# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**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, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/21 "2003-05-07T20:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Asked what his tattoos mean, Iverson replied, “I got ‘CRU THIK’ in four places—that’s my crew, that’s what we call ourselves, me and the guys I grew up with, the guys I’m loyal to. I got my kids’ names, Tiaura and Deuce [Allen II], 'cause they’re everything to me. I got my wife’s name, Tawanna, on my stomach. A set of praying hands between my grandma’s initials—she died when I was real young—and my mom’s initials. I put shit on my body that means something to me. Here, on my left shoulder, I got a cross of daggers knitted together that says ‘ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE,’ because that’s the one true thing I’ve learned in this life. On the other arm, I got a soldier’s head. I feel like my life has been a war and I’m a soldier in it. Here, on my left forearm, it says ‘NBN’—for ‘Newport Bad News.’ That’s what we call our hometown of Newport News, Virginia, because a lot of bad shit happens there. On the other arm, I got the Chinese symbol for respect, because I feel that where I come from deserves respect—being from there, surviving from there, and staying true to everybody back there. I got one that says ‘FEAR NO ONE,’ a screaming skull with a red line through it—'cause you’ll never catch me looking scared.” Straight up thug. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/22 "2003-05-07T20:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > NBA “nice guys”: > > John Stockton Wasn’t Stockton voted “dirtiest player in the NBA” by the other players a few years ago? I remember reading that in SI. ---
**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, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/23 "2003-05-07T20:36:08Z")
[http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:USGTXTj7qbwC:www.villagevoice.com/issues/0242/shields.php+allen+iverson+gang+tattoo&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:USGTXTj7qbwC:www.villagevoice.com/issues/0242/shields.php+allen+iverson+gang+tattoo&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) Forgot to post the link. ---
**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, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/24 "2003-05-07T20:39:03Z")
Fuck it. ---
**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, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/25 "2003-05-07T20:43:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by litost \* > \*\*He was shooting jumpers in Conseco after the first-round elimination as everyone left after cleaning their lockers. \*\* Was this before or after he attacked the Pacers official in the red shirt in the hallway after the game?:rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**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, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/26 "2003-05-07T21:01:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \* > \*\*Was this before or after he attacked the Pacers official in the red shirt in the hallway after the game?:rolleyes: :rolleyes: \*\* I would imagine it was a few days later, as the Pacers were eliminated in Boston. He is very hard on himself, and has an insane work ethic. I’d take him on my team any day of the week. And no he’s not 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 8, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/27 "2003-05-08T02:08:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \* > \*\*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. \*\* From [here:](http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/barra/2002/11/28/iverson/) > [@](#): > > After some admirable old-fashioned journalistic digging, Platt makes a sound case that “Iverson’s much-talked-about ‘record,’ his ‘rap sheet,’ consists of precisely one incident: the 1997 probation for having a legally registered gun under his seat. Those who refer to his litany of transgressions are inevitably including the overturned bowling-alley conviction, the missteps of his friends, and even his run-ins with ['76ers coach] Larry Brown.” So if the overwhelming negativity toward Iverson is not about substance, it’s got to be about style. Like I said, the conviction was overturned. Like I said, Iverson’s “guilt” in the bowling alley brawl, legally, never existed. He was convicted of maiming by mob, which is a law that was (mainly) enacted to prevent African-Americans from being lynched. As for your insubstantiated “steel chair,” you’re not going to be able to find any record of that in any legal documents. Nobody knows exactly what happened, so what you heard is as good as me saying Iverson was hit with a steel chair a thousand times. > [@](#): > > ## \*Originally posted by World Eater \* quote: > > ## Asked what his tattoos mean, Iverson replied, “I got ‘CRU THIK’ in four places—that’s my crew, that’s what we call ourselves, me and the guys I grew up with, the guys I’m loyal to. I got my kids’ names, Tiaura and Deuce [Allen II], 'cause they’re everything to me. I got my wife’s name, Tawanna, on my stomach. A set of praying hands between my grandma’s initials—she died when I was real young—and my mom’s initials. I put shit on my body that means something to me. Here, on my left shoulder, I got a cross of daggers knitted together that says ‘ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE,’ because that’s the one true thing I’ve learned in this life. On the other arm, I got a soldier’s head. I feel like my life has been a war and I’m a soldier in it. Here, on my left forearm, it says ‘NBN’—for ‘Newport Bad News.’ That’s what we call our hometown of Newport News, Virginia, because a lot of bad shit happens there. On the other arm, I got the Chinese symbol for respect, because I feel that where I come from deserves respect—being from there, surviving from there, and staying true to everybody back there. I got one that says ‘FEAR NO ONE,’ a screaming skull with a red line through it—'cause you’ll never catch me looking scared.” > > Straight up thug. You called them gang tattoos- help me find the gang reference in that quote. Oh, I see, he’s black, he’s from a bad neighborhood, any reference to his “crew” must mean a gang, right? Look. All I’m saying is Iverson is not head-and-shoulders above any other NBA players from bad environments as far as being a “thug.” You want to say he’s got a bad attitude? Fine. Poor work ethic? Bad role model for kids? OK. Don’t call him things which are basically equivalent to saying he deserves to be in jail. If it wasn’t for the media coverage of him early in his career, and the fact that he frowns alot, the only thing you’d know about him was that he can score, and he looks different. I’m not here to say he deserves to be sainted. I’m just saying, being from Philadelphia, I always felt that he gets worse treatment than he deserves, and it’s kind of a pet peeve of mine. I mean, what did he ever do (really do, not be accused of or was allegedly reported to have been possibly involved with) that makes him worse than Derrick Coleman, or Jason Kidd, or countless other guys who have both been guilty of worse deeds and admitted to them? I happen to like the guy, so you’re welcome to accuse me of overreacting. It’s not that big a deal. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a valid response to Iverson being labeled a thug. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Grapist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Grapist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Grapist)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/28 "2003-05-08T02:32:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*Mmmm … pie. \*\* this post has been Graped by the Grapist! ---
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/29 "2003-05-08T03:56:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \* > Was this before or after he attacked the Pacers official in the red shirt in the hallway after the game?:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Isn’t one rolleye enough? How about finding out what happened and putting it in context? The articles on this incident that appeared in ESPN and other media outlets have disappeared but they corroborate what Artest said in the post-game interview. This excerpt is taken from [http://www.nba.com/pacers](http://www.nba.com/pacers) "(On postgame incident with Mel Daniels) We had lost, and as I was walking out as the game was over and a guy just threw something on me. Rather than just walk away, like I should’ve done, I saw the guy who did it and the security guard saw it so I just wanted to go over there and throw something back at him. Mel did the right thing. He’s a guy in the organization I knew that was telling me, ‘Just let it go, let it go, let it go.’ As much as I didn’t want to let it go, Mel was strong enough to throw me back in the locker room. It was over once I got past the security and Mel was like, ‘Get your butt in the locker room.’ He was right and I apologized to him for trying to hit the guy back. He just told me to let it go, the season’s over. He did the right thing and I apologized for it. I have already said Artest has some issues with controlling anger. That doesn’t make him a thug. This guy’s image has been so blown out of proportion people who have never followed him just look at him and think he is a criminal. He hates losing and had just lost a first-round series where he played his heart out. An idiot threw something at him (and this has happened before) and his emotions took over. Mel held him back, and he may have resisted that. And, guess what? The media reported it as if he ATTACKED Mel Daniels. Sensationalism case in point. Oh, I also read that Boston said it will find the fan and suspend his tickets. ---
**Author:** ![E72521](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@E72521](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E72521)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103/30 "2003-05-08T15:16:07Z")
The Pissed-Ons were outplayed in games in games 1, 3 and 4 by the #8 seed. The Tragic were out-coached in games 5. 6 and 7. Rivers needs to be sent packing. Auburn Hills is to be commended for their comeback in a great series. TMack came here as plan C to be near his family. He is a role model for all players. None of his fans are going to fault the kid for a little premature gloating. He has promised to come back stronger. This experience will only make him a better, more mature player. To refer to TMack as a thug demonstrates a complete lack of basketball acumen and a fair amount of dickheadiness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-tmac-shut-your-piehole/173103.md?page=1)