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This week I decided to try something different with the column. Instead of writing about several separate issues with no overall theme, I’m going to try to stick to one common theme that appears in several different situations. Let’s say it together kids today’s theme is the DOUBLE STANDARD!
THE DOUBLE STANDARD
1: The Technical Foul
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Sheed is an exception to the Teed Up Double Standard.
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So I’m sitting at home watching the NBA playoff game between Sac-Town and Dallas and all I can hear is Mike Breen going on and on about how selfish it is for players to get a technical foul called on them, and what a dumb thing it is. Then I saw Rick Adelman get teed up, I began to wonder would Breen call out Adelman and point out what a dumb move it was? Of course he didn’t. This isn’t world shattering news, but If you haven’t been aware, there is a double standard when it comes to coaches and players. When a coach gets a technical foul called on them, it’s because they are helping the team and trying to motivate them. A coach would never try to get thrown out of the game so that he could visit his friends or leave a game early when his team is getting blown out.
On the other hand, just about all the announcers say that a player is hurting his team when he gets a technical foul call because supposedly he is letting his emotions get the best of him and the situation. Isn’t it possible that the player getting a Tee could be motivating to his teammates who may feel like they are getting screwed and are happy that someone is sticking up for them? Nah, that’s not a possibility! -- Of course this argument doesn’t work if the player is constantly getting teed up (yeah I mean you Mr. Wallace),-- but when a mild mannered player such as a Tim Duncan, or a Allan Houston or a Keith Van Horn gets a technical it could be for a reason. Maybe they want the ref to think about giving them a call because they never complain. But I guess that strategy is limited to coaches.
2: Domestic Violence
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Spree could've got a lighter sentence if he choked his wife instead of his coach.
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First off, I don’t condone domestic violence, never have, never will. But I do think it’s comical that athletes are asked to be warriors on the field and under extreme control off the field. The double standard exists in the fact that players can beat their wives, girlfriends, etc. and will eventually be welcomed back to the team. But if a player attacks a coach, well now, that’s grounds for the death penalty. Latrell Sprewell lost millions of dollars and was suspended for 6 months from the NBA for choking P.J. Carlesimo. Bobby Knight not only choked players for almost 20 years, he berated them, cussed them out, waved shitty toilet paper in their faces, yet he was fired only after he got into a spat with a student on campus.
Bottom-line, Bobby Knight was able to get another job without being suspended or ever having to apologize to anyone. He landed on his feet at Texas Tech and was even praised for the work he did there, leading the team to the tournament. Sprewell cannot make an All-Star team unless David Stern intervenes, otherwise the coaches will never vote him in. While, there is no need to feel too sorry for Spree, (he does have a lucrative contract and is still making millions, despite losing millions in salary) the reaction to his incident was worse than anything Bobby Knight had to deal with.
3. Murder
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No one flips out when white guys stuff pipe bombs in people’s mailboxes because it’s the norm.
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Now O.J. Simpson is no friend of mind. I think he was guilty of killing Nicole, however, where is the outrage, or the anger that a great injustice has occurred or the call to change the system when Baretta (Robert Blake) became the prime suspect for the murder of his wife? This country was torn apart when O.J. was arrested and subsequently acquitted, but now, there are jokes about Baretta and nothing else. Which just provides more evidence that White guys have a license to kill. Doesn’t mean they will get away with it, but it does mean that no one’s going to flip out when they kill their spouse or leave pipe bombs in people’s mailboxes because it’s the norm.
4. Loyalty
Fans get irate when players leave the home team (i.e. Giambi, A-Rod, Mike Hampton), but never feel the same when the coach leaves. The only time I can remember anyone booing the coach upon his return with a new team was when Pat Riley came back to coach against the Knicks. Granted no one comes to see the coach play, but why the hostility and cries of betrayal when a player leaves for more money but nothing when coaches like Larry Brown or Rick Pitino do it all the time. Jeff Van Gundy quit on the Knicks this year and will coach for another team pretty soon, however, when he returns to face the Knicks he will probably be hailed as a hero and not booed as if he left Seattle for Cincinnati.
Players get cut all the time when they are of no use to the team, you can be Joe Montana or Jerry Rice, future hall of famers, but once its determined that you are no longer able to help the team win, so long! But we as fans demand loyalty. Fans are even worse than owners, if fans were able to run their home teams the way they want, I have no doubt that any player that pissed them off would be traded in an instance. Trade so and so for Superstar X fans always say, no one cares that so and so works harder than Superstar A or is a better team player, they just want the best players for their team, to hell with loyalty then. Fans want players to kiss their ass, but aren’t exactly nice to the players all the time. The same people who spend the entire game cursing at John Rocker will gladly accept his autograph, and will get upset if he refuses.
Speaking of Rocker how do you explain Cleveland Indians fans who welcomed him to the team, with a standing ovation when he was traded from the Braves, but turned against him when he came back to the Jake as a Texas Ranger? Apparently Cleveland fans can overlook the fact that Rocker is a racist jerk when he’s on the home team but just like fans everywhere else, if he’s on another team that team and the player are immoral.
Turning Pro
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Spider Man Toby Maguire can drop out of H.S. but not Kobe.
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Young Black basketball players are not allowed to go directly to the NBA from high school because they are supposed to go to college so they can be exploited for 3 or 4 years. We are supposed to feel disappointed and saddened that the NCAA Basketball Enterprise is not as good as it could be if Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and the like had went to college so that they could be promoted by CBS and ESPN before coming to the NBA.
So what that the NCAA and the individual schools makes billions of dollars a year, and so what that Wayne Gretsky, Doc Gooden, Ty Tryon, and Tobey Maguire (yup Spidey dropped out during ninth grade) turned pro at very young ages.
If you are a young black kid with some skills you are supposed to go to I exploit U and do your thing. Dominican players like Danny Almonte turn pro at 15 and no one bats an eye, hockey players like Dan Blackburn of the NY Rangers play in the NHL every year and its okay. I don’t get it.
Summary
Okay I don’t know how this all got started – actually I do know where it started, that damn Mike Breen — but really, I wrote this article mainly to get to this point, I don’t like how the tabloids dis my team the NY Mets. No matter what they do, the Yankees get more press, usually 4 pages of coverage to the Mets 2. And the Yankees articles are about nothing! That’s a double standard. But to be honest, I don’t care when the same thing happens to the Nets who not only won the Atlantic Division crown but were also the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, and yet the Knicks were the topic of more discussion for the majority of the year.
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