Big Mike: The Urban Professional

As time goes on, the people at Creative Loafing are starting to get used to having interns around and are beginning to include us in their day to day as employees not just the new people. Today was probably my best day there so far.

I felt like a real writer today, my swag was way up from having a very small writeup and my name in the current issue, I was in the office finding sources, doing research and interviews for the two story assignments I have, talking to my editors in a casual way that I hadn't before. The boss invited me out for drinks at this spot called Prevue in NoDa. I went and it was cool, it was in the art district and had a mixed crowd but mostly urban professionals (i.e. black ppl with jobs better yet careers). Thank God I changed clothes, I wore a jersey to work but I put on my "cool kid" clothes for the after work spot, dress shirt, loosened tie, jeans I actually ironed, Vans. I was channeling my inner Lawrence Wiggins for a second.

I went to Prevue with my friend Portia and everybody was networking, exchanging cards and information, soon as we got there this lady from the radio station, who I've been listening to since I was like 12 started talking to me and thought I was a poet she'd seen perform before (must be the beard). The spot was real cool, lots of people, a few dancing, some at the bar, most just talking. The DJ was bumpin' classic hip hop, then mixed some ATLien and Southernplayalistic OutKast (my favorite), some women had their wine and shit, it was just real chill. People from work I barely even knew bought me drinks and I almost thought about gettin' at one of them 30+ women out there (Hit 'em with "If you need some stamina in your life, holla at ya boy"). I really felt like part of the Creative Loafing family.

I was impressed by the NoDa area, it's Charlotte's art district now but when I growing up it was nothing like that. You had the YMCA where I played baseball and basketball and poverty, old shotgun houses and people who had been there forever. Now it's cool little coffee shops and chill spots, bars, art galleries and a theatre (plays not movies). I'm happy to see it.

After that I went to this lil' spot called in the cut downtown called Alexander Michael's. It's a restaurant I used to walk by all the time when I was little but I never had the money to eat there so it was kinda cool to accomplish a dream. Had some chicken pesto (Ya boy is eatin' Pesto nigga damn!). I don't know, today I finally got an understanding of what it's like to live and work in Charlotte and why it's so appealing. There are things to do (once you're 21) and now I think I love my hometown even more (if that's possible).

Today I also caught up with some people from the neighborhood and I feel like a lot of them look at me and my family as the people that made it. We managed to get out Charlotte, more specifically the neighborhood, go to college and do something. I mean, they treat me like I'm a celebrity sometimes and it's just like come on bruh I'm Mike, same dude just a little better known. But I can't help but get the sense that I'm leaving them behind. We always talk about time flying. Their little brothers that I remember being born are hitting high school now and little sisters are graduating to middle school and it's like damn, what have I been doing? But I can think about every year that's passed and say ok, I did this, this and this while some of them might not be able to the same. When I was leaving for Prevue, one of my friends said, "When you get on TV don't forget us bruh. Do it like you doing it for TV bruh" and I told him "I'ma do it like I'm doing it for GV you already know!" And since I left in 2004, I've really started to understand that everything I'm doing is bigger than me and I'm not just doing this for me anymore, not even for my moms or my family, I realize there are people who are watching me and actually depending on my success. I'm doing this for all the people I know who didn't make it this far (RIP Willie), can't leave Greenville and everybody who has dreams of getting out. Having the sense of purpose is really guiding me these days. When you combine passion and purpose you have an winning formula fam.

Thank the Lord for all he's done for me.
"To whom much is given, much is required"

Be easy yall.

Seriously Sopranos Fans...KILL YOURSELF!

I thought this Monday would be like most.

I would struggle to get up, drag me feet getting ready my internship and be about 10 minutes late. That part I knew was going to happen but this Monday, all anybody in the media or anyone in the world seemed to care about was the fuckin' Sopranos.

I obviously know the show exists, I know what it's about, I knew it was the last episode but did I watch it? No, I never watched so why start now.

- 8:00 am, SportsCenter, Sopranos talk.
I'm thinking okay I guess they had to elude to it being a masculine network.

- 8:30 am, Shower, Sopranos talk.
I listen to the radio every morning in the shower and this morning all they wanted to scream and yell about was the ending to this show. The sad part is I GOT THE ENDING RIGHT without ever watching an episode (Not the onion rings and shit but you know). I told the few people who still cared to ask me after I told them I don't watch that shit Friday that it would have a un-ending, meaning that it's just going to stop and nothing will be resolved. IT'S CLASSIC CLIFFHANGER! Think the chicken from Family Guy, when you think it's dead, it opens its eyes and leaves the door open for him and Peter to fight again.

- 8:50 am, Mike & Mike in the Morning, Sopranos talk.
Their banter about this bullshit ass show is probably what pushed my annoyance to code red. Very little mention of Lewis Hamilton, the first black driver to win an F1 race, very little talk of anything sports related.

