The musings of a madman...

2: Acknowledgement and Acceptance      With a mind fully focused on the facts that basketball remains a sport that requires VERY little to get into as far as resources, and hip hop a musical medium that (at the time) required little in the way of classical musical training, it seems only natural that kids from lower-rent areas would be into either, or even both of the two simultaneously.  The connection between participants of the two is more than natural.      What could not be assumed was that either would be accepted as continuingly viable forms of entertainment or even recreational activities.  For what they were and the relative obscurity from whence they came, they would surely be a hard sell to say the least. With that in mind, it is (or was) only fair that both would initially cultivate and grow in areas with less-than-affluent populations and grow from there up, sometimes (or often) moving those less-than-affluent on to greener pastures for their troubles.  One c

1: Humble Beginnings      We all know the story of basketball’s beginnings. Dr. Naismith was commissioned with the creation of an indoor activity to keep kids in his YMCA busy on rainy days or in the harsh New England winters in Springfield, MA.  In a dearth of seed money or other outside resources, a peach basket was nailed to a wall ten feet in the air and the objective was to throw the ball (then a soccer ball – specifically-designed basketballs  wouldn't  come until later) into the basket within the constraints of a set of rules he had written out prior to nailing the baskets up. Compared to what “basket-ball” – as a then-skeptical Dr. Naismith called the game in his diaries – would become, it really doesn’t seem feasible that beginnings get more humble than that.  From his brainchild, the activity became sport played in YMCAs throughout the US, spreading through the rest of North America as well and eventually into high schools and colleges en route to taking hold

     Allow me a moment to explain what it is we’re about to embark on… Back in May, I had this idea that I would write a book that would detail the connected histories of Hip Hop and Professional Basketball.  In June I got married, then had the week leading up to my birthday off of work.  In that time, I got a lot of work done on it, but it was not shaping up to be voluminous to be worth attempting to pursue a whole book’s worth of writing on.  As of the date that I type this (10/15/2012), I was a hair over 10,000 words into the project and running out of steam enough to carry it any further.  I mean that to say that I was almost “done,” and would need an amount of input up to about four times the amount of words I had put into it.      Given the length of what I DID have, though, I would not be willing to let it go to waste, and that is what brings me here today.  Instead of a book, I will publish the presentation as a series of blogs to be posted every Tuesday until I h

Urban Dictionary defines "Yellow Fever" as... Yeah, someone will surely view this as clearly one of the most racist blogs I have ever written, but… The major American sports all seem to have developed a form of Yellow fever in which EVERY player to come through their organization of Asian descent, they’re lifted and treated like the crown savior of that sport. Don’t believe me? Hideo Nomo came in with the baffling stretch-and-twist delivery that was soon caught onto by batters in MLB and despite the "ZOMG, HE'S ASIAN!!!" hype machine that carried him, he was traded once and released 4 or 5 times within his first 5 years. 12 MLB seasons, TWO post-season appearances, both losses, $35ish million earned on the strength of being Asian, it seems. Tiger Woods you know what? I can't be all the way mad at this one, he was by far the most successful on this list, speaking purely in terms of accomplishing what was ahead of him to do as his job. I can fully understand

This is going to be a LONG fall/winter for me without NBA basketball… Yes, I know I will have NCAA ball from November through the beginning of April, but that is just not the same to me… Know who ELSE is going to miss those millionaires running up and down the court? TNT/TBS, ESPN/ABC and NBATV are all going to be HURT for the missing content. I thought to myself about what WOULD they put in the slots that are at this moment still allotted for the televising of NBA games this coming season if there happens to be no (or a shortened) season? This weekend, NBATV showed some “Hardwood Classics” games from years past, and the younger generation may have gotten to see a time where teams like Phoenix, Indiana, Portland and the New York Knicks all pretended to be credible threats to win an NBA championship. Yes, it was all pretending because of that Michael Jordan guy, and Hakeem Olajuwon while MJ went to pretend to be a baseball player to avoid suspension over gambling

What a run it was, ¿que no? It’s been said that when your inevitable demise is met by universal cheer, you were either REALLY good at what they wanted to be or were a really bad person. I guess sports, as an arena in general is funny like that. One minute they hate you and the next they love you, sometimes stopping in-between to not bother with differentiating what or why they love or hate, just following what other people say is the proper response. Growing up in NC, where college basketball is God and deep-seated passive-aggressive racism his only son, Jesus , I see it daily in the form of individuals who cheer for or against Duke and UNC. Seeing it first hand is the number one way to become intimately acquainted with the very motives of the “anyone but…” -type fan. Of course, I am talking about the Lakers’ embarrassing loss yesterday to a team that, if history indicates ANYTHING, will inevitably choke and let their fans down… I’d left my house at the end of the second quarter, as

