Boondocks . . .

[BreezeHillBill]

Typical of the Austin media's condencension toward San Antonio, the lead article on the front page of the sports section of the Austin American Daily Worker, I mean Statesman came from Mark Rosner:

"SAN ANTONIO - Welcome back to the boondocks, where the San Antonio Spurs conductd business as usual Wednesday: with tenacious defense, efficient offense, and the NBA Nation's attention elsewhere."

[Oh, Gee!!]

Maybe the "boondocks" reference was the writer being sarcastic. Link the whole story so our "highly educated and objective" (sarcasm) posters can decide for themselves.

[smeagol]

What's boondocks?

[Oh, Gee!!]

What's boondocks?

www.dictionary.com

[smeagol]

www.dictionary.com
Thanks

[boutons_]

"When American GIs returned from Asia at the close of World War II, besides Victory they brought home a new word to add to the lexicon -- "boondocks". It is derived from bundok the word for mountain in most Philippine dialects and decribes a place that is remote and inaccessible.

The Bundok Philippines Website is about making the boondocks somewhat more accessible. It's about the Philippine mountains and other wild areas: where to find them and how to explore them. Besides exploring, you'll find a little about their history and the important issue of conservation. If this is your first visit, you may want to start with the Website Overview.

Copyright © 2000-2003 by Robert S. Gardner"

some bundok inhabitants:

http://www.aenet.org/ifugao/masfere.htm

[BreezeHillBill]

Maybe the "boondocks" reference was the writer being sarcastic. Link the whole story so our "highly educated and objective" (sarcasm) posters can decide for themselves.
Sorry. I read hard copy. I work in S. Austin. I can't find it on the Statesman's web site. It was just a snide lead-off by Rosen followed by word on Kobe and a pedestrian boilerplate article on the Spurs unexciting but effective style.

Cedric Golden has another article which states that the Spurs should be getting the limelight, not Kobe. But, he devotes the majority of the article to Kobe.

If I can catch it on their website later, I'll link them both.

Basically, on Austin sports talk and written media, if it isn't Longhorn, it doesn't rank.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

It wasn't that hard to find. It's the lead story on the Sports front page.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/05/31/0531spurs.html

Spurs surge into NBA Finals
San Antonio makes quick work of Utah in Game 5 blowout.

By Mark Rosner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, May 31, 2007

SAN ANTONIO — Welcome back to the boondocks, where the San Antonio Spurs conducted business as usual Wednesday: with tenacious defense, efficient offense, and the NBA Nation's attention elsewhere.

The Spurs, dominating the entire game, defeated Utah 109-84 to win the Western Conference finals 4-1.

San Antonio earned its fourth trip to the NBA Finals since 1999. Will the Spurs, three-time league champions, meet Detroit when the Finals begin on June 7? Cleveland? Does anybody care?

The most prominent topic on radio and television Wednesday was Kobe Bryant, the moping Laker who announced his intentions for relocation but later changed his stance.

Oh, well, that's the Spurs' station in life. It's a team known for efficiency — 22 assists and just 7 turnovers on Wednesday — but not sizzle, a franchise located in a small market.

Not that the Spurs complain much about the lack of attention.

"That starts with Tim Duncan," said former Spurs center David Robinson, standing in the team's locker room wearing a Western Conference champions cap. "How great has that man been for the last 10 years? He'll get 28 (points) and 15 (rebounds), and everybody's like, 'oh, well, that's Tim.'

"That's just the personality of this team," said Robinson, a member of the Spurs championship teams in 1999 and 2003. "There's been nothing spectacular this year. They just kept plodding through. Their motto is always, 'we're gonna beat on the rock until in cracks. And that's what they did this year. And here they are, on the verge of accomplishing their goal."

Spurs reserve Robert Horry is angling for his seventh NBA championship.

"It never gets old," said Horry, who has three titles with the Lakers, two in Houston and one since joining the Spurs in 2003. "It's a wonderful feeling."

