Excellent piece. I didn't even know this was going on until you talked about it with Nate and Wos the other day. And now I'm boiling mad.
God I hate our lefty Moral Majority media so fucking much. I hate them. I loathe them. I'm sick of their lecturing, their scolding, their sneering, their shaming.
It bears repeating: the vast, vast majority of people don't watch or pay attention to sports for political lectures. They do it for an escape from day-to-day drudgery and a polarizing political climate. Ditto with watching movies or playing video games.
But no. These elitist folks DEMAND you think of every one of your hobbies as political at all times. I believe I speak for everyone here when I say ENOUGH! We're all so tired of you!
Agreed. I suspect much of the backlash to Bud Light is emblematic of how elites treat the common normies. The persistent boycott is a signal to industry decision makers that the marketplace remains an arena for their voices to be heard when traditional media and credentialism has shut them out.
BL created a few cans featuring a popular influencer and sent them to her. It was a ridiculous overreaction by the Right and they look all the more ridiculous for it. And, as a parent of school aged kids, I (as do MANY others) find what the Right is doing in that regard deplorable.
I'm only worried about trans people in regards to if my children or other friends/family are trans and how this world doesn't seem to be comfortable with accepting them to the point that they can live their lives freely and safely.
I was going to say the exact same thing. After 2022, I gave up predicting that wokeness/culture war alone would decide elections. Clearly there are other factors at play.
Hmm...interesting conclusion to your frustration. Isn't you saying "you speak for everyone", exactly what you didn't like about the NBA getting so political during the NBA Bubble?
It's utterly ridiculous to measure a coach's greatness by his politics. Ridiculous. Let me say it again. Ridiculous. How could a serious journalist write that? Compare Pop and Phil by their political theories? Thanks for the deep dive on the ridiculous nature of this anti-Phil wave.
This is so apt! It does so much disservice to their work to see and judge them from a single point of view. Sort of flattens everyone and ironically makes the person judging more rigid and unwilling to learn.
I feel recently with emergence of analytics, the ringzzz argument has become underrated. It is really hard to win a championship and it is really hard to win multiple in a row. Phil Jackson has done it 4 times, that is a crazy stat.
"For instance, he and Dennis Rodman bonded over a shared love of Native American lore, which Rodman had adopted while playing in Oklahoma. Phil was relating to Dennis, the curious explorer. Not Dennis, The Black Guy."
Part of the reasons that the efforts from the Racial Identity and Trans Identity Grievance Mongers is so pernicious is the wrongheaded belief that non-white personal identity must be at the forefront in order for us to properly understand each other and connect, and that somehow anything else is superficial. And that's obviously bullshit.
"The studio was gonna tank when I bought it. Everyone was gonna stay home with video tapes, but guess what!? No! They wanna go out! No one was gonna watch network except you give it zing, and they do. You make your own reality. And once you've done it, apparently, everyone's of the opinion it was all so fucking obvious." - Logan Roy (S1E1)
I remember seeing How Many More across the top of a jersey, with the number 13 below it. Come on. I'm trying not to make jokes but you have to do your part by not serving up anything that obvious.
Is Substack eligible for the Pulitzers? I think it is, and how does one submit stories to get nominated? I know this year's crop is about to be announced but definitely the writing and the thoughtfulness here deserve to be considered!
Another A+ article. Absolute why I subscribe. You really make me feel like I am getting what I pay for a good 70% of the time, which is a great rate for something like this.
Jalen Rose has been eating out on reframing a colossal failure as a secret success for so long people forget he didn’t win shit his entire career. People make the fab 5 Duke thing to be more than one sided, but Michigan got their teeth kicked in by Bobby freakin Hurley. We get like five documentaries about how losing by 20 (and being lucky to lose by only 20) is some sort of achievement.
After reading this piece, I've been listening to Rubin's podcast with Phil and it's amazing how innocuous the comment was. I'm about halfway through and the episode is chocked full of amazing nuggets about history and the NBA of old. That last paragraph is fantastic. Oh how much we lose when we abandon our curiosity in some false sense of moral superiority.
"The other cope in response to the GOAT coach being bad is simply to deny that he was ever uniquely great."
This line is in relation to Jemele's tweet, yes? Yet, she never once said or even intimated that Phil wasn't "great." In fact, it's not even all that ridiculous to say that, arguably, the 1st/2nd best coaches in NBA history are interchangeable or there could at least be some discussion for the relative merits of each. This was nothing more than a gigantic strawman.
