NOTHING BUT A “G” THANG, BEATS BY DRE’ FEATURED!

HOWARD W/ HIS

Hip-Hop heavyweight Dr. Dre’ has designed some state-of-the-art headphones, and TEAM USA are his marketing team. Everyone on the team has a pair and many of the players affirm the head phones are a quality investment.

Dr. Dre’ has worked with many notable hip-hop artists, though its work with Eminem & 50 Cent that are most notable. Eminem & 50 are signed to his label, AfterMath Records.

“Yeah, Dre said we all need to make a beat and have it ready when we get back,” Howard said while explaining why the legendary artist gave them the headphones.

“Actually, Dr. Dre is friends with LeBron James, who gave them to all the players before they left for China. You can find most of the players walking out the locker room after games with them hanging around their necks or atop their heads. Deron Williams and Tayshaun Prince slipped them off just before practice on Friday.”

The headphones are called, “Beats by Dr. Dre” and the website claims that are “the most advanced headphones ever developed” while letting listeners “experience music the way artists want you to, with extreme clarity, deep bass, and full power.”

Carmelo Anthony vouched for them. And he should know, especially after he downloaded more than 3,000 songs onto his iPod before coming. “You listen to the music, you feel like you’re in a studio atmosphere. It’s that quality,” he said.

 

They should be that quality. The headphones cost $350. Howard said, “I never met up with him, but I’m real glad [Dr. Dre] offered us some headphones. I like headphones.

I had a lot of different headsets. They are nice. They are good.”

I’m sure by next NBA season all the players will have a pair of these head phones, and who knows they just may be in the hands of mainstream America as well…..

 

SO. FLA. PHENOM DEBUTS, BEIJING OLYMPICS, HAITIAN OLYMPIC TRACK TEAM

FOUR-TIME U. OF MIAMI ALL-AMERICAN

 GINOU ETIENNE

AS A JUNIOR (2006): Earned All-ACC in the 400-meters (52.18) finishing in second place at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships…has recorded three wins this outdoor season in the 800-meters…has the fourth fastest time in the East Region and 10th fastest in the NCAA in the 800-meters…member of the 4×400 that won Penn Relays and Texas Relays…ran a 50.7 split at Penn Relays to help Miami post the fastest time in the nation this season (3:27.85)…the winning time was also the second fastest in the history of the Penn Relays…ran the 400-meter leg of the Sprint Medley Relay that set a UM record at Penn Relays (3:46.34)…earned All-American honors during the indoor season as a member of the 4×400 meter relay that broke the school record and finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships…earned All-ACC honors in during the indoor season finishing second in the 400 meters (53.69) and running the opening leg of the 4×400 meter relay that won the ACC title, breaking the ACC Indoor Conference meet record (3:38.40).

AS A SOPHOMORE (2005): Earned All-America honors during the indoor season placing fifth in the 400-meters (53.04) at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships…set a school-record in the preliminaries with a time of 52.65 seconds…earned All-American honors during the outdoor season as a member of the 4×400-meter relay…ran second leg of the 4×400-meter relay that placed fourth with a school record time of 3:28.78 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships…ran opening leg of the ACC Indoor Champion 4×400-meter relay…won two meet titles in the 400-meters during the indoor season (Tyson Foods Invitational, Alex Wilson Invitational)…placed fifth in the 400-meters at the NCAA East Regional with a time of 52.40 seconds…ran anchor leg of the 4×400-meter relay that placed second at the NCAA East Regional…reached the semifinals of the 400-meters at the 2005 United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Carson, CA…finished eighth in the 400-meters (52.87) at the Central American and Caribbean Senior Track and Field Championships in Nassau, The Bahamas…established a Haitian national record time of 52.69 in the preliminaries.

AS A FRESHMAN (2004): Earned All America honors as a member of the eighth place 4×400-meter relay team at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (3:31.70)…BIG EAST Indoor Champion at 500-meters with a school record time of 1:11.48…set a season-best indoor time in the 400-meters at the Tyson Invitational (53.58)…ran the lead leg of the 4×400-meter relay team that finished tenth at the NCAA Indoor Championships (3:37.41)…was also a member of the 4×400-meter relay teams that finished first at the NCAA East Regional (3:32.10) and BIG EAST Outdoor Championships (3:37.37)…was a member of the school-record setting 4×200-meter team that finished second at the Texas Relays (1:33.45)…finished fifth in the 400-meters at the NCAA East Regional with a time of 51.94 seconds…set a Hurricane season-best time of 2:15.74 in the 800-meters at the Hurricane Invitational.

