Black and/or White

South Africa, recently and to much ado, declared that its Chinese citizens were black. As can be imagined this policy decision was met with no small amount of ridicule by punditry here, and presumably abroad. I, however, applaud the decision believing that skin color plays only a small role in the actual politics of race; genetics is neither a starting point nor an end point when it comes to the crushing reality of racism (Let the shit storm rain, right?). But I don’t really want to get into a debate about civil rights or racism in the United States as such, and in fact I don’t know if the above stated opinion really applies to that, what I am interested in, in the current forum, is how skin color is used to define athletes.

Especially when it comes to basketball, race is the fulcrum upon which most discussion is leveraged. Players are usually categorized first and foremost by their race- Kevin Love as Mike Miller; Beasley as Derrick Coleman; Adam Morrison as Larry Bird- no matter how absurd or on point the comparison really is. Moreover when you read comments sections on many blogs about certain athletes there is no insignificant amount of verbiage used to defend White athleticism by culling a starting lineup of Europeans as a defense of the race.

The simple reality is that just as the Black and White of the civil rights movement must be understood as uniquely American constructs quite specific to our history of slavery and colonization, the Black and White of sports is an equally contextualized discussion that must be evaluated in very different terms than the ones that we use to discuss presidential candidates and police brutality.

As the first principle it is worthwhile to note that athleticism, and differences in ‘innate’ athletic ability cannot, should not, and aren’t the defining characteristics of race in sports: although I’m sure you could use statistics to point towards certain trends, I feel rather strongly that there are many players on either side of the race lines that do not fit any standard classification. Compare the athletic ability, for instance, of CDR, Paul Pierce, Joe Alexander, Manu Ginobili, Larry Bird, Brent Barry, Chris Paul, Yi and Yao, or to expand, Don Beebe, Donovan McNabb, Christiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henri. If you can come up with any type of ranking that takes into account ability AND race, you get a cookie.

If, then, we can eliminate genetic ability according to the first principle, and genetic race as a reality contextualized by politics (see CHINESE PEOPLE ARE BLACK out of S.A.) then what exactly are we talking about when we talk about race as a defining factor in sports. In the United States certainly we can point to underlying bias that is the direct result of American history, which then allows (forces?) people to create artificial distinctions that classify people based on skin color (question: if Karl Malone and Jason Williams got in a fight, who would Rush Limbaugh support?) rather than culture. In Europe we can point to nationalisms that out-class American conventions of race by many fold, which utterly crushes any type of genetic reality: think Moors in Spain, Sicily as a NYC of the dark ages conquered by Romans, Arabs and Normans in a couple of centuries, the Balkans as, well, the Balkans, or Russians who have Chinese hair and Scandinavian eyes while they hate on anyone south of the Alps.

The point you ask? As an artifact of American culture it is hard, if not impossible, to discuss sports without looking through the lens of race. Yet as a human, an individual that is, the task is far less imposing, and in fact it can be impressively liberating to replace the standard bearer of athletic difference, race, with far more interesting differences such as class, culture, nationalism and personal histories, which certainly can, but don’t necessarily have to, include race.

Brandon Jennings: Possibly the Greatest Blessing to Team Sports

In my preparation for the Germany-Turkey match (which consisted of placing a bet and reading sports news) I read a story on Brandon Jennings possibly bypassing one-year in college to play in Europe. 

Well, I already like the guy because his flattop is fly enough, that had he been around Philadelphia in 1989, he could have made a cameo in Bel Biv Devoe's 'Poison' video. Bottom line, the flattop shows a confidence that is rare, and could be the greatest blessing for the future of college basketball.

I must start by saying that I am in favor of paying college athletes when they participate in sports that make the university and sponsors unknown quantities of money. The value of these players clearly surpasses the value of a four-year education. In my opinion, the whole system is a sham and a pathetic pr stunt. Seeing as how the system will never be changed, I must not rant more about this.

But. I will rant about a few things. 

