The FIBA Championship of the Americas, which is currently moving along its inexorable trajectory towards a US victory, provides an interesting backdrop with which to examine chapter five of Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope. “Opportunity” is the subject matter, a subject that is considered at both the macro and micro levels through several lenses. USA Basketball may not provide the perfect vehicle to examine the relationship between free trade, global competitiveness and individual opportunity, but it does offer some interesting avenues for comparison.
Obama contends that one of the principal problems with maintaining the competitiveness of American businesses is that there is a well-documented shortage of skilled workers being produced by our system of public education. Instead of viewing our collective intellectual capacity as a tool for industrialization—as our political forebears did in the wake of the Civil War, when a great many of our esteemed universities were founded—we are trapped in a defensive posture vis-à-vis the very industrial systems that this early investment helped generate. And now, hamstrung by union opposition to globalization and an educational system that is producing a dearth of tech- and science-savvy graduates, we are beginning to see the inevitable decline that rearward-gazing sentimentalism engenders. Without re-examining our priorities and reinvesting in the workforce’s ability to compete on a global scale in value-added enterprise, we are doomed to watch as more and more of the economic advantage that we have come to view as a birthright, is exported to the qualified and ambitious citizens of Bangalore and Shanghai.
What does this have to do with basketball? Make the jump.
The distance between Hyphy and Hipster can be measured in inches–pant size to be more precise. Oakland is one of the few places in the US where the skinny jeans stride along the same streets with the extra-large baggy ones (Brooklyn and Detroit are the others that come to mind). What is most interesting is the hybrid of the two that seems to be brewing of late. Last year, England’s MIA, the supreme siren for hipster boys across the globe did a version of the Hyphy anthem “I Got Grapes” by Nump, one of E-40’s camp. Also, there are rumors that DJ Amp Live from Zion-I is pursuing a project that would highlight an “electro-hyphy” sound that is percolating in the deeps of Deep East Oakland. One purplicious example of such a fusion being the remix kraftywerk of local producer Trackademicks.
The cross-pollination can best be symbolized by Vans. It seems that no matter if you have jeans hugging your hips or hanging off your haunches, you got some Vans Slip-ons. And what better style to represent the East Bay’s casual swagger. So, wear them with pride fellow East Bay-ers because no other place in the world does it like we do. We all know the names by now of the many Hyphy artists repping the Bay, but here are a few independent rock and electronic artists also holding it down for The Town that you should check for, so kick off your vans and kick out the jams:
“…back on their home court in Oakland with the craziest fans in the NBA. The fans were so loud at Oracle Arena that ESPN had a decibel meter showing how loud the fans were, the decibel level was equivelent to that of an orchestra playing in the arena” — from Lakers4life blog
If we were to interpret the fifth Law of Power that Robert Greene is espousing literally, then the next time the Utah Jazz come to Oracle Arena, I wanna see some Guyana-style mass suicide if Warriors’ fans don’t bring the noise like they did in April. Forget an “orchestra,” I want some Pete Townsend-style, ear drum-rupturing noise. Sure, there’s Baron’s tenacity and Stephen Jackson’s insanity, but the most important reputation to protect, in my opinion, is that of the Warriors’ fans. Out of all NBA fans, we are the most die hard, the die harderest, or die Hardaway as the case may be. Arco Arena? I laugh at you. The Rose Garden? Like a trip to an actual Rose Garden. No, the Oracle became the most feared venue in the NBA and it’s our job to keep it that way.
Check the quote at the top. That’s a motherfriggin’ Lakers’ fan saying that. Those fools don’t give it up to nobody, so you know we got a rep. If the Warriors franchise was smart like Keith, they would create a logo that matches the reputation of the Warriors’ fans. The Oakland Raiders don’t even need to win and they’ll still sell hella merchandise based on the beautiful coalescense of branding and fan reputation, both scary as hell. Warriors fans are now just as foreboding, but sadly, I want to take a nap on Thunder’s biceps. I say we just go to Foothill Boulevard and recruit a crazy Hell’s Angels dude to dress like one of the Warriors from the movie. That would be the most terrifying shit ever.
