Blog entries for tsparks

The Sports Bag: Do We Care About The Bears?

tsparks — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:03:35 GMT

This week is Bears-Packers week. There has been some back-and-forth talk about what the Bears were going to do to the Packers in their matchup at Soldier Field Sunday.

There's no need to worry. If the Bears want a challenge, I'd say bring it.

The team have other things to worry about than if they can beat the Packers. Their quarterback might not show up in Week 3. He didn't show up last week in New Orleans.

What on earth are the Bears thinking? Aaron Rodgers will have his way and throw the ball all over the worn-out grass at Soldier Field. Why is the grass so bad? It's not like 10 teams use the field every week.

If the organization have problems with the field, take it to the Chicago Park Authority. They own the stadium. Better yet, take it to their newly-elected mayor, Rahn Emmanuel. Isn't he trying to trim the fat from the city budget?

Many players around the NFL would call Soldier Field the worst in the league. The Packers better watch out for potholes that may be hidden somewhere in the grass.

Before they put down that sorry grass in that stadium, the field was Astroturf. And back then, it was probably one of the worst carpeted fields after the carpet at the old Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia.

I think the Bears are still mad because the Packers came into their house and stole the NFC Crown from them. Actually, they can blame their third string QB for throwing the interception to B.J. Raji. The nose tackle held that ball out there like a loaf of bread and cut a rug into the end zone.

We don't care about the Bears. We treat their fans fairly good, but when we come down there, beware. Any vehicles with Wisconsin plates on them might get vandalized. And since you're from out of town, the city can care less about your vehicle, unless they're towing it to the impound.

Look, if anything from the Packers' side leaks out to the Bears' side, then both teams better be ready to respond to the back and forth woofing. Bottom line is that the Packers have the talent to win Sunday's game.

Neo-Nazi Group Won't Do a Thing

tsparks — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 03:26:42 GMT

Let the Neo-Nazi group come near State Fair Park. They're not the Ku Klux Klan or the Skinheads. This group will come here Saturday to take a stand.

What kind of stand will they take? You wouldn't call this white group the gatekeepers of the city of West Allis.

For them, the call to help innocent white people who were trying to enjoy the first day of State Fair is about two weeks too late. They should have been here on the second day of the fair.

Young black kids went around and attacked whites for no reason. The Neo-Nazi's will bring some strong guys with them to retaliate just in case some blacks come near them and start some drama.

One black writer of a community newspaper told his readers not to show up. That might be a good idea. If some black groups come over to the southwest side, they will need every available law enforcement to keep things in check.

The question isn't whether the Neo-Nazi group has the right to congregate in a public setting, but whether the neighbors want that headache after going through all that choas with the black youths.

And think about how much tax money it will cost West Allis residents to provide extra security to for the knuckleheads.

It might be some white people from the younger generation that will start the ruckus. The older white supremacy groups have already been there and done that.

Since authorities got the head's up for the five or so Neo-Nazi members that plan on being there, everything will be nothing more than little shouting and name-calling. It will be a surprise it gets out of hand.

High School Football Fever

tsparks — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:54:13 GMT

High schools all across the state of Wisconsin began the first week of Friday Night lights. Most of the schools played their first football game Friday, almost two weeks before the first official school day.

For me, it was either go to the Packers preseason game at Lambeau Field or watch a high school game. I chose to watch some kids who were playing their first real game of the season instead of professionals going through a dress rehearsal for half a game before giving way to third-stringers trying to make the team.

The game I went to at Germantown was lopsided. They beat Whitnall, 56-0. Whitnall's coach tried to blame the beatdown on the heat and practicing for about two weeks before their season opener. He had a new team with only three returning starters. And some of his players didn't have enough time to transition from summer baseball to football, blah, blah, blah.

Since the WIAA moved the football season up a couple of weeks, there is nothing the schools can do about it. Teams will either adjust to the heat and the early start or they won't.

There will be another time to catch a Packers game in Green Bay. Just think of how early I had to leave to navigate through road construction on Highway 41. I thought they were done with road work. Didn't they work on that road last year?

Traffic would have been backed up with people driving up there from areas south of Oshkosh. It was the Milwaukee season ticket holders' night. No thank you. I went through that drama two other times with those travelers the last two years I went to Packer home games.

