Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Some things you just don't do.


This is a memo to Mark Cuban from the field:

Mark, I know that you hire a lot of black men to play on your team and you are an owner in the NBA, which means that you have a lot of interaction with black men by default. But there is something you should know: DON'T YOU EVER EVER DISRESPECT A BLACK MAN'S MAMA! I don't care how much of those "dead presidents" you have just sitting around collecting interest. Some things you just don't do. I know you got caught up in the heat of your team's playoff series, but don't let that shit cause you to end up in a Dallas hospital some damn where. And for the record, your apology on your blog was lame.

Your actions the other night, as you walked off the court, towards Kenyon Martin's mother, had me wanting to kick your ass. There is a reason we say "your mama" to each other if we really want to rumble. Not your wife. Not your daddy. (Well, most of us don't know our Daddies) And not your grandma. Your mama is what gets our blood boiling. Because, for better or for worse, we just love our damn mamas.


And let's be clear; the real villain in this sad episode is not you, Mark. No, the real villain is that coward, David Stern, for not slapping you with a big fat fine. (I guess there is a different standard for owners) You have created an environment in Dallas that could lead to something nasty, and leaving the family members of visiting players exposed to that Texas mob (ahhh Texas, again) in your arena is just downright irresponsible.

I never agree with Jason Fatlock, but I might have to this time. He is right when he says this:

"Right or wrong, disrespecting a black man's mama publicly has always been a drop-the-gloves moment. When a billionaire white man does it, it becomes a ride-or-die episode for the entire neighborhood.

Last I checked, Martin plays in a league dominated by black men hailing from the don't-talk-about-my-mama culture. I don't have any doubt that La La Vazquez and every other Nugget sympathizer who entered American Airlines Arena for Game 4 came with an attitude looking for tiny signs of disrespect.

I'm sorry. I don't blame them.
I'm 42. I'm mature. I'm a pacifist. I haven't been in a fight since college. I honestly can't remember the last time I was fighting mad. But had Cuban wagged his finger at my mother, loud talked her and told her I was a "punk" and/or a "thug" — after I pulled my mother (father and brother) off him — I would have delivered at least one mouth shot."


Mr. Fatlock, make that two of us.


68 comments:

Malik said...

haha, this was funny. my boy cuban def crossed the line on this one. i think he knows that though, word is he offered the family his suite if the game goes back to dallas.

EzMun said...

That makes two of us.

Lola Gets said...

With everyone and their mama saying "yo mama" and that crappy MTV show with the same title, people dont know the sordid history behind "playing the dozens" in the Black community and dont realize that its a serious insult! Ive been thinking of doing a post on that, so we'll see.

L

La♥audiobooks said...

The usual arrogance. Apparently he's a liar too. I don't know what difference it made for him to switch up on what he said, he was still wrong to involve and disrespect Kenyan's mother.

(I think some of y'all are more mad because he called a black man a punk, never mind the mother :)

Saleema said...

I wish Texas would stop making headlines for a while. I'm tired of seeing us on your blog. :)

B# said...

Field,
Didn't you recently post about 2 "poor" crazies with shotguns in Texas who killed a child?

The poor folks are crazy; the billionaires are crazy; the Governor is crazy; our former President from Texas is crazy....
Is there anybody in that state who is sane?

Sandra said...

Field,

Thank you for this post. David Stern is a coward for not fining Mark Cuban. Stern and the NBA implemented dress codes and other rules to control players' behavior. The NBA is quick to charge players hefty fines, but when it comes to the oweners there is a different standard.

If Mark Cuban was man, he would have apologized on Monday, when the fans were getting out of control. He should have stopped the game, apologized, and told the fans that their behavior will not be tolerated.

Cuban's apology was lame. Kenyon Martin's mother is not reading Cuban's blog. You can tell he didn't want to apologize by the comment he made that she can sit next to him when they return to Dallas for Game 6.

If the owners are going to demand that the players be respectable, then, the players need to demand the owners be repectable. The owners need to repsect the family of all NBA players.

Cuban was wrong. Stern was wrong.

field negro said...

