2010: Year In Review (Jan. - Mar.)

Here's a look at some things that went down in 2010 that I thought were worth mentioning:


1/22 - Conan gets booted from the Tonight Show - This was foul to me. Jay Leno came off as an egomaniac who wanted to throw his weight around after his failure of a show collapsed at 10 PM ET. Luckily, Conan landed on his feet at TBS and is doing fairly well there.

Worth mentioning: 1/27 - Apple reveals iPad - Everyone likes iCandy, right? While they're very useful during a commute, to me, it's way too much money for a conversation piece.)

2/19 Tiger apologizes - For what, I'm unsure. The cheating was between Tiger and his wife. For those of you who think that he owes you anything because you were fooled into thinking he was the Golden Boy, then you need a hug. Tiger lost a family at home, endorsements and from the looks of it, some of his golf game over some Waffle House babes. I hope he still gets free "Covered and Chopped" hashbrowns.

Worth mentioning: 2/7 - The Saints win the Super Bowl - I still can't believe this one. The Bad News Bears of the NFL shocked the world and pulled a Buster Douglas on Peyton and his Colts. This is a team that was so bad when I was growing up that the fans wore bags over their heads at the games. Now they are World Champions. Now I have to listen to folks yell "Who Dat!!??" until the Falcons get revenge on them and knock them out of the playoffs. Yes, that was a prediction that will make Scott smile.


3/23 - Obama signs health care overhaul into law- 22 pens were used to sign this bill (I need stock in Office Max). John Boehner described it as a "somber day", but at least he didn't cry. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this bill turns out.

Worth mentioning: 3/15 First full body scanners installed at O'Hare - Now you can check for bone fractures before catching a flight out of town. I didn't experience any of the troubles some travelers mentioned while on my trip to Orlando earlier this month. I guess big guys in glasses don't fit the profile.

Check out Apr. - Jun.
Check out Jul. - Sep.
Check out Oct. - Dec.

Repeat Offender

"All women are ho's!"

"All men are dogs!"

Surely you've heard that plenty of times, right? Have you noticed that it tends to come from the same people over-and-over again? You can't complain if you're a repeat offender, can you? "Once a victim, twice a volunteer" is the old saying, but some people are well beyond two bad experiences.

I don't have as many single friends as I once did, but I still have a few fellas that I know are still looking for Mrs. Right. Or so they say...

I know plenty of guys who say, "Q, man, I'm looking to settle down. Find that special lady so we can raise a family and take care of one another."

"Uh, do you think you're going to find one at the nightclub you went to last night or the strip club you hit up last Thursday?"

"Nah, Q! I can't fool with them. They can look like those women, but I need someone who doesn't have a bunch of kids."

"Uh, dude, don't you have three kids by four women?" (now re-read that sentence slowly and laugh)

"Man, I need someone who will take care of me when I'm sick. Works hard. Who's built like Bry Jensen...."

"Whoa. How can you make how she's built a requirement? You just limited your dating pool by 75%. Don't you know that the average woman isn't a fitness model? No wonder you're single."

(by the way, today is the last day to vote for Bry for 2011 BodySpace Spokesmodel Search!)



I know so many women who say, "there are no good men left in the world". Given today's society, I tend to understand where their feelings originate, but my sympathy for them tends to fade after I see their choice in men.

"Q, I wish I could just find a man who acts right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I took my last man from a woman and do you know he had the nerve to leave me for someone else? After he said he 'loved me'!"

(Blank stare from me.)

She continued, "I need a man who will work hard to support his family. Be faithful to me and never consider cheating. One who's open and honest and willing to express his feelings. And he has to have six-pack abs and be at least 6'0" tall with tattoos. One who will keep my hair and nails done and send me to the spa weekly."

"Huh!!??"



"Yeah, since I would be a domestic engineer, I will need something to do to keep me stress-free and spa visits would do that for me."

"A 'domestic engineer'? Isn't that code for 'housewife'? Well, unless you hang out at pro golf tournaments or the Waffle House and are lucky enough to meet Tiger Woods, then you will probably remain single like a slice of Velveeta with those expectations."



So, why the charade about who is available in the world today? There are plenty of good men out there just like there are plenty of good women.

The problem is: You don't want one.

