Those plucky Cornell kids
You can have Kentucky. You can take Ashley Judd, Adolph Rupp, Sam Bowie, Pat Riley, Coach Cal, Refuse to Lose, the one-and-done freshmen bound for the NBA, and all the bags of cash needed to make the Wildcats run.
Am I imagining things, or is Cornell-Kentucky becoming a minor subterranean Tea Party cause celebre? I don’t even follow college basketball and I still can’t avoid hearing every sportswriter in America salivating over the storyline in this game — the gritty, overmatched Cornell team with all the “intangibles” taking on the showboating NBA-bound street kids at Kentucky.
Normally broadcasters reserve their drooling over white-athlete stereotypes for descriptions of individual players like Wes Welker, Steve Nash, and… well, of Wes Welker. You do get some during NFL draft season, when you hear all the various Mel Kipers talking about fourth- and fifth-round talents who are worth a shot because they are “consistent,” “able to take coaching,” have “high football intelligence,” are “good in the locker room,” and “try hard and play through the whistle.” (My favorite of these cliches is actually, “Mature; is a coach’s son.”). The commensurate glowing descriptions of black athletes, of course, are more like, “Flattens the fuck out of guys” or “Will dunk on your face and laugh about it.”
Now they get to rattle off all of these in a team context. Sportswriters love underdog stories and they love white-vs.-black stories, so Cornell-Kentucky is a gold mine of sports cliches.
But I find this one a little annoying, because they’re painting the Kentucky kids as taking-it-for-granted future millionaires, while the Cornell kids are plucky practice-loving types whose sheer love of the game got them to the Sweet 16. They are, after all, true amateurs, since the Ivies have no sports scholarships and presumably no under-the-table Lincoln Navigators, either.
But these Cornell guys pretty much all came from upper-middle-class backgrounds at least (one is the prototypical “coach’s son”; Ryan Wittman’s dad Randy was an NBA player and coach) and will have cozy lives waiting for them after they graduate. As player Louis Dale joked: “After this, it’s just nothing but babies and memories.”
Meanwhile the Kentucky kids are mostly inner-city types who needed some breaks just to get where they are. John Wall’s father died when he was nine and his mother worked multiple jobs to get him his shot; DeMarcus Cousins had no father either and his mother had to move him out of Birmingham to get him away from a bad neighborhood. Obviously they both won the genetic lottery, too, but plenty of parents have blown it for kids with the same luck.
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I get that within a few years both of them and Bledsoe and Patterson and the rest of them will probably be the overpaid, entitled douche bags most NBA stars turn into. I also get that D-1 college basketball is crooked as a barrel of snakes and that recruiting whizzes like John Calipari are morally probably on par with white-slavers and Colombian drug lords. But while they’re still teenagers basketball is a life-or-death deal for kids like Wall and Cousins and their families. So I have a little trouble with all of these stories talking about how we should root for the Big Red because the Cornell kids just try harder and love the game more.
I know I’m not the only one who thinks this, because I heard someone talking about it on Mike Francesa yesterday (it’s agony for a Boston native to be limited to the sports radio options I have in north Jersey), but does anyone else find all this Cornell-fawning irritating? I’d rip Dan Shaughnessy for his predictable hijacking of the plucky-Ivy meme, but the fact that his rooting interest in Cornell is grounded almost entirely in a desire to see Calipari’s all-stars choke is mildly amusing.
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Seriously Matt, you literally see racism behind every corner in America. It’s a David and Goliath story of perennial powerhouse Kentucky (Goliath) against Ivy League Stalwart Cornell (David) and somehow it’s about rich white people not supporting the “inner city types” who have endured hardship after hardship. Sorry for the language, but what the fuck do you know about the players from Cornell or the hardships they may or may not have faced?
So if you’re white, you never had any hardship? Or it could it be that your projecting your “upper class upbringing” onto the rest of us? So a Kentucky player may not have had a father so now we should perpetually root for him despite the fact that he will certainly be another NBA asshole. And, being an asshole has nothing to do with race. The whitest guy I know (Tiger Woods) taught us that.
And basketball (and sports) is not life and death for anyone. Come on, the world needs another smooth shooting guard as much as a hole on the ozone. I only hope these Kentucky players graduate and make some positive contribution to society other than basketball. Besides being a really boring sport to watch (you really only need to watch the final 2 minutes of any game), at the end of the day, you’re just trying to throw a stupid ball through a hoop one more time than your opponents.
