Terrell Owens has always been an island of sorts. His brash personality and self-absorption routinely alienated his teammates during an NFL career that teetered between terrific and toxic, leaving him to fend for himself.

Now, at 38 and out of football, he’s lonelier than ever, and running out of money. In a GQ profile, Owens comes across as wounded, broke and desperate. When people text him to ask where he is, he replies back: “I’m in hell.”

But is it his own fault? That’s the perennial debate on T.O., who had a heartbreaking childhood but continually pointed fingers at everyone but himself once he became an adult.

In the GQ story by Nancy Hass, Owens blames the media for not giving him a chance to rehab his injury, blames agent Drew Rosenhaus for not protecting him from a bad business arrangement, and — perhaps most surprisingly — blames a former team captain for his issues with former Philadelphia teammate Donovan McNabb.

Owens earned around $80 million during his NFL career, but has found himself in deep financial trouble, despite never spending lavishly. In the February edition of GQ, Owens admits to trusting the wrong people, who in turn cost him a lot of his fortune.

“It’s not a matter of having lived too large — he was never the type to stockpile Ferraris or build himself a compound; the flashiest car he ever drove was a Mercedes, and while he indeed racked up a few homes that cost as much as $4 million, the only crib he classifies as even mildly sick by pro-ball standards was the one he bought in Atlanta to live in during the Philly off-season.

The problem, he says, is that he’s by nature too trusting, loyal to a fault, despite everyone’s carping that he’s selfish. It’s the sad old stereotypical song of the up-from-nothing black athlete: He let other people take care of things.”

Owens said financial advisers recommended by Rosenhaus lost much of his money in highly leveraged ventures, then houses and apartments he thought he could rent out in a worst case scenario became dead weight in a housing market collapse (none of the properties is particularly excessive, but total a yearly mortgage of about $750,000), and $2 million was lost in an Alabama entertainment complex investment. That venture turned out to be illegal, and also claimed former Redskins running back Clinton Portis as a victim.

“I hate myself for letting this happen,” Owens told GQ. “I believed that they had my back when they said, ‘You take care of the football, and we’ll do the rest.’ And in the end, they just basically stole from me.”

Owens has also found himself friendless, thanks to a growing sense of distrust thanks to his many unfortunate dealings.

He never had many friends — teammates never called him to party, he says, wrongly assuming that he was “too big” to socialize — and now, “I don’t have no friends. I don’t want no friends. That’s how I feel.”

And on top of that, he’s battling in court with four women to whom he pays a total of $44,600 a month in child support for his four children, ages 5 to 12.

“If there’s anything I’m sorry about, it’s getting involved with all that.” He never actually dated any of the women, he says. One was a one-night stand, the others “repeat offenders.” Owens, who has never been married, concedes he is “not a very good judge of character.” Still, he “never suspected they were the types to do what they done in the past year.”

When money became tighter, Owens had to reduce the amount he paid to each of the women, and three of them sued him. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he didn’t show up for a court date with the mother of his oldest child, Tariq. Beyond that, the relationship he’s maintained with the mothers and his children is tenuous, at best.

Now he is in court with all four women, whom he lumps together like one big bloodsucking blob. None of them are being fair, he says: “They know I’m not working; they know the deal.” Although he never established regular visitation with any of the children through the courts, he says he sees the eldest three as much as he can when their mothers allow it. So bitter is his relationship with the mother of the youngest child, a son, that he has never met the boy.

As for McNabb, Owens stands by his decision not to mend fences with the former Eagles quarterback, whom Owens characterized as “tired” following the Eagles’ 24-21 loss to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.

When given an apology written by the team’s media relations staff, Owens claims to have handed Eagles’ captain Jeremiah Trotter the mea culpa moments before he was to deliver it to reporters.

Owens tells GQ Trotter read through the statement and arrived at the portion regarding McNabb, who threw for 357 yards, but was picked off three times. Owens claims Trotter ripped off the bottom portion of the page and told Owens he didn’t owe McNabb a thing.

“This is the team leader we’re talking about,” Owens tells GQ. “He told me not to do it.”

Trotter calls Owens’ account inaccurate, telling the magazine he was the one insisting Owens apologize.

Once again, T.O. stands alone.

