Posts Tagged ‘Michael Vick’

Chris Brown is now the resident authority on career self-sabotage. It’s not easy to do and Brown is about the best there is. Lindsay Lohan is up there. T.I. definitely deserves to be in the conversation too but neither had attained the heights of Brown before flushing it down the toilet.

Mo’Kelly – 12.30.2010

Mo’Kelly…right again!

From Entertainment Weekly

Chris Brown flew into a rage on the set of Good Morning America earlier today, smashing a window and storming out of the studio shirtless after the interviewer kept directing the conversation back to his felony assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna two years ago.

The 21-year-old R&B singer waited until his interview and first performance was over before storming into his dressing room, where insiders say he began shouting and tearing it apart.

Before ABC’s building security arrived, Brown somehow shattered the window in his dressing room, smashing it up enough that glass fell onto the sidewalk below. Brown then tore off his shirt and left the building before a second scheduled performance. Watch the interview below:

The tension started when GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts asked Brown if he had seen Rihanna since she dropped her restraining order against him last month.

“Not really,” answered Brown. “It’s not really a big deal to me now, that situation… I think I’m past that in my life. Today is the album day that’s what I’m focusing on. Everyone go get that album!”

After explaining that his album title F.A.M.E. stood for “Forgiving All My Enemies,” Roberts directed the talk back to his assault, saying, “You can understand how some people… it was very serious what you went through and what happened.”

Not willing to let the conversation drift back to his felony, Brown responded, “Definitely this album is what I want to talk about and not stuff that happened two years ago.”

After he left the studio, Brown pulled a classic Tweet-then-delete: “I’m so over people bringing this past s**t up!!! Yet we praise Charlie Sheen and other celebs for there [sic] bulls**t.”

Aside from wondering exactly from what quarters Brown is hearing praise for Charlie Sheen, what do you think of his behavior? Will it affect the sales of his new album, out now? Should it?

____________

For all those of you who wanted to argue tooth and nail with Mo’Kelly that Michael Vick should have done the interview with Oprah…let the latest failing of Chris Brown prove Mo’Kelly’s point.

Chris Brown first should have known his audience. Good Morning America is not and will not be interested in having Brown on simply because he’s releasing a CD. If Brown didn’t know that, his management team should have made it clear to him. It’s Good Morning America, not BET’s 106th and Park. The program’s demographic (like The Oprah Winfrey Show) would better know  “Brown the batterer” than “Brown the musician.”  Brown’s domestic violence case transcended age and race demographics, his music does not and will not.

Know your audience.

Teeny boppers and college-age adults don’t largely watch Good Morning America. They are either in school (as they should be) or watching BET/MTV to find out the latest goings on in music…NOT GMA. GMA does not cater its programming to the interviewee, but to its audience.

Know your audience.

Most importantly, it is an interview and that is far different than a paid advertisement. The Rihanna incident was a huge one and will be forever connected to Brown’s career and musical obit. Robin Roberts has a professional duty to ask the question. He is free not to answer or tap dance around it, but the media is not a one-way street. You can’t come on GMA and “only” sell your CD. Roberts has an ethical duty to ask the question because it is newsworthy and of importance to her GMA audience which tunes in every morning to see what she brings to the table too, not just the guest. Otherwise GMA is just BET, licking the boots of Brown…again.

Know your audience and know who is interviewing you.

Without belaboring the point, Brown once again proved Mo’Kelly right. He has serious emotional issues and is unfit for superstardom. If you are busting out windows because you were ASKED questions about Rihanna, then clearly your anger management certificate means nothing and doubts about your apology have been confirmed.

Like Mo’Kelly said before…nice way to throw away a career. Will he sell CDs? Yes. Will he ever become the mainstream star he thinks he is? Absolutely not and it’s nobody’s fault but his own.

RELATED:

Michael Vick Saves Career With Oprah Cancellation

Chris Brown Throws Away ‘Rest’ of Career in 140 Characters

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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The Michael Vick editorial heats up the post…a “featured post” on the homepage.

The Mo’Kelly Report…lighting up the blogosphere.  Don’t be late to this internet party.

Mo’Kelly – “The Most Interesting Blogger in the World”

FULL EDITORIAL HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Often times here in The Mo’Kelly Report, we discuss the media failings of celebrities, through either bad press releases by publicists, poor crisis management or a disastrous combination of both. There are those times (though infrequent) in which a celebrity (or his/her management) makes the right move and best protects the celebrity and/or the associated brand.