When I go to the last Packers game on Sept. 1, I will take I-43 instead. I guess I have to leave early and stay late to avoid traffic jams. That will include the eight regular season games I plan to attend. If tonight's game was a regular season game, I would've skipped the high school game and went up to Lambeau.

Happy To Be Working

tsparks — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:51:32 GMT

A copule of days ago, I pulled out of my garage getting ready to drive to work. As I drove down the alley, there was another man already at work.

He probably clocked in at the break of dawn, around 6:00 a.m. I was still in bed tossing and turning. It was too early for me to get up.

This guy is his own boss. He doesn't have to answer to a boss on the job. The idea of working independently is more to his liking.

Weather is always a big factor in whether anyone who works outdoors, like myself, feels like going out to get some exercise. Both of us didn't mind the weather this time of the year.

Talk about the early bird catching the worm, this man beat me out the door and was on the job for 70 minutes after I woke up from my bed.

Sometimes, I wonder what people get out of watching other people working outside during the day. That includes street constuction workers, roofers, mail carriers, cable TV installers, etc.

For once, I got to see someone else at work before I was on my way to the job. I was happy to see another man do what he had to to help put food on the table, if that's what he was doing.

And when I saw this guy, I thought, "He don't have to pay taxes. There is no limit on how many hours he could work. Plus, he gets paid the same day. I have to wait two weeks for my money."

There are many men I see digging in garbage cans or looking on the ground for cans or any other items that can be taken to the scrapyard for money. But most of the junkmen don't talk on a cellphone.

The man who walked down my alley was talking to somebody on a cellphone. His looked better than mine. I guess that's some state-of-the-art way of telling the person on the other end what metal scraps they found in backyards and how much it might be worth.

There was one thing we had in common that day: We were both happy to be working that day.

Robbers Didn't Care About Killing Pregnant Woman

tsparks — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:02:14 GMT

The pregnant woman with twins in her belly who was gunned down in front of her teenage son was trying to go to work. Two black men didn't have anything better to do than to kill her because she wouldn't give up her purse.

Do you know where the killers are? Someone does. I want to know whose house they're hiding in. Wherever they are, the ones who are harboring them should be jailed as well.

It was an odd time for the woman and her son to be out around N. 37th and W. Lisbon Av. at 5:30 a.m. Do you mean to tell me that no one else was out around that time when the sun was about to rise?

Further down the street, between 31st and 34th and Lisbon, you might see some women out trying to sell their bodies for money. I heard that our former female police chief was an undercover prostitute in that area when she was an officer on street duty, but that's neither here nor there.

The two thugs committed two earlier robberies before they victimized that woman. Did they really have to go that low to take from a mother who was trying to take care of her many kids and her elderly father?

I know most of you will say that she should have handed over her purse. The cops will tell you that if you are in the process of being robbed, cooperate with the robbers. At least you will get to live another day. You might lose something materialistic and valuable, but you get to live another day.

Those guys didn't give a rat's rear end about the woman. They wanted some more money. It wasn't clear if there was any money in the purse.

Kudos for the many people who are pitching in to help the kids and the grandfather who is overburdened with young kids. You might see some community leaders and the alderman, whoever represents that area, speak out against the attack.

No one is listening to Mayor Tom Barrett's plea to curb the summer violence. That fell on deaf ears.

As for the woman who walked with her son to try to get her ex-husband's car to drive to work, she didn't deserve to be in harm's way.

Why couldn't the ex bring the car to her or dropped it off overnight? Wonder how he feels right about now?

I hope those guys are caught right away. Meanwhile, watch your back at all times.

Annual Reunion Picnic Peaceful

tsparks — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:46:00 GMT

Every year on the first Sunday in August, there's a reunion picnic at Carver Park. Usually, there's no drama, just people catching up.

There I saw generations of people who either live or used to live in Hillside or Lapham Park over the years. Most of the people who are from either project that I saw were young and I didn't know them.

Some of the old school folks I grew up with were scattered all over the park. There was a long history of a bitter rivalry between the two projects for years. You name it, it happened. We're talking about fights, threats, beatdowns and dirty looks.

I lived in Hillside, so anybody from Lapham didn't dare cross our territory to walk downtown. Now we're trying to get past that and keep the peace.

And to help keep the peace, there were Milwaukee County's finest law enforcement team posted in the park, about 30 cars deep.

