The Real Deal New York Knicks

I posted a comment on ESPN.com the other day in response to how wide the gap is between the Miami Heat and my beloved New York Knicks…it sort of went like this:

The gap is still pretty wide between NYK and MIA or we'd be having championship caliber conversations about the Knicks right now. You don't go from the futility we've seen from the Knicks over the past 10 years right to challenging Lebron & Co….If they can go into Miami, on their home court and get a win, then we can say the gap is closing.

Or something to that effect.

Last night, I told myself I wasn't going to watch the Knicks play the Heat. I couldn't. Anyone that knows me knows how passionate I am about sports. Those same people know that my New York sports loyalties run very, very deep. I love the Yankees, love the Giants. But when it comes to the Knicks, I have loved them for 20 years and loathed them for the last ten. If a fan could actually bleed the colors of the team they are most attached to, I'd bleed cobalt and orange. As Nas said on his track from 'Life Is Good', "Where's The Love", I'm a "New York Knicks loyalist…" Besides, there were a few things going against the Knicks last night, aside from the fact that they were playing against the World Champion Miami Heat. In a close win against the Bobcats the night before, Carmelo sliced open his left hand middle finger diving for a loose ball. He would end up needing 5 stitches to close the wound and during warmups before the Miami game, was having issues catching passes. So he was out. Raymond Felton was dealing with a busted hand of his own and wasn't expected to be at full strength. Couple that with the Knicks playing the second game of a back to back on the road, against a Miami team that had just lost a close game to the Wizards on Tuesday and it seemed that the Knicks were primed for a loss.

I got a snapshot text from a friend that woke me up last night at 10:52 showing me the final score: NYK 112, MIA 92. I was stunned to say the least. Not only did the Knicks go to Miami and pull out a win with Carmelo Anthony in street clothes on the bench, they won by 20. Again. The Knicks currently own the best record in the East by one and a half games over Miami and by two and a half games over the novelty act that is the fifth place Brooklyn Nets. At 14-4, they are the fourth best team in the league behind a surprising Memphis Grizzlies squad, OKC and the venerable San Antonio Spurs. After 18 games I can say, with a little bit of superstitious trepidation that the New York Knicks are for real. At the very least, they look for real.

Here's what this win over Miami says about New York: the first one wasn't a fluke. That win at the Garden, on what ended up being the Knicks season opener due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, seemed to have come at the hands of a lackluster Miami team who had already hinted at not being motivated for the game. The Knicks knew it, so did Mike Woodson. But the Knicks capitalized anyway, using the back drop of that disaster to open their season. You know they had this second game circled on their proverbial calendars. Without Carmelo in the lineup, the Knicks relied on their point guard play, their newly minted defense and pure pride and grit. They know how good they are and they played like it last night. Carmelo not playing probably ended up being better than him playing in diminished capacity. With him not being able to catch passes, he may have been a liability with the ball in his hands, causing turnovers that Miami surely would have capitalized off of. So he sat, giving the Knicks their best chance to win with him on the bench. I guess all those old guys the Knicks signed this offseason is beginning to rub off on ol' 'Melo. Raymond Felton, the eye of the New York Knicks storm of controversy surrounding the departure of Jeremy Lin, showed the hell up and out to the tune of 27 points, 7 assists and 2 steals. He's been playing lights out all year along with the rest of this revamped NY Knicks squad. He's playing with sort of a chip on his shoulder, determined to prove that the Knicks reacquisition of him was not some sort of consolation prize in losing Lin. So far, he has been a better player with the system the team is running.

Everyone is playing better, Anthony has had an MVP caliber season and the Knicks are proving to be a team who is going to compete for a top seed in the playoffs. They're playing like they believe they can contend for a ring this season. So far, no one is telling them they're crazy. But it's December and the Miami's of the league these days go through the early season swoon, what has been known as the 'Championship Hangover'. It's safe to say that come February and March, LeBron, Wade and the rest of the Heat will be formidable, clicking on all cylinders, ready for that playoff push. What they can no longer do is plot a clear path to the Finals. And if the Knicks continue to play in big games like they did in Miami last night, that path will certainly have a stop in New York. Here's to hoping that this years probable matchup between the two is a bit more exciting than last seasons.

