by SJ: June 12, 2004
WHITE CHOCOLATE
Does the NBA really need more white superstars or should we even be concerned about that, when there are much more important issues.
Often times, stupid comments get more attention then they deserve. Some things that people say are just well, plain dumb. Yet, we continue to devote a big chunk of our attention to these silly, unreasonable comments that athletes, coaches, owners: tend to make. Sure, not everything that people say is to be taken lightly, but come on. While we�re arguing over some comments said by Larry Bird, there is a war going on in Iraq. A damn war.
And what�s the big deal about what he said anyways. All Larry Bird did, was point out that White America wouldn�t mind some white superstars. Tell me that�s not true and you�d be lying. The NBA is an equal opportunity association, but the truth is the truth. African Americans over the years have been proven to be better basketball players than whites. But, a more interesting question could be taken out of this. If there are not enough white superstars as Bird says than do we believe what Gary Sheffield said last year when he pointed out that there are not that many black superstars in the bigs? Or why does it matter.
Why does everything start with race. Sure I wouldn�t mind seeing the field leveled out a bit, but you can only do what you can do. I enjoy watching athletes, whether they�re green, yellow, blue, or orange. If you can play, than well, you can play. Simply put, simply said, simply the truth. The media is on top of every story like that. It was a comment. Don�t people learn by now that even the best of us tend to say stupid things, only athletes get scrutinized because they�re constantly on our radar. I�m not saying that what athletes say is always correct.
Symbolically, im saying we�re making a mountain out of a molehill. It�s interesting because someone always gets offended. You could say we played a hard-fought game, and the word fought could be directed as a war term. Nowadays you could get arrested for a speeding ticket, and the whole world knows. Bare in mind here, that athletes are yes-human. And while they are more skilled than the average joe, they also make mistakes. Plenty of things could be said and forgotten about.
But no. We have to pull at the rope, balancing peace and pointless noise, and break over the barrier. Thrashing stupid comments is becoming like a sport for the media. Some things deserve attention. But others, are just words. What happened to the great ol� saying, �Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.�
It�s obvious that sports get too often lost as life or death words. Just because some one says boo-doesn�t mean you have to be scared. And just because someone says jump, doesn�t mean we need to jump. Yet, with all the attention that these comments get, its pretty apparent that we tend to lose our own ability to not care and instead we cook this ol� turkey till it burns, or until you don�t want to ever hear about it again. The bigger question is not why he said what he said, and who he said it to while he was saying it to whoever he might of been saying it to. The more important issue, is that we set these mere, studies of grammar, aside, and let the
|
