Shock of the day, Jemele Hill hates the Celtics.

[zerophase]

have scal hold the trophy.

[Amonkey]

She seems to say that at one point race was at the heart of it - back when she came of age as a Pistons fan.  But now - it's simply rivalry (one that is more present in her mind than reality mind you but...). I'm having trouble being offended by this mild, bland piece of writing. I mean - Hitler jokes hardly have much in the way of edge anymore.

I agree with you.  I also think that is what her point was.  However, if that is her point, it is completely irrelevant in the context of the article and there is absolutely no purpose being mentioned unless, well, she wanted to get people riled up.  It seems just a cheap shot to get the readers going.  Then when it comes down to writing something truly racial in sports, by adding racial elements to her articles like this one, it just gets completely watered down.  So when there is an article of true racial implications, instead of the reader getting a shot of vodka, they get O'Douls nonalcoholic beer and a bad taste in their mouth.

have scal hold the trophy.

   

[BudweiserCeltic]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=hill_jemele&page=Hill-080614

I'm not sure I can handle seeing Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett -- three of the NBA's most likable players -- hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.

and she blames it on race.

Admittedly, to some degree it was about race. Detroit is 80 percent African-American, and as my colleague J.A. Adande stated in a fantastic piece on the Celtics earlier this season, the mostly white Celtics teams of the past had a tough time being accepted by black audiences. Boston was viewed by African-Americans as a racially intolerant city. Boston was the home of the infamous Charles Stuart case -- in which a white man murdered his pregnant wife and blamed it on a black suspect who didn't exist.

Is anyone shocked? 


(I know I'm not)

Noy shocked. She has often showed to be a complete ignorant idiot. I love how she mentions Adande, and takes his article out of context. His article was mostly about the opposite of what she's claiming, about how the Celtics broke the race barrier, etc.

[Last Train]

TP. Adande's article was debunking everything her Celtic hate is based on.

[KeepDWest]

wow . . . she writes such garbage . . . that was so bad . . seriously my back hurts and i threw up and crapped my pants because I read it . . . how do these people get such awesome jobs?

[Edgar]

the main problem isnt Jemele wriing it but some people publishing it.

[cmoney]

TP. Adande's article was debunking everything her Celtic hate is based on.

Yeah, that article was money.  I've come to respect Adande a fair amount, who I originally didn't like just based on his pathetic PTI performances.  He's a very good writer.

Jemele's a hack.  She's just not talented, she tries way too hard with the race stuff without ever being all that insightful or interesting.

[seeingreen34]

When she first started writing for ESPN I liked her stuff because at the time she interjected race into her pieces and actually had a point in doing so. Now she seems to do it just simply because that's what she's known for. It would have been a nice piece without the race put in. A piece where she says she really likes the three players but can't stand the Celtics winning it because of the rivalry in the 80s with the Pistons. Just like Celtics fans watching in the 80's may have a hard time watching the Sixers win it because of the rivalry. Minus a few lines and a paragraph it isn't a bad piece.

I think this was one of her main points.

But this isn't about race. This is rivalry. This is tradition. Considering Detroit is America's favorite impoverished punch line, it probably hurts every Detroiter just a little to see Boston succeed.

Minus the impoverished part. And this point.

If the Celtics win this title, there is a sense that this isn't a punctuation mark to the careers of Pierce, Garnett and Allen, but the beginning of an era of anguish for Detroiters. It's an anguish, I'm finding, that never truly goes away.

I don't know. Maybe she's just sticking to the script of always talking about race.

[cool breeze]

So I was rooting around in the dirt, looking for old J. Hill articles and I found this. Opening paragraph is PRICELESS! As is the assertion that page2 is the "cutting edge of sports commentary.."

I don't mean for this to lead away from the original post, just thought it touched on the subject.

http://nationofislamsportsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/you-go-girl-jemel-hill-gives-bob.html

[Brendan]

Another fool.

[Spoon]

Nobody ever taught poor Jemele, Godwin's Law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

[Casperian]

Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim.

Did she say that?

As a german, I feel offended...and itīs not easy to offend me.

Since I know that Celticsblog has a "keep it clean" policy, I will only post this:

As you might recall, the head coach for the Boston Celtics that year was KC Jones, an African American. In Peter May's The Last Banner, he tells the author that he still takes umbrage at suggestions his decision was racially motivated.

"Was I supposed to have been taking orders from Red?" Jones asked. "I don't suppose anyone is familiar with Red's record on race. First all-black starting team. First team with blacks and whites rooming together. First team with a black head coach. On and on and on it goes. It just makes me sick to hear this stuff."

I like a good Hitler-joke as much as the next guy, but seriously...how do these people keep their jobs?

Maybe she wants to visit Ausschwitz and think about what she said there?
Is there no other angle you could use to bring your point across, Jemele?

What a sad life you must have...

[MBz]

Now I have no issue with anyone disliking the Celtics, but that article was flat out TERRIBLE.  I can't believe they'd put that crap on the internet.

[Bahku]

Not surprised, (knowing her) ... but discouraged ... she should be ashamed of writing this crap for the sole purpose of stirring up the race pot and inciting hatred and intolerance. Somehow I don't think our forefathers had this kind of garbage in mind when they wrote the Bill of Rights and the intents of Freedom of Speech. Leave it to such self-serving hate-mongers to twist the written and spoken word to fit their warped needs and spew their venom for the sake of controversy and selling copy. Sad ... really sad.

[FallGuy]

Not surprised, (knowing her) ... but discouraged ... she should be ashamed of writing this crap for the sole purpose of stirring up the race pot and inciting hatred and intolerance. Somehow I don't think our forefathers had this kind of garbage in mind when they wrote the Bill of Rights and the intents of Freedom of Speech. Leave it to such self-serving hate-mongers to twist the written and spoken word to fit their warped needs and spew their venom for the sake of controversy and selling copy. Sad ... really sad.

"...inciting hatred and intolerance..."

"...hate-mongers..."

"...spew venom..."

You're being a bit dramatic with this aren't you? You can't possibly read that article and get that from it.

FG/.