The Legend of Honest Freeman

"You wanna be in this business, you got to pay the cost to doing business, and when the cost gets too high, you get out of business" - Riley Freeman

The Honest Man is a huge fan of the Boondocks. And after watching a classic 2010 season, the following is an ode to that. Whether it's reading the strip or watching the episodes on TV, that is one of the Honest Man's guilty pleasures. Bold, truthful, and don't give a fuck attitude. That's what today's post is about. Bold, truthful, and the Honest Man don't give a fuck about you or ya mama.

Back in the day, before the Honest Man got his Higher Learning on, I was grinding after hours to realize my MLK dream. My dreams didn't involve hand holding with other lil white children. My dreams involved getting paid in full and talkin' shit when I got there. I set my sights on getting an MBA to help realize that dream. Because I didn't major in business nor took any business classes in college, I needed to strengthen the resume in the eyes of the MBA recruiters that would be giving me a look. So on the advice of one school, I signed up for an accounting class at the local community college.

Four days a week. Three hours a night. 6-9 pm. 2 month class. Keep in mind, I'm still holdin' down a day job too but like I said, I had MLK dreams so I was in full grind mode. When I started the class, I was low profile, exchanged conversations when necessary, and had a goal of just getting an A. The class was 7 deep and my instructor was mad cool. She didn't want to be there anymore than we wanted to so she said, "We are not going to be here all 3 hrs every night!" She promised if we paid attention, did our homework, and showed up on time, we'd be out in 2 hrs or less every night. BET!

We had our first test, a week or so into the course. MLK dreams are a killa kid! I was so driven that I knew after I took that test, I killed it. What I didn't know was how much I did. So 2 days later, we in class, I'm joking with this one chick, who truly didn't give a fuck about life. What I mean is, she had a nice whip, was living off someone's $$, and was just there to say I'm there. We just cuttin' jokes until the instructor shows up. The instructor announces 2 folks in the class scored over a 100: Another chick in the class and yours truly. Because of how high we scored, we prevented the rest of the class from getting a curve. I could sense a few folks angry stares breathing down my neck but no one said anything. Then later in class, the instructor had me come to the class to do a balance sheet problem (actually this question was beyond simple but whatever). As the teacher says "Nice Job!" and I'm walking back to my desk, the same chick who doesn't give a shit, whispers to me "SHOW OFF!", then mutters "actin' like you know everything.." And like that it's on like Donkey Kong.....

Lemme say upfront, I'm a team player. That's how my parents' raised me. If the team wins, then I win, and we all can get ours. Doesn't matter the place or activity, school, work, sports, etc, I'm laid back, working to help others, and take care of my own business. But throughout my history, no matter the above, if I'm ever challenged or called out by someone, I take it personal and decide it's time to play Jay Z and reintroduce myself! In this classroom case, I was like oh it's like that. Up until that point, I had no qualms with no one. But after that, I decided I'm going to fuck up the curve to spite you. And that's literally what happened. 3 more tests. 1 Final. 100 or more on every single one. And the curve was all a dream. Because yo silly ass wanna talk shit when yo game ain't tight.....

Let's fast forward to today. Recently the Honest Man came up at work. I've been in the game for 10 plus years and no matter where I was, no matter who I was working with, whenever I came up, my whole team congratulated me. EVERY TIME. Interesting enough when the good news came this time, less than half the team said anything. And a couple others didn't say congrats but wanted to know what that meant in employee level. Because now they checking to see if I'm at their level or not. Which is Haterade 101. So I hopped back in DeLorean ala Back to the Future and just said "Oh it's like that!"

Those that really know Honest Freeman, know I'm about teamwork and working together. They also know how determined I am. And they also know I can be a jackass too. Put those all together and it's a scary combination. So like they say on Chappelle Show, it's a wrap B!

Today's Lesson

It's time for me to fuck up the curve again! To the Honest Mobile......

Hulk Hogan

By now, you've heard the biggest story in America today. Nope not the Oscar Grant travesty (which honestly should be based on the jury's outcome). But about Prince James and his decision to take his game to South Beach. Personally, it's a good look for him. He gave up more money to opt for winning a title faster. What's not a good look for him is publicly using TV to announce his intentions (nor is his former boss' public email reaction).

As you know I'm a HUGE wrestling buff. And last night's news immediately took me back to the summer of 1996 when Hulk Hogan turned his back on the Hulkamaniacs and decided to form the New Wrestling Order. Or NWO. He gave the legdrop heard around the world on Randy Savage on Sunday night, then cut a fuckin' dope promo on Monday Night Nitro the following night. Lebron even had the black beard going like the fake one Hulkster sported on Monday night. All LBJ needed was the bad guitar riff in the background to complete the transformation.