Utah has lost 19 straight games in San Antonio, a streak that goes back to February, 1999. The Jazz was severely outmanned Wednesday.

Point guard Deron Williams, Utah's best player in the series, was hobbled by a sprained right foot that he sustained near the end of Game 4.

Starting guard, Derek Fisher did not arrive until halftime. Fisher had to come from New York, where his 11-month-old daughter, Tatum, is undergoing treatment for a rare form of eye cancer.

Williams had a rough night Wednesday. Assigned to guard Tony Parker, Williams watched the Spurs' point guard repeatedly drive by him in the first half. Parker scored 11 points in the first quarter, finshing with 21.

Parker, asked if he tried to test Williams' mobility, said, "I didn't even know that he was hurt. I was just trying to be aggressive."

Williams had difficulty on offense as well, scoring 11 points after averaging 29.5 in the first four games. He played just 24 minutes, six in the second half.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said he was reluctant to use Williams.

"I asked him if he was ready to play and he said he was," Sloan said.

Carlos Boozer, Utah's other big star, was limited to nine points. He missed seven of his 10 shots.

The Jazz shot 38 percent.

Parker may have been principle soloist for the Spurs, the way he maneuvered to the basket, but the entire troupe provided a show.

Duncan matched Duncan's 21 points. Manu Ginobili scored all 12 of his points in the first half. His fellow Argentine, Fabricio Oberto, led the Spurs with 10 rebounds.

The Spurs dismissed Utah from the competition with a 14-0 push in the first quarter. The Spurs converted six straight attempts during that span, including two layups and a couple of jump shots by Parker.

"They got a great start. They came at us really hard," Sloan said. "They destroyed our will to want to play."

---------

And as I've learned from other members of the local media, the Statesman's seats usually weren't filled during the regular season and finally started coming in the playoffs.

The AAS sports team (save for a few solid people) is not respected amongst their peers, either.

[Kevin Blackistone]

Down in the boondocks.................. Down in the boondocks......................

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Golden's column.

It's only fair to link to a column you present from another Web site, but the easiest way to make your feelings known about a media outlet's thoughts is to not give them page views.

Don't click the links if you don't respect their opinions.

-----------

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/05/31/0531golden.html

While Kobe whines, Spurs just win
Lakers' star steals spotlight for a day, but Spurs keep rolling

Thursday, May 31, 2007

SAN ANTONIO — Someone please clear this up.

The Spurs spanked Utah in five games and stand four wins from a fourth NBA championship and all anybody seems to care about are Kobe Bryant's trade demands?

The enigmatic superstar did an interview on ESPN radio Wednesday morning then spoke in the afternoon with Dan Patrick about his desire to leave the Lakers after saying the organization promised him it would reload, not rebuild, in the post-Shaq era. He also ripped into an anonymous source who said Bryant orchestrated O'Neal's trade to Miami.

Later in the day, Kobe backed off his comments, saying he wanted to retire as a Laker. Hopefully, we can work something out, he said.

Well, whoop-de- freakin'-do. What is he going to do next? Change his jersey number again? How about switching to No. 0, which matches his relevance to the NBA's 2007 conference finals.

While his competitive fire is unquestioned, Bryant is an ego-driven spotlight hog who grew tired of watching the playoffs on television, watching players like LeBron James and Tim Duncan soak up all of that postseason coverage while the only championships he's won lately are scoring titles.

Give it a rest, Kobe. You sound like a desperate house husband, with a much worse TV rating than Eva Longoria.

Before tempering his earlier comments, Bryant actually said he would rather play on Pluto before coming back to the Lakers for another season. Can't blame him there. Pluto probably has a better bench.

Credit him for having out-of-this-world talent, but we can wait for the 2007-08 season to discuss his game. Instead, let's talk about the relevant Western Conference champion Spurs, who beat Utah for the 19th straight time at home on Wednesday night.

With Deron Williams hobbling and Derek Fisher unavailable in the first half because of personal reasons, there wasn't a whole lot of fuel left in the Jazz, which surprised us all by getting this far.