Sheriff David Clarke made sure his deputies were at African World Festival Saturday and State Fair Park to stop any mob attacks. Sunday, they were at Carver Park, in case something jumped off.

Here, you didn't find any drama. The parents were with their kids. The grills were everywhere all over the park. Music blasted from some of the cars, but there was no drama.

If anything was to happen, there were enough older people at the park to make sure that the reunion picnic remained drama-free. None of that nonsense that took place at State Fair Park was happening at the park, which is in Lapham territory.

They had the annual Hillside vs. Lapham Park basketball game, and the rough play on the outdoor court almost resulted in some pushing and shoving and some trash-talking. But what can you say? That was the way the rivalry games has always been.

I don't know if the peaceful atmosphere will change next year. Since the gun law passed, who's to say if some people come to the park packing heat next year.

State Fair Attacks Were Racial

tsparks — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:26:50 GMT

It was a good thing that I didn't attend State Fair Park Thursday night. Tone Loc and M.C. Hammer were in concert. I thought about seeing them, but would have seen the worst public disturbance at the Fair.

You have heard the reports by now about the large group of young black people who for no reason attacked innocent fairgoers around the amusement park rides. What was on their minds?

Did one person yell to the group to go on attack mode? Didn't we just go through this kind of mess not too long ago?

It was bad enough that these hoodlums brought their ghetto, fake gangster behaviors from the north side of town to the southwest suburbs and West Allis.

Do you think those residents want that crap in their neighborhoods? I don't think so.

And when the black group of young people left the fairgrounds and attacked innocent white people only, I knew then that those were racial attacks.

We're still trying to get over the Riverwwest attacks. Now people in West Allis have to come to grips that the mindset of black youths who feed off the thrill to act violent is fake.

This time, no black community leaders or black politicians can say that the bad economy caused them to act a fool. We might hear the argument that there weren't enough summer jobs that wouuld have given them something better to do with their time.

Those kids who were part of the race rioting don't have any home training. If they would've acted civilized, then there would be no new admission policy for children under 18 years old.

And I turned on the TV to get some reaction from any black leaders. Didn't see any. I'm sure they heard about the incidents by daybreak today.

So all this stop the violence march and rally last week backfired on the black community. What disturbed me when I heard about the mob attack of whites outside the fairgrounds was them not knowing who those people were.

If five white people attacked a black youth standing at the bus stop, the alarm would have been sounded in the inner city. Black leaders, pastors and community leaders would have set up all kinds of podiums to speak out against that attack. Someone would've dispatched Jesse Jackson and Michael McGee Sr. to the scene. It would've been the topic of discussion for two weeks.

As a result of that incident on Thursday, extra security was dispatched to State Fair Park to prevent that from happening and to ease the fear from white people. Law enforcement will be stretched out and working overtime to babysit people at the lakefront air show and African World Festival.

Next year, people will be packing heat, so the young people better watch out.

Weekend Violence Overshadows Peace Rally

tsparks — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:17:30 GMT

By Troy Sparks

Last Friday, organizers from the Riverwest community marched in the heat from the Holton Youth Center on Holton and Burleigh Sts. to North Division High School on 12th and Center Sts. It was a peaceful walk to the high school track that included food, music and messages on stopping the violence.

It was a show of unity after the July 3 incident that was well-publicized. It hardly erased the memory from that night of attacks and looting at a nearby gas station.

Then over the past weekend, there were multiple shootings. It seemed that people forgot that Mayor Tom Barrett preached the message for a violence-free summer.

Most of those shootings were probably over some nonsense. Sometimes, police categorize shootings as drug-related or gang-related.

So we know that being in the wrong place at the wrong time is an overstatement. People should be able to walk anywhere, say or night, without fear of being shot.

If I'm out at 3 a.m., I will check my surroundings. Gun-toting hoodlums don't own the streets. It seems that if you don't have a gun when you're roaming the streets late at night, then you're up the creek.

Are your elected officials out late at night by themselves? The answer is no. But some of them can show up during the day and talk about people taking their neighborhood back and putting an end to violence on the streets.

Truth is, there will be some form of violence somewhere in the city of Milwaukee or even the suburbs. The police can't be everywhere.

