Friday, August 27, 2004
Lederer Goes Matlock on Whitlock
After reading the column by Jason Whitlock that got us so fired up yesterday, guest columnist Joe Lederer dug into Whitlock's archives and found an interesting article written just three weeks before yesterday's in which he defended the USA basketball team and said Americans were unpatriotic racists if they didn't root for them. Here's a quote from that earlier column in which Whitlock criticizes the very same team.
"Larry (Brown) has plenty of unmotivated, lazy, arrogant NBA talent with which to work."
Does anyone else see a slight contrast in his views in these two columns? Perhaps the first column didn't generate enough controversy. Maybe Mr. Whitlock is less concerned with responsible writing than he is with drawing more hits than his fellow Page 2 columnists. After all, sensationalistic ignorance always sells bigger. In the last twenty-four hours, Mr. Whitlock's latest column is Page 2's most sent story by a margin of more than 5:1. Congratulations, Jason.
By the way, the "Dream Team" just lost to Argentina, ensuring that the bronze is the highest medal they can possibly win. Racist American Sports Fans, please, put your shoes on before you go dancing in the streets.
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"Larry (Brown) has plenty of unmotivated, lazy, arrogant NBA talent with which to work."
Does anyone else see a slight contrast in his views in these two columns? Perhaps the first column didn't generate enough controversy. Maybe Mr. Whitlock is less concerned with responsible writing than he is with drawing more hits than his fellow Page 2 columnists. After all, sensationalistic ignorance always sells bigger. In the last twenty-four hours, Mr. Whitlock's latest column is Page 2's most sent story by a margin of more than 5:1. Congratulations, Jason.
By the way, the "Dream Team" just lost to Argentina, ensuring that the bronze is the highest medal they can possibly win. Racist American Sports Fans, please, put your shoes on before you go dancing in the streets.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:01 PM 
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Patrotism and Racism
I read an article is morning that enraged me enough to dedicate today's edition of SoapBox Sports to refuting it. First, follow this link to read the article in question:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whitlock/040826
Now read my response followed by that of co-founder and now guest-columnist Joe Lederer. Mine precedes his for no better reason than, hey, he left. Read on, and please don't drive for at least an hour after you finish here. There's enough road rage out there.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whitlock/040826
Now read my response followed by that of co-founder and now guest-columnist Joe Lederer. Mine precedes his for no better reason than, hey, he left. Read on, and please don't drive for at least an hour after you finish here. There's enough road rage out there.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:40 PM
The Race Card is Wild
Hey Jason,
I must’ve missed the memo – the memo that went out to the red-blooded American sports public and explains exactly when it became OK to cry “racism!” whenever the ball of criticism happens to fall at the feet of an African-American. Your column on ESPN.com’s Page 2 was the most ignorant and inciting manipulation of words I’ve read in some time. While your view is half-dimensionally naïve, I think what’s more alarming is how while trying to draw the curtains to reveal a racist America, the only racist found standing there is you. If that was your intention, I congratulate you on your rousing success. However, if your goal was to write a fair and interesting assessment of a national phenomenon, I’m sorry, but you just fell flat on your journalistic face. Either way, I admire you for having the guts to include your e-mail address; I am sure your inbox will be flooded with responses far more intelligent than mine.
First of all, if you think Americans rooting against a team of mercenary basketball players is unpatriotic just because the front of their jersey reads “USA,” then you don’t know the first damn thing about this country. The United States of America is the most free nation in the history of the world, allowing its citizens the right to say whatever they want and to root for whomever they want, be it in the Presidential Election or the Olympic Games. Americans exercising their right to root against a team whose play does not represent their own integrity, even if that team bears the name of their country, is the very definition of American Patriotism. Your brand of patriotism, based entirely on loyalty to flags and colors, sounds more in line with a fascist nation than a free one.
Secondly, it doesn’t surprise me that you root for this USA Basketball team given the low expectations you had for them going in. You said we shouldn’t expect this team of NBA players to “care” about the Olympics as much as, for example, Michael Phelps because NBA players spend their childhood dreaming of only the NBA. One thing should have nothing to do with the other, Jason. If this team has a shred of the patriotism you expect from its fans, it should care enough about representing its country to play their heart and souls out for every second of every game in every round of Olympic competition. Regardless of whether they’ve achieved their dreams of having an NBA career back home, if these players are going to be a part of any team, be it Olympic or a YMCA Summer League, they should be giving 100%. That’s the pure spirit of sports. Given that you are a professional sports writer, I shouldn’t have to tell you that. You can’t have it both ways, Jason; you can’t demand that the American people cheer for their team simply because it’s American and then let the players off that same hook by saying “this isn’t their dream.” That very attitude is the reason why many Americans are rooting against the USA team. All they want is a team that plays with no sense of entitlement. They want a team that hustles and has some respect for fundamentals (Tim Duncan excluded). What they got is a team that shoots worse than I do on a 5-foot rim yet expected to be handed their gold medals when they stepped off the plane.