Saleema,I promise, no more on Texas. Unless,of course, they give me something else:)

Well said Sandra. You remember what happened at the Palace in Detroit? The retribution was swift.

Anonymous said...

just stand by field it won't take long....lol

we're VERY loud down here....we'll have something else for you to write about

rikyrah said...

Cuban was wrong, and he needs to be fined. This post was great, FN.

false1 said...

Sandra said: If the owners are going to demand that the players be respectable, then, the players need to demand the owners be repectable. The owners need to repsect the family of all NBA players.
Well said and let's add the fans to that mix also, especially when they want to get "racial".

BTW: I know my dad. He's my personal hero.

alicia banks said...

wow fn:

this post was poetry!
you told him!
thanks!

as an educator, this is why i fear the future

boys of all races today hate their toxic young moms too and still do not know their dads...

so we are truly doomed as a nation

ie
enema

or google the sudden spree of boys raping and killing their own moms/friends' moms in the news...

peace
ab

Anonymous said...

Field,
Please, you know the NBA is just another plantation! Those rich "slaves" know they better not say anything to their owner!! Hell, look at the response from C. Barkley and C.Webb on that issue. The only one who had SOME backbone was K.Smith.
Why didn't the players union speak up
?? Why didn't coward Stern say something?? The reason is because Stern is not going to fine the owners, he only levies fines against the slaves!!


B1bomber

Big K said...

The man disrespected the woman in front of her son in public, and he's still alive?!

I think Kenyon Martin deserves an award for not killing Cuban with his bare hands, 'cause I woulda got ignant and gave Cuban a natural ass-whoopin' off general principle.

White boys can get Eminem on their mamas all they like, but somebody disrespects my mother within earshot of me, and there's gonna be a misunderstanding, ya' heard?

alicia banks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

So Ya'll get Delirious and get Violent when someone talks bad about Y'alls Mammas??? Thats like sayin A-rabs'll cut off your head with a pointy sword if you don't do watever...
Yo Mamas so FAT even Star Jones says GOD-DAMN YOU FAT!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't really keep up with Basketball... whats that little semi-circle line under the basket??

Anonymous said...

You guys sure are sensitive type mens.

True Blue Texan said...

I'll second the request on no more bad news from Texas . . . well, unless we deserve it, which we do most of the time. And I've mentioned this before: Cuban is NOT a Texan.

cinco said...

His behavior was completely uncalled for and should be addressed, and he should be penalized where it hurts...in his damn pocket! You can't 'disrespect' a referee without getting a fine and/or suspension. He should feel the consequences of his behavior.

east austin said...

B#.. yes.. saleema, true blue texan and me.. it’s hard out here for the sane.

field, continue with the texas exposure .. she’s fair game .. by the way.. monday.. an austin police officer fatally shot a 18 year old black male and wounded another ... there was a semi - riot.. guns .. guns.. guns.. it’s a way of life..

you’re correct any insults directed at a person mother or children will cause some problems.. however ... mark cuban is sexy .. please do not take my field negro privileges..

Jezebella said...

I gotta say, I see black women disrespected all over the damn place, how come only disrespect for your mother crosses the line? How come your sisters don't get the same fierce righteous defense? I don't get it.

Monie said...

I wonder how many games Kenyon Martin would have been suspended if he had verbally attacked Mark Cubans mother?

And can you imagine the media firestorm if Kenyon had done that.

grinder said...

I think Mark Cuban is an asshole. I have always thought so. He made his money by selling the stock of a worthless Internet company at the top of the bubble. He hit the jackpot and ever since then he has imagined that he is smart.

I will say two things about the incident, though. First off, it's sports, and I have a hard time taking anything that happens in the sporting world seriously. Second, Cuban did apologize for his stupid comment.

But still, I think Mark Cuban is an asshole. I have always thought so ...

cinco said...

I don't support the disrespect of any woman. Each issue should be addressed. No one can police everything. The blogs are full of disrespectful actions against individuals.

I personally was trying to stay on topic for a change and not get lost in all my related thoughts...something that's frequently happened here.

uptownsteve said...

