1. I was born in Oklahoma in 1976.  The pro-sports wasteland.  Sure, we’ve got the Thunder now … but for 200 years prior to that we had zilch.  Nada.  Nothing.

2. My dad was Army and we moved throughout the Southwest to various bases.  In fact, I’ve moved so often, even after the second separation, I wondered if it was a federal mandate that my family become migrant workers.

3. Both of my parents were high school nerds.  They had no sports passions to pass onto me.

All of these factors have contributed to the fact that I am a Free Agent Fan. [Read Column]

I just read on CNN.com, my daily news source, that the latest recruiting video released from Al Qaeda Productions is styled as a slick, Jihad reality show with an overt hip hop flavor.  You down with AQP?  This time its not Afghanistan.  Its not Iraq.  Its Somalia.  And its personal.  Their fearless leader?  An American Muslim (who looks white or at least whitish) named al-Amriki of Al-Shabaab is their public face and actually raps on the video.

Don’t believe me?  Here’s the link to the original story.

I had a few other columns lined up this week, but I quickly pushed them aside to devote proper attention to this breaking news item.  When I read this story, I literally poured battery acid into my colon to dislodge the sinking feeling of the end of the world.  I can’t believe that the MTV Generation has now intersected with Blackhawk Down.  Are we to expect a new crop of raw, street rep rappers banging the hoods of Mogadishu?

[Read Column]