Steve's Got a Point. Social Commentary from the Cheap Seats

New York Knick Guard Steve Francis said of the brawl that happened between his team and the Nuggets

In other sports, there are incidents that are way worse than basketball. So
many worse things happen every game or four or five times a year, but because
there are more black players in the NBA, it's under the microscope more than
baseball or hockey.

Did you catch that last sentence. I did, and if you think that he's just an overpaid thug who's coming to the defense to one of his "homie's" let me break it down for you as best I so you can see the logic in the words he speaks.

Real Talk

Ya ever watch a Yankee Red Sox Game? Ive seen plenty. One of my fond memories of the rivalry came when Alex Rodriguez caused one of the biggest fights that rivalry has ever seen when him and Jason Varitek got into an altercation at home plate. Ya know how the media spun it? I do, it was spun as just another chapter in the storybook rivalry that is Yankees Red Sox. Nascar folk, how often is it a guy gets cutoff while racing and he decides he's going to take his frustrations out on the SOB who did it and his entire pit crew? Need a refresher, let me help you out, earlier this year didn't you guys have someone drop kick a guy through a window ? All this, and not one time was race ever brought up. Let me guess you want to bring the Palace incident up huh? Well if thats the road you wanna go down, bare in mind, I didn't even touch on hockey, I'd still be typing about Todd Bretuzzi well into next week if I did.

Heres my point. You see African Americans in Basketball, a sport we dominate and it makes you mad. You think that hip hop has ruined the sport because fundamentals have went to the way side of the Sports Center Highlight. Well in both counts you're wrong. Hip Hop has done nothing more but help promote the sport(how quickly do we forget the Black Eyed Peas ), and with the influx of world wide talent hitting the NBA each and every year, I can tell you with a straight face that the world has caught up to African Americans in this game. I'm not saying that a team led by KG and Kobe and Lebron would lose, but I am saying a close game could be had with a Yao, Dirk, and Nash opposing them.

Cornrows and Nas are not the reason Carmelo Anthony sucker punched Jared Jeffries. If this is the case, then I'm blaming Metallica and Trailer Parks as the reason AJ Peirzenski of the White Sox and Michael Barrett of the Cubs got into it at a baseball game this year. Both of whom are white. For better or worse when the competitive juices are flowing out there in any sport that is played, people get into heated altercations and fisticuffs are the only way of settling there disputes.

What Needs To Happen

Honestly to rid our society of the constant stereotypes that NBA Players are thugs and what not, my best advice is to see where that player has came from in his life to get to where he is in his life. Many an NBA, NFL and MLB player have came from some of of the most despicable surroundings you can think of, and through it all they've achieved success and invested in there communities. Denver Nugget Star Carmelo Anthony, is a regular contributor to the Family Resources Centers of America. An organization dedicated to helping underprivileged families. Its my sincere hope that the sports media specifically the Bill Walton's , Chris Bermans, and the rest of the overblown talking heads over at the hype machine realize that sports are competitive, and sometimes people come to blows. Race has nothing to do with it. ..RP