He was chasing down a drop shot and tripped and crashed head-first into the post.
ouch.
Mostly unrelated, but I thought this odd, even for around here. I have two friends who play a little tennis, and the other night one asked the other whether anyone had yelled "tennis is for fags" at him while playing. Turns out both have had this experience. Evidently, there is a lone, demented individual wandering the tennis courts of Baton Rouge who is on a life-quest to let all players know they are homosexuals.
2: I thought I'd dislocated my shoulder (again) earlier this summer after doing something similar into the chain link fence surrounding my local courts.
I think for most people you're African-American if you're raised in a family that considers itself African-American, and given that it wasn't all that long ago in terms of generations that the one-drop rule was legally enforced, there are an awful lot of pale people who think of themselves as black.
I'm not sure. He didn't object when one interviewer said he was the Xth Af-Am to do Y.
Then there you go. Also, look at his nose. Even if he was whiter than me (tough to do), some would call him black simply for the shape of his nose.
What does Sherlock Holmes have to do with it?
8: He was the Xth Af-Am to dislocate his shoulder after running into the chain-link fence?
dittoes to LB in 6.
Mystified, however, by LB in 10.
Agree on islander thing - he looks like Rick Fox's lighter brother. Also, I surprised to see ogged confused by this; what do you consider Jason Kidd, or Jeff Caple(sp?)?
I don't think his eyes are the right shape for islander, but what do I know?
If you told me that he was Algerian with some French ancestry, I'd buy that.
Re: 13
In A Study In Scarlet, there's a password/countersign dialogue as follows: "9 to 7." "7 to 5."
Every time someone references an earlier comment in that format, I find myself reminded of it, and this time the numbers were right.
12
Xth (3rd?) Af-Am male to reach the quarterfinals
But if 6 was 9, would we be talking about Jimi's Cherokee ancestry?
17: The thing is that Ogged referenced the wrong comment--it should've been 7 to 4.
16: I completely didn't remember that. (Thesis: The stories are much better than the novels.)
Thesis: The stories are much better than the novels.
Agreed, but I haven't read any of them since I was a teenager.
And the picture linked on 'fro-capable' definitely sets off my blackdar. Put it tendentiously: If someone who looked like that were carrying a bag in the streets of New Orleans, the picture would be captioned 'looting' rather than 'finding'. That's how this country conceptualizes race, sadly.
You remember '7 to 5' from your teenage years?
amended thesis: The first stories -- pre-Reichenbach Falls -- are much better than the novels. The later ones, which are much longer, are correspondingly flabbier.
(Due to a copy error, the first time I tried that the URL came up as Rawls' Two Principles of Justice.)
You sure do feel a compulsion to categorize people, don't you?
I think I've made my views on "blackness" and "whiteness" clear here before. I take it you have your own schema for assigning people to immutable racial categories?
Sometimes I really feel an amazing increase in my sense of alienness here.
Jesus Christ, Gary, you sure do love to piss and moan.
This comment is not intended to drive you away, but Jesus, must everyone run their communities and write about thing in such a way that you aren't offended? Is there anyone here that you honestly believe is a bad actor when it comes to race?
That's funny, I was reading ogged's post as an attempt to pick at the edges of racial categories, rather than to shoehorn people into them.
Gary, would it help our understanding of the New Orleans tragedy anyway if we refused to say that the people stuck in the Superdome and Convention Center were almost all black, because it's bad to categorize people? No it wouldn't. Because people--people like the President's own mother--are sure as hell categorizing people, and have been for at least 300 years, and that's part of what contributed to the fact that people who are categorized in this way were disproportionately hard hit.
For people of good will to close our eyes to the racial classifications in the US won't make them go away.
really feel an amazing increase in my sense of alienness here.
That's probably just because you're black.
Self-identification is primary, I would think. If Blake was raised 'black' or felt 'black' due to formative experiences, I don't think it matters how pale or dark he is.
On the other hand, if it were discovered that I, about as pale as you can get, were technically black due to some inane one-drop rule, I think I'd be deluding myself if I started describing my life as a typical African-American experience.
