I won't play basketball with white people anymore.
That's it. I'm done. And yes, for the record, I am white.
There are some exceptions. Shane, my bad ass and very cool teammate from my Thursday night league. My brothers and Kyle, of course. I'll still play with Marc.
Other than that, I'm done. I'm out. I'm finished. Why, do you ask? Because white people are FUCKING CRAZY.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a fairly talented basketball player. I've been playing since 7th grade, I love it, I've devoted most of my life to it. I've had the pleasure of playing with some of the best players in the world in my life, and I walked on at OSU. I only did it for one semester; I was proud of the fact that I went out and was talented enough and worked hard enough to make the team. After the first semester, I realized two things: 1) That the incredible amount of hours that college athletes have to put into their craft (I laugh at anyone who still thanks college athletes are "amateurs"; you're living in a dream world that died a long, long time ago, but that's a whole nother column) just wasn't worth it for me, a simple walk on, and 2) my desires for basketball changed: I no longer wanted to play in such a structured environment; I wanted to play just for fun.
Therein lies my problem.
As I said, I love playing basketball. Many of the best memories of college--Hell, many of the best memories of my life--occured on a basketball court. It is my dream to play in--and win--a 3 on 3 tournament with my brothers (so if you know of any indoor 3 on 3 tournaments in Dallas or Stillwater, let us know please, we do have trouble finding them). But there are too many God dam morons who think they are playing in the mother fucking NBA Finals out there, and lose their minds. It's starting to piss me off.
You see, when someone gets hurt, that's not "fun" to me. When someone threatens to "put you in the hospital", that's not fun to me, either. I'm 25--damn near 26--years old. Getting in fights isn't cool to me--it never has been, and it never will be. Unfortunately, I've had to participate in too many fights on basketball courts, and have even had weapons pulled on me. But at this point in my life, I don't expect that to happen anymore--especially from people my own age, or older. But when white people are involved, it seems that more and more, I find myself facing the situation I'm shocked to have to deal with anymore.
This post isn't meant to be racist in any way, shape, or form. I'm going to write my own observations from years--almost decades, dam--of playing basketball in Texas and Oklahoma. Maybe this isn't true in your part of the country. But this is what I've observed, over and over again, here, and it's not meant to offend anyone: like 2Pac, I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em.
Basketball is a physical, man's game, and whenever competitors are pushing their bodies to the limit, it's easy to get excited and even angry. On top of that, there is a huge mental/bravado aspect to basketball that is possibly even more important than the physical aspect to the game. So challenging someone with "trash talk" is an accepted part of basketball. I don't talk shit unless you start doing it to me and piss me off, but almost every player I've played against has done it to me. It's a right of passage. Most of the players I play with are black, and I'm usually one of few--if not the only--white boys out there, so it's a test. It's a test of how mentally strong I am, whether I'm afraid, and whether or not I can handle any pressure. However, that's all it is: a simple test. It's all simply a way to win on the court--it's just business, nothing personal. Once you pass that test, you've earned those players respect, and normally the guy who was talking the most shit is the first guy up to shake your hand after the game, whether it's a pickup game or a league game with refs.
For whatever reason, it's entirely different with white people, and it's getting worse, not better. There are a ridiculous amount of "hard fouls" or "takeouts" with white folks. "No layups!" "It was game point, foul them rather than let them score!" and shit like that is common. Again, people: it's not the NBA Finals. If you get beat, you got beat. It's as simple as that. White people also are the dirtiest players in the world. Trust me on this, people: I'm more afraid to play in a Church league in Plano or Frisco than I am a rec league in South Oak Cliff. Those nutcases will hit you in places you didn't even know existed. I've seen 30 year old men undercut kids in the air, damn near breaking the kids arm, all to "get a charge" and "not give up a layup". Hey asshole: FUCK YOU!! It's a game. It's not worth breaking a kid's arm over!!!
The worst part is the physical violence, or threats thereof. I don't know what causes it: roid rage (that's an issue more often than you would expect, I assure you), ex-frat boys who still think fighting is cool, or racism (not wanting to lose to black athletes). Probably a combination of all three. But it seems like with white players, the first thing they want to do is threaten to kick your ass, and they mean it. Again, it's not totally uncommon that you're asked if you want to go with a black athlete. However, like I said, it's just a test: it's over once the game is over. With white guys, it's not over. They are seriously ready to go once they make that threat, and they are ready to go as soon as the game is over. It's like dealing with 30 year old children.
So there's not really a point to this (okay, is there really a point to very many of my rants? ;-) other than to say shame on you. Fucking shame on you, white people. Grow up. News flash: fighting is not cool. You can have fun and play sports without someone getting hurt. Threats of physical violence are not enjoyable for anyone except you, apparently, and are techinically prosecutable.
Now, to be fair, the last two actual fistfights I've been involved in have been have been with black athletes. However, the threat is much more prevalent with white athletes, and the last two fights I assure you had more to do with steroids than with any cultural tendancies we've talked about above (in other words, those brothahs were roided out of their minds, and that's what made them go nuts).
So I'm going to play basketball in the ghettos. I'm going to play basketball with people who live in the projects. I'm going to keep being the only or one of two white guys on my team. And while this isn't the only reason I play with who I play with, it is the saddest reason: becuase it's safer there.
There are some exceptions. Shane, my bad ass and very cool teammate from my Thursday night league. My brothers and Kyle, of course. I'll still play with Marc.