So to answer your question, you are imagining things!
to martinbreen,
There are people who see racism and people who choose to ignore it in all its forms; maybe you should spend a little less time trying to deny its existence as a problem and a little more time considering what it is you really know about racism and what opinions you have already formed that result in denying the many avenues of its existence…
This isn’t so much about Cornell-UK, it is the content to get to sub-text;
In response to another comment. See in context »Martin, if you *don’t* see racism in practically every corner of the USA, then there’s a problem.
We can argue about specific instances where the iceberg breaks the surface – this Cornell/Kentucky thing may be one, it may not.
But the *end result* of the racism in the US is the tragedy of the white/black ratio of occupants of the prison system.
There are a myriad of reasons for this (and none are particularly complicated) and racism deniers have got plenty. But the rot goes back 400 years and that’s plenty of time for the institutionalised and internalised racism another poster talks about further down, to become well and truly embedded in the very fabric of the nation.
The civil rights movement had some significant effects, in that black people are now permitted to *act* like they have equal rights. But you can’t legislate away the deeper and more corrosive stuff.
There *is* racism in almost every single aspect of American life and it will be that way for a long long time to come. I’m not going to suggest a miracle cure because there ain’t none.
Still, if you think talented black kids have an easy ride to the pro levels, put ‘hoop dreams’ on your netflix queue and get a box of tissues out.
In response to another comment. See in context »Taniwha, I appreciate your comments but I strongly disagree that every action taken in America concerning blacks is a racist one. This is in fact what you are asserting and it is not logically sound. Yes, of course, racism exists but it exists in all forms against all people not just blacks — usually it just other manifestations. The Jews have had no picnic and neither have the Irish. But in the final analysis, claiming that there is racism in basketball against blacks in a sport that is dominated by them seems to stretch credibility.
Martin–
In response to another comment. See in context »Martin, racism is not a competition among different minority group; its not a NCAA bracket to be filled out (although David Chappelle could knock that skit out of the park)….it is about dominance and being dominated and how race is used to maintain preexisting hierarchies of power, money, and structure….
Educate yourself about the types of racism that exist before talking about how your logically sound other people are please….
In response to another comment. See in context »Dear Martin,
In my opinion there have broadly been three different categories of racism in this country: 1) that which resulted in effective genocide (Native Americans), 2) that which resulted in the ownership of human beings as property, followed by a 100+ year battle to achieve equal rights (African Americans), and 3) all other forms.
It’s plainly ignorant to conflate the experience of form #3 with that of forms #1 and #2. A Native American living in the US today can plausibly go an entire lifetime without accidentally bumping into another member of his race. This, in his native country. An African American lives in the US today knowing that nearly all of his/her fellow African Americans are here in this country only because their ancestors were captured and herded like livestock by the ancestors of their fellow (White) Americans. They live with this knowledge EVERY SINGLE DAY they spend in this country, and others, for that matter.
My point is, your views of racism are UTTERLY IRRELEVANT to the experiences of Native Americans and African Americans, which are unique. For the targets of genocide and slavery, racism (even in its lesser forms) is and always has been an EXISTENTIAL THREAT. Instead, you equate their experiences with what you call racism that “exists in all forms against all people.” I can’t decide if this is a bigger affront to decency or mathematics.
You may think that someone like Matt Taibbi is overcompensating by “literally see[ing] racism behind every corner in America.” I would imagine, however, that among those whose lives have been affected by the most deadly forms of American racism, most would side with Matt’s view and not yours. Clearly you don’t have to (and are literally incapable of) internalizing or even understanding these generational experiences. And that’s just the point: you don’t and can’t understand it, so just keep listening until you do.
Thanks,
In response to another comment. See in context »ISOK
Matty,
I grew up in Westford watching your dad working those plum live-coverage assignments of blizzards and hurricanes. You should be sooo fucking thankful for all you have.
And be thankful you’re not suffering through the Bruins and Celts. And “Hollywood Douche” Brady. And Papi with the steroids. It’s all gone to shit, guy.
Shaughnessy likes Cornell? I’d say something about that, right, but I’d watch A Time/Life Treasury of Josef Mengele’s Favorite Amputations before college basketball. Fuck that.
Some of us are just SEC fans rooting against Kentucky out of habit. (Just like the rest of the conference has a mad-on for Alabama in football.)
