March 15, 2010

• Roe VS Wade

  This post is about a very controversial topic and debate. Its something that has been debated for decades. Depending on what part of the country you are from, you could have a total different opinion than if you are from another part of the country. I watched a documentary about it on HBO last night. Of course, I speak of only one topic, which I'm sure you figured out by now:

  Magic VS Bird.

  What else did you think I could possibly be talking about?

  The documentary, Magic And Bird: A Courtship Of Rivals was pretty good, I learned a lot about the players and their amazing relationship. First of all, I found out that my brother was born the same day as Bird. Also, I never knew that in college they played together on the U.S. national team before they played against each other.

  I remember my first introduction to each player. I didn't become a basketball fan until the late 1980s, but I remember even before I was a fan, my middle school gym teacher telling us how important the fundamentals of the game were, among them free throws. He mentioned how great Larry Bird was from the free throw line. For some reason, this made me like him. With Magic it was different. When I first started following basketball, I didn't like Magic. He seemed to be everywhere and got tons of attention. Being a Bulls fan and a Michael Jordan fan, this kinda made me jealous. I remember thinking that Magic was overrated and not as good as Michael. I didn't fully appreciate Magic's talent.

  Then came November 7, 1991 when he disclosed that he had HIV. Being a gay teen, it really scared the shit out of me. I also had a new found likeness for Magic. I wasn't completely convinced that he had gotten HIV from having sex with a female; I thought that perhaps he was gay. Honestly, to this day I don't know what to think. He claims to be free of the virus now, but I don't believe him. Either he never had it to begin with or he is just saying he no longer has it.

  But back to the documentary. It was endlessly fascinating. Part of what made it so interesting was the focus of race. Let's face it, whenever you get too prominent people of different races who become so dominate and arch rivals, people tend to focus on race. A lot of the media, fans and players brought race into the equation. Not Magic and Bird though. To them, it wasn't about race; it was about wanting to win and beat the shit out of the other guy's team.

  Also, it made me really appreciate their games and talents. Holy shit, these guys were good. Not just good, but fucking great. And as I look at their stats right now, it really reflects how they were complete, overall players; they really could do anything on the court. Some players were extraordinary in one area. For example, Jordan could score like no tomorrow,  John Stockton was great at getting assists and steals, Bill Russell could rebound better than anybody. But Bird and Magic, well, they did it all and more importantly, helped their teams win.

  I have to say though, its tough not to like Magic. I mean, the guy has a smile that could light up a room. Although Bird still seems like somewhat of a dick, he his story is quite amazing and because of that, the type of guy you root for. Anywho, if you have HBO, check it out, it was very compelling.

  • 9:59 pm
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