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Tiger didn't get the following because he was black, he got the following because he was dominating.

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Tiger was great in his prime, but you simply cannot make the statement that the fact that he is black (or half black, as it were) didn't have a whole hell of a lot to do with his skyrocket to the top of the world in terms of endorsement deals, etc. because simply put - it did.

Now, one could make the argument as to why he was so popular while he was the top player - was it simply because he was the top player? Historical data would say that's not entirely the case, because no other top player has ever garnered the attention that Tiger did in the day. He used to get tournaments pay him simply to show up, because they knew if he was playing he would bring in the dollars.

Was it because of some latent white guilt for keeping golf somewhat exclusive (though it's not as exclusive as BBA wants it to be)? Possibly. Was it because he simply stuck out like a sore thumb on the course, especially given the long history of the game having a lack of dark skinned folks playing? Possibly.

Odds are it was a combination of the 3 though - without any one of them, he would likely not have been the household name that ultimately spent $500 MM banging shady looking strippers, but all three of them combined proved to be, at the time anyway, the perfect storm.

Likewise, it's also foolish to make an argument that general hate for a white guy in professional sports because he is white, good looking, or possibly came from a family that didn't live in a bullet riddled home in the ghetto, is not unusual. People love to see successful people fail as much as they love to see the blue collar rise from the gutters to fame and fortune. That's simply human nature. That is most certainly a factor in the general hate and disdain for guys like JFF or Laettner (or however the hell you spell his name).

The whole world is like WWE wrestling - everybody is a bad guy at some point, everybody is a good guy at some point.

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This documentary made me wonder how different his career would have been had he played here. Also, how different our basketball legacy would have been had he come here to play. Anyone have any idea why he chose Duke over us?

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Go Away sip troll

It's a little disingenuous to call Laettner the best college basketball player over the last however many years. Most successful?...almost without a doubt. But Laettner went to Duke when they were already really good (went to the final four the year before he arrived, and played for the NC 3 years before he arrived), they were really good when he was there obviously, and they were damn good after he left (played in the title game 2 years later). He was a great player without any question, but he was also surrounded by a tremendous amount of talent all 4 years he was there. Hard to go back and see how the recruiting classes looked way back then, but Laettner played alongside 10 other HS All Americans in his time at Duke. I doubt A&M has had 10 total in the 100+ year history of the program.

Race war

Where my Polacks @???

Chilangos are welcome as well

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And country clubs are notorious for excluding blacks, except to keep the grass green.

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Apparently someone thinks this is still 1955. Your posts are usually a little more thoughtful than this.

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Why does everything turn into a race issue these days its pretty sickening.

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A few reasons...not the least of which is: People enjoy it (including me and you and a bunch of other clowns on this board)
And Don't forget...we've got a social-justice oriented president and admin who align themselves with the bad guys b/c it strokes their cherished (and dishonest) indignations.

Bearded Zeus, only you would not want Christian Laetner on our basketball team. He was a stud in his day. Am I not allowed to fantasize about what could have been?

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Race war

Where my Polacks @???

Chilangos are welcome as well

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Laettner averaged 17pts 8rebs his first seven years in the pros and made an All-Star game before he tore his achilles. Analytics show that he was an above average player and let's not forget that he played 13 years in the NBA. I don't get the notion about him being a terrible pro player

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Tiger didn't get the following because he was black, he got the following because he was dominating.

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Tiger was great in his prime, but you simply cannot make the statement that the fact that he is black (or half black, as it were) didn't have a whole hell of a lot to do with his skyrocket to the top of the world in terms of endorsement deals, etc. because simply put - it did.

Now, one could make the argument as to why he was so popular while he was the top player - was it simply because he was the top player? Historical data would say that's not entirely the case, because no other top player has ever garnered the attention that Tiger did in the day. He used to get tournaments pay him simply to show up, because they knew if he was playing he would bring in the dollars.

Was it because of some latent white guilt for keeping golf somewhat exclusive (though it's not as exclusive as BBA wants it to be)? Possibly. Was it because he simply stuck out like a sore thumb on the course, especially given the long history of the game having a lack of dark skinned folks playing? Possibly.

Odds are it was a combination of the 3 though - without any one of them, he would likely not have been the household name that ultimately spent $500 MM banging shady looking strippers, but all three of them combined proved to be, at the time anyway, the perfect storm.

Likewise, it's also foolish to make an argument that general hate for a white guy in professional sports because he is white, good looking, or possibly came from a family that didn't live in a bullet riddled home in the ghetto, is not unusual. People love to see successful people fail as much as they love to see the blue collar rise from the gutters to fame and fortune. That's simply human nature. That is most certainly a factor in the general hate and disdain for guys like JFF or Laettner (or however the hell you spell his name).

The whole world is like WWE wrestling - everybody is a bad guy at some point, everybody is a good guy at some point.

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Agree, except i dont want anything.

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And country clubs are notorious for excluding blacks, except to keep the grass green.

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Apparently someone thinks this is still 1955. Your posts are usually a little more thoughtful than this.

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Why does everything turn into a race issue these days its pretty sickening.

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A few reasons...not the least of which is: People enjoy it (including me and you and a bunch of other clowns on this board)
And Don't forget...we've got a social-justice oriented president and admin who align themselves with the bad guys b/c it strokes their cherished (and dishonest) indignations.

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I included that because parents will tell their children what the experienced and will pass down that avoidance based on the experiences. I dont think its still 1955 but that wasnt too long ago

Tiger got his following because he was one of the most dominating players ever and because he dominated a white sport while being a minority.