By the way, have anyone seen the Guardian Angels lately? They might come out about once every five years. If you see them around, give me a holler.

Good thing the summer is almost over so some of the hot tempers can cool down.

Are Milwaukee Cops Trigger Happy?

tsparks — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:14:08 GMT

By Troy Sparks

Nine people have been shot by Milwaukee police officers this year. Some of them were justified through self defense.

Most, if not all of them were black. They have no respect for law enforcement when they shoot at cops or lunge at them with a knife. In those situations, if the officers fear for their lives, I'd say that shooting to slow them down is fair. Killing suspects who are attacking them aren't.

The latest suspect shot by a Milwaukee police officer wasn't justified, especially if the man he shot embarassed him in a one-on-one struggle.

According to the Journal-Sentinel, an officer saw the man coming over the fence after he took some items from a scrap yard in the inner city. The cop, according to the story, didn't call for backup. Guess he was trying to solve the crime himself.

It would've made sense if the cop called for some help. Instead, he wanted to be the hero. He must have been watching too many police drama shows on TV.

When the officer followed the man around the corner from the scrap yard and questioned him, he didn't know what the man was capable of doing.

Obviously, the tables turned on the officer when he tried to put the man in the squad car. Then the man ripped his badge and radio off from his shirt. The cop then realized that he bit off more than he could chew.

The suspect got the best of the cop, and he got shot. Now he is lying in the hospital in critical condition.

What was wrong with calling for help? The incident happened at N. 30th and W. Concordia Sts. The nearest police station is on 37th and Fond du Lac, just a short ride to the scene.

There were plenty of people around who heard the shot from the cop's gun in the neighborhoood. You know what they think: Another white cop shooting an innocent black man.

Is it really neccessary to shoot a guy who stole some scraps from the yard? There's not much cash that the man can make trying to sell junk.

Now you have a man in the hospital, and the taxpayers will have to foot the bill. I'm guessing that he has no health insurance or working a job. Otherwise, he would have no need to steal junk from a scrap yard.

This wasn't an situation where the officer feared for his life, according to the statement. It's an example of Shaft trying to take down the bad guy by himself and makes himself look good at the same time. Can we all say, dumb cop? Next time get some backup.

Mob Attacks By Black Youths Unacceptable

tsparks — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:14:20 GMT

No matter what race you are, all of us who saw the actions of mostly young black people on tape at a gas station as wrong.

Never had I saw a large group of kids ransack a gas station at one time. And they must have been that hungry and thirsty to help themselves from the cooler and the snack aisles.

The fireworks at the lakefront on the night of July 3 ended before 11 p.m. What I want to know is who organized the mob of kids to walk up the hill and go to a gas station.

All it took was for someone to lead the charge so the rest of the group can fall in line like the pied piper and follow along.

I believe that the last time I checked, the city of Milwaukee still had a curfew for those who are under 17 years old. Some of the young kids in the video looked to be under 17.

If you look at the videotape, it was crystal clear that we got a good shot, in color, of who some of the perpetrators were.

Did the parents know where their kids were at that time? No they didn't.

A separate group of young blacks attacked other adults. One woman who was visiting from New York suffered a fractured jaw. Thank God there were some people in the area that cared for the injured.

Before anyone comes to conclusions, I don't think that was a hate crime. It were several knuckleheads acting a fool and injuring innocent people. Boy, wait until Gov. Walker signs the concealed carry bill this week. People might rush to get guns for protection.

To his credit, police chief Ed Flynn said that crime has no color. Many in the black community don't see it that way.

Flynn held a community forum in the Riverwest area to hear from residents. When some of the black people speak out about holding those accountable for their actions, it bodes some credit to the community.

The president of the local NAACP played it off in an interview by believing that the looting at the gas station was an economic problem.

I guess, according to the NAACP president, since young black people can't find summer jobs, they have to act out in other ways, including stealing stuff that they didn't pay for. One mother saw her kids on that video and turned them in.

All it takes is for a couple of kids to snitch to bring that whole group down.

Now back to the NAACP president for a minute. What he believed was a bunch of BS. Even if there's a shortage of summer jobs, their actions are inexcusable.

So if one of the white attack victims fought back and beat the crap out of one of the black attackers, would that be considered a hate crime?

