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For this time’s blog post, I am going to
share my experience on watching real NBA
game when I was 18
years old. I went to the Boston
garden, which is one of the famous basketball team, Boston Celtics’ arena.
Standing in this arena that was 50 times larger than my home, I felt like a
needle in a haystack. So about 25,000 people surrounding me it’s like I’m one
grain of sand in the ocean. The people around the arena form a black and yellow
checker board. Their clothing engaged and looked like a throw. Smelling the
concession stand made me feel like a starving child. The smell of hotdogs and
Italian sausage reminds me of a back yard grill. The smell of melted cheese on
nachos made my stomach growl wishing I had some. I was able to get a taste of
the pretzels as a man and child walk by me with one. The warm bread with coarse
salt was delicious.
Then, a man on a microphone yelled out loud for the players to come out.
The roar of the people surrounding me was like being right behind the jet of an
airplane. The deafening noise made me squint my eyes. I clapped my hands along
with other fans, and my hands felt oily after just eating a hot piece of pizza.
My mouth was still filled with the sauce, saucy taste of the slice in my mouth.
I looked down towards the court where the
players have now started shooting baskets.
Their green coloured uniforms
stand out in the glare of the spotlights above. The court had a waxy look, like it has just been swept, and the glass backboards, had a shine just as bright as a new car.
The
game ended after that. Every single person
in the crowd wore smiles on their face as if they had just won a prize. Few others screamed and
showed displeasure as they swayed down the stairs to the doorway. The noise had greatly decreased that gave my ears a rest. It was down to a dull roar, like a breeze
blowing around leaves. My feet and hands were in pain from being pounded for nearly three hours.
NBA was not just a basketball game; it was an amazing
showcase that everyone was going wild. I still can remember the moment of dunk.
I think the difference between the NBA and the other leagues is of course it
can be whether players are good or not. However, I think the passion of fans is
mostly important. Fans
are the most important part to the team because they give the players
confidence, and whoever their favorite team is, they really love that team.
By telling my experience of NBA, I hope you can have a
little more interest on NBA or other sports to make the players more confidence.
McAlarney, who played at Notre Dame,
was a good scorer in college. However, his NBA dream did not go according to
his plan. In the nine minute, 35-second report on ESPN's "Outside The
Lines" that was aired on Dec. 6, McAlarney was in the gym working hard. He
thought his workouts with NBA teams would result in being one of the 60 players
selected in 2009. But he could not make in to one of the 60 players of the
draft in 2009. Do you want to know what turned teams off in avoiding McAlarney?
It was because of his slow reaction on defense. It is probably true that some
white players do not have that explosiveness to defend against African American
players in NBA.
Former Los Angeles Clippers head
coach Mike Dunleavy thought McAlarney was too slow to defend in the NBA. Another
thing that draft did not go against McAlarney is because of his height. He is
too short. It is impossible for six-foot, slow, white, America-born to compete against
NBA players who keep up with a 6-foot-5 athletic NBA African American point
guard. [1]
[2]
Whenever I
watch NBA game, what I noticed from NBA is that eight out of ten NBA players
are African American. They are namely Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard,
Chris Paul and etc. looking at these NBA star players, two big questions always
come to mind when: Why are the majority of the NBA players African American? Is
there racism in NBA?
[3]
Most of the best
white men players in the NBA of the last 30 years that I could remember were
Jerry west and Larry Bird. The reason why I could remember these only two guys
is that these guys are only white men that could compete against African
American in NBA. Their characteristic were 1) they can shoot the lights out and
2) they can keep up with their African American opponents either by being just
as fast or by being couple inches taller than that position.
Some
researchers found that the black athletes actually have been proven to have
more “fast twitch” fibers, which allow for more speed and athletic movement. This
may be the cause of black people dominate white American in the NBA league. [4]
However, through
researching more about this problem, I could find that these problems are not
only because of outstanding natural ability of what African American have but it
was also circumstance that makes African American players outstanding. Professional
sports is one of the ways that African American out of the ghetto. They like to
pretend that "everything's equal now" but that is not real life.
Millions of black kids practice and practice and do nothing but dream about a basketball
career. Sports as a means to rise above your station in life are mostly an
avenue used by the poor. Most white Americans have access to a wider range of
career opportunities than do some minorities. This means that for them, the unlikely
prospect of becoming an athlete while a dream is not as forcefully sought after
as it is by others. For example, If you can close million dollars sales deals,
you are not likely going to rain for endless hours to improve your three-point
shot. [5]
But the one thing that we have to know about
is that basketball should not go with biological difference between races. Mike
Miller who graduated high school with straight "A's" last year, he is
six foot seven and he was a basketball star in high school, and was approached
by professional scouts. He is white. His parents have a successful business. He
is in college now, studying to be a doctor. If he was black or poor, I am
really sure that he would be in the NBA. But his circumstances gave him a different
option to study for the doctor.
