Tiger Woods alienates black community with white lovers? Garbage!

The Associated Press' material can be a howler at times. The latest funny was this title: "Tiger Woods alienates black community with white lovers" which was conceived and written by a writer at the AP who presents his take on what the "Black Community" is and who represents it by turning to the old mainstream media standard, the legendary Tom Joyner.

Now, I love Tom Joyner, so it's not his fault; I'm aiming at the AP's 39-year-old Jesse Washington, who, while African American, has no idea what the "Black Community" is.

Jesse Washington

In a time when interracial dating is common, and black women with white men in commercials are more common than the opposite, its downright silly to complain about Tiger Woods' choice of female companions, blonde, brunette, or polka-dot, Rachel Uchitel, Jaimie Grubbs, Jamie Jungers, Kamile Moquin, Cori Rist, or Mindy Lawton.

Besides, why would any woman regardless of color want to be compared with or take the place of the alleged mistresses Tiger Woods has been linked to, given the PR backfire that can ensue?

Jesse Washington's AP-blasted take is a reflection of a certain part of Black America
that no longer represents the sum total of Black America: those who racially segregate themselves and hate any image of racial mixing for fear that it may result in the devaluation of their blackness.

Washington (who's background includes work in Detroit and New York City) reflects a part of the East Coast's Black Community that's far more hardened against and critical of interracial dating than on the West Coast, in San Francisco or Los Angeles or Oakland. I'm black and I'm certainly not the kind of person Washington implies "we" are. Moreover, many African Americans are not like that at all and root for Tiger Woods to overcome his problems.

What's interesting is Jesse Washington cherry-picked his sources to make the article he advanced. For example, he went to Tom Joyner as a source rather than The Root, the Washington Post-backed black blog site where Terence Samuel's blog post on Tiger Woods mentioned nothing about race.

And the study Washington references refers to adolescent interracial romance and not the adult American population. Washington should know that two studies referenced in the USA Today explain that interracial dating is so common in the Millenial Generation that the new generation "doesn't blink at interracial relationships."

And on a personal note, my mother and her friends and family, all black, still root for Tiger Woods. My African American friends who send emails and texts all want Tiger to succeed. So this idea Jesse Washington is advancing - that Tiger Woods' is in some way "alienated" from the black community - is just pure garbage with all due respect to Mr. Washington, who's overall work I enjoy.

I just disagree with my brother.

Tiger Woods 4th mistress - Media loses count of alleged affairs

Ok Tiger Woods 4th mistress is a headline, even as we have alleged mistresses number 5 and 6, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

What's going on?

What's going on is at this point the media's not paying attention to details. Read my previous blog post for the right update on all of this.

But if you're keeping score, here's the list of alleged affairs: Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton Tiger Woods alleged 5th and 6th affairs

Ok, within two days we've seen three more women surface claiming to have had affairs with Tiger Woods, and so many new names the media's losing count: Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Jamie Jungers was alleged mistress number four, but what happened was that an Orlando lawyer named Michael O'Quinn surfaced reporting that he represented the 4th mistress. But that was questionable because Jamie Jungers lives in Las Vegas and gave her story to a British tabloid. So that pointed to a 5th woman and possibly a 6th woman.

Now we have both and it means that my video presenting the first three will have to be revised, but here it is if you need a "who's who" background:



Again, that was Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin.

Now and again we have Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Jamie Jungers

So lets put them all in a row: Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, Jamie Jungers, Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton.

Of these, Rachel Uchitel and Jamie Grubbs are confirmed. Kalika Moquin's not talking. Jamie Jungers story seems shaky to me. Cori Rist and Mindy Lawton are new, but Mindy Lawton's the one backed by Orlando lawyer Michael O'Quinn, even though her really detailed story is described in a British publication Mail Online.

The New York Daily News has Cori Rist as reportedly an NY Upper East Side 31-year-old Manhattan "nightclub goer" (which can't be her profession) who claims to have met Woods at a nightclubs called "Butter" and then he flew her to tournaments.

Now we're into Silly Season.

So why is Cori Rist in our midst if her story is of a shaky trist? Because some unnamed source blabbed to the NY Daily News. But geez, is that all it takes to get on Tiger Woods "alleged affairs" list? That's ridiculous.

Cori Rist is not talking and the NY Daily News could be fishing for attention (ok, they got it) so scratch Cori Rist from your list for now.

