# Hey TMac, shut your Piehole **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103 "2003-05-05T01:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/1 "2003-05-05T01:59:42Z")
Gee, remind me Tracy, 'cause I’ve forgotten. What was it you said less then a week ago? Oh yeah, _"It sure feels good to get into the second round of the playoffs._" Too bad you **still** have no idea what that feels like as you managed to blow both the series lead and then got your ass handed to you by the Pistons today in Game 7. Have fun watching the second round of the playoffs on Tv. Shmuck. Maybe if you’d gone to college you’d have learned some humility, but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/2 "2003-05-06T04:22:15Z")
Tracy McGrady and his ilk (by which I mean the me-first no-fundamentals show-off thugs that have taken over basketball) are one of the single biggest reasons to hate the NBA. I’m glad that he lost. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/3 "2003-05-06T05:45:34Z")
Mmmm … pie. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/4 "2003-05-06T07:38:07Z")
**Elwood** , I can imagine what a terrible burden this is going to be for you, but if you’d like to actually provide some substance to your remark “me-first no-fundamentals show-off thugs that have taken over basketball”, that’d be marvelous. Does help to show you’ve actually thought a position through rather than being jealous that someone makes piles of money and deciding they don’t actually work to improve their gameplay. Also runs contrary to what most of the NBA color commentators I’ve heard this year say about him, in addition to fellow NBA players. But hey, what do they know? You’re **ElwoodCuse**. That’s enough for me. Especially interested in hearing all about how Tracy McGrady is a thug. Complete with cites, documentation, and everything. Unless that, too, is just your way of saying “waaaah! I want money for playing basketball too!” ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/5 "2003-05-06T07:59:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*Mmmm … pie. \*\* Pie pie pie pie pie! ---
**Author:** ![Madawc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Madawc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madawc)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/6 "2003-05-06T08:07:19Z")
And to think if he stayed in Toronto, the Raptors would be that much better. I guess we have to suck it up and hope we win the lottery hehe. Any top 3 pick and look for a stronger, hungrier Raptors team. I’m also glad that TMac got shown to the rack. I read somewhere that during the end of the fifth game, the fans in Motown were taunting him. He then gestured with 3 fingers then 2 fingers, meaning they were still up 3-2 in the series. Man that must be some delicious pie, cuz TMac loves eating it before round 2 starts. I don’t know about TMac being a thug but he sure is a pompous jerk. He left Toronto because he wasn’t going to be the main attraction with Vinsanity there. Oh well, just as long as he eventually regrets moving to Orlando is enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/7 "2003-05-06T13:12:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*Tracy McGrady and his ilk (by which I mean the me-first no-fundamentals show-off thugs that have taken over basketball) are one of the single biggest reasons to hate the NBA. I’m glad that he lost. \*\* While I think that any player that speaks too strongly too soon deserves serious comeuppance, the thought that McGrady fits into the lack of fundamentals show off mode of player is ridiculous. He absolutely carries his team and plays up to the level of the type of contract he is given. As for fundamentals, he has solid shooting percentages, a better than 2:1 Assist to Turnover ratio, ranks in the top 15 in 21 categories all while being the one guy on a team that defenses know can seriously hurt them. Save your derision for the stereotypical NBA player you mention for someone that actually deserves it like Rasheed Wallace, Glenn Robinson, or Ricky Davis. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/8 "2003-05-06T13:17:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by iampunha \* > [B, is just your way of saying “waaaah! I want money for playing basketball too!” \*\* WAHHH!!! I want money for playing basketball!! [sub]actually, I want money for playing baseball, but the sentiment is the same[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/9 "2003-05-06T21:27:56Z")
If you think T-Mac is a thug, you need to read a little about him. Anything but a thug. Yeah, he got what he deserved after the second round comment. And I was going for the Magic too. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/10 "2003-05-06T21:37:15Z")
T-Mac a thug? Wtf comes up with this shit? Try Iverson, or Marbury, thems some thugs! PS, look at T-Mac’s stats, and shut your piehole. ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/11 "2003-05-06T21:57:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know about TMac being a thug but he sure is a pompous jerk. He left Toronto because he wasn’t going to be the main attraction with Vinsanity there. Hey, I agree that T-Mac got a moment of well-earned “poetic justice”, but the statement above is pretty silly. T-Mac went toe the MAgic in teh summer of “the Grant Hill sweepstakes” and the “Tim Duncan tease”. He was very definitely considered 3[sup]rd[/sup] prize on that wish list. No way he went to Orlando expecting to be “the Man”. He went to Orlando expecting to be surrounded by championship quality talent – and ain’t that a little ironic kick in the teeth. Personally, I feel sorry for him (especially when you factor in Orlando having to give up Ben Wallace in the Greant Hill sign-and-trade deal.) He seems like a generally good guy who really works to improve his game and cares passionately about winning. Here’s hoping that Gooden and Giricec manage to fill the holes in their game and give him some reliable support (and a forward who can shoot _ **and** _ play D would be a nice addition, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/12 "2003-05-07T00:35:52Z")