I guess the lead to follow is Blake's, really. Though I agree to some extent the obsession by the media with categorization is a bit frustrating.
All race issues aside, has anyone noticed how stunning Blake's girlfriend is?
http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/050831/11/97ej.html
That's not his girlfriend;it's CC DeVille from Poison.
Probably serious, even if not world-class, tennis herself.
"If Blake was raised 'black' or felt 'black' due to formative experiences, I don't think it matters how pale or dark he is."
He probably felt black because his dad was unmistakably black. The touching human interest story before Blake's match yesterday featured enough footage of Blake's dad to make it 100% clear that that was one black dude.
34: I don't know who his girlfriend is, and she is stunning, but good lord those are amazing (and scary!) arms.
Would you call Thurgood Marshall African-American? Or for that matter, Derek Jeter?
It's not just fro-capable, because some Jewish guys are quite fro-capable.
Some Irish guys are fro-capable. It's not like curly hair only exists on one continent.
Looking at more pictures of Baker, I'm beginning to think the original post was limited by an over-exposed sample. The dude's black.
I would think the media's obsession with it is a bit weird, except that tennis still has a reputation of being private, elitist, and white.
Katherine--I was going to point out my own fro-capability, but I was afraid it would get me invaded. (Except, Ogged, those are dreads, not a fro. I suppose those dreads demonstrate fro-capability. I'm not dread-capable to that extent.)
Looking at Blake's pictures, I find it hard to imagine that he could be raised anywhere in the U.S. with that appearance and not have some sort of prototypically African-American experiences. He's unmistakably black enough that anyone who has problems with black people will have problems with him.
Could the girlfriend be Valerie Plame?
I was reading ogged's post as an attempt to pick at the edges of racial categories
Yeah, exactly. My question was really "what makes the media so quick to call Blake 'black'?" And, by extension, what makes us call people "black?" I'm not actually denying that he's black if he thinks he's black, obviously, precisely because the categories aren't fixed like that, and depend so much on context.
My answer is basically, I call someone 'black' if most everyone else in the U.S. would call that person 'black'. There's some dispute about whether race has any meaning at all aside from that sort of social construction, but the social construction is definitely the most important thing about it. And, as I said above, I don't think it's productive to pretend the social construction isn't there, even though it would be better if it weren't.
"Evidently, there is a lone, demented individual wandering the tennis courts of Baton Rouge who is on a life-quest to let all players know they are homosexuals."
According to the "Annotated Lolita", there is enough information in that book to identify a gay tennis player famous IRL.
If I am not mistaken, Serbs claim Jason Kidd as one of their own via his mother.
Weiner -- quite right. It seems odd that we have to reiterate that position every few months or so, just to make sure we all agree. But it is so.
Funny about the fro test and Thurgood Marshall, who was appointed, after all, because he was unmistakably black thanks to his NAACP law work. Lyndon Johnson:
Son, when I appoint a nigger to the court, I want everyone to know he's a nigger.
Such a Johnsonian moment: putting the first black man on the Supreme Court but talking about it in a crudely racist way.
Well, I think we may all agree on that in the sense that we all agree that it's appropriate to mock men who are sexually traumatized by the sight of childbirth.
identify a gay tennis player famous IRL
You mean B/ill ~n?
Self-identification is primary, I would think.
Can we call it the Steve Martin rule?
Self-identification is primary, I would think.
So Michael Jackson is white?
Forty eight comments and no reference to the grocery bag test?
Check out this image.
He's in the shade, making him look a bit darker, but check out the nose. Definatly some northern-european-climate qualities to it. He's an interested ethnic mix, I'd say. I think then it would probably be best to for the media to refrain from assigning him to a particular ethnic group as he appears to inhabit several.
We did talk about the test before. But, you know, with my current tan, I wouldn't pass that test.
So how are we classifying w-lfs-n? IIRC, he rocks a Dave Corzine mini-fro.
Thanks for classing up the joint, Michael.
No, no, it's true. I am a dirty jew.
