There's Wisdom in Pottery Class
Briefly, since I can't manage anything else about death at the moment:
For those who missed it, here's the story of Gerald Wallace and Jamario Moon's small-town Alabama high school rivalry. I feel like this is somehow related to my Baghdad basketball post; that would make both of them vaguely offensive, right? Is it bad that I find Hoosiers unbearable but find this positively spellbinding?
A few other thoughts:
-When I went to Sonics/Warriors the other night, Carlisemo kept Durant on the bench for over a quarter. I'd even say he BENCHED him. Granted, the kid wasn't doing anything, but what the fuck are they paying a coach for? To help Wally and Wilkins put up stats? I also firmly believe--can't remember if I stole this idea from a friend or thought of it myself--that the vets stuck on that roster act like they're a secret society. Like Earl Watson knows something that Durant and Jeff Green can only begin to imagine.
-As much as I love teams powered by swag, it's refreshing to watch Orlando and NOLA earn legitimacy by, well, playing that way. They don't need to gamble, or over-hustle, or gasp like it might all vanish any second. It's the kind of poise that comes with knowing you matter, where external proof starts to take care of all that "believe in yourself" crap. Plus Dwight Howard is what Oden was supposed to be, but better, and no one who has ever trumpeted Shaq or Duncan should doubt the Magic.
-TZ reprimands Berri, which allows me to say the following: There are no complementary players without a central star. The numbers Berri fetishizes are almost almost those of complementary players, whose roles, opportunities, and meaning to opponents stems from a star (or two). Has he ever commented on what's happened to his beloved Iguodala, now that's he's the go-to Sixer?
-There's a big difference between Sam Smith calling out blogs and Stephen A. Smith doing it. And no, it's not that I still believe in SAS's interview skills. On that same note, blogger solidarity is severely overrated, and almost as dangerous as the MSM banding together against the internet. There's good writing and reporting on both sides, and shit on both, and I'm not about to get lumped in with __________ (insert name of any of the twenty-five sports blogs worth reading) just because we share a medium. And get picked on by The Man.
-My lover-comrade found the Webber/Clinton letter here. I probably should have said that earlier. What's amazing is that it's among the "recently released" documents, meaning that the Bush administration tried to suppress this bit of history for as long as they could. While you're there, watch the entire interview with Clinton at the library. It's ineffable.
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 12/04/2007 04:28:00 PM
28 comments
28 Comments:
RIP pimp c
http://sports.aol.com/story/_a/who-are-bestworst-sports-announcers/20071204103509990001
"meaning that the Bush administration tried to suppress this bit of history for as long as they could."
B, I like your writing, but sometimes your logic is a little out of wack. I doubt anyone tried to suppress a nice letter from the President to an individual who did something remarkable. There is anectdotal evidence of a myriad of our nation's leaders saying or doing something nice for an individual, just because they can. Hell, there's even stories about GW saying nice things to people.
Your heart's in the right place, but come on, you're better than that.
And how can you hate on Hoosiers??? That's the original "feel good" basketball movie. Plus, it's based on a true story. Granted, there may have been some racist subtext (predominantly black team with superior athletes defeated by scrappy white underdogs who are better coached and better shooters), but I like to see it as a simple story of overcoming odds and gaining victory, through hard work and determination. Plus, they run the picket fence! Picket fence!!!
On C-Span, Clinton talks about how long it's taking to get his records released in the current climate.
But I was kidding when I said it about the Webber letter.
rip pimp c
Nich, c'mon man. Thas juss silly. I read it as a joke.
On Hoosiers: I hate on most feel-good movies because I dislike being manipulated so blatantly. If I am to be moved, please do so through wit and logic. Not because Timmy lived out his impossible dreams.
On Pimp-C: Prison will kill your mind faster than your body.
"It's been a long time since somebody wrote a great book in prison..."
It doesn't surprise me at all that Hoosiers isn't an automatic favorite here. There's no panache in the game and besides the coaches, no personalities except in an apophatic sense (Jimmy defines himself by playing or not-playing. Oh wait, he corrects Hackman and calls for the last shot. I GUESS that's swag...)
Now, if it was GARY, Indiana. not Hickory...
and Strap got his name because of a case he caught with a hot 9...
...Merl's known to shellac a cheerleader's back with special glaze from the red sun of Rao
...and Jimmy is just as likely to jump over you as go 0-12 until the last two minutes of the game.
then you might have something a little more FD. This alternate version would have them lose the title to South Bend though, and all because they can't play zone defense or make 21 foot three pointers.
