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Meet Rasheed Wallace, thinking man | From Alan Grant at ESPN

OK, this is a tough one. First off, thanks, RW. I woke up this morning, thinking maybe I should suggest doing something on Rasheed Wallace. Last night, I read pieces by Bill Walton, Rick Bucher and Ray Ratto on the errors of 'Sheed's ways. Predictably negative responses all, but no one posed the question: Why? Why did he say those things? What would make one think such things, then have the cajones to actually give them utterance? Why? It's the same response I have to folks who bring up the black coach issue. They agree that it's strange there are so few black coaches, but no one dares ask why.

But "why bother?" I asked myself. No one wants to hear that maybe 'Sheed is just bored with the game the way any grown man who makes his living at a child's game eventually gets bored and starts to notice things outside himself. It's inevitable for the thinking man (and yeah, despite the clumsy way he expressed his thoughts, I do reluctantly call 'Sheed a "thinking man"). I also know, from experience, that the thinking man/athlete (a slash is needed here because throughout my life I've been told that this is a unique strain of human being) might only suppress his thoughts for so long until they come gushing forth like a fart. Excuse you, Rasheed Wallace.

I gasp each time an athlete reaches down into the well of "social consciousness" and emerges with a cup only half full. I grow tense not because of what he's saying, but because of what he's omitting. And I'm compelled to fill in the blanks. I believe that search for dumb and dumber extends to the corporate sector. There is an all-points bulletin for dumb n-----s, who will gladly bury their opinions, bug their eyes, shuck and jive, and of course sell out the other not-so-dumb n-----s, all for the sake of "diversifying" the workplace. David Stern strikes me as a fairly bright man, so he undoubtedly detects a ray of truth in 'Sheed's words.

But what does all this have to do with sports, specifically the Portland Trail Blazers? Perhaps nothing.

I'm going back to bed.