We've got to start calling out this crap when it happens rather than getting caught up in the numbers. Society has no shortage of low-lifes who will spread bad lies about a person just to do it and because they don't feel good about themselves. The Tiger Woods issue is fertile ground for this.

The NY Daily News should have really fleshed out that story before going public with it.

By contrast, the Mindy Lawton story in the Mail Online is more fleshed out. It's a story of Mindy Lawton, the "$8-an-hour-waitress" who had an alleged affair with Tiger Woods that was reportedly chronicled as far back as 2006 then reportedly kept out of the media for years until a tabloid sting in 2007 came close to outing Tiger's affair.

The Mail Online's article, written by Sharon Churcher and Caroline Graham, starts like this:

Perhaps he didn't notice the SUV parked across the road. If he did, he wasn't troubled by its blacked-out windows or any nagging hint of familiarity about its presence.


In fact, if Tiger Woods thought so much as twice about what he was doing, then Mindy Lawton had no inkling of it as they enjoyed a secret assignation in Tiger's Cadillac Escalade 4x4 in a church car park soon after daybreak during a Florida spring.


But every move of that alfresco encounter was recorded by a surveillance team of reporters and photographers from one of America's biggest-selling tabloid magazines. It was a scoop - the first example of what we now know to be a pattern of infidelity on Tiger's part.

Yikes.

The Mail Online explains all of this reportedly happened right in Orlando in Tiger Woods backyard as Lawton worked at Perkins, a dinner near the Windermere home of Tiger and his wife Elin Nordegren reportedly ate. And then when his management company got wind of a tabloid sting then reportedly (that word again) when into overdrive and made a deal to kill the story.

The source for that view is Neal Boulton, who was an editor with Men's Fitness at the time. Men's Fitness is the magazine that Tiger Woods reportedly agreed to be in as an exchange for the National Enquirer which was going to run with the story. Both the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness are owned by American Media Inc.

But Gawker reports that American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker is calling Neal Boulton a "disgruntled former employee" and the Gawker author who revealed this, Hamilton Nolan, wrote that Boulton once stiffed him for a freelance article he wrote for Boulton, so he's biased against Boulton.

Geez.

It's the financial agendas and personal issues like that one which color the Tiger Woods story and will continue to do so in the future.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Adams Point Action Council Party December 8th

The Oakland Adams Point Action Council, a group of neighbors that live in the Adams Point area next to Lake Merritt, is having its Holiday Party Tuesday, December 8th at 7 PM the Bellevue Club 525 Bellevue Avenue.

They're asking you to bring cookies and other "nibbles" to share, but come-on. It's a holiday party, so someone bring spiked egg nog and grilled chicken. There's a Kentucky Fried Chicken nearby on Lake Park, right next to the Grand Lake Theater, for goodness sakes!

Tim Tebow crying after Florida loss; give Heisman to Toby Gerhart

Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow is without a doubt one of the best quarterbacks in college football in the 21st Century. Before the SEC Championship pitting undefeated and number one-ranked Florida against undefeated and number two-ranked Alabama, Tebow was a virtual lock for the Heisman Trophy.

Tim Tebow

But I don't think that's going to happen because Florida lost 32 to 13 and Tebow cried. That's right, he cried.

I can understand being upset over losing, especially after throwing a costly interception. But I would think a religious leader like Tebow would cry more for those less fortunate than he, rather than a football game that will not take much out of his future endorsement checks or NFL contract.

The Heisman Trophy is given to the best college football player in America. The trophy itself is designed to encourage the energy and drive of a leader: the runner side steps one tackler and stiff-arms another. A person who does that on the football field doesn't have time to cry.

I'm not saying there's something wrong with crying or that one's not a man to cry. Hey. I cry. But crying over a football game rather than just going out there and fessing up to the loss and shaking the hand of every Alabama player (which he did try to do in fairness) with a smile? No.



In my book Tim Tebow has to prove he can stare down an opponent and will a win all over again, just as those of us at Football Reporters thought he could do before the SEC Championship Game. And just as it seems Stanford's great player Running Back Toby Gerhart can do.



When I think or this Stanford Cardinal, I think of Jim Brown. Few have Gerhart's ability to gain yards as he glides through a defense, or outrun defenders with just a thought. Gerhart is fun to watch and epitomizes what the game's all about: great plays by a great student-athlete who gets it done with little fanfare.

I can see Toby Gerhart crying when its appropriate to do so, but not after a loosing a football game.