But you raise an interesting point, and I don’t think you explored it enough.
The sportswriters on the bandwagon are frustrated athletes, who desperately want to believe they could have had a shot against superior athleticism and talent if only they had this opportunity.
They don’t understand the inherent racism in their stance. They don’t get the flat-out insult that becomes to kids like Wall. Have you seen how Wall passes the ball, and takes care of it? He makes outstanding decisions, and you’d hear all about it if he were shorter and white and not dunking on your ass.
Remember Keith van Horn? (He played in the Calipari era Nets, don’t know how long you’ve been in Jersey.) He got tired of all the stupid Christian Laettner comparisons that came his way because he was a tall white guy. A sportswriter asked him who he’d rather be compared to.
“Derrick McKey.” A big man with a very underrated low-post game, huge on defense, and a decent touch on the medium-range jumper. After I heard that, I watched for it (having gone to college with McKey.) And damned if he wasn’t right.
But most sportswriters don’t know enough about what they are talking about to make that comparison, which is why a first-off-the-bench guy like Laettner is the template for the Smart White Hope — all for making that one shot while at Duke.
Great anecdote and very true. I remember being perturbed when people were calling Tyler Hansbrough the next Mark Madsen. It’s such a lazy comparison.
In response to another comment. See in context »Ya know, I’ve got to hand it to you Taibbi. I am not what you would call a sports fan. I consider televised games of any type to be social event more than anything else. With the above post you made sports interesting to me which is no easy task. I will generally read anything you write because when you are not stating the painfully obvious you capture the nuanced and abstract like no one else. Keep up the interesting work!
It is the first time in their lives the privileged students at Cornell will be considered underdogs at anything of significance. It’s also the last time they will compete on anything resembling a level playing field. Ivy League students don’t have many coalminer fathers or grandfathers, I’m guessing.
Got to agree with you, Matt. Heard an NPR interview the other day with a Cornell player. At the end of the conversation, Scott Simon asked the Cornell kid if he had a lot of homework to do along with playing in the NCAA tournement. Guarantee he would not have asked that question of a non-ivy student/player. The whole tone of the conversation was “aren’t you special.”
You’re onto something. I will be rooting for Kentucky here–even though I loathe Calipari.
Matt, You pretty much nailed this one but like you said its not an isolated instance. Short, can’t jump, white boys like most sports writers and most likely your first two commenters will always disagree with statements like yours. By the way I am also short and white, but I used to be able to jump fairly well and shoot the three consistently. I grew up in the south and got schooled regularly on the court by faster, higher jumping brothers who were my friends but that didn’t bother me as it seems to bother other white people. Now this next statement may seem racist but its the truth since I have had a few inner city friends end up this way. I’d rather see an inner city kid make it in the NBA, NFL etc… than turn to drugs and violence, especially in this economy, then pop a cap in my ass for my wallet or my 12 year old truck.
Of course, white sportscasters are always getting nailed for describing black athletes as “articulate” and the like. If you praise a black player for his character/presentation, you’re being condescending; if you praise him for his athleticism/aggressiveness, you’re being flat-out racist. Maybe the answer is more black sportscasters?
I would submit that there are plenty of non-bigoted reasons to root for Cornell over Kentucky. How about the preference of journalists for a good story? Kentucky over Cornell isn’t much of a lede.
There are three types of racism (I cannot take credit for this, but I read it somewhere):
There is the overt type: it is visible and experienced on an individual and family level in our relationships with others; (when dominant groups want to point to the end of racism, they frequently refer to seemingly decreased incidence of overt forms of racism: stereotypes, names, reductionism)
There is also an institutional type: whereby dominant structures give precedence to white groups over others… this is commonly met with strong denials by the dominant group since it operates covertly; I imagine all of you can think of three to four structures that work to institutionalize racism or gender inequality….but it must not be recognizable to a majority of people; its done in private
Lastly, there is internalized racism that people do to themselves… This is the least visible but the most corrosive to trust, respect and feeling connected to each others as human… This type of racism operates through dominated groups absorbing the narratives of the dominant groups beliefs about them…. leading to systemic beliefs of worthlessness and permanent secondary citizenship…the dominant culture sees this form, but it uses this as a justification for the other two types: educated racism is covert and uneducated racism overt…
Hence, we have binary understandings of each other; white is only defined by its binary black; good is defined by bad; rich is bound to poor…. racism is so much more complicated than these simplistic binaries meant to reproduce: overt, covert, internalized racism
For me, the most meaningful pieces of Cornell-UK will be decided by different sets of binaries X-0’s;
From one white male with privilege in the society from the Midwest who loves college basketball, this is not a Texas Western reverse racism moment; it is so much more complex…
Being a Tennessee grad and Volunteer fan, I find it hard to root for Kentucky after the way they handed it to us in the SEC tournament. That said, I’d rather see them win than Cornell any day of the week. Here’s why- they are much more entertaining to watch. I hate it when teams that are chock full of white dudes get praised for having “fundamentals.” Who gives a shit about fundamentals? If anyone of these sportscasters/fans cared about fundamentals they’d be watching women’s basketball. Believe me, the Lady Vols have all the fundamentals in the world and the men still draw more fans to Thompson Boling Arena. Why? Alley-oops.
