- 10:23 AM
- 11/05/24
The tradition of excluding people based on race, religion or nationality does not seem like a good tradition to me. Athletic's decision not to employ non-Basques, smells more than a little suspiciously of xenophobia. Of course, this begs the question what is a Basque? It's far too complicated to get into here, but what seems to be happening now is that Basques are trying to re-define what a Basque is. As the article mentions, there is a player born in Mali who is coming up through the Athletic farm system. He has lived in the Basque Country and plans on learning the language. He is, essentially, a Basque. I have a friend who was born in Seville--one of those Spaniards that Basques allegedly detest so much--who grew up in Bilbao, is a devout Athletic fan, and considers himself Basque. I'm not sure of the details, but I remember him telling me something that if you live in the Basque Country long enough, you have the right to self-identify as Basque regardless of where you were born. Equally, someone who was born elsewhere, say Latin America, but had Basque ancestors can also be considered Basque, which is why the team is searching throughout the world for players. Essentially, Basques are expanding the definition of what being a Basque is and the team is trying to reflect that. You mention that Barca has moved forward. Well, Athletic is trying to do that, but in a different way, one that ensures that players are closely tied to their community. As the article mentions, Athletic is forced to invest a tremendous amount of resources to develop local players, something that has benefited the region, including people who have emigrated there from other parts of the world. This may seem a bit silly or xenophobic, but it's just a different way of going about constructing a team and a culture.
posted by aupa_athletic at 03:27 PM on April 14, 2008
Thanks for this rumple. As my user name suggests, I grew up an Athletic fan. Having been to a game at San Mames, I can tell you that there really is nothing like it in sports. It's about as non-corporate an atmosphere you can have in major sports. There are very few billboards, not even many snack bars. People bring their own sandwiches and wine. If you don't bring you own wine, the guy sitting next to you will give you some of his. As mentioned in the article, Athletic are known to be some of the most polite and respectful in the game. They're just about the only fans in Spain that will applaud an opposing player for a nice bit of play. Racist taunts against foreign players that have plagued other Spanish clubs are virtually non-existent at Bilbao. Talking to fans, they'll simply tell you that they'd rather lose with Basque players than win with non-Basques. It's got nothing to do with xenophobia and more to do with believing that a sports team should truly represent the region that supports it.
posted by aupa_athletic at 01:18 PM on April 14, 2008
In Terry Pluto's book Tall Tales, there are some stories about Wilt Chamberlain's prodigious appetite (for food, that is). Apparently, he would eat half an apple pie and a half-gallon of milk or 7-Up during halftime. Chick Hearn said that he would an entire chicken before games. When his coach told him not to eat that much chicken before the game, Wilt showed up with a dozen hot dogs.
posted by aupa_athletic at 01:41 PM on March 03, 2008
This article is more entertaining if you imagine it being read aloud by Stewie from the Family Guy.
posted by aupa_athletic at 01:40 PM on December 22, 2007
Coincidentally, Simon's cheap shot took place exactly three years to the day after this ugly incident.
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:07 PM on March 09, 2007
That's a lovely sweater you're wearing, Howard_T.
posted by aupa_athletic at 01:15 PM on February 23, 2007
I guess the The Millen Man March didn't have much of an impact.
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:26 PM on December 25, 2006
Slate recently ran this article on game theory and penalty kicks.
posted by aupa_athletic at 11:08 AM on July 03, 2006
This guy was believed to have been a prospect for the Washington Senators, but apparently it's not true
posted by aupa_athletic at 10:09 PM on June 29, 2006
NoMich The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup on June 7, 2004
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:31 PM on April 19, 2006
Whoops. Feel free to delete.
posted by aupa_athletic at 02:57 PM on January 01, 2006
Personally I prefer this headline
posted by aupa_athletic at 11:54 AM on August 03, 2005
Wow. It turns out that I'm a wog and I didn't even know it. I guess you learn something new every day. Thanks for the ignorant rant, bballcoachreid.
