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The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood

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Recent Posts

• Ending With A Whimper
• Against Chicago
• “I Wasn't Scared Just Real Nervous…”
• Open Thread At Noon
• Open Thread At Noon
• It's Like They're Proud Of Being Ignorant Cont.
• I Blame Tupac
• It's Like They're Proud Of Being Ignorant
• Super Bowl Thread
• A Side-Point

Keepin It Unreal

I like to say I was prophetic. Okay, so maybe not. Still this is a decent piece on the beginnings of the end of gangsta rap.

Stanley Crouch Is A Gangsta Rapper

Some fun at the brother's expense. This was written after he slapped up Dale Peck.

Confessions of a 30-Year-Old Gamer

Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?

Rice, Rice, Baby!

Haha! This was fun. After this, I got a bunch of wing-nuts on the internets yelling “Hands off!”' Too bad she's been so terrible at her job. Ah, well.

Compa$$ionate Capitali$M

Me on Russell Simmons. fun, Fun FUN!! Seriously, I got to take a yoga class with the dude.

Just Another Quick-Witted, Egg-Roll-Joke-Making, Insult-Hurling, Chinese-American Rapper

My first feature for the NY Times Magazine. Man I agonized over this one. Still, props to Paul Tough, my awesome editor on this one.

The Irrelevant Rev. Sharpton

Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.

Wal-Mart's Urban Romance

This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.

Black and Blue

This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's–one of the richest, blackest counties in the country–also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.

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Signing day never has been as big a deal as “Reassigning Day” for the TCU football program.

So while the Horned Frogs landed their best recruiting class ever in 2010 on paper, they've built themselves into a top-10 program by signing athletes that are versatile and fast.

How else do you explain a program that has finished 2008 and 2009 ranked seventh and sixth, respectively, in the final Associated Press polls when their recruiting classes since 2005 have ranked no higher than 46th—at least by Rivals.com?

TCU almost singlehandedly shows on an annual basis how precarious recruiting class rankings are.

Here's a quick history lesson. Check out the Frogs' signing-day finishes on Rivals since 2004:

2005: 56th

2006: 61st

2007: 80th

2008: 96th…96th?

2009: 46th.

2010: 46th.

Their record since 2005? The Horned Frogs are 53-11.

TCU is either getting great coaching or the recruiting ranking systems are a bit overrated. Or both.

The secret to coach Gary Patterson's success the past five years has been his staff's ability to evaluate talent based on potential, rather than any preconceived scouting report.

That's why several of his players—his more successful players—end up at positions different than the ones they played before coming to TCU.

The Horned Frogs have success reassigning players to different positions like no other program in the nation.

Look no further than Lott Trophy winner and reigning Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jerry Hughes as proof.

He was an all-district and honorable mention all-state player at Austin High School in Sugarland, Texas in 2005 that Rivals rated two stars.

TCU's 2010 class is guaranteed not to have any such stories. None of its recruits are rated lower than three stars by Rivals.

The Horned Frogs landed two four-star recruits in wide receiver Curtis Carter of Stonewall, La., and running back Ethan Grant of Coconut Creek, Fla.

Their ranking predisposes them to greater expectations of greatness. Not that they're destined to be great.

Even if they are, it might not be at the positions they played in high school. The trio could shine at any number of positions.

Even punter, knowing TCU.

Grant originally committed to Oregon before changing his mind and jumping on the Frogs bandwagon. Wide receiver Chris Hawkins (Channelview, Texas) originally was headed to Minnesota. Running back Matt Anderson (Vanderbilt, Texas) first was a Utah pledge.

Even quarterback Matt Brown (Allen, Texas)—who along with Sam Carter of Alief, Texas, will try to succeed Andy Dalton in 2011—jilted Arizona for TCU.

The Frogs did lose four-star running back Josh Huff (Aldine, Texas), who signed with Oregon. He'd originally committed with the Ducks but then jumped on the Horned Frogs bandwagon before flying back to Oregon on signing day.

Still, it's a sure sign of progress when you've become the robber rather than the robbed.

