html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> From the archives: On court.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

On court.

Not everyone has what it takes to see the absent, the missing. Most people just see the blatant, or come to some obvious, unsubtle conclusion based on surface evidence. That's fine, I suppose, if your standards aren't higher. It'll get you by, mostly. There is beauty in the stillness though. A finer mind appreciates the presence and the absence, sees the form and the void. I guess it takes a Zen mind to understand what isn't there. A little more sophistication. Not everyone has that, but I don't think they should feel wholly inadequate. Just... common.

I was watching the Kings last night and do you know what I realized? Ron Artest has not gone crazy. Yeah. That's right. Ron Artest has not charged the crowd and punched a fan since he's been here. He has not publicly requested trades, been benched and sulked. He's not throwing flagrant fouls willy-nilly. He hasn't choked anyone, thrown temper tantrums, or made a scene on court. As far as basketball goes, he has been a productive, non-controversial starter. I WAS RIGHT about him. And you weren't.

If you were one of the several people who emphatically insisted Ron Artest = Impending Implosion, or Ron Artest = CRAZYTIME, I want you to know that the comments here are a shame-free zone. You can admit things there, and we won't judge you. You can admit things like "Megan, you were right and I was wrong." "I was so wrong when I laughed at your team for acquiring Artest and I should never have mocked you for having faith in him." Go ahead. The comments are WIDE OPEN. Get comfy in there. Stretch out. Say the words you know are true. Ron Artest did not go nuts playing basketball in Sacramento. People can change. We redeemed him. JUST LIKE I SAID.

7 Comments:

Blogger Benquo said...

I don't know who Ron Artest is, or why he would go crazy. But that doesn't matter. I'm here to confess that I am surely wrong about some things, about which you are right.

Worse yet, I continue to believe those things, because I don't know which particular things I'm wrong about yet.

Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

2:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sacramento Kings W-L record in the 163 games prior to Artest joining the team: 92-71 (Winning Percentage 0.564). Playoff Wins: 8.

Sacramento Kings W-L record in the 163 games after Artest joined the team: 77-86 (Winning Percentage 0.472). Playoff Wins 2.

And they lost to the Clippers...the CLIPPERS last night.

Yeah, Artest has really brought some game to Sacramento.

4:29 PM  
Blogger Megan said...

I never made big claims about win/loss. I said that Artest wouldn't be CRAZY, and you LAUGHED AT ME.

Or maybe you meant "IMPENDING IMPLOSION after a couple calm years, maybe. Unless he stays calm for longer."

4:42 PM  
Blogger Noel said...

I haven't seen a Kings games in ages, but word on the street is that Artest is sucking it. Breaking the offense, and not trying on defense. But hey, you're a Warriors girl now, and they're rollin'!

7:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As an aside, Ron Artest Sr. is a doorman at a restaurant here on the west side of Manhattan. 6'5" or so, 275+. Nice guy, especially given how trendy the joint is. Looks a lot like his son (although I demanded a look at his DL to verify anyway).

3:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The turbid waters of the Sacramento and American Rivers have healing qualities. Everyone knows that.

5:57 PM  
Blogger Michael Carr - Veritas Literary said...

Oops. From last night's game:

They won't remember the franchise-record 13 consecutive shots Carlos Boozer hit to start Friday night's game, the season-high 25 points Andrei Kirilenko scored or the 127 points the Jazz totaled in their first game back from a three-day layoff.

What the 19,911 in attendance at EnergySolutions Arena - where the Jazz won their eighth straight game, by the way - will remember is the chest-pounding, howling, out-of-control mess that was Sacramento's Ron Artest in the fourth quarter.

4:00 AM  

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