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15 Feb 2012 11:06

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Culture: “Linsanity”: People already trying to trademark Jeremy Lin’s success

  • Yenchin Chang is a fan of Jeremy Lin, above. Like Lin, he’s from California. Like Lin, he’s also Taiwanese. But unlike Lin, he filed a trademark application for the phrase “Linsanity” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Why? “I wanted to be a part of the excitement,” Chang said. “I’m very proud of Jeremy.” Chang was one of two people to file for the trademark in the past week. The other guy, Andrew W. Slayton, claims to have coached Lin in high school, though this fact hasn’t been confirmed; Chang doesn’t even know Lin, but just wanted to have fun with the trademark for a bit. *facepalm* (photo by nikk_la on Flickr) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2012 11:59

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Culture, Sports, U.S.: Jeremy Lin lights up Lakers, sets new team record for Knicks

  • 89 points scored by Jeremy Lin during his first three starts with the New York Knicks this week
  • 80 points scored by former team record-holder Bill Cartwright in his first three starts, way back in 1979-1980 source
  • » What can’t he do? With a solid showing against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, including a career-high 38 points scored, Jeremy Lin set a new Knicks team record (EDIT: And league record) for the most points scored by a player in their first three starts since the NBA-ABA merger. He’s also one game away from matching Lebron James’ — 20 point, 5 assist, 50 percent shooting — four-game performance streak, the longest streak by any player this season.
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Oct 2011 16:43

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Culture: Bryant Gumbel likens NBA commish Stern to “plantation overseer”

  • If the NBA lockout is going to be resolved anytime soon, it seems likely to be done in spite of David Stern, not because of him. His efforts are typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern-day plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys.
  • HBO’s Bryant Gumbel • Comparing NBA comissioner David Stern to a “plantation overseer,” a reference chock-full of obvious racial implications. We feel a bit at a loss to really weigh in on the accuracy of these remarks; the NBA lockout negotiations have been somewhat opaque, with the exception of a source claiming Kevin Garnett’s intensity “f***ed everything up.” Gumbel’s tenor makes it seem pretty obvious he’s referring to a respect issue between Stern and the players, though the slavery reference will make some people’s eyes roll in the context of whether millionaires (the 1%, so to speak) will become millionaires additional times over. That said, Gumbel is a veteran and respected sports journalist, and may have insight into these proceedings unknown to us. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Oct 2011 20:00

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Culture: NBA players, owners face big day for fate of new season

  • Each side understands exactly what’s at stake and where potentially there is movement in order to try to get a deal done… We both understand that if we don’t make our best offers in the next few days, we’re going to be at the point where we’re going to be causing damage to the game, to ourselves, and they’re going to be out paychecks.
  • NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver • Discussing the negotiations between NBA players and team owners, which have reached a critical stage with the regularly scheduled start of the season looming. Ownership claims to have lost a combined $300 million last season, and have pushed for new rules on the salary cap and division of revenues, wanting to guarantee the players only 46% of team revenue rather than their former 57%. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jun 2011 16:36

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Culture: NBA headed for a lockout as collective bargaining talks fall apart

  • NBA headed for lockout: As talks between league officials and the player’s union on a new collective bargaining agreement have fallen apart, it’s clear that the NBA will suffer a work stoppage. It’s been thirteen years since this last happened, when the 1998-1999 season was cut 32 games short. The impasse is mainly about salary versus revenue; the NBA claims 22 of its 30 franchises are losing money, and they want lower player salaries (likely a lower cap) to compensate — obviously, the players feel otherwise. Said union head Billy Hunter: “I’ve been waiting for a lockout for two, three years. Now it’s here. Our guys are anxious to get a deal.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2011 17:24

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Culture: LeBron James isn’t (not) bothered by the haters

  • All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. So they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy … But they got to get back to the real world at some point.
  • Miami Heat forward LeBron James • Speaking during his post-game press conference after losing the championship to the heavy underdog Dallas Mavericks in six games. This is exactly the sort of remark that feeds the public’s disdain for James, a disdain that’s been steadily growing since his decision to help form a Voltron-style superteam down in South Beach (and being not so humble doing it). What’s especially illuminating about this quote, besides the implication that the common NBA fan rooting against him is probably some tribulation-addled scrub with an unenviable life, is that it completely defeats the point he was trying to make; that he isn’t bothered by people being happy that he lost. “I don’t care what you think, cause you’re a loser with a loser life compared to mine?” Yeah, doesn’t sound like you’re quite at ease with this, man. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2011 17:50

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Culture: Charles Barkley lauds gay equality in sports, marriage

  • Any professional athlete who gets on TV or radio and says he never played with a gay guy is a stone-freakin’ idiot. I would even say the same thing in college. Every college player, every pro player in any sport has probably played with a gay person. … I’ve been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can’t be in for any form of discrimination at all.
  • Charles Barkley • The Hall-Of-Fame power forward speaking out about homosexuality in sports, in the wake of Phoenix Suns President and CEO Rick Welts coming out in an New York Times story over the weekend. Barkley’s comments are earnest and worthy of notice, especially in recent weeks that have seen sexual orientation become a focal point in the NBA. The impetus of it all, to some extent, was the very public stance the league took when Kobe Bryant hurled a slur at an official. Bryant received a stiff fine, and to his credit to some extent, he later partnered with a gay rights group for public education. Then, Phoenix Suns players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley shot a PSA denouncing the use of “gay” as a playground insult (a move that invariably and depressingly got them called “gay” a lot via Twitter). It was on this recent foundation that Welts came out. Courage like this brings us ever closer to a more enlightened society, so simply, thank you. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Nov 2010 22:42

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Politics: Posted without comment: Dennis Rodman graces “Parker Spitzer”

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jun 2010 17:54

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Culture: More blocks than points: A couple key Manute Bol statistics

  • 10 number of seasons Bol played in the NBA – he was the tallest player for most of it
  • 2,086 number of blocks Bol had in his career (3.3 per game – one of the best tallies ever)
  • 1,599 number of points Bol scored (2.6/game, though he had a decent  3-point shot) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jun 2010 17:36

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Culture: RIP Manute Bol: A noble soul who had a couple of feet on you

  • You know, a lot of people feel sorry for him, because he’s so tall and awkward. But I’ll tell you this – if everyone in the world was a Manute Bol, it’s a world I’d want to live in.
  • Charles Barkley • Noting how great a person Manute Bol, who died today at 47, was. Bol, a Sudanese-born NBA player whose 7’7″ rail-thin frame made him one of the most unique basketball stars in history, was suffering from long-standing kidney and skin problems. He was something of an ambassador to Sudan and spent much of his personal fortune trying to help the war-torn country. He went broke doing it. This is a man who cared so much about helping the people of his country that he would rather use his fame and freak-show status to help them than live comfortably. A huge loss. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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