(dubious) Chris Webber's comments on (part of) the Fab Five doc
Sorry if this has already been posted, but Webber did make some comments about the Fab 5 doc; specifically, about Jalen Rose's comments about Duke.
http://chriswebber.com/profiles/blogs/my-fathers-brother-thomas?xg_sour…
EDIT: a commenter noticed that this was probably not written by Chris Webber after all, but if you check out the link you'll see it's damn confusing. Sorry if I confused anyone.
That's the way I interpreted Rose's comments as well. People will always hear what they want to hear, and a lot of rival fanbases immediately jumped to the conclusion that Rose was calling Hill an Uncle Tom, when that wasn't the case at all. As a 17, 18, 19 year old kid, that was how he viewed the situation, and he was being honest about it.
with Chris Webber. On a side note, that was a pretty well-written post by Webber. Just clarifying, not really criticizing anybody, but noting something he sees as a reality. It's also nice to see evidence of how close the Fab Five still are with each other.
Agreed about the writing quality. It's just hard to realize that some of these athletes are very capible of expressing themselves in writing; I guess the stereotypes ruin it for the ones who can.
capable*
as really just expressing who they thought they were "rebelling" against at the time. By Jalen's own 19 year old definitiion of an "Uncle Tom," he himself would be one right now. For anybody to get upset at those comments on the documentary is ridiculous.
On a side note, he was funny as hell in that documentary. The description of people standing under the hoop in HS with "you better make this free throw or we'll see you in the hood" was classic. Also, researching players and talking trash "based on that research" was laugh out loud funny. Hey, if Charlie Sheen can sell out the Fox in ten minutes maybe Jalen should try some standup.
I, for one, would much rather pay money to see Jalen over Charlie Sheen...
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/130/michigan-wolverines
ESPN has a link on the main Michigan bball page today with the clip of today's conversation with Skip Bayless. Best part is in the very end, when Jalen says something like, "These comments aren't a surprise to the guys we played against. We said the exact same thing to them all game long." Trash talking, when done right, is a science. Our guys were professors.
perhaps the only time you'll ever see a civilized Skip Bayless...
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6219766
He was surrounded by three Wolverines...
Coach K also recruited and signed Mike Chappell out of Southfield Lathrop. Chappell ended up transferring to MSU and was a member of their championship team. Southfield Lathrop certainly wouldn't be considered an inner city school, that's for sure, but it is a public school.
Gordie, I know Mike. His first cousin and his bestfriend are close friends of mine. We hung out and played ball quite a bit during undergrad, especially when Mike tranferred to msu. Mike comes from an upper-middle class family as do his first cousin and bestfried. Not to mention, Southfield was THE place to live for middle-class African Americans at that time. Jalen's point still holds true.
I wasn't really countering Jalen's overall point, just giving a shout-out to Chappell. Very nice neighborhood over there at Bell road and 12 mile
He and Jimmy talk pretty pointedly about the few exceptions that tended to prove the rule.
I can't listen to the video at the moment. Who are the exceptions mentioned? I can think of Sean Dockery who came from inner city Chicago, but I'm drawing blanks on anyone else.
that was a great f'n interview! true indeed and a great discussion on a difficult topic.
like people trying to politely discuss politics or each others religions...but on national tv
Really interesting interview. I'm not sure Bayless fully understood Rose's point. He's stating, matter-of-factly, that Duke would prefer kids from middle-class backgrounds because they might be less likely to come along with any extra baggage ("They won't sell their rings."). He's not criticizing that approach. He might not exactly agree with it, but he recognizes that it's their right to choose the kids they want, and he notes that it hasn't stopped them from winning. Now, as an adult, he understands why they target certain kids. But when he was a teenager, he couldn't see things from their perspective, and was hurt by their approach, causing him to lash out at the black players who did go there.
March 15th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
The internets is no place for a reasonable understanding of the facts!!
March 15th, 2011 at 11:00 PM ^
I took the rings comment as a jab at that school in ohio.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:57 AM ^
Any interview that trashes Duke and OSU at the same time is a good piece of work.
If I was an M grad, this interview would make me proud as hell.
Rose and King are so articulate, and yet so honest. Not an ounce of bullshit between them. Between the FF doc and this interview, I've really grown to respect both of them.
Thanks for posting this.
I thought it took a real adult to admit that he was envious of Hill. A lot of people wouldn't be willing to say that.
I mis-read what you wrote. I thought you had written, "...it took a real audit to admit he was envious of Hill..."
Both spellings could be right.
His comment that Duke wouldn't recruit him, but they would recruit his kids, tells you all you need to know. His "Uncle Tom" comment was what he knew and what he felt as a 17 year old. Saying that his kids are the type of people Duke would recruit is, in a way, an admission that he respects and appreciates that type of person. That's why he's raising his kids that way.
