By Chris Ballard
If you haven't heard this already it may come as a shock, so brace yourself: Some NBA players smoke pot. A few weeks ago Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard told a radio show that "smoking weed in the off-season" was his "personal choice." Forget that some players have estimated that 60% of the league goes green on occasion -- what rankled NBA pooh-bahs and pundits was that Howard admitted he did. Apparently he missed the memo: A pro athlete is expected to do many things; being candid isn't one of them. But wouldn't it be great if there was more honesty and transparency in sports? If people said and did what they truly felt? Just once, I want a wide receiver to confess he dropped a pass over the middle because "that linebacker is a frickin' psycho!" I want Manny Ramirez to tell Boston Red Sox beat writers, "They don't pay me to play defense, so why should I?" I want the NFL's ad campaign to be PRO FOOTBALL: BET ON IT. I want a player to mutter, "It is what it is" and then actually tell us what it is. I want the Los Angeles Clippers to forgo their lottery pick on draft day and explain, "We were just going to screw it up anyway." I want to hear an All-Star fess up, "Actually, I hate these shoes, but Nike didn't offer me a contract." I want big-market teams to offer ticket packages called the Bleed-You-Dry-Four-Pack and Family Extortion Night. I want nicknames to be accurate rather than self-glorifying -- the Big Lackadaisical, Mr. Mediocre, Contract-Year Caulkins. I want the guys from Pardon the Interruption to act on their better impulses and interrupt Around the Horn. Permanently. I want Manu Ginóbili to get it over with and flop on contact during the San Antonio Spurs' pregame handshakes. I want a team to get blown out and blame it on God. I want George W. Bush to say, "All things being equal, I screwed up the country far worse than I did the Texas Rangers." I want Allen Iverson to demand a no-practice clause in his contract -- and I want Phil Jackson to demand a no-Iverson clause in his. I want a baseball player to say, "Sure, I juiced. And you would have too." I want a congressional inquiry into the ineffectiveness of congressional inquiries. I want an NHL goaltender to guarantee defeat instead of victory: "Write it down: There is no way we're winning tonight!" And I want a hard-partying NFL prospect to get voluntarily fingerprinted upon entering the league "for easy access later on." I want the BCS to cop to what every college football fan already knows and drop the C from the acronym. I want the Daytona folks to call it the Fossil Fuel 500. I want an owner to come clean and call his team the Luxury Boxes. I want Bill Walton to admit on air, just once, "You know, I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other." And I want Stephen A. Smith to respond, using his best indoor voice, "That's all right, man, we can't all know everything." I want actual geniuses to be referred to as football coaches and see how that goes over. I want baseball cards to list not only RBIs and HRs but also DUIs and STDs. I want to hear TNT's Craig Sager say, "I wore this electric lime polka-dot suit in hopes of distracting people from the fact that no one ever says anything interesting to a sideline reporter." I want Charles Barkley to continue doing exactly what he's doing. I want a slugger who has whiffed four times in a game to say, "Hey, you try hitting a splitter with a wicked hangover." I want Dick Vitale to tell us which college hoops teams do have quit in them. I want Cadillac to release a tricked-out Escalade for athletes and call it the Signing Bonus. And I want one of those loony Little League parent-coaches to shout at his squad, "I'm only yelling at you because I'm a bitter middle-aged man who unrealistically expects you to live out my squandered hopes and dreams. Now go get 'em!" I want a player to say he's leaving college early for the pros not "to take care of my family" but because, "Do you know how much five million dollars is? What do you think I am, crazy?" I want an analyst to compare a black player with Larry Bird. I want a point guard to explain a stupid pass by saying, "I was just trying to get on SportsCenter," and I want his coach to respond, "That's O.K., I'm just trying to get my book on Oprah." And most of all, I want guys like Josh Howard to be commended, not condemned, when they risk being honest. So Josh, here's to hoping you pass it around. The truth, that is. |
Oluchi Onweagba
Irina Shayk
Mavs Dancers
College Football, Top 25 Review
Comments (15) Add A Comment
Great column. Here's one I would have liked to have seen:
I want a columnist to say:
"78% of mainstream media are flaming liberals, because we couldn't have gotten hired if we weren't. And no matter how hard we try (not that we really do), we simply can't resist the temptation to include our biases in our columns, even when they are SUPPOSED to be about sports."
