quick take on the all-star game
Well, it came and went, and as far as all-star games go, was about as entertaining as they get. 122-120 coming down to the final shot in T-Mac's hands, and when was the last time you ever saw KOBE!!! pass up an open shot to feed someone else. Also shows to go that, no-nothings to the contrary, basketball is indeed a team sport filled with ever-evolving plays. Check how the 4 pistons came in and owned the all-stars of the West. A clearer illustration could not be given of why the Euro teams, practicing all year, beat far more talented US squads that practice perfunctorily for 2 weeks prior.
On a broader note, Stern continues to try and make the game safe for a nervous white audience. Hard to do when the entire squad of the East is Black and the only 3 whites on the West are Nash, Nowitzki and Gasol, a Canadian, a German and a Spaniard, respectively. Pan the crowd and there's Snoop Dog, Jay Z, Beyonce and Mary J Blige. I loved that both squads sent up the Houston Symphony, brought in by David Stern as one of his lame attempts to MTGSFC*, during the player intros. Both squads of starters did variants of hip-hop dancing moves during their intros, and doubly wonderful was that the West's improvised response was choreographed by Victoria, Canada homeboy Steve Nash backstage as they watched the East's seditious skewering of the setting. I am sure huge fines are on the way from Stern, who also seems to feel that letting players wear their own uniforms is a challenge to his control. 1/2 time showed the insipid Trisha Yearwood, yet another attempt to placate the red state crowd, and the equally insipid John Legend, the Kenny G of Urban Soul. What WAS the deal with the plasticized dancer "fans" surrounding the stage ala the exhumed Rolling Stones at the Super Bowl, anyway?
What's next in Stern's desperate attempt to get the golf and quail-hunting demographic? A mini-Nascar rally at the break? Roll Deadeye Dick Cheney on to the floor and see if he can flush some gangbangers out of the luxury suites with his Perazzi? The NBA brass reminds me so of the equivocating and weak-chinned DLC, Lieberman-types, frantically trying to out-GOP the GOP with Kerry on a hunt and Dukakis in a tank. They end up with republican-lite, and obviously if you have choice between Fried turkey and tofurkey, those of you who like turkey are going to go for the turkey every time. (Sorry vegans, that's just the way it is. my wife is one of you and has dragged me to some of the most expensive vegan joints in the bay area. I'm really glad you dig it, but I needed to go buy a garlic bagel with lox spread for 3 bucks after dropping $45 at the new Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. The dishes all come named with things like "I am beautiful" "I am enlightened" and so on. Got the bill and commented "I am expensive and I am still hungry.")
To bring in the tinge of jazz here, the folks who object to the urban street rhythm and whirlwind improvisation of high-level bball remind me of the legions of polyester jazz ed types who used to be ubiquitous, but thankfully seem to be slowly disappearing at the college level. They are still the vast majority at the high school level. You know the type - maybe they played a bit in college, maybe even gigged on 3rd trombone with the Glenn Miller reunion band for a year or two before settling down in their sinecure. They can't play, conflate jazz with big band, get lost during the drum breaks, grit their teeth through the solos, and play charts exclusively by white arrangers, with a special place in their hearts for Stan Kenton and Sammy Nestico. They would rather hear Doc Severinsen than Miles (I am not making this up, I’ll introduce you to some!) They despise Trane, Herbie, Wayne, Monk, Joe Hen, you name it. I am not saying they are all racists, at least not consciously, but comments such as "Ellington's band was so sloppy and out of tune" are indicators of some profound baggage. I see the people who pine for the old Princeton 4 corners offense having some of the same baggage. Glory Road was a flawed Disney film, but it did show the same underlying bullshit baggage that Kenton-firsters (that cat is SO irrelevant to any discussion of jazz) and NBA-haters have in common.
As for the NBA, Stern should realize that he will never get the red state Nascar crowd, cause no matter how he dresses it up, it is an urban, Black-dominated game and that is as threatening to the Nascar-crowd as is John Conyers, as is Miles Davis. The NBA is beautiful precisely BECAUSE it embraces the cultural and poetic values and rhythms that are antithetical to W's base. So keep on swinging, NBA ballers and get the Houston symphony and Trisha Yearwood off the stage.
