I hate Chris Mannix
He wants to hate on Team USA just to be a hater, so I’m going to hate on him, cause hating on a hater negates the hating. The word hate appeared in some form in the previous sentence five times.
Warning: The following post is going to clown someone who wrote a column that contains pessimism and player hating to the highest degree.
First, read his sad Team USA hatefest.
Okay Chris, I do not think that team USA is a sure thing no doubt lock to win the whole tourney either. I’ve been poking fun at them myself, but come on now. I’m starting to feel like coverage of this story other than Lang watching the game and writing what he sees, has taken the following format:
1. Hype the US team to insane levels, building up all the players and making it seem like if they fail it’s a complete disaster.
2. Mention that no matter how great this USA team is, they can never be the one and only Dream Team. Even if they were to win every game by 50.
2.5. (The original Dream Team spread basketball across the world. Without the Dream Team, guys like Dirk, Yao, and Ginobili might have never become inspired to play basketball. No US basketball team will ever have such light competition ever again. It’s an international game now, and the Dream Team is a big reason why.)
3. If they win a game, it’s becaue the competition is no good. If it’s a close game, then everyone yells “SEE! They’re not focused.” If it’s a blowout, it’s like the game never happened and it was just a scrimmage.
4. Everyone is waiting for them to fail. The proverbial buzzards are circling.
What if they don’t fail? What if they win the whole thing? Will there be round after round of apology columns? Of course not. Probably just alot of “So what, they had the most talent.”
Oh, here’s an interesting Mannix column to look back on. It’s from April and it’s called “Heat Don’t Have the Look of a Championship Contender.” So, you know, you might want to put your money on Team USA.
USA! USA! USA! USA!
(Oh by the way, Chris once wrote a column disguised as a blog calling for Ron Ron to be kicked out of the league. Now I really hate this guy.)
27 Responses to “I hate Chris Mannix”
Aug.25 at 10:17 am
Richie says:
Word Sam!!! Chris Mannix sucks ass!!!
Aug.25 at 10:36 am
Ryan says:
I read that same column, all the while thinking, Why does Chris Mannix hate USA basketball? Is he not American? It’s like he is pulling against them just so he can say. “See, See. I was right.” My thinking is if we lose, which I don’t expect, it would be a major upset for any team, including Argentina.
Aug.25 at 10:41 am
Nadav says:
Listen, Argentina isn’t making it past the next round. Guransheed.
Aug.25 at 10:54 am
pete says:
who does argentina play next round?
Aug.25 at 11:13 am
Carmelo says:
Argentina will play against New Zeeland….don’t see that guaranshee work here..
Aug.25 at 12:15 pm
Jamison says:
“Warning: The following column contains pessimism and player-hating to the highest degree.” Sam- was the above statement in Mannix’s column when you originally posted your entry? I get the feeling it wasn’t, since the column was apparently updated today at 1:25 AM.
Aug.25 at 12:15 pm
Jamison says:
Oops- 10:25… not 1:25.
Aug.25 at 12:44 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Sam, what are you going to do if he’s right?
Aug.25 at 12:52 pm
Drew says:
The US teams is damned if they do and damned if they don’t
A lot the world has for the most part caught up to the US in basketball and team USA being beat by the top international teams will no longer be unheard of. not a regular occurance for a while but it can happen.
Canada when through the same pains as the rest of the world caught up in Hockey.
Still when Canada has all of their top players playing and healthy they are the team to beat in hockey.
I see the US b-ball team being the same over the following decades. as for that ass clown Mannix, yet another example of negative journalism.
Aug.25 at 1:25 pm
robert p says:
Sam you better watch your mannix bashing.. your gonna mess it all up for lang.. no more si madden previews.. might be demoted back to intern status.. i do think the us will win it all by the way.. if they play to the level their capable of no one can touch them..
