[quote="Logen" post=309556][quote="Beast of the East" post=309536][quote="Logen" post=309532][quote="Beast of the East" post=309518][quote="Logen" post=309512][quote="redmannorth" post=309501][quote="Eric Williamson" post=309491]Interesting read, but I feel absolutely no sympathy for Rysheed. I understand that he had a tough upbringing, and has gone through some things that no one should ever have to go through. However, he was given every opportunity in the world to be successful, a lot more than most people in similar situations, and he CHOSE not to take advantage of it.[/quote]
Let me understand this Eric, he grew up in a terrible neighbourhood, no father, a sick mother, 6 or 7 younger siblings that he was the father to, looked after those siblings as his sick mother worked , had family members murdered during college and you say he had every opportunity in the world to be successful.
Here was a kid who was a 6 4 great athlete who showed a great deal of promise in basketball, let’s not forget he was not a MCAA, was a home town legend nicknamed Black Jesus and was offered a scholarship to good, not great , universities. That is exactly what he had no more no less. But that is certainly not every opportunity in the world to be successful. All he had was the ability to make money playing basketball somewhere on this planet one day in the future if he was able to spend 3-4 yesrs in college and worked hard at improving his game. Unfortunately , he could not.
Did he make mistakes , sure he did and he and his extended family will suffer the terrible consequences of his mistakes for the rest of his life. However, if you take the time to look at Rysheeds background and try to imagine walking in his shoes for a while I would think you would be a little more sympathetic to his tragic plight. I know I certainly am.
Merry Christmas to you Eric.[/quote]
It is a tough subject, but at the end of the day, Jordan shot someone who was running away from him, his choice. He certainly wasn’t thinking about his family when he made the decision to pull the trigger. So the end result is sad and tragic but more so on the people who were evidently depending on him.[/quote]
Logan I hear you loud and clear. At the initial mullin press conference I bought a cheap mullin jersey at a table the ad had set up. I chatted with a sweet doe eyed student worker who when asked about Jordan, said "he's a bad kid." In some ways no sympathy seems warranted.
In other ways we have college grads whose parents paid some or all of their tuition, still pay their cell phone and health insurance, subsidize their rent, attended all their soccer games and little league games and watch them blow out candles each year.
I lean towards redmannorths position because DNA may provide athletic skills but no immunology against the bc streets swallowing them.
It may be a contradiction for you to war with sju13 over edgerton bricks, defending a fine young man, but have no compassion for a kid asked to raise younger siblings at age 9. I dont know. I feel you, but my heart tells me that a little compassion and hope for this kid is in order, if not for his crime, for at least his shitty life that our kids did not have.[/quote]
You are taking a quantum leap assuming I have no compassion for Jordan, I feel sorry for him that he made the decisions he made, but there are many people who had horrible circumstances growing up, order of magnitude worse than Rysheed Jordan, who did not do something comparable to shooting a man while he was running away from them. I believe virtually unequivocally in personal responsibility and the only responsibility for what Rysheed Jordan did belongs to Rysheed Jordan, not the circumstances he grew up under. If the circumstances were to blame, some inner city neighborhoods could resemble the OK Corral and we could just rationalize it away.[/quote]
Most inner cities DO resemble the o.k. corral and very few kids , maybe no kids are untouched by violence around them. I heard an interview with dennis Rodman yesterday and he spoke of regularly watching his mom get beaten by men who had come Into her life.
A few miles from my middle class oasis, teenaged boys have been murdered for NOT joining a gang, you know personal responsibility. Girls have been hacked to death for rejection overtures from gang members.
Drug deals gone bad are a way of the streets. Just marijuana. The same sources that supply all these white college preppies too.
Ya, Rysheed is responsible for pulling the trigger, but not for the shit life he was handed. The same life that many d1 basketball stars come from. Some are just lucky not to be brought down by it, and our revered hero Harrison was a hairs breath away from destruction himself, self destruction.[/quote]
Look, we disagree, that’s fine, but all your examples of life in the inner city doesn’t excuse what Jordan did in my eyes. I grew up on 212th place in Queens Village and while that is not North Philly, I know urban living. And I know most people who grow up in the worst of neighborhoods do not shoot people. Chicago will have about 3,000 shootings this year with about 600 deaths by shooting. Abhorrent for sure but that means the overwhelming majority of people living in the “Rysheed environment” there are NOT shooting people. So I would respectfully suggest you stop with the sensational anecdotes, which are true and horrible, and look at what Jordan did a little more objectively.[/quote]
Urban living? I grew up on 214th St. Nice suburban community. SSJA parish.