Geez.

Ok, here's my poll on Tim Tebow's crying.

make a free poll on pollsb.com

Cal v. Washington - Cal reverts to old ways; Huskies hammer Bears

I'm not going to write a long blog post right now, even though I'm angry enough to chew nails or at least chew-out Cal's offensive and defensive coordinators Andy Ludwig and Bob Gregory respectively. Cal's 42 to 10 loss to Washington was avoidable.

For those of you reading my take for the first time, I'm a Cal Alum. For those of you returning to read my text, Bear or Husky, strap yourself in for a ride. I'm pissed.

OK, some of you, like tenplay's wife over at the BearInsider Forum, may be happy Cal lost because as he wrote:

She wants to go to SD, LV or SF instead. She wants to go to a fun place with shopping, good food and entertainment for the holidays. I wonder if anyone else has a partner who is wishing the same result. I can see her point since she is a very luke-warm fb fan.

But I'm not lukewarm. Cal had two weeks to prepare for Washington and an entire season to get rid of the habit of forcing the ball downfield rather than engineering a precision short passing attack and on defense learn to blitz aggressively and frequently.

But no; that didn't happen. Talk about a Thanksgiving turkey of a game plan.

And it leads to the same old song on offense: sacks. Five sacks courtesy of Washington Saturday night. I'm sure Ludwig is concerned with Cal QB Kevin Riley's health, so he should prove it by designing a game plan that doesn't leave Riley as a sitting duck in the pass pocket.

What's that?  The Ducks are going to the Rose Bowl?  Very funny. 

How many times do I and other Cal Alumns have to repeat this song? It's old now. We're tired of it! Tired of seeing Cal not consistently make the adjustments we ask for. And totally exhausted from seeing our defense riddled and picked apart because we gave passers like the Huskies' Jake Locker time to fake handoffs to running backs and throw.

I'd love a chalk talk with Coach Gregory to learn why he tries to insert a percentage defensive strategy in places where its more appropriate to take away one aspect of what an offense does? I'd also like to know why it seems the Golden Bears are reluctant to alter their game plan when a contest calls for it. There's an old saying in coaching: the "sudden change" is ours.

But what Coach Gregory must understand is it's the job of the defense to cause the "sudden change" - the turnover that changes the direction of the ball game. You can't hope that happens; you have to make it happen and that is where aggressive defense is important.

Ok. I'm done. For now.

Emerald Bowl in San Francisco? From what I understand, that's Stanford's slot now because USC lost to Arizona. And the Sun Bowl looks like it belongs to Oregon State.  Just where we're going is anyone's guess. 

But what hurts is Cal lost a chance to be in a three-way tie with Oregon State and Stanford behind Oregon. Now we're down there....with USC.

Even when USC's at their worst Cal just can't seem to over take them. Or for that matter beat them, or defeat a team, the Huskies, guided by the Trojans' former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

Geez.

Cal v. Washington an important game for the bowl picture

What's the difference between 9 and 3 and 8 and 4? Plenty in the college football bowl hunt. Cal takes its 8 win 3 loss, two game win streak into Washington to play the Huskies tonight. The difference being a trip to the Sun Bowl in El Paso or the Holiday Bowl in San Diego at 9 and 3 and the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco at 8 and 4.

While many Cal Alumns want the prize that went to Oregon, The Rose Bowl, many would be happy with the Sun Bowl simply because some have expressed a desire for a bowl other than the Holiday or the Emerald. But Cal's got to beat Washington before we can have that conversation.

After a promising start, Washington's at 4 and 7, with all four of its losses coming at home. The key will be Cal's defense versus Washington's passing offense, which rides on the arm of Tyrone Willingham-recruit Jake Locker, who's thrown for 2,552 yards and 18 touchdowns this season.

Cal's QB Kevin Riley goes into this contest with a 133.49 passer rating, 2,421 yards and 16 touchdowns. Big Game hero Running Back Shane Vereen (three touchdowns) has 738 yards rushing on 147 carries and 10 touchdowns.

Given that Cal's had two weeks to prepare for Washington, the Golden Bears should be looking at a 9 and 3 win come late Saturday night. Then we can look at the bowl picture. As of this writing, USC is tied with Arizona at 14-all in the 3rd quarter. If USC looses, bring it to 8 and 4, it may fumble that automatic Holiday Bowl invitation.

On second thought, San Diego's not so bad after all.

GO BEARS!