NUMBER 3 SEED

When I was living in New York City, I went to see bell hooks give a lecture just after her book on love was published.  It wasn't a book talk per se, it was more of a sustained cultural critique with her recent book as a background.  During the Q&A after her talk, someone asked her what she thought of Harry Potter as a pop culture phenomenon.  Her response (which I am paraphrasing from memory so please excuse the concomitant loss of eloquence) was something like:

Why do you ask?  Is it because it is a typical story of cultural imperialism with a white male protagonist who has to conquer all the scary "different" people?  On that level, it's complete bullshit.  But sometimes, you have to just say, "Ok, this is bullshit."  And then you can enjoy it.  Just because something is total bullshit doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it.

When I find myself enjoying various cultural productions that I know are complete bullshit, I remember that lecture and somehow feel less cheap for enjoying Kangaroo Jack.  After all, if bell hooks can suspend her critical gaze, why can't I?

This is topical today because we're on the eve of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the best annual sports event in the United States.  (Those who claim it's the best sporting event in the world are flatly wrong, as that title rightfully belongs to the FIFA World Cup.)  On one level, Division I college athletics are an exercise in gross exploitation of young men and women in order to generate revenue and profit for large colleges and universities.  This is dubious.  But on another level, this tournament allows small colleges to generate some attention, some revenue, and some recruiting cachet by defeating larger schools with better endowments.  This is glorious.  The Xavier Muskateers beating the Georgetown Hoyas in 1990.  The Santa Clara Broncos defeating the Arizona Wildcats in 1995.  The Jimmy Valvano-led N.C. State Wolfpack defeating the mighty Houston Cougars (led by future Trailblazer Clyde Drexler) for the championship in 1982. 

The tournament also brings out my glorious partisan feathers.  For the first time in four years, the Oregon Ducks have been invited to participate in the Tournament.  With a 26-7 record, a number 10 ranking in the AP poll, a six game winning streak, and a Pac-10 Conference Tournament championship, the idiots in charge of making the brackets had just enough sense to give the Ducks a number 3 seed.  This means that they play the 14th seeded Miami University in Spokane, Washington on Friday to open the tournament.  The Ducks have played Miami before, but the last time they played them, in 1938, Miami was known to one and all as the Miami University Redskins. 

Unlike their counterparts in the National Football League, Miami University decided that the name Redskin is patently offensive and degrading to the only true historical natives of the United States, peoples that the whiteskins all but exterminated through centuries of deliberate genocidal conduct, so they changed their mascot, in (ahem) 1997, to the RedHawks (allonewordbutwithtwoCapitalLetters).  Miami is in the tournament by virtue of a lucky three-point bank shot in the last seconds of the final of the Mid-American Conference tournament, bumping favored Akron out of both the NCAA Tournament and (astonishingly) out of the N.I.T.

So like I said, these two teams have met before.  68 years ago, the Ducks vanquished the Redskins by a score of 74-38 in a game played in Cleveland.  Significantly, the Ducks went on to win the NCAA championship that season.  I expect nothing less than the sound of history repeating. 

And it could, quite literally.  If the bracket plays out according to my plan, the "Wandering Webfoots" would "Whip Ohio State" in the national title game (after beating the Miami RedHawks (nee Redskins), the Winthrop Eagles, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (who did us the favor of beating the Wisconsin Badgers - sorry Hersch), the Florida Gators, and the Kansas Jayhawks along the way). 

If this seems unlikely, it's because it is.  But it's not impossible, nor would it be unprecedented.  As recently as last season, the number 3 seed in a region went on to win the national title.  I don't know how Maarty Leunen would fare against Greg Oden, to whom he yields six inches of height and an exponential amount of talent (Leunen's good, but he doesn't kid himself about an NBA career; Oden is next year's likely number one draft pick), but this is the tournament.  Anything's possible. 

Just because it's total bullshit doesn't mean we can't enjoy it.  That, my friends, is the glorious and the dubious.

Here's a little rundown of the latest outside of the gymnasium:

GLORIOUS

1. The Numero Group.  The little reissue label that could, hailing from Chicago, has just surpassed my already high expectations of them.  AGAIN.  Their 2CD reissue of songs originally on Chicago's Twinight label has just hit the shelves.  Do yourself a favor and pack your lunch for two days next week so you can justify the $22.99 ticket price.  I know I will.

2. The Public Library.  They have two things that will keep me coming back.  1. A really great children's section/play area that my daughter loves.  2. A really great CD selection that manages to stay remarkably current.  (Rhino's "What it is" Funk and Soul Boxset anyone?)  Go hug a librarian.

3. Strom Thurmond's family owning Al Sharpton's family.     
I just can't get the image of Sharpton standing next to Thurmond with a thought bubble over Thurmond's head thinking, "I own you (or at least I used to)."  I wish I had better (any) skills with photoshop or I'd try to make this happen.  And then the way that the AP story just casually mentions that Thurmond has a biracial child with his housekeeper, it's just perfect comedy.  Who needs comedians when you've got the news.