Owens’ career is defined as much by its theatrics than for its statistical body of work. His playing days ended last spring after his one-year, $2 million contract was not renewed by the Cincinnati, where Owens and Chad Ochocinco collectively proved to be more style than substance.

Owens has clearly moved on.

Some decisions, he admits, may have been handled differently now. But at this point of his life, he’s not willing to look back.

“To say I regret anything would be a slap to my grandmother’s face,” Owens says, referring to the woman who raised him.

He concedes his only mistake in calling McNabb out was one of timing, admitting “I might not have said or done things at exactly the right moment.”

To this day, Owens remains confident bordering on cocksure, convinced — even with a medically repaired ACL — that he is capable of the jaw-dropping playmaking ability of his youth. It’s not his talent that keeps teams from calling, he insists, but instead a reputation cast onto him by the reporters he often held hostage.

“I think people change, but the media, they never allowed me to change,” Owens says. “They never allowed me to be a better person.”

Described in the GQ piece as a “caged cat” living in a spacious 1,800-square foot Los Angeles apartment, Owens remains on an island. He claims to be broke despite making at least $80 million during his playing days.

He says he’s never been diagnosed as clinically depressed but he’s been “real down.”

“I don’t have no friends — I don’t want no friends,” Owens says. “That’s how I feel.”

 

source

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The Miami Heat star toured the Premier League club’s facilities for the first time since becoming a shareholder of the 18-time English champions. James held up the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in 2005 and posted a picture on Twitter of a red No. 6 jersey with his name on it.

The two-time MVP will sit in the directors’ box at Anfield Stadium for Saturday’s Premier League match against Liverpool rival Manchester United.

“Jersey ready for the big match 2morrow,” James tweeted.

Liverpool’s official website said James held up the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in Istanbul, Turkey, and was told about the team’s rally from 3-0 down at halftime to beat AC Milan on penalties.

“That is an amazing trophy! Can I hold it up?” James said.

James brought the club store “to a standstill,” the website said, after spending 20 minutes shopping for scarves and clothes for his two young sons back home.

The superstar caused laughter among the fans by attempting to ‘shoot’ a small LFC soccer ball into a basket 10 yards away. He missed.

James will not be joined at the match by Liverpool’s principal owner John Henry, who is dealing with the Boston Red Sox’ failure to make the playoffs.

In April, James obtained a small stake in Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool and the Red Sox.
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A high school basketball star was shot dead inside a Manhattan housing project Sunday in a slaying her family believes was a tragic case of mistaken identity.

Tayshana (Chicken) Murphy, 18, one of the top-rated basketball players in the country, was killed in Harlem’s Grant Houses around 4:10 a.m., police said.

She was trying to outrun a gunman in the fourth-floor hallway of her building, witnesses said.

“She was pleading for her life,” said friend Teka Taylor, 22. “She was saying, ‘No, please, I don’t have nothing to do with it.’”

Murphy had just started her senior year at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers. Several colleges were actively recruiting her.

“She said, ‘Mom, I’m going to get you out of the projects,’ ” said Murphy’s mother, Tephanie Holston, whose shirt was stained with blood after she tried to save her daughter before emergency workers arrived. “She loved basketball, she lived and breathed basketball,” Holston said.

Witnesses believe Murphy, who was partying with friends from the project and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, was mistaken for a boy from the group who had fought with young men from a nearby housing project.

She died at the scene after being chased into the building by her shooter.

Murphy’s mother kissed the body bag as it was loaded into a medical examiner van.

“No, no, no. I can’t believe this,” Murphy’s sister howled as she banged on the van with both her hands.
Murphy had a brush with violence last year, when she left Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School under threat of suspension after an altercation with a 15-year-old girl.

She transferred to St. Michael’s Academy in Manhattan, then started at Murry Bergtraum last September after St. Michael’s shut down.

Murphy was ecstatic to be returning to the court this fall after being sidelined last year with a knee injury. “She wanted in the worst way to play,” said Ed Grezinsky, her coach at Bergtraum. “She definitely would have been the leader of the team.”

She never lost sight of her dream of becoming a WNBA star. “That’s my goal,” she told the Daily News last year. “I want to be great.”

Police are investigating the killing. No arrests have been made.

