The NBA Dropped the Ball on the First Outdoor Game in Modern NBA History

By Craig Kwasniewski

According to yahoo.com:

The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets will play the first outdoor game in modern NBA history during the 2008-09 preseason.

The exhibition game on Oct. 11 at the 16,000-seat Indian Wells Tennis Garden will be televised by TNT.

The game follows the NHL's successful outdoor game on New Year's Day in Buffalo, N.Y.

"What will happen here will be historic," Rick Welts, the Suns' president and chief operating officer, said Tuesday. "More importantly, I think this will be a lot of fun. Most of us learned how to play basketball outdoors. This had the perfect circumstances to do it in the NBA."

OK... FREEZE IT!!!!

There's so many things wrong here I don't know where to start. First off, I think it's a great idea to take the game outdoors for an exhibition. All of us started playing outdoors on the playgrounds and it's a true retro/turn-back-the-clock element. Nothing wrong with that.

While "most of us learned how to play basketball outdoors" most of us *DID NOT* learn how to play hoops on a tennis court in a retirement community (BTW - Indian Wells is Palm Springs). Way to cater to your fanbase by selling tickets to middle-aged white people in the desert!

This is where the NBA totally dropped the ball on the outdoor concept. Why not have the game at one of the more famous outdoor playgrounds like Rucker Park in NYC? How great of a publicity coup would that be for the NBA by taking the game back to the streets for a charity exhibition game. And if weather is a concern (one of the "excuses" for playing in Indian Wells), then play it at Venice Beach on the courts made famous in White Man Can't Jump.

But instead, this looks like another attention/money-grabbing effort in the preseason. Instead of taking the game back to the people, the NBA is taking the game away and putting it in front of "the Man."

Oh and by the way, I wouldn't necessarily compare myself to the NHL in a press release. Who cares if the outdoor game in Buffalo was a success. How is the rest of the league doing? Here's a good example: I had nine free tickets to last night's LA Kings game and two whole months to give them away. Well after hearing several "I f*cking hate hockey" and "what a waste of time and gas" remarks, a total of four people went to the abortion that was a 0-4 loss to Phoenix. And on a day off there were plenty of seats available.

Do the right thing and take the outdoor game to the playground!

Comments

[Henry]

What a stupid post. Its only one exhibition, they can always do another at a "real" playground. Probably, since its being nationally televised, they need a bigger space and good weather. People like you complain about how they need to try different things in sports, then when they do, you complain about it.

[JAG]

Because i'm sure that "rucker park" is exactly the image the NBA is trying to portray at this point.

[Craig]

Hey Henry, Playing basketball at a tennis court in Palm Springs in not the type of "different" that I (or many real fans of basketball) want. And like I said, you can get great weather in Venice Beach!

[Joe]

Why oh why is everyone always hating on hockey.

NHL isn't doing great because nobody is willing to watch it. For every 'I f'ing hate hockey' I hear, I also hear 'No I've never actually watched or been to a game'

Anyway, to the point if they have it at the playground how many people can they feasibly sit? It would be a nightmare trying to see that game

[LJ]

Why get on the NBA about playing in a tennis arena? It's not like they're gonna paint lines on the tennis court and play on that surface.
If you wanna pull off an outdoor event like this, a tennis arena is perfect. Forget Rucker Park or Venice Beach. This is the NBA and everything is for show and profit. Weather is also an issue and rain is less likely to effect things in a dry enviroment. If you're gonna make this work, everything has to work out just the way you expect it will the first time around. I'm looking foward to seeing how this works out.

[Dunkadelic King of NY]

The NBA isn't Rucker Park. If it's just an exhibition of young players who are in the Summer League and you make an All-Star game of players from the Summer League then it might work but not for a regulation-game. The Rucker Park concept plays into the basketball and hip-hop culture fusion (The "Dunkadelic-Era" In America, 1984-Present) and the NBA Brass dosen't want to bond with that aspect of it's players. It tends to be a negative association but a very real association.