Lefty551
Gresham , OR
Total Comments (4)
I want to hear the editors at SI say: "Thank God Danica Patrick finally won a race, so now we can actually justify inundating our readers with another puff piece about a female athlete trying to make it in a man's sport. Now if only Michelle Wie could make a cut..."
AND
I want to hear a sports columnist - Lupica, Albom, even this Ballard fellow - say, "I know I haven't been in a locker room or on a field in 10 years, but I'm still going to write this "expertise" from the comfort of my chaise lounge at home and not feel a bit guilty about it."
Here's hoping you pass it around indeed Josh.
sangs
Montclair , NJ
Total Comments (1)
Who in the world gave you the slightest idea that anyone gives a flying **** what your political opinion of the US is? I pay good money to subscribe to SI and after thirty years of reading it, I cannot recall one time I wished I knew that political opinion, impression or incilnation of any writer, especially YOURS.
How is that for a candid comment?
Old Coach5454
Anaheim , CA
Total Comments (1)
Here's one i'd like to hear - a PGA tour pro saying "I don't care if I win, i just want to finish 38th - that's 60 grand a week!"
ALANS
Charlotte , NC
Total Comments (1)
Great column. Here's one I would have liked to have seen:
I want a columnist to say:
"78% of mainstream media are flaming liberals, because we couldn't have gotten hired if we weren't. And no matter how hard we try (not that we really do), we simply can't resist the temptation to include our biases in our columns, even when they are SUPPOSED to be about sports."
Response...Quit reading it then. Just turn off your TV and dont read the papers. It's not that hard. If the article didn't affect you then you would not have gone to these lengths to voice your opinion. Mission accomplished Chris.
vinny_b
Birmingham , AL
Total Comments (2)
Commend Josh Howard... are you kidding me. He broke the law. These professional athletes are role models to our youth and they get paid a heck of a lot of money for that role. What they do in their personal time is their business, however, if they get caught or gloat about their illegal behavior, they should be held accountable for their actions. There's a lot of responsiblity to being a professional athlete... and it sounds like the NBA front ofice is taking that role seriously. I'd like to commend David Stern and company for recognizing the impact of their organization on society. Maybe Howard should re-read the Mission and Values statement for the NBA... http://www.nba.com/careers/mission_statement_article.html
briana101
Fort George G Meade , MD
Total Comments (1)
Inconvenient truths story is one of the best since Rick Reilly has left SI it so honest and it till the truth in a humors way. Only if everyone could till the truth but know one will get what they want even you have told a lie to get something out of it.
amin mashkoori
Houston , TX
Total Comments (1)
I would like a sportswriter, for God's sake even just one, to admit that they don't have a damn clue what they are talking about.
haagtrain
Fond Du Lac , WI
Total Comments (1)
While I get sick of the same ol' answers and would like a player to say what they mean, when it comes to criminal activity one should not bring that into the open. I view pot the same as booze; they should both be illegal or both be legal. My opinion is liquor is far more damaging and dangerous. Howard should not be applauded as I am sure he was just trying to sound cool. Be honest about how he feels about his coach, teammates or owner. That's where I want the honesty. By the way the phrase "it is what it is" sucks.
NORCALSURFER777
San Mateo , CA
Total Comments (2322)
I want ti hear SI admit that they stopped caring about the sports 30 years ago, and that they keep publishing the magazine just for the ad rates.
