Boo
12-19-2006, 11:02 AM
Karl, Thomas Deserve Blame for Brawl as Well
NBA Critics Must Be Jumping for Joy Over Latest Melee
By JIM ARMSTRONG
Pictures and videos of brawl and article source. ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
Why am I not surprised that, on the same night the Nuggets and Knicks were trying to plant one another at Madison Square Garden, Terrell Owens was spitting in the face of DeAngelo Hall?
Let’s get something straight about Saturday night's Melee at Madison Square: It wasn't just an ugly and inexcusable scene. It was a symptom of the loss of sportsmanship that has come to plague not just the NBA, but virtually every sector of professional sports.
Before Owens, there was Albert Haynesworth’s infamous foot facial to Andre Gurode. Then there's Barry Bonds, who routinely stands in the batter's box after going deep so he can admire his handiwork. Wide receivers, meanwhile, dance the night away in NFL end zones. And that’s after they strike the Heisman pose as they approach the goal line.
Now, even the coaches are getting involved. To wit: Nuggets coach George Karl, whose disdain for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has been widely documented, had four of his five starters on the court with 1:15 remaining in Saturday's game. Nothing out of the ordinary there except that the Nuggets were ahead by 19 points.
Apparently, Karl was concerned his team might blow the lead in the final minute, what with the NBA having recently adopted the eight-point shot.
Perhaps Karl has never heard of garbage time, an NBA tradition since the days of the peach basket, whereby, with the game out of hand, both coaches call for the end-of-the-bench dwellers to run out the clock. If not, he's excused. He has, after all, only been coaching in the league for 20 years.
Thomas' reaction to the Nuggets’ A team being on the court in that situation? Moments before the flagrant foul that launched the melee, he told Carmelo Anthony not to venture into the paint, an obvious indication that trouble was imminent. Thus, instead of snuffing out a smoldering fire, Thomas, an alleged authority figure, tossed gas on it.
Needless to say, Thomas pointed the finger at Karl after the game, saying the Nuggets' starters shouldn't have been on the court. And things only got more heated two days later, when Karl unleashed a barrage of four-letter words aimed at the beleaguered Knicks coach.
"In my mind, it was premeditated,’’ said Karl. "It was directed by Isiah. I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad decision worse. I’ll swear on my children’s life that I never thought about running up the score. My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games. I didn’t want the score to go under 10 points. ... He's a jerk for what he’s trying to do."
Karl also called Thomas a complete, um, grassy knoll, and said he was full of you know what. And to think, it’s the NBA players who are always catching grief from people. Which reminds me ...
Fighting is part of the culture of the NHL, has been ever since water turned to ice. Beanbrawls, meanwhile, have been part of baseball’s lore since the parking lots were filled with Model Ts. Oh, and what would a NASCAR race be without a couple of bubbas in head-to-toe logos in each other’s faces near pit row?
So why is it, when NBA players start swinging at each other, so many people get so sanctimonious? Why do fans cry out for suspensions and fines and league officials are quick to throw the book, if not the whole set of encyclopedias, at the combatants?
You already know the answer, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s because a whole lot of people out there don’t like the NBA. Some, in fact, detest the NBA, hate its guts.
By now, you're assuming I’m going to play the race card here, but I’m not. It can't just be about race. If it were, then how do we explain the NFL, whose rosters contain roughly the same percentage of African Americans as the NBA, being the most popular league going?
No, it's more than race. It’s not so much how the NBA looks that turns off so many people. It’s how certain NBA players act. They cover their bodies with tattoos. They travel in posses. They listen to gangsta music. They’ve been known to tote guns. They live in a culture that promotes drugs and violence and disrespects authority.
And when they start pummeling each other on the court, their critics have a field day. Which brings us to Saturday night’s bruhaha. In case you’re wondering, all those NBA naysayers out there are uttering the same three words today: told you so.
But that, of course, is their opinion, and this being America and all, they’re certainly entitled to it. Trouble is, those people don’t know all the facts. They see the NBA’s problems, not its solutions. They see the tattoos and the bling bling and a certain image pops in their heads, an image that doesn’t necessarily fit most players in the league.
If you’re around NBA players a lot, like I am, you saw an irony in the brawl that most people can’t fathom. Truth is, NBA players, many of whom share the same agents or once played on the same team, have a camaraderie that other athletes will never know. Especially NFL players, whose non-guaranteed contracts force them to fight for roster spots with teammates every year of their careers.
Many NBA players have given thousands, in some cases millions, to charity. In fact, I’ll bet NBA players give more money to charity than any other group of athletes. Two cases in point: Dikembe Mutombo, who has worked tirelessly to fund hospitals in his native Zaire, and, ironically enough, Anthony, who donated $1.5 million to build a sports center in his native Baltimore a matter of days before his role in Saturday’s insanity.
Sure, the league has problems. Or maybe you didn’t hear about Pacers forward Stephen Jackson firing five shots outside an Indianapolis strip joint. Trust me, he didn’t stop by on his way to church. But for the most part, NBA players are solid citizens with families and kids, if not mortgages and car payments. It’s their world that’s surreal, not them.
Does the NBA have more problem children than any other league? Having covered every league involving grown men chasing bouncing balls, I doubt it. It’s just that people react differently when the NBA’s problems hit the headlines.
So go ahead, diss the players for the league’s latest black eye. Just make sure, when you’re assigning blame, you spread it around a little. And you might want to start with their bosses on the bench.