It was the 3rd of the 3 possible meanings of 54 which was the most offensive, I think. Though I primarily meant it in the 1st - i.e. w-lfs-n has dark skin and nappy hair because he needs a shower.
But I don't have dark skin. And I find it extremely interesting that you apparently assume we all rank the possible meanings of 54 in exactly the same way. Interesting and disgusting.
Ah, but you're mistaken. I didn't assume you all ranked them in the same way; I simply assumed that my ranking was the best and most proper and therefore the should be the standard.
Self ID is key, but it's not like this is all that close a call anyway: Blake's father was African American and his mother is white. He can choose to call himself whatever he wants, but he's certainly got more than one drop of black ancestry.
I hadn't seen his dad. I guess that counts for something. But Blake's living in Connecticut and the overwhelming honkiness of his "J-Block" fans far outweighs biology, I think we'd all agree.
Depends what part of Connecticut he lives in; if it's Hartford, he gets to identify as black. Other relevant factors: how many sweaters does he own, does he own a pipe, and has he ever jumped into a raked pile of leaves.
See, now we're getting somewhere in our examination of race in America.
News reports say he's from Fairfield. What does that make him?
I note that it's call Fairfield, and I see that it has both a country club and a golf course.
See here. 95.3% white, 1.1% black. Sounds like James Blake to me.
Ah, but the real test, the only One True Test, is whether or not he was allowed to join the country club.
You're right. This will be harder to ascertain.
This is an online news/entertainment journal, right? Just call them up, give them your credentials, and ask if they let Blake join.
Good point. I hereby deputize you to do it.
You'll have to put at least $0.01 in my paypal account so than I can truthfully refer to you as my employer.
You'll have to put at least $0.01 in my paypal account
"I'm only going to put the tip in, just a little..."
Fairfield county ranks fifth in per capita income for U.S. counties.
You're not seriously claiming that a black guy who is raised in a rich place isn't black, are you?
No, I'm saying that a black tennis player raised in Connecticut who offers no evidence that he's ever jumped into a raked pile of leaves isn't black.
So you think he got into the country club? I think it's extremely unlikely that Blake has never had any sort of experience where he was treated differently because he was black. Even if he grew up rich in a rich town.
And I understand why sports commentators make a big deal about race in tennis--not as much as golf, perhaps, it has been a club-based sport with a history of racial exclusion. I remember reading that when David Dinkins was mayor of New York he could still only play tennis on public courts.
79. What's the correlation between jumping in piles of leaves and blackness? I used to jump in piles of leaves all the time. (Although I was more cautious after I got slugged.)
No, I'm saying that a black tennis player raised in Connecticut who offers no evidence that he's ever jumped into a raked pile of leaves isn't black.
I'm with Weiner on this.
Ogged -- I think what you mean by this is that he's only black like I'm Irish: if you want to trace ancestry, I'm more Irish than anything else, but I haven't got a lot of cultural connection. In a different world where my Irish ancestors were Germans, my life wouldn't be particularly different. In the ideal future that all of us (Gary particularly) are longing for, race will be a question that gets answered like ethnicity does among white Americans, and with as little importance.
That doesn't mean that, even though he grew up well off and paying tennis, that Blake's father's race didn't, in the non-ideal world we do live in, shape his life. Saying that he's not entitled to call himself black because his life hasn't been hard enough (as you seem to be) strikes me as unwarranted. Now if he doesn't think of himself as black - if he identifies as biracial or whatever, that's fine, but you don't decide what people get to call themselves based on how much you think they've suffered.
The pile of leaves line was supposed to be the tip-off that I was basically kidding. My point is just this: I'm a little dismayed at how quick the press has been to call him African-American when the meaning of that term and its application to him is so much more complicated than an easy binary. One almost gets that sense that they really want him to be black so there can be another black guy in tennis. But given the fact of the Williams sisters, and that they're playing the tournament in a stadium named after a black tennis player, I think it would be a more effective testament to the inclusiveness of tennis if people didn't mention race at all (in this situation).
Also, jumping in a pile of leaves is what I think of as a Connecticut white thing.
Michael was confused. It's all the bilge water.
