Who are you to judge?

As I was watching the ESPN 30 for 30 on the Duke Lacrosse team case of 2006, one theme kept running through my mind. No, not the events that transpired on that fateful March evening, or even the "he said, she said" rhetoric that was played out before our very eyes in the media. It was the fact that there were several lives affected and judgments were handed out before the actual trial began. A coach lost his job, players (innocent or not) had their reputations smeared, and journalistic integrity was put aside in the name of sensationalism.

However, think about this for a second: what if there wasn't such a rush to judgment? Would that have changed the perception of these young men. Again, the focus isn't about what happened or what didn't happen, but what premature decisions can lead to when left unchecked. Bad things happen, but what is even worse is when people are placed with a scarlet letter that isn't removed so easily. We often label the accused based upon our own prejudices. It divides locker rooms, splits organizations, and creates riffs that takes years to mend. Just look at the relationships that come to an end due to judgments (think Shaq-Kobe) to the point where fan bases are fractured.

It doesn't have to be that way, and this case was the perfect example. Unlike in professional sports, it hurts even more in colleges because there are communities and families who also have to deal with the brunt of the accusations, sometimes as much as the players themselves. We have to be responsible for keeping our emotions in check and not create a conclusion before all of the facts have been brought to light. It's because when we jump to conclusions too much, we may not like where we land.

A new image?

Back in 1973 Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis matchup in Houston, Texas. Despite rumors of match-fixing that later proved not to be true, it was a major stepping stone in women's sports gaining the respect of the largely-dominated male audience. So the next few decades saw a rise in the ranks of women's tennis, golf, basketball, and more recently, soccer as the U.S. Women's team won their now-record third World Cup championship earlier this month.

Although those accolades have received their proper mention in the sports pages, there is still this been this perception that "oh, it's just a women's sport, it still doesn't carry as much weight as the men." Many subscribers of that viewpoint mention the ratings and dollars that the men's sports bring in, but that underscores the underlying point that over the past few years we have seen women athletes make such great strides that now the question has become, "Can a woman succeed in a men's sport?"

That question has been answered in the form of San Antonio Spurs' assistant coach Becky Hammon, who has led their NBA Summer League team to the championship game. Hammon, 38, has been compared by Coach Gregg Popovich as another coach in the mold of former assistant coaches Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer, the former just winning the NBA title in his first year and the latter winning the NBA Coach of the Year. Hammon has overcome a lot to get to the this point, and the snide comments that were spoken on social media blogs have now given way to the belief that she will be an NBA coach one day. It was her grit and determination that has placed her in this position to make history, and this may be the genesis of a revolution in the once-unbreakable glass ceiling in men's professional sports.

Recently Serena Williams just won her 21st Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon, one behind Steffi Graf and more Grand Slams than all active women combined. However, the story afterwards was not about her amazing accomplishments on the court, it was about her appearance off of it. Which begs the question: why is it that in 2015 society still continues to hold women to a standard that it's not about wins and losses, but it's as long as they fit their standard of outer beauty?

Whether it's the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, or the countless appearances of women athletes in modeling shoots, there has always been this perception that as long as they look good, nothing else matters? When Caroline Wozniacki showed up to play Williams in 2012 wearing tissue underneath her clothing to mock her body structure? Is it still that we give women a pass on their success or lack thereof just so as long as they fit the media viewpoint? Sports can be a microcosm for how we treat others in our daily views of society. Comments like the ones directed at Williams shows that we as fans have a way to go.

So the next time you look at a Ronda Rousey dismantle an opponent in 14 seconds or Williams win another Grand Slam, will the conversation still be "she's ok for a girl"? The time has come for the image to be one of success, not of physical glamour...

The Sports Fans' Declaration of Independence

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

This is the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, which was the document that eventually led to the United States of America becoming their own union as they declared independence from Great Britain. Tomorrow we will all celebrate the Fourth of July to commemorate our nation's birthday. While we take in the fireworks, the hot dogs, and overload on beverages, let's take a moment to reflect on what the meaning of independence is all about. It's about saying that you are ready to be your own person, to grow with a level of freedom we've never experienced before.

That stated, we as sports fans need to make a declaration as to it pertains to what we have a right to. The following are the truths that we should hold to be self-evident. Tired of your favorite team treating you as if you don't matter? Here's a declaration that outlines what you have a right to do as a sports fan:

1) We declare the right to hold our favorite teams and owners accountable if they are expecting us to pay outrageous prices but not willing to put a winning product on the field, diamond, court, or ice. I'm looking at you, NBA teams that intentionally tank for a higher draft pick.

2) We have a right to let our dollars speak elsewhere, this especially goes for alumni of collegiate programs that are not doing right by the students. This is what the athletic director at University of Alabama-Birmingham tried to do in attempting to eliminate football. First and foremost, every attempt should be made to give the students an opportunity to live out their dreams, and not make it strictly a dollars/cents issue.

3) We have a right to let our voices be heard and disagree of the organization's direction, provided it is respectful. Too often local media becomes nothing more than P.R. pieces for the organization, as I experience often living near the Washington, D.C. area. Fans deserve the right to a voice that is not afraid to call out the owners/GMs when they make questionable decisions.

