The Audacity of Dope

(^^reminds me of why we used to go to our high school volleyball games)

The long awaited video for Drake’s “single” (in quotes cause they didn’t really choose it in the traditional sense) dropped tonight, courtesy of OnSmash with the world premiere.  As I mentioned on the Twitter, the combination of hot girls and basketball is pretty much a slam dunk for me, and the Kanye directed clip did not disappoint.  Well, unless you’re a sports bra manufacturer…cause you were not represented well here at all.

The highlight is definitely the 2nd skit break and Drake’s double entendre, but there is a weird Law & Order SVU kind of vibe jumping off here.  Anyone who has played or coached sports (I do both) knows the player/coach bond is definitely familial.  I understand the girls are on “his team” in a different sense, but it’s still stepping into an awkward area.

Shrug.  I’m sure he could recruit the same cast for an appropriate “HoustAtlantaVegas” video though…

On Sunday, the Guardian reported on the image above, which features the Spanish men’s national basketball team in an advertisement for the Beijing Olympics.  The dragon in the center circle?  Clumsy, but admissable.  The fingers pulling back the skin around their eyes in an attempt to mimic asian features?  Yeaaaaaah, I’m going to go ahead and hit you with the:

You’d think that the European country closest to Africa (separated by only 8 miles at the Strait of Gibraltar) might be the most racially tolerant member of the E.U., but unfortunately, you’d be dead wrong.  Spain has a long history of racism, and in recent years, it’s repeatedly reared its ugly head in their sporting events.  From the abuse Lewis Hamilton received earlier this year, to Luis Aragones’ moronic comments about Thierry Henry, it seems like a new incident pops up every few months.  We also can’t forget about when Samuel Eto’o almost left the pitch a few years back:

And now the Spanish basketball team, one of the best squads in the world, has again demonstrated the ignorance and racism that appears so prevalent in their culture.  It’s shocking enough that this actually made it’s way into an officially sanctioned advertisement (apparently involving the female team in the same pose on the opposite page), but how could players who’ve spent time here in the NBA agree to this?  You’re telling me Pau and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jose Calderon, and Jorge Garbajosa didn’t know any better?  Wow.

I don’t want to sound too high and mighty, because we clearly have lots of race issues here (cough, cough, cough), but it’s time for Spain to get a grip on this.  If they’re going continue campaigning for Madrid to host the 2016 or 2020 Olympics, they have to get serious about this problem.