The Classical (the place where Free Darko's Bethlehem Shoals went) published a really excellent series of articles on the Parisian soccer club Paris Saint Germaine and its attempts to "clean up" its cheering section. European soccer's problems with racism and violence are well-documented, but as writer Moacir de Sá Pereira's piece contends, PSG used these problems to spearhead an effort to "gentrify" its fans:

What had started as generalized violence at Parc des Princes in the early 1980s became hooligan violence coupled with racism in the 1990s. Then, in 2010, in response to an act of racial violence, the team proposed an anti-violence policy that then morphed into a policy devoted to anti-racism. But the protests by shut out ex-viragiste season ticket holders have nothing to do with racism at the stadium. The motto of fan group Tous Abonnés—"No to violence, but not like this!"—shows where the fans’ concern was: canceling season tickets and instituting an ID policy was a move by the team to kick out the lower-class members. Regardless of race or previous record of violence, they were all now presumed guilty of racism, anti-Semitism, or homphobia.

The protesters—and this includes fans from Auteuil, who had been direct victims of racist abuse—believe that their real crime is of being, simply, "the people." Throughout their protest literature, they describe their virages as "the people’s stands" or "the working-class stands"(tribunes populaires). Ironically, considering that people of non-European backgrounds make up a disproportionate percentage of the lower classes in France, shutting out the working class has a side effect of shutting out the very people who would be targeted by the racism that the project that shuts them out is supposed to protect them against. So instead of addressing the class dynamic of creating a ticket and ID policy that only affects those who want to buy cheapest tickets, the front office’s focus on public expressions of anti-racism conveniently place the team in combat with the fact that, despite French promises about égalité and fraternité, racism certainly still exists in this Republic.

Moacir de Sá Pereira believes that this is part of an extension of "neoliberal ideology" (something I agree with, though I disagree with his assertion that The New Republic is "a thoroughly neoliberal rag," at least according to the more extreme definition he gives for neoliberalism) -- an attempt to extend the market to every level of public life, obliterating relationships that were formerly non-monetized because they are no longer profitable.

American fans have seen this up close in the same way. The issue here is not one of ousting season ticket holders under the banner of anti-violence or anti-racism and the objective of gentrification -- it's one of extorting cities for subsidies and new pleasure-palace stadiums. The effect is the same.

(A little more after the jump)

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Maybe you're tired of talking about this, but I'm not -- particularly when one of the NBA's whiny elite is trying to mislead fans. Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plains Dealer sat down with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert last night before the Cavs' victory over the equally-hapless Nets last night. Mr. Gilbert had a lot of nothing to say, but he also took time to spew this crap from his mouth:

What did you think of your e-mail to Commissioner David Stern getting leaked to media outlets? "The lesson will be when you get off an airplane, check the Internet first before you go send off an e-mail. If I would’ve checked, I would’ve seen he made his decision hours before and I wouldn’t have had to send the e-mail. It’s a little disappointing someone would leak a personal e-mail. Owners are always making statements and having opinions between them and always sending things back and forth. It was unusual and shocked to see that in the media. I went to bed at midnight, someone sent me e-mail at 6:20, ‘Hey I saw your e-mail.’ One of you guys, actually. (Reed's note: It was me.) I thought I was having a dream. Unfortunately it wasn’t. The lesson for me was probably not to send out so many e-mails and check things before you send stuff out.

"But OaL," you say, "That doesn't seem like crap at all! All of those things are true!" And they are, my lovelies, I don't dispute that.

Read more after the jump because I'm not going to use pretty language and SBN and Yahoo! don't like it when we curse above the fold...

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I think I'm getting old, because I keep forgetting important things. I'll forget my phone or my wallet or my shoes or keys before I leave my apartment. I'll forget to do the laundry or to go to the grocery store. I blame this not only on increased age, but on the intellectual rot of post-college life.

Troubling as this is, it basically gives me free entertainment. I'll forget that the Magic are trying to placate Dwight Howard by trading Brandon Bass for the crappier and more expensive Glen "Big Baby" Davis, but then I'll look at the Magic roster, remember that they're letting Dwight run their team so he won't opt out of his contract, and laugh a little. I'll forget about this for a few days, and the whole process will repeat itself. Hilarious as the Magic's stumbling personnel decisions are, the best examples of this are from the two LA teams, however.

The Clippers have two great point guards on their team: Chris Paul (Point Guard Jesus) and Chauncey Billups (Point Guard John the Baptist....? Maybe? Not really). For a while it looked like everyone had forgotten that the Clippers (suspiciously) claimed Billups off of waivers last week, because despite his declaration of war against any and all parties who might claim him, nobody in the media seemed to ask Chauncey about being on the Clippers (first as the presumed starter, and then as the presumed starting 2-guard). So it's good news (for Chauncey and the Clippers) that he's suddenly excited about his new role.