Other than that, I'm done. I'm out. I'm finished. Why, do you ask? Because white people are FUCKING CRAZY.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a fairly talented basketball player. I've been playing since 7th grade, I love it, I've devoted most of my life to it. I've had the pleasure of playing with some of the best players in the world in my life, and I walked on at OSU. I only did it for one semester; I was proud of the fact that I went out and was talented enough and worked hard enough to make the team. After the first semester, I realized two things: 1) That the incredible amount of hours that college athletes have to put into their craft (I laugh at anyone who still thanks college athletes are "amateurs"; you're living in a dream world that died a long, long time ago, but that's a whole nother column) just wasn't worth it for me, a simple walk on, and 2) my desires for basketball changed: I no longer wanted to play in such a structured environment; I wanted to play just for fun.
Therein lies my problem.
As I said, I love playing basketball. Many of the best memories of college--Hell, many of the best memories of my life--occured on a basketball court. It is my dream to play in--and win--a 3 on 3 tournament with my brothers (so if you know of any indoor 3 on 3 tournaments in Dallas or Stillwater, let us know please, we do have trouble finding them). But there are too many God dam morons who think they are playing in the mother fucking NBA Finals out there, and lose their minds. It's starting to piss me off.
You see, when someone gets hurt, that's not "fun" to me. When someone threatens to "put you in the hospital", that's not fun to me, either. I'm 25--damn near 26--years old. Getting in fights isn't cool to me--it never has been, and it never will be. Unfortunately, I've had to participate in too many fights on basketball courts, and have even had weapons pulled on me. But at this point in my life, I don't expect that to happen anymore--especially from people my own age, or older. But when white people are involved, it seems that more and more, I find myself facing the situation I'm shocked to have to deal with anymore.
This post isn't meant to be racist in any way, shape, or form. I'm going to write my own observations from years--almost decades, dam--of playing basketball in Texas and Oklahoma. Maybe this isn't true in your part of the country. But this is what I've observed, over and over again, here, and it's not meant to offend anyone: like 2Pac, I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em.
Basketball is a physical, man's game, and whenever competitors are pushing their bodies to the limit, it's easy to get excited and even angry. On top of that, there is a huge mental/bravado aspect to basketball that is possibly even more important than the physical aspect to the game. So challenging someone with "trash talk" is an accepted part of basketball. I don't talk shit unless you start doing it to me and piss me off, but almost every player I've played against has done it to me. It's a right of passage. Most of the players I play with are black, and I'm usually one of few--if not the only--white boys out there, so it's a test. It's a test of how mentally strong I am, whether I'm afraid, and whether or not I can handle any pressure. However, that's all it is: a simple test. It's all simply a way to win on the court--it's just business, nothing personal. Once you pass that test, you've earned those players respect, and normally the guy who was talking the most shit is the first guy up to shake your hand after the game, whether it's a pickup game or a league game with refs.
For whatever reason, it's entirely different with white people, and it's getting worse, not better. There are a ridiculous amount of "hard fouls" or "takeouts" with white folks. "No layups!" "It was game point, foul them rather than let them score!" and shit like that is common. Again, people: it's not the NBA Finals. If you get beat, you got beat. It's as simple as that. White people also are the dirtiest players in the world. Trust me on this, people: I'm more afraid to play in a Church league in Plano or Frisco than I am a rec league in South Oak Cliff. Those nutcases will hit you in places you didn't even know existed. I've seen 30 year old men undercut kids in the air, damn near breaking the kids arm, all to "get a charge" and "not give up a layup". Hey asshole: FUCK YOU!! It's a game. It's not worth breaking a kid's arm over!!!
The worst part is the physical violence, or threats thereof. I don't know what causes it: roid rage (that's an issue more often than you would expect, I assure you), ex-frat boys who still think fighting is cool, or racism (not wanting to lose to black athletes). Probably a combination of all three. But it seems like with white players, the first thing they want to do is threaten to kick your ass, and they mean it. Again, it's not totally uncommon that you're asked if you want to go with a black athlete. However, like I said, it's just a test: it's over once the game is over. With white guys, it's not over. They are seriously ready to go once they make that threat, and they are ready to go as soon as the game is over. It's like dealing with 30 year old children.
So there's not really a point to this (okay, is there really a point to very many of my rants? ;-) other than to say shame on you. Fucking shame on you, white people. Grow up. News flash: fighting is not cool. You can have fun and play sports without someone getting hurt. Threats of physical violence are not enjoyable for anyone except you, apparently, and are techinically prosecutable.
Now, to be fair, the last two actual fistfights I've been involved in have been have been with black athletes. However, the threat is much more prevalent with white athletes, and the last two fights I assure you had more to do with steroids than with any cultural tendancies we've talked about above (in other words, those brothahs were roided out of their minds, and that's what made them go nuts).
So I'm going to play basketball in the ghettos. I'm going to play basketball with people who live in the projects. I'm going to keep being the only or one of two white guys on my team. And while this isn't the only reason I play with who I play with, it is the saddest reason: becuase it's safer there.
3 Comments:
I confess. I have done some stupid stuff on the court. I love the competition, but have been overly competitive and dangerous in the past. For that I apologize.
If I was to pose a guess as to why some players are overly cheap or physical, it's this. They aren't physically talented enough (or sometimes smart enough basketballwise) to compete so they try to compensate by being physical and cheap. In the end, you are correct. Hurting people to win isn't fun.
Bo, my good friend, you shouldn't feel bad. Yes, you've made some plays that shocked me before, and that were far from koscher. But A) you did so out of ignorance, having little experience playing organized basketball, and B) never did so with the intent of hurting anyone. I'm ranting about the guys who are 25 to 40 year adults, have been playing the game for years, and should know much, much better. And I don't mean just know better how to play basketball, but how to treat other human beings in public.
Simple as that.
Michael
I hope you'll at least still play ball with me... the only people getting hurt when I play are myself.... and possibly a hat or two.
Post a Comment
<< Home