The dangers of youtube for NBA players
The gift could become the curse
The two most compelling pieces of multimedia to hit our eyes and ears in recent weeks have come compliments of the sports world. It may not have been as deviantly entertaining as the vitriol Alec Baldwin spewed at his daughter in a voicemail, but Roger Clemens taped phone conversation with snitch Brian McNamee was some bizarre stuff. A 17-minute garble of evasion, and probable collusion. It was essentially a backwards, foolish attempt by Clemens to prove his innocence. Pull back the curtain, though, and it was basically broadcasting McNamee’s attempts to barter his silence for some cheddar that can get him out of his “one bedroom apartment” and help his sick son. The staged banality and melodrama of it all was stupid and asinine enough to make it entertaining.
On the other end of the comic and mood spectrum came the instant-classic YouTube clip featuring Chris Bosh as a slick-talkin’, country-bumpkin and his brother, Joel, as Bubba, a snaggle-tooth vagrant and Yes Man. The video was a plea from Bosh, asking his fans to vote him into the Feb. 17 NBA All-Star Game, set in the Big Easy. The images were grainy, the music was jacked from a backwoods car salesman commercial and the acting was deplorable. All that added up to something that was like the best thing ever, specifically coming from such a reserved, understated athlete like Bosh, who has always played an introvert in the public. My first thought was, “I wish every potential All-Star hit us with user-generated campaign videos.” But then I thought about it and changed my mind.
Jim LaBumbard is the Toronto Raptors head of PR. He said Bosh made the video on Christmas Eve with his girlfriend, cousin and brother. The Raptors staff loves it, as they should. But LaBumbard also confirmed that this video was posted on YouTube and Bosh’s website without the organization having looked at it first.
That’s a problem, fam.
I hate to rain on this parade, but as innocent and essentially awesome as the Bosh video is, the larger issue is a problematic one. The larger issue is the potential danger of YouTube.
Give any rich young person some time on their hands and things can go awry. YouTube is the Wild West. And with the NBA, NFL, NCAA and MLB not setting forth any Best Practices when it comes to personal websites, blogs and user generated videos posted on viral websites, all of these leagues and their teams and players are at high risk to do or say something stupid that could spiral into a complete public relations catastrophe. Even Bosh’s video, on a very slight level, could be misconstrued as stereotyping — instead of parodying — and invite ignorant criticism from those that rock mullets or the kind that eat granola on liberal campuses.
With this possibility, imagine what could go down if, say, Stephon Marbury and his boys wanted to film a house party with a couple 40 strippers and a few interns. You’d have an updated Tip Drill and Stern would have a problem.
You ever see this video of the Clipse clappin’ back at Lil Wayne for some magazine remarks? In the video, Pusha lets Weezy know that gunplay is not a problem if the situation needs to go that way. But, these kinds of videos are standard fare for rap dudes. 50 Cent got at Cam’ron in his “Funeral Music” video, which went directly to YouTube. It featured cats taking target practice with some big guns – the message was not subliminal. That was cool…for 50. Ray Allen cannot make a similar video after Lamar Odom tackles him into the sidelines. Of course, Ray Allen would never do such a thing to begin with, but the point is that this new option for expression is now available to athletes, but there is nothing more than vague language in Collective Bargaining agreements that lay out what kind of behavior dips below whatever subjective standards the public and fans deem to be “in good taste.”
What if young Julian Wright is steamin’ at the fact that Byron Scott won’t let him off the bench to get some burn? All it could take was a little to much Grey Goose, a Brandon Wright highlight on SportsCenter, cue jealousy and the next thing we know, Julian is on his laptop, logging into Facebook, writing a totally honest blog where all those unsaid things that need to stay unspoken just come pouring out.
Or maybe it’s not that. Maybe Adam Morrison sees an Eva Mendez movie while he’s out nursing his injured mustache and maybe she hopefully gets nude in this movie and maybe Morrisson makes an off-colored joke about Mexican woman in his blog, you know, trying to be funny. Maybe that causes a little stir. Maybe it causes a big stir. Maybe his next visit to San Antonio will be met with angry Mexican fans in the stands.