What’s all this “thug” bullshit anyway? Please tell me what you know about any of the players mentioned that makes him a thug. Jason Kidd, there’s a thug- he hit his wife. Apart from that, and a couple immature outbursts from Ricky Davis et al, how did “thug” become the catchphrase for older guys to belittle the younger generation of players because they have a different style of dress, speech, and appearance? Punk I can sort of understand, but thug? Like they’re all out committing random acts of violence? As for McGrady’s “going it alone” approach, it seems to me that Drew Gooden and Giricek (or Matt Miller) plus Garrity and a few assorted bangers and high energy types is enough talent to compete with the rest of the East. Seriously, Drew Gooden’s not better than more than half of the power forwards starting for Eastern Conference teams? The Magic were an 8 seed, and considering the teams they had to beat out to get it, I don’t see how McGrady really made the rest of the team into more than they “should” have been. It’s not like they won the East, or even the Atlantic. One more thing: remember when that kid got shot by the Beltway sniper and McGrady flew him out to shoot around with some of the Magic (McGrady’s the kid’s favorite player) ? I thought he was one of the good guys in the league. I think he might have just gotten caught up in all the MVP hype over the course of the season, and developed a sort of Messianic complex about the way he had to carry his team. That’s just the way I see it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/13 "2003-05-07T00:45:24Z")
Well Iverson has been in prison, covered in gang tats, allegedly pulled a gun on a family member not to long ago, and may have been a target for a driveby shooting a few weeks ago in which one of his entourage was hit. _That’s a thug_. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/14 "2003-05-07T01:15:37Z")
1. Prison for a fight as a high schooler- ever been in a fight? Not to mention the conviction was thrown out; legally, it didn’t happen. 2. Gang tats? A bulldog that says only the strong survive? 3. Allegedly according to who? The family member was his wife, and she didn’t allege it. It was alleged by Philadelphia media and denied by everyone involved- it wasn’t even brought up by the D.A. 4. May have. And everyone that gets shot at is a thug, anyway? So I guess Ronald Reagan’s a thug too, huh? So that leaves what? He has cornrows, talks different, is vovered in tattoos, and came from the projects. I said he wasn’t a thug, not that he was Petey Princeton. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/15 "2003-05-07T01:16:55Z")
“covered in tattoos” obviously… ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/16 "2003-05-07T02:26:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jimmy Chitwood \* > **1. Prison for a fight as a high schooler- ever been in a fight? Not to mention the conviction was thrown out; legally, it didn’t happen.** It was quite a bit more then a mere “fight.” It was a near-riot at a bowling alley, and Iverson struck one person with a steel chair at least 2 times and threw a chair at someone else. Legally, the fight sure did happen. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/17 "2003-05-07T02:32:17Z")
NBA Thugs: Ron Artest The entire Portland Trailblazers Allen Iverson NBA “nice guys”: John Stockton …everybody else is just somewhere in the middle like the rest of us. Dressed in nice felt purple hats and riding in limos with hotties, but still just like the rest of us 😉 ---
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/18 "2003-05-07T05:43:48Z")
Artest is definitely NOT a thug. The media sure knows how to blow shit out of proportion. He works hard and plays hard period. He commits flagrant fouls WITHOUT hurting anyone the old-school physical basketball way. Also, if you really look at the flagrant fouls, some of them were bullshit calls merely because of his reputation. He has a serious issue with controlling anger especially post-losing and is working on it. He was shooting jumpers in Conseco after the first-round elimination as everyone left after cleaning their lockers. He played his heart out in the series. I love the guy. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/19 "2003-05-07T06:50:49Z")
Anyone else think TMac simply forgot that the first round got changed to best-of-7? After all, he would have been right if David “I Rig the NBA” Stern hadn’t changed the format to ensure that the Lakers get back to the Finals. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/20 "2003-05-07T19:17:23Z")
RE: The Portland Trailblazers It is with a big smile and happy heart that I announce to the world the resignation of Bob “Jackass” Whitsitt, the GM of the Blazers. It was just confirmed by the local news here and I don’t know that anything at this moment could make me hapier. well, maybe if they got rid of Sheed, and Wells. That would be good too… And maybe a couple of other players too. I do like Cheeks though, and I think another year with some strong Asst. Coaching will bring him to the level he needs to be at. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103.md?page=2)