Reminder: Baseball Has Flopping, Too

Written by Ashley Burns / 05.03.13

I’m not the kind of guy who likes to toot his own horn, because rib removal surgery isn’t something that is covered under my health insurance, but back in the day I was quite the mediocre little league baseball player. In fact, I received more than a few participation trophies, and they didn’t just give those babies out to anyone whose parents ponied up $70 for the uniform and league fees.

Anyway, there was one year that we had this a-hole coach – the kind of guy who’d start his son at every position before he’d give anyone else a chance (and I think his son was 5 years older than all of us) – and he’d always tell kids to lean into the pitch and take a bean ball on purpose if we had runners on. The joke was on him, because we were dorky little sissies, so we’d often scream and then run away, but it seems that his message may have gotten through to Chicago Cubs center fielder Julio Borbon, who reminded us yesterday that there’s flopping in baseball.

San Diego Padres reliever Luke Gregerson put a pitch in the dirt and while it clearly missed Borbon’s foot, the batter acted like he was Bear Grylls’ producer.

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Did She Wear That Home In The Morning?

Written by Ashley Burns / 01.19.12

Former Los Angeles Lakers center and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday in Washington, DC as she named him a Global Cultural Ambassador. With this new title, Kareem will travel the world promoting education and racial tolerance, which is a very nice way of saying he’ll show up to places and ask kids if they want to see him dunk.

Kareem was selected by Clinton for her “Smart Power” initiative, because she believes that he will “engage young people worldwide” and young people everywhere responded, “Shaq? Oh, it’s not Shaq? Why isn’t it Shaq?”

He will make his first official trip Sunday when he travels to Brazil for a number of events centering on education.

“I look forward to meeting with young people all over the world and discussing ways in which we can strengthen our understanding of one another through education, through sports and through greater cultural tolerance,” he said.

(Via ABC News)

Jokes aside, I think this is fantastic. Most people don’t hear about Kareem’s efforts because he’s not a current, hip name, but he has done so much to promote the history and cultural significance of African-Americans as inventors and educators – specifically with his book, “What Color is My World?” – so this is truly an outstanding selection by Clinton.

Also, any reference of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar means I get to post one of my favorite movie clips of all-time, so here’s to hoping that he’s appointed to many more positions in the future.

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