race and pickup basketball
 

why is it that when there is an argument on the court, the black guy (or guys) always wins?

I've noticed this to be true over many years in many different venues.

White guys just aren't willing to take it to the level required to win (yelling, screaming, threats of quitting, threats of violence).

This isn't racism. It's just an observation.

Tell us what do Asians do?

How come when sifting through the threads on the front page i saw the title "race and pickup basketball" I immediately knew it was a Mike Waters post.

Asians and whites do the same thing. Argue for a while and give up. And say "fine, whatever, let's play."

I know a lot of you don't play pickup basketball in places where people of color play.

I play every Tuesday down in Orem and two black guys show up and play, one of them is a dickhead and thinks he can never commit a foul, and that he is on the And1 mixtape tour, the other one is pretty cool. Whenever the one that is a dickhead argues a foul or calls a foul on the other team because he misses a shot no one argues with him, they just give him the ball and continue play. A few weeks ago i called him a bitch and told him i was sick of his whining and that he needs to call fouls fair. He got pissed for a minute tried to act tough, but simmered down quickly. The last two weeks he has been better, and whenever i call a foul on him their is no argument.

Maybe you Texas boys need to man up and grow a pair and fight it out once or twice and they will eventually give in.

This reminds me of the last time I played ball with a black guy. He walked into the church gym on our ward's night (which formerly had been the singles branch night) and started to leave when he realized it was the wrong night. We asked him to stay because we needed another player. He was a pretty fit looking guy, but not very tall. He was assigned to the other team and I remember telling myself as we got started "just because he's black doesn't mean he's good."

His first order of business was a beautiful steal at halfcourt which he took and dunked HARD. I'd be shocked if he was taller than 5' 10". And the stereotype that all brothers are great ballplayers was driven deeper into my head.

I played so much street ball during my mission on the playgrounds and courts south of Oakland it became habit.

The guys we played with at first looked at us weird with our missionary stuff,,,but after a couple of games they took us in and we played nearly every day when passing by on our bikes. Became good friends with several and handed out several BOM's that way as well.

I'm not a good trash talker, but one of the guys I would always end up guarding, some short guy maybe 5'10....would always talk trash and he'd get me laughing so hard that I couldn't guard him. He became my "trash talk teacher." I remember him saying..."White boy can preach, but he can't talk trash...looks like we got some things we can teach each other son."

Great times. :)

I could take it to the level necessary to win the argument. But would it really be worth it? It would involve a lot of swearing on my part.

It boils down to bad manners. Gentlemen give and take when disputes arise in sport. Probably the people of color you've played with come from difficult circumstances and may be lacking in their upbringing and therefore lack a sufficient appreciation for this concept.

I've noticed that immigrant drivers typically from places like the Middle East or India where driving must be like combat are more prone to, say, stop their cars in the middle of traffic and turn on the flashers to pick someone up or let someone out. I'd never think of doing that just out of consideration for other drivers. This is also more likely to occur in the poorer sections of Seattle. It's a cultural phenomenon and it's not racist to say that.

One thing I learned from my black teammates was that if you mirror their attitude, the black opponents would get ticked, but they'd respect you, especially if you stand your ground. One particular guy I played with told me that if I would go so far as telling a black opponent that if he has to use his fists, that means he knows I'm better at the sport than he is. And if he brings up race, then he really knows that you've got his number on the field, court, etc. (Remember the guy from UNC accusing Britton Johnsen of racial epithets?)

I'm not saying to provoke a guy into throwing a punch, but not letting him get his way by intimidation is the way to go. It sounds like the diplomatic approach is the way you've decided to handle these situations - and in a situation like that you're a better man than I am because I would just tell the guy exactly what I thought about the situation - but I think you could also gain a lot of respect if you get in a guy's face and tell him where he can stick his attitude.