Matt- Can I recommend getting a SIRIUS radio. Loads of sport channels and Scotty Ferral nightly!
Errr–aaaaughhh… Who? What? Wake me when ‘March Madness’ is over. Going back to sleep now. Zzzzzzzzzzz….. zzzzz…
Hmm, Cinderella was white so what does that mean when they talk about “Cinderella” teams? Oh God…there are such big toes to be stepped on…oops, here comes Big Toe to complain!
Hey, but what is this about North Jersey and no sports? Do you walk off the docks each morning going East? Go West: Giants, Jets, Nets, Devils, Trenton Thunder…and around all the usual NY stuff…and that A team stadium in St. George on SI…know about it? Plus Newark used (still?) to have a semi-pro football team…the Bears, I think. And there is the Jersey Shore Hardball league…and probably more up north. And I don’t even know all the other leagues in various sports. Plus triathlons, King of the Pier Ocean swims…ah, the Bedminister?..or thereabouts..10K used to draw international runners. Whoop de do….
Matt, you’re slipping — how could you write this post without mentioning that one of the plucky underdogs has a summer internship at … wait for it … Goldman Sachs!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/sports/ncaabasketball/23cornell.html
Wheels within wheels!
Well, that settles it. Go Kentucky!
In response to another comment. See in context »You’re being a little rough on Colombian drug dealers aren’t you?
“to martinbreen,
There are people who see racism and people who choose to ignore it in all its forms; maybe you should spend a little less time trying to deny its existence as a problem and a little more time considering what it is you really know about racism and what opinions you have already formed that result in denying the many avenues of its existence…
This isn’t so much about Cornell-UK, it is the content to get to sub-text”
Trendisnotdestiny,
Your premise that anyone who does not see racism at every turn (“or ignore it”) is a racist is very flawed logic and indeed suggests manipulative tendencies.
As a self-proclaimed rich white guy from the mid-west, you probably have never had a real “racial” discussion in your life, other than with “privileged” intellectuals such as yourself. While people like me (who grew up in low income, high crime area), lived and breathed it and fought against it every day.
But if it makes you sleep better in your 7000+ square foot house – then I am racist.
martinbreen
Thank you for your reply; it is always enjoyable to labeled an intellectual, but far from it…
My premise is that racism is commonly hidden in other structures/relations that make it difficult to witness unless you are open to looking at it. As someone in an inter-racial marriage for thirteen years, I am more sensitive to it now than when I was living in my all white fraternity at a Big 10 university
I do not make a market in full understanding, but have an incomplete understanding of racism like most people… My premise is that you see it at every turn, but that you should be open to witnessing it when it does occur…
Lastly, trying to create a real discussion would have to include that I make less than the federal poverty level income and rent a small house in an older neighborhood in a dying mid-west economy; by talking about my background of white male and privileged I mean that I have access to certain systems others do not based solely on a knapsack of unearned white privileges….
I reveal these pieces to own my past; not convolute a manipulation like say 7,000 sq foot house….
In response to another comment. See in context »My premise is NOT that you see it at every turn, but that you should be open to witnessing it when it does occur
(mistype)
In response to another comment. See in context »Thanks for the words of advice, which of course are little demeaning as if I don’t already fight against racism. Again, the problem is your premise is flawed.
On your statements concerning yourself, I am very confused. You state that you are “one white male with privilege.” Yet then above you say you are below the poverty level.