All Prince James needs now is another special to cut his own promo "Tell the Lebronamaniacs and Lebron groupies to STICK IT BRUDDA!!" It's only fitting considering the epic fallout from his decision. And it would just validate my point about how wrestling like the 2010 NBA Free Agency bonanza has been. Enjoy the stroll down memory lane below...

I used to love H.E.R.

"I met this girl, when I was ten years old
And what I loved most she had so much soul" - Common, I used to Love H.E.R.

The first two lines apply to what the Honest Man is about to discuss today. But before we go into that, let's talk about why we are here. Lebron James. Bron Bron. King James. The L train. The Savior. Rightfully so, he is the biggest NBA free agent this summer and my personal opinion, the biggest one since Shaquille O'Neal became one in 1996. Unrightfully so, there has been WAY too much coverage of tracking his free agent moves. Sports sites creating Lebron Trackers. Sports reporters swapping their unborn kids for the right to say where Lebron is going. It's like watching a fat kid at a buffet. Absolutely disgusting.

The latest news is Lebron is going to announce his decision in a primetime special via ESPN. I don't even need to look at the TV guide to know it will be a bunch of cats either guessing or interviewing Lebron up until the last 5 mins of the show, when Bron Bron says "I'm signing with (insert team)." Do I blame James for some of this stupidity? Partially. So who do you blame Honest Man? I blame the media. I've been mortified at how much time they are giving this. Of course, unlike the '96, the Internet is in full bloom so everyone's got an opinion. In some ways, I'm part of the whore group as I'm doing a blog on this but hey my voice has got to be heard.

If you looking for me to talk more about where is James playing next season, you need to stop reading. This is the Honest Man's rant on ESPN, the ultimate culprit in all this marketing bullshit. For those that can remember, think back to when ESPN was first getting started. They had 4 30 minute shows airing in the morning, lunch, early evening, and late evening. That was it. For sports reporters besides Rome's first (and failed) show, Up Close, and Sports Reporters on Sunday, that was it. This was in the late 80s and early 90s. Along the way ESPN had a transformation. Kinda like those nerdy looking chicks in those cheesy sitcoms that start off the episode looking homely, then transform into a Meagan Fox by show's end. ESPN became a Meagan Fox when Y2K started. And like Meagan Fox, they kinda let the success get to their head....

Today, ESPN shows 1 hr shows starting at 5am EST which repeat until noon. Add in a 6pm show and a 10pm show, that's 7 hrs of sports reporting. Daily. Also add in the sports reporting show block of Jim Rome, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, from 4 to 6 daily, that's another 2 hrs. Oh don't forget ESPN 2 got upgraded and now has Mike and Mike, First Take, and Colin Cowherd's show. That's another 7 hours of sports reporting. Oops can't forget ESPN News. See where I'm going. These mofos are EVERYWHERE. And when you have that much programming, you have to have relevant news to discuss. The keyword is relevant and ESPN has appeared to lose understanding of that.

Forget the latest debacle. They have been doing What the Fuck stuff for a minute. For me that What the Fuck moment started when they decided to nationally televise high school football and basketball games. I mean it was hard enough to get these games locally and then BAM ESPN was all over the place. Then they took it a step further and used their ESPNU channel to dedicate a day to HIGH SCHOOL KIDS announcing what college they would attend to play football. So technically I shouldn't be like What the Fuck about the Lebron signing but yet I am.

Seriously, What the Fuck happened to you guys? I used to love getting home from school and watching legendary combos like Dan Patrick/Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott/Rich Eisen do their shows (who can forget the latter doing "Vlade vlade we likes to party"). Now it's just a shell of its' former self. They have their moments but for the most part, a good number of the anchors and reporters are out to make a name for themselves so they are doing overreporting and a lot of stupid "zany" shit to attract a following.

This is the world we live in. Folks are out to do what they can for self and the almighty dollar. Everyone's got a source on what superstar athlete is doing. Now even the athlete's entourage members are treated important, even lil Sammy who just carries the bags from the car. B/c you know we gotta know what we gotta know. And that means not taking NO for answer, ya dig!

Today's Lesson

Don't blame the athletes folks, blame the system that has decided to market them for the sake of a dollar. The athletes already had an ego before the media pumped them up to legendary proportions. It's so outta control that the athletes themselves start believing the hype. And when the hype doesn't match the output, guess who's there to throw ashes on you. Yep, Mickey Mouse and his wonderful world of friends. CHUUUCH.....