4.  February being over.  It really kicked my ass.  I felt like Strom Thurmond owned me there for a minute.

DUBIOUS.

1.  Hannity & Colmes trying to smear Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.  I'm not going to link to their drivel on this site, but the basic gist is that Hannity has decided to declare that Trinity United is a black separatist, racist, hate church that isn't even Christian because it's declaration of principles contains such statements as "Support the Black Family.  Support Black Institutions.  Support the Black Work Ethic."  Well guess what?  It's a BLACK CHURCH.  Do you wonder why they are singling out one of thousands upon thousands of black churches in the country that ALL have supermajority black parishioners and ALL support the black family?  I'll give you a hint: Barack Obama is a member.  Trashing a black man's church for being too black is as dubious as it gets.

2.  Hillary Clinton chasing Barack Obama to Selma for the 42nd anniversary of the first Selma March. 
Guess what Mrs. Clinton?  He's blacker than you are.

3.  Mos Def releasing an album without any cover art.
Now I've stood behind Mos Def over the years, even when a lot of people started claiming that he sucks.  I like Black on Both Sides (Rawkus 1999); although it hasn't aged that well, I like the Black Star album with Talib Kweli (Rawkus 1998); and I like The New Danger (Geffen 2004).  The New Danger is a big conceptual sprawling mess, but it feels like he's trying to accomplish something; several things really  (trying to channel Marvin Gaye, establishing that rock music is black music, staying current with rap trends).  His reach exceeded his grasp, but it was a well meaning, if not noble, attempt.  But this new album, True Magic (Geffen 2006), just seems like a half-assed joke.  While I understand the significance of cross-marketing, I don't have to like it (and for the record I don't like it - I love the Stones Throw label, but that doesn't mean I want to read Egon's interview with MF Doom and Madlib to support Stones Throw's Madvillainy release - it was like reading someone trying to get a bong hit from his friends, one of Wax Poetics' few major missteps).  If I want to go to Mos Def's website, I'll go to his website.  But don't force me to go there to get the damn cover art, track listing, and liner notes for your CD.  What am I going to pay $16.99 for?  A shitty plastic jewel case with a glorified CD-R inside?  No thanks.  I'll save my money for the latest vanguard squad release.  (According to allmusic, Geffen plans to re-release the album with artwork after a few months.  Whatever.)  To quote L-boogie, "You just lost one."

4. If my nose is kinda stuffed up and kinda runny in the Springtime, but I generally feel fine, does that mean I have allergies?  Who gave me allergies?  And when?  And how do I get rid of them besides blowing my nose a dozen times a day?

I'M BACK.

--ALEXANDER.

Comments

[StarChild]

Welcome back.

From what I understand the Mos Def album is being retooled and b/c of some technicality they had to try and frame it as a "sampler" at the last minute but will rerelease later ...and thats why you can barely find it anywhere. Or something. I read that on an amazon.com review.

As for Obama: you are right... he is blacker than Hillary, but just barely.

Curious, has he always gone to that church? or is this sort of like W buying a ranch in Crawford in '98?

Hillary was much maligned for the show she put on in Selma (quoting gospel songs and what not) and maybe rightfully so but I also thought Obama's line "You can't say that when I come here I'm not home!" a bit cringe inducing as well.

Like many people in that room, he has a father with dark skin... but otherwise his political posturing was no less dubious than that of HRC.

Anxious to see how B.O. does in an election for national office when he is not running against (a) A guy who tried to force his wife to give him a BJ in public or (b) Alan Keyes.

[Amanda]

It's Senator Clinton. You sound like one of my students.

[Alexander]

On Senator Clinton
Despite pledging to keep her maiden name of Rodham when she married the future president, Senator Clinton adopted his surname for political expediency to help him retake the Little Rock Governor's mansion in 1982. She kept her maiden name as her "middle" name, but she later even dropped that for political expediency during his presidency, while he was busy cheating on her in the Oval Office. If she had stuck to her guns, she would be Senator Rodham. But she capitulated to the social and political pressure to take her husband's name. So when she drags her husband down to Selma in an obvious attempt to endear herself to the black community, she deserves to be called, and will be called Mrs. Clinton.

On Senator Obama
He's way blacker than Senator Clinton, but barely blacker than President Clinton. And he has been going to Trinity since before he was running for Senate in 2004. Exactly how long he has been a member, I don't know, but it's not new. And if Obama does win the nomination of the Democratic Party, I hope he is as fortunate in the general election as he was in the Illinois Senate race. The GOP imploded in that race in a very impressive fashion.

[JSR]

While we can hardly expect the GOP to give us as great a gift the Alan Keyes/Jack Ryan tag team of 2004, I'm sort of looking forward to the great Newt Gingrich/Rudy Giuliani divorce-off of 2008. Can a man who divorces his wife as she's dying of cancer be elected president? Will Rudy's shameful public behavior with his mistress offset his 9/11 cred? Let the voters decide!