It's neither respect nor appreciation - it's simple knowledge that he likely had back at the age of 17. He knew and wished that his family came from money and that his father was around - he said so himself. What he's saiying is that black players who played for Duke were uncle tom's b/c they chose a university that refused to acknowledge black athletes who also didn't come from privilege.
He's raising his kids this way b/c he's "able" while his parents were "unable"
His point was that they are essentially the same - father and son - but one comes polished b/c his family was able to live in an environment that allowed him to succeed, while the other was "street" b/c that was the environment given to him. Duke would only that the "privileged Rose" b/c they see something inferior/lacking/dangerous and/or worrisome about the "street Rose"
UM accepted "street Rose" and loved him and allowed him to succeed - a Dean's List student at one of the best uni's in america. Still, Duke didn't want to take that risk.
March 15th, 2011 at 11:28 PM ^
Okay. How about jealousy and admiration. He was jealous of and admired what the Duke players had and from where they came.
Plus, I think Duke had enough risk invested in their LAX team.
/s.
Is that written by Chris Webber or some guy named "Dice"? The byline says "Dice" and there's a picture of a guy named "Dice" on the blogroll on the right side of the screen. But, then it says "Posted by Chris Webber" and it's obviously his site. Anyone have an answer?
That's a great question...I just noticed that discrepancy. After looking at it a little more closely, I think maybe all the posts on that site get tagged with "Posted by Chris Webber." My bad, I guess I engaged in some Free Press level "investigative journalism" there.
I was so overjoyed to watch the 5XZ (as they called themselves) back in the day. Couldn't believe my eyes. They rep'd UM in a way no one ever had and I, for one -- a white kid from ritzy suburbs of a major US city -- loved it.
Put C-web to the side, he's a whole other discussion... but...
To this day I get more and more impressed with those guys, especially Jalen. Still representing UM proudly (got a zinger on TSIO in that video with Bayless and Dana, if you caught it). Its an overused word, but in the BASKETBALL WORLD, Jalen is essentially a hero. What he's doing professionally, the program he's building in Detroit, how he stood for himself and continues to do so. That movie was insanely great and continues to show how SPECIAL and UNIQUE Jalen, Juwan, Ray and Jimmy were, and are.
I absolutely loved the movie. Really captured the excitement surrounding Michigan at the time. I remember watching the Fab 5 on TV and - being an upper-class white kid from suburban NY 2 parent family - thinking how "cool" they were. They single-handedly revolutionized college BB, and to some extent, BB in general.
As a die hard Michigan fan, and alum, I really think that the school needs to find a way to bring these guys back into the fold. The school - and to some extent, these guys - committed the crime and have more than served their time. The time having been served - in the form of vacated wins, disgrace, etc. - it is time to move on and re-embrace (in a positive way) what will probably go down as one of the most exciting eras of any one team in any sport.
It may not have been written by him, but if he's posting it on his website, presumably he agrees with it.
I was going to write something similar, but then I thought about it. What if "Chris Webber," as in "Posted by Chris Webber," is merely the website administrator. Maybe Webber runs and administers his own website, but I could just as easily see it being run entirely by a third party with input by him.
Either way, I think you're right. If it's on his site and centers around him as a subject, he's presumably at least had editorial imput on the position.
Late in the documentary, Mitch Albom said that Chris always needed money to buy gas and pizza and other things, but somehow he had gotten $280,000 from Ed Martin. Albom then said that he thinks he got that $$$ late in his Michigan career.
I'll bet he got it right before the Final Four trip in 1993. I was reading the Fab Five book and it says that Chris's brother was talking about a sweatsuit his friend had that he wanted over dinner in New Orleans, so then Chris took out $5 for himself then gave the rest to his brother. I'll bet that sweatsuit money was Ed's.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:00 AM ^
You're going to have to elaborate more on this sweatsuit money thing before it makes any sense.
As Hill's career progressed, I saw the occasional note of him having felt ostricized or forgotten among his player peers for having come from such an affluent background. The Fab-5 really DID change basketball.
Let me stick with the other 4, but not Webber. I'm now a mid-50's WHITE M alum and even so still loved those teams. Loved their swagger, their definace, their non-conformity. Oh, kinda liked the basketball as well.
My high points in Michigan sports include several Bo years, the basketball team in was it 76? that went to the finals, the '89 Championship, and the Fab's. And it goes without saying the couple national championships we've had in hockey in the past 20 years.
Still, Webber is dead to me and always will be. Actually glad (and appropriate) that he wasn't in the documentary.