Looks like the NBA All Star Game won't be coming back to Las Vegas

[HedleyLamarr]

Do you live there? What's it to you? Also, why is "hoodrat" part of your vocabulary? Why would an adult need to use that word? I'd like to know.

Are you a parent?

Just curious.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Chinese New Year? I've been in Vegas on Chinese New Year. That wasn't the reason things were out of hand.

I was joking about that, by the way.

[VitaminD]

Chinese New Year? I've been in Vegas on Chinese New Year. That wasn't the reason things were out of hand.

I was joking about that, by the way.

So was I... I left off the sarcasm alert smiley. My bad.

[Sodboy13]

I'll put it this way...either the National Guard will establish martial law, or we won't need to wait for another hurricane to finish off the city. That or we will truly know what a "chocolate" New Orleans would be like.

I need someone else to tell me. Is that a racist statement?

Black Americans need a police state to save them from themselves, and anyone from out of town that went to enjoy the big game in Vegas is a "hoodrat." Great.

It's not a racist statement, it's a reference to New Orleans Mayor and Mensa chapter president Ray Nagin loudly proclaiming his town "a chocolate city."

And as for speaking in terms of "everyone" and "anyone," come on, you know better than that. You're setting up a false premise that will allow you to easily dismiss those who counter your opinion, or you get the bailout of branding them "racist" and being done with it. This was a percentage of a percentage, much as in the way those who decided to turn Freaknik into a Viking conquest were a percentage of a percentage. Still, those several hundred-to-couple thousand who decided to turn the weekend into an emulation of every stereotype shown in a rap video were fervent enough to sour a lot of others on the experience.

So you know what that small group is comprised of? Thugs and hoodrats. Deal.

[lambertjr]

The NBA had an All-Star game?? Wow.....To listen to these blowhards they all think they're all-stars

[BlueSky]

From the story:

"Scattered fighting broke out among Southwest Airlines passengers who missed their flights on Monday when the airline couldn't cope with long queues that stretched for close to 1.6 km (one mile)."

Wonder if we'll see THAT on Airline ?

I live in Atlanta (excuse me, "the A-T-L" as they say now) and though I wasn't unfortunate enough to be downtown during the NBA festivities, I will say that I have never seen so many Hummers around Atlanta EVER as I did that weekend. They were coming out of the woodwork.

[Patsfan99]

for what it's worth, I was there the week before the ASG. I was there for the apparel convention (wasn't just mens, but womens, kids, accessories... the whole nine yards). we left thursday, actually saw some NBA guys arriving at the airport ( and saw Tim Hardaway on his way out). there was nothing wrong with Vegas with regards to crime or excessive "thuggery" as of Thursday. I can assure anyone that thinks that it's just due to excessive crowds that that wasn't the case. The fashion convention meets there twice a year, and you've never heard of any problems before.

We were in the MGM Tuesday night, nothing out of the norm. but by Saturday night people were checking out cause they didn't feel safe and were afraid of getting shot. the connections to be drawn are obvious. they may or may not fall along racial lines, but the fact is that apparently there is a large unsavory element that follows the ASG, more specifically the money and reputations of the players, and the parties and lifestyle around them.

[Axis_of_Weasel]

Oh, and here's a video of former NBA center Keith Closs getting a beatdown on the strip last weekend.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9be9_4907

And dsgitlin, no one's saying that everyone who attended the asg festivities in Vegas was a hoodrat. But you're either blind or naive to believe that there wasn't a large thug element roaming the strip, looking for trouble. Sticking your head in the sand won't help a thing, brother.

wikipedia says the club was in LA

see the youtube link on the page here

celebrity beatdown... LOL. good ole suge knight

[whitedawg22]

Probably the fact that more cops were in force this weekend is why there were more arrests.....

Bingo

Please open a dictionary and look up "correlation". Then turn a couple pages and look up "causation". I bet a shiny nickel the definitions are different.

Also, the Keith Closs video is hilarious. The only reason I've heard of him is that he was the lowest rated player in the NBA Live 2001 video game (I think he was a 54 overall or something). You wouldn't have thought he could go any lower, but...

[NJTank]

2010 should not be in Phoenix it was in Phoenix in 1995.

2010 should go to Portland which has never hosted an ASG

[HedleyLamarr]

Possible Future NBA All-Star Game sites:

2009 Toronto

The rappers better have their passports!

[rams80]

2010 should not be in Phoenix it was in Phoenix in 1995.

2010 should go to Portland which has never hosted an ASG

Plus they have experience in dealing with "thuggish" behavior from NBA players.

[nyk]

2010 should not be in Phoenix it was in Phoenix in 1995.

2010 should go to Portland which has never hosted an ASG

2010 should go to Miami....We will have 5 straight year of ASG in the Western Cong. That will end probably in 2009 with it being in Toronto, so 9 times out of 10 it will be in the Eastern Conf. 2010...Give it to Miami (New Arena, Big City, Star will come out, and they havent had it sine the 1989, If not Miami, then Chicago which hasnt had it since 1988

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2010 should not be in Phoenix it was in Phoenix in 1995.

2010 should go to Portland which has never hosted an ASG

Plus they have experience in dealing with "thuggish" behavior from NBA players.

That's an obvious joke to make, but in light of my caterwauling earlier in the thread, it's genius. I laughed.

