Can somebody tell me why I needed to read Bill Simmons to find this out about NBA All-Star Weekend?
So many gangbangers and troublemakers flooded the Strip that late-night gamblers willingly chose 75-minute cab lines over a 15-minute walk to their next casino. So many wild stories floated around about shootings, robberies and everything else that we never knew what to believe; still, every tale seemed reasonable because there were no cops to be seen. On Saturday night, one of my friends even joked that the city might have to declare martial law, only none of us laughed because we didn't realize he was joking.
Whoever at AOL lured Jason Whitlock out of ESPN deserves some kind of medal today. His account of the weekend isn't different at all:
Plus, the NBA's business partner ESPN didn't have time to dirty its hands and report on the carnage. I'm sure ESPN's reporters were embedded in the rear ends of the troops -- Shaq, Kobe, King James, D-Wade, AI and Melo.
As many of you know, I watch PTI with Michael Wilbon pretty religiously. And on Monday's program, when you would usually expect him and Tony Kornheiser to open with the events in Las Vegas, the focus at the front of the show was on the Daytona 500. As I recall, Wilbon was apparently sick all weekend long, and didn't get to see much of what went on in Las Vegas.
Interesting and all too convenient. Even Deadspin has bought into the meme that it was a safe weekend to be in Las Vegas.
Here's Whitlock on what he saw in Vegas in 2007 and what 2008 in New Orleans could be like:
There were so many fights and so many gangbangers and one parking-lot shootout at the MGM Grand that people literally fled the hotel in fear for their safety. I talked with a woman who moved from the MGM to the Luxor because "I couldn't take it. I'll never come back to another All-Star Game."There are reports of a brawl between rappers and police at the Wynn Hotel.
Vegas police were simply overwhelmed along The Strip. They were there solely for decoration and to discourage major crimes. Beyond that, they minded their own business.
I was there. Walking The Strip this weekend must be what it feels like to walk the yard at a maximum security prison. You couldn't relax. You avoided eye contact. The heavy police presence only reminded you of the danger.
Without a full-scale military occupation, New Orleans will not survive All-Star Weekend 2008.
Seems like Matt Drudge is the only person covering all this.
UPDATE: Another local story from via Drudge:
Visitors also felt the different kind of Las Vegas atmosphere. "There was a problem with the people trying walking in front of cars and things like that," said David Hart, visitor from Houston."It was very crowded but we did get to where we were going," said Gwen Hart, visitor from Houston.
Gwen and David Hart flew into town on Friday and when they saw the large groups of younger NBA fans, they say they avoided them to avoid problems.
That's the same technique David Botero and his wife used. "It was definitely a Las Vegas we had not seen in the past. It was not vintage Vegas at all," David Botero said. He moved from Las Vegas to New York three years ago. His wife surprised him with a 30th birthday trip back to the city they both love. It turned out to be bad timing.
Although many Las Vegans, including Teresa Frey, support an NBA team in Las Vegas, she doesn't want to see another All-Star game anytime soon.
"I know that any amount of revenue I made does not justify me being assaulted," she said.
More thoughts on Whitlock's piece from Redhawk Review and Macker's World.
UPDATE: Now I'm really confused. What the heck happened in between the time Whitlock posted this column in the Kansas City Star and his AOL column that I linked above?:
All-Star weekend a perfect partyFor black men and women below the age of 45, NBA All-Star Weekend in Vegas was a calling you felt deep in the pit of your stomach.
You just had to be there, even if you no longer love the NBA the way you did when Magic, Bird, Michael and Isiah ruled the game, even if you had zero interest in the actual game.
Granted, later in the column Whitlock comes off as mildly critical, but not anywhere near as shrill as he was in his AOL piece.
What gives? Is the Kansas City Star muzzling Whitlock? I wouldn't be surprised, as I know personally just how much leeway AOL gives to its contributors.
Or is he trying to play both sides of the street? And what's the truth?
Thanks to Signal2Noise for pointing this out.
UPDATE: CSTB has some interesting thoughts on Whitlock, what I'd like to read is what he'd write after reading Whitlock's previous version of the weekend's events.
