Author Topic: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson  (Read 2520 times)

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Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« on: June 18, 2008, 10:07:56 PM »

Offline CelticsPrideKG

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Not sure if this has been posted:


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080618&sportCat=nba


Great article IMHO.  This is probably my favorite article I have read about KG today and there have been a lot of good articles.  The one posted earlier on Yahoo was great as well.

Re: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2008, 10:42:29 PM »

Offline Roy Hobbs

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Scoop is one of the most frustrating NBA writers for me, because he clearly has talent, he just rarely shows it.  This was one of his better articles, and I think that may be because he and KG are on such good terms with one another.

All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino

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Re: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2008, 11:14:06 PM »

Offline CelticsPrideKG

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Scoop is one of the most frustrating NBA writers for me, because he clearly has talent, he just rarely shows it.  This was one of his better articles, and I think that may be because he and KG are on such good terms with one another.


Could you explain a bit more?  I rarely read any of Scoop's articles because I usually don't read many NBA articles unless they are in relation to the Celtics.

Re: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2008, 07:56:51 AM »

Offline Roy Hobbs

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Scoop is one of the most frustrating NBA writers for me, because he clearly has talent, he just rarely shows it.  This was one of his better articles, and I think that may be because he and KG are on such good terms with one another.


Could you explain a bit more?  I rarely read any of Scoop's articles because I usually don't read many NBA articles unless they are in relation to the Celtics.

I don't want to take anything away from his article, which was top notch.  That being said, Scoop has shown a tendency to submit very lazy articles, that are often written in fragmented sentences and make little sense.  He says this is "style", but I liken it more to brain-storming and then submitting that as a finished product.

The worst problem with Scoop, though, is he tends to fall into the "everything is about race" trap.  Here's how Jason Whitlock described Scoop:

Quote
But, yeah, there’s a big dropoff from being associated with Ralph [Wiley], Hunter [S. Thompson] and Bill [Simmons] than being linked to someone [like Scoop Jackson] doing a bad Nat X impersonation. It p*ssed me off that the dude tried to call himself the next Ralph Wiley and stated some [bleep] about carrying Ralph’s legacy. Ralph was one of my best friends. I hate to go all Lloyd Bentsen, but Scoop Jackson is no Ralph Wiley. Ralph was a grown-ass man who didn’t bojangle for anybody. Scoop is a clown. And the publishing of his fake ghetto posturing is an insult to black intelligence, and it interferes with intelligent discussion of important racial issues. Scoop showed up on the scene and all of a sudden I’m getting e-mails from readers connecting what I write to Scoop. And his stuff is being presented like grown folks should take it seriously. Please. I guess I’ll go Bill Cosby on you, but it’s about time we as black people quit letting Flavor Flav and the rest of these clowns bojangle for dollars. There’s going to be a new civil-rights movement among black people and the people bojangling for dollars are going to be put in check.

He also calls Scoop a "street poet", which I think describes some of the fragmented thoughts that Scoop passes off as "writing" that I described above.  He's a talented man, who quite often refuses to use that talent (much like many other sports writers, such as Peter May, Skip Bayless, and Stephen A. Smith.  The problem with the latter two is that they have now become "personalities", and thus play a caricature of themselves on television.)

All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino

Portland CrotoNats:  2009 CB Draft Champions

Re: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2008, 08:54:11 AM »

Offline drza44

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Re: Scoop and Whitlock

This is a bit of a tangent, but I remember that interview with Whitlock and I've always found it ironic that one of his criticisms of Scoop is that he plays too much on race.  Whitlock has, IMO, gone too far in the opposite direction...his writing voice has become very predictable when it comes to racial issues, giving very similar takes that are consistently (for want of a better term) counter-racial. 

Let me try to make my point a bit clearer.  Whenever a national incident involving race occurs, I know exactly how Jesse Jackson will react.  I know exactly how Al Sharpton will react.  This makes them less effective as "leaders", because they have lost their credibility when they react the same regardless of the situation.  By the same token, when I see that Whitlock has written an article on a racial situation, I know exactly how it is going to read.  His writing voice in simplest terms is "the opposite of Jackson or Sharpton", and because of that (and the fact that he is a black man that seemingly doesn't toe the perceived "company line") it initially reads as fresh.  But after years of it, it has lost it's freshness and more importantly (for me) it's credibility, much like Jackson and Sharpton has. 

I know this wasn't the point of this thread, but Whitlock's style often strikes me the wrong way and when I see him used as a reference by which to judge Scoop Jackson (who also often bothers me in a different way, but I digress) I just feel like I should respond.

Re: Great article on KG by Scoop Jackson
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2008, 09:27:17 AM »

Offline CelticPride

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drza44 -

Excellent take on leadership. Too often in society, "leaders" have pre-canned opinions that destroy their credibility. To earn my respect, you have to realize that every situation is different and judge it accordingly.