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THE ROOK
I Have No Idea What to Write About
December 10, 2003
by Sean Mullin
This week has been little more than one big case of enormous writer’s block for my column.
I’ll be honest: the deadline is in less than five hours and I have no idea what to write about—not a bloody clue.
Instead, all I’ve come up with is what not to write—so that’s what this column is going to about, I guess—although I’ve had some pretty good suggestions. The only problem is that I don’t have the qualifications or knowledge to address them completely and so it wouldn’t really be fair for me to write about them.
My friend Mike suggested that I write about the issue of racism in the NBA today and use the Boston Celtics as a good example of where it might quite possibly systemically exist. He told me that the Celtics are the “whitest” team in basketball and that they’ve always been that way. And, apparently, it could be argued that the Celtics’ management continues to promote this by trading excellent non-white players for mediocre white ones. If this is true—and I, of all people, am in no position to analyze this claim—then that’s a pretty sad commentary on the NBA and, as a Bostonian, that makes me very upset. That’s all I’ll say and leave it at that.
And my old man suggested writing about the role foreigners play in the NBA. Another interesting topic but definitely not one I’m qualified to explore. I don’t know enough about the American players in the NBA, let alone those from different countries.
Let’s put this in perspective here: I just found out tonight—no joke—that the Spurs won the NBA Championship last year. After my revelation, my dialogue with he-who-shall-remain-nameless went, in part, a little bit like this:
“You write about the NBA! How the hell can you not know that? What’s your problem, dude?”
“Well, that’s the idea of my column; I’m a new fan. The hope is that people will find my ignorance amusing.”
“Yeah, I ain’t one of those people.”
I think he wanted an apology but I didn’t offer one. I was too busy trying to figure out what to write.
In the end, though, I think it’s a good thing that he “ain’t” the kind of person who would read my column. I highly doubt that he’d be amused by me quoting him extensively; in fact, he’d probably say I have some kind of “problem,” wouldn’t he?
Speaking of problems, I hope to eliminate two of them next week. With any luck, I won’t have writers block and I’ll actually have a topic…
The Rook originally hails from Boston and currently resides in Kansas. He can be reached at seantherook@yahoo.com.
