The Last Pure Sport [EbonyJet]
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Myth of the 'Troubled NBA'
I explore the dissonance between media perception of the "troubled NBA" and its reality as a booming enterprise. Despite its flaws, and in light of the Mitchell Report and rampant PED use in baseball and football, the NBA might best represent the "pure" spirit of American sports/competition.
The Last Pure Sport [EbonyJet]
The Last Pure Sport [EbonyJet]
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Is it basketball season?
ReplyDeletegood piece. i'm also tired of the whole "will xxxxx be the one to save boxing?" no matter how good boxing does or how many great competitors the sport currently has, every sports writer has to drag out that tired cliche.
ReplyDeleteStern may think it's in his interest for the Association to constantly seem under fire. It reinforces the need for a strong commissioner, and makes it seem all the more urgent that the NBA cater to its international fans.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that sports writing and fandom are driven by the worst impulses of white men.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to spot the "colorblind" white guys who blame hip hop for everything bad in sports and who constantly accuse black people "playing race card." But there's also the Klosterman types. Check out this nugget from his piece that you reference:
Except when he's around other NBA players, Butler is likely the tallest, richest, blackest person in almost any room in America, a nexus of physical, financial and racial minorities. You have almost nothing in common with Rasual Butler, and Rasual is probably more aware of that than you are.
It's not just that he's addressing the average white guy fan; it's as if he can't even fathom any other kind of fan. He certainly isn't expecting anyone black among his readers.
Whether they're conservatives or liberal arts hipsters, they still reek of white male privilege, and that shapes the popular perception of any field.