Also, I've consumed a fair amount of Jemele Hill media throughout the years (as I'm sure you have as well) and she definitely likes to deal in hyperbole/humour for effect. If you were to ask her whether Phil's questionable views on black people/culture truly factored into her assessment of his career as a HC, I'm almost certain she'd capitulate in that regard.
The last paragraph sums everything up wonderfully. Pointing out how ludicrous and funny "Justice passes the ball to Opportunity" is requires the power of truth these days. Like many, I ignored all of that. If I want pandering, status jockeying, and virtue signaling, I know where to find it. The Jemele Hills and Jalen Rose's of the world are offended because they're not used to someone criticizing black people or black culture. They've become chimeras, especially Rose. Pop is so far gone he's unrecognizable.
Jackson has done nothing except continue to speak the truth as he sees it. It's all he can do. It's all any of us can do. In journalism, Glenn Greenwald, while much younger, is in the same boat. He hasn't changed, but everyone else in the stupid 'woke' bubble has.
The woke era has created this group of angels who shall not be held to task, criticized, or ridiculed. Jackson will do it, as will millions of others. ESPN and its ilk operate within their own dimension, unaware of what's going on in the regular world, where no one is a millionaire, and black people are held to the same standards as everyone else.
I can assure you that the Jemele Hills and Jalen Roses of the world (along with any other black American) are more than accustomed to black people/culture being criticized.
All the "woke era" is doing is acknowledging that inequities exist while also working to amend those disparities. That is the dimension of truth that exists and that we occupy.
Great piece. It sad so many interesting things about Phil Jackson will never be discussed in a public light the same way. Very few people nowadays able to overcome the reductive racist image that has been unfairly cast. It's like the Elon tweet. Phil Jackson hasn't changed. The world has changed and what was considered center is now conservative and racist.
I found the pod amusing because Rubin, who knows nothing about sports, asked some of the most interesting and insightful questions ever and Jackson kept giving him pat answers.
Excellent piece. I didn't even know this was going on until you talked about it with Nate and Wos the other day. And now I'm boiling mad.
God I hate our lefty Moral Majority media so fucking much. I hate them. I loathe them. I'm sick of their lecturing, their scolding, their sneering, their shaming.
It bears repeating: the vast, vast majority of people don't watch or pay attention to sports for political lectures. They do it for an escape from day-to-day drudgery and a polarizing political climate. Ditto with watching movies or playing video games.
But no. These elitist folks DEMAND you think of every one of your hobbies as political at all times. I believe I speak for everyone here when I say ENOUGH! We're all so tired of you!
Agreed. I suspect much of the backlash to Bud Light is emblematic of how elites treat the common normies. The persistent boycott is a signal to industry decision makers that the marketplace remains an arena for their voices to be heard when traditional media and credentialism has shut them out.
BL created a few cans featuring a popular influencer and sent them to her. It was a ridiculous overreaction by the Right and they look all the more ridiculous for it. And, as a parent of school aged kids, I (as do MANY others) find what the Right is doing in that regard deplorable.
I'm only worried about trans people in regards to if my children or other friends/family are trans and how this world doesn't seem to be comfortable with accepting them to the point that they can live their lives freely and safely.
THANK YOU FOR THIS @PW!!!
I was going to say the exact same thing. After 2022, I gave up predicting that wokeness/culture war alone would decide elections. Clearly there are other factors at play.
Hmm...interesting conclusion to your frustration. Isn't you saying "you speak for everyone", exactly what you didn't like about the NBA getting so political during the NBA Bubble?
It's utterly ridiculous to measure a coach's greatness by his politics. Ridiculous. Let me say it again. Ridiculous. How could a serious journalist write that? Compare Pop and Phil by their political theories? Thanks for the deep dive on the ridiculous nature of this anti-Phil wave.
Jemele Hill isn't a serious journalist, she's a hot take artist who was a replacement level guest on Around the Horn.
This is so apt! It does so much disservice to their work to see and judge them from a single point of view. Sort of flattens everyone and ironically makes the person judging more rigid and unwilling to learn.
I feel recently with emergence of analytics, the ringzzz argument has become underrated. It is really hard to win a championship and it is really hard to win multiple in a row. Phil Jackson has done it 4 times, that is a crazy stat.