Juneteenth Not The Same Anymore

tsparks — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:36:52 GMT

Back in the day as a kid, I enjoyed going to the Juneteenth festival in the 1980's. It was not as crazy as it is now.

You had your usual drunks talking nonsense when you walked past them. I remembered Juneteenth staying open until midnight. Somewhere along the way, other people had to spoil the fun.

Many white people think that black people act uncivilized down at Juneteenth, which stretches from W. Burleigh to W. Center Sts. right on MLK Dr.

I will admit that we don't need cops walking on foot, riding on bicycles or driving their squad cars and motorcycles to keep us in line.

After some of the black politicians got up on stage and talked about black issues and the dirty things that the Republicans did in passing recent laws, some of them were nowhere to be found. County exec Chris Abele, a white guy, could've upped his street cred if he could stand and chill without his black aide next to him.

These days, black people don't care if the district police station is near the location where they had Juneteenth. There's no respect for the cops, especially if they're lunging at them with a knife or shooting back at them.

A lot of black people won't go to the Juneteenth celebration because some people act up when they shut it down around 6 p.m. White media love taking pictures of some young blacks fighting in the streets, and that makes us look bad on TV and makes the perception that we act like animals true.

I went because every time they have it, it's on a work day. Some heavyset black women,though, should wear bigger clothes instead of letting their fat hang out and over their waistline. Other black women who wear daisy dukes with their breasts hanging out are setting themselves up for danger.

The perception of Juneteenth won't scare me away. If you think it's bad now, wait until next year when the concealed carry law is passed and some people might come to the festival packing.

Late Night Drive Thru Burns Gas

tsparks — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 03:05:34 GMT

After leaving the Brewers game Tuesday night, I went to a nearby McDonald's. Since the lobby was closed, I had to wait in line at the drive thru.

There were 11 other cars ahead of me in the lane I was in and 10 other cars in the other lane. We were burning gas like crazy while waiting to order our food.

Where were the environmentalist wackjobs when we needed them? They could've brought a plastic hose with them to measure the amount of carbon dioxide that we burned in the night air from our tailpipes.

While I waited about 10 minutes to get to the window, I estimated that I wasted about $10.00 in gas because I kept the motor running. It wouldn't have made sense to shut the car off and turn it back on when it was time to move again.

With the price of gas hovering around the $4.00 a gallon mark, who has money to waste? You may as well light a match to your money and set it on fire.

When I got up to the window, there was one cashier working both lanes and two people cooking and preparing the food. I didn't see the boss back there. He or she must have been in the office chillin'

Every car that had the windows down on this muggy night was approached by a man who went to almost every car asking for some spare change. He almost came to my window, but I rolled it up, even though I was in danger of suffocating in my car.

The guy who was five cars ahead of me took about four minutes to order. I wanted to get out my car, walk up to his car window and tell him to hurry up. It should take less than a minute to make up your mind of what you want to eat.

I think next time I will go to Sonic. At least you get to park your car while being serviced by someone on skates.

Rain, Sleet and Heat

tsparks — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:38:32 GMT

Through rain, sleet and heat, I'm on the job as a mail carrier in Milwaukee. I don't have a regular route assignment, so I was assigned to deliver mail to roadside boxes in a truck with no air conditioning.

To imagine what I went through in sweltering heat the last two days, try driving in 90-plus temperature with the windows up for four hours.

The window is actually all the way down when I go from box to box. The fan blows the same air from the outside. It's like sitting near an open door oven with the temperature on 400 degrees. Sitting in one spot for all that time is not so good.

I tell you what, it is better to do roadside delivery in the summer than the winter because it's like sitting in the refrigerator when it's December, January and February.

There's no need to complain about my job because I work outdoors. You should have sympathy for anyone who works outdoors year round in all kinds of weather.

I tried to keep one eye on the road, but there were young women dressed like hoochie mama's in tank tops and daisy duke shorts. Believe me, if I had an accident looking at them, I would have no job, and I like my job.

The weatherman said that we are getting some relief from the heat and that's a relief.

Witnesses Help Killers Avoid Prison

tsparks — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:19:45 GMT

A young black man died at the hands of two black gunmen, and the killers get to walk the streets of Milwaukee's inner city because three witnesses who saw everything refuses to cooperate.

