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Brainstorm: Lives of the Mind John L. Jackson Jr.

A New York Sports Fan Vents!!!



Now that a few more days have passed since the Celtics pummeled the Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, I can finally admit the extent of my massive resentment as a native New Yorker (a Brooklynite, no less) about being forced to root for the Boston Celtics (any Boston team) in a sporting event. And I blame the New York Knicks for putting me in this unthinkable position. But I must admit, I did end up rooting (at the edge of my seat) for the Boston Celtics over and against the Los Angeles Lakers, the latter being (in this fan’s idiosyncratic opinion) the lesser of two franchise-based evils.

Since my in-laws are from Minneapolis, a city I have grown to like a great deal, I was happy that KG could vie for a title — and that he ended up getting it, emphatically. But with Boston?! Ugh! (Of course, I wasn’t nearly as happy as KG showed himself to be in post-game interviews, wailing and howling with exhalation about tossing that ringless monkey from atop his back.

And not only was I bitter about having my stomach tied up in knots over the threat of a Kobe championship (and his further encroachment on what once seemed like Michael Jordan’s untouchable and incomparable basketball legacy), I also breathed (just this past week) an extra sigh of relief that my New York Giants somehow, miraculously, upset this year’s monsters of professional football, those New England Patriots, which allowed fans in the rest of the country to dodge the ultimate sports bullet: Bostonians vaingloriously claiming a championship-trifecta by coming out on top in the nation’s three most popular team sports. (I was anxiously checking on the scores from Boston Bruins games all December and early January.) New York would have had to relocate itself further south to get away from all the New England junk-talking that would have ensued. Not that I mind such antagonistic and spirited rhetoric, sports matches allow for one of the last great (and low-stakes) bastions for what literary theorist/critic Philip Fisher reminds us are the “vehement passions,” emotions (like anger and grief) that the Greeks once openly relished but that we’ve currently found a way to domesticate/tame into something close to public non-existence.

Of course, as Boston celebrates another championship, my lowly Mets lost their stoic manager and are trying to win some kind of trophy for rabid inconsistency. Good thing the Olympics are here to distract New York sports fans this summer.

Speaking of the Olympics, what do you think of my (mostly) tongue-in-cheek proposal about redefining sports in light of the Olympic games ?

And I have even more going on this week to keep me from thinking about the depressing state of professional sports in NYC: Jury Duty. That is, unless I get assigned to a case with some New York athlete gone wild. I hope not!

Posted at 05:28:46 AM on June 23, 2008 | All postings by John L. Jackson Jr.

Comments

  1. The problem is that the Giants play in New Jersey, and have the temerity to boast an erstwhile New York identification. The Devils and Nets rightly call themsleves New Jerseyeans; let the Giants own up as well to their suburban zip code.

    — Abbott Katz · Jun 23, 06:21 AM · #

  2. 1. Nice to have a little breathing room injected into all the discussion about Michelle Obama and race.

    2. Personally, I root against the Knicks; wish they’d go 0 – 82. Why? The ugliest ownership in all of sports, second only to that of the Yankees, but now being approached by that of the Mets.

    3. Back to race (why not?): A friend in LA tells me some of the locals are complaining that the reason the Lakers were trounced in the finals is that there are too many “Euros” on the team. Ironic, ain’t it, considering the opinion of many Celtics fans on the reason why their team went south after the Bird-McHale-Ainge era.

    — A Displaced Laker Fan · Jun 23, 06:48 AM · #

  3. Methinks Minnesota is a state, not a city.

    — Thomas Hagerty · Jun 23, 08:24 AM · #

  4. Thomas Hagerty. Thanks for the correction. I meant Minneapolis. I’ll fix it. “Methinks” that that is what I get trying to write this stuff at 5am.

    — John Jackson · Jun 23, 11:28 AM · #

  5. I have an extended lunch break today, so let me take a couple more seconds to say…

    Abbot Katz: Even as a native New Yorker, I can totally appreciate your gripe about the Gaints and their zip code. Fair enough!