I think it would be a more effective testament to the inclusiveness of tennis if people didn't mention race at all (in this situation).
Maybe. Doesn't that lead to a situation where race is only mentioned in the context of poverty or suffering, though? "Black" ends up meaning 'dark-skinned person in poverty', and for anyone whose life is going nicely, race is irrelevant and uncouth to mention. This seems wrong, somehow -- I want race to be irrelevant across the board, not to remain relevant as only a marker of social pathology.
Doesn't that lead to a situation where race is only mentioned in the context of poverty or suffering, though?
Oops, the "(in this situation)" was a leftover from a different version of that sentence. The situation I have in mind is tennis generally, which seems to have come far enough that it doesn't need to advertise its inclusiveness. I didn't mean the James Blake situation.
Fair enough. I agree that I don't see any reason that tennis reporting needs to make an issue of his race.
So, if I read you right, your problem with the media circus is that their use of the term 'African-American' makes it sound as if it's a success story from the 'hood, barred from tennis clubs, made own tennis rackets, etc, when really, Blake is a rich kid from a rich Connecticut bedroom community, who could join exclusive clubs, and who would be a non-story except his skin tone is darker than most of his rivals.
They do seem a little eager to find an Arthur Ashe to crown. But still, the dude's black. It doesn't have a hardship requirement.
He's not good enough to be singled out that way. Let him win a Slam first. Otherwise we'll start again hearing arguments about how black players' bones are too dense, and limit the snap on their shots.
God will surely strike one of us dead.
Oh fuckity fuck fuck, it's not showing here anymore. No, it's not on my local station. Oh fuckity, I think this is some screwed up Directv thing.
Nooooooo!!!!
On the upside, whoever rides the celestial winner through the mortal backboard can chill with Vitas Gerulaitis.
Did God really just smite you? Does God read comments?
The game is on my local station, if you were wondering.
Blake up 5-4 serving for the match.
i'm live-commenting the match.
I just had someone call me to make sure I'm watching, which I still am.
the scoreboard is showing ridiculous symmetry. too bad they can't tie.
holy shit. this is ricockulous.
Wow. I see the result now. (My browser crashed at 6-5.) Amazing.
I can't believe they marched Blake out there in front of a mic.
I always think they interview the losers of major sporting events too soon afterwards, but maybe there's a good reason for it I've missed. It can't just be a misguided attempt to catch an outburst, can it?
I proclaim Agassi's shot placement King Intanglible of the Visible Universe.
Maybe I should preview sometimes.
w/d: I think they want to make someone cry.
sb: no, I think King Intanglible of the Visible Universe goes to Dubya's integligence. Let's give Agassi's shot place the title of King Intangible of the Visible Universe.
Comment and anti-comment annihilate, leaving only titties.
In your universe, there are titties and tennis. Must be nice.
I was referring to the titty-corpuscles that form the substrate of this blog. There are no titties in the room with me, apart from my own, which may not themselves exist, either.
Descartes actually began by doubting everything but titties, but this led to no publishable philosophy.
Is the emphasis there on "publishable" or on "philosophy"?
Would you have published this treatise?
Hooray!
Exclamations on First Philbosomy.
Jeepers, ogged, patience. Learn the difference between bashful silence and belaboring a clever riposte.
Sorry. Take your time. In fact, I'm going to bed. You have all night.
To ward off all this (slightly deserved) talk of compliments that seems to have attached itself to me, I'm going to start aggrandizing myself pell-mell.*
*Willy-nilly.
That was an awesome comment.
Talk of aggrandizing willies goes in the other thread.
Wait, what am I saying? This is unfogged; talk of aggrandizing willies goes in every thread.
talk of compliments
Maybe we can shorten this concept to single word: commentpliments. ex: I wanted to commentpliment this pwnage by Weiner, but could think of nothing suitable.
I think we mean different things by "all this talk of compliments".
Thanks Michael! I was afraid that that one had fallen dead-born from the press. (I really should have signed it with a pot-kettle, though.)
Le mot juste was on backorder at L.L. Bean. It only just arrived.
Exclamations on First Philomasty.