[jkrdevil]

If the NBA wants to stop this stuff there is only 1 place to go for the All-Star game. The city has a relatively new arena and is desperate for a major sports team. That's right the NBA should hold it's All-Star Game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With an average temperature of 8 degress F (-13C) it's too cold for this stuff to happen.

[cappital92]

If the NBA wants to stop this stuff there is only 1 place to go for the All-Star game. The city has a relatively new arena and is desperate for a major sports team. That's right the NBA should hold it's All-Star Game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With an average temperature of 8 degress F (-13C) it's too cold for this stuff to happen.

That idea is crazy. So crazy, IT-MIGHT-JUST-WORK!

[DG_ThenNowForever]

From an NBA chat on washingtonpost.com with Wizards beat writer Michael Lee:

Vegas baby: Gentleman,

Explain to me how a football player who "makes it rain" has helped cause this great firestorm in BASKETBALL. Vegas is what it is! Can you help me understand where all this outrage is coming from about All-Star Weekend? To me, it makes no sense, and is completely overblown. Your thoughts.....

Michael Lee: I just think the crowd that the NBA attracts for All-Star Weekend (i.e. mostly black) really intimidates a large portion of the mainstream press (i.e. mostly white). A lot of the criticism about what occurred in Vegas was a bit overblown, but some of it was justified because there were people acting like fools out there. However, none of those people were NBA players. The NBA can't control who comes to its events, but they can keep their players in line, which they have.

It reminded me of the time when the All-Star Game was in Atlanta the same weekend when pimps from around the country had their annual "Player's Ball." Someone in the Atlanta media confused the "Player's Ball" with the NBA Players Association Party and blasted the entire league, which was pretty terrible. It also prompted union chief Billy Hunter to declare, with a straight face, "Our players are not pimps!"

But as long as the league is predominantly black, every incident that can be perceived as negative will reflect poorly on the entire league, which is unfair. Look at the whole fighting incident last December in New York. If that happens in hockey, they say it's part of the game and fans will go berserk rooting it on. In the NBA, these guys are thugs and hooligans running wild if they push each other. It isn't fair, but neither is life.

I thought they were good points. I just wanted to add some color, as it were, to the discussion.

[CC97]

From an NBA chat on washingtonpost.com with Wizards beat writer Michael Lee:

Vegas baby: Gentleman,

Explain to me how a football player who "makes it rain" has helped cause this great firestorm in BASKETBALL. Vegas is what it is! Can you help me understand where all this outrage is coming from about All-Star Weekend? To me, it makes no sense, and is completely overblown. Your thoughts.....

Michael Lee: I just think the crowd that the NBA attracts for All-Star Weekend (i.e. mostly black) really intimidates a large portion of the mainstream press (i.e. mostly white). A lot of the criticism about what occurred in Vegas was a bit overblown, but some of it was justified because there were people acting like fools out there. However, none of those people were NBA players. The NBA can't control who comes to its events, but they can keep their players in line, which they have.

It reminded me of the time when the All-Star Game was in Atlanta the same weekend when pimps from around the country had their annual "Player's Ball." Someone in the Atlanta media confused the "Player's Ball" with the NBA Players Association Party and blasted the entire league, which was pretty terrible. It also prompted union chief Billy Hunter to declare, with a straight face, "Our players are not pimps!"

But as long as the league is predominantly black, every incident that can be perceived as negative will reflect poorly on the entire league, which is unfair. Look at the whole fighting incident last December in New York. If that happens in hockey, they say it's part of the game and fans will go berserk rooting it on. In the NBA, these guys are thugs and hooligans running wild if they push each other. It isn't fair, but neither is life.

I thought they were good points. I just wanted to add some color, as it were, to the discussion.

The hockey point isn't the best one... there have been fights in every hockey game as long as the sport has been around, not so much the case in basketball. I wouldn't call it a race thing... considering baseball has a majority of white players and it's a big deal whenever there's a brawl in that sport.

But then again I'm just saying it as I see it -- it's entirely possible that lots of media people are racist and do things like that based solely on race... who knows. (come to think of it, at the newspaper i work for there are no non-white employees... hmmm)

[Snazel]

it's entirely possible that lots of media people are racist

Well historically sports writers have a nasty racist streak. Editorials and articles on integration of baseball, bear this out.

Even more recently though, I still see signs. The Toronto Sun, always gave latino players a hard time, and gave Cito Gaston much more criticism than Jimy Willians, (despite the fact Jimy made massive blunders in his tenure). I've always believed racism played a part in it.

Indeed, during the 1992 season, with the Jays occupying first place for most of the season, the Sun would feature almost daily editorials critisizing Cito Gaston.

Today in the NFL, I also think its still evident to some degree. I am very unsure why ESPN is obsessed with black wide-receivers that say selfish things and do selfish things. Did I really need a daily Terrell Owens update last year?

I am inclined to believe that race may still sadly, play a part on who and what sports media choose to focus on. I am no expert on this subject, so take this viewpoint with a grain of salt.

There is no doubt in my mind racism still exists in America, it is not as pervasive as it once was, but its still there. To suggest that sports media is not affeceted by that lingering racism, seems unfair. Clearly, we're all still hung up on race, to one degree or another, and sadly it can affect what we are spoon fed by the media.

As for the NBA All-Star game, I don't have much comment. All-Star games are just so utterly boring, that I am really indifferent to where they carry out such an event. Hockey's all-star game is the worst, its not even hockey, it resembles something I used to play on Chauvin Street, when the ice would freeze on the road and the salt truck hadn't come yet.