You went on to say that Olympians such as Michael Phelps, Carly Patterson, and Justin Gatlin give superior efforts and only “care” about the Olympics because it’s there one chance in four years to “strike it rich.” You say they’re “chasing money” from endorsements. These are shallow assumptions by an obviously narrow-minded man. I guess you probably think that when athletes such as these are standing proudly atop the medal podium, unashamedly crying as the Star Spangled Banner plays, that they must be thinking “Oh boy, am I going to be rich.” If you truly believe that these Olympians are given pride by endorsements and brought to tears by the sound of cash registers in their heads, all I can say is that I pity you. I hope you were only saying it as a punchline.
What most offends me about your column is the exposition of your own blatant racism. To exemplify my point, I list two statements you made in said column.
“Canadians invented hockey in the late 1800s, and once dominated it the way African-Americans dominate basketball….African-American basketball players no longer have a lock on the game. The rest of the world has caught up.”
Do you even realize that you just compared a nation of people with a race of people? Those jerseys don’t read “African-USA,” do they? These aren’t the race Olympics, are they? I thought I was watching a competition of the nations of the world, not that of one race from one country against everybody else. The issue at hand is one of Americans rooting against other Americans. The only one talking about race is you, Jason. I know you think you’re exposing an underground railroad of racism in America, but, I’m afraid you’re only revealing your own self-centered complex fueled by your own fear. The sooner you come to grips with the following truth, the better off you’ll be. The World is not out to get you. There are surely racists in this world, yes, and there are even more injustices, but the two are not always necessarily connected. There is no grand conspiracy.
No one is going to “spit on Iverson, Duncan, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony at the airport” as you fear. At the end of the day, these are still just basketball players we’re talking about here, not soldiers of war. Most Americans that are rooting against them don’t care that they’re African-American; they just want somebody who “cares.” If the fictional Hickory Huskers played the exact same way as this USA team, they would be rooted against just as vehemently and that is just plain truth. Americans aren’t rooting against the corn rows (Iverson is the only player with them anyway), they’re not rooting against the tattoos, and they’re not rooting against the color of their skin. They are rooting against a team that is disgracing America’s hardworking, blue-collar spirit, plain and simple. If racism is at work here, how do you explain America’s embrace of other African-American Olympic Champions such as Maurice Green and the newly anointed Justin Gatlin? After all, they’re both African-American and they both have tattoos. Are you going to tell me that Racist America has been following basketball exclusively?
You close your article with the following:
“Save the hatred for when (Iverson’s) back home skipping Sixers practices and boring us to death playing a two-man game with Glenn Robinson.”
The only person using the word “hate” here is you, Jason, and the attitude that causes a professional basketball player to skip practice at home is the same attitude that got him whipped by Puerto Rico in Athens. That’s actually all there is to it.
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I must’ve missed the memo – the memo that went out to the red-blooded American sports public and explains exactly when it became OK to cry “racism!” whenever the ball of criticism happens to fall at the feet of an African-American. Your column on ESPN.com’s Page 2 was the most ignorant and inciting manipulation of words I’ve read in some time. While your view is half-dimensionally naïve, I think what’s more alarming is how while trying to draw the curtains to reveal a racist America, the only racist found standing there is you. If that was your intention, I congratulate you on your rousing success. However, if your goal was to write a fair and interesting assessment of a national phenomenon, I’m sorry, but you just fell flat on your journalistic face. Either way, I admire you for having the guts to include your e-mail address; I am sure your inbox will be flooded with responses far more intelligent than mine.
First of all, if you think Americans rooting against a team of mercenary basketball players is unpatriotic just because the front of their jersey reads “USA,” then you don’t know the first damn thing about this country. The United States of America is the most free nation in the history of the world, allowing its citizens the right to say whatever they want and to root for whomever they want, be it in the Presidential Election or the Olympic Games. Americans exercising their right to root against a team whose play does not represent their own integrity, even if that team bears the name of their country, is the very definition of American Patriotism. Your brand of patriotism, based entirely on loyalty to flags and colors, sounds more in line with a fascist nation than a free one.
