Recently in Robert Littal Category

Dear Daunte,

I got your email homie, well actually I didn't it looks like you blackballed BSO the same way you claimed NFL teams have blackballed you, but I digress. Anyway I read your email about retiring from the NFL and I thought it would be best that we had a little chat.

First we can stop beating around the bush. You don't have to be politically correct with me. You can say what you really want to say. You don't have to be scared I can read between the lines. What you really are trying to say is:

THE NFL IS SCARED TO EMPLOY A BLACK MAN WHO REPRESENTS HIMSELF.

Unfortunately Daunte you are a little off with that one. While trust me there is a lot racism and prejudice in the NFL and there is a lot of bias in the mainstream media the reason you aren't employed has a lot more to do with you that it does with them.

NFL Owners can be considered a "Good Old Boys" club. A bunch of rich white guys sitting on top of their thrones looking down at their highly paid gladiators do there bidding.

But lets be real here to NFL owners it doesn't matter if you are red, white, green, yellow or black if you can help them win football games they don't care. Now if you want to own a team, be a general manager or even a coach you may have a harder time because they like to hire people that look like them, but when it comes to on the field all they care about is if you are going to perform.

For years Black QBs have had a hard time breaking into the league but in 2008 while I am sure some people (mostly fans) are not totally comfortable with a black man leading their team I am confident the organizations themselves are going to put the best player out on the field regardless of color.

So which begs the question Daunte why don't you have a job? In my opinion there are a couple of reasons.

Brandon Jacobs is a beast. Was I the only one last night kicking myself for not drafting Plaxico Burress on my fantasy football team? I had a chance to draft him on all 11 and passed him by each team. What type of BonaFide Sports Expert does that make me?

Very good first half of the game. It got as boring as John McCain acceptance speech in the 2nd half but it is great to have football back.

Week 1 saw The BonaFide One start off strong going 4-1 and calling the UCLA over Tennessee upset will he keep the momentum going in Week 2?

Season: 4-1
Last Week: 4-1

#24 South Carolina 24 vs. Vandy 26
#15 BYU 30 vs. Washington 27
Miami 10 vs. #5 Florida 38
#10 Texas 31 vs. Nevada 14
#17 South Florida 21 vs. UCF 17

This is a candidate for either the funniest story or saddest story of the year first reported by our friends at Profootballtalk.com. When Rudi Johnson was at the Lions facility to finalize his deal he left some luggage outside of Matt Millen's office. When he came out of the office later the luggage was mysteriously missing.

Millen proved he was a much better detective than he is a GM by immediately pulling the surveillance cameras to see who was the culprit which was none other than:

Tatum Bell

Yes the Tatum Bell who was getting cut upon Rudi Johnson's arrival, but the story doesn't end there. Bell after he steals the luggage drops them off at one of his "Bust It Babies" (for my non hip-hop readers type in Bust it Baby in Google and you will find out what it means) house for "safe keeping".

After Bell explained to the Lions that he thought the bags belong to someone he knew (by the way Bell also thinks O.J. is looking for the real killer) the young lady in question told the Lions that she hadn't seen Bell in months and he showed up at her door asking her to watch the bags for awhile.

Suffice it to say it will be hard for Bell to find work after this. It is one thing to be a below average running back but it is a whole another thing to be a below average running back who steals his competitors underwear and leaves them with a random jump off.

Mark the tape "Ya Boy" Robert Littal is back with 50 Guaranteed NFL Predictions for the 2008 NFL Season: Check out "Ya Girl" Amber Fox NFL predictions in the youtube video.

1- The Patriots won't go undefeated.
2- The Giants won't repeat.
3- Adrian Peterson will kill your fantasy football team.
4- Both Green Bay and The Jets will go 8-8
5- Brett Favre consecutive starting streak will come to an end.
6- So will Peyton Manning's streak.
7- This year's "on the radar" team the Vikings won't make the playoffs.
8- Ricky Williams will lead the Dolphins in rushing.
9- Rookie of the year won't come from anyone taken in the 1st round.
10- Matt Ryan will throw 20+ Ints.
11- By the end of the year ATL will want Michael Vick back.
12- Chad Johnson will have an incident by Week 8 and ESPN will blow it out of proportion.
13- Emmitt Smith will butcher the English language at least 10 times on Monday Night Countdown.
14- T.O. will cry.
15- Roy Williams will get fine.
16- Tony Romo will be caught cheating.
17- The Cowboys will still go 12-4.
18- The Raiders will be good.
19- The Jaguars will be great.
20- Cable companies still won't have the NFL Network.
21- Reggie Bush won't average 4 yards a carry, but will help someone win a PPR fantasy league.
22- NFL Sunday Ticket will still be the best decisions the NFL ever made.
23- Even with Mike Martz the 49ers offense will suck.
24- Vince Young will regress and Matt Leinart won't last the season.
25- The Broncos won't have a 1000 yard rusher.

When I first read this story on Boxingscene.com about how in August someone broke into Floyd Mayweather's bedroom window proceeded to steal seven million dollar worth of jewelry some many things came flooding into my mind.

"That's some damn expensive jewelry"

"You would have thought if they were coming to steal some stuff they might have taken something a little easier to pawn off than custom made diamond encrusted jewels or find some of those money stacks Floyd always has on him"

But the #1 thing I thought of above all else and excuse me if I get a little hood right here:

"If this fool has seven million dollars worth of jewelry in his house why wasn't it in a damn safe?"

