Vintage NBA Trash Talk

Yours truly blogs here at Drive and Dish under the somewhat ignoble moniker "Trash Talk Superstar." The moniker came about in part because my original/official moniker, "Have Jump Shot Will Travel" -- which is a fairly accurate description of me -- is too long and isn't sufficiently catchy (blame the "suits" in the Drive and Dish marketing department with their graphs and flow charts).

But the moniker was appropriate in the early days of this blog. My then-blog partner, Mark Buckets, wrote fairly straightforward posts from the standpoint of the hardcore college basketball fan, and I contributed with a combination of straight basketball analysis and highly pointed (maybe even contentious and swaggering) commentary. I was, therefore, a pretty good trash talker. And people took notice ... often by calling me a douche bag or an asshat in the comments sections (which, by the way, I welcomed wholeheartedly -- being controversial certainly didn't prevent this blog from attracting eyeballs).

But some time after crossing over the threshold of the "Big 3-0," I started to mature, or at least tire of, the snarky, sarcastic, flame-throwing writing style that proliferates on sports blogs. So I started writing in more professional, almost newspaper-style prose. And I stopped talking trash.

Yet fret not, loyal Drive and Dish readers: although I'm older and my sensibilities are (arguably) more mature than they were in the early days of this blog, I can still enjoy the occasional exchange of verbal jabs. What's more, my trash talking skills are as sharp as ever -- I just refrain from utilizing them on this blog. Furthermore, I remain one of the foremost authorities on the art of trash talking on the North American continent. As such, it's my view that while there's a lot of decent trash talk out there today, the best trash talkers who ever lived roamed the NBA hardwood from the the mid 1980's to the early/mid 90's. That was the golden era of trash talking in the NBA, if you will. The following old school video, titled "NBA Freedom of Speech," offers an excellent snapshot of the legendary trash talk that flourished in the league during that time period (bonus: Dick Versace makes an appearance in the video, and Vinny Del Negro plays the "I'm Italian: I got family 'connections', if you know what I mean" card):

Update:

It appears that Youtube has removed the video. Too bad. It was reel to reel of vintage 80's and early 90's NBA footage. It really doesn't get much better than that. Oh well, it was great while it lasted.

Former NBA Coach/GM Versace Running for Congress

It had been rumored - since mid summer - that former NBA coach/broadcaster/General Manager Dick Versace was interested in running for the Congressional seat that will soon be vacated by Rep. Ray LaHood. In July, the venerable LaHood (R-IL), announced his plans to retire from his position as Representative for the 18th Congressional District (central Illinois). LaHood will serve out his current term.

Well, the rumors were true. Dick Versace has announced that he will, indeed, run for Congress, as a Democrat, in the 18th District. The flamboyant Versace was the head basketball coach at Bradley University before moving on to coach the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons in the NBA. Vercace later served as the General Manager for the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.

This should be fun to watch. I like Versace, but I'm not sure how he'll be viewed by the voters of the 18th District. When he was coaching at Bradley (in Peoria, IL), folks around Peoria often criticized Versace for being too "slick," and too much of a Chicago guy.

Despite his employment in downstate Peoria, Versace maintained his primary residence in Chicago. He did have a home in Peoria, but he spent most of his free time - and most of the off season - living it up in the big city. Downstate Illinois folks didn't exactly cotton to that.

Dick Versace is a fun, big city guy, with a double-sized personality. He was masterful at selling his basketball program - both in the recruitment of players and in his dealings/relations with the media. A career in politics seems like a good fit for Versace, because the guy's a natural at selling himself. However, it remains to bee seen if downstate voters will buy his act.