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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 6, 2021 15:48:54 GMT -5
Let me start this rant by saying both Kyrie and Simmons are extraordinary basketball players. They are very different players playing the same position. They are impact players. And they are both pains in the butt. 
Let's start with Kyrie. He still refuses to get vaccinated. I know a lot of people regard him as highly intelligent and maybe he is but his main issue with the vaccination initially was his belief the government was injecting citizens with trackers. Especially black citizens. The proof that Irving is hopping on board the crazy train is he "liked" a number of websites that have put forth this theory that our government wants to connect all those who got the Moderna vaccine like me to a master computer that can track black people specifically, There is some nonsense about a "Plan of Satan" but the real question is if Kyrie really believes the Moderna Vaccine has a microchip in it why not get the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines and play the 42 home games in Brooklyn, the 2 games at MSG and the one game in San Francisco? Seriously. Kyrie right now would miss more than half the season, which he might do even if he gets vaccinated, because he is scared of his government. As we like to say in my household "Cray cray!".
Simmons is different. He refuses to play for the Sixers because they criticized him in public. I think Rivers and Embiid commented at a bad moment and they should have held their criticism to a more private setting but both were right. Simmons, an enormously talented game changing player, fucked up against the Hawks. With the bright lights squarely on him he disappeared. He was a minus instead of a plus. What's more instead of owning his mistakes and vowing to work on his offensive game Simmons, who is under contract for 4 more years and 130 million dollars, won't play for the team who holds his contract. Stuck with very few alternatives the Sixers aren't paying for Simmons to sit which is a drastic departure from the Dolan/Zeke days when the Knicks were paying EVERYBODY not to play/coach for the Knicks.
Right now Simmons is sitting out. Pouting. He has always been a very arrogant, self-involved jerk going back to his LSU days and it has always seemed to me that he and Embiid (another guy with personality issues) didn't like each other but at least Embiid has always worked on his game adding new skills almost every year. Simmons seems to think his game is fine. He should have locked himself in a gym with 500 basketballs, a couple of ball boys to fetch for him and a shooting coach who could fix his broken shooting game and stayed there all summer. That's exactly why I love our guys. They don't bitch. They don't hide. They grind which is why the Knicks are fam and the Sixers are not.
Right now who knows how all this drama plays out. Will Kyrie, who famously stated basketball is the least of his priorities next to his quest for a Nobel Peace Prize, get vaccinated? It almost feels like he painted himself into a corner but once again he proves it's all about him and not his team or the game. Right now I am so very happy the Knicks didn't get Irving.
As for Simmons it seems his management team realized how much money he stands to lose if he sits out. Duh? Philly doesn't get a pass here because they have set a very unrealistic price for obviously damaged goods that no team is likely to pay. Portland reportedly offered CJ McCollum and a couple of protected first round picks for Simmons. The Sixers prez Daryl Morey declined the offer. Maybe if the Blazers threw in Jeremy Lin?
Meanwhile our Knicks are happy together, have a management team that stays out of the back pages of the daily rags and looks to be building a better basketball through chemistry team. I know superstar players are necessary these days but as much as I may dislike LeBron and KD as people I love them as basketball players with a team first attitude. Kyrie and Ben are hurtling towards the sun and their wax wings are starting to melt.
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Post by daglazer on Oct 6, 2021 21:21:23 GMT -5
Kyrie has always been a weird dude. He is smart but has obviously gotten caught up in some weird conspiracy shit. I 100% believe that the reason the Nets pulled the trigger on the Harden trade was that they realized that no team can rely on Kyrie. So, they still have an elite PG if Kyrie disappears.