If phenoms went to Europe instead of one-year in college:

1)  it would strengthen teams by allowing for better development of all the players, as well as decrease the distractions that the rest of the team would have to endure 

3) coaches would have to actually coach (e.g. frank martin, tim floyd, thadd motta,  jim calhoon, etc.), and not just rely on their one and done [paid] talent

2) there would be less ncaa rules infractions

3) these phenoms would be humbled, and would thus likely mature better. this means that we can let the europeans take care of our kwame browns and william avery's

Just think how good Brandon Jennings would be if he knew the metric system, had the taste for fine wines and cheeses, and had lived in a culture that didn't glorify him as much as they do a foootball/tennis/rugby player...

I read the other day that wikipedia will be the basis of all education in the future. Mr. Jennings will clearly have the money to buy a computer. Go to Europe Brandon, and take all the arrogant, immature, and untested 'phenoms' with you so we don't have to read and write about them in our second sport.

Okay, the match has started, i must go.

How good will Brandon Jennings be once he has experienced fine wine, cheese, and siestas...

 

Evaluating Evaluating

First thing I want to say is all this draft prediction and should this should that is an exercise in futility. Second thing is I read it nonetheless. Third thing is only in about five years can vindication be had or blame be shouldered.

Rose or Beasley. So many say the former and that you MUST have a PG as superstar in this day and age. But really, if, say, a violent revolution took place here in the US and all the ownership were put away and the proletariat decided to redo the NBA and re-draft the teams in the name of Unity and Brotherhood and YOU were given first swipe at the player of your choice: Who would it be?

Maybe CP3, maybe Dwight Howard, but in all likelihood it would be LeBron or Kobe. And if you are disagreeing right now you are lying to yourself to preserve your own ego. What’s more is that none, NONE, of the recent NBA champs had an elite prototype PG, Rondo is good sure, and necessary to the Celts’ success, but can be had yearly in the lower half of the first round, Tony Parker is great as well, but an elite PG?, no way, more like a small 2. Chauncey? He’s certainly your best counter argument but once again, he’s as much a combo guard who plays a step above Rip than he is a pure PG. The Lakers had, uh, who? And before that the Spurs again, then the Bulls, the Rockets, the Bulls again? Well I guess if you go back two decades you had Ike and Magic (who today would NOT be considered a PG but more akin to Lebron, in today’s under enlightened NBA bureaucracies).

So what if you could have a pure scorer who just might be able to play point forward and has all the athletic ability needed to play NBA D, would you call him Lebron, or Kobe, or Paul Pierce, or Michael Beasley. I love how mother****ers psych themselves out trying to play trends and what not and hold onto the silt for want of gold.

Get a guy like Chalmers at pick 27 and I’ll play Rose and his boys any day (wait, did this already happen).

In other news I think Hollinger does some fantastic stuff with his numbers games in predicting greatness, at least a more materialist approach than could be had by other outlets, and has Mario, DA, and DJ all highly rated for success with Rush doing reasonably well (and these numbers don’t really account for D, as Hollinger mentioned himself in regards to Rush).

So at the end of the day what yield is there for my nihilism? Take it to the bank: teams that pick at the top of the draft do so because they are poor evaluators of talent, and as such mistakes are more likely than success and when success does come it’s usually by chance.

Reading Between the Lines

Erick’s post brings up some interesting issues that are not at all specific to European Football, but rather are universal complaints of sports fans. Ultimately we search for the fulfillment of a platonic ideal in our everyday viewing of sports; the events that captivate us and imprint permanently in our synaptic memory are those events that in fact approach this ideal. How many of us have replayed in our minds Chalmers drilling that three pointer or David Tyree grasping the football with sheer will power. On the other hand how many hundreds if not thousands of sporting memories have all but vanished from our minds mere moments after they passed. We can only rarely be satisfied with sports because we invest so much in their potential.

But. This is in fact the nature of the game, and raison d’etre of 2nd sport-dom, by adding context to every game, and subtext to every player, the dialogue created between the viewer and the event should surpass the otherwise subscendent reality of a lot of sporting events. And European Football offers this type of context in spades.

