My wife was trying to explain to me this morning some news story she saw on one of the greatest basketball commercials ever, and wanted me to tell her who the basketball player was. Her explanation made no sense to me, and try as I might, I just couldn't figure out what commercial she had seen or who the heck she was talking about. Something about a playground scene, a black kid from the streets who thought he was all that (but wasn't) and some white NBA player who kept dunking the shots by the kid.
What?
What the hell are you talking about?
I simply couldn't figure it out. That was due, in part, to the difficulty my wife has in explaining anything related to sports. But, I'll say this: she intrigued the heck out of me with her attempted explanation. I now had to go hunt down this damn commercial.
Ummm, baby. You know that commercial you told me about? That's a Blake Griffin commercial. Ummm . . . he's not white, baby. Come on, now. But it is a great commercial -- check it out:
Yep, that's a great commercial. In the hunt to try and figure out what my wife was trying to explain to me, by happenstance I ran across another great basketball commercial -- this one, for the Chinese market:
That's pretty damn good, too.
Some people are trying their damndest to ruin my upcoming sports season with all kinds of "nigger this, cracker that" talk. And I'm just not going to have it. The use of either word isn't unknown to me and I lament the absurdity by which we've tried to make certain words unmentionable.
I don't give a damn what Riley Cooper said at some Kenny Chesney concert and I don't give a damn that a whole host of black NFL players have likely said equally insensitive things -- or worse -- to white workers in various venues around this country. I'm watching professional sports to see superior teamwork and athletic ability on display; I don't have a hunger to watch cultured men who may think precisely the same way as Riley Cooper but are far better skilled at hiding it.
Back to sports, y'all. Let the games begin.
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