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Tom Brady – There are only a handful of things that get you automatic inclusion in this list, and it’s now been expanded to include, “pass for 500 yards.” Brady was incredible in this game. His 517 passing yards rank fifth in all-time in NFL history for a single game, and also set franchise and Monday Night Football marks. He didn’t suffer an incompletion until the second quarter, ran a masterful no-huddle offense for a good portion of the game, completed passes to eight different receivers, and passes of 99, 46, 30, 24 and 23 yards to five different guys. At 34, he still keeps raising the bar.

Wes Welker – Breaking loose for a 99-yard touchdown reception helps, but that alone may not be enough in a game where so many players played at a high level. Welker finished with eight catches for 160 yards, but did let a possible touchdown fall through his hands in the second quarter.

Aaron Hernandez – Hernandez is emerging as one of Brady’s favorite targets. He had seven catches for 103 yards, including a 30-yarder that set up his own touchdown on the next play, and a highlight reel grab over Nolan Carroll in the fourth quarter.

In the doghouse

Chad Ochocinco – It’s clear there is still a lot to be done here. He struggled to find snaps as the Patriots went to their no-huddle offense, providing a clear indication he isn’t up to speed yet, and when he was on the field, he didn’t make an impact. The only impression he left was when he was whistled for lining up in an illegal formation in the first half.

Julian Edelman – Did well in the return game with five punt returns for 49 yards and two kickoffs for 65 yards, but caught a punt at the 1-yard line and attempted to bring it out. Certainly, the coaches will be in his ear for that gaffe.

Devin McCourty – He had a couple big plays, but was generally abused by Miami receiver Brandon Marshall. On the other hand, he was able to cover him one-on-one, which was an important aspect of the Patriots’ game plan on defense. In a game like this, where not a lot went wrong, McCourty falls victim to nitpicking

story from MassLive.com

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Assuming that this success is driven by genes rather than environment, there is a rather obvious inference to make – black people are naturally better sprinters than white people. Indeed, it is an inference that seems obligatory, barring considerations of political correctness.
Logically flawed

But here’s the thing. This inference is not merely false – it is logically flawed. And it has big implications not merely for athletics, but for the entire issue of race relations in the 21st Century.

To see how, let us examine success not in the sprints but in distance running, for this is also dominated by black athletes. Kenya has won an astonishing 63 medals at the Olympic Games in races of 800m and above, 21 of them gold, since 1968. Little wonder that one commentator once described distance running as “a Kenyan monopoly”.

But it turns out that it is not Kenya as a whole that usually wins these medals, but individuals from a tiny region in the Rift Valley called Nandi. As one writer put it: “Most of Kenya’s runners call Nandi home.”
Florence Griffith Joyner Florence Griffith-Joyner was hugely successful – but generalisations tell us little

Seen in this context, the notion that black people are naturally superior distance runners seems bizarre. Far from being a “black” phenomenon, or even a Kenyan phenomenon, distance running is actually a Nandi phenomenon. Or, to put it another way, “black” distance running success is focused on the tiniest of pinpricks on the map of Africa, with the vast majority of the continent underrepresented.

The same analysis applies to the sprints, where success is focused on Jamaicans and African-Americans. Africa, as a continent, has almost no success at all. Not even West Africans win much.

The combined forces of Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger, Benin, Mali, the Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Congo and Angola have not won a single sprinting medal at the Olympics or World Championships.

The fallacy, then, is simple. Just because some black people are good at something does not imply that black people in general will be good at it.

Labelled box

Imagine a similar argument using the Central African Bambuti, a black tribe more commonly known as Pygmies. With an average height of 4ft we could assert that the Bambuti are naturally better at walking under low doors. Would it be legitimate to extrapolate that black people in general have a natural advantage at walking under low doors?

Our tendency to generalise rests on a deeper fallacy – the idea that “black” refers to a genetic type. We put people of dark skin in a box labelled black and assume that a trait shared by some is shared by all.

The truth is rather different. There is far more genetic variation within racial groups (around 85%) than there is between racial groups (just 15%). Indeed, surface appearance is often a highly misleading way of assessing the genetic distance between populations.

This evidence demonstrates how absurd it is to engage in racial generalisations – how crazy it is to witness a tiny group of black people winning at, say, the 10,000m and to infer that all people who share the same skin colour share an aptitude for 10,000m running.

