Time to get rid of the shorts!
Remember that in ballet, men wore shorts over their tights...
March 22, 2015
"But basketball players increasingly cover their lower bodies, mostly out of fashion, partly out of protection, sometimes out of prudish modesty."
"In a trend on full display at the N.C.A.A. men’s tournament, skin is concealed behind the triple protection of shorts hemmed below the kneecap, socks raised to the calf and a base layer of tights underneath."
Time to get rid of the shorts!
Remember that in ballet, men wore shorts over their tights...
Time to get rid of the shorts!
Remember that in ballet, men wore shorts over their tights...
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20 comments:
“When I start sweating, it’s uncontrollable,” said Williams, a 6-11 center. “These really help contain some of the sweat.”
Sorry, Amir, it doesn't work that way. Covering or containing sweat defeats the body's natural purpose to cool you (by evaporation). Makes more sense to sweat.
Watch pro tennis players wipe their brows after nearly every point. Don't trainers even know this doesn't help?
Continuing the intersection of dance and basketball... Darion Atkins is a 6'8" 240 lb power forward for Virginia. His fraternal twin brother Darius is a ballet dancer.
Darion Atkins
Darius Atkins
People who like basketball are always comparing it to ballet, right?
The dancer looks like he's more likely to be related to Rupaul than to his twin.
You should have trigger warnings before exposing us to pictures like this. Speaking on behalf of the special little snowflakes that comprise your blog readership, we don't have access to Play-Doh when we are at home.
"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other." -- J.H.
"prudish modesty"? Where in the article does anyone even hint at it being "prudish modesty"?
Though m stone isn't entirely right, either - having fabric wick away the sweat from the skin can help the evaporation process. It's also possible (though I really don't know) that having skin soaked in sweat is somehow a problem during play.
I wouldn't be surprised that quite a few of those leg coverings are covering up knee & lower leg supports. Professional athletes just beat the crap out of their bodies, and they've always got some part or another in pain.
As for your ballet photos, the second one of Nijinsky is from his choreography of Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun", and his outfit, like his choreography, was meant to be "scandalous". Judging from audience reaction at the time, he seemed to have succeeded.
"People who like basketball are always comparing it to ballet, right?"
Umm, no. Testable hypothesis, easily refuted.
I don't recall any serious (NBA) commentator ever using ballet as basketball metaphor. May have missed it, but "always" is certainly wrong, even if used loosely.
The performance that might have deserved it most, Spurs crushing Heat last season, did not elicit such effusions, least of all from Pop, who counts as among the "people who like basketball" but was curmudgeonly even as his team put on an all-time classic show.
Time to get ride of the sorts, there's an outré comment.
Conveniently leaving out the racial aspect.
"Watch pro tennis players wipe their brows after nearly every point. Don't trainers even know this doesn't help?"
It helps keeps the sweat out of their eyes.
If the Supreme Court hadn't scuttled the People's Choice, Al Gore would have been President, Midnight Ballet under Candlelight would be the traditional way out of the ghetto by now-
Example:
"Julius Erving | biography - American basketball player ...
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/192018/Julius-Erving At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 metres), Erving played forward and was noted for his fast breaks, balletic leaps toward the basket, and climactic slam dunks."
Dr.J was not noted for his "slam dunks", but his ability to softly in the basketball from every angle...when he could have easily "dunked".
Some schools of conservative Islam would frown upon showing the bare legs if it would cause a woman or a man to gaze upon you lustfully.
Note: this is not sarcasm, it is true.
bring back the codpiece!
@Ann,
describing a player as "balletic" in manner is different from describe the game as akin to ballet.
Even if more than one player is balletic in style, the teams don't move (as a team) with grace and precision of a ballet dancer.
in the 60s/70s/80s american men weren't afraid to show off their bodies. they wore little-left-to-the-imagination, speedo-like swimsuits to the beach/pool and wore their tumescences like badges of honor in their skintight pants and short-shorts.
then, suddenly, the 'family jewels' became 'junk' and culotte-like bathing suits, long, blousy shorts and baggy pants that hide any evidence of male genitalia became de rigueur. what happened ?? acquiescence to male-hating feminism ? fear of being thought to be gay ? old-fashioned prudery ? or just a swing of the fashion pendulum ?
People who like basketball are always comparing it to ballet, right?
When both my older brother and I were just little kids, he was a much bigger pro basketball fan than I was. He called it "poetry in motion." This always shocked me, because my brother was the opposite of anyone you'd imagine might appreciate poetry, whether stationary or otherwise.
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