How often do
you hear about Jewish or Italian boxers in the U.S. these days? Not that often.
But not that many years ago there were many, it was a way out of the ghetto for
them. But as racist stereotypes and barriers in society come down, other ways
open up. And given a choice, most people would much rather be professionals, not
professional gladiators. It is just that most have no choice. They know from an
early age - if they do not become a sports or a music star, they are going to
be flipping burgers or hanging out on the street corner selling drugs. It is
all about the matter of opportunities. "Race" is not really a
biological category but it is a social and political category.
Blake Griffin Best Dunk Ever On Kendrick Perkins Jan 30 2012
[6]
This is the
proof that can refute against the researchers who said that African American
have more physically advantages than white American. Many people have a kind of
stereotypes that White men cannot dunk and cannot compete against African
American. However Through watching this video which is about Blake Griffin who was
the dunk champion in NBA, It will totally get rid of those stereotypes.
The
National Basketball Association (NBA) is a pre-eminent men’s professional
basketball league. Many critics and fans around the world call the NBA greatest
show on earth. No other league around the world brings what the NBA’s game has
brought every season. Fans are charmed and fascinated by its great plays,
games, dunks, players and passion for basketball. NBA is one of the 4 major
North American professional sports leagues, consisted of thirty franchised member
clubs of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada. There
are 2 main conferences: the EAST and the WEST. Each conference is divided into
3 subdivisions, and each subdivision contains 5 teams.
When
we talk about the NBA in today’s society, some people might think that NBA is
just a basketball game between insanely overpaid athletes. In a sense, they are
right. NBA players are the world’s best paid sportsmen by average annual salary
per year. However, what people do not recognize is the story of its creation, rich
history, glorious records, the great games, and thousands of amazing memories
that have been lost in time. NBA is not just about basketball. It launched the leagues’
social responsibility initiative called NBA Cares. NBA Cares gathered
contributions from the teams, current and former players, and the league office
and collected more than $50million to create 171 places where children and
families can live, learn, and play. They also volunteered 302,000 hours of
hands-on charity service for the community. The success
of the NBA's approach was such that league revenues grew from $140 million to $4.3
billion from 1983 to 2012 (Charlie Zegers, 2012).
NBA
provides a lot of solutions to society problems in America. Nearly one out of
three African American men between the ages of twenty and thirty are somehow involved
in criminal activities in America. Even though they play basketball in college,
they know that it will never be their profession, but simply their passion.
However, it is not difficult to find a fan willing to stand in line for an
entire day to get an autograph from Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or Kobe
Bryant, whom are few of many African American players. But imagine 20 years
ago, when African Americans were severely discriminated in the American
society. But now 9 out of 10 players are African Americans. The presence of NBA
helped the society to overcome racism.
The NBA has been
adept at extending its influence not only in America, but also the world.
League games are now seen in over seventy countries, the league has expanded to
Canada (Toronto, Vancouver), exhibition and even regular season games have been
played in Japan, china and Europe and teams compete in the international
tournament ("Global NBA, " 2012). One of the primary means of the
NBA's entry into the international market was its takeover of the operation and
marketing of USA Basketball which over-sees US involvement in international
competition. This, of course, is the instrument through which NBA stars now
compete in the Olympics and other events. These efforts have placed the league
in a position to be one of the largest contributors to and beneficiaries of the
increasing globalization of the television and advertising industries.
Through this you can see that the NBA basketball is
not simply a sport for entertainment purposes but also encompasses cultural and
societal influences. For the Americans, this sport helped them overcome certain
racial issues such as discrimination towards African Americans and Asians. Thus
we can further understand how the American societal belief and value system
works by delving deeper into the close relations basketball has with the American
people. After my writing, I feel that I know so much more about the game of
basketball and all the great works of NBA.
1] National Basketball Association. 12 June 2012 at 04:18. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association [2] Joe Dorish. Average Salaries in the NBA, NFL, MLB
and
NHL.Available:http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863 [3]NBA Cares
Available:http://basketball.wikia.com/wiki/NBA_Cares [4]tech dirt. Linsanity... At The
Trademark Office. Available:
Two years ago, I went to the Boston
garden, which is one of the famous basketball team, Boston Celtics’ arena.
Standing in this arena that was 50 times larger than my home, I felt like a
needle in a haystack. So about 25,000 people surrounding me it’s like I’m one
grain of sand in the ocean. The people around the arena form a black and yellow
checker board. Their clothing engaged and looked like a throw. Smelling the
concession stand made me feel like a starving child. The smell of hotdogs and
Italian sausage reminds me of a back yard grill. The smell of melted cheese on
nachos made my stomach growl wishing I had some. I was able to get a taste of
the pretzels as a man and child walk by me with one. The warm bread with coarse
salt was delicious.