    Displaced Laker Fan: I know there are a lot of anti-Knickerbockers out there. The sad things is, it seems like they are on a trajectory that leads directly to fulfilling your 0-82 wish. And great point about the era-based ironies of race and basketball. Nicely put.

    — John Jackson · Jun 23, 11:36 AM · #

  6. john,

    prof. madonna constantine was fired from columbia today despite having found out who hung that noose on her door. your thoughts? moreover, why haven’t any notable black faculty commented on this? are they “skerd?” where’s cornell, henry louis gates, toni morrison, angela davis, john jackson, etc?

    — thinkingoutloud · Jun 24, 01:38 PM · #

  7. thinkingoutloud: thanks for your comments. i’ve been on jury duty and out of the loop. but since this is an important issue, i’ll read through all the material i can tonight and try to get some comments up by the morning. and i didn’t realize that they had determined who hung the noose. i guess i’ll read more about that this evening. more in a bit.

    — John Jackson · Jun 24, 05:33 PM · #

  8. Ok…I look forward to your insights….

    — thinkingoutloud · Jun 25, 09:28 AM · #

  9. By the way, they did not find out who hung the noose on ther door, which makes these latest turn of events seem that much more susipicous…it just seems all too hasty…meanwhile, you have all these anynomous sources on the columbia spectator villifying her without knowing all the details…it makes you wonder if anyone of them hung the noose? i truly believe if she is guilty then she should be rightfully punished, but until all the evidence has equally been considered, then i really think everyone should refrain from offering such divisive remarks…its like everyone thinks Columbia has not and does not have its own share of racial and sexist problems…i mean look at its faculty for crying out loud…Until very recently, only a handful of black faculty existed at the university and let alone tenured….i’m a former graduate student and alumni of the university, and i know firsthand some of the problems minority students, faculty, and staff have confronted so please excuse me if I am not so eager to dismiss Prof. Constantine’s claim to have been a target of racial mischeif.

    — thinkingoutloud · Jun 25, 09:46 AM · #

  10. I received your book today John from Amazon, it took a bit longer than I expected. I will be curling up for a good read tonight (unless I get a better offer ;-)

    Will let you know…..

    By the way you told me to email you, where can I find your email address?

    — Job's Comforter · Jun 25, 11:10 AM · #

  11. Of course, we’ll never know for sure until they release the transcript of the termination hearings (which they won’t, because it’s a personnel matter), and maybe not even then, but…

    According to Columbia, Dr. Constantine’s termination has nothing to do with a) the noose incident, or b) the history of the lack of black faculty at Columbia.

    Maybe Columbia prevaricates, maybe not, but on what we can see of the face of the matter, there is a strong case for plagiarism having been committed.

    BTW, if we don’t know who put the noose on the door, that means anybody with physical access to Dr. Constantine’s door—including Dr. Constantine herself—is a possible suspect, no?

    — Just Passing Through · Jun 25, 06:19 PM · #

  12. Sad to say, the incidence of plagiarism in academia is far more widespread than is made known. In fact, plagiarism in academia seems only to be prosecuted when there is some other reason driving the prosecution (as in the Ward Churchill affair).

    I personally know of at least three cases of academic plagiarism which were never prosecuted: one, where a doctoral candidated didn’t dare accuse her dissertation advisor; a second where an assistant professor kept silent when the senior program director, who insisted that an article by the junior faculty member list her name as co-author because she had received the invitation to publish, just happened to appear in print with only the program director’s name on it; and the third, where a professor plagiarized in a public venue and everyone bent over backwards to demonize the accuser and excuse the plagiarist.

    My response to the Constantine affair would be to seek to expose those whom Columbia has not prosecuted for plagiarism or falsified curricula vitae, for example. It really shouldn’t be all that hard to find at least a handful of cases. Almost every academic knows of them, yet all but a few principled faculty remain silent – for fear of being found out themselves?

    — Anti-hypocrisy advocate · Jul 5, 12:28 PM · #

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