Re: WHY WHlTES KILL
Kudos to you for telling it exactly the way it is. As a white person, I too find the colorblindness of whites not only racist and inconsistent, but dangerously myopic as well. I am circulating your article far and wide.
J. Sherman
(jsherm1@midsouth.rr.com)
NO CONFLICT BETWEEN U OF M AND NBA
I really don’t understand why you think the impending conflict will be between U of M and NBA. Currently, I don’t think it can be denied that there is a lot of local support for Nashville’s major league teams. Perhaps not from the readers of your column. I think when the NBA comes, it will siphon significant local support away from the Predators. It will also siphon support from the Titans. The effect on the Titans (the # local fans who will be converted to the NBA) will be larger than that on the Predators, simply b/c more Memphians are fans of the NFL than NHL. This is the support that the NBA will compete for, and, assuming that these fans aren’t already concurrently Tiger fans, the U of M cannot entice this sector of support b/c it is a different field of competition. College sports are appealing for different reasons than pro sports, and taps into a different aspect of a fan’s loyalty than pro sports.
I have not seen any argument to demonstrate that competition between the U of M and NBA is anything but a figment of pessimistic imagination and will preempt the more likely and more impending conflict between the NFL/NHL and the NBA. Please, I’m willing to hear these arguments!!
Ant Styles
(awhite02@midsouth.rr.com)
THE MEDIOCRE NBA
Enjoyed your thoughts on the possibility of the Memphis area getting an NBA franchise. When I left Memphis in November I thought that the Memphis area deserved a franchise and would and could support one if it became available to the city. After spending the last 4 months around the Nuggets franchise (not one of the better run franchises, but not as low as the Grizzles either) I have awoke to a realization that I did not have before. The NBA product sucks. Sorry for being so blunt, but facts are facts. Even the so-called best of the NBA are truly mediocre. I have had the pleasure (if you want to call it that) of covering the Knicks, Lakers, Heat, Blazers, Kings and other teams games against the Nuggets for free. I feel after the games that my 4 hours of time was worth more than what I got. Imagine how people who actually spent their hard earned cash on tickets felt. This does not mean the city wouldn’t support a team and the money spent to upgrade the Pyramid wouldn’t be well spent, but if it only to attract an NBA team, my belief is the money could be spent on a greater good. Memphis sports fans know a good product when they see it (re: Tiger football), and after being around the NBA for a short period, my thoughts are that 20 bucks is too much to ask for people to watch what they put on the floor.
Dan Frazier
(dfrasier@fan950.com)
The Fan- AM 950, Denver
(Ed. Note: Dan Frazier is a former Memphian who previously worked at Sports 56.)
PYRAMID ILL-PREPARED FOR TOURNAMENT
If you had followed your team to Memphis from as far away as Washington state, wouldn’t you expect that the facility would be able to properly operate during the event? Wouldn’t you be upset, mad, and disappointed that you had to wait 30-45 minutes to get a bite of food (especially for a game starting at 11:30 a.m.) Wouldn’t you go back home saying that the Pyramid is a good place to stay away from? Wouldn’t you be upset and angry if you rushed out to the restroom to find many of them closed? Wouldn’t you feel worse if you rushed to an open facility and had to stand in a line because of overcrowding? Wouldn’t you expect the manager of such a facility to be able to handle a crowd of 9000-10000 in a facility that will seat 18,000? Wouldn’t you expect that manager to be prepared for the maximum crowd the 1st day of a single elimination tournament? Wouldn’t you expect that manager to catch hell from his superiors if he wasn’t ready for the crowd and lost thousands of dollars of revenue?
I would .
Mike Crone
(mcrone@midsouth.rr.com)
Memphis