Secondly, it doesn’t surprise me that you root for this USA Basketball team given the low expectations you had for them going in. You said we shouldn’t expect this team of NBA players to “care” about the Olympics as much as, for example, Michael Phelps because NBA players spend their childhood dreaming of only the NBA. One thing should have nothing to do with the other, Jason. If this team has a shred of the patriotism you expect from its fans, it should care enough about representing its country to play their heart and souls out for every second of every game in every round of Olympic competition. Regardless of whether they’ve achieved their dreams of having an NBA career back home, if these players are going to be a part of any team, be it Olympic or a YMCA Summer League, they should be giving 100%. That’s the pure spirit of sports. Given that you are a professional sports writer, I shouldn’t have to tell you that. You can’t have it both ways, Jason; you can’t demand that the American people cheer for their team simply because it’s American and then let the players off that same hook by saying “this isn’t their dream.” That very attitude is the reason why many Americans are rooting against the USA team. All they want is a team that plays with no sense of entitlement. They want a team that hustles and has some respect for fundamentals (Tim Duncan excluded). What they got is a team that shoots worse than I do on a 5-foot rim yet expected to be handed their gold medals when they stepped off the plane.
You went on to say that Olympians such as Michael Phelps, Carly Patterson, and Justin Gatlin give superior efforts and only “care” about the Olympics because it’s there one chance in four years to “strike it rich.” You say they’re “chasing money” from endorsements. These are shallow assumptions by an obviously narrow-minded man. I guess you probably think that when athletes such as these are standing proudly atop the medal podium, unashamedly crying as the Star Spangled Banner plays, that they must be thinking “Oh boy, am I going to be rich.” If you truly believe that these Olympians are given pride by endorsements and brought to tears by the sound of cash registers in their heads, all I can say is that I pity you. I hope you were only saying it as a punchline.
What most offends me about your column is the exposition of your own blatant racism. To exemplify my point, I list two statements you made in said column.
“Canadians invented hockey in the late 1800s, and once dominated it the way African-Americans dominate basketball….African-American basketball players no longer have a lock on the game. The rest of the world has caught up.”
Do you even realize that you just compared a nation of people with a race of people? Those jerseys don’t read “African-USA,” do they? These aren’t the race Olympics, are they? I thought I was watching a competition of the nations of the world, not that of one race from one country against everybody else. The issue at hand is one of Americans rooting against other Americans. The only one talking about race is you, Jason. I know you think you’re exposing an underground railroad of racism in America, but, I’m afraid you’re only revealing your own self-centered complex fueled by your own fear. The sooner you come to grips with the following truth, the better off you’ll be. The World is not out to get you. There are surely racists in this world, yes, and there are even more injustices, but the two are not always necessarily connected. There is no grand conspiracy.
No one is going to “spit on Iverson, Duncan, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony at the airport” as you fear. At the end of the day, these are still just basketball players we’re talking about here, not soldiers of war. Most Americans that are rooting against them don’t care that they’re African-American; they just want somebody who “cares.” If the fictional Hickory Huskers played the exact same way as this USA team, they would be rooted against just as vehemently and that is just plain truth. Americans aren’t rooting against the corn rows (Iverson is the only player with them anyway), they’re not rooting against the tattoos, and they’re not rooting against the color of their skin. They are rooting against a team that is disgracing America’s hardworking, blue-collar spirit, plain and simple. If racism is at work here, how do you explain America’s embrace of other African-American Olympic Champions such as Maurice Green and the newly anointed Justin Gatlin? After all, they’re both African-American and they both have tattoos. Are you going to tell me that Racist America has been following basketball exclusively?
You close your article with the following:
“Save the hatred for when (Iverson’s) back home skipping Sixers practices and boring us to death playing a two-man game with Glenn Robinson.”
The only person using the word “hate” here is you, Jason, and the attitude that causes a professional basketball player to skip practice at home is the same attitude that got him whipped by Puerto Rico in Athens. That’s actually all there is to it.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:32 PM
It's Red, White, and Blue, Not Black and White
Mr. Whitlock,
As a devoted fan of ESPN and it's entities (ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, even ESPN video games), I enjoy the product they produce on a constant basis. Every once in a while I will come across programming or literature I don't enjoy. Sometimes I even come across material I downright loathe. Your article is one of them.
