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Thanks, ABM. They did mention Martin but they pronounced it English fashion (mart-in rather than mart-een). And as the article says they missed half the story. But minor bug, the article says "ironically" Martin played for Portland. Why do so many writers mix up irony and coincidence? It is "coincidentally" that Martin played for Portland, no irony.
I missed the tribute during the dunk contest and so I was unaware of the comments made by Reggie Miller and Kenny Smith, but when I went back and watched it again yesterday, I was appalled by the lack of respect and knowledge these two jackasses displayed on national TV. Reggie's quip about the jersey being for "Ricky Martin' was ridiculous. These two "announcers" knew nothing about what Martin meant to Spain and so they ridiculed Rudy for wearing the jersey. They then pooh poohed his next dunk, with Smith remarking that Rudy "couldn't make the dunk", when in fact, a moment later, he did. I hadn't watched the Slam Dunk competition for several years and now I know why. It's a complete joke. The jackass announcers should be ashamed of themselves and they should apologize to both Rudy and Spain.
It's not just fans of Spanish basketball, but Blazer fans all over who understood the tribute. To me, that was the coolest moment of the dunk contest.
It was marred by the antics of Miller and Smith, however. It seems as those two clowns had been told it would be Howard vs. Robinson in the final, and so they had free reign to disrespect Rudy Fernandez on national TV. It was a disgusting display of "professionalism" and I will not be watching "All-Star Saturday" in future years.
Thanks for posting that. I am an ignorant American. I didn't know the relevance, but I'm happy that I've been informed.
Smith and Miller acted extremely stupid and disrespectful. They were annoying the shit out of me all night long. As bad as this was, I thought the pissing match they got in that lasted throughout the entire 3 point contest was even worse. For some reason, they think that the on court contests are a sideshow and they are the main act.
One of the better moments of the ASG was when they honored all the players who played in the Olympics for varoius countries. I noticed that Rudy was not there and wondered if he'd just gone home to Portland early. But if he heard how he, and his country, were ridiculed on TNT, I can't blame him. Anyone know where we can send a message to TNT about this crap?
On a tangent...in the span of a few years in the mid-80's we drafted Martin, Sabonis and Petrovic with our late round picks? Kinda savvy and unprecedented.
People give the Spurs all the credit for discovering European basketball players, but in reality we really were Trail Blazers in that regard.
http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/2/16/761299/for-anyone-who-would-like http://www.nba.com/email_us/contact_us.html reggiesmailbag@turner.com
As a Spaniard myself, I felt the TNT commentators were extremely disrespectful towards this tribute. I wasn't alive when Fernando Martin was playing, but according to my father Martin had almost the same impact on Spain as Gasol is now. If you see people in Spain today they are just so proud of Gasol. Martin was the first ever, and he died tragically in a car accident at a young age. The commentators should of shown more class.
