A couple of years ago, black Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton (pictured) was in Barcelona to compete.

Racing fans showed up in blackface and taunted Hamilton as he practiced on the track. Spanish officials tried to deal with the issue at the time, but it appears that Spain, and Barcelona in particular, will just be known as a racist region.


Brazilian soccer player Daniel Alves, also black, currently plays for Barcelona in the Spanish league and says he deals with the racist taunts from soccer fans almost every game:


"Unfortunately, I have learned how to live with it," he told the Associated Press. "Every match the crowd goes after me. They insult me, call me 'monkey.'"

Back in 2008, Hall of Fame basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. He's been on a drug called Gleevec that's helped doctors monitor the cancer closer and made his chances for recovery better. This week, Abdul-Jabbar tweeted that he was "cancer-free," but wanted to clarify that his battle isn't totally over yet.

"You're never really cancer free and I should have known that," Abdul-Jabbar told the Associated Press. "My cancer right now is at an absolute minimum. It's not life-threatening at this point in my life."

At 63 years old, when Kareem was diagnosed, he wasn't sure what to think. One of his close friends, actor Bruno Kirby, was diagnosed with leukemia and 30 days later he died. He thought his life was over.

Although the film 'The Blind Side' was lauded for its inspiring story, and Sandra Bullock won numerous awards, including an Oscar, for her performance in the film, the person who inspired the film is saying there's more to the story than what you see on film.

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher, who was portrayed in the film as a soft-spoken, possibly mentally challenged homeless kid by Quinton Aaron, is gearing up to release his memoir 'I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond,' co-written by sports writer Don Yaeger.

The book delves deeper into Oher's life. He talks about his relationship with his drug-addicted mother and how she would leave him, at 7 years old, and his siblings (one of them just over a year old) alone for days while she went out to use drugs.

Last year, sports fans were blown away by New York Jets' cornerback Antonio Cromartie's way with women. The New York Post wrote a story about how Cromartie fathered nine children with eight women in six states.

The story talked about his numerous paternity suits, visitation agreements and child support orders totaling tens of thousands of dollars a month. It's safe to say that Cromartie is hoping there isn't an NFL strike next season because he really needs that paycheck.

Now one of his exes, Rhonda Patterson, is dishing on their relationship, broken engagement and how she gave birth to his sixth child alone. The book, 'Love, Intercepted: A Tale of Football, Falling and Failing in Love,' goes in depth into about how they met, their sex life and breakup but never refers to Cromartie by name -- only as "he."

"It goes nameless because the story is bigger than him," Patterson told the Post. "This is not a book to bash him. It's meant to help women avoid making the same mistakes I did."

Throughout an athlete's life, his or her coaches are some of the most influential people they will come across. Starting way back in the little leagues to high school and college and eventually professional if they make it that far, coaches are a mainstay.

The lengths that Wake Forest baseball coach, Tom Walter (pictured standing), went for one of his players, though, is rare: This week, Walter donated one of his kidneys to freshman Wake Forest outfielder Kevin Jordan (pictured in bed).

The two are currently recovering in an Atlanta hospital after the procedure. Jordan, who was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 19th round, will be out for six to eight weeks while Walter will take at least two months to recuperate.


"For us, it's almost like it's been divine intervention," Jordan's father, Keith, told The Associated Press.

You would think moving to a new city, getting a new job and being around new people would curb some of the drama of your former life.

Not with Gilbert Arenas. It seems like the drama follows him wherever he goes.

After his weapons possessions debacle last year, Arenas was traded to the Orlando Magic from the Washington Wizards.

And in a recent game against the Boston Celtics, while heading to the locker room for halftime, a process server in the stands next to fans handed Arenas papers for child support and custody.


According to RollingOut.com, Arenas' ex-fiance, Laura Mendoza, filed a petition for custody of their three children and an increase in child support.

Mendoza claims that Arenas cut her off financially, so she wants $100,000 a month. Arenas claims that he currently pays $20,000 a month and says that Mendoza is just trying to get back at him because their relationship ended badly.

To say that Washington Redskins' defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth had a tumultuous season would be an understatement.

With the changing of his team's defensive schemes, he tried to protest and head coach Mike Shanahan made him jump through hoops to get his starting spot back. The drama lasted through the season, ending with Haynesworth being suspended for the last four games. Now that the season is over, it appears the drama is still following Haynesworth.

According to the Washington Post, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Haynesworth on charges of assault stemming from a road rage incident with another motorist on the Fairfax County Parkway in Reston, Virginia.

According to the complaint, the incident occurred on Wednesday morning when a man driving a Honda Civic gave a "non-verbal gesture" to Haynesworth for following too close, who was driving a pickup truck, at a stoplight. Haynesworth then allegedly got out of the truck, went over to the Civic, yelled at the driver, punched him, got back in his truck and drove off. Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, is denying all the allegations.

It's been a rough week for Minnesota Viking defensive end Everson Griffen (pictured).

Last Friday, he was arrested for being drunk in public while hanging out in Hollywood. He was released on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, though, Griffen was pulled over near the USC campus in L.A. and was unable to produce an ID.

When police asked him to step out of his car, he took off running, saying he didn't want to go to jail.


Officers chased after the 6'3", 275-pound baller until they caught up with him. As they tried to subdue him, Griffen fought back, grabbing one of the officers in the crotch. Officers whipped out the taser and gave the baller some shocks until he allowed officers to put the cuffs on him.

For those of you waiting for Tony Parker and Eva Longoria to become officially available, now is your chance. According to various reports, the Parker/Longoria divorce became official over the weekend. Publicists for Longoria confirmed the divorce to the San Antonio Express-News.

"Anderson Group Public Relations confirms that Eva and Tony's divorce has been finalized," said the statement to the paper.

Although there are a good percentage of black players throughout Major League Baseball, the teams have no African-American owners.

Martin Luther King III is hoping to change that.

The son of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is currently in discussions to become a minority owner of the New York Mets:


"I believe in the merit and American value of creating an example," King said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "and if I personally, or as part of a collective, can advance the vision of a more diverse ownership group in professional sports, domestically or internationally, then, like my father, I am prepared to act in that spirit.

"There has been a lot of discussion and speculation about my participation in the acquisition of the New York Mets. The public release of those discussions was premature."