The ESPN.com story titled "The haters can't handle the truth" is one of the most ignorant pieces of "journalism" I have ever read. I don't know if you were hired by ESPN to take over the late Ralph Wiley as the Resident Angry Black Man but you are doing a great job filling in his clown shoes. Your skill for looking for situations involving African-Americans so you can label them as racist mirrors that of Wiley's.
When did "rooting against" something so trivial as an Olympic basketball team become unpatriotic? Because they wear red, white, and blue and have the letters 'USA' across their chest means they embody the values of all Americans? Because they represent this great country in a world-wide sporting event we should abandon our own preferences and cheer them to the Gold?
And I'm not sure "rooting against" is even the correct term. I for one can't stand NBA basketball anymore and I enjoy watching the fundamentally sound college teams like Princeton and Gonzaga (GASP! "White" schools!) over seeing Kobe dribble off his foot while trying to glide past three defenders or watching Brad Miller plodding along in the lane unable to find his touch on a simple jump-hook. Am I "rooting against" Team USA? Not at all. Nothing would make me more happy than for every one of our athletes to come home with a gold medal around their neck, considered by some to be the pinnacle in all sports, pro or amateur. But will I shed a tear or throw my remote should they lose to the winner of the Argentina/Greece game? No, and why should I when I don't enjoy the product they put out. Is buying a Toyota instead of a Saturn unpatriotic because I scorned an American-made product and chose to invest in a foreign vehicle?
You are quick to point the finger at racism. But I could give you a roster full of African-American players (Chris Duhon, Shane Battier and Michael Redd to name a few) to go along with current players like Emeka Okafor and Tim Duncan who have played hard throughout the Olympic tourney. Perhaps this team would be inferior to the current roster, but that's okay. Because they would hustle. Play team ball. Listen to their coach instead of pouting on the bench. What you fail to realize, Mr. Whitlock, is that even with the present Team USA, if they came home with the Bronze or even didn't medal, the American public would be okay with it as long as they showed heart, hustle and the desire to win. The Dream Team concept has put so much pressure on every team and it is very unfair to this team because the 2004 squad lacks the fundamentals and team spirit past Dream Teams have had.
You defend Team USA when you say that they don't "care about the Olympics the way Michael Phelps does." Why not? That in itself is a shame and a major reason why Americans are having a hard time backing this team.
Mr. Whitlock, your criticism of the American public's stand versus USA Basketball is not borderline racist. It is clearly racist. We do NOT owe Iverson support when he's representing us abroad because he is NOT representing us. He may be representing our country in name, but not in value or principle.
Should Team USA somehow win the Gold, I would not be surprised to see "me first" players like Iverson and Marbury step off the plane in the United States with their bling around their necks instead of a gold medal.
Sincerely,
Joe Lederer
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As a devoted fan of ESPN and it's entities (ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, even ESPN video games), I enjoy the product they produce on a constant basis. Every once in a while I will come across programming or literature I don't enjoy. Sometimes I even come across material I downright loathe. Your article is one of them.
The ESPN.com story titled "The haters can't handle the truth" is one of the most ignorant pieces of "journalism" I have ever read. I don't know if you were hired by ESPN to take over the late Ralph Wiley as the Resident Angry Black Man but you are doing a great job filling in his clown shoes. Your skill for looking for situations involving African-Americans so you can label them as racist mirrors that of Wiley's.
When did "rooting against" something so trivial as an Olympic basketball team become unpatriotic? Because they wear red, white, and blue and have the letters 'USA' across their chest means they embody the values of all Americans? Because they represent this great country in a world-wide sporting event we should abandon our own preferences and cheer them to the Gold?
And I'm not sure "rooting against" is even the correct term. I for one can't stand NBA basketball anymore and I enjoy watching the fundamentally sound college teams like Princeton and Gonzaga (GASP! "White" schools!) over seeing Kobe dribble off his foot while trying to glide past three defenders or watching Brad Miller plodding along in the lane unable to find his touch on a simple jump-hook. Am I "rooting against" Team USA? Not at all. Nothing would make me more happy than for every one of our athletes to come home with a gold medal around their neck, considered by some to be the pinnacle in all sports, pro or amateur. But will I shed a tear or throw my remote should they lose to the winner of the Argentina/Greece game? No, and why should I when I don't enjoy the product they put out. Is buying a Toyota instead of a Saturn unpatriotic because I scorned an American-made product and chose to invest in a foreign vehicle?
