Dish,
I and a relatively small percentage of others, left men's BB in the 1980's because the game had changed in ways we neither enjoyed nor respected. These changes were not limited to the dunk, but were definitely most clearly highlighted by behaviors involving the dunk. I was primarily a Pro fan from the late 1950's as a kid until these changes to the game overtook the pro-game... I was primarily a MCBB fan from the 1980's until these changes to the game fully overtook the MCBB-game... Now I've been a fan solely of the WCBB game since the the 1980's... Where do I go when it comes time for my next move??? The women's game is the last bastion for the old pure game. Let's not blindly follow the men's game into its transformation to Rollerball. The women's game as we've know it is definitely on the "endangered species list," so why not protect it. Why not give it the same respect and protection you'd give the endangered "Dwarf Wedgemussel" or "Snow Leopard?" Watch the pro games on both sides of the gender line and/or watch the MCBB if you enjoy the newer more explosive game, but don't kill off the last of the old pure form of the game. Just to be clear, I stand fully in support of nuking the whales... endangered species be damned. Anything that big is taking up too much space!!! Go ahead, try carpooling with Humpback Whales in an, oh so, socially elite Prius.... It's tight... Very tight!!!
Although I am from Connecticut, I was a first a fan of Rutgers even before our very own CD took them to a NC. I loved Coach Grentz but sadly the time came when I knew it was time for her to go.... CVIV, well that's another story... Thank God for Geno & UConn... Anyway, Parker's dink was unwanted but not unexpected. Many of us have been dreading the day when each elite team has a dunk capability. We could hear it coming toward us for many years prior to ever hearing of Parker. This argument preceded good Ol' Candace by many years on this boards many earlier incarnations. I'm sure Nan is bored to tears by yet another dunking thread popping up. Read one, read 'em all....
Doing something for that is "the first ever" isn't much of an argument for anything... rarely, if ever, is anything of value is imbued in an instance of a "the first ever" act because it is a "The first Ever." Neil Armstrong... Well, Ok. You got me on that one... But in general my argument still holds some water... The first theft, the first adultery, the first lie... No positive attribute is automatically tied to any "the first ever" act that makes it "important." On the negative side the same cannot be said... The first ever theft... the first ever adultery... the first ever lie... the first ever dunk.... were each important because each was a new opening of Pandora's box... Once opened, never to be closed.... Pandora is one dirty bird... it's hard to name one positive thing we've released from her wicked little box.... Note to self... Apologize to Nan for this unfortunate wording, the next time I see her...
I would argue that the game itself has not kept up with the athletes much like the refs have not kept up with the athletes. When the game became a national game, it was played below the rim by all who played it. When the "tall" were just 6 foot, it was a game that suited the player. Now that the "tall" are high 6 foot to even over 7 foot tall, the hoop height hasn't kept up with the player. The court should be looked at too.
Obviously, the act of dunking, if stripped of any of the accompanying behaviors and adjusted for height changes, has no negative value. It was a sight to see Mugsy Boggs dunk... But then those pesky accompanying behaviors always seem to find a way into the game. The diminishment of team play, the rise of the "look at me" player, the "if the ball goes in to the post, it NEVER comes back out to the backcourt" mentality of the dunker, the showboat, the thug-like ritual domination moves post dunk, the thundering interruptions to what was sometimes a beautiful and almost musical flow to the game, the "I had way too much sugar in my Wheaties this morning" fan behavior that accompanies each dunk, the can't appreciate anything subtle because my sensors have been overloaded for far too long by the increase in the razor sharp staccato of thunder moments surrounding every part of modern sports life... Sadly, I could go on.... but won't.
I love punk rock... I love most classical music... some of the deep German and Russian tunes are a bit depressing and possibly beyond mind-bendingly repetitive in their darkness. My point is, basketball with the dunk is like 40 hours of sacktime with the Ramones and the Boomtown Rats dooking it out in your Bose ears. Is the energy higher... What did you say???? oh, yeah, Yes mame! The old game as played below the rim was more like music that ranged from slow, patient and subtle to fast, fun, and shock clear. A backdoor cut followed by an inbounds tip steal over to a teammate, followed by a perfectly time block. It's the constantly changing & melodic pace that adds the beauty to physical movement. It's the complexity of subtlety that offers new levels of game interest as one masters a game, it's the complex backbeat as opposed to the completely rhymic thunder beat of simpler forms of gaming that can offer a lifelong learning experience with respect to a fan/game relationship. For me the dunk helps to limit the game in far to many ways. It detracts from "team," it carries along with it the "showboat" style of play, it seems to be one of the "drug" answers to our over sugared addictions for ever loader explosions in order for us to even feel alive, the game becomes boring to me as the changes to the game make it more a game of simple and repetitive and insanely load beats of the sports drum.
Dish, I enjoy your writings... Thanks
Your Ol' Pal Boo
