BIGGEST NEWS OF THE YEAR: SLAM is on THE WIRE
The highest honor in publications has been received.
Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok. Deep breaths.
So I was watching the latest episode of The Wire, the one that’s going to air this Sunday night. This is a subtle little thing that won’t be giving anything away, so feel free to read on. NO SPOILER ALERT.
There is a scene where Michael is reading to his little brother Bug, the kid he’s protecting from an abusive father (I think they have the same mom but different dads). They are thumbing through a basketball magazine, and Michael says to him “Elton Brand. Now what you know about him? Nothing! Cause he’s quiet.” And if you want to read into the scene, you could say that Michael is talking about himself as being an Elton Brand figure. He’s the quiet unassuming kid that does his homework, is the man of the house, and is an all around stand-up guy in general, even if he’s just 12 years old or whatever he is. A few weeks ago Khalid said he was his favorite kid on the show. Unlike Omar (the one that writes for us, not Omar Little) who says he’s more of a Randy guy cause he relates to snitches.
If you want to hear the really interesting story of my detective work, here it goes: I took that screenshot with my camera of the magazine in question. Michael is turning pages in the magazine and flips from that photo to one of Elton Brand. I should have taken a photo of the Elton Brand shot, but rewinding and fastfowarding On-Demand programming is tricky. So I have a photo of the page before Elton’s. I came in to work today all fired up to figure out if this was really a SLAM image. I had a hunch this would be in SLAMups, the all-poster magazine, but that picture wasn’t good enough to get confirmation. I went to our storage room and found the magazine SLAM presents SWOOSH, our all NIKE player photo issue. (So I was close) The page with Elton Brand was familiar and I remember someone on the next page in a yellowish green uniform. Rashad Lewis was there. I turned back one page and there was Derek Fisher on the right and Jason Kidd on the left - the image you see on this page. McNulty is out of the game, so if Bunk needs a new partner, my detective skills are obviously on point. (Our intern Konate called me Officer Prezbo a few weeks ago though. Damn kids and their “jokes.”)
As for SLAM appearing in an episode and being used as a reference point for dialogue, this is a great accomplishment. The Pulitzer? The National Book Award? Oprah’s Book Club? The Nobel Prize for Literature? F all that. SLAM was on The Wire. Respect us.
Admittedly one of the reasons the show is so authentic is because they don’t cave to trends and force product placement in the episodes. This was understated, but I’d hate to see the show taking a commercial turn. I noticed two seperate Three Six Mafia songs being played over the course of the episode (one of them was Herc’s ringtone), and magazines DON DIVA and RIDES have been on the show, but the characters reading them don’t really talk about what they are reading. For example, there is a scene where Marlo is at his “office” flipping through DON DIVA. No disrespect to all the real life gangsters and killers that are found in the pages of that magazine, but being read by Marlo Stansfield might be the highest honor a piece of literature can recieve. He’s obviously read every book you’d expect from a leader with his degree of genius from the 48 Laws of Power to The Art of War to Jack Welch’s biography, and so on. Either that or he’s just a cold hearted genius prodigy who learned through life. Yes, I’m talking about a fictional character here, but whoever came up with this character got it right. And he might be fictional to you but he’s real to me. You see, all of this stuff I do in life, whether it’s working, sleeping, hanging out with friends or my girlfriend… it’s all just killing time until the next epsiode of The Wire. My favorite moments in life right now are:
1. Watching The Wire
2. The buzz you get at the end of the episode
3. The anticipation you feel when you’re about to watch an episode.
4. everything else in my life.
5. Knowing that it’s going to be a long time until I get to watch the next episode.
Furthermore, if there was a three on three game with one team being LeBron, Wade, and Melo and the other one being Marlo, Chris, and Snoop, I’m putting my money on the Wire side of the game. Chris and Snoop are easily my favorite killers in the history of TV. They’re like Jason and Freddy, or Frankenstein and Dracula, but scarier and not campy whatsoever.
I won’t give anything away about the show to those who aren’t watching this season for some reason, though there is NO reason not to watch. If Clay Davis wrote his memoirs, I would buy it and read it 20 times. On a show full of drug dealers and all this kingpin talk and corrupt cops playing office politcs, Clay is the ultimate hustler. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Seriously, if you don’t watch this show, I can’t be friends with you. This season has replaced THE GODFATHER as the new iconic american gangster epic. Yeah I said it! Scarface, Goodfellas, New Jack City, Sopranos, your reign is over.
SLAM on The Wire. This is a great day.
53 Responses to “BIGGEST NEWS OF THE YEAR: SLAM is on THE WIRE”
Nov.17 at 11:58 am
Derms says:
That show is unbelievably real and good. I am a teacher, not in a rough inner city school, but a middle school teacher none the less. So I can relate to Prezbo and all the stuff he deals with. My fav show, no doubt.
Nov.17 at 12:11 pm
Vitor says:
Hold on Sam. The show might be good, but replace The Godfather?