Turkey vs Germany screams for such a context, and the beauty of the game, or the utter lack, can be seen, less as a failure to achieve an ideal of the game itself, as a particular cultural iteration of a largely rule bound exercise. And in this unique manner of viewing the game we can watch with rapt fascination as a team trying to pry into the very core nature of Occidentalism via a base Oriental nature clashes with a cultural identity that is almost the definition of the former. While the Turks struggle to handle the game and chain their wild desires to a codified method, the Germans are masters of the set piece, turning subtle cracks into gaping holes. Watching them eviscerate the Portugese one set piece at a time was not ugly but a very different beauty than Ronaldo’s preening vanity.

Spain-Russia is almost the exact opposite, much as they inhabit opposite corners of the Continent, they are opposites that happen to converge on a very similar essence. This is anarchy via Liberation contra anarchy via Ultimatum. This is eating dinner at 1230am against drinking vodka at 830am. And these two teams gun at the goal like they burn their own capital in spite or live in the hills out of a crazy desire to live as they wish. I think anyone who loves attacking Football will love the way these two teams abandon convention for a unique vision of perfection.

When Euro 2008 commenced I was eager to contribute blogs on 'the beautiful game', in which I thought I would be singing the praises of the French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Croatians. Unfortunately this eagerness continued to wane after the first match between the Swiss and Czech Republic, and finally culminated in the Russian defeat of the Dutch. On Sunday night the Italians will attempt to make the semifinal matches full of teams that play anything but 'the beautiful game'. What does this indicate? Well, I guess it could conjure up some of the sentiments felt for the Cobra-Kai Spurs. Although, this time I am not supportive of stubborn, ugly play. This is supposed to be 'the beautiful game' after all.

If Euro 2008 has taught me anything, it has taught me that beautiful doesn't translate into success, not even in 'the beautiful game'. Leave it to the Abromovich funded Russians to spark my awakening. While Arshavin does play with the grace that will soon land him in one of Europe's biggest clubs, the Russian drubbing of Holland killed any change of recuperating 'the beautiful game'. Advice to those who have not watched many of the matches: Do not watch the rest of the tournament because you will be turned off of the sport forever.

And, what do we have to look forward to after this atrocious tournament? Most of our sensory organs will be bombarded and subsequently tortured by the news regarding Christiano Ronaldo's departure from Man U. It is all enough to make me start watching cricket!

Lets root for Turkey and the death of all things beautiful!

The future has begun

This report comes live from KCMO, Penn Valley CC. I attended the game last night and will offer my own preview of the recruits.

First off I think this class will ensure the genius of Self’s recruiting prowess. We always knew that he was a great recruiter, he proved (like Doc maybe?) that he was also a more than capable in game coach, to say the least. But in the past, his skill at recruiting could be seen largely as the ability to recruit top flight recruits who were labeled as such (think Brandon Rush, Darrel Arthur or Mario Chalmers). However, this year I think we will remember him for the skill that brought Illinois and Oral Roberts to the national scene (think Deron Williams). And now for my take:

Tyshaun Taylor
To my eye Tyshaun was the most impressive performer on Day One, he showed an excellent ability to lead the fast break and finish hard at the rim. Over the course of the evening he put down two ally oops and handed out a few others. It was hard to evaluate his Defense because of the nature of the game, but he showed excellent quickness and quick hands. My guess is that Ty will be the first off the bench to run the point behind Sherron. For the game he plays Tyshuan has excellent size, he’ll need to improve his strength, but scoring at least all of his field goals on dunks and at the line shows that he knows how to play a physical game, and 6 of his 11 off dunks is a showcase of his athleticism. He needs to work on his outside shooting but has a silky smooth free throw. Comparisons: Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo.


