Archive for Links
The Fab Five Facade
Posted by: | CommentsI haven’t yet seen ESPN’s ‘documentary’ of the Fab Five, but I have read numerous negative reviews on it. One of the best comes from Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock. I suppose that after finding out Jalen Rose was the executive producer, I wasn’t counting on much, but now, my expectations are even lower.
Divorce in Professional Athletics
Posted by: | CommentsI have a guest post coming by the end of the week over at my lovely wife’s blog in response to her post today and another she will post tomorrow concerning the prevalence of divorce in the marriages of professional athletes. Check them out.
A Different Take on Some Things NBA
Posted by: | CommentsI have probably said this more than a few times here, but I really enjoy reading Bill Simmons of ESPN…for the most part. At times he writes much that I don’t think is funny and that shouldn’t make print, but on the whole, he is entertaining and, I think, very insightful. I found his column after the trade deadline to be particularly insightful. It is long as usual, but I would encourage you to take a look at the end of his part 2 in particular. He speaks about things NBA in a different fashion than most and I, for one, believe he has some very, very good points. He ends his column talking about the Celtics’ trade involving Kendrick Perkins. His last few paragraphs run like this,
You might remember LeBron and Carmelo getting excoriated for stabbing their respective teams in the back. You want to know why they didn’t care? Because, deep down, they know that teams don’t care about players, either. They probably witnessed 20 variations of the Perkins trade during their first few years in the league. Hey, it’s a business. Hey, that’s just sports. Hey, trades come with the territory. Isn’t loyalty a two-way street? When a team does what’s best for itself, we call it smart. When a player does the same, we call him selfish. We never think about what a double standard it is.
I thought Perk deserved better than getting blindsided in Denver, then having to limp around with a sprained knee and pack his stuff with tears rolling down his face. Maybe I’m a sap. But that was our guy. Family. On the phone, my dad decided — completely seriously — that he would rather have lost the 2011 title with Perkins than have tried to win it without him. Why?
“Because he was truly part of our team,” Dad said. “I don’t want to root for laundry. I watched that guy for eight years. That should mean something. Continuity should mean something.”
Within a few weeks, both of us will have talked ourselves into the Jeff Green era. That’s what fans do. We take the hits, shake them off, keep coming back. The Celtics will morph into something slightly different: a little more athletic, a little more flexible, a little younger and, hopefully, almost as tough. Perkins will fly to Oklahoma City, live out of a hotel room, make new friends and try to help Durant and Russell Westbrook make the Finals. Maybe the Celtics will see him there. It won’t feel weird at all, because that’s the way professional sports work. We are rooting for laundry. Whether we want to admit it or not.
He makes you think doesn’t he? At the very least you have to admit that although many NBA players aren’t saints, all the blame cannot fall squarely on them. It just wouldn’t be fair.
Watch and Think
Posted by: | CommentsThis doesn’t have any real direct correlation to sports and competition in Christian perspective, but I would like to ask you to watch and compare two videos today. The first is the new iPad video. The second is documentary-type footage of the Kimyal people receiving the first batch of complete New Testaments in their language.
I watched the first today, because I am looking forward to purchasing an iPad at some point in the near future. And though I love Apple’s products, I think their videos are usually ridiculous. For they tend to talk about their new products as if they were much more important than they really are (even if they are crazy cool). As Erin said today, “The way some of those guys were talking with the music in the background, you would think they had just cured cancer.” I agree. It might be good for marketing, but it is downright ridiculous, and we are all too-easily sucked in.
So check out the iPad video. Here is the link (couldn’t find a way to embed it here, though after viewing their video, I am sure I would have been able to do it if I had a new iPad 2). After checking that video out, press play on the video below in order to gain some perspective and to ask yourself how well you are valuing the things that really last. Hope it proves as fruitful as it was for me.
The Kimyal People Receive the New Testament from UFM Worldwide on Vimeo.
HT: Vitamin Z for the video and Married to a Baller for the basic thought that led to this blog post.
Perspectives on the NBA
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past week or so, numerous commentaries have been written concerning the conduct or general perspective of NBA players. I assume the Carmelo Anthony and Detroit Pistons’ situations brought things to a head. But there can be no doubt that plenty of other things have occurred over the past few years to bring us to this point. Indeed, plenty of other things have occurred over the past 40 years or so to do so.
That being said, I will be linking to and commenting on a few things I have come across as of late. First, from Vitamin Z on the state of the NBA. I don’t have much to say, because I agree strongly with him, so I will just quote from his post and encourage you to read the entire thing.
Is it any wonder that a guy like LeBron James has no one to tell him the truth? Why would he listen? He doesn’t have to! He’s got more power, money, and physical talent than anyone else he knows. In the most literal sense possible, he is King James. It doesn’t help either that many of the young men in the NBA did not group up with any sort of positive male role model other than the hip-hop culture that trumpets the objectification of women, the allure of money, and the glory of the self-promoting man.
But this issue runs deeper. It runs right to my doorstep.
I don’t like to be told what to do either. I don’t like to be a team player. My heart gravitates towards selfishness and I could just as easily be drunk on power and self-worship. Do I surround myself with “yes” men? Am I listening to a higher authority or do I bow down and worship the autonomous self? The finger that points to the dysfunctional culture of professional sports and the NBA in particular needs to have it pointed back at itself.
I need to repent too.
