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THIS MORNING I am proud of my connections to North Carolina. I am an alum of Wake Forest and Duke University. My ex-husband's family (whom I still adore) are from Wilmington, NC. My best friend teaches at NC State University. My adorable young cousin, Dani has been volunteering for Barack all over the state and sending me text messages to let me know how things are going.
LAST NIGHT I saw King Lear at the Globe, Shakespeare's theater on the South Bank of the Thames. I've seen the play before, but now that I'm a parent I was especially struck by the idea of love and loyalty between parent and child gone terribly wrong.
IS HILLARY REALLY ROCKY? At first, I dismissed it as yet another ridiculous attempt to paint herself as a working class underdog rather than the delusional underachiever that she's been this election season. Upon closer examination, however, I remembered something interesting about Rocky. Although he fought to the bloody end, the stubborn pugilist lost the first time around. To whom did he lose? That's right, a cocky black guy. That's when I realized that there's probably more truth to this Rocky thing than I imagined.
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I Don't Do Brackets, and Here's Why.
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Posted By:
waltonmp at 03/24/2008 10:52:09 AM
Comment:
Sounds like nothing more than "the older i get the better i was" talk. I think it was Bob knight that made a comment on ESPN earlier this week about how a particular play made by one of what you seem to think are second class players was the smartest play he had ever witnessed by a basketball player under pressure. I also believe that it was only last year when a group of seniors passed up the chance at countless millions just so they could have the chance to win another championship. I guess you missed that season and the message it sent to athletes across this country. As a college athlete of a smaller school I'm insulted and dismayed by your ad hominem comments about fellow athletes who work their whole careers to be the best they can be. To cut us down in such a crude and uninformed way shows that you are nothing more than out of touch with the reality of things. We are not here to entertain you. Thats what they pay the pros for. We compete for ourselves and the pride of representing our schools. -
Posted By:
waltonmp at 03/24/2008 10:48:57 AM
Comment:
Sounds like nothing more than "the older i get the better i was" talk. I think it was Bob knight that made a comment on ESPN earlier this week about how a particular play made by one of what you seem to think are second class players was the smartest play he had ever witnessed by a basketball player under pressure. I also believe that it was only last year when a group of seniors passed up the chance at countless millions just so they could have the chance to win another championship. I guess you missed that season and the message it sent to athletes across this country. As a college athlete of a smaller school I'm insulted and dismayed by your ad hominem comments about fellow athletes who work their whole careers to be the best they can be. To cut us down in such a crude and uninformed way shows that you are nothing more than out of touch with the reality of things. We are not here to entertain you or make you feel good. Thats what they pay the pros for. We compete for ourselves and the pride of representing our schools. -
Posted By:
aporiatwo at 03/23/2008 9:57:16 AM
Comment:
So, let me guess. The editorial strategy of the Root is as follows. 1. Take something excites/amazes/attracts lots of people; 2. Dismiss this interest by reminding the humble reader of some "higher ground" or "hidden history" that delegitimates our interests; 3. Vaguely insinuate (or come right out and say) that the decline of said phenomena is due to some yet un-analyzed or un-recognized thumbprint of The Man on the necks of the oppressed. Did I get it right? Cynicism is the easiest and lowest form of insight. -
Posted By:
We Rite Goode at 03/23/2008 9:26:44 AM
Comment:
This piece accomplished exactly what the title suggested: We learned why Martin Johnson isn't into the NCAA tournament--past memories cloud his perspective and prevent him from appreciating the present. The excuse of being "curmudgeonly" is rarely more fitting.
Yes, fundamentals aren't what they once were; stars head earlier to the NBA than two decades ago; and dominance is relative. But the elements that make the NCAA tournament so-compelling still remain: Sudden death, feverish intensity, national competition (the article acknowledges this). If anything, the more-level playing field makes for a far better tournament.