HIGH SCHOOL: Competed in track at Miami Central… Miami Herald All-Dade selection as a senior… holds school-record in the 400-meters (53.74)… team MVP as a junior and senior… team captain as a senior… District 13 and Region 4 Champion in the 400-meters as a senior… finished second in the 400-meters (53.73), and ran the anchor leg of the runner-up 4×800-meter relay and fourth-place 4×400-meter relay to lead Miami Central to a sixth-place finish at the Class 3A-4A State Championships as a senior…won a bronze medal in the 400-meters at the 2003 USATF Junior Olympics…member of state champion 4×800 relay her junior year (9:29)… finished third in the 400-meters at the State Championships as a sophomore and junior… on principal’s honor roll senior year… coached by John Rolle.

PERSONAL: Full name is Ginou Etienne… born January 12, 1985… daughter of Alina Etienne… has three siblings, Patrick (25), Esther (20), and Nerline (11)… Biology major… plans to become a physical therapist… attended same high school as former hurricane running back Willis McGahee… … enjoys creative writing, tap dancing, and playing the piano in her free time.

 

Ginou Etienne’s Personal Bests

Event	Time/Mark	Location	Date
400-meters (i)	52.65	Fayetteville, AR	3/11/05
500-meters (i)	1:11.48	Syracuse, NY	2/22/04
400-meters (o)	51.94	Gainesville, FL	5/29/04
800-meters (o)	2:06.14	Coral Gables, FL	4/15/06

Source: U of M Track

Ginou is representing, Haiti, in the 29th Olympiad at the Beijing Games in China. She is a four time All-American athlete who excelled in the 4×400 relay, and the 400m. Her specialty is the sprints, and she is a local high school phenom in the Miami-Dade county area.

She attended William H. Turner Technical Arts in high school. Certainly, Ginou has tremendous support from fans, family & friends throughout Miami and all of Florida. This is her first olympic experience, hopefully not the last for this multi talented sprinter.

GO GINOU REPRESENT….

ALLEZ GINOU REPRESENTE’…..

 G

WORLD’S FASTEST HUMAN, MEN’S 100 M HEATS UP IN BEIJING

In the quarterfinal of the men’s 100 meters race, American Tyson Gay wasn’t at full form. Certainly, a few weeks ago he pulled his hamstring, yet this was just his second race since that incident. Gay finished 2nd in his heat, that saw Richard Thompson blow by him effortlessly. If Gay is to win gold he will need to step up his game.

Richard Thompson, from Trinidad is the NCAA reigning champion. He represented LSU in those games.

Other notable athletes in this race were Usain Bolt, Jamaica, smoked his heat barely breaking a sweat, even mockingly turning his head side-to-side to look his competitors off as he advanced.

Asafa Powell finished first [10.02] in his heat, followed closely by American Walter Dix[10.08], and Bahamian Derrick Atkins [10.14].

So, in the much anticipated semi-final of the Men’s 100 meter key qualifier race we have the following sprinters:

                                                                1. USAIN BOLT    JAM

2. ASAFA POWELL   JAM

3. TYSON GAY   USA

4. WALTER DIX   USA

5. DARVIS PATTON   USA

6. DERRICK ATKINS   BAH

7. MARC BURNS   TRI

8. FRANCIS OBIKWELU    GBR

BEIJING 08, PHELPS WINS 7TH GOLD IN 100 M FREESTYLE

• 15 overall Olympic medals.
• 13 overall Gold medals in Olympic competition.
• Ties Mark Spitz {1972} for 7 GOLD medals at any Olympic games.

This race was the most amazing of all the rest considering the fact that he had to come from behind in the last 20 meters. He OUT TOUCHED Cavic, form Serbia by 0.01 of a second. It ws literally a photo finish.

No one watching the race believed Phelps won, not even his mom, whom seemed to collapse momentarily when he appeared to finish 2nd. Talk about family pressure. I saw it several times and wasn’t really convinced until I saw it in SUPA SLO MO. Without a doubt, Phelps touched the wall first with a gigantic leap.

