By Gregory Moore
October 6, 2017

ARLINGTON, TX – So social media is a funny beast. You chime in on a hot topic on somebody’s page or on your own and all of a sudden you get hit with the bullshiggery.

So let me explain this.

Cam Newton is full of bull dong and I’m not even talking about high quality Brahma or Waygu bullshit either.

You all know what happened so why rehash it but here’s the highlight of what happened: Newton said a chauvinistic remark to a female sports reporter.

And what has ensued is this kaleidoscope of comments from people saying he had a right to speak his mind to he is so wrong he should be suspended.

I’m somewhere in the middle on this.

Yes, it’s his first amendment right to be a jackass and he did so.

No he shouldn’t be suspended but he shouldn’t be made a damn martyr either.

So of course I weighed on a few pages and I got hit with this vitriol that I was wrong.

You know what…on those pages, they’re probably right.

But as a former member of the National Association of Black Journalists, a proud alumnus of the Blackathlete Sports Network and a guy who took pride in calling out bullshit when it presented itself, I WASN’T WRONG according to those in the industry.

But see that’s the damn problem.

Society is wrong in accepting this crapola of an apology from him.

At least this apology that he gave.

When you get right down to it, sports fans of all colors should be so pissed off that he truly gets the message of why his apology was a day late and a dollar short.

Anybody who has a moral compass should be “offended’ that we are still dealing with chauvinism in this day and age just like we are dealing with racism, classism and all the other “isms’ that plague our society.

AN APOLOGY IS LIKE A THANK YOU NOTE….

“After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women.”

Really?

It took you 24 hours to come to the realization that you were being a dweeb during that press conference the day before?

And thus is why I have a problem with his feigned apology.

It wasn’t contrite.

It wasn’t sincere.

It was a carefully crafted response to an issue that had he really thought about it, he should have come out immediately that day and said, “hey man, I screwed up.”

You see, what so many of the people who are in his corner don’t get is, an apology is like a thank you note. It’s more sincere the more prompt the message is given.

It’s something that parents teach their kids every day.

Hell, Cam himself has two daughters. Do you think he’s teaching them to wait until the next day to apologize for wrong doing?

Hell naw.

But see adults, especially those who have these nice endorsements, play by different rules.

And Cam reached into that PR damage control playbook and pulled out play #22: be contrite after the fact.

And so, when Dannon yanked his endorsement by saying that he will no longer be used in advertising in 2017, he pulled out his smart phone, opened up his twitter account and did that video apology.

Let me tell you all something…..he wasn’t believable.

I’m a pretty good poker player and I could read that tell about 20 seconds into the video.

He was playing his audience.

How? It’s simple.

He didn’t name the reporter he denigrated in front of her colleagues.

A HEARTFELT APOLOGY, LIKE A THANK YOU NOTE, IS PERSONAL

This is why I have a problem in believing that Newton was sincere; he never mentioned Jourdan Rodrigue in his apology.

“To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms — super moms — to the daughters, the sisters and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope that you can find the kindness of your heart to forgive me.”

Many are going to think I’m being nit-picky but am I?

I mean if someone offended you and you confronted them, wouldn’t you want an apology that was personal and directed to you?

So how hard is it to put Rodrigue’s name in the damn apology?

I mean heck it’s this simple: “I want to first apologize to Ms. Rodrigue. I was out of line and I apologize for disparaging you yesterday. That is not my character and I hope you give me a second chance. To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms — super moms — to the daughters, the sisters and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope that you can find the kindness of your heart to forgive me.”

See….it’s that darn easy.

I didn’t change the structure but I sure as hell made it seem a lot more personal than what he did.

And I’m not saying that he had to do it in that fashion.

How about a one on one apology to the side?

BUT THERE’S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM….

Look, apology aside, there’s an elephant in the room.

What Cam did was akin to what has been done in locker rooms the moment news agencies started having women cover sports.

This shit isn’t new people.

And it isn’t going away.

Sexist remarks have no place in the workplace and if there is one place where this can be overcome, it is sports.

Sports is that great equalizer in our society but it is only as good as it can be when ordinary citizens call BS when it’s BS.

What Cam said was sexist and chauvinistic. It is not that much different than when then candidate Donald Trump talked about grabbing women by their genitals and forcing himself on them because he could.

Wrong is wrong people.

And while Cam isn’t running for public office, he is in the public eye.

He’s supposed to be a role model and he says he wants to be that in his own words.

“To the young people who see this, I hope that you learn something from this as well. Don’t be like me; be better than me.”

He’s right. Role models want that to be the outcome.

And hopefully he’s learned a lesson.

But let’s not sugar coat this one bit.

His choice of words to Ms. Rodrigue was wrong and it cost him sponsors.

But his choice of words not having given a “personal” apology were equally wrong because the only way to stop sexism and chauvinism is to own up that it exists.

Look I’m not beating up on Cam because he’s a black athlete.

Yeah. I got that nonsense too from a bunch of dribble hounds.