You are quick to point the finger at racism. But I could give you a roster full of African-American players (Chris Duhon, Shane Battier and Michael Redd to name a few) to go along with current players like Emeka Okafor and Tim Duncan who have played hard throughout the Olympic tourney. Perhaps this team would be inferior to the current roster, but that's okay. Because they would hustle. Play team ball. Listen to their coach instead of pouting on the bench. What you fail to realize, Mr. Whitlock, is that even with the present Team USA, if they came home with the Bronze or even didn't medal, the American public would be okay with it as long as they showed heart, hustle and the desire to win. The Dream Team concept has put so much pressure on every team and it is very unfair to this team because the 2004 squad lacks the fundamentals and team spirit past Dream Teams have had.
You defend Team USA when you say that they don't "care about the Olympics the way Michael Phelps does." Why not? That in itself is a shame and a major reason why Americans are having a hard time backing this team.
Mr. Whitlock, your criticism of the American public's stand versus USA Basketball is not borderline racist. It is clearly racist. We do NOT owe Iverson support when he's representing us abroad because he is NOT representing us. He may be representing our country in name, but not in value or principle.
Should Team USA somehow win the Gold, I would not be surprised to see "me first" players like Iverson and Marbury step off the plane in the United States with their bling around their necks instead of a gold medal.
Sincerely,
Joe Lederer
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:30 PM
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Tuesdays With Yankees
I didn't want to follow up yesterday's column with more negativity, but this was too rich to pass up. The following is a conversation I had over instant messenger with a Yankee fan. I think it cuts right to the heart of why anyone with a soul should hate the Yankees and their fans. The screennames have been changed to protect the ignorant.
Yankee Fan: lets go yankees
Me: hahaha
Me: that's funny
Yankee Fan: isnt it
Yankee Fan: so is there 6.5 game lead over boston
Yankee Fan: and the second best record in baseball
Me: i guess after getting swept at home, you gotta focus on the positive
Yankee Fan: yeah thankfully they are able to move on from such a devastating weekend
Yankee Fan: oh wait those losses meant nothing
Yankee Fan: good point
Me: "meant nothing?" every game played means something....that's why they play them.....the only question is how much did they mean....and we'll find that out in October
Yankee Fan: NOTHING
Yankee Fan: just like the nba season
Me: uh huh
Yankee Fan: regular season means crap, they play half heartedly everyday and still win 100 games a season
Me: nothing means anything then by that illogical reasoning
Me: we'll see how far that attitude gets them in the playoffs
Yankee Fan: to the world series usually
Me: good luck
Me: it's still better to win games than to lose them usually....even if they "mean nothing"
Yankee Fan: true
Yankee Fan: i agree
Yankee Fan: thats why im happy with the 77 wins they have this season
Me: again, focus on the positive. good for you
Yankee Fan: good for them
Me: good for you, good for them, and good for the Angels, waxing the Yankee Stadium floor with them three games in a row :-)
Yankee Fan: are the angels even gonna make the playoffs?
Me: if the season ended today they would
Me: if I were a Yankee fan, I'd sure hope that they didn't
Yankee Fan: im a yankee fan
Yankee Fan: and i could give a crap if the angels make it
Yankee Fan: no one in the AL can touch them
Me: LOL
Yankee Fan: especially the scrubs on the angels
Me: If by that you mean no one in the AL can touch them for less than 6 runs per game, yeah. I'll bet you could walk outside right now and tell me it's snowing too. You're better than the Former Iraqi Information Director!
Yankee Fan: nope
Me: scrubs?
Yankee Fan: its 73 and sunny
Me: Vladimir Guerrero is a scrub?
Yankee Fan: nothing but truth coming from this side of the screen
Yankee Fan: no he's good
Me: Jose Guillen is a scrub?
Me: Garret Anderson is a scrub?
Yankee Fan: nope he's good (only because hes in my fantasy outfield)
Yankee Fan: do they have any pitchers? colon?
Me: If the "scrubs" are the ones that have a higher team batting average and better pitching stats and mop up head to head, I guess I'd rather not be the superstars
Yankee Fan: better pitching stats?
Me: look it up
Yankee Fan: which part
Yankee Fan: the yankees have a far superior pitching staff
Me: the Yankees shoddy starting pitching is the biggest reason they will not win the World Series
Yankee Fan: the angels shoddy team is the reason they wont make the playoffs
Me: tough to call them shoddy when they just embarrassed the mighty Yankees
Me: but the Yankees kind of suck right now so I guess it's not actually a great accomplishment
Yankee Fan: Vazquez, Brown, Mussina, Hernandez, Loaiza....
