SECTION C


Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2010 Pershing’s Appling:


“I’m looking to contribute!” Michigan Chronicle PSL Player of the Year getting ready at MSU


In the Game By Leland Stein III ‘Gotcha!’ journalism Shirley Sherrod, a Department of Agriculture of-


ficial, was fired based on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reading of a transcript of a video on a con- servative website that left the inaccurate impression that she had deliberately not helped a White man save his family farm in 1986 when she worked for a Georgia non-profit.


When it became clear that her comments had


been taken out of context, the Obama administration offered her a new position. “This is a good woman,” Vilsack said. “I could have done and should have done a better job.”


Well, the could-have, should-have done a better


job is engulfing the entire communications world. I’ve been involved in journalism on the nation-


al stage for close to 26 years, and the direction it is going is troublesome. The “I gotcha!” media is making many scream negative before negative is even a fact. Whether one likes or even agrees with their interviewee or subject, the Society of Profes- sional Journalists Code of Ethics decrees that the


KEITH APPLING is double trouble on the basketball court. – Andre Smith photo


strength is that he is an aggressive scorer and prime-time player. Some concerns and questions are his mid-range game and wheth- er he can become the team leader as a point guard.


“I think scoring in general and getting to


PERSHING’S KEITH APPLING stood above the rest.


and this year in Indianapolis. The 6-foot-1, 175 pound, Appling comes


to Michigan State with lofty credentials. He led Pershing to back-to-back PSL titles and a state title where he scored a state-record 49 points (he broke Antoine Joubert’s 26- year-old title game record of 47) in Pershing’s 90-73 victory over Kalamazoo Central in the Class A championship game. For his overall efforts he won the esteemed Michigan State 2010 Mr. Basketball award.


Ron English


main mission in reporting is to be “honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.”


Recently, Eastern Michigan University head foot-


ball coach Ron English was decried by a Detroit Free Press writer as anti-single mothers and their children after he said this in an interview concern- ing his student/athletes: “We wanted guys that had a father in their background. A guy that’s raised by his mom all the time, and please don’t get me wrong, but the reality is that you’ve got to teach that guy how to be taught by a man.”


Now the aforementioned Journalism Code of


Ethics does indeed give a journalist wiggle room to interject his or her own beliefs into a narrative. However, the Free Press writer and many in today’s world forget one of our main Preambles: “Be cog- nizant that reporting may cause harm and that the pursuit of news is not a license for arrogance.”


I’m sure the writer thinks he took the courageous


part of the journalist code while he implemented a character assassination against English in his story. He interjected in his story that English “sells single mothers short,” his comments were “sexist and moronic,” and he projected that English simply does not want kids from single-parent homes.


The writer, in his overzealous need to be in the


middle of the “get someone” journalism permeat- ing society, forgot the code of “be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.”


I talked to English after the incident and he said,


“What I said to a reporter was not about my thoughts on the value of a single parent mother. I have a twin brother and both of us were raised by our grand- mother (Mamie Blaylock). My mother (who was not married to his father) passed away when I was 18 months old. For anyone to think that I disrespect the role played by single parents (mothers or men) contradicts the very way I was raised.”


Some have called English’s statement foolish and


insensitive, but having taught in inner city schools for over 15 years, I get what he was trying to say. It just shows how giant the great perception divide is among many in America.


It is silly for any fair and honest thinking person


to turn what he said into a backhanded slight at single mothers. Anyone who has taught, coached or raised young people knows they would be better served with a male and female figure in their lives. Now it does not have to be a mother and father (min- ister, coach, aunt, uncle, grandparents, teachers, et al.), but when a young person can find consistent guidance from a male and female, generally that person finds it easier to negotiate the pitfalls of vio- lent urban America.


“If something happened to my wife,” English ex-


plained, “I’d do the job just like many in America are doing right now, but I could never be that female figure in my children’s lives that my wife is.”


After interviewing English I’m sure he was speak-


ing more to his perception of maturity and discipline of the young men he encounters, not the condemna- tion of their household. As a teacher I’ve had to be the father, brother, friend and coach of many I’ve encountered. I was whatever they were lacking at home and it showed in how they presented them- selves.


In the “gotcha!” world of journalism, the writer


who tried to flip a decent man into a monster only flipped himself.


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol. com. “It was just one of those days,” said Ap-


pling about setting the state record. “The basket seemed bigger and at times it felt like I could not be stopped.”


Scouting reports note that Appling, who


averaged 28 points, six rebounds and five as- sists for the Doughboys, is a scorer who can blow by opponents and stick jumpers. His


the basket are my strengths,” he said. “I’m a pretty good all-around player. I’m a comb- guard, but sure I want to get even better as a point guard. I may surprise people because I’ve always had the ability to pass the ball, but my high school team and coach needed me to score, so at times I did not get to show all my skills.”


MSU coach Tom Izzo took the nation by


storm when he became the leading candi- date to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James left the team. Many wondered if his flirt with the NBA would discourage his freshman recruits from reconsider going to East Lansing.


“I had my eye on the situation,” Appling


said, “but I did not want to leave MSU. I must admit it scared me a little bit, because you will not find too many guys that could leave all that money on the table.”


Appling said State was right for him from


the start because he felt that MSU had proven itself as a winner and that is how he wants to see himself. He also noted that the Spartans have created a history with players like Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Magic Johnson, Jason Richardson, Ralph Simpson, Shannon Brown and Greg Kelser, to name a few.


