Donald Sterling ok, players wearing jewelry bad

So goes the logic of David Stern, I guess. In a league that frets over its image to the point of banning players from wearing too much jewelry or shirts without collars it is hard not to be a little disgusted that man like Donald Sterling, who, um, OWNS AN NBA TEAM gets a free pass. Human rights violations are fine, t-shirts are the real enemy. Got that? If you want a refresher read the latest on the Clippers owner.

I Don't Totally Hate David Stern

Sometimes I do. If you read this blog, chances are 99.9% that you've already seen this video (and 25% that you are in Finland, its true!). I'm posting it because 1) Stern makes a really good point thats not getting enough attention and 2) I'm lazy.



The Blazer announcers are exactly what Stern is pointing out, which is something they're not happy to talk about. I enjoy our Mike & Mike a lot, but they are Trailblazer employees. At the end of the day they have a responsibility to tow the company line. Thats why we hear the constant company-spin, thats why we don't hear them bring up obvious criticisms. Announcers weren't always paid by the teams they covered. There was a day when they didn't have to worry about ramifications for saying things that could possibly reflect poorly on the organization (Hey Darius!). Now they are an extension of the PR Department, to the point where it gets insulting at times. Again, I think Portland has some of the better announcers in the league, but the puppet show is hard to miss. Irksome things.

By the way, this here is the best NBA-related video to surface in a while. That is all.

David Stern wants you to hate him

I just got done watching Portland vs. Boston in the Las Vegas Summer League (analysis of Portland here, and Boston here). I barely caught the game, allow me to elaborate before my head explodes:

A rant directed towards Mr. David Stern, who may or may not have had anything to do with the obstacle I had to overcome to watch this game. Whatever, I won't let this stop me from blaming him: On the schedule right here, it reads:

"*All games can be watched online, CLICK HERE. "

Well, apparently that asterisk means something along the lines of:

"*Actually, we plan to blackout the games after getting your hopes up by hyping up how cool this will be. Because we hate you, NBA fan, and want to crush your soul."

What the hell? I tried to kill some time by watching China's national team play Memphis and I got the blackout error message. I live in Portland. Which, by the way, is pretty far from Memphis, China, and Las Vegas.I felt the rage building.

Portland vs. Boston tip time rolled around, and NBA.com didn't even bother to post a link that I could take to get to the blackout message. I was a few seconds away from punching myself in the face. Suddenly, a ray of sunshine beamed down and directed me to a lovely blog that shall remain nameless. A comment was posted on said lovely blog, detailing how to sidestep the blackout and enjoy the game. I love the internet. David Stern? Not so much. You sir, are cold as ice.

If they aren't going to show the games, then don't brag about how you are going to show all the games. Wow that sounds simple. If you want to charge, cool, let us know. If you don't want to show them, hey, I can live with that. But don't build it up like you're being so awesome to your fans, only to tear it away from us. Are you trying to piss of the people that, you know, support your existence? Thats so cold it doesn't even make sense. Thats Stern.