I guess Ted Cruz is very strong on people who aren't Donald Trump who bow to foreign dictators. Which is better than some these days.
The gamers are really distinguishing themselves here. Lots of cancellations to Blizzard games and other activity. Color me pleasantly surprised
2: Yeah, I admit I haven't yet, but I'm thinking about it.
And props to Alan Silver (unless he backtracked in the last 24 hours).
The guy who looks like Gollum.
I think that he's called "Giuliani."
No. NBA guy has the pallor and the ears.
The weird thing is that there's a small but vocal section of the left which has this whole "it's imperialist to oppose China's actions in Hong Kong, and therefore it's imperialist to boycott games, etc". These aren't Maoists (which would at least be consistent), they're just generic "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" people.
They're the same bunch who trot out "it's fine for the Kurds to be shelled and killed because they allied themselves with the US so they're obviously bad" and a whole lot of blather about how actually Rojava isn't leftist. I'm not entirely sure what the correct "leftist" position is for a Kurd according to these people - probably bowing and scraping to any power that opposes the US even if they also oppress you.
It's very depressing because when you encounter this type of position you realize that there's no commitment at all to human life for its own sake - it doesn't matter that Hong Kong people in general don't want to be ruled by an authoritarian proxy for Beijing, or that Kurds have some legit interest in self-determination. All that matters is populations and how they can be used by the great powers. The argument isn't even one of "it is tragic that Rojava could only sustain itself through an unstable alliance with the US"; it's just "well it's fine for them to die".
I'm assuming those people are paid agents of Russia. Please don't disabuse me of that idea.
It's been interesting to read how NBA writers have responded to this whole thing. Here are some of my favorite pieces:
Adam Silver Is Finally Being Judged As a Commissioner, Not As Our Pal
Silver also took on a friendly, un-commissioner-like form. He didn't seem like a boss. He seemed like a resident of NBA Twitter who wrote some good blogs and made it big. Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn once said of his journalistic tormentor Red Smith: "In me, he felt he had stumbled upon the ultimate stuffed shirt." One of Silver's greatest political feats is that he's almost never called a stuffed shirt.
The thing is, Silver is a stuffed shirt. Only a stuffed shirt (in this case, a lawyer and longtime David Stern apparatchik) gets to be a commissioner. We were reminded of this on Sunday, as Chinese interests cited Morey's tweet as a reason to pull away from the NBA and the Rockets. The league, facing one door marked "Free Expression" and another marked "Billions of Dollars," had to make a choice.
The NBA's first statement was so hedged and word-salady that it was indecipherable. Here Silver's progressive highlight reel worked against him. If Silver is the guy saluting inclusion and sitting in on symposia, then he knows just what it means to grant the Chinese government the right to be "deeply offended."
The 76ers need to explain why two fans were tossed for supporting democracy
Wachs had a sign that reiterated the same message that Morey supported in his consequential tweet from just a week ago. It's really, really difficult to think there aren't political and business motivations contributing to Wachs being removed from the arena. Sure, he first had the signs taken away and then went on to voice the same sentiment displayed on the poster boards directly behind (and probably at) the Lions' bench. In a way, Wachs was begging for controversy. But it can also be seen as a test.
Let's establish a simple rule: if you're going to do business with China, you will inevitably be sucked into an internal battle between your principles and your business interests. We would like to believe that the NBA would base economic decisions off of the values they preach and represent. It is a tough line to walk in some respects and the reality is that plenty of American businesses think with their wallet when it comes to China and we keep buying what they're selling. It's hypocritical but it's also hard for a lot of people, including NBA personnel, to understand and contextualize what it all means and what each person's role in all of it is when we're talking about a society on the other side of the globe. I'm not letting the NBA off the hook, but I guess I understand the difficult situation they find themselves in and that there isn't an "escape China" button the NBA can press to fix this without severely impacting league operations.
But when it's here? In our arena? The Philadelphia, ahem, SEVENTY SIXERS -- as in Seventeen Hundred Seventy Six? I'm not arguing that the NBA as a whole should operate in one way in China and then turn around and operate in a different way in the States. But I do think there's a way to deal with the situation delicately as it pertains to Chinese fandom while drawing a line in the sand establishing what's tolerable and how far the NBA is willing to go to fix the tense relationship.
Steve Kerr initially avoided commenting
Taking time to learn before forming an opinion isn't just allowed, it's what intelligent people should do. That's what Steve Kerr did when asked a question yesterday, and it has nothing to do with discussing issues that you already know and live - like criticisms of your own country for example. You'd think Trump, who ran on a campaign slogan assuming America was less than great would understand this.
Stephen Curry gets it. Moments after hearing about Trump's comment, Curry also took a measured approach saying "something this big... that's something you're not just walking into lightheartedly just saying stuff off the cuff."
He's since given a longer response (paywall) which is still hesitant.
Do you understand why people might be upset though? The organization has made it a point to speak out on things you believe in and speak out on. Then on this issue guys don't want to take that kind of stand. Do you understand why people would be frustrated?
Sure. The same people who are asking me to stick to sports are also asking me to expand my horizons. I guess that's what I'm hearing. Again, I will speak on the things I'm comfortable with. I will do things I believe are helpful for my country. I love my country, despite what President Trump said yesterday.
I work really, really hard on a lot of things off the floor. One of those things is I don't want people to feel what my family felt when my father was killed. I know what it feels like to have a family member ended by a bullet. So that's a passionate, passionate subject for me. So I research it, I'm involved with various organizations, I'm constantly meeting with people, fundraising. It's part of my life.
