tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post115146651481265535..comments2023-07-25T00:34:23.503-07:00Comments on Neon Hustle: Politics Versus the PlayoffsStevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00022659488295703610noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post-6352685405844032382008-04-20T22:31:00.000-07:002008-04-20T22:31:00.000-07:00D's right, the Kobe stofy is more compelling, if f...D's right, the Kobe stofy is more compelling, if for no other reason than the stakes are higher. He's playing for another championship (and damned well a few more in the next few years) as well as pantheon status as not just a great player, but one of only a handful of people to have walked the planet who could concievably go down as G-O-A-T.<BR/><BR/>Likewise, D's right that the NOLA stuff is inextricably tied to our sense of rooting for New Orleans and the rebuilding. Love me some CP3. I do. But in a sense, Steven, you're rooting as much in spite of G-Dub as you are for the Hornets, who, as a franchise, SUCK at making good basketball decisions.<BR/><BR/>The Blazers!? Are you kidding me? You consider an important story that Portland is now full of NICE kids who can't make the playoffs? Fuck that. Portland will be a great team soon, but nowhere in spitting distance of the best stories of the lig. Credit to Kevin Pritchard for doing a great job at his job. Why not to Mitch Kupchak?<BR/><BR/>You can spread all the Nor-Cal-oriented hate you want, it's not just a Lake-Show world- these are interesting times in Los Angeles for roundball. Deal with it.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13605193879263202327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post-29782375510454904552008-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:002008-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:00The Hornets are an amazing story, but it doesn't n...The Hornets are an amazing story, but it doesn't negate that the attraction of the Kobe story is as much its nature as its suspense. Not that I (or as I said "we," as a culture saturated by mass media) know Kobe, but that he is the product of a narrative that is distinctly historical. Insomuch as we remain keenly aware of how anyone is progressing, we follow Kobe because the spotlight has been on him unceasingly.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps NOLA could be like this - in that we are bombarded with the narrative, and it is supported, from not only the sports press, but the media machine <I>en banc</I>. In that sense, it exists with us more closely remembered as a product of historical events than as narratives re-created to explain and situate an occurrence. But the NOLA story's appeal is as much its connection to the political story of the era as it is any aspect of "the story" itself. In the sense that CP3 has been building a relatively quiet MVP run, and the team has yet to take on a publicly digestible persona, they're still unrealized potential, even if there's probably a little part of every person that wants to see them tear it up on behalf of the city.Darrylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08894722738702023455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post-14448352930713082922008-04-20T14:50:00.000-07:002008-04-20T14:50:00.000-07:00That's fine. My point was that in a post decrying ...That's fine. My point was that in a post decrying the political media's artificial construction of a story, Darryl seems to be buying into the one created by the sports media hook, line, and sinker.<BR/><BR/>Stories off the top of my head that are more interesting that Kobe's man-child fulminations: There's The Hornets story (even if they fail, it's still interesting), the rape of basketball in the Emerald City, the reverse Jail Blazers.<BR/><BR/>The only reason why the Lakers have gotten so much press is because, well, they're the Lakers (leaving aside their winning ways this year--even in their doldrums they were getting the most press in the league). They play in Los Angeles, the media capitol of the western United States. And if we're going to accept Darryl's claim that he finds them interesting because he feels like he "knows" Kobe to a certain extent, well, how much of that is just because he plays in LA and therefore gets the most exposure?Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00022659488295703610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post-51905427563950195562008-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:002008-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00How about the far more compelling (and, you know, ...How about the far more compelling (and, you know, true) story that Paul/West/Chandler will utterly fail in saving ball in NOLA?<BR/><BR/>I'm not calling all Hornets fans fairweather- I don't blame anybody for getting excited about a return to the playoffs- but that remains a Saints-and-Saints-only fanbase. They've never been able to sustain an NBA fteam, and (barring a Conference Championship run or better) next year you can watch the half-empty stadium in the season's early games and tell me THAT'S not the franchise that should have moved to OKC.<BR/><BR/>http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance<BR/><BR/>In their 1st full year back in Louisiana, with an MVP-worthy run from a young superstar and two All-Star selections (and Peja! People love Peja!) they still had the 5th lowest attendance in the NBA this season. 9 spots lower than the next West playoff team.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13605193879263202327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007520036213827967.post-87221091174160038212008-04-20T03:18:00.000-07:002008-04-20T03:18:00.000-07:00I'll die a fiery death before admitting that CP3 a...I'll die a fiery death before admitting that CP3 and the scrappy David West saving basketball in the nation's most beleaguered city is less interesting than the Lakers.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00022659488295703610noreply@blogger.com