Silas Grant's initial rant

This is the first installment, of which I hope there will be many, of special guest appearances by my man Sal. He's a funny guy whose blog I enjoy reading.

"Man, I need a Ride Home"
By Salvador Gabor

Aight, I just found a pen so I had to write you. Dog, you know me and "Louisiana" was living together right? I had this girl named "Katrina" on the side. "Louisiana", now thats my MAIN JANE. She knew about my ladies on the side. She really didn't care as long as I came home every night. So I was kinda like messing with "Katrina" alot lately. But I couldn't give her ALL of my time. So she would get mad. Man when I was with "Louisiana", that broad........man o man.......she would let me gamble in her house, get drunk in her house AND play my music as loud as I wanted to. "Katrina" always wanted to go to the beach. I aint for all that water and sun. Im in the house, playing cards and getting drunk.

The other night "Katrina" called my phone. "Louisiana" knew it was her calling me but, like I said, she aint care. "Katrina" knew I was living with "Louisiana" and threatened to come pass the house and do some harm to ya boy. I didn't believe her. "Louisiana" kinda wanted me to leave but, I told her no, "Its nothing serious". Man I was a FOOL. "Katrina" came thru and raised hell. She came in and I was "sleep". She poured water all on me. I woke up shaking and with chills. "Katrina" KEPT pouring water on me. She was slapping me. She was hitting me. She was punching me. She tried to kill me. And "Louisiana" sat there and watched. "I told you so, you shoulda left". THEN "Louisiana" put me OUT. I had NO where to go. I called my friend who was dating an older lady named Miss Issippi. HE musta been dating "Katrina" on the side too cause, she left my house and went to HIS house. Miss Issippi put HIM out too. So my first thought was to call my nigga George. I KNEW he would come pick me up. Then he could get my friend from Miss Issipi's house and could at least get us to my man "Houston's" house. And it's messed up cause a while ago this chick named "Isabel" came thru his brother Jeb's house and got into a fight with Jeb's girlfriend named "Florida" and George came and picked him up. BUT, that's his family and I respect that. But that nigga could at least come get me.

So now I finally got to my nigga "Houston's" house. He got like 300 niggas living in here. Its all types of gang bangin and hustlin and killin going on in here. I cant even get a shower. I've been eating lima beans and lunchables every day. I just need a ride. "Katrina" messed up my house and "Louisiana" put me out. COME get me.

Yours Truly,
Montrell "Baby Boy" Williams

Check out Sal's blog at http://www.sallimo.blogspot.com

"Are You Ready for Some Football?"

I know I am. I probably should have made this entry last week before college football started, but hey It's never too late. Now for my predictions.

High School:

DCIAA
With Arrelious Benn and Vontae Davis, Dunbar is the clear favorite to win the DCIAA. HD Woodson and Ballou are going to be tough, but Dunbar is the favorite.

Maryland 1A
Same name, different city. Dunbar of Baltimore is returning Marcus Taylor to the defending championship squad. He may be the best QB in the state and against 1A competition he should thrive. Expect a good challenge from Fort Hill of Alleghany County, they were secretly one of the best teams in the state last year and are moving down from 2A.

Maryland 2A
You lose Augustus Parrish, Derico Murray, Brandon Jackson and Korey Coles but you're still the favorite to win the state. That means you have a top notch program and that's what Potomac has. James Nickens and Adrian McCleod are back and I don't expect the defending 2A champs to skip a beat. We will find out how good they are when Eastern Tech of Baltimore County makes that trip to Oxon Hill this weekend.

Maryland 3A
Now, I'm a proud graduate of Douglass High so it pains me to say this, but Gwynn Park has more talent then I've ever seen on a public school football team. Led by Philip Taylor, one of the best Defensive linemen in the country, I don't see Gwynn Park losing a game this season. They may not even be tested.

Maryland 4A
This is the one I'm really confused on. I'm sure the champ is coming from PG County. I'm just not sure which school. Eleanor Roosevelt, Douglass, and defending champ Suitland all have D-1A talent at key positions and playoff experience to get it done. When in doubt though, go with the team who has Navorro Bowman-the best player in the state, Suitland. Damascus won't let PG take the title without a fight though.

WCAC
Good Counsel and Dematha are loaded. Good Counsel, however has a AK-47 to Dematha's 9 mil. Akeem Hebron and Drew Gloster are two of the most highly recruited players in the country. They will avenge their lost to Dematha in last years WCAC title game and take home the trophy.

College
It's not going to matter what kind of polls they use, there is still going to be controversy with the BCS. USC will three peat, but going into the bowl games, I see 3 other undefeated teams. I think Georgia, Texas and Louisville will all go undefeated. So who gets to play USC, good job Texas for scheduling Ohio St, that move will come back to be your friend. It won't matter, USC is going to kill you in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans are waaaaaaaay better than everybody else.

NFL
I spent all offseason saying how the Patriots had lost it. Then I watch training camp and preseason games and I haven't seen any AFC team that can take that crown. New England is still the cream of the crop in the AFC and I expect to see them in another Super Bowl. There's one team in the NFC that addressed their weakness, defense, and got rid of their cancer, Randy Moss and are better than ever. The Minnesota Vikings are ready to take that next step and they'll be in the Super Bowl for the first time since the '70's. Bill Belicheck is still too good of a coach though. As much as it's going to work my nerves, New England will get Lombardi trophy #4.

George's feelings on the Hurricane

Remember when I wrote in a previous entry that America was avoiding the conversation on race, well, the Hurricane with the ethnic name may have kick started that process. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want the conversation to happen under these circumstances, but it usually takes something traumatic to kick start the process.

Personally, I do not believe the Federal government were late with the aid because the folks down there were black. At least I hope not, because if they did then may God have mercy on them because they murdered thousands of people, but I don't believe that happen. Here's how I see the whole situation.

Knowing that so many people in the city couldn't afford to evacuate themselves, state and local officials should have come up with a plan to get these people out. Hurricanes may come and go, but this was a category 5 and you should never play around when there is a situation that serious.

Ok, so there's where the City of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, messed up. Well, what do you do after the levees break and these folks have nowhere to go. This is where the Federal government steps in. The Feds were fatally slow in their response. They probably would've been down there faster if the folks had been upper-middle class and above, but those folks wouldn't have been there because they had the means to get out of town. The folks that were left were the uneducated and poor. Basically those who were left behind a long time ago. Unfortunately for America, in the inner cities, these people tend to be black.

This is the conversation we need to be having. Not about why the government was so late with its aid, but why it's so many black people in poverty and what BLACK PEOPLE can do about it. If it's not any more apparent now, that the government isn't here to hold your hand and pick you up when you fall, then you 're lost. I see that Black folks need to learn how to pick themselves up.