Some Call Him Welsh....

"Hardwork beats talent when, talent doesn't work hard." This is the slogan Stefan Welsh has decided to live by in his young life.

Since Welsh can remember he has always been an athlete. He started his career as a football player playing for the Yorktown Patriots, his home town little league team. It was then that his own city realized a talent was among them and was about to break loose.





And breaking loose is exactly what he did. Welsh was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia, he was born to Yolanda Welsh and Troy Swinton.

Under any other circumstance Stefan wouldn't mention his dad, but in a story about your life and a ticket to stardom one must visit their past in order to appreciate their presence.

When asked sports fans often differ whether they believe Welsh was better at football or basketball. Some would say Welsh's chances at stardom are better on the football field as quarter back, others say his point guard skills and jump shot are his key to success. However Welsh took his skills to the basketball court in high school winning back to back State Championships in 2004 and 20005.

He was being heavily recruited and decided to choose Arkansas Razorbacks as his choice to make a career. After the recruiting coach decided to leave Coach John Palfrey came in and single-handily changed basketball at the University of Arkansas. Stefan Welsh stuck it out as long as possible and made some major decisions in his life.

With that said college coaches recurit players and promise them the dream of a lifetime to play Division 1 college basketball and finally land a career in the NBA. What happens when that dream is slightly changed, when the hardworks no longer matters, when popularity beats talents. when true talent and hardwork doesn't even matter.

What happen in the 2010 NBA draft, who were those guys? Can real talent be over looked due to politics? Standing in the mist of the game, I myself can say that some talent does go over looked, but thats the motivation to keep pushing to work that much more harder.

Stefan Welsh has a dream and the only way to wake up is to make that dream a reality. Welsh says, "I won't stop here and nothing will ever stop me from working hard to beat a "talent."

This isn't the last of a hardworking talent, he will prevail... This blog is just the beggining of following true talent on a road only few will ever travel.

"How Can You be The KING with no RING?"

Lebron James announced yesterday at 9 p.m. on ESPN that he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat next NBA season. The buzz on twitter, facebook, and other social networking sites allowed Ohio natives and fans of Brown to express just how they felt about the move.

Some stated Brown was only doing what he felt to earn himself a ring in the 2011 Playoffs, however others felt James made a selfish decision and turned his back on the very city that raised him and coined him the KING of the game.

However, some will argue that LeBron was never the "King", that in order to earn such a title one must at least have earned a championship. The announcing of James's decision struck sports fans as one of the most memorable moments in sports history. "I want to leave without an emotional leave. I wish that fans of Cleveland will let this be a smooth transition next year while playing their on the other side," said James.

yet, what James didn't know was while making that statement that fans and natives of Cleveland were in the streets burning his jersey and ripping down the "king's signs". One person though made it very clear how they felt about James decision.

Owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert stated, "As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.
This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment," said Gilbert.

Brown though didn't seem to be worried all too much about the fans and support of who helped him along this path of greatness. One can't be mad when a star begins to rise and has to make a decision to better their career. Is James wrong for leaving to win a championship?

That's a question that's answered based solely on ones opinion, and well have one of those. I myself see the NBA as a job, their is no longer the hunger and fight to win. Has the game become a reality show for players to pour out their hearts, or is their one last player who understands just what the game means.

Basketball is James life and he's living it/. Will he get a ring in Miami? Or is it just the mere fact that James is one of the hardest players to play amoung since he is the king? Will the king ever prevail or will Karma show him her ugly face? Basketball season 2011 will be one to remeber and Miami will never be the same.

Celebrities Have Lives Too... Who are you to Judge?

Everytime I turn on my television or read a magazine theirs some gossip or talk about celebrities and the mistakes they made. Ask yourself how many times did you hear about Micheal Jackson donating money, very slim but he was one of the most chartiable artisit to ever live. Forget that how many celebrities do you see honored for what they have done for the industry and chartiable works? Let's just state the obivious; how many African American celebrities do you see in the good light.