I watched it and thought it was pretty damn good. As a former Texas HS basketball player who played on a very high level I thought it was pretty accurate. I didn't hate Duke or Christian but I for sure related to UNLV and Michigan and thought Duke was the enemy. It was just a part of the Hip Hop culture and I'm a white guy. I have a lot of respect for Coach K and all his guys know but at the time I guess I wanted them to lose. They represented everything non black and I didn't like that even if they had black players. I was recruited heavily by Utah and Coach Majuris and thought they were too white as well.

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Heres a pretty boy that's loved. He also played for Duke and was a teammate of Christian Laettner. Btw... no one hated Grant HIll (to include me)

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Jalen Rose said he hated him bc he was an "Uncle Tom"

so there's that

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That was one of the funnier quotes in the documentary. I didn't think he hated Hill for being an Uncle Tom. I thought he said they called him one...you know, to get under his skin.

At least that was how I understood it.

Oh, and FWIW, as an NC State fan, I didn't hate Laettner for being white. I hated him for that shot. It competed with the 1983 Wolfpack for best buzzer beater, and I hated him for that.

The comment from Rose was taken out of context by many bc very few could comprehend where he was coming from & what he was trying to express....

But we're past that now... It's race war time... Pick a side or gtfo

"Ching chong ah so" - Shaq

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My favorite part about this thread is Kasey determining who is a pretty boy and who isn't.

Pretty hilarious race angle to try to manufacture here too. Well played.

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Well... Is he right?

Idk about pretty boy, but Reggie Miller comes to mind. He's more of the won't shut the hell up while he is winning or losing.

Laettner was Duke as a person. Instead of hating some semi-abstract entity in Duke, you could now direct your hate at the physical embodiment of all Duke related stereotypes.

White? Check
Smug? Check
Privileged? Check
Gets away with dirt? Check
Media darling? Check
Winning? Check

Easy to hate that institution and the face of it.

People forget that Duke was equally hated by fans across the nation, but it was CL who gave the program a face for the haters. Much like UCONN's HC Calhoun said in the show, people watched to either watch 'em win or watch 'em lose; there was very little middle ground.

The only former player on the show to say anything remotely negative about CL, IIRC, was former Fab Rose who said if a Michigan player would have done the stomp, their program would have been on probation.

Don't lie - you want big butts

I actually watched it last night. I thought it was a pretty good documentary to be honest.

Rose and some of the other opposing players they interviewed hated him because he was good, and he could talk trash on the same level as they could is what I gathered most from it. They initially figured him to be just a tall white boy on the court, but when Laettner showed that he could go toe to toe with any one of them, it was a mental shock. The underlying tone I got was that yes, they hated him - but they all respected the fact that he was one of the best opponents they ever faced. Hell, he handed Shaq his jock and Shaq was a phenom.

Even Hill, at the end of the show, let on that there really wasn't hate for Laettner like the early parts of the interview kind of led you to believe.

I think the "he got away with a lot of dirty play" is largely overblown - odds are that you put together game film from any of those interviewed and you'd see about the same amount of dirty play from all of them.

Him being at Duke and being a physical manifestation of Duke is pretty much spot on (don't know which poster above said that). Even if the idea of who he was is incorrect, he personified what people see when they see Duke and, given the lead up to him of other players, he was an easy target. The fact that he simply was the best player and consistently made clutch shots amplified the hate. Kind of like us with Applewite or McCoy back in the day at t.u. - we hated them because they were the face of the t.u. program, and the *******s always seemed to find a way to put a crushing blow on us to seal the game in favor of the ass pirates in the hill country. I still hate them for that.

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Don't lie - you want big butts

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Who doesn't

Tiger's dad was probably Less than 75% black (white, Native American and other) and his mom was 50% Thai, 25% Dutch, 25% Chinese.

Tiger is everything... this argument is dumb.

Race is a major issue today in large part because the government entities requires it on all forms and keeps stupid stats on everything comparing everyone.

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Don't lie - you want big butts

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Who doesn't

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Certainly not this guy

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Don't lie - you want big butts

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Who doesn't

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Trevas

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Laettner is an A-hole. That is why he is hated.

Also his NBA career didn't come close to the hype.

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Averaged 17pts 8rebs his first seven years and an all star appearance before he tore his achilles. Also played 13 years in league. Analytics also show that he was an above average NBA player. His career was just fine

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Tiger's dad was probably Less than 75% black (white, Native American and other) and his mom was 50% Thai, 25% Dutch, 25% Chinese.

Tiger is everything... this argument is dumb.

Race is a major issue today in large part because the government entities requires it on all forms and keeps stupid stats on everything comparing everyone.

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Your last statement is ignorant. France did away with race on government forms and they are one of the most racist countries in Europe. There is practically a full-blown race riot there every year these days.

So you think comparing races to each other in every conceivable way is healthy?
Please explain.

Most of the differences are environmental and have absolutely nothing to do with race..... Yet Race is the main sorting category..... Instead of economics, family structure, faith, education level, etc. the results are useless when sorting by race...... Except to create division.

I hated him because my sister had a crush on him and demanded to watch all the games. Despite playing bball herself in high school she had no idea what was going on at any point. It is so frustrating to watch a sport with someone so clueless and vocal about it.

Also he sported a wedge haircut, just terrible.

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Watch it. The script will be almost the exact same when they do a 30 for 30 on Johnny Manziel.

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Watch it. The script will be almost the exact same when they do a 30 for 30 on Johnny Manziel.

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I know what what you're doing ;-)