Yankee Fan: should I go on about how awesome there pitching staff is
Me: big names, bigger ERAs
Yankee Fan: not quite as high as the angels
Yankee Fan: Loaiza is the only weak link
Yankee Fan: and we are working on axing his ass right now
Me: 4.33 for the Angels
Me: 4.56 for the Yankees
Me: can you count?
Yankee Fan: the yankees dont have a pitcher with a losing record?
Yankee Fan: must be nice
Yankee Fan: that .2 runs doesnt mean crap if you cant win a game
Me: Angels overall pitching rank--14th
Me: Yankees--19th
Yankee Fan: rank?
Me: just below the Devil Rays, fyi
Me: statistical rankings
Me: they do that
Yankee Fan: and for some reason the yankees with there AWFUL pitching manage to be in first
Yankee Fan: thats interesting
Me: crappy division
Me: what am i saying
Me: the yanks are a good team
Me: there's no denying that
Yankee Fan: why thank you
Me: But I still believe, based on facts and games actually played, that the Angels are better
Me: right now, i don't see how you can say they're not
Me: that's like telling your girlfriend she's actually not pregnant
Me: you can say it, but it doesn't change the facts
In hindsight, I did make a false statement that I will correct now. The overall pitching rankings I thought I was looking at were actually rankings by ERA alone. However, I think my point remains valid. I compared the two teams and found that the Angels are better than the Yankees in every statistical pitching category except W-L, saves, and walks.
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Yankee Fan: lets go yankees
Me: hahaha
Me: that's funny
Yankee Fan: isnt it
Yankee Fan: so is there 6.5 game lead over boston
Yankee Fan: and the second best record in baseball
Me: i guess after getting swept at home, you gotta focus on the positive
Yankee Fan: yeah thankfully they are able to move on from such a devastating weekend
Yankee Fan: oh wait those losses meant nothing
Yankee Fan: good point
Me: "meant nothing?" every game played means something....that's why they play them.....the only question is how much did they mean....and we'll find that out in October
Yankee Fan: NOTHING
Yankee Fan: just like the nba season
Me: uh huh
Yankee Fan: regular season means crap, they play half heartedly everyday and still win 100 games a season
Me: nothing means anything then by that illogical reasoning
Me: we'll see how far that attitude gets them in the playoffs
Yankee Fan: to the world series usually
Me: good luck
Me: it's still better to win games than to lose them usually....even if they "mean nothing"
Yankee Fan: true
Yankee Fan: i agree
Yankee Fan: thats why im happy with the 77 wins they have this season
Me: again, focus on the positive. good for you
Yankee Fan: good for them
Me: good for you, good for them, and good for the Angels, waxing the Yankee Stadium floor with them three games in a row :-)
Yankee Fan: are the angels even gonna make the playoffs?
Me: if the season ended today they would
Me: if I were a Yankee fan, I'd sure hope that they didn't
Yankee Fan: im a yankee fan
Yankee Fan: and i could give a crap if the angels make it
Yankee Fan: no one in the AL can touch them
Me: LOL
Yankee Fan: especially the scrubs on the angels
Me: If by that you mean no one in the AL can touch them for less than 6 runs per game, yeah. I'll bet you could walk outside right now and tell me it's snowing too. You're better than the Former Iraqi Information Director!
Yankee Fan: nope
Me: scrubs?
Yankee Fan: its 73 and sunny
Me: Vladimir Guerrero is a scrub?
Yankee Fan: nothing but truth coming from this side of the screen
Yankee Fan: no he's good
Me: Jose Guillen is a scrub?
Me: Garret Anderson is a scrub?
Yankee Fan: nope he's good (only because hes in my fantasy outfield)
Yankee Fan: do they have any pitchers? colon?
Me: If the "scrubs" are the ones that have a higher team batting average and better pitching stats and mop up head to head, I guess I'd rather not be the superstars
Yankee Fan: better pitching stats?
Me: look it up
Yankee Fan: which part
Yankee Fan: the yankees have a far superior pitching staff
Me: the Yankees shoddy starting pitching is the biggest reason they will not win the World Series
Yankee Fan: the angels shoddy team is the reason they wont make the playoffs
Me: tough to call them shoddy when they just embarrassed the mighty Yankees
Me: but the Yankees kind of suck right now so I guess it's not actually a great accomplishment
Yankee Fan: Vazquez, Brown, Mussina, Hernandez, Loaiza....
