Comments on: A Reaction, by Paul Shirley

By: Albert Shin

Albert Shin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:01:27 +0000

You are a true douche. You don’t hide it though so kudos to you for that.

By: American

American — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:39:59 +0000

Hey Scotty Allen, send me a fish and a boat and build me a house and teach me to fish too! Since you seem to have more than enough. I didn’t earn it or anything, but I’m entitled to it as a fellow human being. You’d do that for me right?

By: scotty allen

scotty allen — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:03:50 +0000

Ever life in a shack? If you did, you would know that you did so because you had to. Rebuild Haiti in what way? The Grand Victorian Manor? Teach a man to fish? Of course. But after sending him the fish that saves his/her life, then send a boat that he may fish from, and a house that his wife and children may build with their hands, while his hand is on his nets.
Sick and tired of hearing “get real”. Those who repeat this haven’t a clue.

By: Raf

Raf — Sat, 08 May 2010 23:48:05 +0000

This is the best article on Haiti disaster relief (and beyond) I’ve read in terms of its objectivity. I completely agree with you Paul: ” it is not outside the realm of imagination to think that the citizens of a country might be able to: A) avoid putting themselves into a situation that might result in such catastrophic loss of life. And B) provide for their own aid, in the event of such a catastrophe.”
On top of all this, a lot of the money that we’d put in as Westerners would go towards a “colonizing” type relief plan. Many relief workers/ donators might have the spread of religion in mind, the spread of a certain political agenda or way of thought…maybe individualistic fame…
I still think that it was good what many others have done for Haiti. As we progress as a species, I hope that we do begin to work together, rather than become a group of individual nations fighting or looking down on one another. I praise those with the true nature of helping others without an outside agenda. May those that helped get rewarded with seeing Haiti re-build itself into a safe and sustainable nation, and be proud of themselves for being part of it. But like your article mentioned, we’re not going to get there by being naive and opening our pockets without critical thought.
Don’t worry about ESPN, that shit was getting old anyways. Keep writing.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:27:27 +0000

So lets say you have a budget of $100 for all your personal needs. Let’s say this $100 is plenty to live on, but if you don’t budget properly you will run out of necessary resources, and you will eventually cease to exist. One day you go shopping for a set of new tires. The guy at Goodyear shows you a a pair for $100 and guarentees your safety on the road at all times. He also shows you a pair for less that just happens to fit nicely into your survival budget. They are not quite as safe, but fine just the less. You make the economical choice (one that depends on your survival)and buy the cheaper tires. One rainy day your tires fail under the circumstances and you crash your car and are left trapped on the side of the road. In Paul Shirley’s world we are just supposed to drive on by and remind that poor chap by shouting smugly out the window “should have bought the other tires!!!!!”

Paul – in layman’s terms, you are a jackass!!!!! What a secure feeling it must be having you as a friend.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:33:09 +0000

Well said, APS. I too, was a fan of Paul Shirley’s insightful blogs about his NBA and overseas playing days. The guy isn’t dumb; all those people casually writing him off as a “stupid jock” have obviously not read his body of work. The man is (was?) very good at entertaining his readers, and showing them aspects of his profession that they hadn’t seen before.

Too bad his Haiti commentary was completely off the mark. As Paul belatedly (semi-)admitted himself, he failed to frame the current tragedy in the context of history. Sure, history is never solely to blame, but c’mon. His blog came off as ill-informed, overly simplistic, and just plain mean. And even when you do have some interesting things to say and some tough questions to ask, mean-spiritedness will cloud the dialogue every time.

I hope Mr. Shirley can learn from this debacle, and perhaps return to his previous standing as “an athlete with a brain, with some interesting things to say.” Interesting and thought-provoking, not mean-spirited and facile. I wish him luck.

By: APS

APS — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:56:21 +0000

Paul: I was a reader of your ESPN columns during your playing days, and I liked them. I think it’s unfortunate for journalists now to cherry-pick quotes from your experience-based and fairly-well-reasoned articles to make you seem like a racist.

That said, I need to comment on your Haiti piece. Simple fact: No one *chooses* to live in a shanty. Haiti would love to rebuild luxury condos for everyone, but that takes money. Criticizing people for living in shanties is like criticizing someone for a birthmark on their face.

By: Reply from Canada

Reply from Canada — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:28:29 +0000

It’s fine to express your opinion. It’s fine to be outside of the box. It’s even fine to stir the sh*t. But signing “The rest of the world”, while in reality it is only Paul – is NOT fine.

You chose a strategic time to post your opinion, but did you think how much it will hurt, especially now that that lost even the little they had?

Yes, their government is corrupted, yes the money isn’t getting where it should, yes, donating all the time might lead to people not looking for other solutions and not even looking at the underlying problems. But the issue is – the comment was written in a derogatory, demeaning way. It did not sound like this “reaction” comment. It sounded more like frustrations of someone who has lived through reverse discrimination and who wants to be heard. At all costs.

We are human and we need to help those worse off. We also need to make sure the help gets there. We also need to make sure the help teaches them how to do it on their own afterward, so they do not require constant help.

So now that you said that you don’t believe in donating and despise the way they deal with things, why don’t you tell us what would you do? How would you remedy the situation, since you are so smart?

By: Educated

Educated — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:29:37 +0000

You speak the words of an intellectual and use your brain as a brain should function (some don’t use their brains). Many are too blind to see and fully comprehend your view. Many are bias from the start of reading your article. Many are, will, and did interpret your stand as a man that is the world’s new villain. Those are the people who are blind sighted to see the truth. I am not saying those “many” are dumbfounded, but I am saying that they are blind to not see the logic.

By: horizon

horizon — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:33 +0000

You are one of kind if your Mother ask for help are you going to help or