But I am beating him up for not being man enough apologize sooner.

What I am beating him up about though is that his words need to mirror his actions.

When I hurt someone, I apologize immediately to them.

When Ms. Rodrigue confronted him the other day about his choice of words, she was doing because they were chauvinistic.

Cam should have recognized that immediately.

And he should have apologized with a better choice of words.

That’s what grown men do.

We hold each other accountable when we’re wrong.

And if that, holding another man accountable, is not sitting well with some folks, then we have a far bigger problem than a football player making a dumb ass comment.

Gregory Moore covered collegiate and professional sports for over 20 years and appeared on national programs for such outlets like ESPN, Fox Sports Radio and The Sporting News.

By Gregory Moore

DALLAS, Texas — You know what’s troubling watching this year’s NBA Finals?

Believing in all the hoopla that finally LeBron James, the prodigal son, the ‘chosen’ one, will bring a title back to “the Land” after some four decades.

It’s hard to have any faith in him or the Cleveland Cavaliers because there isn’t a fire in the belly to get it done.

Yeah, sure. We’ve seen flashes of what this team could be but after Friday night’s loss, how can anyone with a straight face say, “Oh man, relax. They gonna win the next three straight. Watch.”

Watch? Watch what? An ass whooping that will be one of the most virally seen events in the current space/time continuum?

Come on man. Seriously?

Let’s just look at why the narrative on James right now is about being a talker and not a doer when it comes to winning titles.

Cavs 2.0 Reboot

I hate to say it but can anyone tell me what’s the difference between the Cavs of 2007 and the past two renditions over the last two years?

The knock then on James was that he didn’t have a supporting cast to get the job done. That’s ironic because that is the EXACT same narrative in 2016.

Let’s be frank and earnest about this current team. They aren’t good enough to beat the Golden State Warriors and sadly, they never were.

Look at Friday’s game and you tell me. What did you see in that game that showed Cavs nation that this team can go into Oracle Arena and win Monday’s game and then turn around and win a pivotal home game six on their own floor?

Nothing.

The only thing that’s a little different is that they have been able to hang a few quarters here and there but in this current series, they simply are not stringing quarters together to stop their opponent.

ROLE PLAYERS JUST A BUNCH OF DUDES

Let’s do another comparison.

When LeBron was in Miami, he had guys who could be role players and they were good at their jobs.

Mike Miller, Jerome James, Udonis Haslim, and Mario Chalmers.

Those guys knew what they needed to do to help win games.

Throw in a guy like Ray Allen and what you had was a bench that knew what it took to win big games on the biggest stage.

When you coupled that with DeWayne Wade and Chris Bosh, James could be at his best because he had guys he could trust.

It was a team that was able to win fifty percent of their NBA Finals appearances.

Now let’s fast forward to last year for a minute.

Where was that supporting cast?

Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were injured last year so they can’t be held accountable for that team’s losses to the Warriors.

But the guys that were there, Iman Shumpart, JR Smith, Tristian Thompson and others were there and they know that they needed to step their games up this year.

And through the Eastern Conference for this year, those games were elevated.

But this is the Finals man and what you did two weeks ago don’t work on this stage.

Let me now throw Love and Irving into this analysis.

Where are they on a consistent basis?

Well Love is too busy counting his discounted nuggets because even coming off the bench he hasn’t been this “dominant” player he was in Minnesota; and while Irving is very spotty but at least he’s trying to be a second scoring threat.

That group of role players aren’t of the same talent as what the Heat had. Two totally different groups of role players; two totally different mindsets on how to back up the star player.

But James picked this team; whether he wants to own up to it or not. It was his influence that placed these pieces on the roster. He wanted these guys.

Now he’s got them and these hand picked players are not living up to the potential of being role players that win titles.

They aren’t the guys like were with Miami.

They aren’t the guys that five time champion Spurs had during their run.

Or what Kobe had during his or what Michael had during his run.

They are not were close to that caliber and they may never be those kind of guys.

The King Needs to Accept Blame

At the end of the day, James needs to accept responsibility for not being the leader that he thinks he should be for this team.

When James was assertive in game three, we all saw a different team; a different mindset. The team responded by following their leader.

He gave orders.

He moved players into winning positions.

He led them to the win.

Game four? Yeah that was very reminiscent of what he looked like against the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

He didn’t take any shots that were meaningful.

He didn’t assert himself when his team needed him to be assertive.

He simply was not the guy to get the job done.

And now this team is looking at trying to do something they simply can’t do; win.

Can this be accomplished? Can the Cavs win the next three games?

Right now, whether James and his team likes it or not, the only way to win a game in this series is to ball all the way out.

Whatever they did in game three, the should have been doing it in game four and they will need to do it in games five, six and seven.

Yet unlike what Golden State did against the Oklahoma City Thunder, I don’t see the Cavs having that kind of grit.

And it’s that lack of confidence that has me saying the following: if the Cavs lose the series, it’s all on James.

After all, who else should get the blame when your reputation is about performing on the biggest stage in the league?

