SonicsGate and the NBA
Oct/090
When the Sonics left Seattle to move to Oklahoma City I decided that I was done with the NBA. I didn’t watch any games except for the few that were on TV when I was at a bar. The only game I went to was one that was free from work because I won’t spend my money on the NBA. I don’t want them to profit from me because in my opinion David Stern screwed me. He has all of the owners in his back pocket and when it was time to vote on “Is it a good idea to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City?” Only two voted no. When in reality nobody would ever vote to move anything from Seatte to Oklahoma City. Why would you want to go from the 13th largest market in the country to a place where tumbleweeds are a common occurence during rush hour? It’s stupid. Which is to say, it’s all about money. (By the way, the only two owners to vote against this were Mark Cuban and Paul Allen. Which should be all you need to know. The only smart one and the only one who loses a rival (that was probably his favorite team before he bought the Blazers.))
I’ve kind of let this drift and last season I watched a few more games, mostly to see Lebron James. The thing about basketball is that the people playing it are the greatest athletes in the world. I firmly believe that Lebron James could play ANY sport. That commercial where he joins the Browns? That could really happen and I wouldn’t blink an eye. An NBA player, a great one, is the height of athleticism. They can do things that other humans can’t, simple as that. After baseball it’s probably my favorite sport to watch just for this reason. I’ve started to realize that and despite the Sonics thing which kills me to this day, I should watch some NBA. This led me so far as to even look at ticket prices for the Cavs in Milwaukee this season (unbelievably overpriced), but then something happened that changed my mind. I watched SonicsGate.
SonicsGate is an EXCELLENT documentary on what happened to the Sonics. It doesn’t miss a beat and actually covers a few things I forgot about. It made me remember how much I hate Clay Bennett, Mayor Nickels, David Stern, Wally Walker and Howard Schultz. It made me remember how completely fucked out this entire thing was. It showed me, once again, how little the NBA actually cares about the cities they have teams in. Say what you want about baseball, but no league is as ruthless and money grubbing as the NBA. It’s sickening and I can’t wait til the NBA goes on strike in two years. This movie hits the nail right on the head and they have re-affirmed my belief that the NBA doesn’t deserve my money. I might watch a game on TV, but I won’t be buying any tickets. Screw them. Which is ultimately the highest praise I can give this movie, “I was ready to forgive the NBA for the Sonics thing, but now I say screw them again.”
You can watch the whole movie on their website or check out the trailer right here.
Sonicsgate Trailer from sonicsgate on Vimeo.
In which I compare Buzz Bissinger to my ex-girlfriend
Jun/080
A few weeks ago I ran into an ex-girlfriend of mine that I hadn’t seen in about three years. We had one of those classical romances for a time. Started dating in high school, her father at one point forbade her from seeing me, so we dated anyway and ended up moving to Seattle together where we lived happily ever after. Until we broke up. Anyways it’s been six years since we broke up and she’s still mad. She even went so far as to tell me that she wanted to punch me in the face. I don’t know why she reacted this way, she broke up with me. I didn’t cheat on her and I wasn’t that bad of a guy. I just watched too much Mariners baseball and Dragonball-Z (don’t judge me) and didn’t give her enough of the attention that she needed. I know that when we broke up that it was my fault it happened and that was something that I was able to accept, but apparently she was not. In her mind, I really messed her up and if she believes that I guess it may be true.
Now we have Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights, and his ongoing feud against sports bloggers. He doesn’t like sports blogs because he finds them too snarky, too rude and underwritten. He, seemingly, blames them for a lot of the problems in modern society because the world is becoming more mean spirited than ever. He thinks that the only true journalism, the only true writing even is through hard work and months (even years) of investigation. Any blogger out there isn’t trying to be a good writer, they are trying to take an American Idol-esque shortcut to a real job at a real newspaper (or publishing house). I know that the majority of sports bloggers do it as a hobby to distract from their real jobs. I know that the general point of blogs in general is to be a fun distraction. Sports are supposed to be fun and writing about them can be fun too, but apparently Buzz does not. In Buzz’s mind sports is serious business and should only be handled by professionals and, again, if he believes that I guess it may be true.
The thing with both of them is that the world isn’t black and white. There is a place for everyone and everything in the world and it all fits, somehow. I had to be the worst boyfriend she’s ever had because someone had to. There has to be blogs because not every piece of sports journalism has to be worthy of a Pulitzer. Not everyone likes to read 3000 word books. Not everyone likes to date guys who watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer religiously. People want different things and they don’t know until they try them, experience them and enjoy them or hate them. The point is there is a market for everything whether it’s pictures of Matt Leinart giving a beer bong to an underaged girl or a twenty-six year old single dad with a coke problem. It’s simple really, some people like some stuff and other people don’t like that stuff and other people like that stuff, but the original people don’t like the stuff that the other people like and there are some people that don’t like any of that stuff and like something completely different stuff. And some people like everything and I don’t like those people. It’s not that hard to figure out.
(Full disclosure: I don’t really have a coke problem.)
Post script: How could I possibly be the worst boyfriend someone has ever had? I should win on looks alone!
Deadspin
Jun/080
Speaking of awesome things happening on the internet right now, it’s Will Leitch’s last week at Deadspin and there has been some absolutely amazing stuff. Will spent the first part of the week reminiscing about Carl Monday, then went on to post some really long, intelligent articles about what doing the site meant and it’s place in society or something. (If I were to make one complaint about him it’s the fact that he always seemed to take this thing way too seriously. Wondering where sports blogging fit into the world and what it all means, which sometimes seemed to defeat the point.) Then, yesterday was even better as the two best non-Will writers took over the site for a roast of Will that included everyone from Bill Simmons to The Dugout. It was really a great day for reading a blog and if that doesn’t sound really lame I don’t know what does.
I don’t know how much the site is going to change with a new editor, but I hope it doesn’t at all because what Will did with the site was great and I wouldn’t want it any other way.