Mark Cuban is a rich spoiled punk.

If Martin had got up and gone after him, Cuban would have ran.

vanishing point said...

Cuban's apology sounds like a "please don't sue me" post.

A Person of Interest said...

Well, if it isn't my ole buddy uptownsteve! How's it been hanging, homie?

Good to see ya.

Christopher Chambers said...

Field here I'm gonna play wingnut troll and say:

WHO THE FUK CARES?!

The travails of the NBA, of thug millionaires, their baby-mamas, their ma-mas, billionaire sports owners, are not important. Folks are loosing their homes, their jobs, credit ruined, wingnuts polluting our national debate with effluvium, planet in environmental and social peril.

...a black man--a NERD-- as president. Glorious as that may be we still see the need to drag the conversations back to ballers, rappers, their mamas. I'm sick of those negroes as much as I'm sick of people like Kenyon Martin and Mark Cuban. In a week and after some skrilla passes hands it will be all over...

uptownsteve said...

POI

Whaddup!

A Person of Interest said...

Just riding that the train with the rest of ya, Steve.

When do we get to where we're going?

uptownsteve said...

POI

How are things over at frontpagemag.com?

Any suicides since Inauguration Day?

A Person of Interest said...

I don't go there any more. Got pretty boring, to be honest.

Anonymous said...

Allright, here's my All-Whiteboy Team

Center: That Dope Smokin Freak,
Bill Walton.
Forward: The Hick from French Lick, Larry Bird
Forward: My fave-o-rite underhand free throw shooter, Rick Barry

Guard: John Havlichek

Guard: Not even sure if he's a Guard, Steve Nash...

6th Man, the only White Boy to play for the Globetrotters, Pistol Pete Maravich..

Coach, Red Auerbach, yeah, I know he's dead...

Might not be able to dunk, but would teach y'all how to play some roundball...

Sharon from WI said...

Thats like sayin A-rabs'll cut off your head with a pointy sword if you don't do watever...<<<

Frank,

Say "koos ima" to any Arab and you're likely to wind up picking your teeth off the ground.

uptownsteve said...

Frank,

How could you forget Dave Cowens, Paul Westphal, Billy Cunningham, Jerry West and Kevin McHale?

I remember one of the first NBA games I ever went to in 1977 at Madison Square Garden.

Phoenix Suns vs NY Knicks.

4th qtr Paul Westphal goes baseline and sticks it in Spencer Haywood and Lonnie Shelton's face.

I thought Shelton's head was gonna explode he was so mad.

That was a baaaaad white boy.

grinder said...

Cuban's apology sounds like a "please don't sue me" post.I don't know what he could be sued for. The apology sounded to me like, "Oh shit, what have me and my big mouth done now?" It's not any big secret that all the pro sports are suffering from the recession, so I'm thinking that Cuban knows that his mouth is bad for business.

kid said...

OT. Dr. Boyce Watkins has not been renewed at Syracuse University for tenure.The guy responsible ,Bill Oreilly.

uptownsteve said...

Kid

So much for "political correctness" eh?

You still can't speak truth to the powers that be in America and get away with it.

alicia banks said...

shame kid:

i love dr. bw...
i hate bill o

ice t was right:
"freedom of speech?...yeah...just watch what you say..."

another wiser bastion of academia should snatch him up asap!

best wishes to dr. bw,
ab

Rudy said...

kid says...OT. Dr. Boyce Watkins has not been renewed at Syracuse University for tenure.The guy responsible ,Bill Oreilly.That's too bad, because I hear he is a good Finance professor. Dude should have stuck to teaching finance during Syracuse's time instead of being a quasi-racial/political-pundit. He should have left that analysis in that field to sages like Melissa Harris-Lacewell.

Then again, there is blame on both sides. Syracuse should have grown a backbone.

kid said...

Hey Rudy,

If all of us worried about being fired than telling the truth , then where would we be ? Oreilly and the alumni had him fired. I wouldn't worry too much about him, his background is Finance.One of his associates is Jay-Z.Now if he had a regular 9 to 5 like some of us, he would be screwed.

sick freak said...

