Monday, September 22, 2008

Josh Howard: Possible War Criminal

Hey kids. Been slim pickings of late, some of the usual melodramatic stuff. I kind of thought Alex Marvez' head would explode after the Dolphins whipped the Patsies, but alas, no such luck. He's prophecising doom for the Colts now. In my desperation to find the ridiculous sports stories that I feed on for sustinence, I'm not proud to say that I took the easy way out. That's right a double shot of Stephen A. Forgive me my friends.

We know Howard can play, but there's little value in what he has to say

this statement, taken by itself is not only wholly uncontroversial but also very likely to be true. How can Stephen go astray? We are talking about an all-world nutjob here, give him time. Like Rocky, he is planning a crazy comeback in this article. Never doubt the heart of a champion idiot.

Josh Howard may not be the Dallas Mavericks' best player, but he's their most complete player.

this made me "woah! woah! woah!" but I imagine some people would agree with it. I dunno how in touch I remain with the NBA community, but there was an awful lot of Dirk hate after that MVP/losing to the Warriors thing, and he wasn't exactly to everyones taste before. Still you can see the germ of things falling apart here no matter what side of the "Dirk can't defend or score in the paint" great debate of our time you fall on.

He has a better post-up game than Dirk Nowitzki and better all-around skills than anyone else on their roster.

better post-up game than Nowitzki? How did your TO go against Al and Charles this week big fella? Two catches for seventeen yards, write it in stone, best receiver by far in the NFL!

Until six months ago he was universally recognized as the Mavs' best chance at capturing a championship, so much so that seemingly every team in the National Basketball Association inquired about his availability.

six months ago was late March, you'd struggle to find six people in the whole of North America who believed in the benchless Mavs and Jason Kidd's knees. This is a kind of rewrite of history, Howard was a non-story.

Now he's known these days as the franchise's resident idiot, someone who is gainfully employed solely because of his ability to bounce and shoot a basketball.

now we're getting to the good crazy! This is classic stuff. Newsflash Stephen, this is the only reason he was ever "gainfully employed". His comments were totally irrelevant to his job security. More relevant? The fact that he shot 29.2% in the playoffs. Talk about that. Oh wait, that's not a "story".

A character seemingly destined to embarrass his way into exile from a league that's garnered him millions of dollars because he won't stop perpetuating his ignorance and hostility to the masses, simultaneously casting an ominous shadow over his contemporaries.

I went to Wikipedia and looked up the entry for Satan.

For most Christians, he is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God. His ultimate goal is to lead people away from the love of God — to lead them to fallacies which God opposes. Before his alleged insurrection, Satan was among the highest of all angels and the "brightest in the sky." His pride is considered a reason why he would not bow to God as all other angels did, but sought to rule heaven himself.

The comparison is almost ominous isn't it?

A show of hands from any NBA player out there who's inclined to invite Josh Howard to his next shindig?

Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace, Steven Jackson, DeShawn Stevenson, Carmelo Anthony, J.R.Smith, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury, Michael Beasley, Gilbert Arenas, Tim Duncan.

Just kidding.

Allen Iverson couldn't be reached Thursday for an explanation as to why Howard would use Iverson's annual flag-football event as a forum for vulgarly disrespecting America's national anthem. I am not surprised. Who on earth would want to associate themselves with the radioactive Howard right now?

yeah, that Allen Iverson, always concerned about his reputation amongst flag waving conservatives.

I know, I know, Howard's comments were offensive to lots of people, not just the old faithful gun toters, but yeah, I don't think Allen Iverson really gives a shit, and I'd be willing to test that theory given the opportunity.

For those who didn't see the story, Howard -- against the backdrop of a presidential election rife with banter about patriotism and heightened sensitivities -- decided Iverson's event was the appropriate venue at which to express his disdain for the anthem. Speaking to a cell phone camera while others around him respectfully stood in recognition, Howard provided an on-camera cameo that went something like this: "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this [expletive]. I'm black …"

Stephen A. Smith, meet Chuck D, arguably the most respected figure in hip hop. I'll let you two get acquainted.

