Slate's Bizbox
the breakfast table: An e-mail conversation about the news of the day.

Robert Christgau and Danyel Smith

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112131415
from: Robert Christgau

War Crimes and the Knicks

Posted Tuesday, June 22, 1999, at 6:05 PM ET

Dear Harried Editor,

Don't mean to harry you more, but I do enjoy interacting. In fact, I joined a music conference press panel in Boston in April primarily because you were chairing it. And then you didn't show, rendering me de facto chair by virtue of my seniority and big mouth. I was sad.

Don't worry about not understanding Kosovo, because no one else does either. That doesn't mean you don't care, of course--the human cost is almost as horrible as in Rwanda, plus for some odd reason in our collective face 100 times as big. And it also doesn't mean you can read even the first few paragraphs of today's Page One Times story without asking yourself just exactly how far you want to take this cultural-relativism business. I mean, we're fighting (in the official version) to preserve (all right, prevent genocide against) a culture that considers rape victims definitively unclean (against another such culture? Possibly--haven't tripped over the self-appointed expert on that one). The offended husbands, poor guys, are still human beings. So are the rapists, for that matter. But if I'm gonna care about them, I'm also gonna despise them, all mitigating circumstances be damned.

And now, how about those Knicks? What a true obsessive does is watch the game and then savor every written recapitulation. Did anyone point out that uncharismatic Kurt Thomas had 16 rebounds and 13 points (three less than Larry Johnson) in 31 enormous minutes? Not in the Times. And speaking of the wondrous LJ, there's George Vecsey, turning into self-appointed moral arbiter Dave Anderson right before our eyes. LJ offended him, as he did Mark Kriegel in the Daily News yesterday and countless of their colleagues, with an "obscene" refusal (basketball players actually say "fuck" in public, something sportswriters never do) to make nice to the press, despite Herr Stern's edict to all NBA contractees. Latrell hath no fury like a sportswriter scorned. Well, in fact he does--sorry, Danyel, I like his glasses, articulateness, and game (though that quick jump shot in the fourth was sheer hubris), but hip-hop journalists know if anyone does that an authority figure's words are one thing and neck is another--but I can't resist a good rhyme. This is always going on with black players who are considered uncooperative ("sullen," "immature," "uppity"). They love the Derek Jeters and the Allan Houstons--not just light-skinned guys, Don Baylor, too. As in fact do I, and if I gave a shit about hockey or football, I'm sure I'd know white examples, too. But they're rare in baseball, nonexistent in basketball. No white sportswriter is to be trusted on a Latrell, an Albert Belle. Ever hear of a first baseman named Eddie Murray? Quiet guy, proud guy, never talks to the press. And only around his 3,000th hit did it emerge that even though he gave bad interview, he wasn't the "disruptive force in the clubhouse" he's been branded as. Could end up a coach. Not a manager, though--uncooperative with the press. Unlike Willie Randolph and Chris Chambliss--who for some odd reason aren't managers yet either.

Harryingly,
Bob

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112131415
from: Robert Christgau

War Crimes and the Knicks

Posted Tuesday, June 22, 1999, at 6:05 PM ET
Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Robert Christgau is a senior editor and chief music critic of the Village Voice. His essay collection, Grown Up All Wrong (click here to buy the book), was published in 1998. Danyel Smith is the editor in chief of Vibe.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
Washington Post