"For instance, he and Dennis Rodman bonded over a shared love of Native American lore, which Rodman had adopted while playing in Oklahoma. Phil was relating to Dennis, the curious explorer. Not Dennis, The Black Guy."
Part of the reasons that the efforts from the Racial Identity and Trans Identity Grievance Mongers is so pernicious is the wrongheaded belief that non-white personal identity must be at the forefront in order for us to properly understand each other and connect, and that somehow anything else is superficial. And that's obviously bullshit.
"The studio was gonna tank when I bought it. Everyone was gonna stay home with video tapes, but guess what!? No! They wanna go out! No one was gonna watch network except you give it zing, and they do. You make your own reality. And once you've done it, apparently, everyone's of the opinion it was all so fucking obvious." - Logan Roy (S1E1)
My favorite line from the show. And one I often think about.
I remember seeing How Many More across the top of a jersey, with the number 13 below it. Come on. I'm trying not to make jokes but you have to do your part by not serving up anything that obvious.
That CBS News clip is wild. Within 30 seconds they’re talking about Jesse Owens running in front of Hitler.
Is Substack eligible for the Pulitzers? I think it is, and how does one submit stories to get nominated? I know this year's crop is about to be announced but definitely the writing and the thoughtfulness here deserve to be considered!
Another A+ article. Absolute why I subscribe. You really make me feel like I am getting what I pay for a good 70% of the time, which is a great rate for something like this.
Jalen Rose has been eating out on reframing a colossal failure as a secret success for so long people forget he didn’t win shit his entire career. People make the fab 5 Duke thing to be more than one sided, but Michigan got their teeth kicked in by Bobby freakin Hurley. We get like five documentaries about how losing by 20 (and being lucky to lose by only 20) is some sort of achievement.
After reading this piece, I've been listening to Rubin's podcast with Phil and it's amazing how innocuous the comment was. I'm about halfway through and the episode is chocked full of amazing nuggets about history and the NBA of old. That last paragraph is fantastic. Oh how much we lose when we abandon our curiosity in some false sense of moral superiority.
"The other cope in response to the GOAT coach being bad is simply to deny that he was ever uniquely great."
This line is in relation to Jemele's tweet, yes? Yet, she never once said or even intimated that Phil wasn't "great." In fact, it's not even all that ridiculous to say that, arguably, the 1st/2nd best coaches in NBA history are interchangeable or there could at least be some discussion for the relative merits of each. This was nothing more than a gigantic strawman.
Also, I've consumed a fair amount of Jemele Hill media throughout the years (as I'm sure you have as well) and she definitely likes to deal in hyperbole/humour for effect. If you were to ask her whether Phil's questionable views on black people/culture truly factored into her assessment of his career as a HC, I'm almost certain she'd capitulate in that regard.
The bottom section of this is one of the best things that’s been in the newsletter. Really great.
The last paragraph sums everything up wonderfully. Pointing out how ludicrous and funny "Justice passes the ball to Opportunity" is requires the power of truth these days. Like many, I ignored all of that. If I want pandering, status jockeying, and virtue signaling, I know where to find it. The Jemele Hills and Jalen Rose's of the world are offended because they're not used to someone criticizing black people or black culture. They've become chimeras, especially Rose. Pop is so far gone he's unrecognizable.
Jackson has done nothing except continue to speak the truth as he sees it. It's all he can do. It's all any of us can do. In journalism, Glenn Greenwald, while much younger, is in the same boat. He hasn't changed, but everyone else in the stupid 'woke' bubble has.
The woke era has created this group of angels who shall not be held to task, criticized, or ridiculed. Jackson will do it, as will millions of others. ESPN and its ilk operate within their own dimension, unaware of what's going on in the regular world, where no one is a millionaire, and black people are held to the same standards as everyone else.
I can assure you that the Jemele Hills and Jalen Roses of the world (along with any other black American) are more than accustomed to black people/culture being criticized.
All the "woke era" is doing is acknowledging that inequities exist while also working to amend those disparities. That is the dimension of truth that exists and that we occupy.
Great piece. It sad so many interesting things about Phil Jackson will never be discussed in a public light the same way. Very few people nowadays able to overcome the reductive racist image that has been unfairly cast. It's like the Elon tweet. Phil Jackson hasn't changed. The world has changed and what was considered center is now conservative and racist.
I found the pod amusing because Rubin, who knows nothing about sports, asked some of the most interesting and insightful questions ever and Jackson kept giving him pat answers.