Friday, August 03, 2007

"THIS MESS"

No, not the mess that is the NBA referee gambling crisis (sadly, Donaghy's last game was reffing Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns, and NO, that doesn't mean the Spurs didn't win that series... sorry you embittered Suns fans, but NBA ref conspiracies involve a long line of legitimate complaints, so take a number and get to the back of a very, very long line).

No, not the mess that is the NBA ref crisis with Joey "HEY, You Wanna Fight?" Crawford (also sadly involving our Spurs).

The mess that is the theft, the "hijacking of BlackAmerican culture" by greedy corporate sponsors pushing thugs and punks as role models. You know its true, Spurs fans...

One writer (African American too) describes how it has happened as:
"the misguided notion that the only way to appeal to the young demographic of the sneaker-buying public is to adopt the negative attitudes of the thug life popularized by black gangster rappers. It is all part of the systematic hijacking of the Black American culture. And the worst part is, too many of us just let it happen. We let it happen by passively condoning this mess.

The minute we started embracing the images of Allen Iverson as the edgy iconoclast, but sniffed our noses at a straight arrow like David Robinson as “too soft” and lacking in “street cred,” we helped fuel this mess.
We fueled it every time we sanctioned the repeat violations of stupidity by Vick and all the other new athletic minstrels every time they stumbled and we accepted their sorry alibis."
ELOQUENT ARTICLE HERE

David Robinson is my personal hero and has been for decades. I love the man. I shook when I met him, in awe of his incredibly powerful presence, when he chose to sign autographs, amid loud/drunk hecklers in LA as the Spurs were getting swept in the WCF in 2001. David Robinson radiates class, power, dignity, sophistication, and soul... as no one else I've ever met.

Its sad Michael Vick has that level of talent but nowhere near that much soul.

Athletes should build Carver Academies, not federally criminal dogfighting operations.

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2 Comments:

Blogger D Strickland said...

Great post, Funk. Bryan Burwell is right.

The actors change, the plot remains the same. Here we are with another high-profile athletic indignity that will surely give us the same queasy feeling as the others. Chart a line through the absurdity of the O.J. trial, slash a path through the Bonfire of the Vanities sensationalism of the Duke lacrosse scandal, then weave it through the Pacman Jones insanity.

Btw, did you hear the news that Pacman Jones wants to be a pro wrestler?

Why am I not surprised?

8/07/2007 2:51 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Amen brother!

8/12/2007 6:28 PM  

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