NBA history buffs have to love playoff time, because it is NBA history in the making. Legacies of individuals and legacies of teams get defined in the next couple of months. Enjoy it.
Manichaeism and Turdism
ProFootballTalk reports that Viking DB Ronyell Whitaker’s arrest was a “total mistake”—and at first left him in the Turd Watch, but then removed him (for unspecified reasons). That’s the problem with the Turd Watch. If a man makes one mistake, he’s a turd. If a man has a mistake done unto him that makes him look like a turd… does that make him a turd? In this case we found out it was a mistake—what about when we don’t find out? It’s such a black and white worldview that leads to all sorts of problems. The line between turds and non-turds runs not between individuals, but within individuals.
The Daily Norseman has a justifiably angry take on the Whitaker arrest. As a Viking fan tired of seeing his team made fun of by everybody under the sun, it’s frustrating to have a player slurred by all sorts of bloggers over a mistake by the police. Though I’m sure Whitaker is much, much more frustrated.
Philosophy and Virginia Tech
Forgive me for attempting to make philosophical sense of the disaster at Va Tech, but two central points keep reverberating for me:
--We don’t control our lives. You can drive as safely as possible, but a drunk driver might get into the wrong lane and kill you. You can live your life not hurting anybody, but a mad gunman can kill you, and there’s little you can do about it.
--Violence connected. This has been a particularly violent week in Iraq; hundreds have died in violent attacks. We must see violence as violence, abhor it, and attempt to resist and eliminate it in any form.
Sportish Links
Via Signal to Noise, And Here Comes the Pretzels has some praise for Kevin Garnett.
I Dislike Your Favorite Team compares the Rasputin-like Kevin McHale to George W. Bush. Both are incompetent leaders that we’re somehow stuck with no matter what. Being a Timberwolves fan is an exercise in frustration.
Get excited for the NBA playoffs. SI has a five-minute guide.
Stewart Mandel looks at the overrated and underrated prospects in this year’s draft.
Non-sportish
We Are the Postmen has a video of Nikki Giovanni’s closing remarks at Virginia Tech.
Scott Eric Kaufman at The Valve has an interesting post inspired by the Virginia Tech shootings.
In The Guardian, Jonathan Bate looks at how Shakespeare transformed from vulgar popular writer to “the supreme deity of poetry.”
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