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 6, 2021 22:50:55 GMT -5
Kyrie has always been a weird dude. He is smart but has obviously gotten caught up in some weird conspiracy shit. I 100% believe that the reason the Nets pulled the trigger on the Harden trade was that they realized that no team can rely on Kyrie. So, they still have an elite PG if Kyrie disappears. |
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Post by rxmeister on Oct 7, 2021 7:04:46 GMT -5
Does Kyrie have anyone in his life who talks sense to him, or does he surround himself with enablers and yes men who agree with everything he says? There is no need for anyone to put tracking devices in your vaccine because they already have a tracking device on you and that device is called a smart phone! The other day I was looking at sneakers online, and now every site I go on has ad after ad from Nike and Adidas! And if sneaker companies are tracking me, you don’t think the government knows what you’re doing too? Stop watching YouTube videos Kyrie, and return to the real world. And if the government WERE tracking you with the vaccine, what the hell are you doing that is so secretive you don’t want them to know? If the government was tracking me, the agent in charge of my account would have died of boredom by now. Unless you’re a terrorist, what are you hiding? As for Ben Simmons I have a bit more sympathy. He and Embiid just don’t get along, and Embiid is clearly the better player. He went through hell with the fans and media after they lost last year and even Doc threw him under the bus. Then they try to trade him all off-season but ask for a package like he’s LeBron in his prime. Years ago I worked in a Queens district and had a supervisor who I thought didn’t appreciate me. I had worked with the Brooklyn supervisor before and she always treated me like I was one of her best and kept asking me to transfer to one of her Brooklyn stores. I live in Queens and didn’t want to go to Brooklyn every day but eventually I decided to go where I was appreciated. That’s where Ben is at right now, wanting to go somewhere where they actually want him, not stay and be blamed when things go wrong. Did the Knicks throw Randle under the bus after the bad Atlanta series? Trade Ben, Philadelphia, this is your doing.
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Post by greatgates36 on Oct 7, 2021 8:19:56 GMT -5
Does Kyrie have anyone in his life who talks sense to him, or does he surround himself with enablers and yes men who agree with everything he says? There is no need for anyone to put tracking devices in your vaccine because they already have a tracking device on you and that device is called a smart phone! The other day I was looking at sneakers online, and now every site I go on has ad after ad from Nike and Adidas! And if sneaker companies are tracking me, you don’t think the government knows what you’re doing too? Stop watching YouTube videos Kyrie, and return to the real world. And if the government WERE tracking you with the vaccine, what the hell are you doing that is so secretive you don’t want them to know? If the government was tracking me, the agent in charge of my account would have died of boredom by now. Unless you’re a terrorist, what are you hiding? As for Ben Simmons I have a bit more sympathy. He and Embiid just don’t get along, and Embiid is clearly the better player. He went through hell with the fans and media after they lost last year and even Doc threw him under the bus. Then they try to trade him all off-season but ask for a package like he’s LeBron in his prime. Years ago I worked in a Queens district and had a supervisor who I thought didn’t appreciate me. I had worked with the Brooklyn supervisor before and she always treated me like I was one of her best and kept asking me to transfer to one of her Brooklyn stores. I live in Queens and didn’t want to go to Brooklyn every day but eventually I decided to go where I was appreciated. That’s where Ben is at right now, wanting to go somewhere where they actually want him, not stay and be blamed when things go wrong. Did the Knicks throw Randle under the bus after the bad Atlanta series? Trade Ben, Philadelphia, this is your doing. |
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 7, 2021 13:24:44 GMT -5
Does Kyrie have anyone in his life who talks sense to him, or does he surround himself with enablers and yes men who agree with everything he says? There is no need for anyone to put tracking devices in your vaccine because they already have a tracking device on you and that device is called a smart phone! The other day I was looking at sneakers online, and now every site I go on has ad after ad from Nike and Adidas! And if sneaker companies are tracking me, you don’t think the government knows what you’re doing too? Stop watching YouTube videos Kyrie, and return to the real world. And if the government WERE tracking you with the vaccine, what the hell are you doing that is so secretive you don’t want them to know? If the government was tracking me, the agent in charge of my account would have died of boredom by now. Unless you’re a terrorist, what are you hiding? As for Ben Simmons I have a bit more sympathy. He and Embiid just don’t get along, and Embiid is clearly the better player. He went through hell with the fans and media after they lost last year and even Doc threw him under the bus. Then they try to trade him all off-season but ask for a package like he’s LeBron in his prime. Years ago I worked in a Queens district and had a supervisor who I thought didn’t appreciate me. I had worked with the Brooklyn supervisor before and she always treated me like I was one of her best and kept asking me to transfer to one of her Brooklyn stores. I live in Queens and didn’t want to go to Brooklyn every day but eventually I decided to go where I was appreciated. That’s where Ben is at right now, wanting to go somewhere where they actually want him, not stay and be blamed when things go wrong. Did the Knicks throw Randle under the bus after the bad Atlanta series? Trade Ben, Philadelphia, this is your doing.
