by Steven Resnick… I am not a fan of Bill Walton. Primarily because I think his accomplishments in the NBA aren’t on par with the rest of the top 50 team. As well as the fact that he was injury proned and that there are plenty of other centers with better numbers than Walton.
What really got me though is incessant rambling and quotes that are outrageous. It’s been refreshing to watchin ESPN without having to hear Walton trying to analyze what was happening from the studio or was commentating on the game.
What I have learned after googling Mike Rice the Portland Trail Blazers announcer is that Walton has a blog at this address http://waltonswisdom.blogspot.com/ and it was rather refershing to see that Walton is better suited at blogging then he is at announcing.
His last blog was in September and it was the fact that NBA players get a bad reputation in the media, when there are other sports that have issues as well but seems that they are forgiven way too easily.
His first example was using Shawn Merriman who was suspended for his use of steroids. After his suspension all was forgiven for Merriman and it didn’t taint his image all that much from being one of the most feared linebackers in the NFL.
His other example in the NFL was using Chris Henry and Pac-Man Jones. Both have been arrested multiple times, but before Goodell got to be commissioner they weren’t punish for their off the field behavior it was only after Goodell take charge when the two were suspended for their behavior. Henry and Johes have both been arrested 5 times.
Then he uses baseball and the sports run in with the steroid scandal. Walton mentions Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens and that their careers will be forever tainted because of the steroids.
What Walton’s point is that it’s been the NBA that has been deemed the “thug” league and the player that gets vilified the most is Ron Artest. He’s been arrested only once yes it was for domestic abuse, but Pacman Jones was on trial for a shooting at a club, and Henry was charged with assault and a variety of other charges.
Artest though will always be known for the brawl that happened in Detroit. Is that fair? No. People don’t realize that Ron Artest volunteered to donate his salary to keep Bonzi Wells on the Kings and he offered the same thing to keep Rick Adelman in Sacramento.
Yet, did the media even pick up on that? No. One might wonder why that was never made into a big story? Simple, it’s a story that’s not negative about Ron Artest.
Walton’s blog about Ron Artest isn’t the only one that is well written and makes sense. Walton also wrote about other issues such as where Kevin Love would be drafted, Bela Karolyi, Unconventional Players, and what originally got me to his blog Mike Rice.
If you like or can’t stand Bill Walton my suggestion would be to check out his blog. It makes sense, his blogs are well written, and the best part of course is that he isn’t talking.
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