Tyger Woods was seen a white man as long as he was doing good in golf, but when he made a mistake and was caught cheating on his wife he had never been more black then ever. Micheal Vick is a icon, a role model, and hope to a city where struggle is something you are acustom to at the age of 7 years old. Vick gives hope to the the children growing up in the "hood", were basketball and football are your ticket out, and if you arent granted talent then you sale drugs, and you only go to college if your parents care about education or want better for to you.

I never said that Vick dog-fighting wasn't bad, but that's how some people make their living in the "hood".Fighting dogs is a way of life, it alaramed rich white folks who praise PETA, but it didn't alaram the black community not because it isn't wrong, but because we know that fighting dogs is the only way some people eat. Now people don't want Vick in the league, well what about the old woman down the street who has 100 cats, or the old man with 7 dogs(all pitbulls), what about the people you see on televsion shows were the police finds a woman mistreating her pets, where's PETA then, where's PETA now that oil has spilled? Where are you PETA, or is the black athlete/celebrity your target?

Are black men/women that are celebrities, are they not suppose to make it? Is a black person having talent alaraming, or are they only good to you when they are winning games and making music? When will someone media specalist or journalist take the side of the famous and hear them out and speak for them. Well that will be me, that's what I will pride myself on. Nancy Grace you will soon see how it feels.
To be continued.......

Graduation

I graduated from Johnson C. Smith University on May 2, 2010 at 10a.m. I recieved cum laude and was inducted into the National Communication Arts honor society, and it feels great. Thank you to my family for always pushing me to do my best and never letting me settle for less. it's grind time now.

Thoughts... Dreams

I was thinking alot about the things I want to accomplish in life. Some of my peers have dreams to be teachers, doctors, nurses, and lawyers things that our four year BA/BS degree can help them to obtain. My dream though is to be America's Next Top Model and I don't have to win the hit reality show, but I want to be a high fashion model, ripping the runway in some of the best fashion shows. yet, my degree can't give me that! I've tried out for several seasons of ANTM, to be exact 7 of them. and each time I didnt get a call back, no naturally I began to think what am I missing, what does she has I don't, and is my education slowing dowm my dream? I've realized that people are making it famous with no actual telent. bad girls who aren't bad are being casted on the BGC, what about the actual bad girls in the world, models are winning top model or fighting for the title who never really wanted to model they just got pick and went, then when its time to cut their hair they cry and leave. but what about little old me whose dream is to rip the runway in a high fashion show and I never get a chance. what are we teaching people with real talent? what has true talent come to? has my four years or being in college ruined my career and dream of being a model, since I'm 22 now... when will I get my chance, just give me five minutes and I'll show you. I'll prove you wrong. I got what it takes, I'm a model, a bad girl, and intelligent. Does that mean nothing today...

Life of a Model

The life of a model… Since 2006, I have coined myself as America’s Next Top Model, because the dream of winning the hit reality show was first on my mind and for the last four years I have tried out for over four seasons.

If you have ever seen me then you know, I’m 5’7, about 115 pounds, and my legs are almost 80 percent of my body. Well my name is Martia’ Holloway, and I’m going to take you on a journey where few I have made it.
If you have ever seen ANTM, then you know exactly how it feels to be a model, and just exactly how hard it is to be on top. Well modeling is nothing really like that at all, it’s more intense and you receive a lot more criticism on the way you look and the way you walk.