Travis Releford
Releford is a very interesting player, he has great size and plays hard inside on the defensive glass. The combination of these two abilities will make him an instantaneous asset to KU and he will certainly give many teams severe matchup problems. He does not seem to have the superior athleticism that would make him an elite prospect, but don’t be surprised if he overcomes that negative through size and skill. The best comparison that comes to mind is a small Tayshuan Prince, and Travis will be a great defensive presence. He needs to work on his shooting both at the line (he looked terrible here) and from the field, although this could have been the result of an off night.


Mario Little
This guy has superstar potential but will struggle to fit into a structured offense with teammates of similar caliber to himself. He has elite athleticism and on one play, Tyshuan tossed up an ally-oop on the fast break and Mario and Ronnie Brewer (!!!) went up and both grabbed the ball to finish. If this guy can get up with Ronnie Brewer he has some special calves. He also showed great range and was comfortable behind the three point line. There will be some concerns about his Defense and selfishness on the ball. But in the end this could be exactly what we need next year as a young team. I watched him and thought of him as a Bill Walker type player, a guy with who plays bigger than his size and has great strength.

I’ll have more complete previews as the summer league continues…

The Truth is Green

First, see J-Gill's post on the champion inherent.

J stated Pierce being the Most underrated scorer in the game? - I think this is a byproduct of Pierce just laboring in relatively low fanfare, considering what an outstanding player he is, as the Celtics toiled in mediocrity over his career (until this season). The team change in mindset, attitude, and the overall increase in talent level profoundly affected double-P. By the time the Celts reached the Finals, the shift was complete, Inglewood-reborn in Boston. As part of the quest for a championship, it seems each of the Big Three embraced a different role, they deferred to a subset of their responsibilities from being The Man on teams' past. Pierce, however, recognized there were moments that he was the only Celtic capable of dominance. Dominance was needed in this series and the Truth was issued. Does the underrated label stem from the aesthetics of his game? While clearly efficient, he's a mix of grace and awkwardness. Seems to sneakily creep up his point total. Regardless, he is deserving of being The Truth.

Kobe's failure to lead his Lakers to a championship has inevitably led to the Jordan comparisons as being without merit. I'm a Kobe apologist of sorts, but will state I think he could have done more this series, although I think Phil Jackson and his teammates had much more to do with the loss than Kobe. Don't forget it took Jordan four years to just lead the Bulls to a winning record, and six years to get his first championship. Kobe will be back, his teammates may or may not be better, but to definitively state Kobe is lacking whatever that makeup is that made Jordan a champion is to not fully examine this Lakers team, or Jordan's past before the championships started rolling in. Lamar Odom is certainly no Scottie Pippen, Vujacavic no Paxson. Jordan failed to get past the Pistons multiple times in the playoffs, finally passing his way out of double and triple teams in '91 en route to his first championship. I'm willing to give Kobe the benefit of the doubt, he led an inexperienced group to the brink...Did he teeter at the summit and falter, yes, but just making it this far will only propel him to greater moments.

Tiger - I'll say it again, he's straight mental. But, at a price, more surgery means See ya in 2009, Tiger...

The Next Jordan

This post will probably rehash some of the ideas that I’ve bandied about lately, but I think this past week offered a great deal of insight into the championship mindset. We learned, unequivocally, that Kobe is not the next MJ, we learned also that Pierce is the most underrated scorer in the NBA and that he is the first black European to be born in Inglewood CA. We learned Garnett is intense because he has stage fright, and that this is the reason that he can’t hit clutch shots. Finally we all came to realize that rooting against the Celtics is losing sight of the forest for the desert that surrounds it; the Celtics on Tuesday played better ball than the Lakers on every facet, aesthetic and otherwise, of the game. In another world we learned that Tiger plays a different game than everyone he competes against, and this fact alone makes him more like Jordan than anyone we’ve seen in the interim. As an aside I’d like to point out that when you watch Tiger or Jordan you see what being the most intense is all about, while when you see KG being ‘intense’ you are seeing someone trying to create, rather than BE, intimidation.