Yankee Fan: should I go on about how awesome there pitching staff is
Me: big names, bigger ERAs
Yankee Fan: not quite as high as the angels
Yankee Fan: Loaiza is the only weak link
Yankee Fan: and we are working on axing his ass right now
Me: 4.33 for the Angels
Me: 4.56 for the Yankees
Me: can you count?
Yankee Fan: the yankees dont have a pitcher with a losing record?
Yankee Fan: must be nice
Yankee Fan: that .2 runs doesnt mean crap if you cant win a game
Me: Angels overall pitching rank--14th
Me: Yankees--19th
Yankee Fan: rank?
Me: just below the Devil Rays, fyi
Me: statistical rankings
Me: they do that
Yankee Fan: and for some reason the yankees with there AWFUL pitching manage to be in first
Yankee Fan: thats interesting
Me: crappy division
Me: what am i saying
Me: the yanks are a good team
Me: there's no denying that
Yankee Fan: why thank you
Me: But I still believe, based on facts and games actually played, that the Angels are better
Me: right now, i don't see how you can say they're not
Me: that's like telling your girlfriend she's actually not pregnant
Me: you can say it, but it doesn't change the facts
In hindsight, I did make a false statement that I will correct now. The overall pitching rankings I thought I was looking at were actually rankings by ERA alone. However, I think my point remains valid. I compared the two teams and found that the Angels are better than the Yankees in every statistical pitching category except W-L, saves, and walks.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:39 PM
Monday, August 23, 2004
Hatred Made Fun!
One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a sports fan is the opportunity to be totally loyal to the point of irrationality. Your team could have just finished dead last in their division yet you have the opportunity to stick your head in the sporting sand and say "wait 'til next year." You can create nicknames for your players like you would your buddies from high school and hold every single play they make or don't make up to the microscope as if it were the deciding play in Game Seven. These are some of the ridiculous and unfair joys of sports fandom. My particular favorite, however, is the privilege of hatred.
As a sports fan, I have the unique chance to loathe another human being whom I have never even met and whom has done absolutely nothing to me personally. Sometimes, they make it easy. Allen Iverson's infamous "we talkin' 'bout practice" line, Roger Clemens' amateur javelin toss, Chris Webber's pouty face and constant whining--when it comes to hate, these guys give you a few reasons to choose from. Then there's the Tim Duncan Factor. Duncan is considered to be one of the "nice guys" of the NBA, a rare example of sterling sportsmanship. I hate the man. I hate how quiet he is and I can't stand the way he looks around with big doe eyes like he's sorry he just dunked on your whole front court. I want to like him, I really do. He's the epitome of public responsibility and professionalism. He an all-out team player, he's fundamentally sound, and most importantly, he wins with dignity. However, he also knocked my Lakers out of the playoffs two years ago and for this I cannot forgive him. It's lunacy, I realize, but oh is it ever fun.
A new layer I've recently discovered is the wonderful sense of forgiveness you can feel when you allow a mortal enemy to crack his villainous veneer and shine through as a likeable person. Disabling your own twisted dislike can be as rewarding as signing a peace accord or doing an afternoon of community service. Back in the Dark Ages when UCLA could actually come within twenty points of USC in football, Bruin running back DeShaun Foster made fools of the 'SC defense. He got more yards than I do at the driving range and as a proud Trojan, I cursed him every step of the way. Then my colleague and friend, Joe Lederer, bumped into him on a number of occasions and actually found him to be a pleasant guy. I heard him on ESPN Radio one morning describing how he chose UCLA because USC wanted him to switch to cornerback and my utter despise of him for trampling my Trojans for how many years in a row suddenly shifted. Just that quickly I was able to divert all my deliciously negative energy from DeShaun, a hardworking local guy and NFC Champion, to former USC coach Paul Hackett, the Mr. Magoo lookalike who tried to get one of the nation's best running back recruits to switch to defense. And I came away feeling like Ghandi to boot!
This morning, I heard Indiana Pacer and former UCLA Bruin (is there a pattern here?) Reggie Miller on "The Dan Patrick Show." From his fight with Michael Jordan to his choke sign squabble with Spike Lee to his Tony Award-winning flops, I have abhorred Reggie Miller for as long as I can remember. Then I heard him this morning bragging about the Angels' sweeping the Yankees over the weekend and I was thrown for a loop! What was I supposed to do with this? How can someone as evil as Reggie Miller root for a team as wholesome and virtuous as the Heavenly Halos? And he wasn't a bandwagon fan either! This was like if Adolph Hitler made an adorable guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch" for crying out loud! My body was rejecting it, at first, but then I calmed down and decided that Reggie might not be as bad as I had made him out to be. He'll always be a Bruin, of course, but as a Pacer he wasn't much of a threat. I have bigger enemies out West to worry about. Besides, I will actually be rooting for Reggie, or his teammates at least, to make sure the detested Detroit Pistons don't win any more titles. Alas, Rock Teeth Reggie achieved redemption in thirty seconds for ill will spanning an entire career.
