I know this topic has been discussed before, but its really the first thing I had on my mind. So now…its the first thing on my blog.
Last night, I switched to the Detroit vs. Calgary game…its the third game in the first round of the NHL playoffs. I saw a Red Wing totally check some guy on Calgary. It was a clean hit, nothing foul about it. Then, I flipped back to the LA Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns game. The Clippers are currently 9th place in the western conference and just a game from being in the playoffs starting this weekend.
Anyway, if any of you are NBA fans and watch games regularly, you will have seen (and gotten sick of) how much the NBA Cares. This is their new campaign to show that the NBA is not made of a bunch of thugs. This campaign launched after the Pistons-Pacers mishap in November a couple seasons ago. What happened at the Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons arena) went from silly to downright stupid. Artest, who was then on the Pacers (now on the Sacramento Kings), went into the stands and hit a fan (admittedly, the fan did throw something at Artest). That is not the whole incident, but probably what made the NBA decide to show us just how much it cared.
So, with the NBA trying to clean up its image…it gives us commercials showing how the athletes care by traveling to foreign countries, reading to children, and many other projects. This year, the NBA starting calling technical fouls like crazy. You look at a ref the wrong way, you get a technical. Infamous for his technical fouls, Detroit Pistons Rasheed Wallace, I’m sure, has had a hard time adjusting.
Recently, Kobe Bryant struck Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs) in the face while Kobe was jumping to shoot a basket. He flailed his arms trying to get a foul, and unintentionally struck Manu in the face. Manu had a black eye the next day. So, the league suspended Kobe for a game. This seemed silly to me, and even Manu admitted he wasn’t mad. The Spurs weren’t pushing for a suspension at all. However, Kobe struck again…and then…again.
Even more recently, Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) was ejected from a game for laughing at referree Joey Crawford. Now, Crawford has been a ref in the league for something like 30 years and is pretty well respected. He made a comment to Duncan right before he issued the second technical foul asking Duncan if he (Duncan) wanted to fight him (Crawford). For this, Crawford has been suspended indefinitely.
Finally, to my point…see, my blog name holds true to its word! So, I was watching the NBA, mostly with black athletes…and the NHL, mostly with white athletes…and…fighting is okay in hockey…people cheer for it, people want it. I’ve seen some pretty brutal fights where 30 year old white men throw down the gloves and start fighting right there on the ice. Pretty soon, both benches will clear out and gloves and masks are everywhere. The audience…loves it. My husband thinks its pretty silly for grown men to fight like that, and I’ll agree…but its fun to watch! Same with the NBA…I was living in California at the time and my husband (then fiance) called me and told me to turn on ESPN as fast as I could to watch the Pistons-Pacers brawl. I ran to the TV and flipped it on. I was glued to the TV set.
I never had this happen to me personally, but it’s kind of like that old cliche where there’s a fight in the playground after school and a whole crowd of people will show up. You want to see it.
It is unfortunate, however, that when adult white men fight…its applauded, and when adult black men fight, they have to clean up their act. There is talk about the NHL coming down more on fighting, but it has yet to happen. Should there be this double standard? Of course not. If hockey was a sport with mostly black athletes, would it be seen as thuggish? Would the NHL benefit from banning fighting in their games? Perhaps.
Do we like to watch fights and watch people get beat up? I think so. That’s the only reason why shows like Jackass have survived. Now, MTV has a show called Scarred, showing the various ways in which people get seriously injured. Shows like this wouldn’t be successful unless we wanted to watch it. How many people haven’t looked at an accident on the side of the road while driving by?
So, I guess if the NBA Cares so much…maybe the NHL should too!
1 Comment
April 19, 2007 at 12:55 am
Sometimes the fights break out into a hockey game.
But… there you make a good point. I don’t think a troupe of black hockey players would be allowed to fight like the white boys do.
Also… NBA Cares… cracks me up. Much.