[John's Fourth Reich]

When the gods hurt people who tell them "No." it can be interpreted as a good sign, much as feedback normally is. Sadly, as the threat can be considered a deterent to proper behavior then so can avoidance of the actual punishment be considered temptation.
The gods won't punish rejection from the innocent. People have to become corrupted and engage in evil before the gods will wield their justice. But this punishment is feedback levied upon good people who do the wrong thing, not upon the undesirable evil. People who think correctly and are genuinely god-fearing are more likely to envoke god's mercy.
Among "reals" I don't expect the percentage to be as high as those who crossed the line from person to preditor, despite those ranks being filled with these "undesirables". I think the gods may want most if not all to pay if and when they finally "come around" and begin to behave appropriately. Understand this is not all-inclusive, for many of these tools remain in this state of corruption until the day the gods adjudicate their case (death, reincarnation a lesser life form, etc).
Unfortunately, the god's policy further reinforces evil behavior, for they are rarely if ever punished for their wickedness. Good people on the other hand are punished BECAUSE they are wanted and the gods are giving them feedback in hope they canlearn and begin to behave decent. Expect these events are made very visible, serving as a FABULOUS corruptor.
Consistant with this policy of not punishing evil because they are undesirable, the Chinese will be inflicted with Westernization immediately, while the socio-economically mature Japanese have retained a significant level of their culture. As reflected in "Benchmarks.wav", this will contribute to deterioration sufficient for the gods to utilize justification, allowing them to end on Planet Earth.
Another benchmark could be the age when they corrupt children. Granted this differs, but the mean (and median) are VERY important numbers, and when you graph them you will see a constant deterioration.

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Recall I recently brought up the possible Manifest Destiny-positioned Chinese invasion of the United States (west coast) upon economic abandonment by their clone host tools (economic destruction and deterioration.mp3). They have mentioned this in years past.
Newspaper just made a curious change where they combined the sports and business sections, and to properly read the business section you need to read "backward". Like Asian languages.
Tariffs. The gods are instruct their tools to defend open free trade, as they will to the bitter end. The gods have a script and they need economic (d)evolution sufficient to justify what they have scripted for our future, so they use their tools to adamantly defend this concept of fair trade::::The time for tariffs has long since past.
Incidentally, the Chinese recalls (lead-based paint on toys, toothpaste, etc) may be in preparation for this invasion, a tactic esuring a percentage of disfavored affected will fight to the bitter end.
I've recently stated how the gods will use the Japanese as role models to the Chinese as China becomes increasingly Westernized. Expect a cultural movement celebrating Japanese culture in decades prior, much as we witnessed in the west in the past.
If we do witness a Chinese invasion on American soil don't be surprised if the very same tactics the Japanese employed on the Chinese will be used on us. Lack of empathy is a dynamic the gods will find important in the context of justification, niggers:::

Italians killed THOUSANDS of blacks in the 20th century. Port Chicago represents 200 alone.
When blacks adopt the charecteristics of their victimizers and turn it on others it illustrates a total lack of empathy, one which will be punished by death.
Don't be one of them.
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It doesn't matter. McCain doesn't have a chance. Osama's too good. The debates will be one-sided. He has a better chance against Hillary. I can get into the explanation that the gods only use their power to hurt the disfavored, but you've already heard it. Consistant with this, expect gas to climb to $4 if not $5 this summer, ensuring the election is delivered to the wrong candidate, just like 2004::::They've used the price of gas to punish the people for electing the wrong person.
IN 2000 you didn't have a choice, and they sent this clue very nicely with proceedings surrounding the election. But 2004 was different. In an ironic twist it will be just the opposite this year, where the gods use the price of gas to divert you TO their prefered candidate. Wwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
You idiot redneck political types are the chumps here. 1998::::Something for everybody. Clinton's impeachment was for people like you. ANYTIME the kids support a candidate it is a RED FLAG, and they supported Clinton in 1992.
It is VERY important that you think clearly::::::::It's important you differentiate between your thoughts and when the computer thinks through you. They've led many into Damnation with this tactic.
No red in McCain's official campaign sign. Both Clinton and Osama have redwhite&blue signs.
McCain's our man.

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