What if Darius Miles gets all the young Portland Trailblazers together to hang out and while hanging, they record some audio or shoot a video of some good-natured, innocent freestyle rhyming, because they want to and because they can. But what if the freestyle rhyming is done in the language and with the bravado of any normal rap song? The KC Chiefs monster-back Larry Johnson decided to bless the mic with some wack rhymes last year and some rube that was in the cipher posted the audio on his MySpace page and then it went viral. Nothing wrong with a young dude, like LJ, snatching the mic and getting it in like a ’07 Young MC. The only problem is that some found Johnson’s use of the word “nigga” to be offensive and Johnson had a public relations issue on his hands. Well, getting back to the Blazers, maybe LaMarcus Aldridge posts the hypothetical video of him and his squad on YouTube and his Facebook page, thinking everything is love. He might think that rhyming “lots of &!%$#$” and “Popoviches” was clever. David Stern, Paul Allen and the dude that owns one of the luxury boxes probably won’t agree.
The fact is, until some type of policing agent sets some ground rules and boundaries, humans – yes, even adults – will keep pushing envelopes. As humans, we should know that entrusting folks with using common sense is not always a paradigm built for success. I mean, Isaiah Thomas, maybe-probably/most-likely was sexually harassing a woman that looked like Rick Mahorn…in the 2007 workplace! People not only need guidelines, they need reminders (Zeke needed a Benjamin-wad wake-up slap).
There’s a problem, though. The NBA, as with all other sports entities, is a reactionary league. These leagues wait until things become a huge problem and then try to bring about solutions. They wait until it becomes a nasty mess and then try to clean it up. They let things fester, hoping it’ll either go away or sanity and sound-decision making will reappear and rule the day.
It took doo-rags, white-Ts and sagging attendance to galvanize the NBA to getting serious about re-imaging itself, but by that time, it called for drastic measures – like a league-wide dress code. It took a tossed beer and medieval Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson before the league thought about alcoholic beverage limits for fans, extra-security and clear language about on-court behavior. It took teams calling cocaine timeouts in the 70s for the league to get serious about it’s drug policy. It took Glen Robinson signing a 10-year $68 million rookie contract before they instituted a “rookie cap.”
Foresight is needed.
I’m not calling for a YouTube moratorium. More Bosh videos are a good thing. Gilbert Arenas’ blog is a wonderful thing. But the league needs to be proactive and prescient and jump out ahead of this thing. Set some boundaries, articulate possible sanctions for ill behavior – sorry, but a police is needed here. Left up to his own devices, Scott Pollard might choose to reenact a scene from Monster’s Ball, post it on YouTube and call it art. But the distance between art and smut is about as long as Pollard’s range. YouTube is dangerous, I’m telling you.
75 Responses to “The dangers of youtube for NBA players”
Jan.10 at 1:27 pm
Ryan Jones says:
If I may stand up for a fellow Penn State alum: Didn’t LJ deny that was his voice? I have no idea if he’s telling the truth, but I think he did deny it, and unless there’s video to prove otherwise…
Other than that, I liked yours too, Vince.
Jan.10 at 1:31 pm
H to the izzo says:
That Adam Morrison bit was odd but other than that the piece was enjoyable.
Jan.10 at 1:35 pm
white hot eboy says:
Vince is establishing himself as a thought provoking character. I like it.
Jan.10 at 1:42 pm
k.o. says:
while i see the relevance of ur argument, this piece is full of a lot of ‘what ifs’…i mean maybe bosh’s vid shoulda been ok’d by the PR staff with the Raps - but he probably also decided it was satire and wouldn’t offend anyone or hurt him in any way so what the heck
Jan.10 at 1:44 pm
Vince says:
K.O.: The “what ifs” is all I care about. Bosh’s video was fine. The point here is to get out in front of YouTube and make sure it doesn;t lead to disasters.
Jan.10 at 1:46 pm
H to the izzo says:
I demand that Vince have a banner and a blog name.Right now!
Jan.10 at 1:51 pm
Hoop Dreamz says:
Vince’s hot right now… first the Celtics joint, now this. Funny, the Toronto sports media is acting like Bosh is freakin’ Denzel Washington in that joint. As Scoop would say, no room on CB4’s n*ts right now…
Jan.10 at 1:56 pm
Mark Z says:
My first thought after hearing about that Bosh pitch was that his agent put him up to it. “Chris, we NEED to get you in the All Star game… Here’s how we do it…” After I saw the clip I thought ‘why not?’. People vote in injured players who haven’t produced in this season or last, etc. So many of the fan votes are just based on name recognition and not actual on court performance. Bosh is a legit player and he’s been producing decent numbers for a few years now. Give him props. But if I’m the NBA, I make him show up in that cowboy outfit for warmups & shootaround. It’s only fair.
