along fine at first but they just went too long here. Match Time: 8:28     Star Rating: *1/2

• Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: John Cena(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk

This was easily the best match on the show, and was really good outside of the anticlimactic finish. The three men play a bit of cat and mouse early on, keeping their distance from each other and moving in and out of the ring until Cena and Punk both go after Del Rio and take turns wailing on him in the corner. Eventually Cena and Punk have a standoff and tease their finisher before Cena winds up on the outside. Del Rio ends up on Cena’s shoulders on the floor and Punk does a suicide dive that sends both men into the cage. Punk hits a neckbreaker to Del Rio back in the ring and grabs a chair, but Del Rio shoves Punk off the steel steps and into the side of the cage. Del Rio hits a backbreaker to Cena before getting another chair and wedging it in the corner. Cena hits his shoulder blocks and the side suplex followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Del Rio escapes the Attitude Adjustment, only for Punk to hit him with a roundhouse kick before hitting an STO to both men at the same time. Punk sets up a table on the outside and runs along the apron to hit the high knee to Cena but Cena blocks the bulldog attempt and shoves Punk off the apron into the cage wall. Del Rio hits Cena with a chair, sets it on its legs, and hits a backbreaker to Cena on the chair. Del Rio puts Cena in the tree of woe, but misses with a charge and hits the ring post. Cena then stands on the top rope, but Punk shakes it and Cena ends up crotched. Punk hits a Russian leg sweep to Del Rio for 2, but Del Rio comes back with a clothesline before catching Punk in a chin lock. Cena then breaks up the hold with a flying leg drop onto both men.

Punk hits a big kick to the Del Rio before him and Cena collide. Punk and Cena trade shots before Del Rio breaks up a Go to Sleep attempt from Punk and hits both men with a chair. Del Rio stacks both men on top of each other with the chair between them, and comes off the top rope with a diving senton onto the pile. Del Rio gets near falls on both men and tries for the cross armbreaker, but is sent to the floor. Cena hits a sudden AA to Punk, but Del Rio breaks up the cover and hits an enzuigiri to Cena. Del Rio tries for the cross armbreaker on Cena, but Punk breaks it up with a slingshot senton over the ropes. Punk hits Cena with the GTS, but Del Rio pulls him out of the ring and sends him into the cage, and then the ring steps before throwing a chair at him. Cena catches Del Rio with an inside cradle for 2, but Del Rio brings Cena to the outside and throws him into the cage before hitting him in the leg with a chair. Punk hits Del Rio with some clotheslines, a scoop slam, and the Savage elbow drop back in the ring. Cena hits Punk with the shoulder blocks and the side suplex, but Punk kicks Cena in the head when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Punk heads up top but Del Rio shoves him off and Punk falls through the table on the floor.

Cena puts Del Rio in the STF, but Ricardo Rodriguez knocks out a referee on the outside, gets the key, unlocks the door, and enters the Cell with a steel pipe. Cena then gives Ricardo an AA onto the floor outside the Cell, but Del Rio hits Cena with the pipe, knocks him outside the cage, gets the key, slams the door shut, and locks Cena out. Del Rio hits a German suplex to Punk for 2, but Punk blocks a second attempt with a roll up attempt. Punk heads up top, but Del Rio hits a big enzuigiri for 2. Punk blocks the cross armbreaker and hits some kicks, a dropkick, the high knee/bulldog combo, and a springboard flying forearm for 2. Cena tries to get in but can’t open the door. Del Rio hits Punk with the pipe and Punk goes for the GTS, but Del Rio hits a couple more shots with the pipe for the win. Frustrating finish for various reasons. They hot shotted the title once again, which proves that the company literally will do just ANYTHING to make sure that Cena never loses cleanly, even though it would have made far more sense to have Del Rio retain at Night of Champions and at this PPV rather than doing a title switch for the fourth PPV in a row. And since Del Rio was going over here, they just had to give Cena an “out” for losing and an excuse to rematch these guys at the next PPV, where Cena will probably win the title yet again. The finish just felt really flat after such a competitive and action packed match. This was really good stuff despite the fact that the cage was only used sparingly. It doesn’t hold up to the classic Hell in a Cells as it felt more like a traditional 3-way at times, but this was still a worthy main event. Match Time: 24:11     Star Rating: ***3/4

