Comments on: The Jazz Session #130: Nathaniel Friedman

By: Nataniel friedman | ThalabyhalabyLaw

Nataniel friedman | ThalabyhalabyLaw — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:35:07 +0000

[...] The Jazz Session » The Jazz Session #130: Nathaniel FriedmanFormer jazz writer and current basketball blogger Nathaniel Friedman takes an in-depth look at the basketball = jazz meme. … [...] Our man Nathaniel Friedman, aka Bethlehem Shoals, SLAM contributor and FreeDarko star, gave a nice interview to the jazz-hoop fans at thejazzsession.com recently. Give a listen right here. [...] [...]

By: Strength, Freedom, Science, and Numbers in Baseball and Basketball

Strength, Freedom, Science, and Numbers in Baseball and Basketball — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:42:48 +0000

[...] (In all honesty, some of this post was written over two years ago, back in the “compare basketball to Jazz” phase of the sports blogosphere. That theory has been so overused and overanalyzed that even one of its originators, Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko.com thinks it is clichÃ©.) [...]

By: The Mid-Afternoon Milk Mustache, featuring Basketball as Jazz, or not | Stacheketball, an NBA Blog

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:25:22 +0000

[...] The Chevron: Bethlehem Shoals a.k.a. Nathaniel Friedman guests on “The Jazz Session” to speak on the ineptitude of the Basketball-Jazz comparison. [The Jazz Session] [...]

By: David

David — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:18:28 +0000

I think Michael hit the nail on the head. With the NBA’s recent trouble dealing with the reputation of basketball players as thugs taken into consideration, comparing basketball to jazz (esp. the buttoned-down jazz of Wynton Marsalis, with the corresponding Brooks Brothers suits) makes a lot of sense. Additionally, as with jazz, the NBA’s fanbase is largely white, so the appeal to the cool sophistication of jazz makes sense from the NBA’s perspective.

By: Jason Crane

Jason Crane — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:36:58 +0000

Thanks, Bart.

By: Bart King

Bart King — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:31:58 +0000

Nathaniel answers his first question at 7:35.

By: SLAM ONLINE | » Bethlehem Shoals talks Basketball & Jazz

SLAM ONLINE | » Bethlehem Shoals talks Basketball & Jazz — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:26:15 +0000

[...] Our man Nathaniel Friedman, aka Bethlehem Shoals, SLAM contributor and FreeDarko star, gave a nice interview to the jazz-hoop fans at thejazzsession.com recently. Give a listen right here. [...]

By: Jason Crane

Jason Crane — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:35:28 +0000

Great point, Michael. Thanks!

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:18:53 +0000

Wonderful interview – for a while I thought that Mr. Freeman would ‘one more thing’ you until the end of the interview and there wouldn’t be any interchange!

One thing I felt you missed on the basketball to jazz motivation. First, I sort of agree with your take on Jazz using BBall to seem ‘hip’. But there are reasons why basketball would use Jazz.

As someone who was a big basketball fan in the late 70′s to late 80′s, I remember when ‘basketball thug’ meant Bill Laimbeer going on the court to rough up opposing players, or Kevin McHale’s clothesline … but now it means that every team has multiple felons, frequent arrests for violent crime and sexual assaults, and even recent gun confrontations …

So basketball can win by using the current (though tragic) view of jazz as ‘chamber music’ to gain a sense of intellectuality and seriousness.