Can We Fire Him Now?

I am a lifelong New York Knicks fan. Peep the blog colors. These are the colors of the Knicks (and my college Savannah State University.) Seriously, since 1983, I've loved them. The year I fell in love with hip hop (Run-DMC's "Rockbox") is the same year I fell in love with Knicks. I remember like it was yesterday, Bernard King and the boys running over the league only to fall to the Celtics in a 7 game playoff series. I remember thinking at the time, in my 9 year old mind, next year will be our year.



Over the years, we (and I say we, cuz that's how much of a fan I am) had some close calls, but something always seemed to get in the way of our championship. Michael Fucking Jordan (I hated him until like 98) every year dunking on my boys, Reggie Fucking Miller (I still hate him to this day) scoring 8 points in 16 seconds, Patrick Ewing blowing a layup when he should have dunked it at the end of the game, Charles Smith missing like 6 shots in a row on the same possession, John Starks going 1 for 18 in game 7 of the NBA finals against Houston. We got to the finals but never won it. Through all that I was a proud Knicks fan. I could always count on them to put a competitive team on the floor and be on national TV so I could see them play. But then something strange happened. A saboteur was named President of the New York Knickerbockers. His name: Isiah Thomas.





Isiah is an NBA legend. He was a great player back in the day. I didn't like him because his team, the Pistons were a rival, but I always respected him. Even when he kissed Magic Johnson at center court, I still had respect for him. I didn't even trip when he bankrupted an entire basketball league when he was the owner of the CBA. When I heard he was gonna be running my Knicks, I was actually excited. We had been slumping for awhile and fresh blood was needed to turn things around. How wrong was I?







Instead of being a savior, Isiah has made the Knicks even less competitive. He is the king of making stupid trades, giving fat contracts to scrubs and signing too many players that play the same position. I thought after last year, I would have been rid of him, but then he named himself as the coach too. Everybody kept telling me, give him a chance. It's not his fault. Things will get better. The Knicks played pretty well for awhile. Things were starting to look up again. There was a chance I could see the Knicks in the playoffs again. Then they gave Isiah a contract extension and the Knicks immediately took the first train to Suckyville again. I knew it was gonna happen. For 3 years I've been calling for the Knicks to fire Isiah, but they didn't do it.



Fast forward to yesterday. Isiah was found liable for sexually harassing a female executive while working for the Knicks. Can you please fire him now? What has to happen before you get rid of this guy? I'll admit, I don't know if he did it or not, but can we please just use this as an excuse to get rid of Isiah? I'm tired of the Knicks sucking and not making the playoffs. I would like to see them win a championship some time before I die. I don't want to be like those Boston Red Sox fans that waited their entire lives to see them win a World Series. I would like to be able to see the Knicks on TV without buying that damn NBA Season Pass. Can they please come on free TV? That's not gonna happen until they get good again, and they wont be good again until they fire Isiah Thomas. So, please lets make that happen...expeditiously. Stop letting Isiah sabotage my team. February 29th, I will be at Phillips Arena when the Knicks come to play Atlanta. Please don't let Isiah be there. This lifelong Knicks fan's patience is running thin.

Tell The Truth Tuesday: BET

Come on, BET! Tell the truth. We already know what the deal is, but we want to hear you admit it. Just admit it. We are all grown men and women and we can handle it. You don't have to make up stories, just come out and tell the truth!

What am I talking about? Well, I don't know if everybody has heard about it, but BET is producing a TV show called "Hot Ghetto Mess" based on the website of the same name. I'll even put the link here so you can check it out if you choose. The premise of the show supposedly, (and I say supposedly because it hasn't aired yet so I haven't seen it) is user made home videos and on the street interviews that spotlight those embarrassing so called "ghetto" aspects of the community. You know, the images that make you say "damn, that's ghetto!" Like the outlandish prom pictures with the wild hairstyles and age inappropriate dresses, or the crazy things that some people do to their cars, or just basic tomfoolery and hood repping at the club. Well, the Black man's favorite channel is premiering a show that brings these images out of the forwarded email stage to basic cable.

Now, not surprisingly, BET is getting a little backlash about this kind of programming. Post- Don Imus, anything with racial implications is in the spotlight; controversy was sure to follow a show so descriptively entitled "Hot Ghetto Mess." But this time it's not just the usual suspects protesting. I'm sure they will have something to say, but the illustrious Reverends Al and Jesse will not be by themselves. The Home Depot and State Farm have reportedly decided that they do not want to advertise on the show effectively putting their money where their mouth is. For their part, at least I can say that BET has not cracked under the pressure...yet. But here is where my problem comes in. BET is trying to make it seem that "Hot Ghetto Mess" is a tool for social change. Like Black people will look at these images and be inspired to be less ghetto. The following quote is from the BET website about the show:

"Cutting edge, original, relevant and irreverent, "Hot Ghetto Mess" is like the traffic accident you can't look away from. Viewers will laugh. They'll cry. They'll think. They'll learn, and hopefully they'll recognize they've GOT to do better."

I'm sorry, but I have to resurrect the word that we buried last week: NIGGA PLEASE!!! Who da hell do you think you are fooling? This show is exploitation plain and simple. It is designed for us to laugh at people. We all laugh at people that are different than us. People we think are ghetto, or country, or bougie, or stuck up are the objects of our ridicule. Even the most conscious of us sometimes have moments when we will pass judgment on someone else's behavior. I'm not even knocking the show for airing our dirty laundry, although my personal opinion is that some shit we need to keep to ourselves. My biggest problem with BET is that they are full of shit, trying to pass this show off as social commentary.

So, dammit BET, just tell the truth. Tell us that this show is inexpensive to produce so it fits your bottom line. Tell the world that this show will appeal to the baser desires of your viewership and therefore will be a hit. Tell the truth for once. The truth is that half of the shows already on BET could be titled "Hot Ghetto Mess", and as much as I loved the show growing up, this includes Rap City. Tell the damn truth, BET! Tell us that coonery worked on VH1 with Flava Flav, so you thought you would give it a try. Tell the truth! Tell the world that nobody watches BET News, but they will watch the same episode of ComicView over and over again. That's why you have a show called "Hot Ghetto Mess" You know good and damn well that you are not trying to change the world. I would respect you much more if you said it was just entertainment. I don't believe in censorship of any kind, so I'm not saying that this show should not on the air. I'll let the more dedicated bloggers and activists lead the protest. I'm just saying... damn, BET tell the fuckin truth!!! This show is a "hot ghetto mess" and you know it.