*Make The game Safe For Caucasians
On a broader note, Stern continues to try and make the game safe for a nervous white audience. Hard to do when the entire squad of the East is Black and the only 3 whites on the West are Nash, Nowitzki and Gasol, a Canadian, a German and a Spaniard, respectively. Pan the crowd and there's Snoop Dog, Jay Z, Beyonce and Mary J Blige. I loved that both squads sent up the Houston Symphony, brought in by David Stern as one of his lame attempts to MTGSFC*, during the player intros. Both squads of starters did variants of hip-hop dancing moves during their intros, and doubly wonderful was that the West's improvised response was choreographed by Victoria, Canada homeboy Steve Nash backstage as they watched the East's seditious skewering of the setting. I am sure huge fines are on the way from Stern, who also seems to feel that letting players wear their own uniforms is a challenge to his control. 1/2 time showed the insipid Trisha Yearwood, yet another attempt to placate the red state crowd, and the equally insipid John Legend, the Kenny G of Urban Soul. What WAS the deal with the plasticized dancer "fans" surrounding the stage ala the exhumed Rolling Stones at the Super Bowl, anyway?
What's next in Stern's desperate attempt to get the golf and quail-hunting demographic? A mini-Nascar rally at the break? Roll Deadeye Dick Cheney on to the floor and see if he can flush some gangbangers out of the luxury suites with his Perazzi? The NBA brass reminds me so of the equivocating and weak-chinned DLC, Lieberman-types, frantically trying to out-GOP the GOP with Kerry on a hunt and Dukakis in a tank. They end up with republican-lite, and obviously if you have choice between Fried turkey and tofurkey, those of you who like turkey are going to go for the turkey every time. (Sorry vegans, that's just the way it is. my wife is one of you and has dragged me to some of the most expensive vegan joints in the bay area. I'm really glad you dig it, but I needed to go buy a garlic bagel with lox spread for 3 bucks after dropping $45 at the new Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. The dishes all come named with things like "I am beautiful" "I am enlightened" and so on. Got the bill and commented "I am expensive and I am still hungry.")
To bring in the tinge of jazz here, the folks who object to the urban street rhythm and whirlwind improvisation of high-level bball remind me of the legions of polyester jazz ed types who used to be ubiquitous, but thankfully seem to be slowly disappearing at the college level. They are still the vast majority at the high school level. You know the type - maybe they played a bit in college, maybe even gigged on 3rd trombone with the Glenn Miller reunion band for a year or two before settling down in their sinecure. They can't play, conflate jazz with big band, get lost during the drum breaks, grit their teeth through the solos, and play charts exclusively by white arrangers, with a special place in their hearts for Stan Kenton and Sammy Nestico. They would rather hear Doc Severinsen than Miles (I am not making this up, I’ll introduce you to some!) They despise Trane, Herbie, Wayne, Monk, Joe Hen, you name it. I am not saying they are all racists, at least not consciously, but comments such as "Ellington's band was so sloppy and out of tune" are indicators of some profound baggage. I see the people who pine for the old Princeton 4 corners offense having some of the same baggage. Glory Road was a flawed Disney film, but it did show the same underlying bullshit baggage that Kenton-firsters (that cat is SO irrelevant to any discussion of jazz) and NBA-haters have in common.
As for the NBA, Stern should realize that he will never get the red state Nascar crowd, cause no matter how he dresses it up, it is an urban, Black-dominated game and that is as threatening to the Nascar-crowd as is John Conyers, as is Miles Davis. The NBA is beautiful precisely BECAUSE it embraces the cultural and poetic values and rhythms that are antithetical to W's base. So keep on swinging, NBA ballers and get the Houston symphony and Trisha Yearwood off the stage.
*Make The game Safe For Caucasians
posted by Michael Zilber at 10:22 AM
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