MJ can say what he wants to say

I thought I would touch on Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame 23-minute speech for a second. I'm not going to say much because the issue is rather old news to me. But I talked about it on a Charlotte radio show earlier this week.

So, I thought I would blog about it real quick. A lot of talk has been made of MJ's speech, and how Jordan talked down on former rivals, poked fun at his old high school coach that cut him, his old college roommate, his pro owner, general manager, the guy presenting him and his kids.
He apparently decided that this was the perfect night to list all the ways everybody sitting in front of him had pissed him off over the past 30 years.

But it was still cool. I thought there were a lot of good parts of his speech. The fact of the matter is that it was MJ's speech. He was the greatest basketball player of all-time. He was probably the biggest star to play any sport. How many times have you heard someone say that someone was the Michael Jordan of their sport. Rapper Jay-Z once said that he's the Michael Jordan of recording. And, we'll probably always compare the next great hoops star to Jordan. He's just that great. Jordan will always be the greatest to me, no matter what he said

The problem is that people wanted him to talk about history, and say what they wanted him to say. A caller even hit the radio show up with, “How many times have you heard a hall of fame speech like that? He should have been humble and gracious.”

See, that's an example of someone wanting MJ to say what they wanted him to say. How many times have you seen an athlete take over a sport, nation and culture like Jordan? His shoes are still the hottest sneakers available. His Airness won just about everything there is to win -- six NBA titles, five MVP awards and two Olympics golds. I haven't talked to Jordan about this. I haven't even tried to call him or catch him at the links to get a quote either. I personally think that he was just trying to have fun with the speech. And, he seemed to be coming from the heart. So many people apparently had a huge problem with what MJ was saying, especially media guys. But no one seemed to be offended during the event in Springfield last week. That's one of the things I scanned for as I watch YouTube footage.

Michael was seemingly trying to make light of the whole situation. Anyone that's ever asked MJ about being the best ever could tell you that he's not comfortable proclaiming himself the greatest ever. We could also tell you this was kind of a sad time for Mike. He still wants to play. He realized that being in the hall of fame means that his career is really over. No more dropping 55 on the Knicks. No more people questioning his legacy. No more dream match ups with some of the younger guys. I would've loved to have seen my main man Chris Paul try to cross MJ up and then toss and alley-oop to Emeka Okafor (his new Tyson Chandler). We all would've liked to have seen a seasoned Kobe or LeBron get it in against MJ too. But those match-ups will never happen.

REAL QUICK NOTE:
What in the hell were the Carolina Panthers thinking this week? So many fans and experts have bashed them and quarterback Jake Delhomme this entire week. The Panthers looked awful in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles during week one.

Jake accounted for four interceptions. He's still that sorry quarterback I've been bashing for the last three years. I bashed the Panthers for signing him to an extension during the off season – $20 million guaranteed. Then, the team signs Jay Feely (a kicker) and allows the Eagles to pick up seasoned quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Boy, it's already a long season in Charlotte.

Chris Brown incident bringing attention to domestic violence

I got into an argument about the Chris Brown incident with a friend of mine last night. It was a friendly argument, of course. It was more like a disagreement, really. I had no idea Chris Brown was going to be on Larry King (Wednesday night) last night before our dispute.

Anyway, my friend was telling me how much of a monster Chris Brown was after what he'd done to then-girlfriend Rihanna (last February). During the Larry King interview, Brown admitted guilt and apologized for assaulting Rihanna (Robyn Fenty). He also said that he didn't remember hitting ole girl.

That's one of the things I told my friend last night. I was like, "He was drunk," I said. "Chris Brown had no idea what he was doing. Some people do unbelievable things when they drink too much." I also asked if everyone that made a mistake after being under the influenced should be crucified. Chris Brown wasn't the first, and unfortunately won't be the last person to physically abuse his or her significant other after losing control during a heated argument... while under the influence.

"I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be," Chris Brown told Larry King in an exclusive interview that aired Wednesday night. I just don't know what to think. I'm just like, wow. It's crazy to me."

I also said that I didn't condone what Chris Breezy did on that night in February. I don't agree with hitting females at all. Just walk away... I also don't want to say Chris Brown's career should be over because of his mistake.

Could've done more for his cause

I thought that Chris definitely could've said more to defend his side. I don't know if we wasn't allowed to talk about that night. But I do know that he repeatedly told Larry that he respected Rihanna's privacy, as well as his own, too much not to discuss that night at all.

According to a sworn statement by Los Angeles Police detective DeShon Andrews, the incident began when Rihanna found a text message on Brown's cell phone from "a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with." The pair argued while in a sports car driven by Brown, the police statement said. It went on to describe the assault in great detail, saying Brown punched Rihanna -- identified in the statement as Robyn F. -- numerous times and put her in a head lock, restricting her breathing and causing her to start to lose consciousness.

Larry even asked Brown what caused him to threatento beat her and kill her. He also asked him about at least two other domestic violence incidents before the February attack for which Brown was sentenced. Breezy didn't want to talk about that either.

I just thought he could've made things a little better by telling more. He didn't have to discuss everything. Just something... beside apologies. I don't know. I just know that he made a mistake. He will probably never make that mistake again.

I'm just wondering if this would be as big of a deal if it were Rhi-Rhi from Michigan that got beat up that night, and not superstar Rihanna.