As far as North Korea, I don't know much about North Korea. As far as the Ukraine situation, I don't know much about the Ukraine situation. We could just go around the world and maybe I can pinpoint a couple others I'm comfortable about, but this whole things is so ridiculous. Again, we're fortunate in this country to have free speech. I exercise that. But part of having free speech is also electing not to speak if you don't feel comfortable about something.
Understanding that you don't want to comment on something outside the United States, are you broadly supportive of NBA officials being able to do so. Specifically, do you believe Daryl Morey shouldn't be fired over something like this?
I appreciate the fact that you have to ask me something like this. I get it. But I'd hope you'd appreciate my right to not answer that question. Because all it does it create a headline and a soundbite. I choose not to be a soundbite tonight.
Probably too late for that tonight. I choose not to be that soundbite.
No One Wants to Admit It, but Lakers-Nets in China Wasn't a Normal Game
There were other things to talk about, but none of it was anywhere near as notable as the overarching weirdness of watching a contest presented as a regular ol' basketball game without any mention of why it was, in fact, not. As the players sprinted out in transition and tracked back on defense, there wasn't any mention of the lack of sponsor signage on the court. Workers at Mercedes-Benz Arena reportedly sanded corporate logos away after multiple sponsors withdrew their support for the festivities following Morey's since-deleted tweet and NBA commissioner Adam Silver's statement supporting the "freedom of expression" of league employees. (One theory making the rounds, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times: China didn't cancel the exhibition partially because it wanted the NBA "to see what a sponsorless game [with money withheld] looks and feels like.")
"'m assuming those people are paid agents of Russia."
They're not campus communists but Campos communists. The suffering caused by the revolution is not the unfortunate but necessary price of creating a better world; the suffering is the point. It's a purifying force.
Some of those people are likely paid agents of the CCP. But I imagine 13 is mostly right.
You'd be surprised how few of those people you meet if you are me.
Campos communists -- can you (or someone else) explain the reference here?
I think it's just Spanish for "camp."
18 yes - the guy who said that the Culture wasn't a good representation of a communist utopia because no one in the Culture had to suffer or sacrifice.
Thanks. I've heard of that guy, but my other theory was that it was some figure from Cuban/Spanish/Angolan/whatever history I had missed, most likely name-dropped widely through some 70s/80s pop culture that I had also missed. I think I've mentioned before that I'm easy to fool.
Is he the one that hates law school too? Because if you want suffering, why try to close law schools?
China's rabid hoops fans won't suddenly shift to the CBA. Instead, they'd use common technical workarounds to evade the block and continue watching - likely in resentful defiance. The good news for the NBA, and its millions of Chinese fans, is that the government understands this risk, and is unlikely to take it.I thought interesting, and makes me wonder at what level the 50-cent army reaction was first authorized. My speculation is it was somewhat below the level needed to cancel a CCTV broadcast with 200m or whatever expected viewers.
10, 11, 13 -- I assume some of them are people who saw the unjustness of the world and failed in good faith to adapt to it, as a generation of PETA extremists seem to have been. But such people are a perfect bridgehead for evil actors even if they don't have the mens rea to be evil themselves.
THE CAPITALISTS WILL SELL US THE BASKETBALL WITH WHICH WE WILL DUNK ON THEM.
AND THE STEROIDS TOO.
On today's The Daily podcast, they explained that basketball was first brought to China by YMCA missionaries. Which really speaks to the lasting power of the Bee Gees.
The "Boxer Rebellion" got its name because they wanted a sport that wasn't western and Christian.
It is completely weird to associate the group with Campos -- I've read LGM for years and I had no idea he had any opinion on Banks. He has other cranky opinions that he holds much more strongly.
But the group in 10 would make good characters in a Culture novel. They resemble Bora Horza Gobuchul from Consider Phlebas.
cold, blustery cold front has arrived this morning, and it's very deeply wonderful.
Boy howdy, is it ever! We even got some measurable rain.
Maybe you weren't trying hard enough to measure the earlier rain.
Christian missionaries in 19th century China had great difficulty stayin' alive.
The usual response from the locals was: too much heaven.
OT: Am sitting on a deck chair looking at a dock on an inlet of Chesapeake Bay. Does that mean I need to get an Instagram account?
It's either that or learn to sing like Otis Redding.
34:. If you don't it will be like it never even happened.
It can't be that easy to lock up a date boat, can it?
No, they are notorious escape artists.
Anyway, late capitalism sometimes works for me.
Be quiet or I'll drop you in the very convenient bay.
Anyway, watching the rain over the harbor is a very relaxing way to let my liver process the whiskey before I sleep.
an inlet of Chesapeake Bay.
An inlet of the Chesapeake Bay. You don't want to get me started.
You all saw that. Straight up death threats.
45: We've filed papers to have this website taken down and Spike arrested for felonious violation of trademark.
Such disrespect from a Pennsylvanian. First all your cow poop drains into the bay, and now this.
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So, how completely bogus is this story of Mormon ticket scalping rings?
https://www.sbnation.com/2019/10/9/20876265/ticket-scalping-world-cup-olympics-final-four
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26: The Bee Gees?
Oh wow, that's embarrassing. I really need more sleep. I blame the feverish (but recovering after antibiotics!) baby.
53. That's all very lovely, but will Silver support the next person associated with the NBA who annoys China? After all, as LeBron remarked, there's money involved.
Probably not! So you all need to encourage Gollum's better self. I would, but I don't watch basketball.