- 9:00 am, CNN Headline News, Sopranos talk.
Surely CNN would give me some idea of what's going on in the world besides the Sopranos and Paris Hilton (at this point I long for a Paris Hilton story). Nope! Viewer e-mails on what they think about the ending or how it should have ended. Didn't George Bush do something yesterday?

- 9:20 am, Fox News, Sopranos talk.
It's sad when they push you to the dark side but surely conservatives don't give a shit about this show. NOPE, I was wrong.

- 9:25 am, Charlotte Observer, Sopranos talk.
FUCK TV, I know the newspaper (and it's website) will have a little bit on it. FIRST THING YOU SEE on Charlotte.com, the fucking Sopranos and everybody wants to give their two cents.

- 9:30 am, Cartoon Network
I have no clue what I was watching but one thing was for damn sure, they weren't talking about that show.

-10:07 am, Creative Loafing Charlotte, Sopranos talk.
I told yall I'd be like 10 minutes late, anyway, I get in and sit down, the music editor hands me some listings to double check. Cool. Behind me the Amen Corner has assembled to talk about what else The Sopranos. These people are talking about where they were like it was Kennedy's assassination or September 11th (I was in ROTC for 9/11, definitely not a good look). Anyway, they go on describing their account of the events like no one else they were talking to watched it. They went on rambling about that shit, Regis & Kelly and Bruce Leroy (YES, I heard a Last Dragon reference on a Monday morning! What is really going on?) before I realized "Hey, I'm a music intern, I can just drown their ass out with music" So I headphone'd up and got through the day. Not without a couple IM's asking me if I saw it which weren't answered angrily or ignored depending on when they asked.

- 2:45 pm, Home.
I just beat the thunderstorm home, YES! I settle down in my pops recliner and turn on another channel I know won't be talking about that show (Yes, I had to go Bill Parcells and not even mention it's fuckin name). Ahh, How Clean Is Your House? on BBC America, a sanctuary.

- 4:00 pm, NFL Live, ESPN, Sopranos talk.
They suckered me back in with football and then snuffed me with a Sopranos uppercut eluding to the fucking show over 20 times and even doing a damn segment which chronicled GOOD ENDINGS/BAD ENDINGS on NFL careers, which I'll hand it to them was a clever twist but still fucking annoying.

- 4:30 pm, Rob & Big...
Jim Rome thinks he's a Soprano do you really think I care what he's burning on? Once again Rob & Big DO WORK SON! and save the day. I CAN'T BELIEVE THE WORLD WIDE LEADER DIDN'T FIRE MANY A COLUMNIST FOR PROCLAIMING THAT IT WAS THE SHOW OF OUR GENERATION. I'd much rather watch The Office or Food Network, fuck it I actually did flip to DIY (Do It Yourself) network for a little while to escape.

- 5:00 pm, ESPN again...
It's like a scar I gotta keep scratching, The next person to say "Whacked" and think it's original I'm going to blow up their studio and write my congressman! (I don't know but it seemed like it fit there). Around The Horn, obvious I know they are going to bring it up, they've talked about it before when it wasn't the finale so I prepared for it. I somehow made it through my favorite show of competitive banter unscathed. PTI on the other hand forced me in a non-steroid induced rage! Television was subsequently turned off for the day.

- 6:52 pm, Phone Call, Sopranos talk.
Afternoon Nap was in full effect, BlackBerry rings, it's one of my best friends! I know she won't want to talk about that damn show but she is known for bombing conversations and not even 30 seconds after pleasantries she drops the A-Bomb, "So what did you think of the Sopranos?" My mind says, YOU BITCH! and as I fight the urge to hang up and throw the hand held device in the hamper near my closet, I control my rage of being awoken by such tomfoolery and calmly say "When have you ever heard me say I watched that show?" As she prepares to become the victim, she says, "Well I just thought..." I cut her off, "I'm so tired of talking about that fucking show, I'm seriously mad right now that that's all people want to talk about today..." After venting some frustration, I kindly ask if I can call her back cause God knows that if I keep talking to her, I'm setting myself up for a "You were mean to me" conversation down the road.

- 10:00 pm, Facebook
I wake up surprisingly energized and low and behold only one question about my current Facebook status...
"Big is the only nigga alive who doesn't give a shit about the Sopranos or the ending and laughing because he's never watched it and still got the ending right."
That person who asked that question, you know who you are, is officially a dick to me.

At the end of the day, I'm not doubting that the show in question wasn't a good show nor do I deny the fact that at it's peak it was one of the most popular but the same way I look at Scarface and wonder how people can watch that long, fake ass movie over and over again and call it the best, the same way "hard" niggas are all about that movie and "gangster" shit, really it was like Goodfellas the series, at best. (Want to see some real shit watch Cocaine Cowboys). I never really got into shit like that because it was ridiculously stereotypical and also very predictable, America's fascination with the gangster mentality is a mystery to me. So Sopranos fans, from the bottom of my heart, go ahead and commit that. Get over your show, I'm glad I can watch Entourage, Big Love, Real Sex and Flight of the Conchords on HBO now without dumbass, vague Sopranos teasers. Oh and fuck USA Today too, I really love your paper but damnit today if I didn't feel like destroying your website! I didn't forget about yall niggas, yall had the show over real life events. Is that good journalism? Somebody call DeWayne Wickham!