Take Michael Vick for example…

His recent cancellation of a scheduled interview with media mogul Oprah Winfrey was clearly the right move. The only better move would have been not agreeing to the on-air conversation in the first place. Nevertheless, it was by far the best decision Vick has made on or off the field in quite some time.

You will often hear the argument that there is “no such thing as bad publicity” and that would absolutely be untrue. Ask Tiger Woods. Ask “bathroom self-portrait photo takers,” resigning GOP Congressman Christopher Lee and Bishop Eddie Long. Don’t forget Mel Gibson. For different reasons obviously, any publicity which negatively impacts one’s earning power presently and future prospects is bad all the way around. Tiger Woods is not more of an endorsement giant since his private transgressions came to light and seemingly has lost his golf mojo. That’s not even mentioning getting divorced and giving Elin a reported $110 million in the process. Mel Gibson is still persona non grata in Hollywood. And the “bathroom self-portrait photo takers”…we all know it’s been downhill for them in the time since posing as fraternal twins in the mirror.

It’s categorically untrue to allege there’s “no such thing as bad publicity.”

Back to Vick…

In any interview, one has to know the audience to whom he/she would be speaking. Through Oprah, Michael Vick would presumably be speaking to millions of working-class women and stay-at-home mothers. They would be mostly non-African-American and more emotionally attached to the family dog than anyone in the NFL. It is an audience unswayed and indifferent to the news that Vick is the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year or that the Philadelphia Eagles subsequently gave him the “franchise” tag.

Know your audience (both studio and television-viewing).

This interview would center mostly around the dogs, an hour-long minefield of questions and uncomfortable answers surrounding his previous treatment of dogs, which would be met with audience incredulity far and wide.

The rehabilitation of Michael Vick’s image has everything to do with keeping the media focus squarely on his football exploits, not the reasons why he went to prison. Nothing personal against Vick, but a one-on-one conversation with Oprah was a disaster of biblical proportions waiting to happen.

The list of entertainers and politicians who had effectively ended their careers with one interview is too long to mention.  This had “career-ender” written all over it.  There is such a thing as becoming such a social pariah that no amount of athletic exploits can overcome.

Ask Football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson

It makes perfect sense for Oprah and her television show and would make for great news coverage. From the Harpo Productions point of view, it would be a home run and by all means they should have pursued the conversation. Conversely, all the goodwill accumulated during the previous season by Vick would have spiraled down the drain, with no upcoming Monday Night Football game to help people forget with feats of super-human athleticism.

Many times celebrities get it horribly wrong in how they interact with the media. This time Michael Vick absolutely got it right. It just might have saved the remaining portion of his career.

This time…

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Mo’Kelly keeps telling you that this place is on its way!  You do NOT want to miss what’s in store for 2011, no hyperbole.  For the past two days, The Mo’Kelly Report has been featured on The Huffington Post HOMEPAGE and the featured blog/story for its sports section.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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NBC’s Peter King reports that Barack Obama called Philadelphia

Jeffrey Lurie

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie earlier this week to congratulate him for giving Vick a second chance after his release from prison. According to King, the president said that released prisoners rarely receive a level playing field and that Vick’s story could begin to change that.”

Story HERE.

Mr. President…no it didn’t and no it won’t.

If President Obama wanted to praise the Eagles for giving Vick a second chance, the phone call would have been more appropriate when they originally signed him, not many months later amid great success. It begs the question whether the phone call would have ever come if Vick weren’t balling and failed miserably.

It would seem the phone call was inextricably linked  to Vick’s success not the moral conscience of the Philadelphia Eagles organization.

Moreover, the call wrongly attributes altruistic motives to the Philadelphia Eagles, suggesting  the organization wanted to affect the perception of convicted felons more than they wanted to pad their bottom line or win a Super Bowl.

Mo’Kelly’s not buying that or any supposed beachfront property in Nebraska either.

Just FYI, there are dozens of convicted felons in the NFL and none is on any roster as a social rehabilitation experiment or statement on the viability of ex-cons as productive citizens.

See HERE.

Each and every one, (Vick included) is on an NFL roster because he gives his team the best chance to succeed…period.

