Ode to the Arnold Palmer

I saw this commercial and almost stood up and started applauding. The delectable elixir that is made of sweetened iced tea and lemonade has been satisfying taste buds for ages now. Some call it the "half & half", "the Uptown"(at Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles), and a host of other names. But many down here in the South call it "The Arnold Palmer." It's amazing that despite him being one of the better golfers to ever play the sport, many people who know nothing about his accomplishments as an athlete call the drink by his name. It seems everyone drinks it and has a slightly different ratio of the two liquids that works best for them. If I watched him make the drink in person, I'd probably be dumbfounded in awe just like Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt were in the commercial, as silly as it sounds. So I salute u Mr. Palmer, u've blessed the world with ur contribution. LOL.

Do Better: Let It Go

Enough is enough, I know the Tiger bashing is the hottest topic right now becuz of how dramatic and juicy the pieces have been coming out. But I'm tired of hearing about this shit. Tiger's got a loose dick and leads a shameful double-life; I get it. I'm a sports fan, why is it I can't watch a one hour episode of Sportscenter without having a Tiger Woods update between highlights FOUR different times during that one episode. "Kobe makes a Game-Winning Shot, Tiger's 3rd mistress claims she has pictures, Peyton and the Colts go 14-0, Whats going to happen with Tiger's other sponsors?, Big potential free agent movement in Major League Baseball, Are Tiger and his wife speaking?, etc." I tune into ESPN to see sports, not gossip. I'd watch TMZ or something looking for gossip. And even if I was looking to find out more shit about Tiger's situation, I don't want all this hearsay bullshit; I want a concrete statement when some shit actually happens. Don't waffle back-and-forth, if he and his wife and getting divorced, say it firmly and move on. If he announces when he's returning to golf, publish the date and move on. I don't need a daily update that the probability of them divorcing seems to have risen 10%. People of fame and power, men and women, have been cheating since the dawn of time. Most find a way to keep it from the public eye. But even those who get caught red-handed are scrutinized for a microsecond and then forgiven and once again judged according to how they perform on their craft. As long as you don't get convicted or rape in the process, you're fine. It ain't like cheating didn't used to be wrong and it's wrong now. The public at some point decided they didn't care too much. If you're gonna condemn one cheater, you're gonna have to condemn them all. People have been trying to tell me that Tiger can never recover becuz he's a golfer and it's a gentleman's sport and he was portrayed as a family man. I only buy that to a certain extent. The other golfers (with the exception of Jesper Parnevik, the one who introduces him to his wife) don't care. Also, i can buy the argument that Tiger came off as more of a gentleman than other cheaters such as Shaq or somebody. But gentlemen such as Rick Pitino, baby-faced stars such as Dwight Howard, and legendary mega-stars such as Michael Johnson and Magic Johnson all were all caught cheating and quickly forgiven/excused. Pitino and Kobe dealt with messy rape allegations; Ben Roethlisberger is still in the midst of getting his name cleared yet it's already been swept under a rug. Tom Brady left his fiance for another woman when she was 8 months pregnant with his kid, no one cared. Magic Johnson was a legendary cheater and even brought AIDS back home from his "travels." No one seemed to mind. Tiger's dramatic and messy story is huge news right now and will take more time that many others to mend; but if all of the big past and present endorsement faces of the NBA (Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Dwight Howard, Shaq, MJ, Magic) were forgiven, so should he be. i believe golf is gonna miss him severely when he's gone and if he wins a major or two (complete with ridiculously skilled highlight puts), their disdain for his shady personal life would be overshadowed by their joy and amazement that he's back. In my eyes, they're beating a dead horse right now. I expected the public to have learned years ago, like I did at a young age, not to put faith in aspects of people's lives that you know nothing about. Kobe fanatics cling to the fact that they have faith in his ability to make game-winning shots, not the fact that he cheated (and in all likelihood still cheats) on his wife. Magic had a teammate, A.C. Green, who was a role model in his personal life. He remained a virgin throughout his NBA career and up until he was married and is now a great Christian family man. With a personal life that everyone could put faith in, why didn't he get as much notoriety as Magic? Cuz he's wasn't balling like Magic on the court, period. So, despite all this drama, I see Tiger just as I saw him before, as the best golfer of my lifetime. That ain't changed. Pick another story.

