Links & Thoughts

To start, some links:

Larry David's thoughts on the upcoming US election. I think most of us are in a similar state of anxiety.

This is a great interview in the New York Times with Josh Childress regarding his European experience thus far. (via TrueHoop)
What I found particularly interesting about this article was how the camaraderie of a European team (ie. team meals) was similar to that of a collegiate basketball program. For intellectual guys like Childress (those who value certain things more than basketball) this aspect of European basketball sounds appealing. And the money. Childress likes the money.
Overall the team experience in Europe isn't quite like Kobe Bryant being flanked by body guards on team outings. Though maybe Bryant will bring that to Europe some day.

Lastly, a profile I wrote about Ryan Cochrane for the Martlet. Since the article is more formal (aka standards of journalism this site doesn't aspire to) I wasn't able to mention that Cochrane is a cool, down-to-earth guy. Definitely an athlete worth cheering for. Cochrane recently won a bronze medal in swimming in the 1500-metre event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I hope to see him at the top of the podium in London in 2012 and at next year's World Championships in Rome.

I caught my first televised basketball of the season this evening. Well, sort of.

To start I watched only twenty minutes or so. Secondly, this was over the internet. Cavs-Pistons & TWolves- Bulls pre-season may sound appealing to a basketball junkie, but it ain't. And when the resolution of the live feed actually allows a viewer to count the pixels on the screen, that is also not good.

The clincher? To the side of the action, and taking up half the screen, was a live chat during the game. As a society, I think it's safe to say that we are much more racially tolerant and tolerant of homosexuality than in past decades. So where has all the homophobia and racism gone? The internet, of course!

This live chat in particular featured a string of gay-bashing, some of which was directed towards Kirk Hinrich or other players of potential mediocrity. Not a lot of racist stuff, however. (Go to a YouTube comments section for that.) Anyway, the homophobia is so rampant that gay is edited on the website as such: ***. Example: Kirk Hinrich is so ***. So, in an ultimate moment of creativity, users such as PISTONSFORLIFE and KOBEBRYANT have started saying 'ghey'. Well done, gentleman.

What did I glean from twenty minutes and for teams? Not much. Tayshaun Prince looked nice. The Cavs were lost without Lebron on the floor. McCants & Foye are chuckers, only Foye's shots go in. Of course I haven't yet checked the box scores. And now that I have I am pleased to announce the T-Wolves both started and ended the game with nine-point quarters! Welcome to post-KG era!