Michael Vick on an NFL roster was never a case of charity. He may be a lightning rod for controversy amongst PETA members and dog-lovers worldwide, but he’s still a world-class athlete and only originally asked to back up former starters Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.  (Translation: minimal investment by the Eagles which later generated tremendous returns.)

"Unleash the Tiger in your pants! Got Wood?"

Other questions it begs…

Does the Trojan corporation get a phone call from President Obama if it gives Tiger Woods “a second chance” with an exclusive multimillion-dollar condom endorsement deal? Would Trojan then be about the business of changing the perception of/leveling the playing field for philandering professional athletes?

Mo’Kelly is just spitballing here…

Does President Obama call (x) team if/when former NFL receiver Rae Carruth gets out of jail for conspiring to kill his girlfriend and unborn child and is hired as a stadium peanut vendor in 2018 (his expected release date)?

Did the  NBA’s Washington Wizards earn a smiley face magnet for the staff refrigerator in allowing Gilbert Arenas back into the locker room after bringing his cache of guns to work? Because we all know that the Washington Wizards (formerly the Washington Bullets) are all about “leveling the playing field” for idiots and the guns they bring to the workplace.

OSHA would be proud to be sure.

Or not…

Professional sports is a meritocracy, not a charitable organization about the business of garnering presidential voicemails. If Michael Vick were to unfortunately suffer a career-ending injury in his next game; he would be cut, his career disappear and his non-guaranteed contract money right along with it.

President Obama’s phone call (and subsequent spotlight) would have been better served highlighting individuals and entities truly about the business of helping everyday African-American men reintegrate themselves into society after prison; not offering more inappropriate idolatry of athletes.

Michael Vick is an exceptionally talented football player who presently has value to the Philadelphia Eagles; no more, no less. The Philadelphia Eagles franchise is about the business of winning football games and maximizing revenue. The franchise took Vick on a flyer and it panned out.

Bully for them.

Let’s not rewrite history and attribute altruistic motives where they do not belong or exist.

Praise Michael Vick for his football prowess. Applaud the Philadelphia Eagles for the shrewd construction of its present team. But never should any president be heaping praises of morality on an organization for simply attempting to sell more tickets, win more games and ultimately make more money. Eventually, President Obama will concern himself with the issues most important to African-Americans, as in the multitude. It just won’t be today as this clearly is not one of them.

No, you can be sure Mo’Kelly won’t be receiving a cabinet-level appointment or the

"Mr. Mo'Kelly...you've earned yourself an IRS audit!"

Presidential Medal of Freedom from this administration; but that’s ok. It’s about telling the truth.

The truth is that this was a poor choice by our president, yet one consistent with his support of Wall Street and big business.

Congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles for doing “the capitalism thing” under the pretense of it being “the right thing” is wrong and the wrong message to send young African-American males.

Somebody has to say it…might as well be Mo’Kelly.

“Mr. President, you are wrong on Michael Vick.”

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Michael Vick

Forbes magazine recently released its list of “The Most Disliked People in Sports” a survey of 1,100 people age 13 or older who are active in sports as either a player, coach, manager, broadcaster, agent or owner.

Before we go further, let’s keep this honest.  It’s the “most-hated” poll.  It is what it is.  Don’t get tripped up and tricked by the euphemism of “dislike.”  These are athletes that evoke visceral responses, as is evidenced by their “strong dislike” quotients below.

The respondents had to be actively involved as to eliminate the multitude of those who might only know of Vick through his dog-fighting arrest and nothing more.  Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the full list with the percent of “Strong Dislike” in parentheses.

1.         Michael Vick (69%)

2.         Al Davis (66%)

3.         Ben Roethlisberger (57%)

4.         Tiger Woods (53%)

5.         Jerry Jones (53%)

6.         Mark McGwire (48%)

7.         Terrell Owens (47%)

8.         Alex Rodriguez (45%)

9.         Allen Iverson (45%)

10.       Gilbert Arenas (44%)

Today is only going to ask questions.  Some are rhetorical, others are interrogatives actually in search of an answer.  But today, it’s going to be more about questions than anything else.  This survey is supposed to be the answer to the question of “who is the most ‘disliked’ in professional sports?”  The list above is your answer.

Mo’Kelly could extrapolate out and write a scathing editorial on how troubling it is that even the “more informed” (i.e. sports enthusiasts) still have a disproportionate amount of contempt for Michael Vick than anyone else, but no…not today.  Mo’Kelly could theorize the implicit role of race in the perception of athletes, but no…not today.  Mo’Kelly only has questions, you the readers will have to provide the answers.

