Minnesota Sports Forum

Part of the reason I stopped paying attention to the Wolves is I don't get good vibes about Ant as a person. Which is part of the reason I lost track of this board. (Thibs and Brunson being here really pushed me there also) I can only pull for teams and players that I genuinely think are good people. Ant is right up there with Tyreek Hill as a player I can stand. (Even though I like Mike McDaniel)

Maybe it is because of how society has regressed or maybe it is age. Those off the court/field things used to not matter to me, but now they do.

Anyways it seems like there is a lot of us on this board in the same camp.

I can only speak for my mom, but she loves him. She hasn't watched basketball since I used to play in college, and every time I go over to their house she is watching the Wolves play if they are on tv to watch Ant. She loves the smile and the joy that he plays the game with. My dad meanwhile loves big Rudy, and loves his defense and blocked shots. You do you, but life is too short to worry about what someone does in their free time away from our eyes.

To be fair... history has told us that some of those players we think are good people are really the complete opposite.

We don't know these people in real life. Basically, I don't make assumptions that any of them are inherently good people. And because that's not fair either, instead of picking-and-choosing who I think is genuine or not... I try to judge athletes only as athletes as much as I can. Obviously, there are exceptions, and we know more bad things about some than others.

But I simply wouldn't watch much sports at all if I didn't separate on-court/field and off-court/field stuff.

bleedspeed wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:18 am Part of the reason I stopped paying attention to the Wolves is I don't get good vibes about Ant as a person. Which is part of the reason I lost track of this board. (Thibs and Brunson being here really pushed me there also) I can only pull for teams and players that I genuinely think are good people. Ant is right up there with Tyreek Hill as a player I can stand. (Even though I like Mike McDaniel)

Maybe it is because of how society has regressed or maybe it is age. Those off the court/field things used to not matter to me, but now they do.

Anyways it seems like there is a lot of us on this board in the same camp.

I totally respect what you're saying here Bleed. It bothers me quite a bit as well. I get a lot of enjoyment from basketball, but it is after all a game. Children who never meet their siblings and grow up without a Father in their lives carries a bit more weight. The fan boys will always be there to back their heroes no matter what they do off the court, but I can't live in that space. I'm as big of a Wolves fan as you can be, and I root for the name on the front of the jersey. But I can't help but feel hypocritical at the same time.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 12:17 pm

bleedspeed wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:18 am Part of the reason I stopped paying attention to the Wolves is I don't get good vibes about Ant as a person. Which is part of the reason I lost track of this board. (Thibs and Brunson being here really pushed me there also) I can only pull for teams and players that I genuinely think are good people. Ant is right up there with Tyreek Hill as a player I can stand. (Even though I like Mike McDaniel)

Maybe it is because of how society has regressed or maybe it is age. Those off the court/field things used to not matter to me, but now they do.

Anyways it seems like there is a lot of us on this board in the same camp.

I totally respect what you're saying here Bleed. It bothers me quite a bit as well. I get a lot of enjoyment from basketball, but it is after all a game. Children who never meet their siblings and grow up without a Father in their lives carries a bit more weight. The fan boys will always be there to back their heroes no matter what they do off the court, but I can't live in that space. I'm as big of a Wolves fan as you can be, and I root for the name on the front of the jersey. But I can't help but feel hypocritical at the same time.

If it makes you feel better, I can change your name to "Coolhypocrit44"...

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 12:17 pm
I totally respect what you're saying here Bleed. It bothers me quite a bit as well. I get a lot of enjoyment from basketball, but it is after all a game. Children who never meet their siblings and grow up without a Father in their lives carries a bit more weight. The fan boys will always be there to back their heroes no matter what they do off the court, but I can't live in that space. I'm as big of a Wolves fan as you can be, and I root for the name on the front of the jersey. But I can't help but feel hypocritical at the same time.

Honestly some of it is the NBA in general. It seems more like wrestling then a game. Coast for 3 quarters and then maybe compete in the 4th during the regular season. The product just seems to suck.

Oddly I got to point I don't care about the team as much as what I think about the coaches, players, and even just the storyline. Players do grow up though as people change. People make mistakes and grow and I can accept that and love seeing it happen.

We don't know these people. We don't know their circumstances.

We can objectively say Dikembe Mutumbo did great things for the communities he worked with, but we really have no idea if he was kind to flight attendants, his cousins, etc....

Perhaps many of us on this board are blessed because we never experienced tremendous success...and we never had to operate in a world where people unknown to us would be constantly tempting us into the areas that lead to selfishness and narcissism. Or (possibly) worse, what was going on with Rick Berry, or Eddie Griffin?

Some of us may not feel that way.

I like basketball. I like to root for my team and it's players and I wish them well.

He's a friendly dude who can't keep his dick in his pants, the homophobic clip was a bit rough but other than that what's the big deal? I just don't get the ominous view towards him.

Charles Barkley was right.

BloopOracle wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 1:54 pm He's a friendly dude who can't keep his dick in his pants, the homophobic clip was a bit rough but other than that what's the big deal? I just don't get the ominous view towards him.

I think this is ultimately it. I am a fan who thinks there are aspect of his character that continue to grow and mature. Ultimately its probably not that big of a deal.