Let me understand this Eric, he grew up in a terrible neighbourhood, no father, a sick mother, 6 or 7 younger siblings that he was the father to, looked after those siblings as his sick mother worked , had family members murdered during college and you say he had every opportunity in the world to be successful.
Here was a kid who was a 6 4 great athlete who showed a great deal of promise in basketball, let’s not forget he was not a MCAA, was a home town legend nicknamed Black Jesus and was offered a scholarship to good, not great , universities. That is exactly what he had no more no less. But that is certainly not every opportunity in the world to be successful. All he had was the ability to make money playing basketball somewhere on this planet one day in the future if he was able to spend 3-4 yesrs in college and worked hard at improving his game. Unfortunately , he could not.
Did he make mistakes , sure he did and he and his extended family will suffer the terrible consequences of his mistakes for the rest of his life. However, if you take the time to look at Rysheeds background and try to imagine walking in his shoes for a while I would think you would be a little more sympathetic to his tragic plight. I know I certainly am.
Merry Christmas to you Eric.[/quote]
It is a tough subject, but at the end of the day, Jordan shot someone who was running away from him, his choice. He certainly wasn’t thinking about his family when he made the decision to pull the trigger. So the end result is sad and tragic but more so on the people who were evidently depending on him.[/quote]
Logan I hear you loud and clear. At the initial mullin press conference I bought a cheap mullin jersey at a table the ad had set up. I chatted with a sweet doe eyed student worker who when asked about Jordan, said "he's a bad kid." In some ways no sympathy seems warranted.
In other ways we have college grads whose parents paid some or all of their tuition, still pay their cell phone and health insurance, subsidize their rent, attended all their soccer games and little league games and watch them blow out candles each year.
I lean towards redmannorths position because DNA may provide athletic skills but no immunology against the bc streets swallowing them.
It may be a contradiction for you to war with sju13 over edgerton bricks, defending a fine young man, but have no compassion for a kid asked to raise younger siblings at age 9. I dont know. I feel you, but my heart tells me that a little compassion and hope for this kid is in order, if not for his crime, for at least his shitty life that our kids did not have.[/quote]
You are taking a quantum leap assuming I have no compassion for Jordan, I feel sorry for him that he made the decisions he made, but there are many people who had horrible circumstances growing up, order of magnitude worse than Rysheed Jordan, who did not do something comparable to shooting a man while he was running away from them. I believe virtually unequivocally in personal responsibility and the only responsibility for what Rysheed Jordan did belongs to Rysheed Jordan, not the circumstances he grew up under. If the circumstances were to blame, some inner city neighborhoods could resemble the OK Corral and we could just rationalize it away.[/quote]
Most inner cities DO resemble the o.k. corral and very few kids , maybe no kids are untouched by violence around them. I heard an interview with dennis Rodman yesterday and he spoke of regularly watching his mom get beaten by men who had come Into her life.
A few miles from my middle class oasis, teenaged boys have been murdered for NOT joining a gang, you know personal responsibility. Girls have been hacked to death for rejection overtures from gang members.
Drug deals gone bad are a way of the streets. Just marijuana. The same sources that supply all these white college preppies too.
Ya, Rysheed is responsible for pulling the trigger, but not for the shit life he was handed. The same life that many d1 basketball stars come from. Some are just lucky not to be brought down by it, and our revered hero Harrison was a hairs breath away from destruction himself, self destruction.[/quote]
Look, we disagree, that’s fine, but all your examples of life in the inner city doesn’t excuse what Jordan did in my eyes. I grew up on 212th place in Queens Village and while that is not North Philly, I know urban living. And I know most people who grow up in the worst of neighborhoods do not shoot people. Chicago will have about 3,000 shootings this year with about 600 deaths by shooting. Abhorrent for sure but that means the overwhelming majority of people living in the “Rysheed environment” there are NOT shooting people. So I would respectfully suggest you stop with the sensational anecdotes, which are true and horrible, and look at what Jordan did a little more objectively.[/quote]
Urban living? I grew up on 214th St. Nice suburban community. SSJA parish.