Nov.17 at 12:28 pm
allenp says:
yes, it replaces the Godfather. That show is freaking genius. I slept until this season, and I feel stupid.
Nov.17 at 12:30 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
Looks more like Baron Davis than Derek Fisher in that picture… I don’t remember D-Fish’s arms being that ripped.
Nov.17 at 12:38 pm
Kene says:
…yes, The Wire is definitely good enough to replace The Godfather. Especially since we can relate to it on a deeper level than we can to the Godfather. This is because, at the end of the day, the show is about us. Not ‘us’ as in ‘drug dealers, crooked politicians and hardcore gay stick-up men’, but ‘us’ as in ‘ppl who have to deal with the effects of the drug game, crooked politicians and messed up schools’. The Wire is an incredibly deep show, with top notch writing, great acting and characters that get all up in your head.
Go on Sam, preach the gospel to the masses…..sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiittt!
Nov.17 at 12:52 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
This is almost as exciting as when SLAM was on Growing Up Gotti.
Nov.17 at 1:11 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
BLASPHAMY!
Nov.17 at 1:11 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Im at the Trump Internation, nigga ask fo me.
Nov.17 at 1:12 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
international, too
Nov.17 at 1:37 pm
nic says:
move over New Jack City? for the love of god, sam, watch your mouth! you dont want it with mario van p!
Nov.17 at 2:07 pm
Max Airington says:
Chris and Snoop are ill, but Wee Bey, Bird and Stinkum were no f’in joke either. And then of course there’s Omar. The gay one from B’More. Not that gay one who works for SLAM. However, Marlo will kill Omar before the end of this season. If Stringer Bell was the Kobe Bryant of the game, Marlo is Lebron, DWade and Melo all in one. The future. I got into quite a heated drunken debate last night with a complete stranger about The Wire. It brings the races together. Unlike that damn rap music…
Nov.17 at 2:11 pm
Max Airington says:
And The Wire was better than The Godfather after season three. This year left Don Corleone completely in the rear view mirror. The Barksdale crew wouldve slayed Sonny. But, Michael was “a reasonable man” and so was String. Can you imagine that? A Barksdale-Corleone co-op? Ew. Get down or lay down…
Nov.17 at 2:17 pm
Jason says:
I’ve seen the entire season and let’s just say it gets REALLY good in the last 3 episodes. Bubbs gives a performance that is an instant classic and Michael’s transformation is incredible. It pisses me off that HBO is cancelling it after next season. Maybe if they promoted it the way they do Sopranos, the show would have higher ratings. This show NEEDS to be on TV and it needs to be recognized more. They’re talking about sending Season 5 straight to DVD to recoup the money they lost this season. And they’re putting the first season on BET. How is that going to work? Anyway, Snoop and Bunk have to be 2 of the funniest characters in drama history. I like Marlo, but Chris is the real brains and none of them are as 48 Laws/Art of War -ish as Prop Joe. The Fat Man stays 10 steps ahead.
Nov.17 at 2:19 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
i kind of wish they didnt waste season 2, like they did.
1
Nov.17 at 2:24 pm
Max Airington says:
They played The Corner on BET and it actually worked out pretty well, considering it’s the only time in the last 2 years I’ve watched BET…
Nov.17 at 2:35 pm
cdrumz86 says:
If Tony Soprano went down to Baltimore, his fat ass would get shot up with a nail gun, covered in lime, and left to rot in an abandoned building. The Wire is like the NBA: superior to the NFL, yet too real to be embraced by the mainstream.
Nov.17 at 3:30 pm
Omar says:
How Sam gonna go and say Randy was my favorite kid on the show? I never said i had a favorite kid. If anything Michael was my dude cause as you’ll see as the show progresses, he’s gangsta on a scale Sam only dreams of. Hey Sam, when you gonna post those “gangsta” pictures you took of yourself with the bandana covering your face?? K-Fed wannabe!
Nov.17 at 3:32 pm
Omar says:
So wouldn’t Avon be the Mike Jordan of the game?
Nov.17 at 3:39 pm
Max Airington says:
Avon provided the muscle to let String do his thing. No dipset! So I’d consider him like the Scottie Pippen of the game. So I guess String is Mike then? Now my analogies are all f’d up. Thanks.
Nov.17 at 3:42 pm
Marcel Mutoni says:
Brother Muzzone is the William Wesley of this whole shit. Moves in many circles and is both loved/feared by everyone.
Nov.17 at 3:47 pm
Marcel Mutoni says:
ok, maybe not loved, but definitely RESPECTED.
Nov.17 at 3:51 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
that makes Kobe, Omar. The cold blooded assasin, that no ones quite sure how to take.
Maybe hes gay too, who knows.
1
Nov.17 at 3:55 pm
Marcel Mutoni says:
i can roll with that. speaking of potentially gay, is stu jackson rawls?
Nov.17 at 3:55 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
and D’angelo Barksdale’s Len Bias.