If you’re not rich then exactly how are you “privileged?” I hope it is not because you’re white because that would be racist!
In response to another comment. See in context »Quite right martin, quite right; I definitely do not know to what degree you challenge and fight racism in your own life…I do not want to be closed to that possibility…
One bone to pick here martin, as you end your response feeling confused and suggesting my tendencies to racism, What if we all are racist just by virtue of living in this society…
What if our culture has been so successful embedding institutionalized and internalized forms of racism that it need no longer to oppress directly?
White male and economically privileged then have a meaning beyond overt racism… If we are all racist to one degree just by living in this culture;then it is our job to own it, recognize and change it when it happens…
I am far less concerned about being called a racist in a society where it is so prevalent and more concerned about recognizing in the moment it occurs and changing those moments
And no martin, we cannot reduce things down to binaries of privilege equals white and under-privileged equals minorities… that was not my intention…. but we have to be honest that predatory lending in this country is 3-5 time more likely to affect a person of color than me all other things controlled for…
Lastly, this isn’t about me martin ( my income); by sharing this information I am locating myself as benefiting from dominant group membership while working to be open to how all people become dominated… This is my intention….
Martin, we did not get off on the right (probably my tone) for that my apologies… I am not making any assumptions about you other than I suspect there is more to racism than you offer with such certainty… However, I am open to whatever criticisms you have and btw I want to thank you for engaging me in this conversation… you could have quit a long time ago, but you keep working understand (Bravo!)
In response to another comment. See in context »This is just a non-issue–a waste of time. Who cares in the great scheme of things????
Matt: You might be biting the hand that feeds you. While Kentucky grads outnumber Cornell grads by 50%, I’d bet some serious dough that you’ve got a lot more Cornell alums among your readers (and paying your advertisers).
Yeah, forget separation of church and state — sing for your supper!
In response to another comment. See in context »I’m at least 75% of the way there with you. the final 25% just feels sorry for lame sportswriters, desperate to find ways to get people to give a shit about the ass kicking that Cornell is going to take.
Although, since I am currently enrolled at the University of Memphis, its hard to disavow the Wildcats (Wildtigers, locally). I was all too willing to take those platers to my bosom last year. I’m rooting for Cornell but not because of the lame stereotypes. But because 3 of those 1-and-done freshman were supposed to come win for my school.
goddamn it.
Also, I plan on putting “scrappy” or “does all the little things” on my Census form
You have to remember it’s Shaughnessy, the “Curly Haired Boyfriend”.
If he says “I like ice cream”, then its time to short every dairy stock you can find, because he’s the badguy wrestler of the Globe Sports pages.
This game is the bizarro 1966 National Championship. Kentucky has gone from an all-white to all-black starting 5. Adolph Rupp must be beaming with pride!
http://indyagenda.com/2010/03/22/deep-thoughts-2/#more-422
Matt,
Some of us spent four years at Cornell in the days when the basketball team was so bad we had hockey season tickets so we’d have something to do. Cornell has always been a hockey school, and the basketball thing is new. Do the alums at least get a chance not to be harassed because we’re amazed that our school actually got to this point?
Just asking.
Kentucky is Jim Bunning’s team. That’s reason enough to root against them.
Oh hell, I just get soooo damn tired of the NCAA tournament and the “cinderella stories”. It is a bracket system. Repeat, a bracket. There are going to be upsets. It would actually be a lot odder if all the seeds proceeded on to their “rightful” place.
I live in a Big Ten town and am something of a freak because I prefer the NBA. One person said to me “The problem with the NBA is that they can’t play”. Huh. You might think the cream of the crop from the college players would be able to play as well as your average MAC player, but guess not. WTF?
[...] Shared Those plucky Cornell kids. [...]
Fuck Kentucky and Cornell; the true scrappy team story here is the Missouri Conference team, University of Northern Iowa. The black sheep, bastard university of the Midwest, adjacent to one of the most unappealing rust-belt cities in the country (Waterloo, who’s claims to fame include at one time having the highest white teen-age unwed pregnancy rate in the country and being the former home of John Wayne Gacy), this school has never even seen the horizon of the Sweet 16 before….ever. Overcoming the weather alone (floods, month-long stretches of -20 temps, blizzards,etc) is achievement enough at the university but to make it this far in the tournament.
ooops, somehow omitted the last line; “is a true plucky miracle”. Must have been my emotions getting the best of me.