Then, a man on a microphone yelled out
loud for the players to come out. The roar of the people surrounding me was
like being right behind the jet of an airplane. The deafening noise made me
squint my eyes. I clapped my hands along with other fans, and my hands felt
oily after just eating a hot piece of pizza. My mouth was still filled with the
sauce, saucy taste of the slice in my mouth. I looked down towards the
court where the players have now started shooting baskets.Their green coloured uniforms stand out in the glare
of the spotlights above. The court had a waxy look, like it has just been swept, and the glass
backboards, had a shine just as bright as a new car.
The game ended after that. Every single person in the crowd
wore smiles on their
face as if they had just won a prize. Few others
screamed and showed displeasure as they swayed down the stairs to the
doorway.The noise had greatly decreased
that gave
my ears a rest.It was down to a dull
roar, like a breeze blowing around leaves. My feet and hands were in pain from being
pounded for nearly three hours.
This shows how impeccable the NBA can
give to the American people. Stadium or arena remains a very clear indicator of
economic development to the cities this day. Regular season games and
year-round franchise prompt eye-popping estimate of potential benefits. For
example, the NBA’s Oklahoma City claimed that they pumped $22.6 million into the
area’s economy annually. The presence of stadium and team do not only have economic benefit
from the team but also they can let the citizen to be proud of their own
cities. [1](Phil
Caldwell,Jan2011)
Many people believe that Major League
Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are very
different. However,
besides their
obvious differences, they do have a
certain level of similarities. First of all, both of them are two of the
five highest grossing sports leagues in the United States. They are very
popular and they both draw in very large crowds. These two sports have been
around for many years, and they both look to have promising futures later in the world.[2](Alan Wirzbickiv.Aug.2011) [3] (Susan Cohen-Dickler.Apr.20120
According to ESPN, about 29% of players
in MLB and NBA are foreign players. Whether players from Korea or any other country which manage to
become a MLB or NBA player, people will tend to assume that they do their
country proud. However, I wonder the reason of why people assume
that foreigners who are able to play in the America League considered a
success? And why are NBA and MLB the biggest and interesting leagues
in the world? [4](Associated
press. Aprill.2012)
(this graph
shows the rising of the foreigner in the league)
I think the
answer for my first question is as capitalism drives
the world virtually in every
aspect, the
most important thing in sports is the money. Another driving factor is the fame
and reputation involved. We can say that the country that leads the world
current era is the United States. The United States is pouring in a lot of
capital in such leisure and sports. Therefore, once
foreigners are able to play in the American league, they can earn a lot more
money in the United States than their native countries. For example, the Korean
famous baseball pitcher, Park Chan Ho used to get $17,000 in Korea; he was
considered the highest salaries at that time in Korea. However, once he went to
the Major League Baseball team, La Dodgers, his salary became $126,000. Korean
people considered him the hero of the baseball because I think the money that
he earned shows how good he is in that sport.[5](Song.1996)
I think Basketball and baseball have become one way of
achieving American dream. Through basketball and baseball, many people have
achieved greatness (fame, and money) and most people use basketball and baseball
through the NBA and MLB. Basketball and baseball are enjoyed by spectators all
around the world because it gives people a common interest. Basketball and
baseball are also enjoyed because it shows people enjoying the American dream
and that can motivate people to chase their dreams, because basketball and
baseball stars are usually the person you here about on the news in a rags to
riches story, which can further inspire people. Basketball and baseball are
sports that can
show team work and a common goal. They can also relate to the American dream
because it is something people can relate to.
Jason Thompson & Tyreke Evans- American Dream created by Elijah Everett
Even in countries when soccer is more famous than baseball and
basketball, the interest shown in the game and the
activities surrounding in the game are an important commercial
message from the United States. However, the connection between the
international fans and the team members was anything but commercial. The fans
knew the team members and their playing style; they knew the colours and jersey
numbers of favourite players, and they were enthusiastic in their support both
for the team members as well as for the game. This is how impeccable of
the NBA and MLB both domestic American and people around the world.
Another reason that the America has the
biggest league in the basketball and baseball is because the explosion of
interest and love in sports are bigger than any of the country in the world. I
think the capital that they invested in scouting talented players is beyond
comparison with other countries in the world. With the amount of money
invested, naturally, the standard of the game will go up. Ultimately, players’
performances in the game meet the expectation of the fans.
In conclusion, we have to wait for the
sphere of interest to increase the league’s standard or the interest from the
fans. What makes the MLB and NBA interesting is the passion of the fans
interest. I think other than the United States’ league; we need a lot of
passion to increase the standard of the league. Even though MLB and NBA are two different things,
they still have some similarities.