I never forgot about the Billups "situation," but I did forget that the Clips have another point guard on their roster: Mo Williams. This amuses me greatly. I laugh every time I see that. I forgot he was in the league last year. I'm serious: I really thought he was in China or something.

There was a time when he was quietly pretty-good-to-excellent, but if any particular player lost out when Lebron left for Miami, it was Mo. He went from being the starting point guard on a perpetual contender, to (unfortunately) the face of the Cavaliers' franchise, to traded for Baron Davis's corpse, to the third-string point guard on a team that might be a real contender. All that in the space of about eighteen months. Most horrifying for him, he has managed to erase himself from my short-term memory, and is the source of a small chuckle every time I do remember him.

Mo is a small tragicomedy, but the Lakers have moved into post-Shaq levels of ridiculousness. They traded Odom for cap space (or something), their fourth-best player is now Metta World Peace, and because Stephen A Smith made some off-hand comments to Lakers fans on his radio show, the rumor that Kobe Bryant requested a trade swirled around the intertubes a few days ago. But that's not even the best part. I keep forgetting about the best part, and you probably did, too:

Mike Brown is coaching the Lakers! Mike Brown, the guy who had the best player in the world but designed one of its most boring and stultifying offenses, is now coaching a veteran team that has operated in the triangle offense since forever. The "rational" part of me says, "Oh, Mike Brown isn't that bad. He ran some excellent teams around what was essentially Lebron James, some rebounders and some spot-up shooters for five years." The "irrational" part of me -- the part that knows that regardless of "facts" there is some basic chaotic force to the universe that makes for wonderful and bizarre situations -- says, "Holy crap! Mike Brown! Kobe is going to stab him by March!"

And what makes this so great is that Mike Brown is so faceless and anonymous in my mind that I'll forget about that within three or four hours, only to have the hilarious revelation appear to me once again tonight or tomorrow. It's really great, even if it means I'm getting early onset Reagans or something.

More (hopefully more memorable) links after the jump:

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I used to do this semi-regularly, and I figure now is as good a time as any to try again. While in the age of twitter and constant media updates many of you might be getting the "latest" from the press in real time, the vast majority of NBA commentary and news isn't being produced or shared on "social media." So I'm going to try to provide some links to the best news and opinions produced recently. Consider it "Rockets Digest" (but I won't call it that because that's dumb). At least for today it will be somewhat short and narrowly-focused (my focus in basketball has been fairly narrow over the past few days, after all), but in the future I hope to provide broader links.

Anyways, the big story from today, I suppose, is the almost-but-not-quite-and-maybe-not-almost-at-all Clippers-Hornets trade for Chris Paul. The Clippers were considered "frontrunners" in the race to get CP3 after the Rockets-Lakers-Hornets deal finally died. Now, less than 48-hours later, the deal is dead again and the Clippers are reportedly completely done with talking to the Hornets. Oh, did I write "Hornets?" I meant "the NBA." Woj has more:

While there’s been no official transition of power, general manager Dell Demps has been completely pushed to the side in deal-making decisions for the Hornets, multiple league sources told Y! Sports.

"He’s basically a spectator now," one official said.

Stern has two of his top league office executives – Joel Litvin and Stu Jackson – making calls and conducting negotiations with teams interested in Paul. Demps is still making calls, but rival front offices and agents involved in possible deals with New Orleans say that he’s no longer authorized to decide on any transaction.

...

Agents are finding it increasingly difficult to negotiate even minor deals with the Hornets’ front office. They’re struggling to get clear answers amid the belief that Demps doesn’t have the authority to make even minor signings to augment a depleted, non-NBA-caliber roster beyond the starting five.

"Stern has made them inoperable," one prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports. "I’ve given up trying to do anything with them until the Paul situation is resolved. It’s very unfair to Dell. … Very unfair what the league is doing to him right now."

This is an interesting development, to say the least. I think as long as the NBA was letting Demps do his thing, there was some semblance that Stern and Jackson (yes, that Stu Jackson) were simply "vetoing" trade ideas that would harm the Hornets in the long run. But when the league has virtually taken over the negotiations, it certainly seems like they're shutting Demps out to avoid the further embarassment of another vetoed trade -- an inevitability only if you have no real interest in trading Chris Paul for anything but the most obscene of values. If you just want Demps to cut payroll in preparation for the team's sale, then that certainly can be conveyed to Demps and he can probably make that happen. If you just want Chris Paul to turn into some draft picks and a young player or two, that could happen as well. But right now, it really seems like those are just convenient covers for Stern's more likely goal of simply avoiding the inevitable outrage that would occur if Chris Paul is traded to a major market.

Why hasn't Demps resigned by now? Is he afraid that he'll lose any future job prospects if he leaves? The impression we've gotten so far is that he's, at the very least, a pretty savvy general manager, able to turn four-five months of Chris Paul into an All-Star, two quality starters, and a decent backup point guard. Surely he's only damaging his reputation by sticking around this circus, right? So that's our poll for today: If you were Dell Demps, would you resign?