3 Years Ago Today

It was on June 10, 2004, 5:30 PM at the Charlotte Coliseum that I achieved one of my first major life goals. That day, I graduated and said goodbye to West Charlotte and left with lots of memories but an even greater outlook on the future. In the three years since graduation I've learned, grew and experienced things that back in 2004 I wouldn't believe would be in store for me.

So what are some things I've done in the past three years?
- I went from being a nigga that just talked a lot to man who turned gregariousness into opportunity
- I started using words like gregarious (Who'd a thunk it?)
- I've figured out what my purpose in life is and capitalize on my God given ability. I'm ridiculously career oriented
- I learned that money wasn't everything and dying to get it doesn't do you any good if you aren't here to enjoy it and also the big difference between rich and wealthy.
- I went from thinking $100 was a lot to thinking a quarter-million really ain't shit in the grand scheme of things and million dollar homes are normal.
- I let go of some of my "Charlotte" tendencies, I'm still kinda arrogant and can be an asshole sometimes but now I can talk to people, no matter how big or how small and find common ground without alienating and trying to intimidate them
- I've had the opportunity to travel without spending a dime (THANKS A&T!)
- I've met some life changing individuals who really don't know how much of an impact they've had on me.
- I've done TV, radio and helped produce when all I wanted to when I got here was talk.
- I've began to see things from perspectives other than my own and became a more fair, understanding and tolerant person.
- I've realized the value of a college education, not so much for the academics but for the experiences to be around a group of individuals where everyone has at least SOME ambition and others have very real plans for changing the world.
- I've tried to be a person that people can say, "Mike is doing something."
- I went from being barely responsible enough for myself to being responsible for a entire organization (The A&T Register! Get At Us!)
- I took all the energy I never used at West Charlotte and have channeled that into all facets of journalism and tried to make myself not just an employee but an entity all my own, branding myself as somebody who can do it all.
- I realized that there was more to the world than leaving Charlotte, getting a degree and coming back home. I - I realized I needed to know people who weren't from here, never been here and had plans to be doing something with their lives.
- I learned that things don't always go as planned and sometimes improvising instead of sticking to the script works out a lot better.
- I learned that being myself is a very good thing and that waking up every morning and being Mike McCray ain't so bad.
- I know that work speaks for itself and no matter what someone can say about my personality or character my track record speaks for itself.
- I learned to prepare for the worse and I'm still learning how to enjoy the good times while you have them.

Yall know I could make a list forever so I'll stop but CONGRATULATIONS to the class of 2007, Freshmen, I'll see yall on the yard next year, Seniors, best of luck I'll see you around the way.

GV I MADE IT! Big Mike in a market near you soon...

How have I changed since you knew me in 2004? How have you changed? Let me know.
Be Easy.

College? LeBron James had a great four years without it

What if LeBron James went to college? And let’s assume he actually stayed four years. As many seniors finished their fourth year of college and graduated into the real world, LeBron would be right there with them.

In theory, it’d be the end of a storybook college career, a blowout win over a favored appointment. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, he came in fresh out of high school and was thrown into the fire; he took his usual bumps and bruises and survived, stronger. He saw his other people from his class move on to do big things, like Dewayne Wade and others disappear like Darko Milicic.

By his junior season he broke through. Made the tournament, reached the Sweet 16 but that was as far as his experience could take him. Now, as a senior, with the necessary tools and experience under his belt, the missing pieces finally in place, he breeze through the first round against a clearly overmatched opponent. In round two, he beat the guys who had been there and done that basically through pure will. So what if he had the easy route their, number one seeds usually do.

Now he’s broke through to what would be his NCAA Championship game, which in this case is the NBA Finals. On the way there, he’s accumulated an amazing highlight tape, and just one game ago had what might be forever remember as his career-defining game, that Michael Jordan moment that people had been waiting for where he scored 48 points, 29 of the Cavs last 30 points, including their last 25 points completely taking over the fourth quarter and both overtimes, capped by the lasting image of LeBron, physically spent, more relieved than happy that the game was over Cleveland had won.

The opponent their facing is in anything but uncharted waters. The Spurs are the equivalent of the perennial powerhouse, the team everybody hates but no one can stop, they win one way, with their players being more or less zombies to a winning system. (Sounds a little like Duke right?)

If it’s one thing we’ve all learned the past four years it is how fast things can change.
Four years ago the Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the worst teams in the league, in a city that hadn’t seen a championship team since Martin Luther King was alive.

Can any of us say we’ve accomplished so much in just four years?