ridadie2005’s profile

Wow. Somewhere, escaped Serbian war criminals are saying, "Come on, that's a little too far." An embarrassment to the whole Serbian national team; alas, poor Jaric.

posted at 07:07 AM on September 12

I never forget that Scottie Pippen was a Rocket. That was '99, the infamous "lockout" season, and the Bulls looked so pathetic (with the occasional exception of Kukoc) that watching ex-Bulls on other teams (Pip in Houston, Longley in Phoenix, Kerr is San Antonio) was all that kept us poor Chicago fans going.

posted at 08:29 AM on May 13

Very thought-provoking article, justgary. It seems like a natural response to cheer for the guy or gal who comes back from the horrible injury. It seems like what we the fans are responding to is the human spirit, the fact that we can be so resilient. It's a combination of sympathy and pride, just like that moment when the injured athlete is carried off the field to a round of applause and cheers. No one should have to endanger their physical or mental health in a blind pursuit of dollars. That's true for any occupation, although most occupations don't command the dollars that professional sports do. But really, what's the alternative? Is it possible to somehow keep team doctors independent of the ownership of the team, so that their opinions can't be biased? If not, then what do we do, ban professional football and wrestling? Even then, bizarre injuries happen under even the best of conditions. No one thought the NBA's frequent brawls in the '70s were such a big deal until Kermit Washington hit Rudy Tomjanovich. Should we stop playing basketball? There has to be some middle ground where we can protect athletes and still let them do what they do. My response as I began this article was "This is a guy thing. Playing through pain is all about being macho; women have better sense." But then I remembered Kerri Strug at the '96 Olympics. It's just a sports thing, and unfortunately there are no easy answers.

posted at 12:38 PM on May 06

Oh, and I can't forget the fun of watching Kobe go down in defeat. I love Phil Jackson, but the Lakers must be stopped. Let me revise my statement, thus: Except for Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and Vlade Divac-- all good guys- the Lakers must be stopped. Or maybe just: All CURRENT Lakers players must be stopped.

posted at 04:40 PM on May 02

Hugh, I know it seems like nothing, but 2.5-4.5% may be a huge difference, depending on the amount of data and the noise level in the data. In a perfect world, given the size of the data, the difference would be 0%. Assuming the study successfully accounts for noise, that range does seem like a big gap. If we were to once again turn the argument a different way and say, "Black players commit 2.5-4.5% more fouls than their white counterparts", that would seem significant, wouldn't it? You all seem to be confused by the social science statistics term "statistically significant." It means that there is a greater probability that the variable being manipulated (in this case, the number of foul calls)is being influenced by the control variable (race of refs) than we would see if we looked at random games where we didn't know the race of the refs. In other words, the results are too significant to be random. This doesn't prove that the refs are biased. (We never use the word "prove" in the social sciences; we say "shows evidence for" instead.) It does show that either race influences number of calls, or the selection of a given mix of races among refs and foul calls are both being influenced by some third, as-yet-unknown variable. Nothing about this study suggests that African-American or non-white players COMMIT more fouls than white players. Having said my science bit, I agree with Weedy that racial biases aren't innate. They are, however, culturally transmitted. Unless you live alone in a cave, you've spent your life immersed in this culture and have therefore soaked up its biases. Anyone who says "I'm not biased" is lying or self-deluded. Period.

posted at 12:07 PM on May 02

Yes, yay-yo, the same trade that made the GSWs the powerhouses they are today also killed my beloved Pacers. At least I have the consolation of seeing Chicago advance to the second round for the first time since the Jordan era. Oh, and I can't forget the fun of watching Kobe go down in defeat. I love Phil Jackson, but the Lakers must be stopped.

posted at 04:05 PM on April 30

Thanks for the post, Gary. If you liked that one, check out a website called www.aeess.com and read the article "Pairs of Really Big Ones."

posted at 07:14 AM on April 19

Howard_T's right; it's total crap to use the term "college basketball" to mean "men's college basketball." You'd think SI would know better. You'd think Mandel would know better, but you'd really think his editor would know better.

posted at 05:26 PM on April 12

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the Artest-Stojakovic trade should have somehow involved sending Ron Artest to Serbia. I'm so tired of this fool.

posted at 07:52 AM on March 06

Pro basketball just needs to have its own "senior" circuit, a la golf.

posted at 04:57 PM on February 17

The interviewer in the radio interview with Hardaway hit the nail on the head: Homophobia is like racism. If a white player went on the radio saying he hated black people, wouldn't want to share a locker room with black people, etc., we wouldn't even be discussing this, because just about everyone (unless their heads were so unbelievably far up their asses) would condemn it. It just shows that homophobia is still an acceptable prejudice in our society. (Look at the poll on the interview page; most respondents said that Hardway's comments are "What most people believe.") The worst of Hardway's comments were that he wouldn't love a gay family member, if he had one. That's not only ignorant, it's just downright mean. Who couldn't still love their old granny if she suddenly came out as a lesbian (for example)? Only someone with a heart of stone.

posted at 06:47 AM on February 15

Sickleguy, you don't know what you're talking about. If Courtney Paris inherited her size from her father, then it's natural and healthy for her to be that size. Legitimizes the obesity epidemic? Come on! This is a woman who's pulling down rebounds every night, not sitting on the couch scarfing donuts. Inactivity makes you obese. Basketball has the opposite effect. When she approaches middle age, she'll have the advantage of a lifetime of working out and eating healthy to stay in playing shape. I'll just be glad for the day when we can watch sports just to watch great athletes do what they do best, not for the sociological and political messages that athletes' bodies convey. Thanks for the article, Fence.

posted at 01:25 PM on February 11

BornIcon's got it right. Ron Artest is a sad, sad man. But still, sometimes you pick a person you think you can trust to take care of the animals and they flake out on you. Happened to me before. I choose to judge Artest by the things I know he's done and not by some rumor in the media.

posted at 06:15 AM on February 09

Great story, STUNNER.

posted at 04:46 PM on February 08

Is an alter boy anything like an altar boy, Weedy? You sound a little altered yourself.

posted at 04:04 PM on February 02