Charles Barkley- “This is a hip-hop weekend not a NASCAR race.”I have been a fan of basketball for as long as I can remember. I wasn't good enough or tall enough to play in High School so I stuck to track. But that didn't stop me from playing as much as possible, imagining I was Michael Jordan as I took it strong to the hoop. Currently I have a membership to the YMCA where I play at least three times a week, and I exhibit the same intensity and love for the sport as I did as a teen. Even though the average age of my opponent at my local YMCA is about 45 years of age or older, that doesn't stop me from blocking their shot and screaming "Get that weak shit out of here motherfucker!!" Man I love this game.
Also, for as long as I remember, I have been a fan of the NBA's All Star Game. Nothing beats seeing your favorite player participating in the dunk contest, or wondering who was going to dunk on who in the All Star Game. But sadly, the All Star Game has lost much of its luster due to my slipping interest in the NBA in general and the lack of big names that actually enter the Dunk contest
But this year I decided to watch the All Star festivities, not to reconnect with a pastime that I once enjoyed, but because I didn't have shit else to do. It was a pretty uneventful All Star weekend, the Dunk Contest lacked any Big names and the Three point contest was just as boring. But last night's All Star Game is what really caught my attention. The game itself was alright, nothing to write home about. Those games are pretty much summed up with no one playing any real defense, your favorite player not playing more than 15 minutes, sloppy passes, and someone being dunked on at least 5 times. My criticism is the music selection that the NBA used the entire weekend.
First off, they had R&B singer Tamia sing the Canadian National Anthem and she did a pretty good job. After that you'd expect them to bring out Patty Labelle or some other strong voiced R&B icon to sing the American National Anthem Right? Wrong. They had some Military Chorus Group sing the national Anthem. Listen, I know that we all support our brave men and women who risk their lives daily, but I don't want see their ass in a Chorus group making the National Anthem as boring a experience as listening to Queen Latifah's latest jazz album. I mean, Vanessa Williams sang the National Anthem at the Datona 500 for Christ sake! Even though they had Destiny Child as one of the featured performers, that didn't stop the musical catastrophe that would be the lineup for the entire night.
Destiny's Child performed, but every time I hear their song "Soldier" I want to to go out in public and brutally assault any man that considers himself a thug. To quote Sticky Fingers in the song "Slam", "but, but, but, but, wait it gets worse!!" The entire weekend consisted of performances from Leann Rimes, The Goo Goo Dolls, American Idol Kelly Clarkson, and a country group called Big and Rich. I know that the NBA is trying to reach out and get a broader fan base but Big and Rich?? I don't have any problems with each act specifically, but when a league is 92% black you would think that they would have musical talent that was more fitting with the make-up of the league. Hell, yesterday was the first time that I can think of where I wouldn't have minded if Nelly had performed.
The performance of Big and Rich took the cake. Sadly, I knew who Big and Rich were prior to their performance last night. To get a few cheap laughs, I will watch the country channel because Country and Western videos are as cheesy as Gospel Hip Hop videos. I am easily entertained. Anyway, I watched them perform last night and couldn't believe that the NBA would pick such horsehit talent.
After the performance Charles Barkley said that the country better get over the Janet Jackson "incident" because the talent that the NBA picked was horrible. He went on to say “This is a hip-hop weekend not a NASCAR race." Even though Barkley has a history of putting his foot in his mouth, occasionally he gets it right. Amen Charles.
13 comments:
But A.I. got MVP so that made up for it all:)
i used to be a huge fan of the NBA, and even though i cannot play b-ball if my life depended on it, i still played.
But i realized that the NBA is an organization full of Negroes, Coons, and illiterate and spoiled brats who are as apolitical as and old ass Jehovah Witness lady...
they can all kiss my ass, put on some gasoline drawers and go to hell...
Long live El Hajj Malik Shabazz !
I've never loved you more than at this moment. I swear, you echoed the same sentiments that I was feeling this weekend. Why does the NBA always fuck up a good thing?
How many newspapers just
"discovered" that hip hop and basketball go together? Therefore, you would think that maybe a hip hop artist would be performing at the festivities... not "Goo Goo Dolls" or "Big & Rich". WTF is David Stern smokin'? I would have tolerated Nelly, Master P, and even Lil' Jon on NBA All Star weekend.
On a side note, I was never more proud to be a Canadian after Tamia ripped our National Anthem. No offense, but our anthem sounded 100x better than what that choir attempted to sing. I also noticed Vince was the only one singing along with "Oh Canada"... I never expected to see that shit happen.. hahahahaha.
David Stern cleary has sand in his vagina over the whole Artest incident. He is also clearly pandering to his high paying yuppie customers. I wonder if he said anything to AI about his tatoos as he handed him the MVP trophy?
Disclaiimer: I, in no way, support Country music. Yes the league is like 92% black (actually with all the European players coming over it might be only like 80 now) But the people buying tickets to go to basketball games, buying team parephenalia, buying concessions are 80% white. Black people probably support basketball more than any other sport but I'm sure that we still probably only account for 30%, at most, of the money that the NBA sees. Stern and anyone else in charge of the decisions don't care what Rasheed Wallace wants to see. They care what Robbie and his son Billy want to see at halftime.
Is "Soldier" the worst song ever written? What's the message? "Don't go to college! Stay hood! You could date Destiny's Child!" Kelly I would expect this from, but not Michelle.
I just thought the NBA was pandering to what they preceived to be the Denver crowd but yes the music was wack. Does Beyonce have some new type of lightweight weave that blows uncontrollably for no apparent reason while everyone elses hair remains stable?
Hahah, a lot of people feel you on this, including me.
I'm the first to admit that I don't get sports. Never have. But when did games become stages for crappy music acts? Is this all thanks to frickin' football and the half time show?
It is kind of scary that I have to agree with Charles Barkley. Save Big & Rich (who I've never heard of until now) for the county fair.
yeah, e'ry now and then sir chuck says something right.
member the days of 'nique vs. mj? kenny sky walker? spud fuckin' webb? shit. i'm old.
Well, at least they didn't have 50 Cent out there performing......
I know how you feel, HC. But, you know they will say the same thing about us at NASCAR as soon as we learn how to drive like we ain't creepin' and then do it in a circle.
Yeah, I said it. Blame Boondocks.
See, this is a prime example of why I ususally stick to college basketball.
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