Harvey Araton, sports columnist at The New York Times argues a two-fold thesis in his latest basketball work, Crashing the Borders: How Basketball Won the World and Lost Its Soul at Home. On one hand, basketball has reached incredible heights of popularity world-wide, becoming second to soccer as international players take up the sport and professional leagues thrive across the glove. Meanwhile, basketball in the United States is deeply troubled. Television ratings barely reach a third of the highs recorded by Michael Jordan in 1998 and less than a half of what “Magic” Johnson attained in 1980. Fundamental skills are …
The Breaks of the Game
During his career, David Halberstam wrote two books about the National Basketball Association: The Breaks of the Game and Playing for Keeps (concerning the break-up of the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers and the construction of the 1990s Chicago Bulls respectively). Halberstam’s two works – written roughly seventeen years apart – cover a dramatic shift in the game of basketball, a change from a marginal sport without a full television contract to the second most popular sport in the world. The 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers may have been the last true team (greater than the sum of its parts) to win …
Game of Shadows
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, authors of Game of Shadows, make a compelling case concerning the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. Designer steroids (such as the Clear and the Cream) or Human Growth Hormone have powered numerous athletic achievements, from baseball’s home run chases to the 2000 Olympics. After reading the book, it is difficult to take any sporting record seriously. Where is the line? Where do vitamins or natural products like flaxseed oil end and controlled substances like steroids or H.G.H. begin? Lance Armstrong’s decision to devote his entire career to train for the Tour de France …
The Theory of Moral Relativity
Quentin Tarantino once mentionned that his favourite movie is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a Sergio Leone western possessing certain similarities to 1994’s Pulp Fiction, which I screened last week at the Bloor Cinema. Specifically, the films feature superb soundtracks, showcase low-key – yet realistic – performances, and break numerous conventions. Depicting characters who attempt to achieve righteousness while committing crimes, the films did not receive the recognition they merited at the time of their release because tradition withstands violence, irony, and other elements that comprise entertaining art. After all, How Green Was My Valley beat out Citizen …
Brock and the Order of the Phoenix
Not seeking to discuss how to get a high percentage shot in seven seconds or less over the summer, I viewed the new Harry Potter film over the weekend. Although the logical holes that plagued the book remain, it proves to be an enjoyable two and a half hours. Several strong performances carry the film, excluding the highly skilled actors who showed less emotional range than Transformers’ Optimus Prime. Imelda Staunton plays the role of the officious and self-important Dolores Umbridge perfectly. It is easy to relate to the film because everyone has had to deal with the intrusive administrator …
Meditations & More Than Meets the Eye
Morpheus proves a pseudo-philosopher in the Matrix Trilogy, much like Marcus Aurelius in his collection of musings, Meditations, and Optimus Prime in the summer blockbuster flick, Transformers. The latter two offer interesting ideas but fall short of anything truly significant, like Tony Soprano quoting Sun-Tzu or mentioning Machiavelli to Dr. Melfi. Marcus Aurelius repeats themes regarding man’s control over his own destiny and how the world and universe will carry on irrespective of one’s actions. One memorable point: “even if you burst with indignation they will still carry on regardless.” Another: the potential of the directing mind to speak loudly …
The Blind Side
Michael Lewis’ latest novel, The Blind Side, is part-sport, part-economics, part-psychology, and part-sociology. While writing an article about his high school baseball coach that was published as the novella Coach, he re-connected with teammate Sean Tuohy, who was adopting a 6-5, 350 pound offensive lineman who played left guard for the Briarcrest Christian School football team that Tuohy coached. That student-athlete, Michael Oher, became a living example of how sport and money have become intertwined while the rich and poor and black and white have grown apart. At the beginning of the book, Oher is a marginal student and physical …
Of Mice and Men and Method Acting
John Steinbeck’s East of Eden retells the story of Cain and Abel, depicted by the Trask family as generations move from Connecticut to Salinas, California. East of Eden was also adapted to the screen, directed by Elia Kazan and featuring James Dean. Although Steinbeck and Kazan have achieved the peak of their professions – the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Academy Award for Best Direction, respectively – Kazan clearly outshines his literary counterpart in bringing the oft-repeated story to life.