I'm not much of a fan of Embiid either but consider this fact. Embiid throwing Ben under the bus is almost expected. Doc Rivers? He's always been a level headed guy who appreciates the sanctity of the locker room and team chemistry. Yet he too threw Ben under the bus. One more thing. Neither Embiid or Rivers was vicious. However both were honest. I believe they were brutally honest to get Ben's attention. Historically he has never been a real coachable guy.
Randle caught a lot of flack his first year here. He buckled down and worked harder. Simmons did not run to the gym to work on the obvious flaws in his game after his epic playoff fail. Instead he dialed up his agent who told the Sixers that Ben wouldn't play for them and demanded an immediate trade. Since then Simmons has refused to even talk to any of the Sixers management or players. Ever petulant Ben Simmons can't take an honest and objective look at his game and his flaws.
As for Kyrie I imagine he is a lot nicer than Ben but his actions are throwing his Nets teammates under a bus. I'm not displeased because I hate the Nets and after all they got Steve Nash to run the point. I'm a pretty simple guy. The team is paying you a lot of money, an almost obscene amount of money, and that kind of compensation comes with a few conditions. Both Kyrie and Ben are under contract. Honor that contract. Or retire. |
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 12, 2021 17:13:34 GMT -5
Interesting. Ben Simmons is apparently back in the Sixers training camp deciding playing and getting paid are better than not playing and not getting paid. He still wants to get traded so it will be interesting to see if he added value by learning how to be an asset shooting the basketball instead of a liability.
The news on the Kyrie Irving front is even more interesting as it seems the Nets management AND Harden and KD have called Kyrie's bluff. Both players met with the Nets head honchos and the result was it has been decided Irving can't play or practice with the Nets till he gets vaccinated. Again, no play, no pay. I applaud the Nets decision and I wonder how long till they decide to remove this toxic presence from the team. That decision is all in Kyrie's court now but people as arrogant as Irving don't back down easily.
Then again Simmons did so anything is possible.
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 14, 2021 8:28:15 GMT -5
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Post by greatgates36 on Oct 15, 2021 0:08:05 GMT -5
All good points but I know quite a few men in Kyrie's demographic that have no plan to get the vaccine. Bright young men. Some have already had covid. I'd bet MOST professional athletes would not have gotten the vaccine if not for financial considerations.
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Post by trendsetta on Oct 15, 2021 11:02:12 GMT -5
All good points but I know quite a few men in Kyrie's demographic that have no plan to get the vaccine. Bright young men. Some have already had covid. I'd bet MOST professional athletes would not have gotten the vaccine if not for financial considerations. They may be bright but if their reasoning is based on falsehoods then their argument is a castle made of sand, a house of cards. Every American has been vaccinated for TB, polio, smallpox, Rubella, etc. etc. George Washington mandated smallpox vaccine. No thanks to the internet and social media we have a pandemic of disinformation. Put another way: you're entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts but sadly the internet and social media annihilates this most fundamental principle. The oft-injured, wildly-overpaid, too quirky by half, self-absorbed, self-infatuated, stream-of-consciousness-loving Kyrie Irving is a poster child for this generation. But because he is so famous he is also influencing people negatively, ultimately harming who knows how many. Does he care? Nope. Which leads to the final point: to be a citizen means that you have to strike a balance between the rights of personal freedom and privacy on the one hand, and civic virtue on the other, the latter of which can-- under certain circumstances like a pandemic-- require the sacrifice of the former. Without civic virtue the society will descend into infighting if not anarchy. He doesn't understand the relationship between the body personal and the body politic. Maybe he's not even aware of the two. He may be bright but is he man enough to admit he's wrong? Nope-- fact is he's doubling down. Feel free to choose to not get the vaccine, by all means. Just be aware that you are not free from the consequences of that choice. Joy Taylor summed it up best: twitter.com/JoyTaylorTalks/status/1448729225213595655?s=20 |
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 15, 2021 13:03:59 GMT -5
I have to agree with every word, punctuation mark and thought as stated by Dave.
As I have expressed to my daughter for years "life is sometimes inconvenient". GG is right if given a choice most athletes and famous people and even Average Joes and Janes would not get the vaccination if they weren't required to do so. But family, community, economics and even national considerations come first. RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY matter. It might be inconvenient or even offensive but if your job requires you to get vaccinated do so or quit. It really is that simple. Life is all about the rules and the consequences attached to those rules. If my employer wants me to wear a shirt and tie to work my choices are simple. In this case with the Nets and Kyrie it's even more simplified. The Nets cannot display their product without adhering to the vaccination rules as set forth by the city. The Nets have no choice in this matter so all their players have to be vaccinated. Or not play and as a consequence receive no salary.
