“A player who has the ability to make it to the NBA can come from anywhere…In very much the same way, politics should give all of our gifted and talented citizens an equal chance to compete to serve in political life.” Wow, you learn something new every day. Before entering the NBA, Golden State Warriors center Adonal Foyle began an organization called Democracy Matters, dedicated to getting college students more involved in the fight for campaign finance reform. You can read Foyle’s speech about the connection between the NBA and the issue here. (By way of his adopted brother at Crooked Timber.)
Tag: Sports
His Revels are now ended.
“So, what do you do when you find out your effervescent childhood hero is a violent, potentially evil man? You can repudiate him, forgive him, or try to compartmentalize and love the ballplayer while deploring his actions.” Friend, colleague, and baseball fan Jeremy Derfner remembers Kirby Puckett for Slate.
No joy in Mudville (but plenty of juice).
On the day after the untimely death of Kirby Puckett, Sports Illustrated publishes a devastating case against Barry Bonds, chronic steroid user. Not a huge surprise, of course, but sad nonetheless.
Sly Fidelity.
Yo, Adrian…The new teaser for Rocky Balboa, a.k.a. Rocky 6 is now online.
Garden Quagmire.
“And so the Knicks press on into a future roughly as promising as the fate of Iraq. In the near-term, it’s hard to foresee anything but a slide further into anarchy. And no one — not Brown, not Thomas, and not Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, who marched into the team’s locker room on Tuesday night and demanded that they start winning (now, there’s a strategy!) — seems to have a plausible exit strategy.” Slate‘s Michael Crowley laments the demise of the New York Knickerbockers under GM Isiah Thomas. Update: Dolan: “Stay the course.” Sound familiar?
Stop Me Before I Trade Again.
Steve Francis? Kenyon Martin? Lamar Odom? Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson? With the season a wash, the Knicks seem hell-bent on making at least one more panic trade. I get the sense this will all end very badly.
Airball.
Oof. Having lost 9 games in a row and 15 of the last 16, the 14-36 Knickerbockers are now the worst team in franchise history after 50 games. Was it really only a month ago, after that six-game winning streak, that I was trying to climb aboard the Larry Brown bandwagon? I think I may have broken it.
Cards and Guards.
In the movie bin, Ali G goes up against NASCAR racer Will Ferrell (and sidekick John C. Reilly) in the Anchorman-ish new trailer for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and In the Line of Fire meets The Fugitive in this preview of The Sentinel, with Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, and Eva Longoria. I might catch the first one, if the summer is sweltering enough.
A Rose in the Garden.
The Knicks make a panic trade in procuring Jalen Rose and a draft pick (Denver’s) for the expiring contract of Antonio Davis. Hmmm. Rose is a talented player on the offensive end, but he brings little to the table that we don’t already have in Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford. And that contract…ugh. Somebody should tell Isiah the first rule in getting out of a hole: Stop digging.
Nothing but Net.
See what you’ve wrought, Kobe? Local prospect Epiphanny Prince puts up 113 points in a high school game. (Final score: 137-32.) “‘It’s an amazing thing when an individual does that,’ NBA star LeBron James said when told about Prince’s performance. ‘I don’t know who she is, but maybe we’ll see her in the WNBA. For that matter, the NBA.‘” Doesn’t sound like the other team was all that competitive…But, heck, I’m sure we could find a spot for her on this current Knicks squad.