The Scalabrine Phenomenon: Danza'S Favorite Player..........

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The Scalabrine Phenomenon: Player as Mascot

December 13, 2007 11:23 AM




Planet Lovetron (the blog, not the place) marvels at how Celtic fans celebrate Brian Scalabrine:

He gets cheered just for touching the ball; they chant his name if he hits a shot. Read: they chant his name if he hits ONE shot. Sometimes they chant his name for doing nothing at all. They even bring homemade signs that call for a "BIG 4!" instead of the Big 3.

I wonder how Scal feels about it all. I'm sure he prefers it to boos, but it hast to be kind of embarrassing. It reminds me of when we used to bring signs and chant "Put in Wohlers!" at our boy's high school basketball games. We'd chant during freethrows, timeouts, halftime. If he got in the game and scored a bucket we'd scream like mad. He may have appreciated some of the support, but certainly not all of it. Yes, we were drunk, and we didn't mean to disrespect, but when your level of fan support disproportionately exceeds your level of skill/production, you are being mocked to a certain degree, even if it's out of love.

I have been in crowds doing that kind of stuff. It's fun! I think, more than anything, it's a sympton of delerium. We're having so much fun that we can indulge in this little bit of group goofiness!

I recognize, though, that it might also be totally annoying and creepy if you're Brian Scalabrine, who is an extremely hard working player who takes his job very seriously. Back when he was with the Nets several people from the team told me he had a nearly insatiable appetite for anything that would make him stronger or more skilled. And as his reward he's roasted in videos like these.

This exact trend -- crowds adopting a bench-warmer as a de facto mascot -- came up in a conversation I had a while ago with an NBA beat writer who spends his time in arenas all over the league. He described something that I kind of hope isn't true: those guys who crowds adore for something other than their skill are almost always white.

If and when he makes it to the NBA, maybe that's something Rod Benson can help remedy.

DUDE i didnt see this till now......awesome article my friend. Brini is a BEAST and we all know it, main reason Big Woo wouldnt trade him away. It's like the movie Dodgeball a true underdog story jajaja i have a list of players who are Stars but people just don't know it yet

jejejejeje....... Yeah Man Brini > Curry +Wallace


jejejeje!!!!!!!

This would be my ideal lineup

PG - Luke "9-2-5 All Star" Ridnour
SG - Delonte "Wild Wild" West
SF - Jalen "smooth as a" Rose
PF - Brian Scalabrini
C - Samual Dolembert

DAWM THATS A DREAM TEAM............

Boston is beastly with their 20-2 record!!!!

make that 20-3....what a game against the Pistons. Billups = Mr. Bigshot

precise1987 wrote:make that 20-3....what a game against the Pistons. Billups = Mr. Bigshot

Cano wasn't joking when he said Mr. Clutch is Clutch. A huge 3 then the nice ball fake on Ray or who ever it was to draw the foul, I think the BIG 4 in Detroit have something to say to all those who think Bostons big 3 will just walk into the finals. Thou did u see the sheet eating grin on Big poppis face each time Ray Allen nailed a huge shot or when he went baseline with a dunk

Road to the finals still goes thru DETROIT......BASKETBALL!!!!!!!

JAJAJAJAJA YEAH!!!!!! MY BOI MR. CLUTCH DOING HIS THING.............. U KNOW THAT PRODUCT FROM COACH CPR 360 .......... I LIKE GARNNETT BUT CHAUNCY IS MY BOI AS POINT GUARD.......


D- TROIT BASKETBALL............

ALSO IN A TRIBUTE U GUYS BETTER NAME HIM MVP OF DSL3 IN 2K WE HAVE 3 WITTNESS OF CLUTCH TIMES..... BIG WOO, ARROGANT D, GD AND PAPPI JOE....... EVEN STEEL KNOWS..... JAJAJAJA..........

MVP BILLUPS...........

durant all day all long buddy, according to GM Danza you cant spell Durant without MVP hahaha