There's an intriguing idea at the heart of this story: That despite the ever-increasing interest in the tournament (or maybe because of it), March Madness has been somehow cheapened. That by allowing more teams in, the focus is skewed away from a handful of teams that have already emerged from the pack.
But--although it's camouflaged by talented writing--sniffing that current teams aren't worthy of a crown because they don't meet a subjective level of excellence isn't much of a contention. Maybe it's ok to be tired in your late 40s, but trotting out tired arguments to make a point is a tactic best left to bad sports blogs, not Washington Post-backed sites.
-We Rite Goode -
Posted By:
cla2q at 03/22/2008 7:46:20 PM
Comment:
Maybe the definition of curmudgeon is complaint without much basis--as the article is woefully short on substance to back up the claim. The glory days are gone--because there is a wider distribution of talent across schools of all sizes, so that top-heavy recruiting machines like UCLA can't own the top overall ranking for a solid decade? Oh, for the days of undefeated seasons and assurances of year-in-year-out dominance.
Because the young talent leaves school too early? But plenty of young players are (a) driven to push their team to higher levels while they can (i.e., Carmelo Anthony) or (b) willing to gamble on a return to NCAA play for a chance to win, or win again (i.e., Florida's trio of Brewer, Noah, Horford). KG, Kobe, and Lebron are a small sample of the talent that skipped college--but their absence hardly--in itself--undermines the overall quality of play.
NCAA play clearly is deficient because Tenn. and Memphis didn't execute their fast-break spacing perfectly? Perhaps--though if the conventional wisdom is that even college programs have lost a grip on "the fundamentals,"then all we'll have left to celebrate is the high school game. Perhaps the athleticism and pace of the game are changing what is "fundamentally" necessary to win the college game.
There seems to be plenty of reason to celebrate the quality of the college game: different team compositions beget different game-control strategies; player athleticism continues to rise, but in the constraints of a team program (compared to the relative free-for-all, individualistic NBA); and come March, the distribution of talent and opportunity is such that the chance for the championship is always open to many.-
Posted By:
We Rite Goode at 03/23/2008 10:03:38 AM
Comment:
Great points, all. You say what we wanted too, only better.
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Posted By:
dobbsfox at 03/22/2008 12:29:52 PM
Comment:
I don't mind the level of play in the NCAA. This is supposed to be an amatuer tournament. 18-to-22 year olds are going to play sloppy basketball. So what? The unpredictability of it all is much more exciting than watching the same powerhouses go to the sweet sixteen every year.
The best players SHOULD skip college and go pro if they are good enough. They are not going to college to learn anything anyway. And isn't the point of college for most people to position themselves to make money? If someone can accomplish that by skipping college, more power to them. If anything it opens up a roster spot for someone who's not going pro. Let the non-superstars have a few minutes in the spotlight once a year. -
Posted By:
dobbsfox at 03/22/2008 12:24:55 PM
Comment:
I don't mind the level of play in college basketball. This is supposed to be an amateur sport. A bunch of 18 to 22 year old kids should not be expected to maintain dynasties. The lack of a handful of perennial powerhouses in the NCAA makes the tournament much more interesting and keeps more people involved in what happens.
The best players SHOULD skip college and go to the pros if they are ready. They aren't enrolled in college to learn anything anyway, and isn't the point of everyone going to college to position themselves to make money in the future? If the NBA wants a farm system they should pay for it themselves through the D-League. There's nothing wrong with letting a few more non-pro-wannabees have a few minutes in the spotlight every March. -
Posted By:
Beeler at 03/14/2008 11:07:56 PM
Comment:
The game is full of contradictions....my favorite high school basketball team is regarded as the best public school program in the state of New Jersey....last year we were as good as any team in the country....yet, we have had only four division one athletes over the past 11 years....that alone tells you something about the state of the game at every level....that???s why memphis versus tennessee was dreadful at times....the priority in basketball isn???t always to transfer skill and heart from level to level....the other considerations, like height, athleticism and durability, while important, often compromise the quality of the game at each level.
KR
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