It Touched the Ground, Hard
(Your call: Is this A) 9/12 march footage B) my wedding C) proof that we're still secret racists here)
No, we have not all died and gone to heaven. There just hasn't been much NBA to write about, and at this point of the year, the very air around you seems to choke out many attempts to discuss the Association.
That and the next book is bearing down on us, myself and others disappeared to Maine this month for my wedding, and you know, I do have another blog. If SN didn't pay me, my columns on Jordan/David Thompson and The Speech/Serena would've lived here, as would have shorter posts on early athlete development and Brandon Jennings's views on the limits of online authenticity. Sucks for this RSS feed, but not necessarily for you guys.
All of which is a nice transition into some news about the store: For the time being, it's going to take a little breather. It's a one-man operation, and between the store, a move, a dissertation, and the book, that one man fell a little behind. Those of you who are still waiting on orders, they should be out soon, or otherwise accounted for. Don't hesitate to hit up the FD gmail with questions. We'll be back for the season's start with new product, a more streamlined system, and hopefully, a clean slate with any of you who feel wronged.
Enough with the gloominess. This site will begin to pick up soon, especially now that I don't have a wedding to plan. Strangely, I also think that working hard on the book can at times spur activity on here, at least for me. But rest assured that when you need us most, there will be blood. And for heck's sake, read The Baseline. Unless you want it to fail so I have to do all my writing here for free.
You friend,
Shoals
P.S. Can someone help me explain why Gretzky doesn't defy both my "to be the greatest in sports, you must be a dick" and "only Jordan is the consummate best ever" statements? Thanks.
Labels: announcements, links, merch
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 9/17/2009 10:58:00 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Well, the latter is easier; not only are there demonstrable peers to Gretzky's greatness, one of them was in the same (age) cohort. Everybody my age has a Lemieux/Gretzky argument, and our fathers sigh, shake their heads, and argue that Orr was better than either. While it's always been my contention that Jordan has clear, demonstrable peers, none of them happened to be at their peak while he plied his trade.
There's also a subtle filip in hockey that the positions and attendant responsibilites are different enough that it's not always easy to compare. A goalie can't be the best player ever, right off the top, and after that it gets tough to know whether you can really, really, really compare defensemen to forwards.
As for the first issue, I have less that's pertinent. I would want to point out that Gretz never won without Messier, who (a) was the anointed "leader" (=in-house dick?) and (b) did win without Gretzky. So maybe you can avoid being the dick when there's a dedicated dick on the team? Note here the role of the enforcer: if somebody ran Gretzky, (a) that guy would get literally beaten up (dickish) and then Gretzky would score a goal (scoreboard dick move par excellence).
Structural concerns are what makes it almost impossible for football.
Lemieux resembles Jordan in his complete-ness. I think that's part of why MJ's case is so airtight.
What the hell was that? For real, what is the purpose of that, Bethlehem?
Knowing what a dick Jordan is just makes me admire Magic for winning 5 championships (out of 9(!) trips) and NOT being a total dick in the process. Not to say he challenges the "greatest ever" status, but it seems he has the greatest winning to actually enjoying himself ratio in sports.
any thoughts on the pavement reunion tour?
Jordan took the sport to new heights - made it global... I don't think anyone outside the US knows or cares who Gretzky is
Milaz, you've heard of Canada, right?
Hockey was a global sport before basketball, in many ways: the Soviet Red Army team was revalatorily good on the ice while most of the rest of the world was still mostly ignorant of hoops. Sweden alone probably has more pros in the NHL than all the Euros in the NBA combined.
eh? Canada? :)
Ok, I see your point. Let's try something else - Jordan is to basketball what Pele is to football....
Kinda hoped if the franchise made it to Maine it would be for a more public showing. Maybe on the heels of the next book. Hope you stopped in Portland, Me for some food. Slick article in the NY Times celebrates Portland Proper's culinary flair.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/dining/16chefs.html
And for the record, Rachel's has all those joints by the Sam Cassells.
Best of luck with married life Shoals. And god do I hate Pro Football.
We ate at Evangeline on the way down. Hog jaw there was the best swine I've ever had. They need a music consultant, though.
I don't understand that Rachel's line.
Duncan's not a dick. (Neither is Popovich, Manu, Parker, Robinson, etc.) He won four championships.
For the "consummate best ever" part, there are obvious challenegers in other sports. Tiger, Federer, Maradona-all have dominated their sports to the same degree (and I would argue that Maradona's achievement of dragging an average Argentina side to a World Cup represents a level of achievement over and above anything Jordan ever did).
It is nice and understable that you have a rest from that blog time to times. I have been thinking to do the same at the Host PPH community forum.
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