By Mark Bryant
May 11, 2003
"The Philadelphia story is not unique. In fact is typical of a handful of cities around the eastern portion of the United States, stretches into the Midwest. Boston, New York, Philly, Washington (formerly Baltimore), Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit (nee Fort Wayne) and Milwaukee make up the nation's Basketball Belt, characterized by intense fandom and loyalty. At one time Carolina was high on the list, but Charlotte doesn't have a team anymore and Duke, N.C. State, and the Tar Heels are college programs."
"The Sixers take the floor to a tepid response from the sparse crowd. They are an important part of the city's culture and pride, and possible the lone entity that elicits such unbridled, opinionated and unisoned responsed from those of different backgrounds...The Eagles have a mostly working class fan base, but like the vast majority of NFL cities, those that attend home games are predominantly white. Likewise the Phillies, in addition to most other major-league baseball fan bases...
...Basketball is a black man's sport, and the NBA's demographic both in terms of game patrons, front-office people, coaches and players reflect that. Recently, the league has attempted to counter this by moving into previously uncharted waters in Europe to find new white talent in the hopes of creating another Larry Bird. The results have been encouraging for those executives who secretly are yearning for a white superstar, a marketable product to put an end to the domination by coarse ghetto street toughs with their braids, cornrows and Afros and their loud rap music which utterly irritates the powers that be."
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