This is the Josh Howard who validated those concerns last spring when he inexplicably turned into the NBA's version of Honest Abe and admitted to the Dallas Morning News that he was quite fond of smoking dope. The guy who stupidly implicated his NBA colleagues by saying most of them actually do, too.

again, let's make the assumption that Josh Howard doesn't realy give a fuck what you think - to a degree a reasonably noble position IMO. Now, he has crossed a line and become exasperating, but this is such a non-issue. Twenty something, supremely rich athletes, party hard, involving narcotics. I'M STUNNED.

Get real and your head out of the sand Smith, it might have lacked tact, but who really gives a fuck. Get over yourself.

Now Howard has the audacity to publicly challenge America's affinity to its own anthem, clearly oblivious to all the eyes that will be on him the 82 times each season he'll be expected to stand up for it.

I don't really think he was making some sophisticated political statement as just a stupid, ill-conceived, "the man is keeping me down" style comment to be controversial and belligerent. He would hardly be the first (and will not be the last) athlete to speak on race in extremely controversial terms.

That's not to mention the awkwardness his ignorance places upon players, the league, and, in particular, loquacious Mavs owner Mark Cuban once the 2008 NBA season arrives.

wow, how awkward for the NBA, to have to deal with race for the very first time ever. However will they cope? That's not even to mention the retiring, behind the scenes Cuban who abhors the spotlight. This is the beginning of the end for the NBA folks.

"All I can tell you about is the Josh Howard I've come to know," said new Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, speaking as he prepared to depart on a flight from Winston-Salem, N.C. after just spending the past few days with Howard. "Josh has been working extremely hard on his game. He's getting better every single day. He may not be our very best player, but he's certainly our most important player. I can speak about him in that regard and can tell you, from what I know, he's about doing whatever he can to help this franchise."

If only Howard took that the same approach toward representation of the African-American community!

uhh...what?

Whether or not Howard is sensitive to whatever plights exist regarding African-Americans is not for me or anyone else to say definitively, because none of us are flies on his wall. In Howard's world, he may think he's being sensitive to black people and what plagues this community, and that may have been what he was aiming for in spewing his rhetoric.

now you are taking a completely inverse, yet equally stupid analysis of his comments, it wasn't the harbinger of the end-time. It wasn't the expression of some call to arms from black militants and it wasn't some attempt to empathise with the black community at large and offer some solution.

He was trying to look cool and edgy in front of his friends. There, I just saved you weeks of banging your head into a wall.

Howard is not a spokesperson for the Democratic presidential candidate, despite offering some unclear message about "Obama" to that little cell phone camera.

right, so we shouldn't really give a shit what he says, because he is irrelevant in mobilising any true social movement.

He's not former NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who in 1996 refused to stand for the national anthem, citing religious reasons.

Instead, he's simply an athlete so busy spreading his rhetoric, he hasn't taken into account the collateral damage it could potentially cause.

the ominous fog of hate...like that thing in Ghostbusters II. Oh Josh! What have you unleashed!

Fresh off the heels of a fantastic summer in Beijing, where the NBA clearly established itself as the architect of globalization in sports, we now return to the American sports world, where juvenile behavior reigns. Where an individual such as Howard can expect to earn $21.8 million over the next two years despite having essentially admitted to violating league rules by smoking weed in his off time. Where a league and its fans sit in utter disgust at Howard's apparent lack of appreciation.

I'm ambivalent, and I bet I'm not the only one. But don't worry Stephen, you have enough righteous indignation for us all. Let melodrama reign!

Once upon a time, Howard was considered quiet and timid. It was only after the checks got cashed and his future was secured did Howard reportedly once reveal: "I think like a Democrat but because of my tax bracket, I'm a Republican."

gotta be honest, I find that refreshingly honest and actually pretty funny. You Stephen? Give me your best crazy man shout now, let's get ANGRY!

One could easily ask just how such a statement benefits anyone other than himself. Then again, that would be an exercise in futility. After all, to ask would be to presume Howard cares.

Since he opened his mouth, we know better.

I'm sorry Stephen. There is no Santa Claus and some NBA players (and you may wanna sit down for this one) are selfish pricks who don't give a shit about you or what you think. Deal with it or go have a cry you big baby.

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