In response to another comment. See in context »oh dear – Mike Pesca delivered a story incorporating Strunk and this b-ball story on npr morning edition this morning (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125154884). Something about putting writing style into a sports story just ain’t right. Only “Get Smart” could get away with such discussions incorporating grammar into an us vs. them scenario.
“Martin, racism is not a competition among different minority group; its not a NCAA bracket to be filled out (although David Chappelle could knock that skit out of the park)….it is about dominance and being dominated and how race is used to maintain preexisting hierarchies of power, money, and structure….
Educate yourself about the types of racism that exist before talking about how your logically sound other people are please….”
trendisnotdestiny,
Okay now we’re getting some place. Racism is about dominance and control (of course, ignorance & fear too) but let’s focus on dominance and control for a second.
If you have read any of my prior posts you will see that I focus a lot of my attention on economic inequality. Coming from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, I learned early in life that America was all about money and those above me did not actually want me to succeed. So based upon that I let nothing stop me and was luckily able to get out of my neighborhood and build a life for my family. Many of my friends (both black and white) did the same thing. Quite often those that blamed everything on racism did not get out and did not achieve any success.
So for this reason, I see racism as a victim mentality of further oppression. To me welfare is slavery. In other words, the Elites will hold you down for a million reasons; race is just another one of the reasons.
At the end of the day, America is about money and “dominance” (as you say) and it controls all. So I would rather focus my energy in getting people to understand this concept so they can overcome it.
It was long before the 2008 Financial Crisis that I realized that the Power Class did not really want true competition because they feared that people like me would beat them at their own game so they rigged all the rules in their favor and tilted the scales against us. But nevertheless, I don’t mind running up hill — I have a lot of energy.
Martin,
You make so many good points here, I do not know where to start… (We must find a way to be hopeful of this economic oppression in a way that we do not localize your point about ignorance and fear) An excellent example of this has been Walter Lippman’s use of the herd to characterize individuals and families (especially of color); the herd need not think type bull-shit
He and Edward Bernays (father of public relations and cousin to Freud)contributed to the thought of people as an ignorant scared herd… money, power, race all become dividers until FDR comes along and creates a social safety (not protecting people of color any more or less, but institutionalizing risk to be shared among corporations, individuals, families and communities alike…
My bone of contention is that the dismantling the welfare state (the prison of it) has multiple sides; it was gutted to fail several decades ago as the fight of the free market took hold and the American public were to experience one gigantic externality of privatizing gains and socializing losses; nowhere better than communities of color can this be seen as a sign of racism (gutting the only institutions that served to protect them; even though it wasn’t them the new deal was designed to protect)…
martin, you post was very persuasive and I share many of your insights… My issue with this is that we do lose any energy talking about race versus money because the same processes are working; just different content… payday loans vs. derivatives, sub-prime lending to prime borrowers vs. IMF loans to countries with pliable dictators…
But I digress, my apologies… and I will have to read and consider some of your previous posts of yours martin (no question)
In response to another comment. See in context »I think I understand where you are coming from although I am very much the Darwinist. I am all for free markets; rather I just want them to be truly free. Currently, America is not really a free market system; it has been completely rigged by the Elites. I just was to unrig the system and then people can succeed or fail on their own merits.
More food for thought: If people’s primary motive in holding down a particular group (let’s say Blacks) is financial then is that racism or something else? Clearly you know how I answer that question .
In response to another comment. See in context »Matt,
I am not rooting for Cornell because of race or class bias. Although I think your points have some merit, it is possible to like Cornell because of the style of ball they play.
As a lifelong hoopster I am very impressed with their team concept. While the Cornell team is made up of good athletes (any one of them would kick my ass), they don’t measure up individually to the other teams they are playing. But they take the approach that 5 playing as 1 can beat a team of individuals.
The Princeton offense that they run is a thing of beauty when done at a high level of efficiency. It is about movement – the ball moves and the players move. This is in contrast to a lot of teams which use individual athletic skill in isolation. The execution of a backdoor cut with a perfect delivery of a pass is wonderful to behold.
I think the story is more about David vs Gloiath and Team Concept vs Individual Talent than about Rich White Kids vs Poor Black Kids.
I think John Wall is an incredible talent and deserves all the accolades he has been getting. But at the same time Cornell deserves praise for a team-oriented approach that is well executed.