So, to you Warriors’ fans, what’s it going to be: either you come out to play, or you come out to play.
Our boy Barry Zito has made an attempt to get his face on the Fear the Beard. Unfortunately, I have deemed the hair in question to be an overblown 5 o’clock shadow. Fellow Bay blog, Say Hey, broke a story that ties his reclaimed swagger to said whiskers. However, I feel some additional growth may be needed to instill the proper fear into his opponents hearts and minds.
So, nice try Zito, but before we can add you to the list of ‘great beards in history‘, we’ll need to see a little more depth and breadth to your showing (take Bruce here as an example). Note this well rounded line up at Home Run Derby, or as I told Diesel, call Boom for some tips.
Coming straight from the playground. Starbury around, then over a perplexed Valdi. Too bad his shot was so off. But that was just plain silly. I think Boom Dizzle needs to use that one on AK-47 in the home opener to remind him. Or at least bound one off his big ol’ forehead.
Note the clip from our now infamous former-Warrior point guard. The piece wraps with some streetballer classics.
My apologies. But note the nine iron beard on the man of steel. Diesel was sportin’ some serious scruff at Alonzo Morning’s Charity Golf tournament at the Trump’s club. Can you say “Briarcliff Manor beard”?
If you plan to keep this up much after the million dollor shootout, talk to Lord Baron about tightening up your grooming techniques big man.
Sure, most of this clip is a bit old (I think), but humor me. Rucker park in the NYCizzle is ground zero for streetball cred. It being summer and all, the concrete is where it gets put down until the season starts. Especially if the unnamed coaches at USA Basketball are fronting on you because you’re an offensive-minded point guard who doesn’t fit in their precious “system.”
But regardless, even the pros have to put in some work on the concrete once in a while if they want to rep their skills for the masses. So it should come as no big surprise that The Beard himself occasionally puts some West Coast funk down on the OG East Coast blacktop.
You can almost smell that NYC-in-summer smell of hot garbage through the screen. Seriously, smell your screen.
Daniel Turman
PS. He talks about streetball some here too. Now, Dizzle. Live Oak Park, Sundays. My old-man game is unstoppable, baby!
On May 10, 1987, Sleepy Floyd had the greatest quarter ever in an NBA playoff game. That he did so in an elimination game, against a Lakers team that would be NBA champions just over a month later, makes it all the more remarkable. But even more so is the longevity of his record. In spite of 20 years elapsing since the feat, and a constellation of big-scoring stars come and gone, Floyd’s 29-point fourth quarter in the Dubs lone win of the series still stands as an unmatched achivement. So please, take a few seconds out of your day to remember an improbable achievement against one of the NBA’s great dynasties and its premier defender Michael Cooper. It’s not every day that someone lives the dream and drops 51 points on the Showtime Lakers in a Warriors jersey.
The story of the epic quarter is lovingly recounted by ESPN’s Bill Simmons after the jump.
Sure, it’s already been posted by another Yay Area sports blog, but this one’s too good not to throw up on FTB. It is just another massive display of Oaklandishness, captured in all of the cellphone-o-vision that one would expect. The main event: some dude named Jose taking on Stomper the A’s (elephant-suited) mascot in a breakdance showcase. I won’t reveal too much about the highly disputable outcome, but to say that dancing of any sort with size 27 floppy, furry shoes on and a five pound furry elephant head obscuring your vision has to count for something, right?
Jose, factoring in the handicap, you got served. If more evidence is required, part two can be seen here.
Well, the pre-season Battle of the Bay was taken by the 49ers, 26-21. However both teams gave some reason for optimism. At least that they should out perform last year’s results. Not that this is a very difficult task for the lowly Raiders.
The QB situation in particular is proving to be particularly hopeful. With the exception of the some fumbled snaps.
I’m not a rabid football fan, so weathering these bad times have not been as hard on me as the Warriors 12-year skid. However, I must admit that I got spoiled having winning NFL teams rep the Bay. I’d like to have that again.