Now that everything is on the page let’s talk specifics here: The Lakers did nothing in this past game or, really, in this whole series. Nothing Kobe did transcended; the player with the most style and the best execution was clearly Paul Pierce, Ray Allen quietly assumed his place alongside KG as a transcendent role player, quietly knocking down (a finals record) 22 three pointers over the course of the series while having the ability to exploit mismatches off the dribble (ie game 4’s working over of Vujacic), KG was KG and remained the best player between the three point line and lane on offense and the best player IN the lane on D. The comparison between the benches was laughable. And most impressively, Doc Rivers shape shifting rotations kept Phil Jackson off balance throughout the series. For whatever you want to say about the value of consistency Doc ‘coached by feel’ and utterly embarrassed Phil.

On to Tiger. I know many of you are likely not huge fans of golf, but you needn’t be in order to appreciate that his approach to the game so clearly precedes his success; he took about 3-4 times the preparation for each shot as compared to Rocco. Sure, this isn’t necessarily impressive (rather it is amazing that Rocco could step up and swing and keep pace with Tiger over the course of 90 holes) but it is evidence of the value of concentration, or intensity, in overcoming. KG lacks this, Kobe certainly lacks this, and MJ did not.

Reign of Terror

Putting my life on hold to post some random thoughts. As J-Gill stated, apologies for adding nothing new in some time.

Crimson and the Blue news of the day - In the tradition of his fun-loving predecessors, Sherron Collins has a bit too much fun in an elevator.

Super Mario won't be around for more miracles.

What does the Sherron issue mean, what are the repurcussions for him and the team? Will Cole Aldrich be forced to drop the mild-mannered Midwestern persona and be rushed into assuming the resident badass mantle? I'm ready to put the weight on Cole, he's got some heavy swag, some untapped potential only found in those worthy of 2ndsportness- with Kaun, Arthur, and Jackson gone, he'll embrace his newfound freedom and leave us all forgetting there once was an Ostertag.

Can't stop me now -Regardless of my disdain for the Celtics, Pierce is the Truth. No one on the Lakers can guard him. The Lakers can't guard anyone and where's the KOBE we all once knew? He can't get free at all, what the fuck is going on? I miss Kobe dropping any shot he wanted, good shot , bad shot, who cared - the court was his and he did what he wanted. Are the Celtics really that good at defense? And if they are, why can't I appreciate it? They just annoy me.

Thanks for live streaming links - Rocco and Tiger going to a sudden death playoff hole after they remain tied 18 holes into the playoff. Wow, good stuff....I like this Rocco guy. I mean, his name is Rocco, he's just out there having fun, waving to the crowd, laughing, shrugging in disbelief as his puts keep dropping. A good foil for the uber-intensity of Tiger. I don't think Rocco is gonna yell at the spectators ala Tiger if he hears a sneeze.

Euro Cup - more good stuff. Keep the stoppage time goals coming!

Looks like Rocco's luck just ran out. Tiger is fucking mental.

David "Don Sternleone" - on the take???

Three feet high and rising

Certainly every game is the most important until its over, when the next game becomes the most important, but seriously, tonights game is the most important for this finals. Not necessarily for the reasons you might imagine though. The Celts going up 3-1 would be huge, the Lakers tying the series at 2-2 would be huge, but these two quotidian point pale in comparison to the more subliminal facets of the game:

We will see if Lamar and Pau and the will of underachievers can step up under the patronizing glare of the opposition; if these guys fail to overcome then the series will certainly go in favor of the Celtics, regardless of the outcome of this game. On the Boston side we’ll see if Rondo is a go for the rest of the series: all you athletes know this but with a sprained ankle, either its ok, or it’ll linger for weeks. If Rondo is stumbling tonight Boston is in a world of hurt – Cassel and House are much better shooters/scorers than Rondo but they have neither his swagger nor the rest of his game (handle, passing, D). Points do not need to come from the point, especially with the Big 3 hanging around.