If you truly wanted someone who actually wants to be with you for the rest of your life, you'd be realistic. You're wasting your life away waiting on the "perfect mate" with certain physical qualities, motivational factors and financial status. I'm not saying you can't find someone who is successful, good-looking, faithful and great with kids because there are plenty of those people available if you look. But, how many good ones have you already turned away just because he was under six feet tall or because she was a 32A cup?

Why set your standards that high on the superficial things instead of the things that truly make a relationship great?

You do it because "bad" is "good", right? Women like "bad boys" and guys like "bad girls". Even though we know there is heartache involved in dating some Angelina Jolie or Vin Diesel look-a-like, we want what we want, right?

Just be honest with yourself for a change. I need all repeat offenders to repeat after me: "I welcome drama. I enjoy excitement. I like sexy. I like being alone."

Do you feel better now? :)

How To Get Famous 101

A few decades ago, it took talent to get on TV. Not only did you have to have acting skills in the days of Sammy Davis, Jr., Elvis or Fred Astaire in order to get on TV, but you also had to know how to sing and dance, too. Everyone on TV was the "complete package" when it came to truly being famous. That meant years and years (for some) of doing stand-up comedy in night clubs, or singing in bars or going on the road and performing in plays.


In 2010, it is not about if you're talented or not. It's all about if you are memorable . I don't know who won last season's "American Idol", but I remember the "Pants on the Ground" guy, Larry Platt.

Society has set the stage for us to find our way onto someone's flat screen! Will you do something so mind-numbingly stupid that people will remember you and want to see more of you?

How to Get Famous 101 starts now!

Sex Tape/Scandal

Monica Lewinsky, Paris Hilton, Ray J, Kim Kardashian are a few names that immediately come to mind when I mention sex tapes and scandals. Each of them were either the furthest thing from my mind or completely unknown to me before their tape/scandals put them on the map.

I had absolutely no idea who Kim Kardashian was before her sex tape. Aside from the fame generated from the sex tape, I really don't know what her accomplishments are in life. For that matter, the co-star of her tape, Ray J, was an extremely small-time R&B singer before the release of the flick. I simply knew him as "Brandy's brother" prior to its release.



Now, he is going into his 3rd season of his reality show "For The Love of Ray J". A show where actresses, er, uh, I mean contestants try to win his affection through whoreish tactics, er, uh... Scratch that. I mean, by spending quality time with him.

Kim K. is going into her 5th season of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" which is about a family of losers spending their dead dad's money. And while I'm on the topic of Kim, if I hear one more white guy comment on her butt, I'm going to blow a gasket!

Black women have had booty for centuries and they have gone unnoticed. Now I have to hear my white friends go on and on about Kim's butt?

I'm going to give it to you straight because I'm a Life Referee: I can go to my local historically black university and see 25 Kim Kardashian booties from the time I park my car until the time I walk to the first dormitory. If you don't believe me, then you better ask someone. It's not to hate on Kim's shape because it's the one thing I've seen evidence of that she does well. Well, maybe one of two things. So, it's not her at all, but it is about the guys I deal with regularly who act like Kim and J-Lo invented round butts. Fail!



If Kim were black, she would be another curvy shape and not some "wide hips revolution". It may sound harsh, but it's true. Not to turn off any of my readers, but my blogs are real and I call it like I see it. Sorry about the tirade. My blogs are simply my thoughts put on-screen. What comes up, comes out.

Back to sex tapes/scandals. Monica Lewinsky turned her romps with Bubba Clinton into a TV show and a book deal. Only in America can a person turn from a ho to a household name.

Paris Hilton was the first person who I ever heard referred to as a "socialite". Dictionary.com says that a socialite is "a socially prominent person". My translation of that is "a person who shows up at parties and tries to get on camera every chance they can". Speaking of cameras, how can someone take a million different photos and have the same expression in each one of them?



When she released "One Night in Paris", she became an internet Google search sensation virtually overnight. She helped paved the way for many shameless people who "leak" sex tapes to get, for lack of a better word, exposure. Although Pam Anderson was the first one I remember, it was Paris who did it during the Digital Age which skyrocketed her popularity. Sorry, Pam. I hope "Dancing With The Stars" worked out for you.

Next topic: YouTube

Media Bias Against Black Athletes

Ok, so this story about Brett Favre trying to get with a NY Jets employee and sending her photos of his junk was first brought to my attention two or three months ago. I told some co-workers of mine that the story would not carry a lot of steam when, or even if, the media decided to report it. There's too much of a media bias and it's driven me to blog about it. A majority of the media loves Favre and wouldn't speak badly of him unless they absolutely had no choice.

