The picture on this post makes me laugh. I think I owe this screen capture to Francis.

What did Channel 8, or Brett Shipp, or Dale Hansen have to say about the findings?  Not a thing.  Back in May, Shipp launched another sweeps week attack on former South Oak Cliff and current NBA player Darrell Arthur. Could Mr. Shipp’s unfounded story have caused Mr. Arthur to slide in the June BA draft?  It’s hard to say.

I spoke with Coach James Mays, II last night about the findings.  He was thankful for the support he has received from the community during the ordeal.  Because of the type of man he is, Coach Mays had nothing negative to say about WFAA or Shipp.  But during our conversation I think I said enough for he and I both.

I guess Coach Mays and SOC are safe at least until November’s television sweeps week.

Note: DISD forfeited South Oak Cliff’s state titles from the 2005-06 season. The Golden Bears were state champions of Class 4A last season, their 4th title in a row.

The grant provides scholarships for an additional 75 teachers seeking certification as school principals in public schools in Texas. The award also provides $200,000 for the study of at least two longer-standing school leadership programs in New York City and around the country, according to Joe Breshears, executive director of development at the UNT Dallas Campus.

“An already outstanding curriculum will be refined as needed to remain state-of-the-art and at the cutting edge of training programs for school leaders,” Breshears said. “We are grateful to the Meadows Foundation for their investment in this program that will increase the number of new, high-quality principals in our partner school districts and public education as a whole.”

The master’s degree program in educational administration with principal certification at the UNT Dallas Campus has grown rapidly over the past two years. In the fall 2007 semester, graduate admissions increased 205 percent at the new campus, located on Houston School Road near the intersection of I-20 and I-35E.

Most of that gain was attributed to new “cohorts” in the educational administration program. The “cohort” model helps students form a network of support as they progress through a master’s program together. Administrators at the UNT Dallas Campus expect a large influx of students into the program again this fall, especially after the award from the Meadows Foundation.

John Ellis Price, vice chancellor of the UNT Dallas Campus, said the award from the Meadows Foundation lines up with the founding mission of the campus and its stated goal of increasing the number of citizens in Dallas and the North Texas region who hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

“By providing this grant, the Meadows Foundation has enabled us to extend affordable education to even more teachers who will become principals,” Price said. “Good principals instill educational values in students. Those values will promote education and help us achieve our objective of seeing students move on from high school to college. We are delighted that the Meadows Foundation has seen the value in our leadership program for school principals.”

I haven’t watched as much baseball as in years past, but I happened to be watching when Texas Rangers “closer” C.J. Wilson made two Busch League moves.  The latest came Tuesday night when Wilson showed blatant disrespect for Rangers manager Ron Washington in the team’s 8-6 win over the New York Yankees.

But let’s go back to Sunday July 13, in a game between the Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.  Wilson entered that game in a non-save situation with the Rangers leading 12-8.  Jim Thome smacked one of Wilson’s so called meatball pitch over the fence making the score 12-11 and causing White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to start taunting Wilson from the dugout.  Wilson then “closed” the game and threw his arms up in a “how you like me now?” fashion.

As a fan I was upset that a guy who almost blew a 4 run lead would show that type of emotion after a performance like that.  Wipe your brow, point to God, anything, but don’t act like you retired the side in order.

Now fast forward to Tuesday night, when Wilson started warming in the 7th inning with the score 5-2.  A three-run triple by Chris Davis gave the Rangers a 6 run lead before Wilson entered in the top of the 8th.  Wilson proceeded to walk two batters, hit A-Rod, and eventually gave up a grand slam to .226 hitting Richie Sexon.  C.J. glared at manager Ron Washington as he made his way out to remove him from the game.  Then something weird happened.

Washington grabbed Wilson’s arm and made him come back to the mound.  I saw Wilson come back and hand the ball to his manager and assumed he was so mad that he forgot to give Washington the ball.  It was still odd for Washington to put his hands on a player in that fashion, but I would later find out what stirred the baseball man to that course of action.

Wilson actually threw/tossed the ball at Washington as evidenced in the picture to the left.  The television cameras didn’t really pick up the incident and the Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve didn’t really say much about it on the broadcast.   It makes sense: if Wilson was going to pout like a child, Washington was right in treating him like one and making him hand the ball over like a big boy.

Wilson has gotten a pass all year for his lackluster performance as a closer.  His save numbers are decent, but his ERA is a sky high 6.02.  And even when looking at his save ratio it doesn’t account for the non-save games he entered that became save situations because of his poor pitching.

Because he’s a cool dude, plays guitar, and talks to the media he hasn’t caught a lot of heat for his play.  But to date, Wilson has accomplished nothing in the majors and didn’t even win the closing job it was given to him.  You might have to look the other way if Mariano Rivera tossed the ball at his 2nd year manager, but not C.J. Wilson.