Three young black men were walking the streets on a November day in 2009 and approached by two gunmen who robbed them. They were ordered to lie on the ground as the men went through their pockets. One man got up and ran, almost making it to his house, but he tripped and fell. The gunmen caught up with him, went through his pockets and shot him in the back.

In a police lineup, three witnesses identified the robbers, and prosecuters thought they had a chance to put the bad guys away for a long time. However, all that work on building up a case went out the window.

All of a sudden, the witnesses backed out. Maybe it was for fear of intimidation. That usually happens in neighborhoods where it's better for a witness to avoid getting themselves or their families hurt.

Unfortunately, the police can't be everywhere, and unless the witnesses had a boatload of money to pay for around-the-clock protection, they are out on their own.

So a mother lost her son, whom she said was never a troublemaker and graduated from high school. She lives in that neighborhood.

If she could afford to leave the inner city, she would. The family still has to live in the neighborhood of N. 21st and W. Hopkins St along with the rest of her neighbors. Life must go on in that neighborhood.

Since one witness refuse to talk and the other two can't be found, there's no reason to make the homicide charge stick. According to the district attorney's office, if there are no witnesses, there is no conviction. The young man died and no one was responsible for the killing.

Justice wasn't served in the black community because of a lack of cooperation by the witnesses. Where is the outrage from black leaders? I guess they know which neighborhoods to avoid raising cane in.

Those leaders can get behind a podium and say the violence needs to stop all day. The people don't trust police to protect them if they give up information because they have been through kind of experience before with witness intimidation and retaliation. The case goes down as an unsolved homicide.

Tempers Rise With the Temperature

tsparks — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:17:44 GMT

Our mayor, Tom Barrett, went to some churches and preached the message on having a safe summer in Milwaukee. What he says will go in one ear and out the other.

Black people in the inner city will come outside more as the temperature rises with the behavior to match. There's more drama on the block over some he said, she said mess.

There seems to be more fights at schools with kids the last week of the school year. It can be 80 degrees outside, and kids will throw down on the playground, on the bus or at the bus stop. To me, it's too hot to waste energy on getting mad at another person.

The grown-ups ain't any better. Last summer, I saw a street fight that started with two young girls. The adults from both sides jumped in. One guy went to his car. People who were on the porch or on the sidewalk watching ran for cover. If that guy was going to his car, he was going to get his gun. Just think if we are allowed to carry guns that it would be like the wild, wild west.

The cops can't be everywhere to stop all that nonsense on the block. And some young black people want to drive up and down the street blasting their music and disturbing the neighbors late at night. The white media captures all the action on videotape. It looks like black people making a fool of themselves, and according to them, we like looking silly in public.

Michael McGee Jr. wanted the cruisers to meet in the parking lot at Miller Park late at night on the weekends. That was shot down very quickly.

In all honesty, repeated drunk drivers get more passes than cruisers do.

As a kid, I was involved in some fights at school when it got hot. I forgot about how hot it was because my temper was hotter.

Let's hope that we see more good days this summer and less violence on the streets.

Watch Out for Line Drives

tsparks — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:11:47 GMT

When we are watching or playing in a baseball or softball game, we have to be aware of the ball caroming off the bat. Sometimes, line drives can sneak up on you without notice.

That is what happened to me Monday night in co-ed softball. I was the pitcher on the mound for my team. The opposing batter knocked the ball towards me. The ball smacked me square in the left ear, knocking me down and unconscious for about two minutes.

With the mound in softball being 40 feet from home plate, there wasn't enough time to put my glove up and protect myself. The momentum after I released the ball carried me another 10 feet off the mound.

I threw the ball at around 50 miles per hour and caught the return pitch to my ear at 75 m.p.h., 30 feet away from home plate off a titanium and expensive aluminum bat. Those kind of bats make the ball richochet at a high rate of speed.

My coach, I was told, although I don't remember it, asked the umpire to check the bat to see if it was on the list of illegal bats to use in a game. The game was stopped and will resume at a later date. It will pick up at the point when I got struck with the line drive.

Immediately, the first baseman rushed to my aid after I lied motionless. She said she yelled out for someone to call 911 but I didn't hear anything because I was knocked out. She and another teammate held me down on the ground while members from both teams gathered in a circle and prayed for me. A woman spectator who's a nurse checked on me and told me to keep talking.

