Another Interview

This one is courtesy of Agent Ness the Afro Amazon, who NEVER lets me off the hook, so here goes;


1. What is your ideal sports beat (i.e. team, city, etc) and why?
Man, so many places so many beats, and I have to narrow it down to one? *Mays Gilliam voice* that ain't right! I have several dream beats, one includes coming back to this area to be the beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers for the either the Inquirer or the Daily News, covering hockey somewhere (yes, I would like to be the Jack Roosevelt Robinson of Hockey Journalism), and any NFL team in the league. Preferably one with a chance to get to the Super Bowl every year. And my ultimate dream is to start, maintain and have a successful Black College Sports media site/publication. If I grew some gonads and decided to chase after that dream, it would be full blast and every HBCU from Prarie View to Cheyney State would get great coverage for the athletics programs.

2. Who are some of your non-journalism idols and why?
Stevie Wonder, top of the list, because in spite of being blind from the get go, which means he was already backed into a corner, the man managed to become a music genius, pop icon, philanthropist, all of that without one of the senses that most of us take for granted. I would just LOVE to look inside his mind while he's creating. If I could know what he was thinking when he was recording "Superstition," "Higher Ground," "Isn't She Lovely," "Master Blaster,"....whooo. My mother obviously goes without saying because it's common knowledge that I'm in a position to be somebody because of her. Other than those two, I really don't have too many people I look up to outside of journalism, maybe I should look for more folks to model myself after.

3. What is it going to take for you to get over these low self-esteem pouts and pity parties you throw for yourself? And I don't want hear, "I don't know." I want specifics!!
*PS: If I am awake in Vegas, I'll be at the least tipsy. You do this once and I'ma go off!!
Oh lord. Well once people (women in particular) start treating me like a human being instead of whatever's underneath their shoes, it'll be a start. See, what you and Jameil (my two biggest critics in this matter) fail to realize is that people have treated me like crap since I was nine years old. I've rarely run into people that weren't adults and authority figures who didn't have something negative to say about me.

I mean if it wasn't my weight, it was my voice, being called a nerd, never being popular because I wasn't a thug/prettyboy/athlete, I've never been held in any kind of high regard by my peers. And though that's allegedly not supposed to matter, at the end of the day, no one wants to be hated. That takes a toll on you, and it's bothered me for over 15 years now, that's why I have problems with those things. As far as the solution? Like I said, once people respect me and treat me like a human being, then maybe I won't have anything to complain about.

4. WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE #3's ANSWER YET!?!?
Number 3 isn't up to me. It's up to people to open their eyes and realize that I might not be 6 feet plus, lightskinned, sporting dreads/braids, skinny or have these characteristics that women love, but I'm still a person with feelings and that I reserve the right to be treated with some respect.

5. Leave us on a good note...give us a quick R. Kelly crack (i.e. I'm out like R. Kelly at a....)
Wow this is tougher than R. Kelly substitute teaching at a sixth grade girls school...wait, no it wasn't :) holler.