The Tradition of Ignorance

In many cultures, including our own, we have traditions that have been passed down to us from our family members that we tend to pass down to those that come after us. Most of these traditions help us identify with who we are, giving us a link to our past. These traditions usually are somewhat sacred and have significant importance.

 Sometimes, though, traditions can be steeped in something deemed unacceptable by many, depending on what they represent or how they originated. These traditions may have a global similarity, changing slightly or greatly depending on what part of the world one may be referring to. What may seem harmless in one region may be utterly offensive in another. But sometimes, it doesn't matter the region, the tradition is starkly offensive.

 Amongst Black people, especially in the US, to see someone in blackface only conjures up one sentiment, anger. The minstrel shows that featured white actorsin blackface, depicted black people as happy go lucky, dancing fools. This was what individuals of that time who frequented these shows deemed as entertainment. Eventually, the minstrel shows lost their popularity after about 130+ years (originating in the early 1830's and eventually dying out as professional entertainment around 1910 and later on as amateur performances in high school theater in 1960). In Europe, though, blackface became part of the culture there during the 1950's and 60's in some artistic circles as sort of a way to push the envelope to get a certain point across. In the Netherlands, the Dutch continue to celebrate St. Nicolas Eve with "Sinterklaas" accompanied by "Zwarte Piet" or Black Pete. This character was first introduced as a African servant to Sinterklaas in a 19th century children's book and was later depicted as a Moor, wearing colorful clothing and a feathered cap to resemble a European page. The Dutch dress up as Zwarte Piet during this celebration in blackface; the men who do so dress to resemble the moorish page, them women often look like the mammies of the American minstrel era.

 This celebration has come under fire with many Dutch protesting the offensive use of blackface. A broadcaster once tried to change the culture of the character though a childrens program by having a group of Zwarte Piet's pass through a rainbow and take on each color represented by it. That move was met with stiff opposition by individuals claiming that the broadcaster was trying to change the culture of the character to meet the Netherlands new tolerance policies towards immigrants. Brenda Stoter Boscolo, a journalist who posts on the Dutch site Joop.nl had this to say about other attempts to make Black Pete less offensive: "Attempts through the years to give Piet another color never took hold, but through the years the custome to wear large golden earrings did disappear". In defense of the blackface after the 70's the skin color of Zwarte Piet was said to have come from the soot inside the chimney's he would climb up and down as he delivered gifts to children. No explanation, however, was given for his big red lips and kinky hair. In recent years, two of the nation’s biggest retailers, V&D and Blokker used pictures of children with ash-smudged cheeks instead of the typical full blackface, also opting to forego the afro wigs and red lips in their catalogs.

 Some traditions are timeless. Others end up being outdated due to changes in society. Others still hark back to a time in human history when indifference was traditionally acceptable. The Confederate flag, to many Black Americans, symbolize a time when it was acceptable to lynch and hang Black people. It became the symbol of the southern states who seceded from the Union over, just to name one reason, the "right" to own slaves. The minstrel show era characterized black people in a demeaning fashion. It is no coincidence that Zwerte Piet, characterized as an African servant to a white Sinterklaas, was given jester-like characteristics. Add to that his storied attributes as a devious, childish character with exceptional athletic, music and entertaining abilities and he becomes minstrel. Add to that the blackface that those who imitate him wear and it is no longer a harmless tradition, but one steeped in hatred that any person of color would not have positive feelings toward. A columnist for the NRC Handelsbad newspaper, Bas Heijne, questioned whether the Netherlands is as tolerant is it said to be. He noted not a single person in the Netherlands' new cabinet is of non-Dutch ancestry, even as the world has watched the U.S. elect and re-elect a Black president. He stated, ironically, that it's probably "because we", refering to the Netherlands, "unlike other countries, have become completely colorblind. We don't need a black minister, let alone a black prime minister: We have Zwarte Piet."

 The world is changing, though in some cases and places people are holding on to silly traditions in the name of their culture. It's time to let these traditions, based on old world viewpoints, go. Unless this happens, the ignorance of these traditions will ultimately be our undoing.