(1) If the Cornell players are so smart, why couldn’t they get into Yale and Harvard like George W. Bush?
(2) Duke ranks higher academically than Cornell. As Duke progresses, I hope to hear more about their intangibles.
YAWWWWNN!!! Have you lost interest in politics?
Maybe my Upstate NY bias has caused me to filter out the narrative Matt is talking about…..but I didn’t get any sense of that at all listening to ESPN radio, watching sports center etc. I have been following the tourney pretty closely. I would think that I would hear the narrative Matt speaks of from my fellow upstate NYers….I can say I haven’t had a sense of that at all. What we say about Cornell is how they stress fundamentals and team play over individual athletic plays. I haven’t heard anyone begrudge Kentucky for their superior athleticism and talent. Most of us are pretty resigned to the fact that Cornell will probably lose this game…..I think Matt may be reading too much into folks rooting for the underdog…..
As for racism in general……it seems racist to inject race IN EVERY discussion. If Haile Selassie is to be believed the color of one’s skin should have no more significance than the color of one’s eyes.
I recently had a discussion with someone who remarked about the ethnicity kid who was on the podium with Obama when the Pres signed the HCR Bill. She remarked how it was kind of unfair that more races weren’t represented. I couldn’t believe it, this was about the tragedy of the healthcare system; She should have been able to recognize it was about that and NOT race. But this individual was hung up on the race factor rather than the personal tragedy factor.
Not being racist to me, seems to be able to recognize when it is and when it is NOT an issue in a particular debate.
And at least one of those plucky overachievers from Cornell just happens to be heading off to everyone’s favorite vampire squid this summer. My heart is melting: http://www.sbnation.com/2010/3/25/1389709/cornell-kentucky-ncaa-tournament-goldman-sachs
There is also the aspect of rooting for a team that treats basketball as something to do while at college rather than a team that treats college as a distraction on their way to the NBA. I’m all for sports as an escape from poverty but I’m not so keen on them as an ends in and of themselves.
lets face it, we need to end the charade and just make ‘em farm teams. Be like baseball and hockey (although it is true that former college players in the pros are becoming more common than these sports too).
In response to another comment. See in context »I believe the Billy Beane Oakland A’s started rocking that conventional wisdom about using high draft picks on high school kids.
He went after a lot of players who did three and four years in college, where they actually developed.
In response to another comment. See in context »Wes Welker 2X…. Good one. Reading the responses is pretty much what I got every time I pointed out the racism in “The Blind Side”. Don’t even get me going on the slave trading festival known as the NFL Combine. BTW, I love sports. I sincerely hope that the game is over before halftime and John Wall goes And1. Thus, infuriating Cornell and leading to a brawl where KY goes into the crowd Ron Artest style punching people from the Cornell student body. Then, after the game I hope the Cornell cheerleaders run off to the hotel with the KY players and all get pregnant by those big black 14 inch dicks. Go Cats!
Pulled for Cornell, but, like many was disappointed. Thought the seniors of Cornell would handle the pressure of Freshman dominated Kentucky much better. Besides for all the demographic issues related to the game, I’m just feeling a hunger for new faces, teams, coaches, etc. in the finals. Duke, Kentucky? Yawn! Happy to see Syracuse gone. Success just leads to more recruiting success, which leads to more success, and so on. I’m moving my heart over to St. Mary’s. Now, how do we feel about Australians coming over and dominating the US game?
What a game! Cornell really showed what they are made of! When a Kentucky player shielded an errant Cornell pass headed for out-of-bounds, a Cornell player shoved him off the court. No foul called. When another Kentucky player had an easy layup, a Cornell player flagrantly fouled him, but it was called a simple shooting foul. The Cornell players had a real knack for knowing when the men tasked with keeping the game fair would pretend not to see anything. That knack will be honed to a fine point during the Goldman Sachs’ internship program this summer.
Kentucky has future NBA players and Cornell has future NBA owners. That’s about the only real story here. I agree with you Matt. Its nonsense to say that Cornell players have more love for the game because they are not going to be making millions off basketball. Its usually the inner city kids that live and breath basketball on the playgrounds growing up. And Calipari is a complete slimeball. I love how he jumps from team to team leaving a mess for each school to clean up.
Here’s my take on Cornell vs Kentucky:
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/march-madness/
You should be listening to Sirius Radio. Ferrall! Shake it Up!