Vinson: Too much about Sterling

By MIKE VINSON

“Too much coffee will raise your heart tick
Too much road will make ya homesick
Too much money will make ya lazy
Too much whiskey will drive ya crazy

Too much, just ain’t enough
Too much ain’t enough
Baby, you’re the only thing
I do too much of ain’t enough”

The above lyrics are to a song titled “Too Much,” a lively, shuffle-dance tune made popular by country-rock group Pirates of the Mississippi back in the early ‘90s.

With that, I’ll attempt to make the quantum leap from country-rock music to the controversy swirling around Donald Sterling, the white, 80-year-old, billionaire attorney-entrepreneur, and owner of National Basketball Association/NBA team the Los Angeles Clippers.

Having been involved in ugly race/discrimination incidents in years past, Sterling currently is at the very “eye” of what could turn out to be the most disastrous “hurricane” in professional sports history, in terms of race relations. Here’s what reportedly set this hurricane in motion:

April 25, 2014, TMZ Sports released what it claims is an April 9, 2014 audio recording of a conversation between Sterling and a striking-looking lady known as “V. Stiviano,” Sterling’s alleged paramour. According to TMZ, Sterling and Stiviano argued in regards to a photo Stiviano posted on Instagram, in which she posed with Magic Johnson.
In the audio recording, Sterling allegedly says to Stiviano: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to? Don’t put him [Magic Johnson] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”

You must admit, it’s way out in left field for a man of even Sterling’s affluence, influence, and clout to use a tone of indignation when referring to one Earvin “Magic” Johnson: Most Outstanding Player on the 1979 Michigan State NCAA championship team; a 5-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers; 3-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player/MVP; 3-time NBA regular season MVP; 12-time NBA All-star; Olympic gold medalist; and considered the greatest point guard in NBA history!

And to boot, Johnson, African-American, now 54-years-old, is on par with Sterling as far as being a shaker-and-mover businessman in the Los Angeles area. In addition to once having been a minority owner in the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson now is the leader of a group that owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, a Major League Baseball team . . . all this in addition to many other notable ventures, both business-related and philanthropic.

For his alleged comments to V. Stiviano about blacks and Magic Johnson, the NBA has banned owner L.A. Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million. Also, the NBA has initiated procedures to force him to sell the Clippers.

As best my research could uncover, Ms. V. Stiviano is a 31-year-old “hottie” of Hispanic and African-American descent, her birth name supposedly being Maria Vanessa Perez. Though legally married to the same woman, Rochelle, since 1955, Donald Sterling reportedly met V. Stiviano at a 2010 Super Bowl party, and they have been a “public item” ever since.

Sounds about right, but here’s what really gets me about this Donald Sterling mess: His team, the L.A. Clippers, is composed of approximately 75% black players. Still, Sterling chose for his mistress—cavorting with her in public, nonetheless—a woman of black heritage. However, here’s the real kicker: Donald Sterling was born Donald Tokowitz, his bloodline being Jewish!

One must ask two questions:
(1) Why would Sterling have a problem with his black mistress posing for an Instagram with a black man the stature of Magic Johnson?
Could it be that Sterling is personally jealous of Magic?
(2) Why would Sterling be so loose-tongued as to publicly voice these racially-themed epithets?
Maybe, Sterling is so full of himself, so narcissistic, that he thinks he can say or do whatever to whomever, anytime he so desires.

Sadly enough, for people like Donald Sterling, who seemingly have everything, too much just ain’t enough.