NBA Names Finals MVP Award for Bill Russell

Good.

AP: NBA names finals MVP award after Bill Russell

Wear No. 42 For Jackie Robinson (Updated, below)

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Willie Randolph said he once borrowed a biography on Robinson from a library and “I saw how one life can make such a tremendous impact.”
I wonder what Jackie Robinson would have thought of seeing America in 2007, 60 years after he broke the color barrier in baseball, debating whether it was OK for a white man to call a team of female, mostly black athletes "nappy-headed hos"? I bet he rolled over in his grave.

I want one of the No. 42 shirts.

NYTimes: A Gesture of Respect Grows Into a Movement

By BILL PENNINGTON
Published: April 13, 2007

Sixty years after Jackie Robinson shook the baseball establishment and broke the sport’s color barrier, an unforeseen grassroots movement by today’s players has suddenly shaped the way Major League Baseball will commemorate the anniversary. Hundreds of players will wear Robinson’s No. 42 retired by baseball 10 years ago in ballparks across the country on Sunday, the anniversary of Robinson’s first appearance with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

While the tribute has received baseball’s approval, it grew spontaneously from a request by the Cincinnati Reds’ Ken Griffey Jr., who asked earlier this month if he could wear the number on April 15. What has evolved since is surprisingly organic for a group of famous, feted athletes with multimillion-dollar contracts.

As word of Griffey’s gesture spread, small groups of players decided to also wear 42 that day. Soon, there was a representative from every team. The Los Angeles Dodgers then decided to have their entire roster wear 42.

Now, there are six major league teams that plan to have everyone in uniform wearing No. 42 — players, coaches, manager and bat boys. Those teams are the Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros.

And the number of jerseys having a new 42 sewn onto the back remains fluid, but seems to be increasing by the day.

Jackie Robinson and his son David being interviewed at the "March on Washington"
August 28, 1963
From the National Archives

Update: Did you know that Bill Russell was a pallbearer at Jackie Robinson's funeral? And that he was Jackie Robinson's favorite athlete? Robinson was a revolutionary.

Tributes to DJ

Apparently Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy, who made their reputations covering the 1980s Celtics, couldn't be bothered. No respect.

Things I learned (or had forgotten) about DJ: Red traded him for Rick Robey. (Which means we Celtics fans lost the great thrill of hearing Bob Cousy announce, 'Wick Wobey with the webound!' We still had Wobewt Pawwish with the webound, though.) He had those Groucho Marx eyebrows. When he wasn't running, he walked like an old man. His arms were freakishly long. He was a cut up. His coaching career was curtailed after he was charged with assaulting his wife in 1997. He, his wife, and their three kids first names all started with 'D'. (Dennis, Donna, Dwayne, Daniel and Denise.) He wasn't recruited by any college, and spent the year after high school driving a forklift. His first professional basketball coach was Bill Russell in Seattle.

Jackie MacMullan, Boston Globe: He always rose to the occasion

ESPN, Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, Page 2: DJ should have made Springfield while still alive

East Valley (AZ) Tribune: Ex-Sun Dennis Johnson dies

Seattle Times: Biography | All about D.J. Bio

NYTimes: Dennis Johnson, 52, N.B.A. Defensive Wizard, Dies

Seattle Times: Goodbye, D.J., a favorite when Sonics were champs

Hartford Courant: Career Was No Layup
Dennis Johnson Dies; Bird's `Best' Teammate

LATimes: Dennis Johnson, 52; former NBA star played on 3 championship teams

SI.com: One cool customer
D.J.'s toughness, gamesmanship made him special

Metrowest News: Lenny Megliola: Farewell to a true C's great

SouthCoastToday.com: Celtics lose another great
D.J., coaching in NBDL, collapses after practice, dies at age 52

CapeCodTimes: Remembering DJ

Georgia State Senator Blocks Bill That Would Free Genarlow Wilson

For extra credit, readers, guess the race of GOP Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson (R-District 1). He is the politician who blocked consideration of the bill which would free Genarlow Wilson and hundreds of others convicted of statutory rape and given mandatory 10-year sentences for consensual sex. Answer (& picture) below.

Karen Russell, HuffPo: GOP Rep. Blocks Bill To Free Genarlow Wilson

Yesterday GOP lawmaker Eric Johnson wrote an op-ed criticizing the bill after he originally supported the bill:

Usually, society complains about sentences that are perceived as too soft. Granted, this sentence was harsh. But it was MANDATORY under the law. Life comes with accountability for our decisions. Genarlow Wilson could have selected different friends to hang with. He could have joined millions of law-abiding teens all over the country enjoying New Years' Eve without alcohol, drugs and sex. He could have left the hotel when "the fun" started. He didn't. He made a choice. Now his life has changed forever. That is sad. I hope other young men and girls will learn from this tragedy and avoid his errors.

Johnson admits the sentence his harsh and tragic, yet he remains willing to throw this young man's life away. As Johnson himself says, "life comes with accountability for our decisions". I say we hold Johnson accountable for his decision to continue this injustice. The Georgia legislature and its flip-flopping leader Johnson must be held accountable for this tragedy. The bill should be placed back on the agenda and Georgians should have the chance to correct this gross miscarriage of justice.

NYTimes: Bill to Aid Georgian Convicted of Sex Crime Stalls in Assembly

ATLANTA, Feb. 19 — The second piece of legislation introduced with the intent of helping Genarlow Wilson, a former honor student and star athlete who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old classmate, may be in trouble in the Georgia General Assembly.

Senator Emanuel D. Jones, a Democrat, sponsored the legislation, which would make it possible for judges to reconsider the cases of hundreds of young adults, including Mr. Wilson, who are serving long mandatory minimum sentences in prison for having consensual sex with teenage minors. Mr. Jones said the bill was mysteriously left off the agenda of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

And on Monday, the Senate’s leader, Eric Johnson, publicly denounced the bill and said that although Mr. Wilson, now 20, was serving a harsh sentence, he deserved no leniency.

Genarlow Wilson Online Petition



Question Answer: Georgia State Senate Leadership

Unsurprisingly, he's white.

Senate Throws Civil Liberties Under the Bus

Today's WaPo:
Patriot Act Compromise Clears Way for Senate Vote

Several liberals condemned the bill. "I am gravely disappointed in this so-called deal," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.). "The White House agreed to only a few minor changes" that "do not address the major problems," he said, adding: "We've come too far and fought too hard to agree to reauthorize the Patriot Act without fixing those problems."

I'm with Suburban Guerrilla on this one:

Kiss Your Civil Liberties Goodbye

The Senate sold us out on the PATRIOT Act yesterday. Let’s see what the House does.