Game Thread Jul 30, 2020: Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans

[NUMBERICA]

Herman Cain begs to differ.

The protests against systemic racism don't, specifically (we wear masks and they actually work).

I don't doubt at all that the protests of the bootlicking snowflake variety would spread covid since their whole thing is being obscenely irresponsible about the topic of covid.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

Just for the record, kneeling during the National Anthem doesn't bother me in the slightest. Not really sure what these wealthy athletes hope to accomplish with this "platform" but the kneeling gesture is not an issue and never has been for me. I do find it a little ridiculous to find platitudes on the backs of these athletes as opposed to names. Just gives the play by play team an excuse to be lazy in following plays AND so many new faces (free agents) picked up by many of these teams to make a playoff run. (Lakers picked up Waiters and JR Smith; Noah and Jackson with the Clips, Tyler Johnson and Jamaal Crawford with the Nets - would be nice to have names). In any event, if I had big money and I believed in something, I'd invest a big chunk of it to actually affect social change as opposed to just bringing attention to it. Proud to see Kevin McHale on NBA channel making the distinction between "bringing attention" and actually initiating a plan of action.

 

[JazzGal]

Just for the record, kneeling during the National Anthem doesn't bother me in the slightest. Not really sure what these wealthy athletes hope to accomplish with this "platform" but the kneeling gesture is not an issue and never has been for me. I do find it a little ridiculous to find platitudes on the backs of these athletes as opposed to names. Just gives the play by play team an excuse to be lazy in following plays AND so many new faces (free agents) picked up by many of these teams to make a playoff run. (Lakers picked up Waiters and JR Smith; Noah and Jackson with the Clips, Tyler Johnson and Jamaal Crawford with the Nets - would be nice to have names). In any event, if I had big money and I believed in something, I'd invest a big chunk of it to actually affect social change as opposed to just bringing attention to it. Proud to see Kevin McHale on NBA channel making the distinction between "bringing attention" and actually initiating a plan of action.

Bringing attention to it is a big deal in and of itself. I've had more conversations about race in the past few months than I have had in my entire lifetime. Racism will not end until white people want it to end. And white people have to be made uncomfortable before they will change anything. These situations make people uncomfortable.

My mother was muttering under her breath last night about how more than just black lives matter, and I pointed out as usual that until black lives matter, all lives do not matter. She went out to the kitchen to get a drink during the anthem. I asked her why it bothered her, and she said she didn't know. I didn't point out that her going to get a drink wasn't exactly respecting the national anthem, since that is usually what she is upset about when people kneel during it.

I suspect that these athletes put a lot of money into causes that we know nothing about. But like all social changes, nothing happens until people are uncomfortable and forced to confront the issue.

During the last minute of the game last night, all I could say was "I've missed this so much!" Go Jazz!

 

[DasJazz]

Mmmhmmm. Do you feel like you’re safely back in your little hole, yet?

Whatever you say comrade.

 

[Gameface]

Whatever you say comrade.

You have the sickest burns.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

Bringing attention to it is a big deal in and of itself. I've had more conversations about race in the past few months than I have had in my entire lifetime. Racism will not end until white people want it to end. And white people have to be made uncomfortable before they will change anything. These situations make people uncomfortable.

My mother was muttering under her breath last night about how more than just black lives matter, and I pointed out as usual that until black lives matter, all lives do not matter. She went out to the kitchen to get a drink during the anthem. I asked her why it bothered her, and she said she didn't know. I didn't point out that her going to get a drink wasn't exactly respecting the national anthem, since that is usually what she is upset about when people kneel during it.

I suspect that these athletes put a lot of money into causes that we know nothing about. But like all social changes, nothing happens until people are uncomfortable and forced to confront the issue.

During the last minute of the game last night, all I could say was "I've missed this so much!" Go Jazz!

Interesting observations Jazz Gal and I'm glad to hear that you find it all constructive. I work in a Title One school where I'm the minority and have never been one to "consciously" judge another individual according to racial or ethnic heritage in the first place. According to Barrack Obama, John Lewis as well as M. L. King strived for people to be measured by character rather than appearance and I've always tried to embody that approach. I wish there were more folks today with the moral character embodied by King and Lewis.

Certain things have to be addressed in our society, there's no question about it, but I don't feel that defunding police departments is the right approach. It's a different era than when King and Lewis were meeting at the local Baptist Church with other activists in order to effect meaningful social change. Just look at the crime sprees in cities in which policing was relaxed, just look at types of civil disobedience practiced now and then. How many of these BLM protests have turned violent with burnings and lootings and descended into an endless pit of chaos?

I feel like there are some systemic ills to be addressed in our society but with affirmative action and other measures in place, mixed marriages and mixed racial heritages so prevalent, I'm not sure "systemic" racism is the biggest issue, I mean not as far as "inclusion" is involved. Is BLM "inclusionist" or "separatist"? Isn't the name itself implicitly racist? There's been lots of incidents of social injustice recently such as inhumane treatment (ICE) at the border resulting in deaths. Not Black Lives. Why is nobody in the movement "saying the name" of Vanessa Guillen? Not a Black Life.

