Open Letter To Mark Cuban

Open Letter To Mark Cuban

Dear Mr. Cuban,

In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, there were a handful of people that I really looked forward to hearing from, due to their ability to always view things from an angle I may not have considered. You are one of those people. Yet, when I heard your opinion, I felt more disheartened, than enlightened.

“But regardless of your background, regardless of the history they have…Being forced to divest property in any way, shape or form, that’s not the United States of America. I don’t want to be a part of that.”   

                                                                                                                                    -Mark Cuban

This particular segment of your statement is the part that I find most disheartening. It is something I would imagine Donald Sterling saying in his own defense. Invoking good old American capitalism as the reason he should retain his privilege of being an owner of a NBA franchise. This statement values profit before people, and brings light to the fact that this country, continually, rewards the person with the most money, no matter how vile or abhorrent the transgression or crime.

That is the United States of America that I do not want to be a part of.

The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution are the documents which define the ideal of “America”. The words business, corporation, profit, and capitalism do not appear in any of them. Those of you in the to 1%, including the people who, like yourself, hustled their way to a 3 comma net worth, would lead us to believe that those four words are the absolute embodiment of the “American Dream”.

The words that should be defining this country, and happen to be contained within those hallowed documents are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I ask you Mr. Cuban, how are NBA athletes supposed to feel a sense of liberty when they are contractually obligated to work for a man who holds the views of Mr. Sterling? Now that he has exposed himself to everyone, what kind of happiness could they pursue when everything they toil and sweat to achieve, benefits that man (Mr. Sterling) exponentially more than it benefits themselves? What kind of life would they be leading if they endure the aforementioned hardships in the name of capitalism and contracts?

I know you to be an intelligent, hardworking, fair and open minded individual. I implore you to rethink your stance. I would hate to lose faith in one of the few visionary business people left in this country, because he fears the slippery slope of removing an undeserved privilege from a billionaire who would hardly notice it is missing more than the precipitous cliff of allowing a hateful, self-important man like Donald Sterling to continue to profit from supremely gifted young men, blessed enough to play basketball for a living, and subject them to a hostile and venomous work environment, in the name of profit and capitalism.

Regards,

Leon Davis

How A Real NCAA Champion Can Be Crown

Thanks to Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles, the Bowl Championship Series went out with a bang, ushering in an era of Division 1 College Football where the National Championship is decided on the field and not on the ballots of writers, coaches and computers. The new playoff format is definitely a step in the right direction, but it still has room for improvement. The new four team playoff format comes off as lazy and uninspired, thought up by a bunch of fat lazy men who have resided inside of the same intellectual box since they enrolled in their private parochial universities. It never occurred to the football viewing public that the perfect solution already exists in the world of sports (Think European soccer). This solution, if executed correctly addresses the majority of the issues that currently exist in the structure of college football, and virtually eliminating the bias of journalists and coaches on who advances and who doesn’t.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Under the current system with journalists and coaches voting, half of the existing conferences, and no independent schools, outside of Notre Dame, will ever sniff the playoffs without an act of God or a complete meltdown in SEC (which would be said act of God). In order to end the delusional pursuit of these lesser conferences they need to have their own division with its own playoffs and championship. Let’s call it Division 1B. It would consist of the Mountain West, the Sun Belt, the Mid American, Conference USA, and the American Athletic.

The other 5 conferences, the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, PAC 12 and ACC, would be Division1 A.  Here’s the twist. Each Division 1A conference would be aligned with a Division 1B conference. Every 2 seasons there will be a process of relegation and promotion. The two teams in Division 1A with the worst records will be relegated to their corresponding Division 1B conference. The only way to avoid relegation is to be conference champion at least once in the 2 year span. The two teams in each Division 1B conference with the best records will be promoted into the spots vacated by the two relegated teams in their corresponding conference. The only way to ensure promotion is to win your conference at least one of the two years. All of the Independent schools will have to join a conference, or play Division 1B with no promotion opportunity. There would also be some realignment allowed before the first season to give the Division 1A conferences the opportunity to incorporate the stronger 2A schools and shed the weaker 1A schools. To the weaker schools that are upset about being shuffled into 1B for the first season, prove you belong with the big boys.

Both divisions would end in an 8 team playoff consisting of the 5 conference champions and the 3 teams that did not win their conference that are ranked highest in the polls. Yes, I said polls. That way the journalists and the coaches can feel that they still have a say in the process, although any real impact has been nullified. This would also discourage teams from playing considerably weaker teams, since strength of schedule would come into play if you don’t win your conference. It would be a shame if a Division 1A school were to miss their opportunity at the playoffs because they decided to play a Division 1B or, heaven forbid, a Division 2 school during non-conference play. Hopefully it will also eliminate non-competitive 70-0 blowouts.

The last hurdle would be the Bowl games. Each playoff game would become a bowl game, with the National Championship Final returning to one of the 6 sites. And the Bowls could rotate with each site ensured to get the Championship Game every 6 years. The sites would be The Rose Bowl, The Sugar Bowl, The Fiesta Bowl, The Cotton Bowl, The Orange Bowl, and The Peach Bowl(Chick-fil-A). This solution also would allow College Football three consecutive Saturdays of controlling TV ratings.