But our subconscious assumptions about race have more than merely sporting implications.

Consider an experiment in 2003 by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan, two American economists. They drafted 5,000 CVs and placed archetypal “black” names such as Tyrone or Latoya on half of them and “white” names such as Brendan or Alison on the other half. They then divided the white CVs into high and low quality and did the same with the black CVs.

A few weeks later the offers came rolling in from employers, and guess what? The “black” candidates were 50% less likely to be invited to interview. Employers were using skin colour as a marker for employment potential, despite the fact that the candidates’ CVs were identical.

But that’s not all. The researchers also found that although high-quality “white” candidates were preferred to low-quality “white” candidates, the relative quality of “black” CVs made no difference whatsoever.

It was as if employers saw three categories – high-quality white, low-quality white and black candidates. To put it another way, the subliminal assumption that causes us to think that black people are all the same has powerful real-world consequences.

For many economists, this assumption, which gets under the radar of our conscious thought, explains why black people still lag behind white people in economic development more than four decades after the introduction of race-relations legislation.

Recognising that we have these biases is a good place to start in trying to combat them. And a good way of tracking progress is to watch a 100m final and see whether we fall into the trap, when seeing eight contestants with black skin, of inferring that black people are naturally better sprinters.

Matthew Syed is the author of Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice

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with his baby mama, Alexis. Why is this news you ask? Well I’m curious because Ciara recently confirmed that she and Stoudemire

were a couple when they were photographed leaving the Met Gala’s after party at the Standard Ho
http://hellobeautiful.com/gossip-news/sweet-sweetback/amare-stoudemire-baby-mama-alexis/tel’s Boom Boom Room in May.

Interesting…But you know how it goes, the baby mama will always be in the picture.

Is it me or does Alexis look like Keri Hilson?

Amar’e was also linked to everyone’s favorite groupie Amber Rose.

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Smiling Despite a Scandal
The makeover proved to be a learning experience for Semenya, 18, who admits she doesn’t know how to put on makeup. The photo shoots also gave her the rare opportunity to get dressed up, something a girl who’s in school and race training doesn’t get the chance to do very often. Says Semenya, “I didn’t do this to prove a point but rather to have fun. I don’t give a damn what people say about me. I like me the way I am, and who cares what other people say?”

Regardless of the controversy, South Africa has embraced its daughter since she took gold in the 800-meter race at the World Championships in Germany last month, She even met with Nelson Mandela, who praised her.

Semenya may suffer from a rare chromosomal disorder that causes her body to produce too much testosterone. This isn’t the first time an athlete’s gender has been questioned or a genetic condition has wreaked havoc on qualifying tests. Whether or not that extra dose of testosterone gives her an edge over her competitors will have to be decided.

The results of the medical test will not be made public, since they warrant patient confidentiality. Regardless of what the results say, there’s at least one teenage girl out there who likes herself just the way she is — and we love that.

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The jilted wife:Steve McNair married Mechelle Cartwright in Vicksburg, Miss., on June 21, 1997.

Man , I am feeling worse for Steve McNair’s poor wife than I do for him right now. What is it with these men who follow every predictable route that a woman assumes a man will take and end up cheating with a woman who is 16 years younger than him? Forget about the fact that this girl Sahel Kazemi is not black, to be honest I am shocked that Steve McNair’s wife is even black because a black athlete marrying an actual black woman is almost unheard of, no joke…it’s the CHEATING and planning to marry another woman half your age, going on exotic vacations with the 20 year old waitress you met from Dave & Busters while your wife and 4 kids are at home with no clue is what’s real shady. Now it’s looking like this is a murder suicide possibly by the hands of Kazemi?

Sahel Kazemi, 20, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with the former NFL quarterback on July 4.

This is a clear lesson in why you should keep your house in order at all times, and if you want to dump your loyal wife of 12 years for a 20 year old waitress, then be honest and tell the woman, and not let her find out in the newspapers. I still feel bad that the guy is dead, no one deserves to die, especially for cheating..but just imagine..Steve McNair would be alive today if he wasn’t cheating on his wife and kids. Oh well…here’s the story:

 

The wife of slain quarterback Steve McNair may have only learned about the gridiron star’s affair with a gorgeous young woman after the clandestine couple’s grisly deaths, sources close to the football player said Sunday.