PS Couldn't agree more with your sentiment regarding having the games back. I mean even with the corny virtual fans in the background, it's exciting as hell!

 

[NAOS]

Whatever you say comrade.

Such cunning wit.

 

[whatthe]

Can I throw a truth bomb here?

Every group can do something. Justice can be more equal, and police reform can be improved. But defunding the police means less training and help the police - it would make it worse.

Also, black fathers need to marry the women who are having their children. Growing up in a single mother household does lead to crime, and low income status. The fathers need to understand that the lives that they create are hugely important and if they don't matter to their fathers, then who do this kids matter for?

I mean there are many cases where the fathers care and put in the effort to connect with and help. And there are cases where the Mom is totally capable and awesome, but most of the time life is struggle and it would help if things worked out by being around more for the child.

 

[JazzGal]

Interesting observations Jazz Gal and I'm glad to hear that you find it all constructive. I work in a Title One school where I'm the minority and have never been one to "consciously" judge another individual according to racial or ethnic heritage in the first place. According to Barrack Obama, John Lewis as well as M. L. King strived for people to be measured by character rather than appearance and I've always tried to embody that approach. I wish there were more folks today with the moral character embodied by King and Lewis.

Certain things have to be addressed in our society, there's no question about it, but I don't feel that defunding police departments is the right approach. It's a different era than when King and Lewis were meeting at the local Baptist Church with other activists in order to effect meaningful social change. Just look at the crime sprees in cities in which policing was relaxed, just look at types of civil disobedience practiced now and then. How many of these BLM protests have turned violent with burnings and lootings and descended into an endless pit of chaos?

I feel like there are some systemic ills to be addressed in our society but with affirmative action and other measures in place, mixed marriages and mixed racial heritages so prevalent, I'm not sure "systemic" racism is the biggest issue, I mean not as far as "inclusion" is involved. Is BLM "inclusionist" or "separatist"? Isn't the name itself implicitly racist? There's been lots of incidents of social injustice recently such as inhumane treatment (ICE) at the border resulting in deaths. Not Black Lives. Why is nobody in the movement "saying the name" of Vanessa Guillen? Not a Black Life.

PS Couldn't agree more with your sentiment regarding having the games back. I mean even with the corny virtual fans in the background, it's exciting as hell!

Not the thread really for this. But a couple of thoughts - I work in law enforcement, and "defunding the police" (which is a terrible term and should really be "reallocating resources") would be helpful. Our police officers wear too many hats that they are not qualified to wear, and funds need to be moved into organizations and systems that could better serve needs for mental illness, homelessness, drug abuse, domestic violence, etc. Police officers should handle criminal activity, and other professionals should handle other types of issues that if left unchecked become criminal activity.

Black Lives Matter was started by three women who were mostly concerned about black queer women. As usual, men have barged in and created something else. But the organization's goals are not to riot and destroy, but to protest and educate.

And I do hear Vanessa Guillen's name mentioned by many, but that is a separate issue (and one that I hope is actually handled by the military instead of being ignored). Black Lives Matter is not responsible to take on all of the unfair and horrible issues in the world. They are working on their little piece of the pie.

For anyone white who is serious about becoming aware of the issues involved and isn't afraid of being a little uncomfortable, I would suggest two books that have completely changed my thinking:
"White Fragility" by Robin deAngelo
"So You Want To Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Bringing attention to it is a big deal in and of itself. I've had more conversations about race in the past few months than I have had in my entire lifetime. Racism will not end until white people want it to end. And white people have to be made uncomfortable before they will change anything. These situations make people uncomfortable.

My mother was muttering under her breath last night about how more than just black lives matter, and I pointed out as usual that until black lives matter, all lives do not matter. She went out to the kitchen to get a drink during the anthem. I asked her why it bothered her, and she said she didn't know. I didn't point out that her going to get a drink wasn't exactly respecting the national anthem, since that is usually what she is upset about when people kneel during it.

I suspect that these athletes put a lot of money into causes that we know nothing about. But like all social changes, nothing happens until people are uncomfortable and forced to confront the issue.

During the last minute of the game last night, all I could say was "I've missed this so much!" Go Jazz!

I had two conversations during the game with people that were like "enuf with teh BLM stuffssss".

It isn't like the thing that will change the world completely by itself... but it isn't just meaningless pandering. I promise you millions of conversations happened last night.

 

[fishonjazz]

But defunding the police means less training and help the police

I disagree. It could simply mean that they don't have overpriced military equipment in their arsenal. And that money could be allocated somewhere (like say mental health facilities) else that could make the police job easier.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[gandalfe]

National Football League television viewership increases 5% for 2019 regular season

For the second consecutive season, the league increased its average TV viewership, improving to 16.5 million per game, and expecting to finish with more than 180 million in total viewers for the 2019 regular season.

www.cnbc.com

From that article:

"Dating back to the 2016 season, the league suffered a fall in ratings and even experienced a 9.7% drop in viewership for the 2017 season.

The controversy surrounding players kneeling during the national anthem, which led to political criticism mostly from President Donald Trump, was partly to blame for the ratings decline. But one network executive added that the lack of stars hurt ratings, too."