Aug.25 at 2:00 pm
winston and the telescreen says:
he seems to be fond of the ‘one (players name) injury away from disaster’ analogy
he’s going to feel a bit silly when argentina gets destroyed by spain
Aug.25 at 2:11 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
If Mannix is right, then it will be because his negative vibes infected the team. Skip Bayless predicted what T.O. would do to the Eagles based on watching what he did to the 49ers. I remember admitting that Skip was right, and how that made me question my whole value system. This would be alot like that. I assume Mannix wrote that column because he wanted people to bash him. He even has a disclaimer on it warning that he is a hater.
Aug.25 at 2:27 pm
Simply Turrible says:
There seems to be a small, yet vocal contingent of basketball “writers” who not only hate Team USA, but also hate the NBA in general. They pounce on anything negative about the League to try and prove that the NBA is nothing more than a bunch of over-paid “thugs” (the racial overtones of which make me naseous). The Palace brawl is a perfect example, and the rhetoric being spewed by these so-called “journalists” in the months following was very disheartening. I mean, c’mon, hockey is a sport in which fighting is in many ways intergral to the game, and no one says shit about that.
Simply put, writers like Mannix don’t want the NBA or its players to succeed. You can see that in the gloom and doom articles about how the US team is destined to fail, because they don’t play the “right” brand of basketball. If Team USA makes an early exit, this would enable them to say, “see, I told you” and then rant all that BS about the NBA having a sub-par, less intelligent brand of basketball. These crotchety f**ks simply can’t let go of the fact that the days of Larry Bird are over, and the new, exciting and in many ways, more cerebral, style of basketball is here to stay.
Sorry for the rant.
Aug.25 at 3:17 pm
Pablo Favarel (from Argentina) says:
As somebody who was born and still lives in Argentina I have some stuff to say: first of all, I guess everybody hates “america”, because well, isn´t “America” an entire continent in the first place? I mean, I´m an american too, ain´t I? What I´m trying to explaing here is that all over the world there is a feeling that people from the States are too proud and greedy and think they own the world. Nobody buys the “We come in peace” speech of americans anymore (U.S. in Irak or Lebannon?). I´ll disagree with u Sam about the Dream Team. It might have brought b-ball to Europe, but not here in Argentina… MICHAEL JORDAN DID it by himself! Moreover, come Olympics time EVERY single athlete in the world stays in that special “village” during the competitions. NBA players? They hung by themselves at the most expensive hotel available and carry an arrogance which is insulting. I was at a talk-show yesterday to talk about the WBC, and when asked who was the favourite I said: “USA, no doubt”. The world has caught up, no doubt about it, but as u.s.a. players are the best in the world it´s never too late to behave like a normal guy and not with arrogance and indiference. Then again, that´s just me
Aug.25 at 4:02 pm
sukebe oji-san says:
Whether or not Mattix is hating or unpatriotic or whatever, he makes a couple good basketball points. USAB’s outside shooting, passing and team play are simply inferior to ARG and SPN. Period. Anyone who knows anything about basketball can see that. USAB’s “strategy” in the halfcourt is to clear the court and let bron, melo, wade or joe j. go one-on-one. it’s boring and ugly basketball. USAB may win this tournament by dint of their impressive one-on-one ability, but in terms of aesthetic beauty and evolution of the game, ARG, SPN, GRC and ANG are the teams pushing things forward. Wouldn’t it be cool if the team with the best talent and the best athletes also played the smartest, most-unselfish, most-progressive style of basketball? It’s a shame…
Aug.25 at 4:26 pm
Pablo Favarel (from Argentina) says:
I completely agree with that. USAB overpowers opponents by their strenght and athleticism. I also noticed they don´t run a single play on offense and look pretty awkward against zones. i guess the key for USAB has been their tremendous pressure they put on the ball handler and how aggresive they play the passing lanes. Of course, all this lead to a LOT of fastbreaks where there´s no team in the world who can stop USAB fastbreaks. Hands down. So, that´s that.
