The Top 40

Gee, I've got a great idea.

How about just turning the whole thing over to black folks? Players, owners, officials, league officials, sponsors, the whole damn thing.

That oughtta work, right?

Yeah, for about a month, then all the courts would be in flames and all the players on welfare, or in jail, or the morgue.

Without massive theft, left alone, they seem to naturally fail. Genetic?

Basketball is very limited in its appeal because it is star-driven. Straight up good basketball is not all that exciting to watch unless you're a big fan, but big stars getting away with fouls and doing big jams are exciting. The sport HAS to have Shaqs and Jordans and Kobes to survive as a product. And that works against them too because they become obnoxious and dominate their team to the point of not being a team sport any more. Because the NBA survives on big stars they protect them, calling fouls on people who breathe on them and ignoring their fouls to the point of being ridiculous.

Aw now Chris. There ya go talking sense again. I'm with Rob. May I remind you of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters?

Besides, in a recent comparison study conducted under the auspices of the World Sports Association nine out of ten experts agreed that, indeed, Black guys can jump and jump better than White guys. The science is settled.

I cannot fathom how someone outside a penal colony lockup can spend more than 30 seconds watching any "professional" stick and/or ball "game" played by so-called grown men.

Terry: nearest I can figure is that it is an aesthetic pursuit. The metaphysics of team cooperation and adversarial conflict and motivational dynamics elevate the activities to heights above the mundane physical world. In fact, viewers are typically in the higher percentiles of intelligence as measured on the Stanford-Benet scales. Clear-cut values and rewards help form and motivate the youth of our nation. Show me a society without sports and I will show you a society without morals.

In the words of the immortal Vince Lombardi: "Winning isn't everything. It is the only thing".

In the words of the immortal Vince Lombardi: "Winning isn't everything. It is the only thing".

Actually he said "Winning isn't everything but wanting to win is." Changes the meaning completely, no?

May I remind you of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters?

Seems I recall their owner and coach was a brother named Saperstein....

Turning the NBA over to all black management/players/coaches is akin to turning GM over to the unions.

You know where that would end up. They want the blng, not the responsibility.

Craig: I sorta thought I was quoting it wrong. Thanks for the correction. Sometimes I make things up as I go along; depends on how much coffee I got in me. And I must confess, I don't know nine out of ten experts. That usually doesn't stop me.

Rob: and they didn't come from Harlem either. They be my homeboys from Chicago.

"I cannot fathom how someone outside a penal colony lockup can spend more than 30 seconds watching any "professional" stick and/or ball "game" played by so-called grown men."

We are living in a penal colony.

"Show me a society without sports and I will show you a society without morals."

We have the circuses. We have the bread.

But we don't have the morals.

Punditarian: Morals left DC decades ago, perhaps with Truman. It has been my experience that morals derive from a spiritual framework.

"In God We Trust" wasn't put on the money because it is a catchy phrase. It spoke to guidelines that helped form this country. We have seen the moral fabric unraveling as Judeo-Christian values and principles have been removed.

"... one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Without the "under God" the "liberty and justice" goes away.

I played all the *stick and ball* games in my youth and learned all they had to offer, then I grew up and started learning adult things, for the rest of my life.

It requires 0 intelligence to watch other people play games.

@Terry, you are being far too generous with your 30 second time frame. Doubtful I have wasted that much time total, ever. It's got to be the lowest for of entertainment. I got better things to do.

Not everything we do requires erudition and genius. Its fine to relax and enjoy things that are simply enjoyable for their own sake without educational value or intellectual challenge. If you can't enjoy a game of baseball, I question your validity as an American.

Move NBA headquarters to Detroit, give all the team players free housing, draft choices from among the natives there. Go even further: award free housing to any Black folks that want to live among their own kind. They certainly wouldn't have to put up with Whitey.

I get riding, whether it be horses bicycles, motorcycles, waves, or snow covered mountain sides. I understand racing even though it's boring to me. Anything involving throwing, kicking, catching, and scoring points with a ball I find incomprehensible. I can get an intellectual grasp of it the way Chasmatic described, but still- why would anyone spend time doing that? I'm going for a ride.

JWM

The NBA has it's own dynamic, even more toxic than to which the democratic equality has pushed baseball and football, because the NBA is a plantation where Jews are close to half of ownership. Stern and Silver, overseers of the labor, kept the normal black methods of settling things off the court, and the entire league from going gang-banger. Now another Jew steps in to save the plantation further embarrassment by paying Sterling's wife off by a factor of five, an offer that cannot be refused.

Sterling said too much that those owners know to be true; that is why he needed be ejected in such a reckless manner with the potential for great legal redress. Oracle saves the day. I'd be surprised if that offer were not in play from day two.

While JWM is going for a ride, I'm going for a climb. Up a 24' tall ladder that is. I just got through cutting (18) 4" thick maple log slices about 16" in diameter for some giant yard art I am making. Log slices with strategically drilled 3/4" holes, 1/2" jute rope for lacing them together, then up the ladder for placement, one at a time.

Sterling fell willingly on his sword in a carefully crafted kabuki piece allowing ownership and upper management to remain firmly in the hands of those that traditionally are good with money while allowing the rank & file an opportunity to vent frustrations in a manner that won't disrupt the cash flow. In fact, the pyrotechnics of the situation will entice more viewers that hope to see blood flowing on the courts.

In the spirit of all leaders big and small: "here is your bread. Let the games begin".

My favorite sport consists of placing small bits of lead into paper targets from 50 to 300 yards away. It is a bit noisy but the relief is wonderful. I can't imagine any practical use for my sport but I keep doing it with different sized projectiles just to see if I can keep getting closer and closer to the bulls eye.

tripletap: That is also what I do. My expectation is usually "minute of pie plate" which extends from 20 ft. (the average distance of engagement in self defense situations) to 200 yds which is the limits of these old eyes even through glass. The ranges also reflect the choice of arms, from a snub-nose thirty eight to a scoped 5.56 or '06. Tannerite makes for much fun.

Yesterday morning I purchased a brand new Stihl chainsaw and TWO 500rd bricks of some salacious 36gr .22 ammo. I almost wore that saw out yesterday and today I'm gonna try to do the same with a few choice firearms at my neighbors outdoor range. The sun is bright, the sky is clear, and the temp will be in the low 80's this afternoon, A perfect day to listen to some ringing steel. Mmmmm....the smell of freshly burnt gunpowder in the air.....