Basketball Is My Life
Reading books by Red Holzman or Bob Cousy describe playground basketball before World War II and the early days of the Association with enough detail to provide one with an excellent appreciation of the game’s history. Basketball Is My Life: Quaintly narrated in a conversational tone, Bob Cousy’s first literary effort was written after the Boston Celtics’ first Association title in 1957. The book lacks meaningful insight into basketball but the key theme is work ethic: in basketball, business, or life. Obviously, Cousy devoted significant time to the sport but basketball is not his life. Nevertheless, given the obstacles that …
La Dolce Vita
I’ve been told that you need to watch the adjacent Fellini films – The Nights of Cabiria and 8½ – to truly appreciate it, but I didn’t have a problem with the loose narrative of La Dolce Vita. In fact, the plot, seemingly unconnected at times, is essential to the themes that Fellini wishes to address. “Rome: a tranquil jungle where you can hide.”– Marcello Rubini Uttered by at the opening of the film by Marcello, a tabloid journalist, these words endeavour to explain the motivation of the protagonist Marcello and the director Frederico Fellini throughout La Dolce Vita. Marcello …
Touch of Evil
Apparently, Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil is an unappreciated masterpiece. I am not that sure. There are some masterful shots and excellent performances, but I found the plot to be a bit of a train wreck. It’s like watching the Los Angeles Lakers attempt to execute the Triangle these days, extremely skilled at times yet missing some basic fundamentals. As usual, there was a dispute between Welles and the studio which led to the mangling of the original print. A DVD was released containing some of Welles’ requested changes, but it doesn’t surpass above average. Perhaps the film is an …
Reality Check
Stanley Kubrick died shortly after completing the final edit of Eyes Wide Shut, a modern adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Traumnovelle. Both analyze the juxtaposition of dreams and reality, the conscious and the sub-conscious, differently. Schnitzler’s work lacks the sexuality that smolders throughout Kubrick’s film but the written word offers a medium to communicate all of the protagonist’s thoughts – expressed and repressed desires, future plans and regrets – accurately depicting how he is no different from any other person. Eyes Wide Shut delves into what is real and what is not. Is Bill’s sequence of unsuccessful sexual adventures more …
Go Up for Glory
Go Up for Glory – Bill Russell’s precursor to Second Wind (a frank and honest account of sport and life that I thoroughly enjoyed) and Russell Rules (a seemingly clichéd book about leadership that I hope to avoid as long as possible) – is a fascinating account of his youth and career with Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtics. One particularly remarkable theme is the idea of an incredibly thin line between success and failure: choosing a collegiate scholarship instead of a job in a shipping year because of a chance encounter with a scout, focusing on the game of basketball skills …
Do the Right Thing
So Reggie Evans put his foot under Chris Bosh as he released a jumpshot, rolling his ankle. In response, Rasho Nesterovic punched Evans the next time that he attempted a lay-up. “Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”– Arthur Conan Doyle Do the Right Thing depicts Mookie – a pizza delivery boy – as he tries to balance his employer, family, partner and son, and community. He eventually tosses a garbage can through the pizzeria window. After being told how he would always be welcome at the …
M & The Departed
Having screened these two films lately, some points have come to light. One can’t help but remark how much cinema has decayed lately. Unlike other recent films, The Departed was driven by skill on-screen and behind the camera instead of special effects — the plot was compelling throughout and genuinely surprising. Likewise, M was thoroughly entertaining despite its technical limitations. Fritz Lang created a screenplay that was both dramatic and humorous, employed innovative camera angles, and benefited from several strong performances. Both stand out among the greatest ever in stark contrast to the sea of mediocrity that most films released …
The Rivalry
Can determination trump talent? Apparently so, according to The Rivalry by John Taylor. The battles between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and their respective teams are detailed within the context of the growth of the game throughout the 1960s. Chamberlain was one of the most prolific post scorers in the history of basketball yet during the ten seasons that their careers overlapped, Russell and the Celtics claimed the Association title nine times. The book delves into the psychological warfare waged between the two. For example, once Russell blocked Chamberlain twice on the same possession. When Chamberlain recovered the loose ball, …