Aug.25 at 5:10 pm
sukebe oji-san says:
USAB’s fastbreaks are cool, but smart, mature teams won’t turn the ball over against their pressure. In fact, I’m not convinced that “pressure” defense is the best strategy for USAB. A savvy team like SPN will just drive-and-kick all night long: Calderon is hella quicker than Paul or Hinrich. A more traditional defense, built on rotations and help, would be a better strategy against the good teams. But then again, Bron and Melo are such atrocious individual- and team-defenders that a help-defense wouldn’t work while they’re on the court… I mean, I want USAB to win. But I want them to win playing an intelligent style. Could you imagine what USAB would be like if they passed half as well as ARG?! It would push the game to a new level. (Apropos of nothing, just like this bball tournament, ARG had the best team at the World Cup. Best skill, best talent, best team spirit. They would’ve won, if not for the heinously corrupt FIFA officiating. A FRA/ARG final, officiated fairly, would’ve been beautiful. That said, the 24-pass goal was a beautiful gift that every futbol fan can enjoy forever. And Maxi’s goal against MEX was sublime: sport as art.)
Aug.25 at 5:43 pm
Drew says:
isn’t d’antoni in charge of the offense? well if u notice, the phoenix suns dont run a “set” offense either. they pick and roll their opponents to death, drive and kick, and get out into transition. the usa has an offense, just not one that has “set plays”.
Aug.25 at 7:30 pm
truthbetold says:
Yo Pablo, good to know about the “heinously corrupt FIFA officiating” at the World Cup. Until now I thought Argentina had lost against Germany because your coach was too dumb to make the right substitutions and because you missed two penalties?
Aug.25 at 7:33 pm
winston and the telescreen says:
Maxis goal WAS in fact beautiful
and argentina easily should have gone to the finals
but any team that leaves their best player on the bench
(Messi)
deserves to lose
still
I still cant believe crap Italy won
what a sham
Aug.27 at 8:33 am
dant says:
Common if you had wade lbj and carmelo on ur team, you would be dumb if you didn’t allow them to go one on one. One major difference between this US team and the 2 others that that flopped is that their 3 superstars are one of the most unselfish trio in the league. Chris Mannix Sucks. Yea of course, USa was just one Melo injury away from loosing. Take out Dirk from the German team and see what they can do.
Aug.29 at 12:55 pm
DBlizzy says:
I thought the whole point of any sport was to win. If you have the best athletes in the world, do you run set offenses and hold them down or do you go one on one until somebody stops you? I’m tired of everyone talking about “fundemental” basketball and all of that. The point is to outscore your opponent and thats what the US is doing. It’s like what people used to say about Shaq, “oh all he does is dunk.” If i’m bigger and stronger than you and can dunk everytime, then thats what the hell I’m gonna do. Does that make him a bad player… not in my opinion, it makes him smart for taking advantage of your opponents weakness. If you want to talk about playing the right way, then tell all the european teams not to play zone. Thats not how the game was “meant” to be played, if there is such a thing… Like someone else said, the US is damned if they do and damned if they don’t so there is one thing that I’ll garunshee… No matter what happens, win or lose, someone is gonna criticize the crap out of the US team!
Sep.1 at 12:05 am
Dennard says:
Sam, I couldn’t agree with you more. All these columnists are hating on the USA and are writing these articles like: USA has no chance or USA will lose to Spain in the final. What da hell? It’s like these guys write these articles to make themselves seem like geniuses if the US loses. All I can say is go USA!!!
Sep.8 at 12:03 am
Vish from India says:
hmm…come to think of it, the US team is like Kobe; no matter what they do, they are going to get critisized! maybe KB24 should not play on this team….he will be ripped apart everyday!
the US have the best team in the world…period…so they lost…shit happens, brush it off and dominate next time out.
Dec.25 at 8:48 pm
Jack says:
Chris Mannix Sucks…i agree with all of you brilliant people! Cousin Jack
Aug.2 at 2:26 pm
Dave says:
Hey I know this is a year old and not sure if anyone will see this, but I saw Chris Mannix get his ass kicked by Juan Manuel Marquez this Satruday at my boxing gym. Video here, enjoy!:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/08/01/mannix.fight/index.html
Aug.26 at 2:19 am
LBJ says:
Ok, now the Redeem Team has won the gold medal, and theyx won it with style! Where are you now Mannix? Got anything to say about how bad LeBron is, or how Chris Paul can’t play? Suddenly Mannix has gone quiet.