This. He's saying 'Murica was too scared of and couldn't relate to Angry (Black) Sheed. Still: I think that is just a part of the economics of the equation. The refs took the Blazers out of the game. League orders. And I will go to my grave believing that.
There weren’t many HDTVs back then so it makes sense that they were too black. Not as much clarity in the signal as there is now.
That Dunleavy timeout pissed me off. I actually cussed at Dunleavy when he did that. Really stupid. I don't think there is any way something like that would have been discussed with players, let alone during a timeout, and if it were, it would have leaked. OTOH: It's at least plausible the refs and even a coach or two (DunleavycoughDunleavy) could have been in on it. The NBA was crooked as fuck during those Lakers three-peat years, that's for certain.
Yep, I thought about that, then went back and re-read his quote and believe that was exactly what he was saying: "we were too street for them". I think it really came down to the big market superstars the league liked to promote vs. the dysfunctional upstarts the league felt would offend their target lily white demographic. That 2000 Blazers team was just ahead of its time. In today's sensationalistic, overly dramatic "reality TV" market, they would have been a ratings bonanza, not so much because they were "too street", but because all of the dysfunction and drama (Sheed racking up techs left, right and center, Sheed throwing a towel in Sabonis' face, Bonzi spitting on fans and in Danny Ferry's face, etc. all of them wanting to strangle Dunleavy, etc. BNM
The Real Housewives of The Jail Blazers (and Ruben Patterson's nanny) Survivor: Sauvie Island Yellow Hummer Wheeler Dealers Someone with more interest in reality TV could probably do better, but I'm sure we could have fun with this.
It turned out to require both effort and a train of thought, and none of the three had enough of eithrr...
I actually like that Jail Blazers. We are full of bad boys and great players but we also demolish teams.
They were jerks and the team generally was a bunch of rich, entitled, selfish thugs and a-holes. It had nothing to do with color. An asshole is an asshole in any color.