Eh, perhaps that didn't come out right. I prefer my movies like professors and magicians, not cops and preachers.
What do you think of the commercial showing current NBA players of color watching Hoosiers reverently, along with Jeff van G (who should be at Kinko's printing out resumes and cover letters)? My first reaction was, bullSHIT, that's a cracker movie, but maybe I'm oversimplifying.
Full disclosure--I have fond memories of Hoosiers, part because I was wee and easily manipulated when I saw it, part because it and Blue Velvet almost simulataneously introduced me to the majesty of Dennis Hopper. Then I saw Apocalypse and my head exploded.
I only saw a little bit of Pistons/Hawks. . . can someone explain Amir's 5 blocks in 8 minutes to me?
It seems like Baron Davis just started a book club for the Warriors including strict instructions to come prepared for team discussions. I really wish he was playing in LA instead of NorCal.
Funny coincidence ... I just got home from the gym where I was explaining to a buddy how Free Darko has little to nothing to do with Darko ... and I look up at one of the TVs showing that ESPN/Hoosiers ad ... and I think, "No way KG fucking likes Hoosiers! He's gotta be a Blue Chips dude! You couldn't make a less FD movie than Hoosiers if you tried!" etc.
Hackman is pretty FD when he kisses Barbara Hershey.
The whole "pass four times before anyone shoots," seems very anti-FreeDarko. Although, come to think of it, it might not hurt for the Knicks to try this strategy for a quarter or two.
Chris "Hieronymus" Bosh will do great things with the Moon man by his side.
Just to be contrarian, I would argue that Hoosiers could be FD because 1) Novi Sad may well be the Hickory of the former Yugoslavia, so Darko could be a latter-day Jimmy Chitwood and 2) a team coached by Hackman and Hopper is operating way off the grid. Which Hackman are you getting--Lex Luthor? Little Bill? Homey from The Conversation? I would show up to practice on time just to be safe.
And to assume KG doesn't like the movie may be as misguided as assuming that I don't like House Party (i.e. very misguided). That said, my guess is that he leans toward He Got Game--I can recognize and surrender to my prejudices simultaneously.
the commercial with JVG and the boys watching hoosiers doesn't seem off base at all. The only time I saw it was a mandatory screening with my high school team. Its not like we didn't enjoy it, but it was obviously mandatory and obvious that none of us were running to see it on our own... sort of a similar vibe
I saw that commercial more as KG fuming that, damn, those pasty blondes are taking home trophies.
I just wanted to give Maxwell some rub for picking 'The Conversation' out from among the million or so Hackman flicks. Choice.
Being FD is doing everything with the noble irreverence of shrapnel.
This is what FD is to me.
Intentional fallacy is FD.
How paradoxical.
This comment has been removed by the author.
@B:
Sorry, my sarcasm meter was broken. Plus, I had just spent a lot of the afternoon with my girl talking about the political failings of the US in recognizing and adapting to geopolitical changes in a post-colonial world, specifically the Vietnam War.
RIP Pimp C, didn't realize you were dead when I heard UGK on the radio last night.
Illuminating Hoosiers debate aside (and c'mon, how the fuck could Hoosier's be anything but anti-FD? the whole movie is a celebration of Right-Wayism to the nth degree), we can all agree on one thing - Dave Berri is the Ann Coulter of basketball statisticians.
vw: fheyhck "fuckin hey, berri's a hack"
@ Maxwell: Hoosiers might well be KG's favorite movie. But my gut reaction when I see the add is as described above.
And He Got Game is a movie that uses basketball as a device to tell a broader story. Hoosiers is a basketball movie. Apples and hand grenades.
vuqzdrn: verejao undermines quizzical zydrunas's doggedly rugged nocturnalism
I worked in a residential treatment program for adolescents in the juvenile justice system a few years back. on movie nights it was always a struggle to find pg movies they might enjoy. thought hoosiers would work. as the credits roll and I wipe away the tears my favorite kid, a young man full of swag, asked me never to bring a bunch of white boy shit in again.
@flam:
You should have gone with Remember the Titans. I've had mild success getting "urban" kids to pay attention to that movie.
Too bad it had to be PG, otherwise you could have shown Hoop Dreams.
"White boy shit." Ha! I love it.
@Mr. Six--just to be clear, my gut reaction is the same as yours.
PS Ray Allen also appears in another basketball-as-device movie, Harvard Man. Dude has more range as a shooter than as a thespian.
I got so caught up on the Hoosiers talk that (until reading the Longform) I forgot to address Shoals's first bullet:
PJ deserved to be choked.
ioujcx: IOU for jersey, cornuts, and xanax
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