Heaven ain't no chocolate teacup

That title was just kind of one of those things that I said until there didn't seem to be an option to title this anything else. At least of the words appear in the dictionary, even if that same dictionary warns against their conjoined use.

The reason this post is entitled as it is (esp. w/r/t "Heaven" being included) is because it's time to seriously contemplate what I really seriously find attractive in a basketball team and a basketball game.

i guess the main point that attracts me most to the game is its unique combination of beauty and power. in no other sport (besides perhaps football, but i'll cover that later) can a spinning reverse layup be appreciated in the same stratosphere as a thunderous dunk layed down by a big ol' dude. i get all up in arms when kobe or gilbert slices to the hole and lays in a ball no-one thought had any chance of smelling the rim into the hole, but what really gets me superhyphy is when STAT (amare) spins off some chump and posterizes his ass in front of thousands. not to say that kobe ain't perfectly capable of that same posterization (see his twin hammers on duncan for proof of that,) but the point is that it's totally unthinkable that those two plays (the layup representing the beauty and the dunk representing the beast) exist in the same sport as each other, much less theoretically w/in seconds.

i guess i have to go back and contradict myself a little bit here. it is totally thinkable that those two displays of grace and power respectively exist alongside each other, becuase they both accomplish the same purpose; to put points on the board; but it's also worth noting that those two are unique entities almost unrelated except for their ultimate goal. you get the point.

my thesis is that there is a special kind of relationship happening in basketball that makes it so ill. football does have it w/r/t the dichotomy btwn a wide reciever twisting and turning to pull down a miracle reception and big ol' 300 pounders spilling sweat blood and tears in an attempt to atomize fellow big ol' 300 pounders.

BUT (and this is a big but so i capitalized it) football is essentially decided by those big huge men. sure we see recievers and quarterbacks make their own special kind of balletic composition, but football wouldn't be shit w/o the doughboys in the trenches. believe that.

the unique thing about basketball is that the power and the quicks don't need each other to win. (just try blocking a d-line with a collection of wideouts and see how that works out.) but in basketball, we need only reference the suns circa 05-06 to observe a team totally devoid of the rugged spirit that made the 03-04 pistons champs. not to say that the 05-06 suns did not have power, and also to acknowlege that any kind of attempt to dichotomize is an exercise in pure foolishness, but also to note that the suns were totally wrapped up in not punishing people the way punishing people is necessary in all other sports (except for baseball which trends a long long long way towards the pure beauty spectrum.)

that's why i love this game i guess. more reports of this kind to come.