Monday, April 7, 2014

Kentucky vs. Wisconsin: did we witness a Culture War?


We here at the “RaceCard” like to get deep into symbolism and social memes in sports.  Saturday night’s Kentucky vs. Wisconsin game was simply put worth the appointment-viewing label.  It was the best game of College Basketball I have seen in a while but I could not help but notice the obvious and the effect it had on me as a black viewer.  Watching the game, I noticed the game was an inverted version of the 1965 Texas El Paso vs. Kentucky game that for the first time featured an all-black line up.  This time it was Wisconsin in the Texas El Paso role living up to every racial stereotype by scheming buckets through back door cuts and the extra pass.  They played a brilliant game, seemed to find wide open three’s and somehow even I as a Midwesterner couldn’t get down with them.
Hmmmmmm, I wonder why.
Mind you, I started my day at the gym arguing with a homeboy who argued “Brady” (not Bradley) would KO Pacquiao next Saturday.  His premise was that Bradley was the superior athlete, which could not be further from the truth.  Yet, when Kentucky seven footer Marcus Lee dunked on Frank Kaminsky I was “all in” with the young bruh’s from the bluegrass state.  I was roped in by the optics and the eb and flow of the game, like millions of you I gave my allegiance to those who looked like me.  When Dakari Johnson gave Kaminsky the “get up off me” shove under the basket Greg Anthony and Steve Kerr (both equally smart people) inherently got behind their own tribesmen.  Sports can do that to you, and you don’t have to be a flaming racist to acknowledge this truth.  Anthony was a Running Rebel in the early 90’s, so you cannot tell me that part of him didn’t have a paternal instinct toward Johnson.  He knows what can happen, and “it” often happens to young black men in a group setting.  Steve Kerr did a great job of redirecting the debate because the contrasting picture of the game was enough to open up discussions we do not want to have.
Like the fact that African American “one and done” basketball players are demonized as people when white tennis players go pro at 15.  Adolph Rupp must be rolling over in his grave watching his Kentucky become the clearinghouse for black ballers who aint cracking one book.  Villanova coach Jay Wright believes Coach Cal is the only one who can be successful in the model because out of 30 kids who believe they are “one and done” he gets the three who really are.  Culturally the game must be an inconvenience for newly minted NBA commissioner Adam Silver who will try to push for a two-year minimum.  The way the game ended proved that freshmen (Aaron Harrison) can close games out and execute in the clutch, why would anyone deny them employment?.  There once was a freshman named Jordan who hit an NCAA Title Game winner who stayed around to average 13ppg and make millions for UNC.  I also found the game unique because the black team represented the “establishment” while the white team was decidedly counter culture.
The reason I root for Kevin Love and will root for Doug McDermott to “ball out” is that we should always root against entrenched establishment.  Basketball is beautiful, but nothing is more beautiful without inclusion and full participation.  Golf, Hockey, and Boxing are dying without diversity and the NBA is the vanguard of progressivism in pro sports.  Kentucky’s ability to roll out five black freshmen every year makes them an establishment outfit today just as they were it was five whites in 1965.  For the culture to change in earnest all 24 players must participate in the revenue generated from the event.  Team owners were not told when they could start making real money; there is no age restriction on men with the capacity to become billionaires.  The game last Saturday was a contest between the “Soon to be Rich” and the “Soon to be comfortable” which keeps the status quo intact for the “I want it yesterday” crowd who build monstrosities like the one the game was played in.
 

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