God bless BillO'.He speaks the truth and tries to help you people out.

field negro said...

Yeah kid, that's a sad development. I don't know what kind of academic weight he had, but if the Cuse bowed to right wing pressure, then they have some house Negro issues

Gregory said...

Looks like sick freak changed his image after being busted for using Drogba's.

I'm guessing that our boy also posts under the name vince_foster on other blogs, but that is just a guess.

field negro said...

"God bless BillO'.He speaks the truth and tries to help you people out."

"you people". Let me guess, you are a republican.^^^^ There, I made some little tents for you.

Mo said...

I second that Jezebella. Truth.

Minnie said...

"Let me guess, you are a republican.^^^^ There, I made some little tents for you."

ROTFL! That was cute. Kenyon needs to pull a Nancy Kerrigan Cuban bout 4 months from now.

RiPPa said...

Did you call dude Jason Fatlock?

Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa

Jody said...

Granny, I am so sorry for you and your family... my deepest condolences....

Anonymous said...

DON'T YOU EVER EVER DISRESPECT A BLACK MAN'S MAMA!
Sorry FN, but this is just another example of a black man expecting special treatment. My mama has been disrespected by black men just yesterday when, while waiting for the bus, we had to hear the most vulgar language coming out of the mouths of several young black men. They could see my 70 year old mother standing 4 feets away.
Likewise, my husband's mother was killed in the holocaust. African Americans sure don't get worked up when people in your kkkommunity from Malcolm X to FaraKKKhan to Jerimiah Wright dis-respect her. This is the typial b.s. reaction we see from Imus to the NY Post where black folks feel entitled to punish white folks for speech that is no more hatefulor disrespectful that what people in your own community spew out to other folks all the time.

ps- Didn't Jamie Foxx recently disrespect Miley Cyrus? Well someday she's be someone's mama, so let's hold him to the same standards as Cuban.

Anonymous said...

African American studies professor at Duke Univerisity Houston Baker, accused her son and the others of being, "hooligans, rapists," and called her "the mother of a farm animal."
When it turned out her son did nothing wrong- the young black woman had lied about being raped. So did Professor Baker apologize for the above comment Kyle Dowd's mama? Nope.
Did Duke University punish him? Nope, even though this kind of language from faculty to students is against university rules. Guess the rules don't apply to black folks.
BTW- whoever wrote above comparing the NBA to a plantation is beyond offensive. Alluding to slavery and lynching- yawn. If those players don't like it they can leave, I'm pretty sure black males on the plantation didn't have that choice. In my job I have had to look the other way at times when co-workers or bosses were sometimes disrespectful sometimes bordering on abusive. Am I going to cry because some basketball player making 10000x what I do has to occasionally swallow his anger too? Nope.

grinder said...

whoever wrote above comparing the NBA to a plantation is beyond offensive. Alluding to slavery and lynching- yawn. If those players don't like it they can leave<>

Everyone has to remember that athletes are nothing but entertainers. "Plantations" and "slavery?" Oh please. Professional athletes are an overclass of pampered fools. Their entire "industry" is chock full of wastrels and assholes.

Mark Cuban is par for the course, being a billionaire who basically ran a scam to acquire his money. (Look into the history of "Broadcast.com" sometime.) The owners are first-class jerks, and so are most of the players.

Making any of this shit into some sort of cause celebre is beyond stupid.

Anonymous said...

Didn't OJ diss his childrens mama? You black men didn't seem all that upset about that going unpunshed.

FN- you say "There's just some things you don't do". I agree- like murder, especially of the elderly. 3 cases in my city (look up "Tuba Man seattle" and "James Paroline seattle" for info on two) all 3 committed by young african americans. In one case, James Paroline an elderly war veteran asked a young black woman to do around the other way he was watering plants in the traffic circle. The two young women got out of the car and verbally assulted James much worse than Cuban did to Martin's Mama, and meanaced him. They then made a call to a guy they knew who came over and murdered James.
Elderly Vietnamse immigrant dies after being hit over the head by two young black men, both honor's students with full college scholarships to look foward to, in a mugging. Hitting an old man over the head with a pipe, isn,t this something you just don't do, FN? In DC too, an elderly jewish man dies after being assulted in a mugging by two young black men. Gee, a black male kills an old jewish man, not a big deal. But a white man disses someones Mama, look out!
Tuba Man- elderly man beaten to death by a mob of 12 of so young african american men "for fun". They received sentenced from 13-40 WEEKS in DETETION. No doubt FN and a lot of African American men would not find that sufficient for Cuban's crime of "dissing a black mama".