I mean seriously Floyd is worth at least 20-30 million maybe more and he doesn't have a safe? You can go to Walgreens and buy one for $20. Who has seven million dollars worth of jewelry just lying on the bed? If I have $7 lying on my bed and left home I would be nervous about someone breaking in.

Ironically Floyd is put out a $100,000 reward for the return or arrest of the people who stole his property. Seems pretty cheap considering:

YOU HAD SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR WORTH OF JEWELS LYING ON YOUR BED!

I like Floyd but considering some of the senseless violence that has been happening against athletes lately it maybe time to take a little shine of the bling before he ends up being buried with it.

*Here are additional details of the story*

Las Vegas, NV - One afternoon in late August, someone broke into one of Floyd Mayweather's homes and made off with his personal jewelry. This week Mayweather issued a $100,000 cash reward for information leading to the return of his property.

Anyone with information on this crime can call Sherbrooke, Jelan and Associates at (678) 457-5858 or (404) 786-1321. Callers could be eligible for an immediate cash reward of $100,000 and may remain anonymous.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!

Here is an exclusive pic of the one of the robbers breaking into Floyd's mansion.

As you have probably heard by now Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot last night and is facing life threatening injuries before giving you my thoughts here are the details of the story.

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/09/02/jaguar-shot-faces-life-threatening-injuries/

Richard Collier, 26, an offensive tackle in his third year with the Jaguars, was shot about 2:45 a.m. while sitting in a vehicle parked in the 2300 block of Riverside Avenue, said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.

While waiting outside the Riverside apartment, Jefferson said, someone walked up to the Cadillac Escalade and fired off a number of shots striking Collier, who was behind the wheel. Pettway was not injured in the attack.

I am not a preacher and I not trying to tell anyone how to live there life, but please and this doesn't go just for athletes but people in general be careful dealing with people you never met before especially if it is at 2:30 in the morning. Athletes even have to be more careful because to be honest they are easy targets for individuals who are jealous of their success or even on a lower level just criminals who are looking for an easy score.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Collier and his family I hope he pulls through.

Just wanted to thank all the readers and viewers of BlackSportsOnline for making August our biggest month ever in terms of unique visitors, overall visitors, page views, hits and YouTube views.

Not bad for a site which was once described as one that could never succeed under minority ownership. But we have to keep the momentum going so take a quote from Jay Z:

Go farther
Go further
Go harder
Is that not
Why we came? and if not,
Then why bother?

We hear you Hov.

• Beanie Wells get well soon. Seriously like right now today we need you homie.
• USC is the best team in the country.
• Speaking of USC do they have ESPN on their payroll? Yes I am talking to you Mark May.
• Lou Holtz in HD. Not a good look.
• Props to Alabama for crushing Clemson but I loathe the fact I am going to have to hear that Nick Saban is a god. He maybe an asshole, but he is a damn good coach.
• Clemson will never been a threat under Tommy Bowden.
• No one can stop the Missouri Offense (put up 52 on Illinois) unfortunately the Missouri defense doesn't look like they can stop anyone (Illinois put up 42 on them).
• Can Juice Williams get some Heisman Hype?
• Dave Wannstedt maybe the worst head coach ever.
• No upset this year for Appalachian State.
• Speaking of upsets the Michigan Wolverines looked lost trying to run the spread offense. It will be a long year in Ann Arbor.
• How old is Joe Paterno and why do I get the feeling he will get ahead of Bobby Bowden in the overall wins race this year.
• Everybody be safe down in the Gulf Coast.

Week 1 of the College Football Season is here and all year I will be picking the top 5 games of the week. Going forward I will be shooting a weekly video to break down the picks but we are just getting warmed up. Last year I hit at a 65% success rate, so you better get your student loan money ready click on the Betus.com banner below and sign up tell them Robert Littal sent you.

Season: N/A
Last Week: N/A

#20 Illinois 30 vs. #6 Missouri 38
#18 Tennessee 17 vs. UCLA 24
#24 Alabama 10 vs. #9 Clemson 26
Appalacian State 17 vs. #7 LSU 40
Youngstown State 10 vs. #2 Ohio State 50

I am not political. I am not democrat or republican. I am an independent. I am a free thinker. I don't like politicians I think the majority of them are liars. I didn't care Bill Clinton got head in the White House (I was a little envious). I find it funny George W. Bush can't read a teleprompter.

At the beginning of the Democratic race for President I was leaning toward Hilary Clinton simply off the strength that I liked Bill Clinton and thought he was a good president.
I was aware of Barack Obama but seriously a black man being president that is like saying there will be a black owner of a NFL team seemed like a fantasy.

But slowly but surely you saw the rise. In sports you see often the team or the player getting into the zone. Barack Obama has been in the zone for 18 months and after watching his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for president it is so obvious you are watching greatness.

That speech was Jordan over Russell in 1998:

I am a sports writer. BlackSportsOnline will never be confused with CNN. But one thing I understand is "Change". On such a smaller scale I have been trying to "Change" the bias sports media for years so it resonates with me that Barack is trying to "Change" the way America thinks.

In the month of August BlackSportsOnline has had over 100,000 visitors to the site. The reason you come to the site is for a "change", a breath of fresh air and a different perspective. Just remember that when you cast your ballot November 4th.

I am proud to be black. I am proud to be an American. I am a proud supporter of Barack Obama. I believe in fate and I believe in karma so I don't think it isn't coincidence that Obama's speech came on the same day of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

For many years Dr. King's dream has been a nightmare not just for African-Americans but Americans in general, but maybe just maybe it is time for a change. Do I think we can do it?