Still, I could see why the Serbians challenged it, there was no way he ws supposed to win. The amount of distance he had to make up, and he seemed to fade as the race went on.  In the end, there he was.  It was almost anti-climatic because you almost expected them to over turn the victory.. It ws surreal!!

Nonetheless, the digital keypad records contact from a high speed camera. Despite this, the Serbian coach for Cavic filed an official complaint to dispute Phelps win, though at the end of the night he was on the podium recieving his 7th gold medal. Noticeably, Phelps & Cavic didn’t shake hands while standing next to one another on the medal stand.

Michael Phelps’ legacy is cemented. He is arguably the greatest Olympian ever, but most assuredly the greatest American Olympian.

GOING HALF ON A BABY, JAY & BEY?

“Beyonce’s getting double-teamed to give in and get pregnant,” The closest people to her are all about the newlyweds getting it in with an addition. Although, Bey seems to have her own plans, she’s not quite ready to lock it down like that just yet….

“Both her husband and her mother want to see her have a child.”

 “Jay-Z is ready to have children,” said another source. “He and Beyonce dated for years, now they’re married, and for him it’s time for children.”

So, what’s she waiting for? Recent reports say this MEGA couple is worth a combined $500 million or HALF a BILLION! In spite of all their 99 problems, we know money isn’t one of them.

BREAK UP 2 MAKE UP, SHAQ & SHAUNIE BACK 2GETHER..

Shaquille made big noise when the public first learned of his desire to get a divorce from his wife. However, it seems cooler heads prevail, with what now seems to be reconciliation between the former Miami Heat player & his wife.

Its always a good thing when couple who have numerous children reconcile. Not to mention, I’m sure its “cheaper to keep her” as they say. Hopefully, now Shaq can redeem his lackluster season with Phoenix this upcoming season. I think he can succeed with a full season under his belt with the Suns, and they have got some relief for him, Nash & Stoudemire to make a deep run in the playoffs…

“Neither one of us could probably answer why we were getting one in the first place,” Shaunie O’Neal said. Shaquille O’Neal filed for divorce in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in September 2007, after nearly five years of marriage.

“Things have been going so great, that someone actually had to remind us that ‘Hey, you do remember those papers are still there.’ Literally, it was days ago,” Shaunie O’Neal said. “So, we’ve agreed that before we leave Florida in a few days we’ll make sure that that’s gone away.”

“The kids and I kind of learned about the divorce at the same time,” Shaunie O’Neal said. “So that was hard. That was probably the worst part of the whole thing, was being able to deal with how hurt the whole kids were.”

Well, now that all seems well in the O’Neal household they can burn those papers which should save Shaq millions. Especially, since we recently recieved word of his outlandish spending habits, I’m sure every penny counts. I can’t hate on him, if you got it spend it, you can’t take it with you!

KIM KARDASHIAN SAYS HER BUTT IS 2 BIG

Kim Kardashian was critical of one of her few assets, her round figure. Guess when you getting paid for not really doing anything you have to make up things to do to keep your self occupied. I would have thought she had enough busy work between tracking down all the rumors circulating about her. Moreover, trying to keep up with her super fast boy friend Reggie Bush.

Seriously, Kim you have no complaints from a purely physical stand point, so please don’t berate your self. Its unbecoming!! Ask any Black man about your posterior, and I’m sure that you’ll get no complaints…Better enjoy it while you can, once gravity sets in thats it…

“I love that I’m curvy, but I’m on this major kick to try and lose weight, especially in my butt,” she states. “I’m just so over it! When you’re posing on the red carpet and the paparazzi shout, ‘Turn around! Turn around!’ — it gets a little offensive.”

Hmmm, Kim is famous for what again? I mean what is her talent? Why is she relevant? Exactly, and she’s complaining about camera men’s fetich for a certain part of her anatomy.

She should stop complaining because that’s what moved her career forward. Her best bet get a real talent, and change everyone’s focus from your form to your essence…..

HOW SWEET IT IS, BEIJING 08, USA AVENGES LOSS TO GREECE

At the end of the first quarter the score was USA 20, Greece 16. Nevertherless, the score was 52-31 favoring the U.S. team at the halfway point. It was clear to all doubters and detractors this wasn’t the 2006 Team USA from the World Championship in Japan, nor the Athens Olympic team from 2004. This was the REDEEM TEAM 2008 BEIJIING!  

