May 08, 2003

The Soap Opera

There's a long story here; I'll try to fill in the backstory as best I can. The Celtics are playing the N.J. Nets in the NBA Playoffs. The Nets' star player is Jason Kidd, who got exiled to Jersey from Phoenix after a January 2001 incident where he beat up his wife Joumana in front of their young son TJ. So Jason gets traded to the Nets and is put in the care of coach Byron Scott, a mediocre coach whose claim to fame as a player was lighting up the scoreboard when his team (the Lakers) was already comfortably ahead.

Last year, the Nets played Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Boston crowd was pretty vicious, heckling Kidd with chants of "wifebeater" and making Joumana (who has apparently forgiven Jason and accepted the life of a pseudocelebrity for herself and TJ) sad. The Nets went on to knock the Celtics out last year, partly because of Kidd but mostly because Keith Van Horn (since traded to Philly) finally decided to act like an NBA player down the stretch. But that's another topic.

Fast-forward to this year. In a late-night Boston sports show, Globe columnist Bob Ryan made some pretty silly comments about Joumana's omnipresence on the sidelines, saying "I'd like to smack her". Bad idea; the Globe has suspended Ryan for a month from writing or making any more TV appearances.

There's one more thing you should know before we move on; Kidd is a free agent after this season. There might be reasons why he'd prefer to stay in New Jersey instead of going to San Antonio or Orlando; I just haven't figured out what they are yet. But it's made for some interesting moral dilemmas in New Jersey. Byron Scott, whose status as a competent NBA head coach depends on Kidd's staying in town, said Ryan should be fired and worse: "Just tell him to come right in here and he can say that in front of me and Jason and some of our players, that he would like to slap her around a little bit. He'll see how well he'll be received." So let's clarify this position: Ryan should be fired for saying he'd like to slap Joumana. Jason punched, smacked and spit food at Joumana - but he shouldn't be fired for that. Byron Scott thinks 12 professional athletes should pummel a 60-ish-year-old man, but he shouldn't be fired for that. Here's one New Jersey numbskull's sign showing basically how to ignore any part of the big picture to make a retarded point.

And Byron, apparently unaccustomed to having anyone be interested in what he has to say, rambled on about the fans of Boston being racist, a loveable old chestnut that hasn't really been heard much since the 70s. (It was news to Celtics stars Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, for instance.) And the New York Press, which has claimed the Nets to heart since the Knicks became irrelevant, is all over this like only the New York press can be. JoeNetsFan.com, a good fan site who's stayed above this fray for the most part, has a roundup of all of the columns about this sad saga.

The soap opera will be continued Friday at 8, when Boston fans get to show Scott and Kidd how they feel now. Hopefully, in true soap opera fashion, the Celtics' defense will return from the grave and extend the series a couple more games.

Comments

You make some excellent points here. Actually smacking your wife is okay as long as it doesn't affect your assist-to-turnover ratio, right? I hate the Nets.

Posted by: barkingmike at May 9, 2003 01:44 AM

Nice article! Now I see what all that typing last night turned out to be.

I agree with your comments about the inequality regarding who gets "sanctioned" and who doesn't. But I really don't think Bob Ryan's comments about slapping a woman around as silly. What is silly about that?

And what is it with Boston sports writers being so freaky looking? Except for the former Boston Sports Guy, of course. You should be writing for these publications to help them out in that area (plus good writing, too, I suppose). ;)

Posted by: Sooz at May 9, 2003 10:26 AM

OK, change "silly" to "inappropriate". But words are just words; Ryan was still suspended for longer than Kidd was for actually perpetrating the violence. And I don't know why these guys are all so funny-looking. But it's freaky.

Posted by: Michael at May 9, 2003 11:36 PM

OK, I'll take "inapropriate" over "silly" for sure. :)

Posted by: Sooz at May 10, 2003 07:19 PM

Good points. Byron Scott is perhaps the biggest front-runner in NBA history. Not clear why he can say what he said. Bob Ryan got what he deserved - a month suspension and some come-uppance, but Byron Scott's comments were also dumb and unnecessary. Jason Kidd handled it better than he did.

Posted by: Vin at May 12, 2003 09:19 AM

where is mekhi pipher? I need to speak with her.
Dennis Pipher
ofoggies@cecomet.net

Posted by: dennis pipher at June 2, 2003 05:44 PM

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