Jan.10 at 1:57 pm
FLUD says:
Foresight… That’ll be the day. Although I bet Stern is watchin’ closely. Nice piece Vince. As for the Morrison bit. Don’t know him, probably never will. But Damn if he doesn’t remind me of Stan’s dad in southpark. You know…. the n****r guy.
Jan.10 at 2:10 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Isiah could post a YouTube video of himself CENSORED three CENSORED with a gallon of CENSORED and a CENSORED all at the same time and not get fired. Bad example.
Jan.10 at 2:23 pm
Vince says:
I don’t understand what you’re saying, Russ.
Jan.10 at 2:32 pm
Jared says:
Good post, very insightful and not nearly as controversial as your usual posts. Keep em coming my dude.
Jan.10 at 2:33 pm
Young Chris #3 says:
Great column. That Scot Pollard thing towards the end was hilarious. But is Darius Miles even in the NBA still?
Jan.10 at 2:35 pm
Young Chris #3 says:
LMAO @ FLUD! Hahahaha… Best. Comment. Ever.
Jan.10 at 2:40 pm
timepants says:
I also do not comprehend.
Jan.10 at 2:46 pm
Tom says:
It still comes down to athletes having to be aware of their actions and that they are always in the public eye. With Youtube and the like it just makes it that much easier to get caught, hopefully it will make teams take a closer look at the character of their players instead of only talent, or else it will be the Jailblazers circa 2003 all over again.
Jan.10 at 2:58 pm
Gumdrop says:
I found your comment funny, Russ.
Jan.10 at 3:24 pm
Captain America says:
Russ, Vincent might be carrying your child.
Jan.10 at 3:35 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
I was talking about this with a friend over the Christmas break so it was nice to hear your thoughts Vincent! I regularly get sent youtube videos by friends who use the site as a distraction from studying and they’ve unearthed some beauties that the NBA and it’s players would probably cringe at. I’ve seen players drunk off of their asses, talking like any other young, drunk guy would be talking, talking about their team, the game they’ve just played. Funny, when it is your friends seeing it. Not so fun when the world sees it and you are judged because you are not putting a pc version of yourself out there. While this article is based on “what ifs”, I think it is only a matter of time before they all become reality if someone in the L doesn’t step up. Same goes for NCAA players and youtube/facebook. A guy who is about to go to the L doesn’t need someone posting videos from a house party of them getting their grind on with some girl against the wall, but, of course I’ve seen it.
Jan.10 at 3:56 pm
Jukai says:
I love the double standards in this article. “of course it’s okay for rappers to do this, but not NBA players!” Grand.
Jan.10 at 4:06 pm
Vince says:
Jukai: Your comment strikes me as dense. Players can do what they want. but they move in different worlds. Society has made the double standards for athletes. Beanie Sigel is goin BACK to jail (albeit for one day). He still has a recording career when he gets out. Athletes can’t cycle in and out of the pen and expect to stay employed, nor can the league explain those behavioral trends to its fanbase. Do you live America? That’s a serious question. If you’re a foreigner, I can understand why you’d think that way and I’d respond by saying, “Yeah, it sucks.” If you’re from here, you’re comment is…well, dense.
Jan.10 at 4:10 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Jukai,
Many rappers get rich and famous specifically by acting like criminals. This is because they are “artists,” and an authentic or seemingly authentic thug image can be a valuable commodity for an “artist.” Basketball players are part of a multi-billion-dollar “family entertainment industry,” which is not at all like the music industry. Having a reasonably clean image matters. So it’s not so much a “double standard” as it is a “logical difference.” Seems like you’re enjoying throwing around two cents worth of negativity around here lately without actually adding anything to the discussion. Also, your website is not user friendly. You stink.
Jan.10 at 4:10 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I don’t think there needs to be MORE rules. Guys just need to use common sense. EVERYONE has a camera these days–or at least a phone that can take pictures/record video. People need to realize that anything they say or do can easily wind up on the Internet the next day. Not such a big deal if it’s me, HUGE deal if it’s LeBron James. That said, I think personal responsibility is hugely important, and that these guys need to start taking the “professional” part as seriously as they take the “athlete” part. They shouldn’t need more rules in order to do so. As a professional athlete, you get paid millions of dollars to play a game. The flip side of that is that everything you do open to public scrutiny. Don’t like it? Get a real job like everybody else.
Jan.10 at 4:11 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Or, “what Vince said.”
Jan.10 at 4:12 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
For example, I can legally go out tomorrow and get “GO F*CK YOURSELF” tattooed across my forehead. This would probably affect my ability to earn a living wage (unless I worked on the Lower East Side, in which case I’d probably get a raise). Should it be illegal for me to do so? I don’t think so.
