As I Said...

I got some real issues to talk about today, not sports but real life stuff, but of course, gotta get to the sports first...

• All hail the Dallas Mavericks. Not withstanding that in his postgame interview, JET talked about the urgency of this year being that Kidd is not coming back next year? the Mavs straight up worked the Spurs. I posted in one of my early blogs that the Lakers and Cavs were toying with their respected first round opponents, and I would like to add the Mavs to that category for Game 5. Everytime the Spurs got close, Dallas would pull right back ahead. Spurs within 8, 3 pointer by the Mavs, Spurs within 5, 6-0 run by the Mavs. Just messing with them, "puppeteering" I believe was the word I used. Props to the Mavs, great to see you guys back in the mix. No one thought we could do it, the key ingredients are still there, just now we don't have a bullseye on our back. Congratulations to Mark Cuban too, best owner in basketball.
• Lakers win and move on, Rockets win and move on, pretty sure I called those, you guys can check me on that but I think I did.
• Shout out to Miss La, she's having a rough day/week, so remember I love you and it's all good baby.
• Shout out to BJ, he's still en route to the States, so keep praying for his safety and quick return.

Alright, this is where I'm going to get real. I'm currently texting my good friend and brother Derian (DJ) Searcy about a rather small yet very significant topic I just came across on my USA Today iPhone app. "Obama seeks to change crack sentences". I don't think many of you understand and perhaps just don't know about this little area of discussion in terms or punishment for crimes. Obama is seeking to reduce the jail sentence in crack dealer, as opposed to powdered cocaine dealers. Let me enlighten you and why this is a big deal, and hopefully just the tip of the iceberg. Lawyers call it a "100-1" ratio where a person selling 5 grams of crack gets the same 5 year mandatory sentence as a person selling 500 grams of powdered cocaine. In other words, 500 gram dealer and 5 gram dealer get the same sentence. Now I don't know about crack cocaine, the only place I've ever seen it is in the movies, I don't know anything about it. But I know people mess up. I know people gotta do stupid, illegal things to get by. I also know these people are mostly if not SOMETIMES good, honest people. Perhaps just trying to make a living, feed their family, or perhaps just got mixed up, wrong place wrong time type of thing. Let's dive a little deeper though. An 18 year old gets caught with 5 grams of crack, he goes to jail for the minimum 5 years, comes out at 23 years old with no education, no money, and FELONY on his record. He's screwed, right there, especially in today's economy, that young man (82% black, 9% white--based on facts) is screwed. No education, no money, no job, and he's a felon. You know just as well as I do, he's gonna have to make ends meet doing something, and since he's limited not entirely but some to this "100-1 rule", it will probably be illegal.

Let's change it up, same 18 year old gets caught with 5 grams of crack, but only goes to jail for 1-2 years, and no felony, reduced to a misdemeanor. He gets out at 19-20, still has time to go to school, or even an entry level position, and now he isn't a felon, he's a regular joe who just got mixed up. He's out, bettering himself by going to get an education and turn things around, or getting a job to provide for himself and his family. Multiply that young man by the hundreds of thousands that are locked up in jails and prisons right now serving this sentence--the impact is humongous. Not only on individuals and people, but on this country, on this economy, on our civilization. I cannot stress how big this seemingly slight reduction is for Americans and for America. Do not get me wrong, I'm not saying anything positive about drugs or trafficking, nor am I saying that I am above it by any means, but I understand that people get mixed up, hell the country gets mixed up, but the "100-1" ratio and its sentencing is absurd, and I'm happy to know that someone has finally looked upon it and taken action.

Let that whole thing marinate on the domepiece for a bit, I'm not even going to get into what this could do for the sports world.

That's my political talk for the day, that's what I think. If you agree, great, if you completely disagree, then that's great too. That's why this country is great. Just don't judge me by it.

That's all my raving and ranting for the day, more sports to come in the future, sorry had to get off track a bit today. I gotta go watch the American Idol that I DVR'ed last night, and then study of course. Over and out.

--HEMAN--