I'd like to take a minute to highlight other story lines I'm tired of:

• Reality TV love shows manufacturing celebrities and reviving the dead careers of semi-celebrities. There have been love shows for Flavor Flav (hypeman), New York (crazy bitch who lost for Flav), Chance and Real (cornballs who lost for New York), Ray-J (Brandy's wannabe singing little brother), and now they're making one for Frank "the Entertainer" (freeloading bum pictured) which will be recorded in his parents' basement. The one thing that embarrasses me more than these shows being on the air is their astronomically high ratings and the fact that every other person I encounter wants to talk to me about it as if I watch that shit too. Shameful.
• Similarly, I'm tired of the paparazzi treating relatives of celebrities as if they're celebs too. They did nothing to earn fame more than being the fastest sperm to hit the egg. Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Bruce Jenner's sons, the Khardashian girls, and others in the same category need to stop wasting airtime as if they are important enough for me to actually care about. None of you have any skills that is making you money more than simply having the correct bloodlines. The ability to party on your parents money is not a valid skill. Their famous for converting oxygen into carbon dioxide with the right last name. And America, stop paying them so much attention and the media may follow suit.
  
• Jon & Kate Plus 8, the "Octomom", or anyone else who sought/gained fame and fortune for no better reason than becuz they had some ridiculous amount of children. The average US family no longer lives on farms powered solely by manpower; so unless they are trying to start a family football or basketball team, there is no good reason to have that many children. Honestly, I'm not sure how close of a relationship you can have with each children when you have that many children. I could care less about you and your divorce. Stop pimping your kids for fame and become a great parent to each AND EVERY child.

These are but a few examples of the contamination the media is poisoning the public with. And for whatever reason, the public is receiving it with open arms and astronomical ratings. I think we are losing brain cells paying more attention to gossip than the issues and news that effects us every day. Think a little deeper and figure out what's worth paying that much attention to. Do Better...

Real Talk: My Biggest Fear, Failure

For this installment of Real Talk, we're gonna discuss my fear of failure. There are a lotta ppl who are deftly afraid of snakes, spiders, hurricanes, germs, and anything else you can think of. Things that cause danger obviously can scare me but failure is the only thing that could keep me up at night. I come from a family or productive people who accomplished more and more as the generations roll along. No one is immensely rich or famous, but everyone has carved out a nice education and life for themselves. Whether it is retiring from the military, getting a master's degree, working for the government or whatever the situation may be. There are a few "bad apples" who are few and far between but no stories of whole households falling to drugs, no homeless members bouncing between family members' houses and leeching money, no hardened criminals who are destined to be incarcerated forever. They never would deliberately add pressure on me to do anything, but inside I always feel that I owe it to my family and everyone who helped me become who I am to succeed. Failure, as far as not becoming at least a productive and self-sustaining person, is simply unacceptable. At times, the thought of not achieving at least what I previously mentioned truly does frighten me. I know the picture is too small, but double-click it and read the enlarged caption; it's fairly powerful. I can't be the first Orr not to become a role model and respectable figure. I don't think I'd be able to show my face around the people I love and respect so much if i did. So I've had to convince, no....decide to myself that it is simply not an option. To discuss things in car terms, I had to remember that I am the best and newest model of Orr, and even more important of young Black man. In May, I will be the newest model of Georgia Tech graduate. And therefore I'm offered advantages to achieve even more than the old model. This mentality has done fairly well for me that last 22 yrs. Things will change astronomically over the few years as I move into the post-college, post-athletic, business world where responsibilities and opportunities change so greatly; this poses its own set of challenges and obstacles that must be overcome along the way. The scary part is knowing how to handle what comes - when to be bold, when to go with the flow, when to hop way out on faith, when to regroup and rethink, etc. However, that is my burden to bear and the only way to rise above my fear is to prevent it from coming to fruition. Wish me luck. Real Talk...