Marlon Byrd noticed Wilson’s actions.  “I didn’t like it one bit,” Byrd told the Dallas Morning News.  “…when the manger comes out to get you, you hand him the ball and show him the respect he deserves.”  After pulling this team out of the toilet -and getting no credit for it- I think Washington has earned more that a stunt like Wilson’s.

We all get upset and we all take it a bit too far sometimes.  But in the game of baseball, it’s always the little things that matter most.  An overblown celebration or tossing the ball at a manager may seem like a little, but they are often signs of a player that’s not right.  C.J. Wilson is not right, and he needs to think about his actions as of late.

Pastor Clark began preaching in 1929 and was ordained four years later. He lead his first church, Israelite Baptist in Louisiana, at age 19. Clark was a graduate of Bishop College.

My earliest memories are of Pastor Clark on the cover of Ebony magazine in the early 80’s as one of America’s 15 Best Preachers.  This was a big deal in my house because I had an aunt and uncle who attended his church.

As a matter of fact, the first time I met Pastor Clark was in my grandmother’s Paris, Texas living room.   Clark was in town for a week long revival and Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church.  I  found Rev. Clark to be a quiet yet engaging figure with an unforgettable chuckle of a laugh.

Speaking of unforgettable, once you heard Rev. Clark preach God’s word, you could never forget it.  Clark’s sermon’s began slow and deliberately.  I wondered if his voice would ever rise above a whisper the first time I heard him.  But by the end of the sermon, his whoop had the congregation on their feet shouting, lifting their hands, and praising Jesus.

Ceasar Arther Walter Clark began his service as pastor of the Good Street Baptist Church here in Dallas in 1950. His long and effective tenure saw Good Street rise to nationwide prominence and become major civic destination. Over the years many great figures graced the pulpit there, including Martin Luther King Jr. in 1956 (Dallas Morning News).

About 5 years ago at the Dawn of a New Day Conference here in Dallas, I had the opportunity to serve as an armor bearer of sorts for Rev. Clark.  His body was slowed by age but his mind was still as sharp as ever.

As I took Clark around the room, we could not move more than 10 feet without someone stopping us so that they could reach out to him.  I was amazed at how he recalled the names a story of everyone we bumped into.  He would make a funny quip to each person which would get us all laughing.

The world has lost a preaching legend in Rev. C.A.W. Clark.  Services for Clark will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday August 4, at  Good Street Baptist Church, 3110 Bonnie View Road. Dallas, TX 75216

I thought I would do one of my patented non-scientific experiments and see how diverse the Top 10 and Bottom 10 suburbers were. Well actually I just checked to see what percentage of white residents live in each city.  This isn’t a knock on D’s list or their criteria for that matter.  Just a look at good old American segregation.

The information that is represented below isn’t surprising since U.S. neighborhoods are as segregated as they have ever been. It’s just that now there are no laws (but sometimes contracts) prohibiting integration, we just choose not to. Notice that all of the cities in the D Magazine’s Top 10 had a population with at least 90% white residents, with the exception of Murphy (76%).

One other interesting bit of information that I found during this “strenuous” search was that Lancaster (pop. 25,894) is the largest majority African-American city in Texas. So when people tell me that white folks are keeping school bond proposals of the ballot, I’m going to need a little bit more explaining.

Click here to see the entire D Chart with a list of the factors that they used to compile their rankings.
D Magazine Top 10 Dallas Suburbs

City/Percentage White population

1. University Park 95%

2. Southlake 94.5%

3. Colleyville 93%

4. Trophy Club 94.2%

5. Parker 90%

6. Highland Park 97.2%

7. Murphy 76%

8. Highland Village 97%

9. Keller 93.7%

10. Flower Mound 90.2%

Bottom 10

62. Hutchins 43.1%

61. Cockrell Hill 44.6%

60. Balch Springs 62.9%

59. Wilmer 47.9%

58. Seagoville 78.8%

57. Irving 64.2%

56. Arlington 67.7%

55. Addison 67.8%

54. Lancaster 37.6%

53. Waxahachie 70.5%

Texas has more wrongful convictions proven by DNA evidence than any other state in the country, and of the 32 in the state, 19 were overturned in Dallas County.

A press conference will immediately precede the first discussion.

What: Panel Discussion: Wrongful Convictions and DNA Exonerations

Date: Saturday, July 19

Time: 4:00 – 4:15 PM – Press Conference

4:15 – 5:00 PM – Panel One – Discussion featuring three Dallas exonorees

5:00 – 6:00 PM – Panel Two – Discussion featuring Michigan Congressman John Conyers, State Senator Rodney Ellis, District Attorney Craig Watkins and Jeff Blackburn of the Innocence Project of Texas

Location: Cedar Valley College Performance Hall, 3030 North Dallas Ave., Lancaster, TX 75134

NOTE: The press conference will be held in the adjacent gallery space.