There were lots of squad cars, a paramedic truck and a fire truck dispatched to McGovern Park near 51st and Silver Spring. The squad cars rushed to the park because they heard on their radios that a man was down at the park. Recently, there was a shooting at that very same park, so cops were responding accordingly.

The med techs and cops asked me for basic information, and I responded in a clear voice. It was imporrtant to see if I was aware of my surroundings. I was put on a board and taken to the nearest hospital, which was St. Joseph's on 51st and Burleigh.

I waited in the emergency room for the doctor as nurses checked my temparature and blood pressure. My pressure was much higher at the park as I lied on the ground for about 40 minutes on the cold pitcher's mound.

The doctor saw my ear and told me the cartilage from the ear was split. I lost no hearing in the left ear. The eardrum wasn't damaged, which would have shut down any hearing from that side. He gave me 17 stitches and ordered a CAT scan. The scan revealed no damage to the brain. I was ordered to take off work for three days as a precaution.

I told some of my teammates that I was going to be ready to play next week. They threated to break my legs if I showed up at the park. I'll take their advice and my girlfriend's advice and stay away for at least two games. She was the first baseman who rushed to my aid first.

15 Minutes of Fame With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

tsparks — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:27:59 GMT

NBA all-time leading scorer and best player on the Milwaukee Bucks' 1971 championship team was in town this weekend, and I got face time with him.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the keynote speaker at the Heritage of Hope celebration at the Pfister Hotel. It was a delight to talk to him one-on-one.

The "Captain" appeared on behalf of Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin. He told me that the connection to the Bucks and Froedtert's national recognition in medicine made sense.

Originally, we had a Saturday afternoon date, but it was changed to Friday. There was no way I would miss my opportunity to interview Abdul-Jabaar, especially if there's no telling when he will come back to town.

Abdul-Jabbar is dealing with chronic myeloid leukemia, which is a rare form of cancer. He still keeps a busy schedule with no intentions of slowing down.

The six-time league MVP is a content man at age 64 than he was at 22 when he was a member of the Bucks from 1969-75. He smiles more, and he wants to remember the good times in Milwaukee when the fans appreciated his talents.

I asked some questions on his opinion as a young black man growing up in the civil unrest and race riots of the 1960's, and he answered them.

When I refreshed his memory of looking a picture as an eight-year-old of Emmitt Till, a black boy who was hung by white men, apparently for whistling at a white girl, it made him sick. Till was a boy from Chicago visiting relatives down south for the summer. He didn't know any better. That moment made Abdul-Jabbar realize that he was just another black person and not just any person.

Abdul-Jabbar refused to play for the 1968 U.S. Olympic basketball team because it wasn't his country. In his mind, since there was no racial equality. there was no need to represent his country. A talk show host told Abdul-Jabbar to "Go back to Africa." That was cold.

Abdul-Jabbar realizes that racism will never go away. It was present in basketball in the earlier half of the 20th century. His film was about the New York Renaissance, an all-black team who won a lot of games in the 1920's and '30's.

Although Abdul-Jabbar remains private, he took 15 minutes out of his busy schedule to talk to a nobody like me. I will always cherish that moment.

Serial Rapist Locked Up

tsparks — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:09:46 GMT

Another fine piece of work by Milwaukee's finest. Kudos to the cops, with some help of course, for capturing and arresting the serial rapist.

This scumbag is now off the streets and won't be able to harm any more women.

The guy who was picked up is 21 years old with a criminal record to match. He must have been desperate to rape women at gunpoint. Whatever happened to rapping to them? You know, like, "Hey baby, I really want to get to know you." Oh, I forgot, he got no game.

One of the victims uncles said the rapist should get what he deserves. I agree with that.

But this is what the scumbag will get: Three meals a day, a place to sleep, phone calls and stationery and a pencil to write letters. Some ugly chick with a job will send him money for hygiene, snacks, etc., and he'll tell that lady how much he loves her. He might meet another inmate in jail that might tell him to act crazy to get a transfer to a mental institution.

I should be happy that this man is in jail. However, the taxpayers will be stuck with paying some sheriff's deputy to babysit him until his day in court.

On that day, this loser will have a court-appointed attorney to represent him. I'm sorry, he soesn't need any representation. And then his family will show up in the courtroom with a pastor, saying that he was just starting to get his life together. Oh really?

