It Was All A Dream: Tigers' Connection To 68...

Shots Heard Round The World

Tha Artivist Reports…


I Like Most Of Memphis And Tiger Nation Was Religiously Glued To My T.V. Sets Watching The University of Memphis or like we old school fans still call them Memphis State Tigers rip and run their way to a national title long in the making….I thought that the Tigers have finally brokened the curses of great Memphis Teams past, teams where players as talented and skilled as Keith Lee, Larry Finch, Elliot Perry and certainly Anfernee Penny Hardaway were denied the glory earned by them to the John Woodens, Bill Waltons, Ben Howlands and the UCLAs; Bob Huggins', Nick Van Excels and the Cincinnatis; Denny Crums, Pervis Ellisons and Louisvilles of the world…This was the year that the have nots will certainly have and that GOD will finally Bless The Child That Got His Own…

However this was not to be…With only 2.1 seconds left in regulation Kansas Sniper Mario Chalmers Delivered A Fatal Shot To The Heart Of Tiger Nation Which Ricocheted 'Round The World… Like The JFK Zapruder film this is going to be replayed for many years to come on Youtube and ESPN Classic…Probably the most important and devastating shot in recent NCAA Div. 1 Men's Basketball Championship History, it unmercifully ripped the scab off a wound that was only beginning to heal properly…

The loss literally deflated many in Memphis and all those in Tiger Nation like a punctured basketball…It felt as though all of us was declawed without even being given anesthetic or a reason why...How could Memphis have a 9 point lead with 2:12 minutes to go and all of a sudden have one of the greatest collapses in sports history??? Memphis' collapse was in a lot of ways comparable to Major League Baseball's NY Mets losing their lead in the standings late and playing themselves out of the playoffs and as division champs last season because in both cases conventional logic was defied or suspended...How could a team that have been hitting their free throws with amazing clarity and consistency throughout the tournament all of a sudden go 1 for 5 with arguably their best free throw shooters (First Team All American Chris Douglas Roberts and freshmen phenom Derrick Rose) on the line in the closing moments of regulation??? By not closing the deal the Tigers left the door open for a bleeding and dying Kansas to play the role of Lazarus, resurrecting themselves from Hoosiers Purgatory to Net Cutters' Heaven…

The 2007-2008 Memphis Tigers was a team destined for greatness…Nobody won more games and nobody was ever more under appreciated while doing so…They were always the underdogs for most of the tournament being dismissed by most of the so called college basketball experts and pundits for their lack of free throw etiquette although they lost only one game all season, was ranked number one for many consecutive weeks, and have beaten quality teams such as Georgetown, UCLA, USC and Gonzaga…

Memphis never got the attention or respect for being a perennial powerhouse in college basketball…Until this year…Albeit begrudgingly so…And only because they forced the issue by winning more games than anyone in history…Calipari was The Wizard Of The Bluff City, a master magician who held the city and many in basketball country spellbound by the majesty and artistry of his team which seemed to be blessed abundantly by the Basketball Gods, a hoops version of Achilles…And like Achilles their one weakness would be their undoing…The Tigers' weakness was of course free throw shooting…

When I saw the final score 75-68 something came across my mind as quick as lightning…They weren't suppose to win this year…Another thing cemented this when I kept on hearing the commentator said the Tigers' dream wasn't fulfilled, their dream wasn't realized…Then I immediately realized the power of those words as well as the significance of the Tigers scoring 68 points…

40 years ago on April 4, 1968 the nation lost a Real Dreamer on the Lorraine Hotel Balcony in Memphis, Tn…40 years later his dream has yet to be realized…In a way this was karmic justice not against the Tigers team, but against the City of Memphis…It was inspiring to see a city known for its stifling segregation to come together, Black and White, rally around a team composed of young Black men working together instead of killing each other for a goal which was worthwhile…In the City of Good Abode where one of the worst deeds in American History was done, this was indeed a very powerful statement…

However, Memphis has a long way to go in terms of how it treats its citizens of color which represents the majority of the city…40 years later the sanitation workers that Dr. King fought and died for still do not have a pension fund…"Minority" businesses only represent less than 1% of the total annual revenue in the city…Yes we have a Black Mayor, but we also have Black students dropping out at astonishing rates and one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world…Memphis will soon be home to the world's largest private prison, is already the STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) Capitol of the United States and owner of one of the worst crime rates in the country…

Frederick Douglass once said "it is easier to raise strong children than it is to repair broken men"…Unfortunately many of the children are already broken before they get started…Working with schools I have met kids who could not read or write proficiently at 16, 17 and 18 years of age…I have met kids who were 14 and 15 with two kids and one on the way and who can barely read and write…How in the hell can you expect them to fill out a job application when they can't spell their own name???

By them having kids before they are truly ready, they are raising another generation mired in crime and poverty, 1 out of 9 African American males aged 20-34 are currently locked up or down in the U.S. prison industry complex…The state of Louisiana which has the highest incarceration rate than any place in the world spends more money to lock up Black kids ($500,000 per individual) than to educate them (only $5,000 per individual)…Black folks represent almost half of the U.S. prison population and yet we are only 12% of the general population…In New York City, 50% of African American males aged 18-64 are currently unemployed…

Nationally only 50% of African Americans graduate from high school, in Detroit a dismal 24. 9 %, Baltimore a stunning 34% and places like L.A. and NYC it's 45%...These places have a sizable African American population…Our collective futures are being undermined by institutional racism as well as by our own inaction and indifference concerning matters of survival…

So I write "Yes The Dream Was Not Fulfilled" yesterday nor has it been in the 40 years since MLK's untimely homegoing…But it is up to you and I to take control of the game and lead the ball up the court and to score the winning shot…Are you game???

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special~Eye-Witness To A Crucifixion: The Last Days Of MLK:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/07/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio-1