Such a Sad Situation

Photo from AP Photo.

A couple of things bugged me about the Lakers-Spurs affair.

First of all, I want to give a big "screw you" to TNT for ruining a perfectly good thing. The Yellowbook Cam gave the illusion of democracy and the illusion of fan involvement, but really just seems like a crock. I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't put some time into the Turiaf Campaign; I voted constantly, I emailed every blogger I knew to, I did what I could. And in the second quarter, it looked like all of everyone's posts and the word of mouth had finally paid off: Ronny won with a 40% vote. For the first 8 minutes of the quarter or so, it was all good -- the camera fixed on Ronny as he got some second quarter PT. But then when he went to the bench, TNT decided that wasn't interesting enough, even though that was why the campaign began in the first place. It soured me on a very competitive and entertaining game that under normal circumstances would have been pretty damn good. The word I'm really looking for is 'disappointment', but I guess that goes hand in hand with following sports. (But, a big thanks again to everyone who voted, spread the word, and supported the campaign, I really do appreciate it.)

The operative phrase that comes to mind in response to myself is "get over it," and I will.

THEN there's the Derek Fisher fiasco. There was a foul on that play. Phil was man enough to admit it post-game and Popovich was man enough to not use it as an excuse in his press conference. I don't want to blame this stupid Joey Crawford non-issue, and I don't know that I even want to blame these individual referees. My beef is with the mindset behind the no-call, which was tackled by Kenny, Charles, Ernie, and Reggie on Inside the NBA, and I think holds true for a majority of NBA refs. The Inside gang agreed that a foul did take place, and that Fisher was the culprit. However, they criticized Barry for not selling the call. As a player in a situation like that, it sickens me that this is what the NBA has become. Not just the constant flopping, but the idea that just being fouled isn't enough, that there's some escalation caused by this flopping because other fouls pale in comparison. I'll grant the fact that the foul wasn't on the shot, Barry was clearly just trying to get some continuation or worst case get an attempt up -- and power to him. Barry obviously attempted for the most utility: he pump faked, got fouled, didn't hear a whistle so continued with a last-ditch attempt. After watching the replay, I'm not sure how you don't call that a foul, but because I'm not personally invested in this game that doesn't really distress me as much as the rationale behind the "selling of the call" and this notion that you can't be fouled without flopping anymore.

The operative phrase that comes to mind in response to myself is "get over it," and I will.

(Edit: This is what we want. ESPN reports that the NBA is finally being more transparent and honest with us [via TrueHoop])

THEN there's China. TrueHoop tells us (via The Guardian) that because of the recent earthquake, the Chinese government has pulled previously scheduled NBA games. But, it gets better:

I have received a handful of e-mails from TrueHoop readers in China, all of whom miss the NBA, and none of whom is convinced by the official explanation.

Many point out that the replacement programming tends to be other sports, which would hardly seem to fit the mood any better.
What alternate explanations could be out there? Some e-mailers are simply bewildered, while others have theories about the role politics may have played.

Sino-American relations are and always will be very strange (mostly because of China's ever-rising status as a contemporary superpower that by nature inevitably struggles against the United States for some sort of hegemonic dominance of the soft or hard variety), and the idea that the NBA is affected by those relations is even stranger. Sports have typically been used in the past as a form of escapism, and I'm struggling to understand this extremely confrontational method put forth by the Chinese government. I have never had the misfortune of losing someone I know and love to an unexpected natural disaster, I've never had my home demolished, and I've never seen the place of my childhood completely destroyed. That said, I'm sure it's not a pleasant experience, and removing an outlet that may offer some enjoyment in these trying times just seems cruel. Yes, I understand that people do need to face these issues, and they will. This is a strong nation, and they will not hide under their beds forever. But if they wanted to watch Game 7 of the Spurs-Hornets series or the start of the Pistons-Celtics series, who should anyone be to deny them of that, given what's gone on in Sichuan China? Plus, I think China had been David Stern's pet project for some time now, and the possibility of expanding into China (logistics permitting) was present. It will be interesting to see how the relations between the NBA itself and China are affected from here on. (Related reading: FreeDarko's guest lecture on China from yesterday. And while I'm at it, buy the book -- I'm preordering it tomorrow.)

As for basketball and politics, I think it's important that athletes function as citizens and that politics frame the context of sports. If athletes like Ira Newble don't agree with what's going on in Darfur, they should say so. And ideally, the Chinese government would be able to separate the people (players) from the product. It's not as if Ira will suddenly storm the court donning a protest sign or go on a hunger strike from the bench. Ira says he doesn't agree, and there are many (read: MANY) who agree with him. Does this mean that China suddenly cuts off American imports of businessmen who don't approve of their foreign relations? No, because business is business. Likewise, sports are sports. Politics are involved because people are involved, and the sooner everyone understands that the better.

The operative phrase that comes to mind in response to myself is "get over it," and I will...eventually.