Black Man's game?

[JRutledge]

What do you guys think of the Bird comments?

Not looking for a debate on whether he is right or not, but what do you think about this as officials?

Bird's Comments

Peace

[mick]

I don't look at the NBA as an official. I'm justa fan, ... sometimes. (Tonight, is one of those times.)

We ran a fantasy NBA league.
One guy took all Caucasians, including Europeans.
...Finished a distant last.

Bird seemed to imply the financial game needed more white Americans. I don't care.
Bird said African-Americans are superior athletes. I don't disagree.

What are you looking for?

mick

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by mick
What are you looking for?

mick

I am just looking for opinions. I know I was not outraged or upset by the comments. I just wanted to see if anyone out there felt the same or different.

Peace

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by JRutledge
I am just looking for opinions. I know I was not outraged or upset by the comments. I just wanted to see if anyone out there felt the same or different.

I guess it doesn't give me that sick feeling that some racial remarks cause. It's his opinion and he's expressing it without offense, which is unusual. OTherwise, I'm with mick -- who cares? I don't care what Larry Bird thinks, and I don't care whether it's a black man's game or not. It's just a big *YAWN*.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by JRutledge
What do you guys think of the Bird comments?

Not looking for a debate on whether he is right or not, but what do you think about this as officials?

Bird's Comments

Jmo, but from an official's standpoint, there's no story here and nothing to think about. Race, creed, religion, etc. hasn't got anything to do with us. Or shouldn't have anything to do with us, to be a little cynical. Officials should stear completely away from these debates. If you want to give an opinion, it should be as an individual, and not as an official. There should never be any other stance taken by an official other than "all players, coaches, etc. are created equal, and will be treated as such".

[mick]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Originally posted by JRutledge
Officials should stear completely away from these debates.

Stear away : Keep the bovine waste in another pasture.
mick

[Jurassic Referee]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mick

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Stear away : Keep the bovine waste in another pasture.
mick

And to think that I useta post about what a great official you were too. Well, I'm gonna steer away from that now too. Or maybe make you into a stear when you're not looking.

[mick]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

And to think that I useta post about what a great official you were too. Well, I'm gonna steer away from that now too. Or maybe make you into a stear when you're not looking.

You don't hafta do all that!
I just need a hug.
mick

[w_sohl]

Not pointing any fingers at anyone here because I don't think anyone here is blowing this out of proportion, but how is this any different than the interview the other day on ESPN witha black football coach saying that, "we need more black head football coaches in college ball."? The only difference is it is a black man making the comment, that is why noone says anything. People are always afraid to say anything because they don't want to offend anyone. Guess what no matter what you say you will offends someone. There will always be someone that doesn't like what you say. Back to the coach and college football. Personally I would like to think that if a black coach is qualified for the job and they were the best interview that they would get the job. Now we all know that in some cases this doesn't happen, but I would like to think that more time than not it does. Reminds me of the Detroit Lion when they hired Marriuchi (sp?). They knew they wanted him, they knew he wantted to be there. They tried to follow NFL rules by interviewing "minority" canididates, but those candidates knew they had no chance so they turned down the interview. Detroit still gets fines for not interviewing minority candidates. Why were they punished for going out and getting what they wanted, why were they penalized when it was mutual to not waste each others time? If the white guy can play and he is the best on the team he will be a superstar, but Larry is right, this is a black mans game and black athletes are more time than not superior to their white counterparts. It is a fact not an opinion. Look at all of the record books, especially T&F.

My two cents, maybe only worth a penny!

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by w_sohl
Not pointing any fingers at anyone here because I don't think anyone here is blowing this out of proportion, but how is this any different than the interview the other day on ESPN witha black football coach saying that, "we need more black head football coaches in college ball."? The only difference is it is a black man making the comment, that is why noone says anything.

sohl -- I don't know about others, but I didn't say anything because I don't care. I don't care what that person's opinion is, I don't care whether there are more or less black football coaches. The only reason I dind't say I didn't care about that one, was because no one asked. JR asked. I commented that I don't care.

