Go back to previous topic
Forum nameOkay Sports
Topic subjectHas anyone listened to The Sterling Affairs - ESPN?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2702907
2702907, Has anyone listened to The Sterling Affairs - ESPN?
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Tue Sep-10-19 05:37 PM
Thought the premise was interesting and told exceptionally well. The way that Ramona Shelburne broke up the story made sense and the segment on the player's decision was well told. In fact I wish the podcasts focused more on how Shelly and his cabal and even the NBA owners enabled Donald's horrible behavior and values. It seemed clear as a sportsfan through the 90's and 2000's that Sterling was a reprehensible human being and recovering that ground seemed like time lost to talk about some of those affected by his racism and bigotry.

But it was an enjoyable and easy listen.
2702908, yeah...listened to it in it's entirety over two days...
Posted by Dstl1, Tue Sep-10-19 05:56 PM
crazy stuff. It definitely gave a voice to Shelly...who I don't think many people on the outside knew much about.
2702914, Wish it hadn't, cause sorry but she racist af too.
Posted by Brew, Tue Sep-10-19 08:01 PM
>crazy stuff. It definitely gave a voice to Shelly...who I
>don't think many people on the outside knew much about.

No matter how hard she wants to deny it.
2703010, I do think that's a fair criticism
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Wed Sep-11-19 06:08 PM
>>crazy stuff. It definitely gave a voice to Shelly...who I
>>don't think many people on the outside knew much about.
>
>No matter how hard she wants to deny it.

Yes, she was jerked around by Donald and seemed to be 'polite' to the players. But she voiced comments which were highly racist and seem to show that her attitudes on race were problematic. Maybe not as problematic as Donald, but still jacked up.

The podcast made her out to be more sympathetic than I think she deserved.
2703012, Yep. And I no longer give willing co-conspirators ...
Posted by Brew, Wed Sep-11-19 07:36 PM
>Yes, she was jerked around by Donald and seemed to be 'polite'
>to the players. But she voiced comments which were highly
>racist and seem to show that her attitudes on race were
>problematic. Maybe not as problematic as Donald, but still
>jacked up.
>
>The podcast made her out to be more sympathetic than I think
>she deserved.

... the benefit of the doubt in situations of racism like this. She sounds smart enough to know better than to play dumb about the shit they were collectively pulling, and acting like Don was the real racist and that she was just some naive victim being strung along. i.e the part where she was fucking crawling around their black tenants' apartments looking for anything they could evict them for. Don't insult our intelligence trying to tell us you really thought that was legit, reasonable activity or that you didn't know that shit was fucked up.

She was perfectly happy to go all racist just like Don so long as the money kept flowing. And didn't deserve an ounce of sympathy once shit hit the fan for her too. Karma baby. Fuck her.
2705919, Yeah, she is/was just as bad as him
Posted by Vector, Mon Oct-28-19 03:12 PM
Didn't believe her innocent BS for one second.
2703009, It's very bingable.
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Wed Sep-11-19 06:05 PM
I did like that Shelly's role and values got indepth reporting. I couldn't figure out if I should feel sorry for her - for being the 'sidepiece' to the sidepieces who Donald seemed to feel more connected to - or if she's a co-conspirator.

In a lot of relationships, one side may have questionable values and attitudes that the other half doesn't share. But I have a hard time believing she doesn't share many of the same warped, disgusting values and attitudes towards Blacks and other people of color as Donald. Especially in light of her comments about the tenets of one of their buildings. She seems complicit in Donald's racism somehow and it makes her much less sympathetic to me.

Like in most studies of people, its complicated.

I do wish the podcast spent more time on the players' reactions to the recording once it was released and also their grappling with a form of protest against Donald. And I do wish by some borderline miracle that she could have sat down with Vi Steviano(sp). I would like to hear more about how the drama affected her.
2702909, Shit was fantastic.
Posted by Ryan M, Tue Sep-10-19 05:59 PM
I'm glad it was done as a podcast rather than a 30 for 30 TV special. It made it way more interesting just to hear the stories and what might be boring talking heads. You forget just how fucking insane that saga was.
2703011, It really did feel like the league was going to implode
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Wed Sep-11-19 06:11 PM
>I'm glad it was done as a podcast rather than a 30 for 30 TV
>special. It made it way more interesting just to hear the
>stories and what might be boring talking heads. You forget
>just how fucking insane that saga was.

There was enough story to last several hours as a podcast. The nature that the events of the story involve legalities and mostly interviews, so having visuals of the interview subjects wouldn't aid the storytelling.
2703026, Thanks for the heads-up
Posted by Vector, Thu Sep-12-19 08:44 AM
Looking forward to listening to it.
2703062, Sure
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Thu Sep-12-19 06:26 PM
If you even vaguely remember the time period this went down, it's a good listen.
2705893, Finally listened to this...
Posted by Vector, Mon Oct-28-19 11:32 AM
Very interesting.

Stirling obviously lost the plot a long time before it happened. He doesn't sound right on those tapes. Like somebody drugged up on meds.
2705901, Wasn't he diagnosed with dementia?
Posted by Ryan M, Mon Oct-28-19 12:13 PM
2705917, In the podcast one doctor who examines him
Posted by Vector, Mon Oct-28-19 03:06 PM
tells him he has "early Alzheimers".

I sense that it onset quite a while before that. Just a thought.