In 2004, I went to a model call for a agency in Viriginia and they told me that in order to model I must lose 20 more pounds and at that time I was already 110 pounds, so I gave up.
Then in 2005, I did my first hair show, for Isoy Hair Couture, and the show was produced by; Diva Dolls Incorporated, our theme was a tribute to New Orleans. I stepped on the runway palms sweaty and body shaking, then my music queue came on; “show me what got lil mama, show me what you got lil lady, hands up now wave.” And I took off strutting down the runway, looking side to side at everyone in the building; I placed my right hand on my hips then my left hand on my hip. By that moment I was at the end of the runway and struck the meanest pose ever, turned off and strutted back down the runway.
From that moment on you couldn’t tell me nothing, that was until, the summer of 2006 when I tried out for season nine of America’s Next Top model, I had slepted outside the venue where tryouts were being held. That morning at about 8a.m I woke up brush my teeth with toothpaste and a water bottle, and got dressed in the car. I stood in line for almost six hours, when my number was finally called. “Hello number 29, step up and please allow our assistant to measure you,” said a representative from upn.
I was so excited; my heart was racing so fast I could hear it through my chest. “Number 29, is 5’6 ¾, we’re sorry, but you must be at least 5’7.” I didn’t know for sure if I had heard him right, because the room suddenly got quiet and I froze in place, but that didn’t stop the tears and agony I felt hearing those words. That stopped me for a few months, I became very depressed, but I continued to do hair shows and to rip the runway for Isoy Hair Couture.
However after that moment I continued to try out for ANTM, and my last stop was the tryout for 5’6 and under, however since I haven’t gotten a call so, I didn’t make it. But do I give up or keep strutting until someone says, “hey you, you have what it takes to be on top, show me what you got.”

Micheal Jackson and The Media

“To you Michael is an icon, but to us he is family”, said Janet Jackson at the 2009 BET awards. Michael Jackson passed away June 25, 2009 from an overdose to the lethal ejection propofol, mostly used in surgery settings. But it could be said that Jackson died long before then, that his soul had been taken from him by; the media, close friends, and even his fans.
Now you can find yourself listening to Jackson’s greatest hits and remembering the times, literally. However it’s also easy to forget just what Michael Jackson meant to African Americans in music, to children growing up singing, and to people struggling all across the country.
Though it’s easily forgotten that Jackson was the first African American to have a video aired on MTV, it’s easy to forget that he’s in the genesis book of world records for being the most charitable artist, and that regardless of his fame he opened his home to kids to enjoy what he didn’t have as a child.
But why is it so hard to forget? Well the media made it hard, because all you saw was the bad; from calling him wacko-jacko to saying Jackson was even gay. You saw his skin changing, but were never told why it changed; only that Michael Jackson wanted to be white. You saw his nose changing, his body so frail and skinny, and him being portrayed as a monster in his molestation trials.
Allegations were made against Jackson, yet he was acquitted of all charges. Jackson faced serious allegations of child abuse; though Jackson always stated, he was innocent. A multimillion dollar settlement was reached in the first case in 1993, and Jackson was found not guilty in a trial which mocked the judicial system in 2005.
But in a way those trials seriously hurt Jackson, think about it. What if Michael really just wanted to give kids what he never had, what if he wanted his fans to see him at his BEST and when fans turned their backs, he lost what made him who he was… the beloved Michael who was a smooth criminal and left blood on any dance floor.
Many felt he had been convicted in the court of public opinion. In a 1995 interview, Jackson told ABC's Diane Sawyer, “It just isn't fair what they put me through. There isn't one piece of information that says that I did this -- nothing, nothing, nothing."
Is too much media coverage a problem? Well that’s a question most can answer themselves.
Michael grew up in a way many of us will never understand. A note to the media you can’t forget that the celebrities you are reporting on are still human and even though they say words don’t hurt, we all know they can. At some point too much media coverage on one individual or case can cause viewers to form certain opinions, you know like agenda setting.
To fans think about having your life full of cameras and you never get to find who you are because as a child you were denied the chance, and as an adult you have so many expectations to live up to; like always trying to the best, the greatest, the king.
To doctors who treat celebrities think about it like this; in a way you kind of have the power to save a life or end one. When will you stop giving celebrities medicine? When will you tell a celebrity NO, this will kill you. Is money really the deciding factor in who doctors save or who they watch vanish right before their eyes?
The world saw a memorial put on by AEG, the company sponsoring Michael’s concert tours. But is the world letting the king of pop rest in peace? There’s a difference between honoring a life of great legacy and high lightening what made him JACKO. And like Janet Jackson said, he’s a member of their family, he’s more than an icon; he’s the greatest entertainer to ever live, and may he rest in peace.