Kyrie Irving likes being in the spotlight. I believe his thirst for attention fuels a lot of the more ridiculous things he says though for once maybe he is backing up one of his absurd statements. Basketball may not be all that important to him.
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Oct 15, 2021 17:41:36 GMT -5
All good points but I know quite a few men in Kyrie's demographic that have no plan to get the vaccine. Bright young men. Some have already had covid. I'd bet MOST professional athletes would not have gotten the vaccine if not for financial considerations. They may be bright but if their reasoning is based on falsehoods then their argument is a castle made of sand, a house of cards. Every American has been vaccinated for TB, polio, smallpox, Rubella, etc. etc. George Washington mandated smallpox vaccine. No thanks to the internet and social media we have a pandemic of disinformation. Put another way: you're entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts but sadly the internet and social media annihilates this most fundamental principle. The oft-injured, wildly-overpaid, too quirky by half, self-absorbed, self-infatuated, stream-of-consciousness-loving Kyrie Irving is a poster child for this generation. But because he is so famous he is also influencing people negatively, ultimately harming who knows how many. Does he care? Nope. Which leads to the final point: to be a citizen means that you have to strike a balance between the rights of personal freedom and privacy on the one hand, and civic virtue on the other, the latter of which can-- under certain circumstances like a pandemic-- require the sacrifice of the former. Without civic virtue the society will descend into infighting if not anarchy. He doesn't understand the relationship between the body personal and the body politic. Maybe he's not even aware of the two. He may be bright but is he man enough to admit he's wrong? Nope-- fact is he's doubling down. Feel free to choose to not get the vaccine, by all means. Just be aware that you are not free from the consequences of that choice. Joy Taylor summed it up best: twitter.com/JoyTaylorTalks/status/1448729225213595655?s=20Really good and well thought out post David |
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Post by greatgates36 on Oct 16, 2021 9:05:28 GMT -5
All good points but I know quite a few men in Kyrie's demographic that have no plan to get the vaccine. Bright young men. Some have already had covid. I'd bet MOST professional athletes would not have gotten the vaccine if not for financial considerations. They may be bright but if their reasoning is based on falsehoods then their argument is a castle made of sand, a house of cards. Every American has been vaccinated for TB, polio, smallpox, Rubella, etc. etc. George Washington mandated smallpox vaccine. No thanks to the internet and social media we have a pandemic of disinformation. Put another way: you're entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts but sadly the internet and social media annihilates this most fundamental principle. The oft-injured, wildly-overpaid, too quirky by half, self-absorbed, self-infatuated, stream-of-consciousness-loving Kyrie Irving is a poster child for this generation. But because he is so famous he is also influencing people negatively, ultimately harming who knows how many. Does he care? Nope. Which leads to the final point: to be a citizen means that you have to strike a balance between the rights of personal freedom and privacy on the one hand, and civic virtue on the other, the latter of which can-- under certain circumstances like a pandemic-- require the sacrifice of the former. Without civic virtue the society will descend into infighting if not anarchy. He doesn't understand the relationship between the body personal and the body politic. Maybe he's not even aware of the two. He may be bright but is he man enough to admit he's wrong? Nope-- fact is he's doubling down. Feel free to choose to not get the vaccine, by all means. Just be aware that you are not free from the consequences of that choice. Joy Taylor summed it up best: twitter.com/JoyTaylorTalks/status/1448729225213595655?s=20 |
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Post by trendsetta on Oct 16, 2021 10:26:05 GMT -5
They may be bright but if their reasoning is based on falsehoods then their argument is a castle made of sand, a house of cards. Every American has been vaccinated for TB, polio, smallpox, Rubella, etc. etc. George Washington mandated smallpox vaccine. No thanks to the internet and social media we have a pandemic of disinformation. Put another way: you're entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts but sadly the internet and social media annihilates this most fundamental principle. The oft-injured, wildly-overpaid, too quirky by half, self-absorbed, self-infatuated, stream-of-consciousness-loving Kyrie Irving is a poster child for this generation. But because he is so famous he is also influencing people negatively, ultimately harming who knows how many. Does he care? Nope. Which leads to the final point: to be a