I’m someone who approaches sports analytically first, and “writerly” second: Sports stories are great, but as with any description of the world, they should stick to the facts, or at least acknowledge them when they complicate the narrative.
So while I found this episode entertaining, it was also maddening in how it erased Jews from the Celtics’ dynasty teams, particularly the coach of the Russell Celtics and architect of the “White Celtics”, Red Auerbach (BTW, Google “celtics gm 80s” and see the blurb it highlights. It would behoove Google and other “Forces For Good” to not make Douglas Murray’s point for him), and the general flabbiness of defining what a “Black Team” and a “White Team” are.
If I were to guess, it sounds like Laymon falls into the same trap that Sokol described regarding announcers in the 80s and 90s: “Blacks” were “natural athletes” and “Whites” were “scrappy”. This manages to insult everyone except sports fans who put the racial imaginary ahead of the beautiful reality of the sport right in front of them. Of course, Laymon makes no bones about his racial imaginary (the ambivalence to Mahomes because he fails Laymon’s brown paper bag test was…something), so as I said: entertaining, but maddening. There’s a reason I don’t listen to sports radio and ESPN take factories.
Even then, further mysteries abound: Was Jerry Rice Black enough, playing for the preppie-white Bill Walsh Niners, but coming from a HBCU? Ozzie Smith showcased his athletic talents taking the field every home game for the Whiteyball Cardinals, who’s smallball and fundamentals-based approach is usually associated with whiteness; is he Black enough?
A few links I found while writing this comment:
The Wikipedia article on Red Auerbach that Google helpfully highlighted to imply that Auerbach was racist: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach (I didn’t know Auerbach innovated the fast break; I associated it with the Showtime Lakers)
I also recommend Ezra Edelman’s 30 For 30 documentary on the Big East. I was 13 in 1984, when St. John’s, Georgetown, and Villanova all made it to the Final Four, and finding out more about how the league started and piggybacked off of ESPN was a lot of fun!
Totally unexpected yet fantastic conversation. Always happy to hear an intelligent sports discussion, which is not necessarily easy to find. Good timing with March Madness as well. I was just in Brooklyn to watch the first round of the tournament.
I’m someone who approaches sports analytically first, and “writerly” second: Sports stories are great, but as with any description of the world, they should stick to the facts, or at least acknowledge them when they complicate the narrative.
So while I found this episode entertaining, it was also maddening in how it erased Jews from the Celtics’ dynasty teams, particularly the coach of the Russell Celtics and architect of the “White Celtics”, Red Auerbach (BTW, Google “celtics gm 80s” and see the blurb it highlights. It would behoove Google and other “Forces For Good” to not make Douglas Murray’s point for him), and the general flabbiness of defining what a “Black Team” and a “White Team” are.
If I were to guess, it sounds like Laymon falls into the same trap that Sokol described regarding announcers in the 80s and 90s: “Blacks” were “natural athletes” and “Whites” were “scrappy”. This manages to insult everyone except sports fans who put the racial imaginary ahead of the beautiful reality of the sport right in front of them. Of course, Laymon makes no bones about his racial imaginary (the ambivalence to Mahomes because he fails Laymon’s brown paper bag test was…something), so as I said: entertaining, but maddening. There’s a reason I don’t listen to sports radio and ESPN take factories.
Even then, further mysteries abound: Was Jerry Rice Black enough, playing for the preppie-white Bill Walsh Niners, but coming from a HBCU? Ozzie Smith showcased his athletic talents taking the field every home game for the Whiteyball Cardinals, who’s smallball and fundamentals-based approach is usually associated with whiteness; is he Black enough?
A few links I found while writing this comment:
The Wikipedia article on Red Auerbach that Google helpfully highlighted to imply that Auerbach was racist: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach (I didn’t know Auerbach innovated the fast break; I associated it with the Showtime Lakers)
A more realistic take on the Celtics from a saner time (2007): https://www.espn.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Celtics-071219
I also recommend Ezra Edelman’s 30 For 30 documentary on the Big East. I was 13 in 1984, when St. John’s, Georgetown, and Villanova all made it to the Final Four, and finding out more about how the league started and piggybacked off of ESPN was a lot of fun!
Totally unexpected yet fantastic conversation. Always happy to hear an intelligent sports discussion, which is not necessarily easy to find. Good timing with March Madness as well. I was just in Brooklyn to watch the first round of the tournament.
Representation matters. Or something.
I still remember how happy I was when Thompson gave a couple white kids scholarships.