Anonymous said...

Something occurred to me. I've read this elsewhere, about black society being more matriarchal than white society, which is more patriarchal. Maybe that's part of why "Thou shalt never insult a black man's mama?"

field negro said...

Clearly there is a disconnect here....but I will keep trying.:(

"..Making any of this shit into some sort of cause celebre is beyond stupid."

I agree. One blog post about an ignorant jerk does not a "cause celebre" make. However, I will ask you to ask yourself this question: Would Mark Cuban have treated Dirk Nowitski's (sp?) mother that way?

And please, let's not play this game of you do it so why can't we. (I get on black folks when they do the same thing)It's silly and counter-productive.

jane doe said...

However, I will ask you to ask yourself this question: Would Mark Cuban have treated Dirk Nowitski's (sp?) mother that way?

Would Jerimiah Wright have given Louis Farrakhan a great big black brain award if Farrakhan referred to the KKK as "wickedly great" and called ebonics the "language of crime"?

If Jesse Jackson were a white man would he have gotten off so easily if he called Obama the N-word and threatened to chop off his balls? Of course not.

Your statement, FN is just another way of calling someone racist with really no proof. After all FN, we could just as easily say "If Mark Cuban were black would FN and so many other black people be so hot under the collar about this?" And if not, then that would make YOU racist, right????

Anonymous said...

But had Cuban wagged his finger at my mother, loud talked her and told her I was a "punk" and/or a "thug" — after I pulled my mother (father and brother) off him — I would have delivered at least one mouth shot."
Mr. Fatlock, make that two of us.

I wouldn't and that is why I am less likely to end up in prison then you and Mr Fatlock, not my "white priveledge". I simply know that the only okay use of violence is self defense when one's physical safety is being threatened. The law doesn't consider a threat to one's ego or pride (or mama's) to count, for good reason, cause there are a lot of people who are verbally abusive. I've had it happen to me and I've walked away, even when I had mace on me cause I know it is not my "right" to use a weapon (or fist) on someone for being an asshole. Furthmore, if a white man punched a black man over something like this said white man would be demonized as racist from now to the end of time. Really FN, be honest, if Cuban were black and some white guy punched him over something like this, wouldn't you kind of think that the white guy overreacted and his violent reaction was motivated by racism?

Anonymous said...

I live in the Denver area, and though I'm not much of a sports fan I did read about this series in the Denver Post. What Cuban did was, incite a riot. Carmelo Anthony's young son, was in a dangerous situation at the arena. Those fans should be ashamed of themselves. It's only a game. Two years from now no one will remember who won the 2008-09 NBA championship, w/o going to the internet to look it up. BTW, I'm a white guy in his fifties, and it's totally uncool to trash anyone's mama, be she white, black, brown, blue haired, whatever. That's just wrong! Mark Cuban has got a lot of money, but no class.

field negro said...

"I wouldn't and that is why I am less likely to end up in prison then you and Mr Fatlock, not my "white priveledge". I simply know that the only okay use of violence is self defense when one's physical safety is being threatened. The law doesn't consider a threat to one's ego or pride (or mama's) to count, for good reason, cause there are a lot of people who are verbally abusive. I've had it happen to me and I've walked away..."

Good for you. But if you, a stranger, talk about my mama, it's on. Fortunately for me, I should be able to post bail in no time. And if I am lucky, I might even be able to get myself a good lawyer. ;)

Anon.7:40AM, great comment.

jane doe, you still didn't answer my question. You are dong exactly what I said you would do. Play the you are a racist so I can be too,game. Not cool.