I do agree that we need more reasonable people to express their opinions. Mostly, the only opinions we hear are offensive, and so when we want to speak we don't want to sound like Savage or Limbaugh or whoever else is expressing racism on the airwaves. More thoughtful, considered expressions should be more widely circulated so that it can be seen how to do the thinking process. That way those of us in the mushy middle wouldn't have to feel guilty about noticing realities.

[Mark Padgett]

This really doesn't address the topic perfectly, but it's related. Bill Russell used to say that, in the "old days", there was a quota of how many black players a team would put on the court at one time. If you were the home team - two. If you were the visitors - three. If you got behind - five.

[w_sohl]

Originally posted by rainmaker
[Bsohl -- I don't know about others, but I didn't say anything because I don't care. I don't care what that person's opinion is, I don't care whether there are more or less black football coaches. The only reason I dind't say I didn't care about that one, was because no one asked. JR asked. I commented that I don't care.

I do agree that we need more reasonable people to express their opinions. Mostly, the only opinions we hear are offensive, and so when we want to speak we don't want to sound like Savage or Limbaugh or whoever else is expressing racism on the airwaves. More thoughtful, considered expressions should be more widely circulated so that it can be seen how to do the thinking process. That way those of us in the mushy middle wouldn't have to feel guilty about noticing realities. [/B]

rain,

I hope you don't think I was calling you out. This post was directed at no one and everyone at the same time. Sorry if that is the way it came across. I too could'nt really care less what most people think on most topics, but if we didn't discuss opinions we would not have anything to talk about.

[rockyroad]

As others have said, I really couldn't care less what Larry Bird thinks about this...it's his opinion and he certainly has the right to express it - whether it is racist or not, he has the right to express his opinion. That's the great thing about living in this country - we can express an opinion whether it offends anyone or not. This fear of offending people has gone way too far, IMO...as a side note, the clips I have seen of the Bird comments show Magic and LeBron James sitting there laughing, nodding their heads, and agreeing with what Bird is saying...

[ChuckElias]

I hadn't heard of the comments before today. I'm a big Bird fan, being up here in Massachusetts. I think the comments aren't particularly diplomatic, but they're not particularly offensive, either. I don't think anyone can deny that at the pro level, the vast majority of the players are black. But as others have said, so what? He was insulted when defended by white players? Again, so what? I think that was supposed to be a complement to black players, but honestly it sounds kind of dumb to me.

As Bron or 'Melo said, if you can play the game, nobody cares what color you are.

Then again, if Isaiah Thomas were white, he'd be just another average General Manager.

[theboys]

I've been thinking about this post, and Larry Bird's comments, a lot. It concerns me when people start talking about racial superiority in any form or fashion, even when a person of one race speaks of the superiority of another race. Bird makes a blanket statement about the superiority of African-American athletes which, on the surface, when you look at the make-up of D1 and pro basketball teams, appears to be true. But, I think there's more to it than race.

Take the SI article a few weeks ago, which asked why fewer African-Americans play baseball anymore. Its not because whites or hispanics are superior. It has a lot to do with culture, opportunity and, simply, sport preference.

I'll use my 15 year-old son as an example. He's white. We live in a suburb north of Atlanta, a predominately white area. Its almost impossible for my son to find a good game of pick-up basketball where we live. So, he spends a lot of time alone, doing shooting and ballhandling drills. Sometime, we'll drive an hour to Run 'N' Shoot, an indoor basketball facility on the south side of town. Several times we have been the only white people in the gym. Is the gym full of superior athletes? No. Its full of people who play basketball all the time. My son holds his own because he plays basketball all the time.

I mean, there are exceptions - Kobe, Tracy, Vince, etc. But, was Kareem a superior athlete, or a person with an incredible work ethic?

Sorry for the long post. I just think when we start talking about racial superiority we start heading down a slippery slope.