And, there you have it, the solution. A viable playoff based championship that preserves the “sanctity” of the regular season, and gives the smaller schools a chance to actually win a championship, and opportunity to prove they belong with the big boys. It allows the media to still believe that its opinion counts (albeit minimally) and it discourages schools from padding their non-conference schedules with weak teams (thus encouraging the scheduling and development of non-conference rivals). If only the backward thinking profit driven old men with no idea how to think progressively understood that creating a system that actually works and makes sense would make them more money, and give them some much needed credibility.

Arizona and Religious Rights: Two Wrong Still don't Make A Right

When I first heard about the Arizona bill that is aimed at protecting religious rights, I initially thought it was more of the same narrow minded ideas that surrounded the immigration debate. For most part, the debate is, in fact, narrow-minded, but, on both sides. Obviously, the zealots screaming about their religious rights being violated  have a narrow view and don’t realize the damage they could do, both socially and economically. Less obvious is the damage to certain business owners’ rights due to the New Mexico (Yes, New Mexico, not Arizona) lawsuit that launched this madness, Elane Photography v. Willock. Here is an excerpt from the New Mexico Supreme Court decision that went against Elane Photography:

"The purpose of the NMHRA is to ensure that businesses offering services to the general public do not discriminate against protected classes of people, and the United States Supreme Court has made it clear that the First Amendment permits such regulation by state. Businesses that choose to be public accommodations must comply with the NMHRA, although such businesses retain their First Amendment rights to express their religious or political beliefs. They may, for example, post a disclaimer on their website or in their studio advertising that they oppose same-sex marriage but that they comply with applicable anti-discrimination laws."

For those who do not know the story, in short, Elane Photography refused to do a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple. The couple sued Elane Photography, and won, all the way to the New Mexico Supreme Court for violating the New Mexico Human Rights Act (NMRHA). This series of events inspired what is currently known as Senate Bill 1062 in Arizona. After learning these facts, this issue, in my view, became a double edged sword. The majority went on to say this:

“The reality is that because it is a public accommodation, its provision of services can be regulated, even though those services include artistic and creative work. If Elane Photography took photographs on its own time and sold them at a gallery, or if it was hired by certain clients but did not offer its services to the general public, the law would not apply to Elane Photography’s choice of whom to photograph or not. The difference in the present case is that the photographs that are allegedly compelled by the NMHRA are photographs that Elane Photography produces for hire in the ordinary course of its business as a public accommodation. This determination has no relation to the artistic merit of photographs produced by Elane Photography.”

Here’s the double edged sword and the flaw in the Court’s opinion. The majority opinion states, ”If Elane Photography took photographs on its own time…,or if it was hired by certain clients and did not offer its services to the general public, the law would not apply to Elane Photography’s choice of whom to photograph or not.” If I am not mistaken, that is exactly what photographers do. It’s not a public accommodation, because no one walks into a photographer’s studio and walks out with their picture on the same day. You hire a photographer. It’s not like going to McDonalds to get a burger, going to the Gap to get jeans or to Walgreen’s to get a Coke. You walk into the studio, look at the photographer’s work, ask about prices, see their packages and compare them to others you have looked at, negotiate a little and then hire the one that works best for you. It’s exactly what the majority argued it isn’t. Elane Photography basically told the couple that she did not wish to be hired by them. You cannot make someone accept a job they do not wish to take. If a photographer would rather not work with you because you are a same sex couple, then choose a different photographer. You don’t have to hire that one, because obviously it isn’t going to work best for you. SMH.

 I have yet to figure out how or why Arizona managed to interject themselves into this matter, other than they are bored, backwards and behind. They didn’t want to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, they wanted to require immigrants to carry papers at all times a la Nazi Germany, and now they want to give business owners the right to discriminate, citing religious beliefs because of something that happened in another state. I almost want them to pass it, so that the business owners insipid enough to actually use this law to deny service can lose the company that they do not deserve to have. 

After the research I have done on this matter, it amazes me how such a bad piece of legislation can be written and passed all of the way to the Governor’s desk, and be based on a completely flawed ruling by a State Supreme Court. All of the wrong decisions are being made by the people responsible for making and interpreting the laws, and they are on opposite sides of the issue. How often does that happen?

Lord, help this country and the lost people running it.

Really, Google?!

While scrolling through my over loaded Gmail box, I ran across an email titled, "Hot New Games +and Music to Celebrate Black History Month", from Google Play.

Really? Although I am not a huge fan of the idea or execution of Black History Month, I have always appreciated the emphasis on education and cultural awareness. The lack of capitalistic influence has also been a plus. Until I saw this. In the spirit of full disclosure, here is the rest of the email.

This is the only place where Black History Month is referenced, and they are trying to sell you music. BTW, who is Tower of Power?

I don't know if Google thinks that invoking Black History Month will help them gain a larger share of black tech users, or if they think that reducing something that is supposed to help increase understanding, unity and tolerance, to a cheap advertising gimmick was worth the small sales increase they will get. 

Unfortunately, due to the increasing consumerism in our country, things like this are likely to happen more and often. Soon, February will be a months worth of sales and specials courtesy of the efforts and sacrifices of many great men and women who dared to envision a country in which all who dwell within have the opportunity to prosper. 

God Bless America.