Do Better: Stop judging Tyler Perry

For today's Do Better segment, we're gonna analyze the Black Community's views on Tyler Perry. I lot of Black people seem to hate Tyler Perry becuz of his use of the gun-toting, foul-mouthed, free-spirited grandmother character Mabel Simmons, AKA Madea. Spike Lee, one of our most respected directors, went so far as to call Perry a "coon." Don't get me wrong, Madea does get very ignorant with some of the stuff that she says and does for cheap laughs. But the character is so much more, that aspect of her character is the bait Perry uses to get those who only go to see his movies for the cheap laughs. Every time I watch a Tyler Perry movie with Madea in it, she gives great advice on life lessons. However, those who have already made up their minds before they got in the theater seem to turn their ears off to anything she says so they miss all these tidbits. So I figured I'd highlight some of the Madea quotes that I remember and value from various movies and plays.

• "People like to talk. But it don't matter what people call you, it's about what you answer to."

• "It doesn't matter what other people say. You don't have to go keeping up with the Joneses. Hell, I ain't known anybody named Jones in my neighborhood."

• "Whatever you've done in the past is done, and don't be ashamed of it. As long as it didn't involve animals or children, you're all right."

• "Some people come into your life for a lifetime and some come for a season. You have to know which is which."

• "Everybody's got skeletons in the closet ... my advice to anybody with skeletons is to dust them off every now and then -- as long as your closet ain't full of them. It's not good to have more than two or three."

• "Life is sometimes hard, and you have to laugh your way through it."

• "Half the time, the very thing you think that's going to destroy you or ruin you is the very thing that nobody cares about."

• "Everything that happens to you works together for the good, because everything you deal with in this life is for a reason and is supposed to make you a better person. If you're sitting in a chair and you get uncomfortable, you're going to move somewhere else."

• "God can fix it but it's got to be fixed through you. God ain't gonna do nothing til you do something. So get off your "do-nothing" and get to work. Everything starts with you."

• "The worst thing you can do is hold stuff in. If something is bothering don't just sit there and hold it in. Say it. Yell it. Let it go!! It's better you get it all out than holding on to all that stuff yourself. Deal with that emotion, on that day, at that minute at that time. That way, things don't have a chance to build up and crazy in you."

• "If someone wants to walk out of your life, LET THEM GO!! When you learn to love yourself, you will give standards to everyone around you. And if they don't meet the standards, let 'em go! Holding on to them could cause major damaged."

• "Learn to forgive and forgive with all your might."

• "There are only two places on this Earth that you're ever gonna have peace - your home and the grave. So, if you can't have peace in your home, then your relationship needs to change."

Madea is actually a very well crafted character whom Perry plays himself becuz he feels he's the only one who can balance the wisdom and the bufoonery. Brown is the character that actually irks me becuz he has all the bufoonery without any wisdom being shared. Beyond the comedy, think about some of the themes that are present in most Tyler Perry movies: treating women right, going back to the Lord to change your life, forgiveness, self-esteem, value of properly raising your kids, etc. Somehow everyone has seemed to rationalize condeming Tyler Perry movies with all these themes while praising movies and shows that are funny without life lessons like "Friday", "Martin", "The Wayans Brothers", "In Living Color", "Scary Movie" and so many other Black comedies. Don't make double standards about Perry when I think he's doing more good with his lessons than harm with the humor. Watch his movies objectively and I think you'll agree with me on some level. Black People, Let's Do Better...