Jan.10 at 4:16 pm
Jukai says:
Where in my response did I say that it isn’t like that in the real world? Vince just sounds like he’s glorifying it, “oh yeah, 50 sent blastin’ his guns is awesome but Chris Bosh better not say the N word!” Sure, that’s how real life is. It’s an odd realm. Maybe it’s just the slang is unfamiler to me, the wording just seemed to FAVOR letting rappers do whatever they liked while yelling at athletes. And honestly, if 50 Cent made a comment about mexicans in his blog, the public and media isn’t going to respond very nicely.
Jan.10 at 4:17 pm
Jukai says:
Also Russ, I apologize for the website. I just wanted an orange name… so I could be popular..
Jan.10 at 4:20 pm
Jukai says:
Also, I gotta ask a question… during a fight for the basketball under the basket, the n-bomb’s dropped on another player of the same skin color. You know, playground talk. Is this instant suspension material or is this common place and let go?
Jan.10 at 4:25 pm
Vince says:
No, Jukai. Nothing will happen if Boozer say “nigga” while scrapping for a rebound with Tyson Chandler. You never answered my question, are you a foreigner? I’m not trying to be a jerk, just that some of your questions sound as if they’re from someone not familiar with the weird way this country works.
Jan.10 at 4:27 pm
Ryan Jones says:
I’m sure Vince is about to answer this himself, Jukai, but I’m guessing Vince’s point was that it’s okay FOR THE RAPPERS if they act like thugs, because it can help them make money, but it’s not okay FOR THE NBA PLAYERS to do that, because it’ll probably cost them money. I assume Vince thought that was obvious. Lost in translation, perhaps.
And I was the one who pointed out sdfjkl.com. Maybe the problem is, you actually can’t read English. Which will definitely not help your popularity in my immigrant-hating country.
Jan.10 at 4:30 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Also, I bet guys don’t say “the n-word” so much on the court in the L, even in the heat of battle. Between players and coaches being miked, rims being miked, and courtside media and cameras, it’s just too risky. Especially in these PC times.
Jan.10 at 4:31 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Although you should hear what David Lee calls Brian Scalabrine. For shame.
Jan.10 at 4:32 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
co-sign russ on the “professional” part of pro-athlete. It’s about being smart about what you are portraying to the public. It’s also about keeping your private business private, but maybe some guys just don’t care. Or, maybe they won’t care until it costs them some serious cash or endorsements.
Jan.10 at 4:36 pm
Vince says:
I agree Russ and Holly. But some people behave professionally only when faced with the prospect of sanctions. And Russ, the word nigga is used much more than you’d think. About as often as muthaf***a. I hear it in press rows, lip-read on the tele.
Jan.10 at 4:38 pm
Jukai says:
God damn, both Ryan and Russ were talking? I was wondering why reading those three responses in a row seemed out of sorts.
Jan.10 at 4:42 pm
Jukai says:
Anyway, I guess I misread how Vince was trying to phrase things. I didn’t take it as “rappers do this to advance their career while professional athletes should do this to advance their careers.” I took it as “rappers should do this and professional athletes should do this.” Also, yes I’m a Foreigner. I want to know what love is!~ I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME! I want to feel what love is! I know you can show me!!
Jan.10 at 4:42 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Fear the four-letter names starting with R… me, Bengston and Limbaugh travel in a pack whenever possible.
Jan.10 at 4:43 pm
Jukai says:
Yeah, I really should focus on last names from now on. Awkwardddddddddddd.
Jan.10 at 4:43 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Jukai, just to help out all the dense Yankee xenophobes, your name in orange should link to the official government website of your home country. I’m rooting like hell for Uruguay.
Jan.10 at 4:58 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
KG’s the best to lip-read over the TV. He always makes my mom scowl in disgust! Vince, which type of sanctions would you suggest? I agree that as soon as something “damaging” enough does get out Stern will be all over it throwing down fines, but, what do you think they can do right now before a scandal breaks? One of these days rather than hearing about a baller’s exploits at a club, or a women accusing a guy of something going down, a player is going to be set up and it is going to be all over the internet before the player has a chance to shake his head and wonder what just happened. These guys need to protect themselves and their images and if they can’t understand the risks in today’s world than they shouldn’t complain when the fines are handed down or their endorsements start disappearing. It sucks that people will expose athletes for fun, but it happens so be prepared, you know?