After the match, two men in black hoodies got in the cage and started attacking Cena. They quickly revealed themselves as Miz and R-Truth, and they were wreaking havoc in the Cell, attacking everyone including the referee and even some cameramen. Triple H, Laurinaitis, security, and the whole locker room poured out to try and get the cage open, and the idea was that Del Rio had the key and was still inside the cage, so they had no way in. JR was selling this beautifully on commentary. Eventually they got bolt cutters to break the chain and open the door, at which point police officers ran into the cage to arrest Miz and Truth. Once they got outside the cage, Triple H started beating up both of them as guys tried to hold him back, and Triple H decked Laurinaitis as he was being held back. Very good angle to close the show, this and the main event itself were the clear highlights of an otherwise dismal show.

Overall PPV Rating: 6.5/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for three years.

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They tried to play football indoors and overseas but they, too, went by the wayside (sans for what seems to be an endless list of minor league arena organizations). Even the Canadian Football League made a stab at incorporating American franchises but could not keep them afloat.

They will try it again with the brand new United Football League, which will commence their inaugural season with just four teams that will play some home games, some road games and many neutral site contests. A short eight-week schedule that includes the championship game begins on October 8 and includes weeknight matches.

The games will be held at legitimate stadiums with large capacities as opposed to D-3 colleges. That was the first hurdle and to legitimize the league even more, the clubs went out and signed former NFL names as head coaches and for the roster. While they may not exactly be household names, the real football fan will recognize many of them.

California Redwoods:

Head Coach – Dennis Green

Players – QB Mike McMahon, RB Cory Ross

Florida Tuskers:

Head Coach – Jim Haslett

RB Tatum Bell, LB Anthony Schlegel, TE Jermaine Wiggins, QB Brooks Bollinger, RB Michael Pittman, T Rob Petitti, P Todd Sauerbrun

Las Vegas Locomotives:

Head Coach – Jim Fassel

QB J.P. Losman, QB Tim Rattay, NT Wendell Bryant

New York Sentinels:

Head Coach – Ted Cottrell

DE Simeon Rice, WR Koren Robinson

During the premier season, the teams will wear identical uniforms with colors to differentiate one another. Next season, there will be a total redesign so each will be unique.

From the UFL website, www.ufl-football.com:

UFL Mission Statement:

“To fulfill the unmet needs of football fans in major markets currently underserved by professional football by providing a high quality traditional football league comprised of world class professional football players. The UFL will serve the communities with pride, dedication and passion, and uphold a leadership role in the development of football worldwide. The UFL will provide every fan with an affordable, accessible, exciting and entertaining game experience.”

When will UFL games be played?

The UFL will play in the fall, during traditional football season, to establish the league as a viable entity and will offer real, 11-on-11, outdoor professional football in NFL quality stadiums/venues. The UFL will play its regular season games on Thursday and Friday evenings in the fall, with the first regular season game kicking off in October and the Championship Game scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend.

Where will the UFL have teams?

In its “Premiere” season, the UFL will have four teams playing in seven cities.  The four teams selected for 2009 are Las Vegas, New York, Orlando and San Francisco.  The additional cities where games may be played include Hartford, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Where can I watch UFL games?

The United Football League announced that VERSUS, a national sports network in more than 75 million homes, will air the League’s “Premiere” season beginning in October 2009. VERSUS will air live weekly games beginning on Thursday, October 8, and continuing through the Championship Game scheduled to air Thanksgiving weekend. Each live telecast will be approximately three hours and all games will be produced and available in HD. The complete schedule will be announced this summer.

The United Football League also signed an exclusive deal with HDNet to broadcast coverage of five of the League’s “Premiere” Season games. HDNet will air weekly games beginning on Saturday, October 10th at 7:00pm Eastern.

Who will play and coach in the UFL?

The UFL will field teams comprised of the best players in the world and tomorrow’s rising stars. There are thousands of talented world class players who are looking to play professional football at a high level. The UFL will provide that opportunity.  Our “Premiere” Season Head Coaches include former NFL coaches Dennis Green, Jim Fassel, Jim Haslett and Ted Cottrell.

Why will the UFL work?

The UFL’s approach, rules and style of play will look and feel substantially similar to the NFL and will cater to those markets currently underserved by professional football. The UFL will assemble the best talent on the field, on the sidelines and in the league and team offices to ensure a credible, high-quality product that is accessible and affordable for fans.

