White men cant' jump

White men can't jump.



You remember the movie, right? It came out in 1992 and starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as a pair of hustling basketball junkies.


Anyone who thinks white men can't jump hasn't watched Tyler Hansbrough in action.
I loved the flick so much I went out and bought the sound track, and used to dance to the title track in the club back in college.

And if you say it louder
Then you might make me prouder
Don't you know that white men can't jump?
White men can't jump


I was 30 before I realized just how racist it all was.



Could you imagine what would happen if Hollywood released a comedy about football entitled "Black Men Can't Throw"? Rush Limbaugh would be sitting in the theater chuckling with a box of Ho Hos in his lap as movie execs tried to explain to Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton why he/they should not be offended. Yet men and women of both races who are otherwise intelligent not only embrace the notion inherent to "White Men Can't Jump," but it is spoken about as if it's scientific fact.



This is true in the barbershop.



This is true at the local Y.



Apparently it's true on national television as well.



Just last week I watched a pair of journalists dismiss the pro potential of both Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love for no other reason than their skin color.



"The last time a big white guy from college especially went from a big-time star to a big-time star in the NBA, I think there were still laces on the ball," one of them said.



For many, Hansbrough evokes memories of Christian Laettner, even though his game resembles Marcus Fizer. Love gets Eric Montross comparisons despite having far more in common with a young Tim Duncan. Perpetually grounded Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel, a preseason All-American, is compared not to fellow low-fliers such as former Spartan Shawn Respert or NC State's Rodney Monroe -- both duds in the pros -- but to J.J. Redick, who probably has the best hops of the four.



No offense, but Kevin Love has a lot more aspects to his game than Eric Montross did.
Alas, only white players can be compared to white players and blacks to black. If we started comparing athletes based on quaint little qualities such as talent and skill level instead of incidental ones like skin color and ethnicity, then we might actually be forced to stop and think.


Some black folks love this white-men-can't-jump rhetoric because it appears to give us an aura of superiority over a collective that for so long did everything in its power to keep us down and out. Some whites enjoy this conversation because it covertly grants some of our less evolved brethren permission to allow other sweeping generalizations about race to factor into their decision-making. These sweeping generalizations might not be privy to the general public but they affect things like, I don't know, hiring a black person to coach Division I football.



If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, racial reconciliation is a two-way street. You can't say Hansbrough won't make a good NBA player because he's white unless you are prepared to also say Oregon's Dennis Dixon won't make a good NFL quarterback because he's black. For every Larry Bird there is a Doug Williams. For every Big Country there is a Stanley Roberts. You'd think we'd figure that out by now, but apparently not.



This is the stalemate Barack Obama spoke about two weeks ago in his address about race -- a nation unable to fulfill its potential because it has yet to figure out that together we are more than the sum of our parts. Only in this case, the ones who really suffer are kids like Hansbrough, Love and Dixon -- young men who worked countless hours to become among the best in their sports only to be blindsided by an antiquated belief system.



As the father of a young boy who likes to dream, it's really sad for me to know that in 2008 a 19-year-old kid could be so comfortably judged on his ability to do a job based solely on his race.



But what's even sadder is knowing there are some folks out there -- both white and black -- who will read this column and still not have a problem with it.

Did you write this article? Because it's dumb.

Nop...just a bad case of man-love...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CoeburnCane</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did you write this article? Because it's dumb. </div></div>


No, its on espn.com forgot to put the link on there...I dont find it so dumb, I think it is very interesting and true...it was wrote by a black guy that observed this

"OH Tyler.....Do you need a back-rub????" [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/whistle.gif[/img]

The only white man I've ever seen that could jump was that guy, used to play for the Nuggets or Hornets one, I'm wanting to say his last name was Anderson??

Just saying that it is true about a lot of players today, they are what we call good examples so yeah

I know some of you are probably too young to remember....Bobby Jones played for Philly...won the 6th man of the year a few times I believed. The man had some serious ups and hustled his butt off.
I read the article. Sad, but its true. If a movie came out saying "Black men Can't Jump" there would be protests, riots, and Jackson and Sharpton would be leading the parades and boycotts.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raider13</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CoeburnCane</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did you write this article? Because it's dumb. </div></div>


No, its on espn.com forgot to put the link on there...I dont find it so dumb, I think it is very interesting and true...it was wrote by a black guy that observed this</div></div>

Allow me to put on my mod hat and ask for you to put the link on it.

I don't care if the dude was black, white, brown, yellow, or purple-polka dotted...it's still dumb logic.

I know this video has been on here in the past, but this white guy can out jump most everyone.

Ballin'

Come on, Brent Barry won the dunk contest back in the 90's and he is pretty white.

Here you go Cane

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...nderson/080401



Im wasnt sayin white guys cant jump lol Brent Barry did win it in 96 by dunking from the foul line...Just saying that article made a lot of sense and you cant say it isnt true...Im just saying nobody should be judged by their color in sports but by there talent...Not just saying white guys, but it mentions Oregon QB Dennis Dixon that ppl are judging him because he's blck that he wont make a good QB...Face the facts, its the truth that racism like still exists a lot in todays society

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PioneerBlue</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The only white man I've ever seen that could jump was that guy, used to play for the Nuggets or Hornets one, I'm wanting to say his last name was Anderson?? </div></div>

You may be thinking of the Birdman, Chris Anderson that just got back in the NBA after a drug suspension.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CoeburnCane</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did you write this article? Because it's dumb.</div></div>
I second that.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1inStripes</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PioneerBlue</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The only white man I've ever seen that could jump was that guy, used to play for the Nuggets or Hornets one, I'm wanting to say his last name was Anderson?? </div></div>

You may be thinking of the Birdman, Chris Anderson that just got back in the NBA after a drug suspension. </div></div>

Two more from a little further in the past..

Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle

Got a grandson that can jump pert and near that!



<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raider13</div><div class="ubbcode-body">White men can't jump.



You remember the movie, right? It came out in 1992 and starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as a pair of hustling basketball junkies.


Anyone who thinks white men can't jump hasn't watched Tyler Hansbrough in action.
I loved the flick so much I went out and bought the sound track, and used to dance to the title track in the club back in college.

And if you say it louder
Then you might make me prouder
Don't you know that white men can't jump?
White men can't jump


I was 30 before I realized just how racist it all was.



Could you imagine what would happen if Hollywood released a comedy about football entitled "Black Men Can't Throw"? Rush Limbaugh would be sitting in the theater chuckling with a box of Ho Hos in his lap as movie execs tried to explain to Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton why he/they should not be offended. Yet men and women of both races who are otherwise intelligent not only embrace the notion inherent to "White Men Can't Jump," but it is spoken about as if it's scientific fact.



This is true in the barbershop.



This is true at the local Y.



Apparently it's true on national television as well.



Just last week I watched a pair of journalists dismiss the pro potential of both Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love for no other reason than their skin color.



"The last time a big white guy from college especially went from a big-time star to a big-time star in the NBA, I think there were still laces on the ball," one of them said.



For many, Hansbrough evokes memories of Christian Laettner, even though his game resembles Marcus Fizer. Love gets Eric Montross comparisons despite having far more in common with a young Tim Duncan. Perpetually grounded Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel, a preseason All-American, is compared not to fellow low-fliers such as former Spartan Shawn Respert or NC State's Rodney Monroe -- both duds in the pros -- but to J.J. Redick, who probably has the best hops of the four.



No offense, but Kevin Love has a lot more aspects to his game than Eric Montross did.
Alas, only white players can be compared to white players and blacks to black. If we started comparing athletes based on quaint little qualities such as talent and skill level instead of incidental ones like skin color and ethnicity, then we might actually be forced to stop and think.


Some black folks love this white-men-can't-jump rhetoric because it appears to give us an aura of superiority over a collective that for so long did everything in its power to keep us down and out. Some whites enjoy this conversation because it covertly grants some of our less evolved brethren permission to allow other sweeping generalizations about race to factor into their decision-making. These sweeping generalizations might not be privy to the general public but they affect things like, I don't know, hiring a black person to coach Division I football.



If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, racial reconciliation is a two-way street. You can't say Hansbrough won't make a good NBA player because he's white unless you are prepared to also say Oregon's Dennis Dixon won't make a good NFL quarterback because he's black. For every Larry Bird there is a Doug Williams. For every Big Country there is a Stanley Roberts. You'd think we'd figure that out by now, but apparently not.



This is the stalemate Barack Obama spoke about two weeks ago in his address about race -- a nation unable to fulfill its potential because it has yet to figure out that together we are more than the sum of our parts. Only in this case, the ones who really suffer are kids like Hansbrough, Love and Dixon -- young men who worked countless hours to become among the best in their sports only to be blindsided by an antiquated belief system.



As the father of a young boy who likes to dream, it's really sad for me to know that in 2008 a 19-year-old kid could be so comfortably judged on his ability to do a job based solely on his race.



But what's even sadder is knowing there are some folks out there -- both white and black -- who will read this column and still not have a problem with it.

</div></div>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raider13</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Im wasnt sayin white guys cant jump lol Brent Barry did win it in 96 by dunking from the foul line...Just saying that article made a lot of sense and you cant say it isnt true...Im just saying nobody should be judged by their color in sports but by there talent...Not just saying white guys, but it mentions Oregon QB Dennis Dixon that ppl are judging him because he's blck that he wont make a good QB...Face the facts, its the truth that racism like still exists a lot in todays society </div></div>

I could care less if white guys could jump. I used to tell guys at the college dunking that if they did that 10 times in a row, and I hit 10 3pters in a row that I'm still up by 10 on them. Used to piss them off because I wasn't impressed with their "hops".

The article makes a stupid argument--it basically implies that I'm racist if I compare a black QB to a black QB instead of a white one, and also if I compare a white PG to another white player as opposed to a black PG. Completely assumed on the writer's part and unbased--if I want to compare Drew Neitzel to Jeff Hornacek instead of Stephon Marbury--it's because I think their games are more similar, and it's my right to make the comparison w/o being assumed racist. Same thing with Dennis Dixon being more like Randall Cunningham as opposed to Steve Young. I'm not racist because I compared a black guy to a black guy instead of a white guy--I just made a comparison that I feel is valid.

And I'll compare Hansbrough to Andrew DeClerq (both white) til the cows come home, because it's a good comparison. If anyone should be protesting the Marcus Fizer comparison it's you since it would help UNC's pro legacy for him to be compared to someone better than either DeClerq or Fizer.

This guy is reaching at best--which is why it must have made so much sense to you. It's stupid articles with faulty arguments in it that keep us from being able to "keep it real", to compare talent to talent...because a black dude pops down the race card on a comparison made by fans that has nothing to do with race.

id much rather be a shooter than a dunker.