When people tell me they don't understand what's so fun about watching sports, the first thing I tell them is how enriching it is to put your heart into a team and have them drag it through the mud half your life, then show you flashes of complete and total harmony only to drag it through all over again. Sports are a lot like love in that way. What I think I should tell them now is how fun it can be to have enemies, even if you've created them as such without good reason. It's exciting to have rivalries; it's thrilling to have personal battles. To hate people you don't know can be intoxicating and then to forgive them can be quite sobering.
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As a sports fan, I have the unique chance to loathe another human being whom I have never even met and whom has done absolutely nothing to me personally. Sometimes, they make it easy. Allen Iverson's infamous "we talkin' 'bout practice" line, Roger Clemens' amateur javelin toss, Chris Webber's pouty face and constant whining--when it comes to hate, these guys give you a few reasons to choose from. Then there's the Tim Duncan Factor. Duncan is considered to be one of the "nice guys" of the NBA, a rare example of sterling sportsmanship. I hate the man. I hate how quiet he is and I can't stand the way he looks around with big doe eyes like he's sorry he just dunked on your whole front court. I want to like him, I really do. He's the epitome of public responsibility and professionalism. He an all-out team player, he's fundamentally sound, and most importantly, he wins with dignity. However, he also knocked my Lakers out of the playoffs two years ago and for this I cannot forgive him. It's lunacy, I realize, but oh is it ever fun.
A new layer I've recently discovered is the wonderful sense of forgiveness you can feel when you allow a mortal enemy to crack his villainous veneer and shine through as a likeable person. Disabling your own twisted dislike can be as rewarding as signing a peace accord or doing an afternoon of community service. Back in the Dark Ages when UCLA could actually come within twenty points of USC in football, Bruin running back DeShaun Foster made fools of the 'SC defense. He got more yards than I do at the driving range and as a proud Trojan, I cursed him every step of the way. Then my colleague and friend, Joe Lederer, bumped into him on a number of occasions and actually found him to be a pleasant guy. I heard him on ESPN Radio one morning describing how he chose UCLA because USC wanted him to switch to cornerback and my utter despise of him for trampling my Trojans for how many years in a row suddenly shifted. Just that quickly I was able to divert all my deliciously negative energy from DeShaun, a hardworking local guy and NFC Champion, to former USC coach Paul Hackett, the Mr. Magoo lookalike who tried to get one of the nation's best running back recruits to switch to defense. And I came away feeling like Ghandi to boot!
This morning, I heard Indiana Pacer and former UCLA Bruin (is there a pattern here?) Reggie Miller on "The Dan Patrick Show." From his fight with Michael Jordan to his choke sign squabble with Spike Lee to his Tony Award-winning flops, I have abhorred Reggie Miller for as long as I can remember. Then I heard him this morning bragging about the Angels' sweeping the Yankees over the weekend and I was thrown for a loop! What was I supposed to do with this? How can someone as evil as Reggie Miller root for a team as wholesome and virtuous as the Heavenly Halos? And he wasn't a bandwagon fan either! This was like if Adolph Hitler made an adorable guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch" for crying out loud! My body was rejecting it, at first, but then I calmed down and decided that Reggie might not be as bad as I had made him out to be. He'll always be a Bruin, of course, but as a Pacer he wasn't much of a threat. I have bigger enemies out West to worry about. Besides, I will actually be rooting for Reggie, or his teammates at least, to make sure the detested Detroit Pistons don't win any more titles. Alas, Rock Teeth Reggie achieved redemption in thirty seconds for ill will spanning an entire career.
When people tell me they don't understand what's so fun about watching sports, the first thing I tell them is how enriching it is to put your heart into a team and have them drag it through the mud half your life, then show you flashes of complete and total harmony only to drag it through all over again. Sports are a lot like love in that way. What I think I should tell them now is how fun it can be to have enemies, even if you've created them as such without good reason. It's exciting to have rivalries; it's thrilling to have personal battles. To hate people you don't know can be intoxicating and then to forgive them can be quite sobering.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:34 PM