They moved the ball around on offense and ran some offensive sets, though they still struggled from the 3 point line this was the biggest win for them to date. Effectively erasing the disappointing loss that hastened the entire way the U.S. selection committee chooses its teams. This was a statement game with the biggest risk, a U.S. loss, on the line. They overcame!

“We played like we wanted to win. We played together,” U.S. guard Dwyane Wade said. “We were very aware of their offensive sets, we were very aware of their personnel and we played like that. So we were kind of a step in front of what they wanted to do because we kind of knew everything already.”

Wade had 17 points, James 13 points, and Bosh & Bryant each had 18 points. The USA team broke open what appeared to be a close in hte beginning with a suffocating defense. They were playing the passing lanes deflecting & stealing passes. They were clogging the lane and blocking shots at the rim.

“Any time you get beat it’s embarrassing and that’s enough,” Bosh said. “And we can really use that as a tool to help us with our defense now, and that’s the name of the game. Because if you play good defense, no matter how you’re shooting the ball you’re going to be in the game.”

Indeed, Kobe continued his theme of guarding the top perimeter player Vasileios Spanoulis, the top Greek scorer.

“I don’t think the pick-and-roll tonight was as big a problem as it was in ‘06,” Carmelo Anthony said.

The game was so intense during one defensive series, Dwight Howard blocked away a shot right into Jason Kidd’s head, then again, James & Bosh each had rejections in the third-quarter.

 United States of America 92, Greece 69. Revenge is best served COLD AS ICE…

GONE LIKE THE WIND, PROFESSIONAL BALL PLAYER OVERSEAS

Free Agent guard from the New Orleans Hornets Jannero Pargo is leaving the Hornets for a bigger contract with Moscow Dynamo in Russia.

Pargo has agreed to a deal for $3.8 million and is good for one year. Pargo averaged 8.1 points in 18.7 minutes in the regular season for the Hornets. 

Moscow Dynamo has another NBA import, Bostjan Nachbar from the New Jersey Nets.

To be sure, Russia has imported a lot of American talent, not only to play on their Euro League team, but Olympic team as well. J.R. Holden & Becky Hammond play for the Russian National Team in the Beijing Olympics.

BEIJING OLYMPICS LIUKIN & JOHNSON GO 1 & 2, AMAZING

Through the first two rotations on vault & uneven bars, Liukins & Johnson were back and forth, and neck-in-neck. First rotation, on the vaults, Liukin STUCK her landing. In Contrast, Johnson cross stepped her landing stepping forward slightly. Though, Liukin had a good uneven bar routine she didn’t stick her landing on her dismount, conversely, Johnson STUCK her dismount on uneven bars. Overall, Liukin STUCK 3 out of 4 landings…..AMAZING!!

This was a showdown between America & China’s best gymnast in individual competition. It also featured the friendly rivalry between a pair of U.S. gymnast Natasha Liukin & Shawn Johnson. Johnson, who is the reigning world champion and silver medal winner in Beijing, almost beat out Liukin again.

Before the event began, each woman drew randomly to determine the order each would perform the last event, the floor exercise. At that time, those three, Liukin {1} YiLIn {2} & Johnson {3} epochly, were the top three in medal contention through all 3 preceeding events. This made the atmosphere electric & very tense as the. Also, the athletes had to wait for a greeen light to begin their routines.

Johnson was a favorite of Mary Lou Retton, who was in the house actively supporting Johnson. Previously, Johnson had outmatched Liukin at the U.S. championships and Olympic trials. She was a crowd favorite, eerily, reminding you of Mary Lou from years past. Her dream of a gold medal, and being today’s Mary Lou just wasn’t to be in this competition. Though she shined just the same and all Americans celebrate her & Liukin’s achievements.

Although, at the women’s all around competition Liukin was spectacular. Liukin finished with a final score of 63.325 points a mere six-tenths ahead of Shawn Johnson, though the competition was fiercely closer.

In the end, Nastia Liukin of the U.S. narrowily escaped teammate Shawn Johnson for the gold medal in women’s all-around gymnastics on Friday in Beijing. Yang Yilin of China won the bronze. In a showdown of the world’s best gymnasts, these three gymnast didn’t ease up with theater, drama, and entertainment.

If you missed it, then you missed an iconic moment in American athletics that will be celebrated for a lifetime.