Yet despite the star-studded class, TCU finished 46th nationally, according to Rivals. Utah was the top Mountain West Conference team at No. 33, with Brigham Young at No. 40 among MWC schools.

Huff's defection cost the Frogs about 10 spots on the Rivals rankings. They were 36th nationally going into signing day.

Revising a Patterson favorite saying, it's not where you're ranked in February; it's where you're ranked in December or January that matters.

And, at least at TCU, where you end up playing matters as much.

TCU Class of 2010

Name , position, height, weight, hometown (School), Height, Weight. Recruiting rankings.

Jonathan Anderson , safety, 6'1″, 196, Corpus Christi, Texas (Carroll). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star, ESPN three-star.

Matt Anderson , tailback/safety,  6'2″, 214, Vanderbilt, Texas (Industrial). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star.

Travaras Battle-Smith , cornerback, 5'10″, 175, San Antonio (John Jay). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star, ESPN three-star.

Matt Brown , quarterback, 6'1″, 185, Allen, Texas (Allen). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

Stephen Bryant , tight end, 6'5″, 220, New Deal, Texas (New Deal). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star.

Curtis Carter , tailback/wide receiver, 5'10″, 170, Stonewall, La. (North De Soto WR). Rivals four-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

Sam Carter , quarterback, 6'0″, 205 Alief, Texas (Hastings). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN four-star.

Ethan Grant , running back, 5'10″, 175, Coconut Creek, Fla. Rivals four-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

Antonio Graves , safety/wide receiver, 6'1″, 210, Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star.

Chris Hawkins , wide receiver, 6'2″, 175, Channelview, Texas (Channelview). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

David Johnson , defensive tackle, 6'2″, 270, Argyle, Texas (Argyle). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN four-star.

Marcus Mallett , linebacker, 6'1″, 216 Cleveland, Texas (Cleveland). Rivals three-star, ESPN two-star.

Clifton Murphy , defensive end, 6'4″, 230, Little Elm, Texas (Little Elm). Rivals three-star.

Elisha Olabode , defensive back, 5'10″, 170, Cedar Hill, Texas (Cedar Hill). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

Blake Roberts , linebacker, 6'4″, 225, Tyler, Texas (Tyler Lee). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star, ESPN three-star.

Michael Thompson , center, 6'4″, 315, Farmersville, Texas (Farmersville). Rivals three-star.

Nykiren Wellington , offensive tackle, 6'6″, 275, San Antonio, Texas (Holmes). Rivals three-star, Scout three-star.

Kevin White , cornerback, 5'10″, 170, Round Rock, Texas (Stony Point). Rivals three-star, Scout two-star, ESPN three-star.

ways to lose weight

Okay, you want to lose weight fast and easy. You really don't need to change everything about your diet and going to the gym is not all that important. My method is different and easy to implement in your day. Listen to what I have to say and do it.

How to lose weight fast.

Eat a fruit before each meal or even a protein shake.

This is really easy, you will be surprised on how much difference this will make. Eating a fruit before each meal will give you fibers and fibers will fill you up. So if have a fruit before each meal you will feel more full and eat less … plus give yourself some extra vitamins throughout the day.

Protein makes you feel full and as a result of this you won't eat as much. Plus, protein stabilizes your blood sugar throughout the day. Believe me when I say it, you will not eat as much. Just remember to eat the fruit a half an hour before the meal and the protein about an hour before the meal.

Doing this will get you full in advance, I mean, this is the smartest thing ever!

Remember that this is a really good tip if you want to lose weight!!

Again, protein for snacks.

For example a yogurt with low calories, contains proteins, mostly kasein, which is a slow protein that is digested slowly and therefore stabilizes your blood sugar. This really helps when you're trying to lose weight. Of course, you must limit your intake. If you've calculated your daily calorie needs, you will know that one or two yougurts are just enough.

Do some easy exercises at home.

Why not get a mini trampoline? These things make your whole body work, and therefore burn a lot of calories really fast. Or you could just do some cleaning at home, this also burns calories. Remember to always do at least some form of exercise each day.

Remember that it is the small things that make the big differences in life.

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