I'm not one to play the race card, but as a sports fan, if I sat down with pen and pad, I could probably easily write down 10 white athletes who have done something stupid and got a slap on the wrist (if anything) from the media to every five black athletes who have done something stupid and get 'skull drug' by the media.

Now, with this Favre-nude-in-Crocs-photo thing, I can't help but think of Tiger Woods. When Tiger had his car accident last year, there was immediate speculation that his ex, Elon, took a nine iron to his dome. The talking heads were spewing left and right that she assaulted him with a golf club for cheating.

Where's the media speculation on Favre? Why am I not seeing it lead SportsCenter every night like I did with Tiger? Tiger was even the big story on non-sports shows from Nancy Grace to Good Morning America. Why are the sports stations now deciding to "wait on the story to unfold" before commenting rather than speculating as usual? There are photos, voicemail messages and texts posted online as evidence in the harassment case, so isn't that enough for a story?



Another example: when a drunk Ben Roethlisberger allegedly sexually assaulted that college student in GA, ESPN did not even report on the story until days later. One of the reasons is that ESPN (affiliated with ABC) was featuring Ben in a reality show with Shaq. There was no reason to report he was potentially a rapist and ruin your ratings, right?

Yet, ESPN immediately fired Michael Irvin from his radio job after he was accused of rape (even though charges were dropped). Why not give your employee the benefit of the doubt? Sure, Irvin has a reputation of doing stupid things, but that was over a decade ago since he was considered a bad boy. ESPN later said they were not going to renew his contract anyway due to bad ratings. If that's the case, then why not let his contract expire like everyone else instead of firing him?

I remember back in the 90's watching a football game with Deion Sanders playing. I can't remember if it was Ian Eagle, Dan Dierdorf, or whoever, but the commentator criticized Deion for playing while hurt. "He's hurting his team by being selfish and not taking himself out of the game" is what I remembered hearing.

That very next week, the same guy was covering a Jets game. Wayne Chrebet, a white wide receiver, was playing hurt that day and not having his best game. I remember hearing something along the lines of, "Chrebet is such a gutsy competitor to tough it out despite his injury. A true iron man."

What!!!??? To this day, I remember how furious I was. Deion can't be "gutsy", too? Is it because of his flashy style? Because he chooses to dance in the endzone after scoring while Chrebet just hands the ball to the referee?

The black athlete rarely gets the benefit of the doubt. At one time, some of them did, but after O.J., Kobe and now Tiger, I doubt many ever will again.



The Q Score Company (not my company -- LOL!) did a survey on the most hated athletes: Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant were the Top 5. All black.

Vick, I can understand people hating him since he went to jail for dog fighting. Tiger, T.O., and Ocho have not been accused of any crimes to my knowledge. Kobe got accused of one, but was later cleared. The first white person on the list is Ben Roethlisberger who was #6.

So, excluding Vick, two adulterers and two show-offs are more hated than a man accused of rape twice in two years? Are the reality shows for T.O. and Ochocinco really that bad?

Don't answer that.

Is LeBron James the first sports guy to ever leave a team for greener pastures? Nope. It's been happening for two decades now. See Nick Saban, Ray Bourque, and almost any MLB pitcher.

So, how does a man leaving a single Midwest city make him the most hated man in America?

Two words: media portrayal. I believe the only reason is the Top 5 Hated is blacker than a Jackson State University homecoming is the way the media reports on black athletes. I can't think of any other reason. If you can, then please tell me.

Have any of your ever heard of Matt Jones? Exactly. Probably not unless you're an Arkansas Razorbacks or Jacksonville Jaguars fan. He's had felony drug arrests and I wouldn't recognize him if he walked into my house wearing his jersey. I guess I missed him on Nancy Grace.



When a black athlete does something stupid, it's not just sports news, it's national news. If you don't believe me, then Google "Tiger Woods cheats" and see how many non-sports sites come up on Page 1. Then Google "Ben Roethlisberger rape" and see how many you get.


*** UPDATE - Before I posted this today, I did see a segment on "The Today Show" about Favregate. So, although it comes two or three months after I initially heard the story, it does look like the ball is rolling on this scandal. I don't want/enjoy to see athletes fail because we all do stupid things. But, when it does happen, I want everyone scrutinized equally.