Gregory Moore is a former sports columnist for several local, regional and national media outlets. He covered the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs from 1993 to 2010. He is now an IT virtualization engineer/architect in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

DALLAS, Texas — So I am sure everyone has either read, seen and/or heard South Carolina’s state representative Jenny Horne’s impassioned speech as why the “Stars and Bars” needed to be removed from the South Carolina state capitol grounds. If you haven’t, just take a look at the CNN story that I posted here.

Ever since the Charleston, S.C. tragedy where nine African Americans lost their lives behind a sensless shooting of a young man who has a warped sense of reality, there has been a conversation about racism, the meaning of this particular flag and a near “uprising” of African American ‘leaders’ wanting something to be done.

Now I put the word “leaders” in quotes for a reason and that reason is simple: this debate has been going on for as long as many of us can remember and nothing was done then but now it seems that this is the time to do it now.

Don’t get me wrong here. It has been a far too long of a period for this symbol of hatred be flown on a public ground where taxpayers were footing the bill for the landscaping but as Rep. Horne put it, “I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday.”

She and so many others are right: it took a tragedy like this to shake this country to its core foundation to move in a direction that should have happened years and years ago.

But I do have a fundamental problem when people, especially many in the Black community, believe that their voice has been speaking out on this issue for decades.

Look that voice probably has been speaking out for years but it only got louder when something like this type of shooting happened or when a man is dragged behind a pick up or when a youth is killed on a sidewalk near his dad’s home. When these incidents don’t happen or are brought to the forefront thanks to social media, where are these same voices? Are they being heard just as loud?

Maybe they have…maybe they haven’t.

With all of that said, I just have one final question: why did it take so long for the people of South Carolina realize that this particular flag bore no honor (as it was probably intended) but defined two factions of what still exists today: racism is real.

And if took a shooting of this magnitude to shake a state’s foundation about its heritage, how long will be when other forms of racial injustice fall?

One may never know.

Hopefully it won’t take another tragedy such as what happened in Charleston, S.C. to remind us that this country has so far to go.

A belated Hanukkah celebration to my friends of the the Jewish faith, Merry Christmas to all of my Christian friends and happy holidays to everyone else out in the world.

Today, December 25, 2014 is a day that we all recognize for its importance but with so many local, regional, national and international issues going on around the world, I wanted to take a little bit of time to impart the importance of being thankful in 2014.

For many of us, we have been blessed and gifted to take care of our families in ways that were unfathomable even a year ago YET we continue to whine, cry ad complain about why this political figure, party or group has not done ‘right by us’. An old family friend once told me that if you rely on politicians to make your life better, you will be forever poor and unhappy.

I’m sure that doesn’t sound right to many but there is a profound truth in that statement. Why put all of your faith in the hands of a few elected officials that have to cater to the collective thousands called ‘constituents’?

So with that being said, I wanted to just through out what I believe, in 2014, this day should be all about….

REFLECTION: 365 days ago, what were you doing? Did you plan your year out to see if you reached goals for 2014? When I look back on my last ‘year’, a number of things got accomplished for me personally and I magnify God’s name for getting me through so many of them. Have you reflected and thanked Him for all you have accomplished this year?

GRATEFULNESS: As our fore fathers and mothers, basically the older generation, would say, “I thank God I am on top soil this morning.” There is no bigger truth than what is said there as with being able to just breathe in the air, drink our favorite hot beverage and get out there ad conquer what is in our ‘world’. Have you been grateful this past year for the ability to even ‘complain’?

BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS: Despite everything that is going on in your life, have you been a blessing to others? I ask that question because sometimes we all get caught up in our own circumstances and we forget about others who we know may need that word of encouragement, that little extra push to get over the hump, or even opening the door for them to just walk through. I know I can be a better friend to those who reach out to me but I will always strive to be there for them should that time arise.

REMEMBER THAT SPITEFULNESS IS NOT WHO WE ARE: Wishing ill will on others, wanting others to feel pain or suffering, that is not who we should be. It is not who i want to aspire to be, that’s for sure. Are there circumstances where Man’s law comes into play? Sure there is but as what is written in the Bible, we must be able to discern ourselves and distinguish what is the importance for the better good. We cannot let the actions of a few bad apples continue to overshadow the common good others continue to do each day. We cannot continue to harp on the inadequacies of a system in our society that was never perfect in the beginning. Remember, anything that man puts together is ‘flawed’; always has been…always will be. What we do is work to improve and repair the imperfections of these systems so that we can have a society that is closer to equality than what it was in the past.

This year, let’s all make it a priority to be grateful for what we have in our lives. Let’s go out and try to be that blessing to others who need it and instead of looking for harm to befall upon others, lets look to ensure that a social awareness of self worth is constantly brought about and an education on the right and wrong paths continues to come forth in those communities who are struggling.

2014 was a great year and 2015 will be an even better one if we all just remember to be “grateful” and push forth a sense of accomplishment for others to aspire to.

Happy Holidays everyone…….