Ben Roethlisberger

• How is it that Michael Vick is still the “most-disliked” in all of sports when he’s been a model citizen since he’s been out of jail for more than a year?

• Why is it that Michael Vick tops this list and Ben Roethlisberger who has been accused of rape TWICE is nowhere close in percentage to Vick?

• Should Mo’Kelly make the leap that killing my neighbor’s dog 3 years ago is somehow socially less acceptable than (allegedly) raping the same neighbor’s daughter 3 months ago?

• Why is Terrell Owens as “disliked” as much Mark McGwire and more than Alex Rodriguez, when of the three, he’s the only one who didn’t cheat in his sport (or on his wife for that matter)?

• Did these people somehow forget that Mark McGwire’s career was a fraud and he in essence “pleaded the 5^th” before Congress?
  

  Terrell Owens...and the popcorn

• Don’t these people know that being a fraud for your whole career like McGwire is probably worse than making a career of creative endzone celebrations like Owens…and the two shouldn’t be equated on any level…ever?

• How did Gilbert Arenas make this list and not Plaxico Burress? (Is that because since he’s “in” jail, he’s not “in” sports…i.e. ineligible?)

• If Michael Vick were never to have played in the NFL again, (despite not being eligible for the list), Mo’Kelly wonders if people would still dislike him as much…i.e. less jealousy/contempt?

• Why is Tiger Woods so much more “disliked” than A-Rod when Tiger’s never been caught cheating in his sport and arguably equally as unfaithful as Alex Rodriguez?
  

  A-Rod and Madonna

• Does that mean cheating on your wife with a married Madonna (and presumably plenty others) is somehow socially more acceptable than cheating on your wife with porn stars and cocktail waitresses?

• Or let Mo’Kelly ask the same question slightly differently.  Why is cheating on your wife (as a superstar golfer) comparable in “dislike” to being accused of raping two women (as a superstar NFL quarterback) and more “reprehensible” than the superstar baseball player who cheated on his wife AND cheated in his sport?

• 

  Jerry Jones

  What did Jerry Jones do to deserve to be on this list?  Al Davis, I get it.  But Jerry Jones?

• How many people tried to write in OJ Simpson’s name, even though he’s not eligible for this list?

• Is Mo’Kelly the only one who wonders what “other” criteria was considered by the respondents…be it consciously or subconsciously?

Hmm…

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Interesting…from USAToday

For the second consecutive year, Michael Vick is the most-hated man in sports, according to a Forbes magazine poll.

Vick topped the list that included five NFL figures among the 10 most-hated people in sports. He was disliked by 69% of respondents.

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis was second on the list, with 66% disapproval rating, with Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger third at 57%.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was tied for fourth with Tiger Woods, with 53% of respondents saying they disliked him.

Terrell Owens was the other NFL stakeholder on the list, with 47%.

(Mo’Kelly: There’s plenty commentary to be had on this one.  How Tiger Woods is running neck and neck with a twice-accused rapist on a “most-hated” survey is curious at best.  And let’s be clear, this isn’t about a favorable/unfavorable perception…it’s a “most-hated” list.  Mo’Kelly will save his other commentary for later.)

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Antonio Cromartie

If The Mo’Kelly Report has been anything over the years, it has been both consistent and fair.  For every story Mo’Kelly has written in derision of a John Mayer, Michael Richards or even Dog the Bounty Hunter, you will also find one equally critical of Gilbert Arenas/Plaxico Burress, the Duke Lacrosse accuser and Nas the rapper.

No one has ever received a pass on the issues of race here, irrespective of their race.  When heaping praise and critique, there is no double-standard now and there won’t be in the future in this column.

Right is right and wrong is wrong.

Unfortunately, the reality is that we do not live in a post-racial society, despite the fact that Barack Obama lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  We do live in a post-legislated racism (i.e. post Jim Crow) society, but the issues of race persist.

Black farmers were recently awarded 1.25 billion (with a “b”) in a civil discrimination suit.  That is not a figment of my imagination.  The FBI is presently investigating the police beating of Pittsburgh teenage violinist Jordan Miles in January of this year.  If that weren’t enough, the organization 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement called on NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate racial profiling after “stop and frisk” statistics went through the roof…reflecting the disproportionate detainment of Blacks and Latinos.