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A Step Forward for College Football

I commented recently in my facebook status that I was somewhat confused about how the NFL (with 32 teams) had as many Black head coaches (7) as the NCAA, which has 120 teams? And only one in the 65 school in BCS conferences. Be reminded, the NFL is the highest level of football in the world. We've seen coaches fail in the NFL and prevail in the NCAA; we've never seen it the other way. So how is it that Blacks are "qualified" or more appropriately "given a chance" in the NFL but not College Football. I'm a big football fan so I hear all these Black coordinators that have been prime head coach candidates for years getting passed up for young white coaches with no head coaching, and in some cases no coordinator experience. So in the week or two since I posted it, there have been 4 Black head coaches hired in reputable conferences. And Pat Forde, a white sports reporter in his 40s, wrote an article entitled "College Football Finally Joins 21st Century with Coaching Hires" in which he says From Louisville to "Charlottesville to Memphis and beyond, this may be the winter when college football drags itself out of the plantation era and joins the 21st century. One year removed from eradicating 75 percent of the African-American head coaches from the "big six" conferences, the sport is improving its diversity." Somebody heard me, I'm excited. Golf clap for the NCAA rising above the racism so abundant in many groups of alums and boosters and hiring deserving Black candidates. I tip my hat to you.

Here is the link for the Article: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4730681

One chick called me racist for highlighting race as a consideration in how people are hired. I felt like saying "Bitch, I'm considerate, not stupid. I know employers see that I'm Black when I come through their door for an interview." But maybe I am a little racist for wanting to see Black coaches succeed. Fuck it, I've Been Called Worse...

Do Better: Paying to Make Ur Kids Look Crazy In Pictures

This isn't a picture that I got off of some gossip site or randomly ran across. This is an old picture of a young lady that I know personally. This is why I won't even dilute this article with adding other ignorance. But the bottom line is, he parents were dead wrong for PAYING to dress her up and take pictures of her like this. My gut reaction when I saw it was "This look like some real racist shit. This is like a minstrel show waiting to happen." Like I had a fleeting urge to backhand whoever planned this photo shoot out. I love my black ppl of all skin tones, but u have to kno wut u can and can't do with ur skin tone. And let's just say, this Black Rhinestone Cowboy shit should not have been allowed to happen. She look like a slave for Conway Twitty. I feel like this picture was taken in the 40's by white ppl, but in reality it was probably taken in the last decade, which saddens and infuriates me. I'm not gon do the chick too dirty. But today, she unfortunately became an example of Black ppl doin their kids dirty. This goes right up there with the chick whose name is Marijuana Pepsi Jackson. Black people, Do Better...

Hail To The ACC Champs

They did it!!! The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are outright ACC Champs for the first time since 1990. Despite a valiant effort from the Clemson Tigers and a Heisman-like game from CJ Spiller (224 rushing yards, and over 300 total yards), we won the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game and won that beautiful trophy you see. This picture is so significant becuz of how rare it is to see Paul Johnson smile. Between games, practice, and randomly seeing this man on campus, I can honestly say that this picture is probably the 2nd-3rd time we've seen him smile. We're going to the Orange Bowl, they say this will be the first time we've had a bid to a big bowl since 1966. I dont' get that becuz we won a National Championship in 1990 and you have to be at a pretty big bowl to be in position to do that, but whatever. But the Boys will have their hands full with TCU if that's who they end up playin. But we'll worry about that as we get there. Hopefully Jon Dwyer, Morgan Burnett, Derrick Morgan, and Demaryius Thomas stick around for another year. They'll be even more dangerous next year. CHEERS TO THE JACKETS, THIS BUD IS FOR YOU!!!! As the Tech fight song ends "FIGHT, WIN, DRINK, GET NAKED!"

Do Better: Trannys, Finish the Job

I live in Atlanta, notorious for a large population of Black Gay Men and transvestites. The lesson from this picture would be: If ur a guy who wants to be a woman, finish the job...
I hope everybody caught it. LOL. Shameless Humor, I know.