Understanding the Present

I apologize for such a delay between posts, the excuses: starting a research rotation, basking in completion of the first year of med school, getting caught in the dead air of the horse latitudes of American sports (thank god for the Euro Cup)

People are up in arms about this whole game fixing thing. Maybe they should be, but I and many other lovers of this game have enjoyed the league much more up through the first round of the playoffs for a long time, watching with declining interest as things advance. My perspective on the this is that of course refs play to bias, their own or that of the league office. If a player has been committing a certain infraction then it should be called after review (Especially this whole moving pick thing, first Yao and now it should be KG, dude waits for contact on the screen and then just moves right along with his man). The sad thing is that everyone was expecting a poorly officiated game in favor of the Lakers in game three before anything from Donaghy (sp?). It is refreshing, however, that the coaches and players are not in on it, this is the silver lining of the whole thing.

On to the game itself: I read somewhere an article decrying the lack of respect Thibideau and the Spurs assistant coach get when it comes to coaching vacancies. This is not due to some reverse affirmative action or the like, the simple reality is that these guys improve a teams D by teaching tactics that evade the eyes of the ref, Gasols heave over the backboard is only the most obvious example, but wrist grbbing and hip checking abound around the nominally best D in the NBA. This goes back to my previous post about Rasheed. These guys play to win, not to the glory of the game. Think Brazil in opposition to Italy, or perhaps (oh the pain) Iberian ball verse the Teutonic brand: there is a certain beauty in integrity that is hamstrung by the playoffs, the league and the most successful teams (at least of recent).

In other news, Kobe is playing some inspired basketball, but his insufferable temperament is rising by the game. On the other side PP was so close to sipping from the grail before reminding us why he has yet to assert himself into the pantheon, Jesus Shuttlesworth, similarly, saved his best for the worst, remarkably keeping the Celtics close in a losing effort. It’s the games when others are on that he needs to be on.

Bring on the Olympics and impartial refs!! (Is this what its come to?)

Meta: Rasheed and the Right Way

Rather than doing a preview for the finals, while boredom eats at my sports soul, I’ve decided to try to complete a synopsis of my worldview. Critically, this has to include the visceral contradiction of my hatred for the Spurs and my adoration of the Pistons.

While many are quick to point out the similarities between these teams, from half court offenses to hat hanging defense, it is my belief that these teams ultimately lie at the opposite ends of the spectrum, and similarities are either chance or selective convergence on a universal winning formula.

To elucidate my thoughts I hope to use the similarities between the teams to show the stark differences. Both of these teams have been known to take part of the season off. With the Spurs the underlying motive for this is surely a wily ploy to have supreme energy for a playoff push, necessary for an aging team. The Pistons, on the other hand, could never be considered so cynical as to do such a thing. When they are not playing up to snuff, and losing to inferior teams, it is due to a lack of interest in the situation. They play when they want to because they love basketball, sometimes the love isn’t there and you can see it in their play. For the Piston’s this is just s likely to be Game 3 of the Conference semis as it is to be the 10th game of the season. For the Spurs loving the game is secondary to winning.

The next defining opposition between this two teams is the birthplace of their styles. Driven by the players far more than the coaches the Spurs play a supremely Occidental style, infecting blankets with small pox to conquer formidable opponents on their own terms, rather than engaging in a test of styles. Detroit, on the other hand, plays an American brand of ball, pure emotion and wasted potential abound. It is no surprise that even with a deficit between what is and what could be with the Pistons they still made it to the conference finals 6 straight years.

The difference between the marquee players of each team brings it all back home: Duncan is the ultimate win first enjoy later player. It is hard to watch him play without thinking that he would rather be swimming. Rasheed on the other hand loves the game, and his latest interview, the one about flopping and maybe being done playing, is Zidane’s head butt made verbal. Flopping is the ultimate betrayal of sport for victory, just as are the Spurs.

Finally the future of these two teams, long term, makes a compelling case for my argument: The Piston’s are reloading with guys who are fun to watch, dynamic and successful, but mostly guys who love the game. As for the Spurs, I can’t really speak to their future, but the fact that it is taking place across an ocean is certainly indicative of something.