More on Chris Paulgate 2011 (and other stories) after the jump.

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I didn't see the game last night, and I have no idea whether or not Xiane, Dave, Lee, or Tom plans on writing a recap, so here's Posting and Toasting's take:

- In that first half, David Lee was positively magical. He seized the opportunity to compete against people his size, and connected on jumpers and drives with either hand. In the second half, Lee disappeared. I'm sure the Rockets stepped up their defense, but it seemed a little like the Knicks were looking elsewhere and Dave wasn't necessarily looking to score after catches. Meanwhile, Luis Scola copied Lee's first half with a scoring barrage of his own in the third and fourth quarters. Lee ended up with 26, 12, and 6, but Scola got his 23 and 7 when it counted most. I wish I'd taped this one, because I don't really know where Lee went.

...

- If any team is built to exploit Mike D'Antoni's short rotation, it's the Rockets. D'Antoni played only 7 men (plus a 3-minute charity stint for Marcus Landry), while Rick Adelman got serious, meaningful contributions from 9 players. The Rocket bench was outstanding. You know what to expect from Carl Landry, but Kyle Lowry was getting buckets and rebounds like he absolutely never should, Chase Budinger made some slick offensive plays, and David Andersen overcame a perilously douchey goatee to drop 10 points.

- No, but seriously, Andersen needs to either shave or accept the nickname I just came up with: David "Date Rape" Andersen.

Really? My personal nickname for him is "catfish-lips."

More links after the jump.

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In case (like me) you don't listen to sports radio shows, Rudy Tomjanovich made an appearance on 1560AM yesterday, and the audio from the interview may be found here and here.

I've written a lot about how preconceived notions and narratives influence the way in which we see the world (because I'm sure nothing drives up a sports' blog's hit counter like liberal-artsy shit). Hardwood Paroxysm's short piece on the Rudy T interview touches on this, as does Tomjanovich, himself.

Rudy states that he thinks Aaron Brooks and Landry are, in fact, "stars," it's just that no one is talking about them as such:

[Landry] also should be considered as an All-Star. He’s a special player. A lot of people don’t know him. They make the playoffs, they upset somebody… he’s going to be a guy that – the NBA knows about him now.

Moore continues:

I always try and see into the future, as we all do, but through the lens of how different things looked five years ago from where we are now. Seeing Wade tear it up his rookie year, we still didn’t know he’d become this. So we wonder where these guys we now see as "great" but not superstars will end up...

You don’t want to run into Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry for 48 minutes.

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A few days ago, Xiane asked if the Rockets were exceeding our expectations to start the season. The answer from all of you was an overwhelming "yes" (as if we could expect any different). As a reminder of how great I am, however, I'd like to note that Houston just about matches up with my prediction of 48 wins. So there. Marvel at my predictive capacity (or, perhaps, my faith in Daryl Morey).

John Hollinger was one of those who predicted the Rockets would be on the fringes of the playoff hunt. But right now, his projections admit a new reality: the computers see the Rockets as a 50-win team, capturing the 5th-seed in the West and playing the Suns (goddammit) in the first round. They have a 90% chance of making the playoffs. Cool.

More interestingly (to me, at least), those projections give some odds on success in the playoffs. The Rockets have the third-best odds at making the NBA Finals, after only the Lakers and Nuggets. As of right now, the Lakers will probably win the first seed, but the strength of the top teams in the Eastern Conference reduce their chances of winning the championship significantly.

This brings up that classic debate over conference strength. At the very top, I think it's clear that the East has a collection of teams that are a little better than the best teams in the West. But the East is more stratified, and it's thus easier to make the playoffs as a bad team. If nothing else, Hollinger's projections demonstrate the odd way playoff structure affects playoff outcomes.

Other neat little tidbits: The Hornets have totally collapsed since May 2008. The Thunder have a decent shot at the playoffs. At least one of Hollinger's simulations saw the Nets failing to win any more games.

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For me, the most grating issue of the nine-month T-Mac Injury Drama were Rockets fans' attempts at medical opinions. As I recall, I accused (in not the nicest way possible) Xiane of trying to be an "internet doctor" back when McGrady was visiting several different doctors in the space of a few weeks.

Honestly, I think that the same thing was going on at an even more egregious level over the past month, as reporters and fans speculated on whether or not the Rockets were keeping a healthy McGrady out of games he could otherwise play. For a variety of reasons, this struck me as even more silly than the "doctor shopping" accusations of March and April.

So it's nice to see Chris Webber share some insights on coming back from microfracture surgery, as well as an experience that almost certainly influenced Adelman's decision to hold Tracy out of games for the past month, and only now play him in very limited minutes.

Why did Adelman wait so long to play McGrady? The fact that Webber may have ruined his career by trying to come back early probably has something to do with it.

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