A little Bomani Jones to get your pulse going before the game

[Billy Dat]

It started with this Big Lead link to a Grant Hill interview (on radio, I think):

"Grant Hill Thinks People Hate Duke Because of All the "really good white players""
http://thebiglead.com/2014/03/21/grant-hill-thinks-people-hate-duke-because-of-all-the-really-good-white-players/

Then Bomani started tweeting:
https://twitter.com/bomani_jones

-glad he said this on a day when i didn’t have to go to work. http://thebiglead.com/2014/03/21/grant-hill-thinks-people-hate-duke-because-of-all-the-really-good-white-players/ …

-now THIS is an interesting question. RT @coconnection12: but seriously, has Duke had more great white players or black players?

-great black players at duke since ’86: dawkins, hill, brand, battier, williams, irving, parker. that list seem fair?

-great white players at duke since ’86: ferry, laettner, hurley, redick. did i miss anyone?

--anyway, if “great white players” makes ppl hate duke, good luck explaining why so many people hated wojo.

-i’ve never thought it was because duke had white players. it’s WAY more the way the media treats them like the teacher’s pet.

-and no one likes the teacher’s pet.

-oh, and just about everyone one of those white guys i put on that list are unrepentant jerks. kinda hard to argue.

-anyway, it’s not the presence of great white players at duke that seems to irk people. it’s how overrated the other ones are.

-“perceived?” RT @ANewsIV: also some take the perceived Duke elitist fan base as a negative.

-especially with craft. RT @Bobhunt5: yes - same thing with Tim Tebow and Aaron Craft

-that’s bull, also. RT @JMichael9123: If Aaron Craft went to Duke he'd be the most hated college player of all time.

-you wanna talk about a college player REALLY being hated? then talk about patrick ewing.

-also with duke: it REALLY infuriated people when unrepentant jerks were given teacher’s pet treatment. there’s levels to this.

-they pay me to be sexy, so it’s ok. RT @Vsavarese9: man bomani you're one of the more racist analyst out there. Everyone knows that.

-one day, i’m gonna stop being lazy and write a book about this. there’s so much good stuff here.

-see, they did j.j. wrong with this. lemme explain. RT @jokastrength: but JJ wrote poetry. God that was funny

-and the j.j. poetry story, to me, points on the media insanity as it comes to duke and whiteness. you ready? you might not be.

-this is j.j. redick’s “poem.” except, this ain’t no “poetry.” this doesn’t read like a rap verse to anyone else? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/basketball/ncaa/02/16/redick.poems/ …

-but media got the “poems,” went all “oh, j.j. is a poet!” then sat that dude on tv to “read” these raps and made a fool of him.

-they aren’t the greatest raps ever, mind you, but no way anyone gets those from william avery and calls it “poetry.” those are RHYMES.

[Billy Dat]

It's an interesting thematic tie to this piece on the end of Aaron Craft's career:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/69750700/ohio-states-aaron-craft-represents-a-bigger-problem-with-college-basketball-fandom

Interesting that the always discussion-worthy race-in-basketball topic is hitting hard today.

[cato]

I had to google Bomani Jones to recall specifically what he does. I love it when people who talk for a living say stuff like this. I wonder if he would be so bold if he were having a regular conversation with Grant Hill?

Also, while I am probably happier not knowing the answer, how does one "win" an "appearance" on Around the Horn? (Actual quotes from his Wikipedia entry: "As of June 25, 2013, Jones has 75 wins in more than 245 appearances on ESPN's Around the Horn. . . In January of 2014, Jones won three consecutive Around the Horn episodes in which he appeared.[citation needed]"

[Dukehky]

I mean, he's kind of right about the teacher's pet treatment of guys who aren't perfect. I certainly wouldn't call Ferry, Laettner, Hurley, Redick unrepentant jerks, but they were arrogant while on the court. Which is a good thing, IMO, but it can certainly breed some dislike.

I think Bomani Jones is actually pretty funny/clever, I just tend to ignore him when he talks about Duke, because well, no one's perfect... Except Jabari.

[Billy Dat]

I think Bomani Jones is actually pretty funny/clever, I just tend to ignore him when he talks about Duke, because well, no one's perfect... Except Jabari.

He knows exactly what he is doing - poking the Duke bear has helped build many a career and media property. I figured it would get everyone here in the proper pre-game, frothing at the mouth, mindset.

[Reisen]

I don't know why we even bother pretending this is up for debate. Does anyone really question whether there are serious issues of race in college basketball? Does anyone question whether or not they tie in some way to "Duke hate"?

We've been over this ad-nauseum, but list the "most hated" Duke players: Laettner, Hurley, Ferry, Redick, Wojo, Battier, Paulus, Scheyer, McBob, Shav, Singler, etc.

Now list the "respected" Duke players. Hill, Brand, Boozer, JWill, Irving, Parker, Maggette, Dawkins, Gerald Henderson, etc.

It's not just Duke either. The same thing happens at other top programs, it's just center stage at Duke.

There are a zillion reasons behind this phenomenon. Skin color is not the only correlation, also look at the different types of playing styles those players had, which further manifested itself in their NBA careers (hint, one group was generally more successful in the NBA than the other). The interesting thing is the vast majority of the people "hating" the one group and "respecting" the other are themselves Caucasian.

Also interesting, it seems to really only be an issue in college basketball. Does anyone hear any JJ or Battier hate in the NBA?

[Papa John]

Sorry to sound ignorant, but who is Bomani Jones, and why should I care?