RiPPa said...

"Good for you. But if you, a stranger, talk about my mama, it's on. Fortunately for me, I should be able to post bail in no time. And if I am lucky, I might even be able to get myself a good lawyer. ;)"

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa

That "if I'm lucky" part is funny.

jane doe said...

jane doe, you still didn't answer my question. You are dong exactly what I said you would do. Play the you are a racist so I can be too,game. Not cool.

Your question was
"Would Mark Cuban have treated Dirk Nowitski's (sp?) mother that way?"

Perhaps I gave you the impression that I am very good friends with Mark Cuban? Otherwise, how could I answer this question about his character with anything even close to objectivity?
This is what I know about Mark Cuban: he is white, as is Dirk Nowitski.Kenyon Martin is black, as is his mama. Perhaps I am wrong, but the point you seem to be making is that Cuban would not talk to a white person's mama that way, strongly insinuating racism. I have seen nothing that would give me knowledge on how he would treat Nowitski's mother- I see no evidence in either direction, so like a fair judge, I have to assume he is not guity of racism because YOU HAVE PRODUCED NO EVIDENCE that he is.
So FN, I challenge you, show me CONCRETE evidence he would not talk to a white person's mama the same way. FACTUAL, STRONG evidence. Your speculation had no facts to back it up. Unless they have personally known Cuban for a long long time, anyone who says they KNOW he wouldn't talk to a white man's mama that way is projecting their own prejudices.

grinder said...

One blog post about an ignorant jerk does not a "cause celebre" make.<>

I agree with that. Have you ever written something that you immediately wished you hadn't?

However, I will ask you to ask yourself this question: Would Mark Cuban have treated Dirk Nowitski's (sp?) mother that way?<>

I honestly don't know the various people. (At first I thought "Dirk Nowitski" was a parody, but Google says there is a player by that name.) I recognized Mark Cuban because of his business background. I've always thoroughly disrespected him as a businessman, which is why I joined this thread to begin with.

And please, let's not play this game of you do it so why can't we.<>

Speaking of irrelevant comments, I don't recall making that point. In fact, that's not something you'll see me doing too much. I'm old school: "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Anonymous said...

It is interesting that this story has been reported leaving out some very interesting facts. Mr Martin has made some very abusive comments (possibly to other people's mama's) and never apologized. Why hasn't this been brought up before???
"I would also like to know if Kenyon is going to take responsibility for his actions rather than hiding behind 'no comment,' " Cuban wrote. "Will he apologize to the wife of our staff member that he called a [expletive] fat pig' immediately after Game 3? Will he apologize to fans that he threatened to, and I'm paraphrasing here, '[expletive] beat the [expletive] down' during Game 4?

"Or to the fans he walked by after Game 4, [Martin] cursed and gave the finger to? Will he take responsibility for what he said and did? Is there some reason he has not?"

The woman he called a "f-ing pig". She might be someone's mama too. A far more abusive comment then the only made to Martin's mama. Why no outrage when this woman was dissed???? Also, we were told that Cuban's comments encouraged abuse... yet compare this to Martin's threats. Why wasn't Martin arrested, isn't it illegal to threaten people? The facts make it clear- Martin is a punk and Cuban was had the backbone to say it.

grinder said...

The facts make it clear- Martin is a punk and Cuban was had the backbone to say it.<>

Sounds like another day in professional sports!

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaa
I told you sports stat niggers that all sports are cooning! all you black fools in your sports jerseys looking like ecomomic slaves.
cheering for your teams & shit pleadging allegiance to the flag of the opressors before your games,parking your black asses in those bleachers cheering for overpaid man boy cry baby ass niggers & pathetic white jocks on steriods trying to keep up!So sad the only way a brother can make millions is entertaining albinos!
didnt you sports monkeys learn from Mr.Vicks lynching.You niggers are in hell & still wont recognize.
33 & 1/3 Knowledge.
ha ha haaaaaaaaaa!

grinder said...

Wow, Anon 2:53, all that and coherent too.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Anon 2:53, all that and coherent too.
yep yep!