Jones, Basketball

So, The Goon Squad are a bunch of non-sports-loving folks. J plays videogames or watches movies. A just watches movies. I works the swing shift, and is a queen, which doesn't preclude him from liking the sports, but he plays into the stereotype that way.

Anyway, I am a sports loving freak.

You ask any Puerto Rican from the island and they'll tell you that three sports dominate the place: Baseball (not surprisingly), soccer (very much not surprisingly), and basketball.

(You can imagine my prideful surprise when my boys beat the "dream team" a few months back.)

(There was a point to this...hmm.)

So, the whole Ron Artest thing (not the point)...I dunno. I'll say this: Suspended for a season seems about right for his fuck up. But for every one of my friends, or favored columnists who point the finger at the athletes (rightfully so, it must be said), I just gotta marvel at the fucking chowderheads who would throw a cup of beer on someone taller and more muscle bound than they are. Where do they think they get off?

Also, the athletes are people who've been playing hard for over an hour, whereas the chump has been sitting, yelling and drinking for all of that time. The athlete has adrenaline, the fuckwad has beer.

Gee, I wonder how a match up between these two archetypes would turn out?

Yes, yes. Ron Artest (or Frank Francisco, or Pedro Martinez last year, or any number of examples any of us can think of) should have a thicker skin, and should know better, yeah. But what in the hell gives the spectator the right to be such a fucking dick about it?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the shit talking when I'm watching a game, especially live. But am I gonna shove Shaq? Am I gonna throw a beer at/on Latrell Sprewell? Am I gonna come on to Kobe Bryant? No, I am not. I don't think I'd ever be drunk enough to do any of these things.

King Kaufman talks about the rising level of disrespect, or perceived disrespect athletes harbor these days; I have to wonder when sports fans started emulating England's hooligans.

No longer can we say that hooliganism in the US can be kept to wrasslin' fans, or fans from Philly.

(...point...)

oh, so, non-sports household, right. What this means for me is that if I want to watch a game, I have to go to a bar to see it. Tough shit, I know, but the best ideas for writing seem to come on the bus ride home, and by the time I get there writing is the last thing I'm thinking about.

I'll try to rectify that.

(OH YEAH)

So the point: Sonics, 10-2 to start the season, an incredible run so far, and the team seems to be clicking on all cylinders. I am trying so hard not to get worked up about it, and just enjoy the ride. That's a lot harder than it sounds.