We Ain't Ready to See a White Power Forward?

Wow, it's been a long time. This semester's been rough. Once school gets out, I can get back to writing a little more.

For now, I just wanted to throw up a link and my two cents on LZ Granderson's piece Who Says White Men Can't Jump? over at ESPN.com's Page 2. Normally I skip the obviously-racially-charged columns on Page 2 because they're usually written by Jemele Hill and Scoop Jackson, and their commentary on society is about as insightful as "Play That Funky Music, White Boy." I was suckered into reading this one because of my love of Woody Harrelson and my hatred of Tyler Hansbrough.

I'm really glad I read it - it was one of the first race-based Page 2 columns I've ever agreed with. I remember watching the NFL draft last year and hearing all my buddies comparing JaMarcus Russell to Mike Vick, and I was like, "Guys, I mean, come on, he's more like a Ben Roethlisburger, isn't he? Tall, enough speed to do damage on a scramble but his arm is his first weapon?" loooong pause. "I mean, I know it's breaking that rule about comparing white guys and black guys, but come on."

Of course, what's not mentioned here nor anywhere else nearly enough is that Hansbrough isn't "a 19-year-old kid" as LZ says; he did junior college before UNC and he turns 23 in November. What you see is what you're gonna get with Hansbrough - he's peaking as a player right now and not going to get a whole lot better than this - and what you see right now is not NBA caliber. Also, Tyler travels. Every time.

While you're at it, if you haven't already, go ahead and listen to Barack's A More Perfect Union speech - that shit is marvelous. I had forgotten what a hypnotizingly good speaker that man is - I still have his 2004 DNC speech on my iPod. After that speech, I had said to myself, "Wow. That man is going to be President in 2016. Maybe even 2012." Never did I think he'd be running at this point, and his inexperience is still a bit of a concern... blah blah politics rabble rabble rabble.