Jan.10 at 5:00 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Ryan, if you spell my last name wrong again me and Rush are dropping you for Ross Perot.
Jan.10 at 5:11 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Back when Russ was Ed., we filled many long, happy hours perusing the mail Russ would receive, usually from PR people, with his last name horribly butchered. Bankston, Benson, Bennington, Kowalczyk, whatever. Fun as that was, I think I’m still the winner for the postcard I once got from Mitchell & Ness. I’m guessing they must’ve had me on their mailing list as “Ryan/Slam.” The postcard was addressed to Ryan Islam.
Jan.10 at 5:11 pm
white hot eboy says:
Jukai, stop being a pain in the ass.
Jan.10 at 5:11 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Khalid was mad jealous.
Jan.10 at 5:12 pm
Ryan Jones says:
eboy, jealous someone quoted one of his favorite bands without consent.
Jan.10 at 5:19 pm
Joel O's says:
I don’t totally agree with Vince’s article - another very thought provoking one indeed - because with the dress code, microphones in locker rooms, new/old ball and other Draconian measures that David Stern has come up with over the last 5 years, more restrictive measures probably won’t be appreciated by the players.
Jan.10 at 5:23 pm
Joel O's says:
I don’t agree fully with Vince’s article here - another very thought provoking one, admittedly. With the dress code, mics in locker rooms, new/old ball and whatnot, the last thing players’d appreciate is the league stepping in to impose more restrictive measures in place. That said, however, Vince is very on point in many regards. Athletes, like it or not, ARE role models. In denying his place as one, Charles Barkley has in fact ironically become one himself, the good (charity, down-to-earth attitude) and bad (gambling) facets of his character both.
Jan.10 at 5:24 pm
white hot eboy says:
Foreigner? Nah………if he said Journey, we’d be allright.
Jan.10 at 5:27 pm
Joel O's says:
So yeah, I guess some form of… censorship or control would be good. Because for every CB4 video or hilarious Gilbert post… there’s also some really stupid sh*t out there, like the “Deshawn Stevenson hearts Lindsay Lohan” bullcrap that really crosses the line from being entertaining to just plain crass.
Jan.10 at 5:28 pm
Jukai says:
I’m waiting for Eboy’s thoughts on this, just so I can tell him he’s wrong.
Jan.10 at 5:31 pm
white hot eboy says:
Jukai, I’m an American. I’m with the boys on this. Sorry to be lumped in with the majority.
Jan.10 at 5:35 pm
TADOne says:
I just spent the last 10 minutes catching up on these comments. Got my coworkers looking at me strange from laughing so hard.
Jan.10 at 5:36 pm
Joel O's says:
Thinking more about it, the issue doesn’t seem that complex. NBA players are in the limelight - more so than any personnel in any company out there. When they blog about something, post a video on something or make a public statement, their views may be taken to be representative of the NBA’s, or other athletes. This may be a PR disaster waiting to happen; think Tim Hardaway’s rant but on youtube.
Jan.10 at 5:44 pm
Vince says:
Holly: A simple memo warning against certain actions. Articulation that it is within league power to discipline players for behavior, words they deem harmful to league image. some type of boundary should be set forth. And Joel O: Exactly. Imagine a current player, yappin like Tim, on camera or on his blog. very feasible, very harmful.
Jan.10 at 5:48 pm
TADOne says:
You know Vince, I’m sure the NBA already has something like this set forth, just not specifically speaking about Youtube and such. I’m sure all players, in any sports league, have something in their contract about defamation or something as it precludes to this stuff.
Jan.10 at 5:55 pm
Vince says:
They don’t TADOne, just very vague language. the same way the “dress code” was addressed. this needs to be addressed. I wont sound so drastic when the first YouTube video of Damon Jones swipin a credit card between a chick’s crack is posted.
Jan.10 at 5:57 pm
TADOne says:
That would be awesome. At least Damon would get the attention off his weak game.
Jan.10 at 5:58 pm
Mayor of Lovetron says:
Well, one thing’s for sure, these dudes party hard as hell so if they started throwing it on youtube there’d be problems. Although, think of what would have happened if Kobe had thought to use Youtube?
Jan.10 at 5:59 pm
Mayor of Lovetron says:
Or I should say what wouldn’t have happened
Jan.10 at 6:16 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
Vince, I’m with you on it all being a matter of time until something bad goes down. And picturing Damon Jones doing anything of the sort is enough to gross me out. Doesn’t he have babies with Tina Thompson? Not that it makes any difference.
