Happy Birthday: Florence Griffith-Joyner (1959-1998)

My favorite female athlete of all times is Florence Griffith-Joyner ... or Flo-Jo. Flo-Jo was born in Los Angeles on this date in 1959.

She was a dominant track star in the 1980s. In fact, the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul Korea is forever imprinted in my mind as the Games of Flo-Jo. In the 1988 Seoul Games, she won gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and in the 400-meter relay. For these accomplishments, she received the Jesse Owens Award, given to the year's top track and field athlete, and the Sullivan Award, given to the year's most outstanding amateur athlete.

Only us villagers from a certain generation can remember her flashy one-legged uniforms as well as her long and extravagantly painted fingernails. Check out this video to gain an appreciation of this powerful female athlete:



Flo-Jo retired from track in 1989 to devote more time to endorsement activities, modeling, writing, and coaching her husband. President Bill Clinton appointed Griffith-Joyner co-chairperson of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 1993.

Some, like Marion Jones, tried to emulate her without success. Florence Griffith-Joyner died of an apparent heart seizure in 1998.

Do you remember Flo-Jo? What female athlete do you think can challenge her as the greatest of all times?

Wordless Wednesday: Things Tim Howard Could Save

Happy Birthday: Chris Henry (Cincinnati Bengals)

Chris Henry would have been 31 years old today. From all accounts he was turning his life around. Unfortunately, he died in a freak accident during the 2009 NFL season.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Chris Henry played for the Bengals for five seasons. Henry played at West Virginia University and joined the Bengals as a third-round draft pick in 2005.

I'm a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals. As such, I had high hopes for Chris Henry. I'm sad that he is no longer with us. However, I suspect that his story is a cautionary tale for all young athletes ... Never take your talent for granted. Never feel that you are above the law. Mostly, I think that he reminds all of us never to do things that will embarrass ourselves or our family.

All that being said ... I'm sorry that he passed away. Our blog is honored to remember the positive aspects of him memory on his birthday. Rest in peace Chris!

Wordless Wednesday: Muhammad Ali, The Greatest of All Times

Our Nation's All-Star

They are playing the 2014 NBA All-Star game later today in New Orleans. We'll watch Kevin Durant, LeBron James and the rest of the NBA crew. However, our nation's true all-star is Barack Obama. My hope is that Barack Obama will be throw down a slam dunk on foreign policy, economic policy and so forth this year!

Happy Birthday: Bill Russell, 80 Years Old Today

I truly dislike the Boston Celtics! I would rather root for any other sports team in the history of the world. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I grew up in an era when the Los Angeles Lakers were consistently bitch-slapped by the Celtics. All I could do was truly dislike everything about the Celtics.

I am now a grown-azzed man, but, I still truly dislike the Boston Celtics. One thing changed over the past few years. I have come to respect the engine of their legacy ... Bill Russell.

His college basketball team won 55 straight games, including NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. He was on gold-medal winning basketball team at the 1956 Olympics. His NBA team won 11 NBA championships, including eight consecutive from 1959 to 1966. He was a five-time league MVP (1958, 1961-63, 1965), 12-time All-Star Game participant (MVP in 1963), Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1968 and The Sporting News Athlete of the Decade in 1970. He averaged 15.1 ppg and 22.5 rpg for his career.

In 1967, the Celtics made Russell the first Black NBA head coach. Russell led Boston to the 1968 and 1969 NBA titles.

After awhile it becomes counterproductive to playa-hate on a brother that is as good as Bill Russell. It is for that reason that I pay homage to him today. I still truly dislike the Boston Celtics ... but, I got much-respect for Bill Russell.

Happy Birthday Mr. Russell!

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Happy Birthday: Hank Aaron, Greatest Baseball Player of All Time

My favorite team growing up in southern California was the Los Angeles Dodgers. As such, I have a vivid memory of Hank Aaron hitting home run #715 ... the one that pulled him ahead of Babe Ruth. He hit it during a game against the Dodgers. Al Downing was the Dodger pitcher that gave up the most famous home run in history.

These are the memories that came to mind today. I join with other villagers in wishing a blessed 77th birthday to Henry Louis Aaron. He was born on this date in 1934.

Read a great historical view of Aaron's childhood and baseball career here on the African American Registry. One aspect of his career that inspired me occurred early in his career:

After only a short time in the Negro Leagues, the Milwaukee Braves recruited Aaron. He joined the Braves' system in 1952 and was sent to the minor leagues. There he became one of the first Black players to break the color line in the Deep South; a dangerous proposition in the last, desperate days of segregation that was legally enforced by Jim Crow laws. After one season in Wisconsin, Aaron found himself playing for a Jacksonville, Florida team in the South Atlantic League. Fans insulted him constantly, and even some of his teammates hurled racial slurs at him. Hotels and restaurants were closed to him because he was Black. The situation was only tolerable because Aaron showed such talent and because he was young. Somehow the heightened tension inspired Aaron. During his year with the South Atlantic League, he led the circuit in batting average, doubles, runs scored, total bases and runs batted in. He was voted League Most Valuable Player for 1953.

Aaron retired in 1976 with record 755 home runs and 2297 runs batted in. One week later he began a new phase of his career, as director of player development for the Braves. Aaron was one of the first Blacks hired in a major league front office. Throughout his tenure with the Braves' management, he has called for more Black participation in the business end of baseball.

Hank Aaron has been a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1982.

What do you know or remember about Hammerin' Hank?

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Wordless Wednesday: Barack Obama Seeks Baseball Hall of Fame Career?