Who is behind the UFL?

The executives behind the UFL are experienced NFL franchise builders.  Commissioner Michael Huyghue has over 20 years of NFL management experience and is considered the architect in establishing the Jacksonville Jaguars as the winningest franchise of the NFL within a five-year span in his role as the team’s Senior Vice President of Football Operations. While with the NFL, Commissioner Huyghue served on several of the NFL Commissioner’s prominent committees, including NFL Management Council, the Executive Working Group Committee, the NFL College Advisory Committee, the NFL Europe League and as a Trustee of the NFL Players Insurance Trust.  Prior to joining the UFL, Huyghue was CEO/Founder of Axcess Sports & Entertainment, where he represented a number of NFL, NBA and PGA Tour players. The League’s COO is Frank Vuono who significantly expanded the scope of NFL Properties as its Vice President of Retail Licensing, has consulted for over 15 NFL teams and was personally hired by the NFL Commissioner’s office to assist the Saints during the team’s post-Katrina return to New Orleans.  A co-founder of Integrated Sports International, the NFL Quarterback Club and its successor NFL Quarterback Greats, and most recently 16W Marketing LLC., Vuono was also instrumental in negotiating some of the largest naming rights agreements in all of professional sports and as president of marketing for SFX Sports represented hundreds of pro athletes including current 16W Marketing clients Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason. The UFL also has hired a number of former senior NFL executives to oversee team and league operations. Investors in the UFL include Bill Hambrecht, Chairman and CEO of WR Hambrecht + Co.; Tim Armstrong, Chairman & CEO, AOL; Paul Pelosi, President of FLS, Inc. and a consortium of others.

Lurie, 86, is one of the most recognizable names in the industry and has seen it all. Even marginal fans of bodybuilding have come across the name Dan Lurie while lifting weights by looking at the name on the actual plates. 

Lurie’s involvement in the inaugural Mr. & Mrs. Jones Beach USA contest last summer gave it immediate credibility and we will also be discussing the 2009 show, which will take place on Long Island on August 9. (www.jonesbeachusa.com)

His official website is www.danlurie.com.

MuscleSport Radio can be heard live every Tuesday from 1:00 to 2:00 PM Eastern time on www.blogtalkradio.com and all episodes are archived on Blog Talk Radio, MuscleSport Mag and iTunes. 

Please feel free to join us and give us your opinion, ask Dan a question or make a comment. Our call-in number is 347-884-8157.

Finishing third in his first Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath has decided to concentrate on moving up the ladder with Sandow on his mind. The bodybuilder known as “The Gift” has decided to skip the Arnold Classic in March and utilize that time preparing for next September in Las Vegas.

While some feel that is a mistake, Heath’s high finish in 2008 gives him a ‘pass’ in having to win any other contests prior to the Olympia. He has proven his worth and if he happens to come into the Arnold not at his best, he can lose some credibility, the type that he just has been rewarded with.

After the Olympia, I definitely feel I could not only place high at the Arnold, I could win it,” Heath said. “But my goal is to be Mr. Olympia. I just feel that to continue to improve and satisfy everyone – including myself – I would need another 10 months. I think I can be 240 on stage – dry and hard. But we can’t do it in March. I just need that time in the gym.”

Dexter Jackson proved that you can diet down for more than one show a year and take home first place. Most of the top Mr. Olympia competitors trained a solid 12 months for that show. It’s kind of a split decision. Heath may be the deciding factor.

When you’re a one-trick pony, there should be no surprise that a lesson is never learned. Take Stephen A. Smith, for example. At one point in his career, he was writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and had his own radio and television show. All three have blown up in his face, and no matter what spin he may want to put on it, his controversial ways sealed his fate.

Smith has an uncanny ability to rub people the wrong way with his pro-African American views on everything in the sports world. Someone can be proud of their race and heritage, but when you’re supposedly doing your job – which calls for objectiveness – leave those ideas home. No one reading about a sports organization wants to hear which player is best black athlete. The old saying, “You root for laundry,” means just that – fans don’t care if the player is white, black, hispanic or other. We’re into the team because we grew up with them and cheer for the players wearing that jersey.