citizen means that you have to strike a balance between the rights of personal freedom and privacy on the one hand, and civic virtue on the other, the latter of which can-- under certain circumstances like a pandemic-- require the sacrifice of the former. Without civic virtue the society will descend into infighting if not anarchy. He doesn't understand the relationship between the body personal and the body politic. Maybe he's not even aware of the two. He may be bright but is he man enough to admit he's wrong? Nope-- fact is he's doubling down. Feel free to choose to not get the vaccine, by all means. Just be aware that you are not free from the consequences of that choice. Joy Taylor summed it up best: twitter.com/JoyTaylorTalks/status/1448729225213595655?s=20If they "truly know" they are still free to be contrarians and fools, so long as they understand they will necessarily have to accept the consequences. Kind of like smoking, I guess. I haven't been following the Gruden story. Safe to say I don't need to burrow into the details of yet another racist, homophobic, misogynist scandal involving another privileged white male from the Boomer generation. But yes he is *a* poster child for that generation, and a part of The Problem. That said, while the internet can serve to expose the misdeeds, the nasty thoughts, and the dark underbelly of people mired spiritually in our horrible history on the one hand... on the other hand it can also promote and perpetuate foolishness, some of that foolishness metastasizing into violence and chaos. What may be worst of all, Gates: the Internet seems to either destroy critical thought or engender the opposite of critical thought. I *golf-clap* Kyrie for spending a teensy-weensy fraction of his multi-generational wealth (he has earned so far $160,000,000 in his NBA career and another $18,000,000 per year in endorsements) on several worthy causes. That's a whole lot of zeroes, bruv. [Luke 21:1-4 comes to mind.] But that doesn't cancel out what potential harm he is doing as a conspiracy theorist, along with many others addled by the internet. What to make of this: "secret societies are administering vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for a plan of Satan." [Ironically I got this quote from the Wiki article on Irving just now.] This is the kind of crazy shit that Kyrie "I'm the smartest guy in the room" Irving is ingesting. |
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Post by greatgates36 on Oct 16, 2021 11:10:37 GMT -5
And if they truly know your facts and still decide not to be vaccinated? Many know even more facts than I do. I respect their choice while not necessarily agreeing with it. I can accept that Kyrie may be a poster child for the current generation. Can you accept that Jon Gruden may be a poster child for the previous one. I choose the one that bought a house for the family of George Floyd in lieu of the one that might have felt Floyd deserved what he got. If they "truly know" they are still free to be contrarians and fools, so long as they understand they will necessarily have to accept the consequences. Kind of like smoking, I guess. I haven't been following the Gruden story. Safe to say I don't need to burrow into the details of yet another racist, homophobic, misogynist scandal involving another privileged white male from the Boomer generation. But yes he is *a* poster child for that generation, and a part of The Problem. That said, while the internet can serve to expose the misdeeds, the nasty thoughts, and the dark underbelly of people mired spiritually in our horrible history on the one hand... on the other hand it can also promote and perpetuate foolishness, some of that foolishness metastasizing into violence and chaos. What may be worst of all, Gates: the Internet seems to either destroy critical thought or engender the opposite of critical thought. I *golf-clap* Kyrie for spending a teensy-weensy fraction of his multi-generational wealth (he has earned so far $160,000,000 in his NBA career and another $18,000,000 per year in endorsements) on several worthy causes. That's a whole lot of zeroes, bruv. [Luke 21:1-4 comes to mind.] But that doesn't cancel out what potential harm he is doing as a conspiracy theorist, along with many others addled by the internet. What to make of this: "secret societies are administering vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for a plan of Satan." [Ironically I got this quote from the Wiki article on Irving just now.] This is the kind of crazy shit that Kyrie "I'm the smartest guy in the room" Irving is ingesting.  . Some vaccines in different parts of the world have been proven to be unsatisfactory. You can "golf clap" Kyrie if you want but he did something.
Finally the concept of a citizen balancing his personal freedom with the overall societal benefit is QUAINT. Citizen of where? Voltron? Certainly not in the land of insurrection, and barbarianism |
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. Some vaccines in different parts of the world have been proven to be unsatisfactory. You can "golf clap" Kyrie if you want but he did something.