In response to this thread, Sportsradio has hired 3 new shining African American personalities to cater to the AA needs of Houston. From ESPN Steven A. Smith, Tim Hardaway and from the Rocket's broadcast squad our very own Cynthia Cooper! These very talented and highly acclaimed African American commentators should take Sportsradio to another level in Houston radio...
MadMax, I bet you could go through a season of every team in every sport and find comments like that.
no..i'm not saying never...but it's not a recurring theme with the astros like it is for the rockets...granted, the recurring theme for the astros is gripping too hard...and choking because of it.
no doubt...but this is quite a regular occurrence for this team...am i seriously the only one who sees that?? i can't be...because the coach says it nearly every night. he's complained about work ethic from the moment he took over the team...and we've seen them play below potential over and over and over again.
I am active on a Baseball BBS, and I promise you there are many who contend that Biggio and Bagwell are too "nice" and too accepting of losses with a "That's baseball" demeanor when interviewed after a crushing loss. Two hall of famers, associated with the franchises greatest sucesses, still performing at a high level(though Biggio's skills are quickly diminishing)...that helps put fannies in the seats. It isn't because the game is whiter. Do you not think if Hakeem and Drexler were still playing at a high level for the Rox that Toyota Center would be buzzing...regardless of Won Loss. The way it stands there is only one solution for the Rox...winning. I mean are Dallas fans coming because Steve Finley and Dirk Novitzki are winningly white or is it because they have been putting up W's while we have been putting up excuses. That the Astros don't have any African American players on the roster is regrettable, but I think it is just an abberation...Brian Hunter hadn't stolen any bases at all for the Astro's when he was let go and that skill was his one claim to fame. Maybe racism is a minor factor in keeping some white suburbia away from Toyota...but I guarantee, string together some playoff wins and the Mini Van crowd will return in force.
This is true Rocket River JVG cannot be a barometer for this team . . because is a very anal Perfectionist
Another Brother, I don't think I'd call someone ingnorant and then say, "The only difference between you and I is that people actually like me."
The difference is ignorance, plus, SJC had already pointed that out. If you're gonna criticize at least be original.
Baseball is played on a huge field...I can get $10 seats and know what is going on....the $10 seats at basketball arenas don't allow you to get a good look at the game.
Hey AB, I wanted to touch on your original post a bit. I've read but not most of this thread, so sorry if I'm repeating stuff. No question hip-hop is mainstream, and there are plenty of white kids who sport urban gear. But in my opinion (I'm a thiry year old middle class white dude,) the fact that rap/hip-hop is mainstream and is a part of youth culture (including whites) doesn't change the fact that it's heavily influenced by gangsta/Thug Life culture. I imagine, because you often ask, what a middle-class white dude like me thinks a gangsta or a thug is. I'm not going to define it, but I can give you an impression what my impression is (did that make sense?) When I lived in the Domenican ghetto up on east 189th St. for a couple of years and was one of a few white people there at the time (I don't want to sound like I've got street cred or something, I don't, just saying I've been around urban youth culture a bit) what annoyed me wasn't the urban gear, it was the attitude. The air is just thick with 'tude. It wasn't the hundreds of kids wearing urban uniform with the skullcaps and low jeans and team baseball caps placed immaculately to the side etc. Wear whatever you want, kids. It's this constant macho posturing. Constant poker face. Walking with a strut or a limp. Never speaking simply or politely. Even if you're not a gangsta, you have to posture like you could/would/do indeed sell drugs and kill people. It's like a constant competition for street cred that can be won through facial expressions, body language and a nasty mouth. I honestly and truly don't judge these kids as human beings, and I certainly don't judge all black males as being violent or something. There's a difference in culture that I can't relate to. Who knows what kind of heart beats or what kind of human beings these kids are beyond the posturing that I see on the subways and in the streets, behind closed doors, with their families. I'm a huge fan of hip-hop, who isn't these days. I'm a classical musician, an opera singer, but I spend my money on CD's from Missy Elliot and just about anyone produced by Timbaland, (that man is a god. He is not from this planet.) But I can't listen to the more hardcore gangsta rap, because I can't relate to it, for instance Tupac or early Snoop Dogg. I have tremendous respect for these guys as rappers, I think what they do is emotive and real and sincere and I love that, but actually listening to the lyrics which are so full of hate and violence and a lifestyle I can't at all relate to... it brings me down. The glorification of violence in some rap is very, very troubling to me. I love Patienly Waitin' and In da Club, but after buying Get Rich or Die Tryin I can't listen to it all the way through. The constant aggression and violence is too much for me, it brings me down. Okay, I'm sorry if I've totally gone off on a different topic here, it just seems to me that AB has a sincere desire to better understand how urban culture is perceived, and I'm trying to help out. Okay, so AB, my point is: you seem to be saying that urban culture can't be turning people off to the NBA because urban culture is now part of mainstream/white culture. I think you're only half right. It's accepted insofar as white boys under 18 can wear some urban uniform and be accepted, or that a guy like me can have a hip-hop CD collection and it's not too unusual. But the influence of ultra-macho strutting/posturing glorification of gangtsa/thug life violence is something pretty annoying and troubling to plenty of middle america white consumers. And I do think that this culture and attitude is common (not dominant, but common) in the NBA. Strangely, though, it doesn't bug me a bit in the NBA. I love the NBA game, watch it whenever I can. This entire post was to try and help explain what might be bugging other fans. I find gangsta culture annoying on the subway because it seems fake and self-aggrandizing, but I don't let it bug me too much because these kids will grow up someday. Personally, I love NBA ball. Low scoring games bug me, but I don't think they're as prevalent as some fans think. I love the athleticism of the modern game, I have to admit. And I don't think that Sacramento or Dallas has sold out, I really think they're trying to build the best teams they can. Look at Sacramento- what if they didn't lose Webber in the playoffs? They would have faced SanAn in the finals, and they could have won. They could have been the champs. This was too long. Hope it helps.