Post-racial society?  Hardly.

But speaking of racial profiling, it’s the perfect entry point into the discussion of the newest member of the New York Jets, Antonio Cromartie…the troublesome Antonio Cromartie.  Cromartie came to the Jets by way of a trade with the San Diego Chargers.  Yes, that would be the same San Diego, home to the “Compton Cookout” controversy on the campus of UCSD.  Yes, that would be the same “Compton Cookout” where “educated” college students took to ridiculing the worst of Black stereotypes in “celebration” of Black History Month.

I know what some are you thing…”where is he going with this?”

Here’s where…

Antonio Cromartie signed a 5-year $12 million contract with the San Diego Chargers in 2006, 7.35 million of which was guaranteed.

Four years later, the New York Jets had to ADVANCE Cromartie $500,000 to enable him to address his “paternity issues.”

Yes, “paternity issues.”

Cromartie at age 25 has 7 children, by 6 different women across 5 states and is behind on child support by at least $25,000.  All of the children are age 6 or younger.   According to court records Cromartie has failed to appear in court on two different occasions regarding moving violations and his driver license status is in doubt.  Specifically, he tried to get a California license in 2006 (to replace his Florida one) but could not pass the written portion then and has not since.

But wait, there’s more…

Cromartie has been named in “at least” five paternity suits in the past three years alone, meaning the official tally of how many kids are his is legally still in doubt and may rise considerably.

Yes, “at least” five.  Could be six, could be eight, who knows?  But “at least” five.

Antonio Cromartie is 25, broke and the embodiment of many of the worst that Black stereotypes have to offer.

The question today is whether we as African-Americans should be more upset at the racist stereotypes being “celebrated” at a college frat party or at the behavior of those like Antonio Cromartie which feed into them?  This is not an either-or postulation, there’s room to be mightily offended by both.

Let’s remember, social capital is a finite resource and how we spend it on the issues of race invariably matters.  There’s room to attack both of these issues simultaneously, but I take particular exception to individuals like Antonio Cromartie.

Some 12 million Cromartie dollars later, we have at least 7 more children of color with neither an emotionally available father nor the financial support system in which to raise them.  That is shameful.

The “Compton Cookout” was hideously offensive to be sure…but this pains Mo’Kelly far worse.

Lil Wayne

Far, far worse.

Wide receiver and father Plaxico Burress…jail.  Star guard and unwed father (2 children) Gilbert Arenas…on his way to jail.  Rapper Lil Wayne, unwed father of 4 children (two born simultaneously to different women)…just finished tucking himself in…you got it, prison.  Black male pathology is in full swing.  It’s not funny and it’s not a figment of one’s imagination.  It’s true and we should recognize it for what it is.

It is unacceptable, that’s what it is.  There will be no “partridge in a pear tree jokes” today.

As sorry of an individual Antonio Cromartie must be to father 7 children with 6 women across 5 states, how sorry is our community to neither put a stop to individuals such as him or condemn the behavior with the same veracity we condemned the “Compton Cookout?”

Mo’Kelly doesn’t want to see African-Americans mocked on college campuses or having nooses dangled in derision.  At the same time, Mo’Kelly especially doesn’t want to see the likes of Antonio Cromartie breathe life into the worst of those same Black male stereotypes.

I don’t want to hear any excuses and I definitely don’t want any “explanations” as to why Cromartie gets a pass (no football pun intended) and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity doesn’t.

Neither should.

To have seven children (proven thus far) with 6 women across 5 states by age 25 isn’t funny, isn’t acceptable or explainable in any way.  For all the protests and outrage (rightfully) directed at UC San Diego and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, some should have been directed at Cromartie too.  I mean, it’s the same damn city.

The troublesome Antonio Cromartie…

Both have measurable and deleterious effects and must be addressed if we as a society are ever to overcome the issue of race.  We in the African-American community must approach the Antonio Cromarties of the world with the same righteous indignation we do a “Compton Cookout.”  Otherwise, in the not-so-distant future we will have bankrupted our social capital account and impugned our moral authority once and for all.

RELATED: It’s Time to Be Honest about Duke

ESPN was Smart to Fire Paul Shirley

John Mayer’s ‘N*****’ Pass Revoked

Gun-Toting Athletes Affect All Black Males

Nas is a Comedian, Not an Intellectual

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