4) We have a right to call out the athletes if they make poor choices, on and off the field. We can judge righteous judgment (John 7:24) as long as we don't call them out by their name, or insult their families. Fans, leave the kids out of it!

5) We have a right to support another organization if the one we currently support does not intend to create a winning culture but focuses more on how much they can gouge the fans out of their money.

Declare your independence today, and have a Happy 4th of July!

A father's gift...

As a kid I used to watch cartoons of superheroes such as Superman, He-Man, and G.I. Joe, always excited to see how they overcame the odds to beat the villains. The next day at school while most kids would pretend to be their favorite superheroes, the person I wanted to imitate didn't wear a cape or a mask, and wasn't able to lift up a building with one hand. No, the person I most wanted to be like had an ability that couldn't be measured in physical attributes, but in wisdom, guidance and love. It is the man here in the photo, my father, John Henry Reid III.

Don't get me wrong, I was your typical 80's action hero fan, but there was something just a little more special whenever it was my father and I watching them together. He had a way of explaining it that made the light bulb in my mind go off just a little bit brighter. I would marvel as he would tell stories of his life growing up as a one of the first 10 students to integrate Bibb County Schools in Macon, Georgia. Whether it was about his coming-of-life tale as a Freedom Fighter to his more radical days, his knowledge and experience taught me so much growing up that it was a fascination for me just to hear what he had to say.

Both he and my mom had such an awesome responsibility to deal with four boys growing up in the South, but yet I never heard him complain about it. We grew up when hip-hop was entering its golden age, and despite the clash in cultures and ideologies, there was a mutual understanding...a lot of that you can thank Will Smith's "Parents Just Don't Understand" video. One memory I had was I was 9 and went to see "Transformers: The Movie" and the Optimus Prime death scene came up. Despite the tears that were shed, he was always there to give us encouragement, no matter what. That is what he would do, be there to give that pat on the back when we needed it. Another time was when I was called a racial epithet by another kid at the age of 7. I was stunned at first by the comment and didn't know how to respond, but then he said to me as I got home, "more people will despise you for your faith than they will your color." He always knows just what to say to put things in greater perspective. Disciplined yet fair, that's my dad in a nutshell.

Being a former athlete himself, he always inspires me push for my best, on and off the field. What he taught me most of all, was patience and endurance, how to always believe in the best, and that in the end, things will work out. I remember the celebrations we had when the Atlanta Braves won their first title in 1995, to his tears being shed when America elected its first black President in 2008. He is a man of passion and love for God and family, but even to this day when we talk about sports, there is always the wisdom he displays that made me believe that even now, things will get better.

Some marvel to be like Mike, others to be like Jay-Z, but for me, there's only one man I wish I could be half of what he is, and that's my role model, my father. Happy Father's Day dad, I love you.

The Real Lessons In Life...

Today there was an article that came out on the Bleacher Report that was entitled 'Life Lessons we can learn from Sports.' While I won't dispense the entire list here (lest I get a nasty email from the fine folks in Atlanta), there was one particular lesson that made me stand up and applaud:

3. Get Up, Dress Up and Show Up



The photo you see above is the GOAT (no, not Scottie Pippen, the other guy) after his famous 'Flu Game' in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against Utah. Michael Jordan was running a high fever the entire day (now whether or not he was poisoned with food in a Salt Lake City hotel will go down in history as one of sports' greatest conspiracies) and there was doubt if he would even show up. However, he did show up and it resulted in an all-time great performance.

Now, I know a lot of people will go back to last year's infamous 'Cramp Game' in which LeBron James left Game 1 of the Finals against San Antonio with leg cramps and say he should've stayed in there. None of us know the conditions of the human body better than the person themselves, and every athlete knows when they can go and they can't. I don't fault LeBron for what he did, so let's move on.

Back to MJ, and he believed that it was best to leave it all on the court that night and deal with the consequences later. Much like with Willis Reed back in 1973 for the New York Knicks, just showing up did more for the Chicago Bulls' psyche (and probably damaged Utah's) than anything else. They needed every last one of his 38 points too, but it was the lesson from above that is prevalent here.

Like it or not, we have a responsibility to someone, whether it's our boss, our spouse, our children, our co-workers, and even to those who we may not realize look up to us. Total transparency, I've had to realize this lesson a few times in my life as well. As we've discussed in the previous blogs, what we do impacts the lives of others. If we are able to get up (major injury notwithstanding) then we shouldn't be afraid to dress up and show up. I recently heard of a radio show host who took off sick after more than 50 consecutive years of doing his show on the air. Imagine the discipline it takes to do such a thing!

I'm reminded of a young man Timothy who was just starting out in the ministry, and was battling a lot of inner strife in the church where he was a pastor. His mentor Paul had to step in and give him a Scripture-based version of 'Win One for the Gipper' (Notre Dame fans will get that one) basically encouraging him to 'Get Up, Dress Up and Show Up." Basically, Paul gave it to him as such in 1 Timothy 6:20...

"Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge."

I don't know about you, but that alone would've been enough for me to get up and do what must be done. Whatever you do in life, remember that even in the tough times, someone is looking up to you to make the right decision.