Nov.17 at 3:56 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
^^^^^
R.I.P
Nov.17 at 3:59 pm
thugleavy34 says:
Season 2 was dope because it swtiched things up. Absolutely brilliant, if you ask me. I don’t post much but shit, this is the Wire. I get a boner nearly every time the theme song comes on. Ok, maybe too much information…
Nov.17 at 3:59 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Gilbert Arena’s is Sobotka’s kid from the second season that had the duck on a diamond studded leash. Just because.
1
Nov.17 at 4:01 pm
Marcel Mutoni says:
and earl boykins is the kid with the long hair (forget his name)’s new lieutenant (the hilarious shorty)
Nov.17 at 4:04 pm
Max Airington says:
Namond. and Kenard. Stu Jackson should be former comissioner Burrell. Kobe just might me Omar.
Nov.17 at 4:06 pm
Max Airington says:
be.
Nov.17 at 4:13 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Wee bay - S jackson
Stink em - Lonny Baxter
Bird - Bassy
Nov.17 at 4:13 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
^
trigger men
Nov.17 at 5:04 pm
Omar says:
So would that make the chick that look like Lil’ Romeo in Marlo’s crew Teresa Weatherspoon? And would anybody here hit that?
Nov.17 at 5:09 pm
Omar says:
And who would Slim Charles be? I say he’s the missing third member from The Clipse. He looks just like them.
Nov.17 at 5:09 pm
Max Airington says:
You know she killed a man in real life right? And I wouldnt hit that if she offered to let me live…
Nov.17 at 5:09 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
“chick that look like Lil’ Romeo”
Answered your own question.
1
Nov.17 at 5:19 pm
Omar says:
Did she really kill a man? Based off that alone i might wife her. LOL. She gangsta n*gga!!
Nov.17 at 5:22 pm
cdrumz86 says:
Anyone else think that Wallace (the kid in Bodie’s crew from Season 1) looks more than a little like Shaun Livingston?
Nov.17 at 5:28 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
Yes cdrumz! I put up a separated at birth of the two of them on the old website a while ago.
And Omar, my friend that I watch the show with wants to marry her too.
Nov.17 at 5:28 pm
CASHVILLE says:
I never watched this show until the present season when I saw my parents had the shit on demand. It was a slow Saturday so I sat down and watched a good 6 or 7 episodes. 100% gangsta, from chicks catching buck fifties in the classroom to the mayor getting that Lewinsky in his office. I’ve missed the last 4 or 5 episodes so I can’t wait to go back home this Thanksgiving and catch up with a cup of yac in my hand. BTW, I woundn’t hit that bitch with a stick! “Gotta keep tha devil down in the hole”
Nov.17 at 5:37 pm
Omar says:
Damn Sam. Ya man is wilding. I wouldn’t marry her. I’d break her off something and keep her around to make sure i don’t get bucked and to do the bucking for me.
Nov.17 at 5:38 pm
Max Airington says:
You both realize shes probably a lesbian right? Baltimore is full of chicks who look like that. And you’re not going to see them holding hands with some dude….
Nov.17 at 5:40 pm
Omar says:
I ain’t mad at lesbians at all. That’s hot to me. Btw, i think this is my favorite Wire season.
Nov.17 at 5:59 pm
Max Airington says:
From what I hear, I gotta see the end before I decide. And word to lesbians. At least the ones on HBO & Cinemax. None of that Rosie ODonnell ish….
Nov.17 at 6:03 pm
Omar says:
Are you serious?!?! Rosie? Man listen. If i was ever to walk into a room with Rosie and Ellen butt naked in bed i might could do something. LOL
Nov.17 at 8:07 pm
thugleavy34 says:
…not cool.
Nov.17 at 8:08 pm
thugleavy34 says:
seriously, Rosie and Ellen? Zero gangster heads for that one.
Nov.18 at 1:24 pm
Jason says:
Yo, I saw Snoop and Weatherspoon at a club last year and they were pulling more chicks than most of the dudes at the spot. But I don’t know about that Rosie/Ellen thing. I think I’d rather lay in a bed of my own vomit than lay in a bed with those two. Now Kima on the other hand…
Nov.18 at 8:59 pm
BETCATS says:
wait u saw clanerce weatherspoon? i thought he was dead or somethin, but how was he pullin chicks unless somebody wanted to become Mrs.Weatherspoon
Nov.18 at 11:03 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Not bad, but I’ll be really stoked when we get on Deadwood. C*cksuckers.
Nov.19 at 1:20 am
Love & Basketball says:
Congrats SLAM! Always loved your mag because you keep it real, and obviously the peeps at The Wire rewarded ya for it! http://loveandbasketball2.blogspot.com
Dec.20 at 5:04 pm
Miguel A Gonzalez says:
what is the name of the theme song?
Dec.27 at 10:45 pm
matt bird says:
Co-sign on everything Sam said. I totally relate to the “Wire fix” situation. When I’m not watching The Wire, I feel exhausted and distracted. When I’m watching The Wire, I’m totally absorbed and alert, my senses keen, endorphins flooding my system. What a wonderful piece of work is The Wire.