[SOURCE] Pinterest Board: 'Let The Games Begin'

Happy Birthday Lewis Hamilton: First Black Formula One Racer

My knowledge of auto racing is very limited. Occasionally, I watch a NASCAR race on television. I enjoyed Tom Cruise in that movie, 'Days of Thunder'. My kids watched the animated flick, 'Cars' with me earlier this week.

The closest that I've come to Formula One racing is Sylvester Stallone's move, 'Driven'. I seem to recall that these cars used to race in Detroit for a number of years when I lived there. What I didn't know was that there had never been a Black Formula One racer in history. Not until this year.

Not until Lewis Hamilton ... who was born on this date in 1985.

Rookie McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton made history on June 10, 2007 when he won the Canadian Grand Prix for the first victory of his Formula One career.

Britain's Hamilton, also the sport's first black driver, started from pole position and held on to become the first rookie to win an F1 race since 2001. Hamilton is no one-race wonder. It turns out that he has finished in the top three of all six races this season -- something no other racer has done. He took the lead in drivers' standings over teammate Fernando Alonso, the two-time defending world champion.

"When I first started watching Formula One, I was six or seven years old," Hamilton said. "I looked at that and I thought that's something special and something I might be able to do."

From a modest family in England, with a white mother and a black father, Lewis began racing go-karts at age 8 with a go-kart purchased by his father. He went on to win the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series and at age 10 he met Ron Dennis, the owner and director of the McLaren Formula 1 team and told him he wanted to race in F1. At 13 years old McLaren signed Lewis to its young drivers program and supported his career through karting and car racing, signing him as a full-time F1 driver for the 2007 season.

While some may see him as the racing equivalent of Tiger Woods, as a Black man about to break out in a sport long dominated by whites, his parents actually named him after Carl Lewis, the Olympic gold medalist in sprinting and long jump.

"It sounds pretty cool. People have been saying it for a long time," Hamilton said. "But I'm not Tiger Woods. I'm Lewis Hamilton." 

Villagers, what is your take on Lewis Hamilton?

OURstory: William DeHart Hubbard (1903-1976)

I wonder how many folks that live in the greater Cincinnati area know about William DeHart Hubbard? Hubbard was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 25, 1903. As a student at Douglass School, Stowe School, and Walnut Hills High School, Hubbard was known as the fastest kid in school. He also knew that academics were as important as athletics. As such he earned a four-year scholastic average of 90 (out of 100) in his high school years.

Hubbard left Ohio to attend the University of Michigan (1922-1927) where he won six straight AAU long jump titles, two AAU triple jump titles, and two NCAA long jump titles. He also tied the world records for the 60- and 100-yard dashes. In 1927, he set a new world record for the long jump with a leap of 25 feet 10.85 inches.

At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, Hubbard became the first Black athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event, when he won the long jump with a leap of 24 feet 5 inches. The actual gold medal that he won was on display at the America I AM: An African American Imprint exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center on June 19, 2010 thru January 2, 2011.

Hubbard represented the USA in other Olympic events. He participated in the triple jump, but did not win a medal in that event. Hubbard also participated in the long jump at the 1928 Olympic Games, but did not earn a medal.

In 1927, Hubbard was hired by the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, for which he worked until 1941. In 1942, he moved to Cleveland, where he became the Racial Relations Advisor for the Federal Housing Authority. He retired from this position in 1969.

William DeHart Hubbard was voted into the National Track Hall of Fame in 1957. He died in Cleveland on June 23, 1976.

Most of us know about Carl Lewis or Flo-Jo. Perhaps we should take a moment to honor the first African American gold medalist ... William DeHart Hubbard ... next time we think about the Olympics!

Wordless Wednesday: Usain Bolt - Fastest Man in the World

 

SOURCE: Pinterest - 'Let The Games Begin'

Wordless Wednesday: 1941 Kansas City Monarchs

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Wordless Wednesday: Hey Barack ... Are You Ready for Some Football?

Wordless Wednesday: The Original 'Big Three' in the NBA

SOURCE: Pinterest, 'Let The Games Begin'

Wordless Wednesday: Jackie, Rachel and Jackie, Jr. (1949)

SOURCE: Pinterest, 'OURStory: Heroes and Sheroes'

Wordless Wednesday: Muhammad Ali and Pele (The Greatest of All Times, Squared)

SOURCE: Pinterest, 'Let The Games Begin'

Wordless Wednesday: Muhammad Ali

SOURCE: Pinterest, 'Let The Games Begin'

Wordless Wednesday: Floyd Patterson, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World

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Wordless Wednesday: Baltimore Ravens, 2013 AFC Champions

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America's Finest: Gabby Douglas

My lasting memories of the 2012 London Olympics include gold medalist Gabby Douglas. There were other members of Team USA women's gymnastics team who went into the process hoping to become the toast of the town ... but, Gabby Douglas had other plans. Gabby earned herself 2 gold medals, in the individual all-around and team competitions, and now she is back in America.

They love her in her hometown of Virginia Beach, VA. In fact, a huge mural in her honor has already been created.

They love her in her adopted hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, where she lived with a host family while training for the Olympics. I understand that Oprah Winfrey will interview Gabby about her family's decision to let her train away from home, her mother's support and her experiences in London. That interview will air on Oprah's Next Chapter on Sunday, August 26 at 8:30pm.

They love her in Hollywood. Gabby will join First Lady Michelle Obama later tonight as guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Let's be honest ... all of America loves this 16-year old 4'11" dynamo! You go Gabby!