{"id":329,"date":"2004-05-19T18:09:39","date_gmt":"2004-05-19T22:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tradermike.net\/movethecrowd\/2004\/05\/marcus_dixon_on_real_sports_with_bryant_gumbel\/"},"modified":"2004-05-19T18:09:39","modified_gmt":"2004-05-19T22:09:39","slug":"marcus_dixon_on_real_sports_with_bryant_gumbel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2004\/05\/19\/marcus_dixon_on_real_sports_with_bryant_gumbel\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcus Dixon on ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of you who have been following the Marcus Dixon story be sure to see the current episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel<\/a>. Here’s what’s on that episode (which is running several more times over the next week or so):<\/p>\n

\nMarcus Dixon<\/b><\/p>\n

In a major development following REAL SPORTS’ probing report last fall on the imprisonment of Vanderbilt football recruit Marcus Dixon, the Georgia State Supreme Court overturned the aggravated child molestation conviction against the former high school star May 3 in a 4-3 decision, throwing out his ten-year prison sentence. The conviction for statutory rape, which still stands, carries a maximum one-year sentence; on May 4, Dixon, now 19, was released after 15 months behind bars. Bryant Gumbel returns to Rome, Ga., to interview Dixon and update his Emmy(r)-winning October 2003 report, which sparked national interest in the case. Dixon, who is black, was 18 when he was accused by a 15-year-old white student of raping her in a classroom of Georgia’s Pepperell High. He maintained throughout the racially charged trial that the sex was consensual. The severity of the sentence shocked many involved in the case, including several jurors who had found Dixon not guilty of the more serious charges of forcible rape, false imprisonment, sexual battery and aggravated assault.<\/p>\n

Correspondent: Bryant Gumbel<\/p>\n

Greek Drama?<\/b><\/p>\n

Home to the first modern Olympics in 1896, Athens, with its spectacular landscapes, ancient ruins and vibrant culture, was a dramatic and exciting choice when it was named the site of the 2004 Summer Games in 1997. Now, with less than four months until the Games begin, wary onlookers have expressed concerns that the city is ill-prepared to host. In addition to transportation problems, a significant number of Olympic venues remain unfinished, potentially leaving less time to install security measures. Greek officials, who have said they are spending $1 billion on Olympic security, insist everything will be in place in time for opening ceremonies, scheduled ominously for Friday the 13th. REAL SPORTS, in collaboration with Sports Illustrated, travels to Athens for a closer look.<\/p>\n

Correspondent: Bernard Goldberg.<\/p>\n

Landing on Her Feet
\n<\/b>
\nYuliana Perez, the reigning USA Outdoor Triple Jump champion, beat overwhelming odds to become a 2004 Olympic hopeful. She was born in Arizona as an American citizen after her parents migrated to the U.S. in the 1980 mass exodus from the Cuban port of Mariel. Her father had a criminal record and was imprisoned when Perez was a toddler. When she was five, her mother was tragically killed by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. After stays in numerous foster homes, Perez went back to Cuba, where she lived with relatives and became a national junior champion. In spite of her talent, Cuban officials dropped her from the national team before the 2000 Sydney Games because, she says, she refused to renounce her American citizenship. Perez made her way back to America, where she had no home, no job, and spoke very little English, but never lost sight of her goal to compete in the Olympics. With the U.S. trials coming in July, Perez, who now lives in Tucson, may be only a few jumps away from her Olympic dream.<\/p>\n

Correspondent: Frank Deford.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All three of those stories were excellent and well worth watching. After seeing the Olympics story I don’t blame any of the athletes who have pulled out of the games due to security concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those of you who have been following the Marcus Dixon story be sure to see the current episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Here’s what’s on that episode (which is running several more times over the next week or so): Marcus Dixon In a major development following REAL SPORTS’ probing report last fall on… Continue reading Marcus Dixon on ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,15,18],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":444,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2005\/01\/19\/jack_johnson_documentary\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":0},"title":"Jack Johnson Documentary","date":"January 19, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched \"Unforgivable Blackness - The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson\" over the last two nights on PBS. Ken Burns has produced another fascinating documentary (also see The Civil War and Jazz). If you missed it, I highly recommend seeing it. It's being aired a few more times this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Race"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2003\/06\/25\/rise_of_international_basketball_talent\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":1},"title":"Rise of International Basketball Talent","date":"June 25, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"This is sort of a follow-up to my earlier basketball post about the foreign invasion of basketball players. REAL Sports With Bryant Gumbel had an excellent report on international basketball this week. (The show will be rebroadcast a few more times if you missed it.) Here's a synopsis of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Race"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":208,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2003\/10\/06\/newsweek_goes_in-depth_on_kobe\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":2},"title":"Newsweek Goes In-Depth on Kobe","date":"October 6, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kobe Bryant media circus is heating up. Newsweek takes a look at Kobe off the court. It\u2019s his defining feature: an intense focus on basketball that has made Kobe Bryant one of the game\u2019s greatest, but left him self-absorbed and socially stunted. Now he\u2019s on trial for rape. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":392,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2004\/09\/16\/kobe_bryants_admission_of_consensual_sex_with_a_second_woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":3},"title":"Kobe Bryant’s Admission of Consensual Sex with a Second Woman","date":"September 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"I just saw this in the EUR. I can't say I'm surprised, but still... damn!!! KOBE'S VIRGINIA WOMAN: 'SI' reports on player's admission of consensual sex with a second woman. \"Sports Illustrated,\" journalist Jeff Benedict has obtained a sealed statement made by Kobe Bryant and recorded by police before he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":75,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2003\/07\/13\/kobe_claims_innocence\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":4},"title":"Kobe Claims Innocence","date":"July 13, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are Kobe's first comments about the alleged sexual assualt - Bryant: 'It Will Be Fine': \"When everything comes clean, it will all be fine, you'll see,\" Bryant said during a brief telephone interview. Bryant declined to discuss the case, but said, \"But you guys know me, I shouldn't have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":213,"url":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/2003\/10\/07\/kobes_new_tattoo\/","url_meta":{"origin":329,"position":5},"title":"Kobe’s New Tattoo","date":"October 7, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Anil points out the caption on this picture of Kobe Bryant's new tattoo (update 10\/22\/2003 - Yahoo! has now expired that picture, but you can see it here): Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant shows off his new tattoo as a tribute to his wife, Vanessa and Psalm 27 during camp\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.michaelseneadza.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}