I wouldn't blame the women who were the victims if they don't trust any men. I bet if that piece of garbage was in a police lineup, every female victim would positively identify him. DNA samples from the victims and suspect matched, and that was how police knew they had the right man.

Even if this guy gets locked up for about five years, he'll getg out in three for good behavior. Hopefully, we don't see any more rapists in Milwaukee or in the state.

Fight Night At Fanatics

tsparks — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:51:03 GMT

It was fight night at Fanatics Sports Bar downtown Saturday night. When I went down there last time to watch the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito fight last November, it was standing room only. It didn't help that I didn't get there until after 9 p.m.

I was smart enough to get to the bar before 8:30 to get a seat. The earlier I got there, the better I had a chance to watch the fight sitting at the table. If I even got up and left my seat to go to the bathroom, I would lose my seat. As they say, "you move, you lose."

That was a brilliant move to get there early, especially when I looked around two hours later and saw the place filling up. It was a great night to watch a fight.

Pacquiao, this time, was fighting Shane Mosley. This was supposed to be the fight of the year, according to some boxing experts.

For the fight last November, they charged $10 a head. They upped the ante this time to $20 a person because the fight was bigger. If Fanatics paid the same amount you and I at home would have paid for the fight, $59.95, then they got off like a fat rat. There had to be more than 200 people in Fanatics.

I didn't expect to see a room full of guys at Fanatics. There were plenty of women too; some with their men, and some women who were coupled up.

My girlfriend called and asked if I was keeping the hounds off me. I told her that wasn't the case because I was chillin at the bar.

Anyways, if there were some hounds near me, I wouldn't make my move. It would be about that time that while I'm talking to the women, their guys would charge me up, wanting to fight me outside.

And since I wasn't going there, it was wise to look at the real fight on the big screens and not being part of a fight outside of the joint.

They tell you that the main event fight is to happen around 9 p.m., but that's never true. I sat there and watched two great fights leading up to the Paquiao vs. Mosley showdown.

The fight I wanted to see started around 11:05 p.m. More people were cheering when Pacquiao was announced. Some pro-Mosley fans were outnumbered by Pac fans like myself. One Mosley fan said that his man was going to pull off the upset. It didn't happen.

I was happy to save almost $40 watching the fight at a sports bar because I would have been very peed off watching Mosley running, clutching, head-butting and trying to survive for 12 rounds. When Pac Man attacked, Mosley knew he was in trouble.

Most of us were cheering loudly when Pacquiao unleashed a flurry of punches in the 11th round in trying to knock Mosley out. I wanted that to happen so bad.

After the fight was over, I left Fanatics a satisfied guy because my man Pacquiao won again.

Who's Hiding The Serial Rapist?

tsparks — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:26:11 GMT

Somebody is hiding the serial rapist in their house. He's running around somewhere in Milwaukee's central city and raping vulnerable women.

This man, who police described as a black male in his 20's, has assaulted and/or robbed seven women between the ages of 16 and 34. He operates in an area between N. 18th and N. 60th St. to the east and west and W. Wright and Center Sts. to the north and south.

That's a large area that this man covers. There are a lot of black people who are observant of anybody suspicious. The rapist shouldn't get away with attacking women if everyone is watching.

But somebody in that area know who this brother is and where he's hiding. As usual, no one who knows this guy is speaking out or telling the police anything.

I've heard of the "no snitching" code being related to shootings or drug dealing. This should be a no-brainer to turn this loser in because it could be your sister, mother or daughter that he goes after next.

I don't think that females should walk alone at night, and if they're walking alone during the day, they should look over their shoulders just in case.

Recently, a group of angry black men held a news conference to speak out against this rapist. Members of the Urban Underground stated that they won't tolerate any indecent acts by anyone in their community.

All that is fine and dandy, but where's the serial rapist? This guy has somewhere to go at night and when the weather doesn't cooperate. He's getting something to eat from somebody. I think that if police find and arrest this sexual deprived dude, they should throw other people in jail for hiding him.

Look at it this way: This rapist, if he's caught, will get a place to stay in jail, three meals a day, a lawyer and plenty of stationery to write letters, all at taxpayer's expense.

I have a solution to end this saga of the serial rapist: If he's caught, he should be humiliated in public. Anybody can step up and say that they're the serial rapist.