posted by aupa_athletic at 02:51 PM on May 02, 2005
I'm Latrell Spreweel, bitch! Enjoy yourself!
posted by aupa_athletic at 03:18 PM on December 08, 2004
According to this artice, Collina's next job should be as head of the European Union . He may be the only authority figure that anyone in Europe actually respects.
posted by aupa_athletic at 04:28 PM on July 01, 2004
He'll probably end up being the next governor of California.
posted by aupa_athletic at 06:03 PM on June 24, 2004
"the greatest athletes in the world are African-American". I agree with Mike McD that that statement is myopic. I wonder what athletes like Ronaldo, Jarome Iginla, Thierry Henry, Yao Ming, several Kenyan marathoners among many many others, would have to say about the idea that the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.
posted by aupa_athletic at 04:41 PM on June 09, 2004
It seems to me that there are plenty of good white guys in the NBA. It just so happens that most of them aren't from the US (Nowitzki, Nash, Peja etc.). Maybe what Bird meant to say is that there needs to be more white Americans in the NBA to appeal to white Americans. If that's true (which I don't think it is), that would a sad statement about white America.
posted by aupa_athletic at 04:04 PM on June 09, 2004
Sadly, the only one of those 50 I've done is #15: Watch non-stop sport on TV for a whole weekend. Hell, who hasn't? I did see a Boca Junior game in Buenos Aires; unfortunately, they weren't playing River Plate. That didn't stop the Boca fans from chanting profanities about River Plate the entire game. Considering how insane the atmosphere was at that game, I'm sure a Boca-River game would be sheer anarchy (in a good way).
posted by aupa_athletic at 11:52 AM on April 04, 2004
I think what the story is trying to say that so many people relate to hockey through video games. I know of many people who play EA NHL who don't follow the NHL, but play the game because they enjoy the gameplay experience. Their entire knowledge of the game comes through the video game. There are plenty of people out there who only know Jeremy Roenick's greatness through video games and not his greatness on the ice. Sure, there will be plenty fans who will miss the NHL if it goes away, but a sizable portion won't even notice because they'll be too busy playing NHL 2005. As for the question of "Blow up dolls have become so realistic and advanced. Will anyone miss women?" In this case, maybe so. If a generation of guys grew up with advanced blow up dolls at their disposal, and had no contact with women, they probably wouldn't miss them that much.
posted by aupa_athletic at 06:27 PM on March 29, 2004
This article should be taken with a grain of salt. The article was written by Gary Mason, a columnist who is known to have a very cozy relationship with Burke. It is almost impossible to imagine that Mason would have written this article without Burke's input. That said, Burke may be using Mason and this story as a way to grease the skids for his departure. He places the blame on management and ownership, makes it seem like a personal grudge is forcing him out, so he can leave for the open market where he no doubt will be hired by any number of teams. takes off my tinfoil hat
posted by aupa_athletic at 07:16 PM on February 12, 2004
Bush may have won Brady's support, but he lost Charles Barkley's. During the halftime show on TNT a couple of nights ago, Barkley praised John Edwards and even said he'd given Edwards money. Ernie Johnson said: "Charles, I thought you were a Republican." Barkley's response: "That was before they started screwing all the poor people!" As for Bush's speech, I think a lot of athletes would have a hard time taking advice from a former cheerleader
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:20 PM on January 21, 2004
After reading this piece I couldn't think help but think that a lot of people had the same reaction as ESPN' Ric Bucher, namely Who cares?
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:33 PM on December 11, 2003
The only place this guy should ever coach again is on a prison intramural team.
posted by aupa_athletic at 12:28 PM on December 11, 2003
Spanish Soccer Player To Play For Free Next Season
As my username suggests, I am ab Athletic Bilbao fan. Personal bias aside, I think this is a pretty classy move, one that's all too rare in the world of sports.