NBA Critics Must Be Jumping for Joy Over Latest Melee
By JIM ARMSTRONG
Pictures and videos of brawl and article source. ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
Why am I not surprised that, on the same night the Nuggets and Knicks were trying to plant one another at Madison Square Garden, Terrell Owens was spitting in the face of DeAngelo Hall?
Let’s get something straight about Saturday night's Melee at Madison Square: It wasn't just an ugly and inexcusable scene. It was a symptom of the loss of sportsmanship that has come to plague not just the NBA, but virtually every sector of professional sports.
Before Owens, there was Albert Haynesworth’s infamous foot facial to Andre Gurode. Then there's Barry Bonds, who routinely stands in the batter's box after going deep so he can admire his handiwork. Wide receivers, meanwhile, dance the night away in NFL end zones. And that’s after they strike the Heisman pose as they approach the goal line.
Now, even the coaches are getting involved. To wit: Nuggets coach George Karl, whose disdain for Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has been widely documented, had four of his five starters on the court with 1:15 remaining in Saturday's game. Nothing out of the ordinary there except that the Nuggets were ahead by 19 points.
Apparently, Karl was concerned his team might blow the lead in the final minute, what with the NBA having recently adopted the eight-point shot.
Perhaps Karl has never heard of garbage time, an NBA tradition since the days of the peach basket, whereby, with the game out of hand, both coaches call for the end-of-the-bench dwellers to run out the clock. If not, he's excused. He has, after all, only been coaching in the league for 20 years.
Thomas' reaction to the Nuggets’ A team being on the court in that situation? Moments before the flagrant foul that launched the melee, he told Carmelo Anthony not to venture into the paint, an obvious indication that trouble was imminent. Thus, instead of snuffing out a smoldering fire, Thomas, an alleged authority figure, tossed gas on it.
Needless to say, Thomas pointed the finger at Karl after the game, saying the Nuggets' starters shouldn't have been on the court. And things only got more heated two days later, when Karl unleashed a barrage of four-letter words aimed at the beleaguered Knicks coach.
"In my mind, it was premeditated,’’ said Karl. "It was directed by Isiah. I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad decision worse. I’ll swear on my children’s life that I never thought about running up the score. My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games. I didn’t want the score to go under 10 points. ... He's a jerk for what he’s trying to do."
Karl also called Thomas a complete, um, grassy knoll, and said he was full of you know what. And to think, it’s the NBA players who are always catching grief from people. Which reminds me ...
Fighting is part of the culture of the NHL, has been ever since water turned to ice. Beanbrawls, meanwhile, have been part of baseball’s lore since the parking lots were filled with Model Ts. Oh, and what would a NASCAR race be without a couple of bubbas in head-to-toe logos in each other’s faces near pit row?
So why is it, when NBA players start swinging at each other, so many people get so sanctimonious? Why do fans cry out for suspensions and fines and league officials are quick to throw the book, if not the whole set of encyclopedias, at the combatants?
You already know the answer, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s because a whole lot of people out there don’t like the NBA. Some, in fact, detest the NBA, hate its guts.
By now, you're assuming I’m going to play the race card here, but I’m not. It can't just be about race. If it were, then how do we explain the NFL, whose rosters contain roughly the same percentage of African Americans as the NBA, being the most popular league going?
No, it's more than race. It’s not so much how the NBA looks that turns off so many people. It’s how certain NBA players act. They cover their bodies with tattoos. They travel in posses. They listen to gangsta music. They’ve been known to tote guns. They live in a culture that promotes drugs and violence and disrespects authority.
And when they start pummeling each other on the court, their critics have a field day. Which brings us to Saturday night’s bruhaha. In case you’re wondering, all those NBA naysayers out there are uttering the same three words today: told you so.
But that, of course, is their opinion, and this being America and all, they’re certainly entitled to it. Trouble is, those people don’t know all the facts. They see the NBA’s problems, not its solutions. They see the tattoos and the bling bling and a certain image pops in their heads, an image that doesn’t necessarily fit most players in the league.
If you’re around NBA players a lot, like I am, you saw an irony in the brawl that most people can’t fathom. Truth is, NBA players, many of whom share the same agents or once played on the same team, have a camaraderie that other athletes will never know. Especially NFL players, whose non-guaranteed contracts force them to fight for roster spots with teammates every year of their careers.
Many NBA players have given thousands, in some cases millions, to charity. In fact, I’ll bet NBA players give more money to charity than any other group of athletes. Two cases in point: Dikembe Mutombo, who has worked tirelessly to fund hospitals in his native Zaire, and, ironically enough, Anthony, who donated $1.5 million to build a sports center in his native Baltimore a matter of days before his role in Saturday’s insanity.
Sure, the league has problems. Or maybe you didn’t hear about Pacers forward Stephen Jackson firing five shots outside an Indianapolis strip joint. Trust me, he didn’t stop by on his way to church. But for the most part, NBA players are solid citizens with families and kids, if not mortgages and car payments. It’s their world that’s surreal, not them.
Does the NBA have more problem children than any other league? Having covered every league involving grown men chasing bouncing balls, I doubt it. It’s just that people react differently when the NBA’s problems hit the headlines.
So go ahead, diss the players for the league’s latest black eye. Just make sure, when you’re assigning blame, you spread it around a little. And you might want to start with their bosses on the bench.