I hear ya, cordobes. But if you read that article... the one doing the brainwashing is ESPN.
ESPN doesn’t want you to know Stephon Marbury either. The man is simply too complex to fit into their “good-vs.-evil-only” sports narratives. Besides, black villains get much higher ratings than black visionaries. When Tony Romo took a homeless man to the movies last month ESPN.com was on the scene, just as it was when Romo helped a man fix a flat tire. ESPN The Magazine soon wondered: “Why is Tony Romo such a Good Samaritan?”, and all of ESPN’s afternoon shows had effusive praise culminating in one “Pardon The Interruption” (PTI) pundit exclaiming: “How can you not love Tony Romo!”
Well, here is one way: Don’t report any of his good deeds! Ignore him like you did Marbury watching the presidential debates in a homeless shelter just a month prior. Ignore his annual charity events; ignore his Katrina response; ignore his record-setting donations, and ignore that a great week in the life of Tony Romo is like breathing to Stephon Marbury. But ESPN did not report ANY of these stories. His revolutionary $15 sneaker? Pardon the Interruption had this headline: “Can Marbury repair his image?” …Well, not if ESPN keeps framing it!
Like I said... take it with a grain of salt. But it's an interesting alternative view and an interesting read on our new player.
Yeah, I agree it's an interesting read and I agree with their point that Marbury isn't exactly the personification of the Supreme Evil - the way I see it Marbury's more serious flaws are more about his professional character (as a teammate, as a competitor.. Stephon-the-player, as the article puts it) than his personal character, like, say, Kobe or Tinsley (Marbury the man... I suppose a PETA member would see things differently). [and, of course, let's assume this dichotomy can and should be made].
However, I must say I don't buy the second part of the article at all -
if you can’t understand Marbury’s reaction to broken loyalty, then you probably can’t understand his greatness? What the heck does this mean? Even buying the broken loyalty thesis, there's no excuse to threat and promise to do the exact opposite of the Coach's instructions*. His personal views of the importance of loyalty shouldn't affect the way he conducts himself as a pro and an employees. And while I also don't know ESPN has been trying to hide his good deeds, I'm absolutely sure that if they have, they've been failing miserably, especially when it comes to the $15 sneakers. I've read and heard about them literally thousands of times in the last years.
*edit: I mean Coach Brown, not the situation with D'Antoni this season. In that later case, I've already stated in this forum that IMO the Knicks handled the situation very poorly and that I can't be sure if Marbury is actually guilty of any wrongdoing, be it legal or ethical. Whether he is or not, that doesn't excuse him from past mistakes.