Joseph1
Taylorsville , NC
Total Comments (1)
Dear SI,
Your Point After column for the May 19th issue is a classic example of why I have finally chosen to not renew my SI subscription. I have been reading SI since I was a kid in 1985, but I have slowly seen it reduce the quality and quantity of its stories. Losing columnist like Rick Reilly and Steve Rushin was painful. The fact that you've replaced them with Dan Patrick's phoned in "column" and a college of writers in the Point After is too much. In fact, Chris Ballard's cheap shot this weak about the Texas Rangers and Pres. Bush was probably the last straw. If I want politcal commentary I'll read The New Republic, National Review, The Weekly Standard, or The Nation, not SI. To make it worse, the comment wasn't even on target. The Rangers after Bush bought them moved from an old minor league ballpark to a top notch stadium and went to the post season in three out of four years after having never done so before. George Bush's success with the Rangers was a key selling point to getting elected governor of Texas in 1994 over a fairly popular incumbent. Please keep the politics out of SI. Well, actually go ahead and write whatever you want. I won't be reading it anymore.
Semper Fi,
James Crabtree
Pflugerville, TX
P.S. And please stop sending me a letter a week that begs me to renew with the enticement of some cheap alarm clock or cheesy t-shirt. Return your writing standards to what they once were and then many readers like myself will return.
James Crabtree
Pflugerville , TX
Total Comments (2)
Dear SI,
Your Point After column for the May 19th issue is a classic example of why I have finally chosen to not renew my SI subscription. I have been reading SI since I was a kid in 1985, but I have slowly seen it reduce the quality and quantity of its stories. Losing columnist like Rick Reilly and Steve Rushin was painful. The fact that you've replaced them with Dan Patrick's phoned in "column" and a college of writers in the Point After is too much. In fact, Chris Ballard's cheap shot this weak about the Texas Rangers and Pres. Bush was probably the last straw. If I want politcal commentary I'll read The New Republic, National Review, The Weekly Standard, or The Nation, not SI. To make it worse, the comment wasn't even on target. The Rangers after Bush bought them moved from an old minor league ballpark to a top notch stadium and went to the post season in three out of four years after having never done so before. George Bush's success with the Rangers was a key selling point to getting elected governor of Texas in 1994 over a fairly popular incumbent. Please keep the politics out of SI. Well, actually go ahead and write whatever you want. I won't be reading it anymore.
Semper Fi,
James Crabtree
Pflugerville, TX
P.S. And please stop sending me a letter a week that begs me to renew with the enticement of some cheap alarm clock or cheesy t-shirt. Return your writing standards to what they once were and then many readers like myself will return.
James Crabtree
Pflugerville , TX
Total Comments (2)
John Squires was right. Print is dead. Unfortunately, it died from self-inflicted wounds like this piece. Here's some more inconvenient truths for you:
1. SI should just print in big, bold letters: We are unable to find a suitable replacement for Rick Reilly, therefore there'll be no Point After this week.
2. SI could put over the top of Chris's next article: We're just too lazy to write another word about athletics, so here's Chris's opinion on Social, Economic, and Political issues. Sorry for selling you a magazine you thought was about sports.
3. Maybe next month SI could line up Keith Olbermann to write the Point After.
4. How about letting Media Matters put together the Week Ahead section.
5. Better yet, just let the Young Democrat / Liberal / Socialist Club nominate the Faces In The Crowd.
6. Two words: Politics Illustrated. How would that work for you, Mr. Squires?
Any of these would have been better than publishing Ballard's piece.
Gregg Whitmire
Candler , NC
Total Comments (3)
Mission Accomplished, Chirs? Say no more. I thought your mission was to write interesting stories about, ummm, global warming. No, that's not it. Global Jihad. Nope, not it either. Global Democratic Domination? Uh, don't think so. SPORTS, maybe? You know, they play it with balls and sticks and the like. Maybe you never played them so you don't really know what I'm talking about. (and yes, I played D-1 college ball. Granted, it was BASEBALL, so very little revenue involved, but stil technically a sport, I think.
Mission accomplished my you-know-what. The article "afffected" me alright. It ticked me off that I'm paying for two things you failed to provide. 1. Quality writing, 2. Abut SPORTS. At least you've now admitted what your "mission" is.
Lefty551
Gresham , OR
Total Comments (4)
Sorry about the lack of spell checking on the last comment. I was dialing SI to apply for a columnist job while typing. There HAS to be an opening, right?
Lefty551
Gresham , OR
Total Comments (4)
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