“She’s blindsided by this,” one source said of Mechelle McNair, who was holed up in her family’s home just 6 miles from the condo her husband used to bed his mistress. “She’s crushed. Her whole world is shattered.”

Nashville cops confirmed that Steve McNair, 36, was killed by four bullets fired at close range, two of which hit him in the head, and ruled his death a homicide.

His lover, Sahel Kazemi, 20, died of a single gunshot from the same semiautomatic found on the floor under her body, police also said.

They stopped short of calling the slayings a murder-suicide carried out by Kazemi, but said they are not looking for any suspects.

Cops ruled McNair’s death a homicide and have not ruled on Kazemi’s death, citing the need for more tests.

Kazemi and McNair, a dad of four boys, were dating for several months, friends told cops; McNair apparently kept the affair a secret from his wife.

Photos obtained by TMZ.com show a smiling McNair parasailing on a recent tropical vacation with the curvy Kazemi, whom he met as she waitressed at a Dave & Buster’s sports bar.

“He started to talk to her a little,” Kazemi’s aunt Sepideh Salmani told The Tennessean newspaper. “They exchanged phone numbers, and started dating from there.”

Salmani said her beautiful, raven-haired niece believed that McNair was in the process of getting a divorce.

Kazemi’s sister told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville that Kazemi had expected to wed McNair.

“She said they were planning to get married,” Soheyla Kazemi told the paper.”

County records do not indicate that a divorce is pending, but the McNair family home is up for sale for $3 million.

Investigators said McNair had been drinking at a pair of Nashville bars – Blue Moon Lagoon Bar and Loser’s Bar – into the early-morning hours of Saturday and then returned to the downtown condo he shared with a pal.

Although neighbors have not reported hearing gunshots, cops believe McNair and Kazemi died about 2 a.m., nearly 12 hours before their bodies were found.

There was no sign of forced entry at the condo, and investigators are checking whether the couple had been having a “lovers’ quarrel,” cops said.

It was not immediately known whom the pistol belonged to, although McNair did have a permit to carry a gun, police said.

Kazemi, who was raised by an aunt in Florida after her parents were killed in Iran, moved to Nashville with her ex-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet.

Norfleet, whom investigators want to interview, had a “volatile” relationship with Kazemi but was trying to win her back from McNair, Norfleet’s stepmother said.

“They had a lot of jealousy in their relationship and they’d fight and break up a lot,” said Trudie Norfleet. “He loved her. … He’s awful torn up about it.”

The quarterback, renowned in Nashville for his extensive work in the community, rented the condo overlooking the Titans stadium with sporting goods dealer Wayne Neeley, who called McNair’s best friend after seeing the bodies sprawled on a couch.

“It’s a picture I’ll never get out of my head,” a weeping Robert Gaddy told the Daily News. “It’s the most terrible sight I’ve ever seen.”

“This was a great man, a man who’d do anything for you,” said Gaddy, who had been friends with the Heisman finalist since meeting him at Alcorn State University.

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Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick leaves the Norfolk Federal Courthouse in Norfolk, Va., after a bankruptcy hearing. Vick arrived at the Norfolk courthouse Tuesday with his fiancee, Kijafa Frink, for a hearing on his efforts to draft a new bankruptcy plan. Vick is living under home confinement in nearby Hampton.

Vick is under home confinement for the last two months of his sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He’s scheduled to be released from federal custody July 20.

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Jones left a halfway house in San Antonio around 8 a.m., said LaTanya Robinson, a community corrections manager for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Jones, who has a house in Austin, will remain on probation.

Jones’ attorney did not immediately respond to a call or e-mail from The Associated Press requesting comment.

The sprinter admitted last October that she used a designer steroid known as “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001. The drug was linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab that became the center of a steroids scandal that touched numerous professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds.

Her admission of drug use in 2007 came after years of denials.

In 2004, she sued the founder of BALCO for defamation after he said she used steroids. The lawsuit was settled the following year, long before she told the truth in a federal courtroom.

Jones gave back the three gold medals and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney before the International Olympic Committee officially wiped her name from the record books in December.

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