Because Smith turns off the majority of the audience – if you need me to spell it out, the white part of the audience – his ratings were not up to par and thus the reason for “Quite Frankly” bouncing around the schedule before being dropped a year and a half later. While the man knows his business, he loses a lot of his credibility by harping on social issues that have no correlation. A prime example is his latest “Up Front” column in the August 25 issue of ‘ESPN The Magazine.’ Calling himself an “angry black man” who has “no desire to be PC,” Smith sounds as if he were standing on a small platform in Times Square instead of sitting in front of a computer.

The title of this piece is ‘Thanks for Your Feedback. But Can’t We All Just Get Along?’ Smith takes on the people who allegedly responded to him, and uses a Rodney King reference to open up the show. First, he feels the need to remind us of his credentials, that he has been a journalist for 15 years and a beat writer for 10 of them. What he should have added was that he was let go by The Inquirer after they demoted him. He further described his arriving at ESPN was the result of “years of blood, sweat and tears.” Sportswriting should not be described as that. I’m sorry, but being in the field myself as a second career after finishing one that could coin that phrase, Smith appears even more short-sighted than before.

The column continues with Smith attempting to prove to a reader named ‘Josh’ that the black athletes of today have a responsibility to be activists, a la their brethren from a generation ago. Just exactly what Smith wants players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to do to is a good question. What has held them back from becoming the best in the NBA and multi-millionaires? For that matter, the former NBA players he mentions that ‘cleared the path’ (Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabaar) didn’t exactly break the color barrier.

Taking exception to an e-mail from a reader named ‘Bryan,’ Smith attacks him when he points out that people such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Smith are keeping racism alive by “bitching” about it. Possibly Stephen A. took exception by being lumped together with two people that have had their fair share of negative publicity, or maybe judging by his response he is proud of the association. He once again has to go back in time to make his point. He brings up the civil rights movement, and makes a reference of modern day oppression. At the end, he talks about “pimp-slapping.”

‘Eric’ from Utah gets on Smith’s good side because he tells him he’s white and looks at Tommie Smith and John Carlos as heroes, and that he is instilling into his two teenage children that “they have the privilege of deciding for themselves whether to follow the rules,” which makes Smith respond with a double “Amen.” I don’t know who sounds more clouded here – Dad giving the keys to his impressionable kids to run wild with his blessing, or Stephen A. finding some good in that. As if teenagers needed a reason or okay from a parent to break the rules.

Following a response where he says that he has “toned it down considerably” after being a “loudmouth windbag” in the past, Smith questions ‘Matthew’ when he has the gall to call Stephen A. out to write an article without the topic of race. How did he fire back? By telling the reader to look back at his material from the past, plenty of it which is not race-related. He then continues by describing his articles from his Inquirer and New York Daily News days as him “getting on one black athlete after another,” and then suspecting that Matthew would find that “perfectly okay.”

Let me back up for a second. Smith defends his not always writing about race by stating that he also rips black athletes? Digest that on your own.

Finally, when ‘Scott’ writes to Smith with a complaint of his “pomposity” and that he can’t talk sports without injecting his own agenda, Stephen A. tells him that he’s doing his job as a columnist, and that he has a “license to editorialize” and give his opinion. While I agree with him that it is his column and he can be as opinionated as he wishes, a sports column should be about sports, not social issues that took place in the South 40 years ago. Those articles may have their place, but it is certainly not between the box scores and game recaps.

Almost comically, Smith then tells the reader to “get rid of the Haterade.” He should practice what he preaches.

Sports is the one place to go to get away from everything that is wrong with this world. When issues that don’t belong are dragged into it and force-fed by people like Smith, it takes away the purity of the game. Anyone that knows anything will admit that Jackie Robinson was more than as baseball player, but when people like Smith try to make a comparison of what he went through in the 1940s to a teenage millionaire like LeBron James, it not only does a disservice to Robinson, but to James, as well.

On his personal website, Stephen A. gives us a little insight on his controversial ways. “My aspiration is to talk beyond sports, to use sports as a venue to talk about what really matters to so many people out there. I want the world, not just the sports world.” So, I suppose that Smith feels that sports doesn’t matter to people. Surely, not all will agree with him on that analogy. Maybe he should look into a job with Time magazine or CNBC. Quite frankly, I – along with many others – wouldn’t give a damn.