And what a season it was, no? Needless to say, for reasons not related to basketball, we have reached the close of one of the most interesting NBA seasons since the halcyon days of dudes who played in shorts that covered less than most dudes’ briefs do in 2011. Strangely, though, it had so little to do with actual basketball! “The decision/the ‘new big 3’ in Miami” “Where will Melo go?” “Where did these San Antonio Spurs guys come from?” “Why are the Bulls this good this fast?” “Why aren’t the Celtics and Lakers as good as we thought they were?” “Anyone seen Steve Nash lately?” “That Blake Griffin guy sure can dunk!” “Kevin Love… How’d we miss THAT guy!?” I really could carry the list on and on, but I try to limit myself to 5 million words or fewer in these posts… So never mind the drama that kept us watching basketball this year in the void that might be football (and basketball, by the way) in the coming fall/winter. Let’

Using the comments sections on various sports news sites (MSN, CNN, ESPN, etc…), I have been conducting an experiment over the last several months… Step 1 – find a white dude, generally a sports fan. Step 2 – engage him in conversation about sports Step 3 – turn the conversation to NBA basketball Step 4 – watch his reaction… If he goes with “I really don’t watch NBA ball…” then you ask him why. If he presents you with an OBJECTIVE reason as to why, be it that he just doesn’t quite follow the game or care for how things are handled then all is well. However If his answer tails off into ANY use of the words “thug,” “gangster/gangsta” or “ghetto,” and all leading back to “I prefer college basketball” then you are dealing with a bigot. If dealing in the regular real world, then the bigotry is naturally closeted so as to not incite a riot, but on the internets, where anonymity rules the day, all walls are down and the gloves are off. Try it when you get bored sometime.

Why does it feel like we've been here before? Wait, it is more than likely because we have . My last posts on basketball (2 links, that) were rife with concern that Cleveland SHOULD be a problem for anyone they meet. In so many words, I had conceded to the inevitability of this being their championship season. Man, am I EVER glad I was wrong. Look, I know it seems like I am hating on the boy, and to that I will admit, fuck it. What bothers me not is the amount of times he gives, through his actions, REASONS to be hated on. No one remembers how he reacted to being blown off the court in his first finals, as no one expected them to be there, even themselves so their sweep was not even a small surprise. We ALL remember his walking off of the court without even congratulating his "friend" Dwight Howard, then offering the excuse... “It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that...If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them,” James said. “It doesn’t

Ladies and gentlemen, I have taken on yet another full-time gig. Those that know me best know that I have only had 4 full-time jobs in the 12 years that I have been working full time, I will use this, my newest one as a supplement to my income and have a reason to spend time analyzing and looking over something I terribly enjoy. In such, I will not be quitting the old job, seeing as how the work that I will need to do most for the new one can be done from a computer during and/or after work. Keep in mind, now, that I did not apply for this job, I just decided that I wanted and went in and took it. Think somewhere along the lines of Fidel Castro in Cuba, Joseph Mobutu in Congo and George W. in 2000. I just walked in the fucking door and took the job and dare anyone effected by it to do something about it, care to try me? I will quit killing you talking AROUND what I will be doing, I am just going to tell you. ... right after I explain that the NBA is tore it's own ass

This is what we're all after now... Okay, we have finally separated the wheat from the chaff and the NBA regular season has drawn to a close. Teams who did not stand a chance can spend the next 8 weeks thinking about what they will do in the NBA draft, and 2 following that making moves for the free agency boom that will see LeBron keeping his ass in Cleveland. [ Phlip note - I been saying it for 2 years now, and I will eat the proverbial crow if it doesn't happen] We can now speak of the things that one should at the end of a season, awards and playoffs and such. **Post Season Awards** I was wrong about Rookie of the Year, but I was not expecting The Clippers to be so unlucky as to have the kid Blake Griffin go down without playing a single game. As it were, and as a watcher of basketball, DeJuan Blair SHOULD win it, but Tyreke Evans or Brandon Jennings will win it, I am thinking Evans personally. Defensive player of the year is a no-brainer. Dwight Howard leads the league in