Appling is joining a Spartan team that


many basketball aficionados have rated in the top three at the start of the NCAA 2010-11 campaign. With returning players like Durrell Summers, Kalin Lucas, Draymond Green, Delvon Roe and former Pershing teammate Derrick Nix, big things are expected from the Spartans.


With senior starting guard Chris Allen’s


recent expulsion from the team, Appling’s prospects for extensive playing time has el- evated greatly.


“I was sorry to learn about Chris,” Appling


said. “He was a nice guy and great player. No matter, I came here expecting myself to be the player I’ve always been. I did not come here worried about playing time. I knew this team had experienced guys coming back. But Coach is a smart guy and he knows how to get us all in somehow.”


Appling noted that playing in the PSL has


prepared him well for what is yet to come in the Big Ten basketball wars: “I know the Big Ten players are bigger and stronger, but play- ing in the PSL has helped elevate my game. It is the best overall league in the state and I’m sure being a part of that has helped me get where I am today.”


Where is Appling? He is on one of the better


teams in college basketball and the Michigan Chronicle Player of the Year will surely make coach Izzo say, “Yeah, that’s the guy.”


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@ aol.com.


Perennial NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady is now a Piston


By Leland Stein III AUBURN HILLS — The Detroit Pistons


are in the midst of an overhaul and many are wondering how long this regeneration will take.


COMMENTARY One person who is all in is perennial NBA


All-Star Tracy McGrady. The Pistons recently signed him for the veteran’s minimum. I really think, and maybe hope, he has at least two or three years left in his basketball playing tank.


“I think this is perfect timing,” said


McGrady, 31, who agreed to a one-year, $1.35 million deal with the Pistons after playing last season with the Rockets and Knicks. He said the fact Pistons president Joe Dumars has appreciated his game for years made him feel comfortable coming here.


In fact, reports note that Dumars, follow-


ing his team’s 2008 Eastern Conference finals playoff exit, losing to eventual NBA champion Boston in six, solicited the Houston Rockets for a potential trade for McGrady, but the asking price was too steep at the time. The rockets reportedly wanted both Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.


Some are questioning the acquisition of


McGrady. I say what do the Pistons have to lose? Nothing!


Sure McGrady has played only 65 games in


the last two seasons, while recovering from various injuries, in particular the dreaded microfracture knee surgery. It takes many at least two years to recover from that, and it has been two years for McGrady. So I think if all goes well he will be able to be productive and more than serviceable no matter what role Pistons’ coach John Kuester uses him in.


“It’s on the coaches,” McGrady said. “It’s


Kuester’s job. I’m not concerned about play- ing time. My job is to compete and try to make each other better. Whoever plays should go out and do the best they can.”


For sure it will be a log jam with the Pis-


tons if they stay with their present team roster that includes Richard Hamilton, Tay- shaun Prince, Ben Gordon and Austin Daye all capable of playing the 2 or 3 position. McGrady said in his initial press conference with Detroit that he welcomes the challenge and isn’t worrying about his playing time.


The other big question engulfing McGrady is whether he can avoid the injuries that have


about me and wants to bring the best out of me,” Mc- Grady said. “Anyone that knows me knows I have a chip on my shoulder. I want to show everyone that the injuries were the thing and I still have love for the game. I’ve worked my butt off the last two years and I’ll continue to do that.


Tracy McGrady before, still


but I can put


the ball in the basket,” he said. McGrady has a career 22- point scoring average and that makes “A lot of negative things were said about


me, and many thought that I was done. I have a lot of basketball left in me.”


Dumars and the Pistons hierarchy hope


that McGrady’s prognostications are true. A team that is being shopped around to


the highest bidder needs to win ball games to at least have a chance to stay in the Detroit area and keep all of its supporting cast in employment. If the Pistons continue to lose, the new owner will surely come in and clean house.


McGrady, whether he knows it or not, has


walked into a pressure-packed basketball situation in Detroit.


For me it is no doubt the smorgasbord of


injuries that undressed McGrady of his once- outstanding athleticism. When a proud player like him is stripped down, it humbles, and in his case has made him hungry to show all


him the most prolific scorer to come to De- troit in too many years to recount. Billups, Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace in recent years did not come to the Motor City with a better NBA résume.


Coming into the off-season the Pistons


needed to upgrade their front court. They did that in part by drafting Greg Monroe with their first round pick, but McGrady does not help there; however, if he has anything left it will still be a bonus.


Expectations for the Pistons nationally


are low this season, as they are for McGrady. Most NBA analysts are placing them outside the playoff field. Inside the practice facility, they’re embracing the doubts, feeding off of them and are anxious to show all that last season for all the injuries did not allow all to see the real Pistons. McGrady comes to the Pistons for almost a freebee. It was a move I liked and expect will yield dividends beyond expectations.


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@ aol.com.


plagued him over the past several years.


“I’m with a


group that r e a l l y c a r e s


his doubters he still has game.


“I might not be dunking on p e o p l e like I w a s


By Leland Stein III EAST LANSING — Keith Appling, the


former Pershing High basketball standout and Michigan Chronicle Public School League Basketball Player of the Year, has been at Michigan State University all summer taking classes and dreaming about what is to come.


“I’m up at State taking sociology and com-


munication classes,” Appling said. “I’m glad I gave up my summer and came up here to learn the area and get used to taking college classes, because when we come back for the fall it will be on!


“Sure I cannot do anything with the


coaches assisting us, but I go in every day after classes and weight lift and work on my own.”


By all accounts Appling will fit in very


nicely with MSU as it tries to ascend back to the valued NCAA Final Four for the third con- secutive year. The Spartans made it to the “Big Dance” at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit


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