Mayor of Love, thats exactly what I was getting at in my comments above. You know some groupie and her friends are going to try to catch some guys doing their thing at a club and then upload that sh*t to youtube. Disaster in the making. There already are some very suspect videos of some of our favorite stars on youtube, or at least there were this summer.
Jan.10 at 6:20 pm
T Money says:
Vince, your article was poignant, although a bit stern (get it? I said “Stern” which also happens to be the name of the NBA commissioner)
Jan.10 at 6:38 pm
Mayor of Lovetron says:
Yeah, fair point Holly. Some females will stop it nothing to avoid a damn day job.
Jan.10 at 7:10 pm
Paps says:
I see what your saying and it’s probally been addressed to the players. But as we’ve seen some players have no common sense and need to understand that there boss the NBA can get into serious trouble legally and have there image tarnished.
Jan.10 at 8:10 pm
David says:
Good points by many. I think the double standard as mentioned by Jukai is true. I think the problem is that we accept certain behaviour by certain people and it’s irresponsible as a society to do this. I don’t think anyone should use violence against others, whether as an ‘artist’ or as a ‘president’. The same way I think it’s ridiculous that basketball players get in huge trouble for in-game fights while hockey players fight far-more frequently. Or the way that baseball players using steroids is a congressional matter while football players using steroids is a side note. Laughed twice during this post - thanks. Once for the Popoviches rhyme and once for Ryan Islam.
Jan.10 at 8:30 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
why the hate on lj and julian????
Jan.10 at 9:45 pm
The Cool says:
very nice, vinny. I like the way you use words I have never heard of in my life. You are actually stepping up my vocab man. I really appriciate that. You got me sounding like a scholar now. and please don’t hate on facebook, it’s better than myspace. play wit it.
Jan.10 at 10:08 pm
The Ghost of Wilt Chamberlain says:
All players should have a free reign of what they do. If they are stupid enough to do anything even remotely close to some of your examples, than they don’t deserve all the endorsement contracts anyway. They should have the same rights to express themselves as the rest of us, and make the same judgements as to what is and isn’t acceptable.
Jan.11 at 8:22 am
hursty says:
man thats funny, but its too true. a shame that anything that gets put on the web now always has a polar opposite that generates tension either racially, sexually, whatever. its not good, if only the good stuff was what we were exposed too, ignorance is bliss.
Jan.11 at 1:34 pm
k.o. says:
suggesting that it is necessary for the governing bodies of sports to establish rules against posting content online is unnecessary censorship in my opinion. if a player isn’t capable enough to exercise good and reasonable judgement in order to keep the possible ‘what if’ scenarios imagined from happening or reaching the masses online than maybe they deserve the backlash that such a situation would lead to.
Jan.11 at 4:24 pm
SLAM ONLINE | » Links: Tracy McGrady’s Strange YouTube Appearance says:
[…] Earlier this week here on SLAMonline, my man Vincent Thomas wrote about the dangers of YouTube and professional athletes. Great column, salient point. […]
Jan.11 at 8:31 pm
John E. Sanford says:
I didn’t a chance to read this until now, but Vince you are that dude. I love thought provoking reads and this post definitely is that.
Jan.13 at 7:45 am
Kevin says:
i love this post.. read my mind exactly when i saw the Chris Bosh video.. all my friends (i live in toronto) linked me to the vid on MSN claiming it was dope but throughout it all i thought it was a stupid move as well as retarded.. i mean, at least do a better job :/ all that being said, athletes are human being too.. and as adults, they are entitled to doing what they want to do.. on the other hand, its always going to be up to these overpaid celebrity athletes to think for themselves and keep themselves outta trouble.. its jus the cultural atmosphere we’re all brought up with in North America (moreso in the states probably) where at least 80% of “successful individuals who came from bad situations” unfortunately have no idea how to conduct themselves appropriately..
Jan.13 at 7:46 am
Kevin says:
beings with an S
Jan.13 at 7:47 am
Kevin says:
also.. to quality my last comment about Canadians vs Americans.. i don’t think Canadians are any smarter, its jus that we’re less immersed in that kinda lifestyle/culture up north, and so proportionately fewer Canadians have delusions of grandeur & look to go that direction..
Jan.13 at 10:23 pm
Thomas says:
Shell up why don’t you check out the Spurs on youtube they have funny commercials on there lol, whats so bad about that. All types of peole on youtbe talk about diffrent subjects and make stupid clips all the time. so what Chris made that one? it’s funny!!