The 109-84 blowout in a closeout game wasn't surprising. The Jazz haven't won here since Feb. 28, 1999. That was a much happier time for all of us, not because of Utah's 101-87 victory, but because gas cost 91 cents a gallon.

So instead of fueling the Kobe fire by trying to figure out the identity of that mysterious Laker insider, let's appreciate Tim Duncan, who puts up 20 points and 10 rebounds with the same consistency of a Rolex. Let's enjoy watching Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, the best 2-3 punch in the league. Let's congratulate coach Gregg Popovich, who improved to 4-0 in Western Conference finals matchups.

Sure, they're about as sexy as Granny's bloomers and match up with a red carpet about as well as Paris Hilton goes with a bottled water at last call. Shoot, their fans weren't even decent enough to give us a good riot in the previous three championship seasons, but this is a winning formula and results are all that matter.

"During the season, there's always somebody else being talked about, somebody else getting more attention,'' Duncan said. "None of that stuff bothers us."

That somebody has often been the Lakers, who have gone from dynasty to cry-nasty since O'Neal was shipped to Miami. Owner Jerry Buss thought he could retool a title team without Shaq and handed over the keys to his franchise — but apparently not the keys to his car — to the younger Bryant. It hasn't worked out.

While the NBA's best player languishes on a former league power, the league's oldest team is resting comfortably, awaiting the Detroit-Cleveland winner in the finals. San Antonio will enjoy homecourt advantage, by the way, and will open the Finals as the favorite.

And the Spurs have the audacity to be nice guys. These aren't the Bad Boys. NBA fans had no problem hating Bryant after his legal problems a few years ago, but the closest San Antonio came to being reviled was during the conference semifinals when Robert Horry did his best Ray Lewis imitation on two-time MVP Steve Nash. That Most Hated Team in the NBA hype lasted about as long as a roll of nickels at a Vegas slot machine.

These Spurs are more flannel than flamingo. They have gone about their business with the vanilla efficiency of a veteran insurance salesman who wears a clip-on tie but wins that company bonus every year for top sales.

Speaking of tops, you are watching a model NBA franchise at the Everest of its game. Lots of wins, little drama. A quiet superstar on a tough-minded team with a no-nonsense coach, a group that's totally, unapologetically comfortable operating beneath the NBA radar.

But enough talk about those boring winners. Let's turn to SportsCenter. We hear Kobe's in studio.

[Fillmoe]

i miss the boondocks


http://z.about.com/d/animatedtv/1/0/d/S/boondocksHuey500.jpg

[atxrocker]

why should austin writers feel obligated to kiss san antionios ass? you're pissed cause they're saying the same thing that everyone else is, that none of this is barely entertaining?

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

why should austin writers feel obligated to kiss san antionios ass? you're pissed cause they're saying the same thing that everyone else is, that none of this is barely entertaining?

Nobody's saying they need to kiss San Antonio's ass. They, just like you, are expressing their opinion over Rosner's lede.

I did see somebody call it a pedestrian article, though, as well as reference Austin media's condescension towards San Antonio.

Anything that's not Longhorns gets very little run in the AAS. Hell, they can't even decide how they want to get Express coverage (beat writers, interns, Daily Texan people). They've admitted they don't give a rat's ass about the Wranglers and people all across the state have simply tired of trying to get anything about prep sports from them and end up calling everywhere else first.

Up until about a week or so ago, they had HS basketball as the top stories on their HS sports page.

[BreezeHillBill]

why should austin writers feel obligated to kiss san antionios ass? you're pissed cause they're saying the same thing that everyone else is, that none of this is barely entertaining?
Actually I'm just pissed that I have to work in Austin. I miss the boondocks. All points well taken. I am properly chastised.

[judaspriestess]

Spurs are NOT vanilla. They are Neopolitan

[sleepybum]

I thought the articles were fairly dry sarcasm about how dumb the media was for paying more attention to attention whore Kobe than a solid winning franchise in the WCF. Oh, and I thought boondocks was just referring to small-market. *shrug*