The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Without Bias

Re: Without Bias

pizzaeagle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:48:53 -0000

Mad Dog? Seriously?!?!? I did that shit ONCE and the hangover from it was the closest I've ever been to contemplating suicide.

Re: Without Bias

Donald — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:24:52 -0000

The B-more writing anecdote is kind of cool. I was 12 in ACC country when Lenny died. I remember it being a big deal, and my friend (a Celtics fan) being distraught.

One thing that's maybe here nor there, with regard to cocaine use by present-day athletes: usually we hear of pro athletes' drug use when a test result is announced. Cocaine is untraceable in urine after a day or two. Pot tends to be traceable for approximately 30 days.

Re: Without Bias

Zeked — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:34:20 -0000

As a current College Park student, all Len Bias has come to mean to me is an excuse for the school to have extremely strict drug and alcohol policies.

Re: Without Bias

toddbbq — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:53:41 -0000

They devote a significant amount of time to this in the doc. hope i didn't violate any spoiler rules.

Re: Without Bias

zinjanthropus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:56:53 -0000

"Divine"

Re: Without Bias

zinjanthropus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:34:48 -0000

Yes Yes to many posts here. In the 80s as Disco club scene was winding down I remember the coolest-hippest clubs were the ones that had little private rooms and people used to snort caine right out in the open. My band was doing better quality gigs and we were mingling with local celebrities and ex Motown semi stars. This was pre crack when coke was the jet set drug. Maybe it was because most of it was stepped on 3 times butI snorted quite a bit during that time and it wasn't life changing or devastating. I'm sorry to say this but I remember having lots of fun snorting coke back then. The only problem was the high cost. Unfortunately, Coke was cool.

Crack, however shouldn't even be considered the same drug. I think all the people who had enjoyed snorting probably thought freebasing would be just a little bit stronger- sorta like the difference between and joint hit and a Bong rush.

Naw freebasing was the end of the world drug. I saw so many beautiful sucessful people become devastated crack heads over night.

When Richard Pryor did his bit about the pipe commanding his life, so many of us saw that very same thing happening to our friends and associates, and almost to me.

I had smoked about $80 worth with a girl I had desired for years but who was almost unobtainable. We were supposed to screw that night but after the first hit... I had found something much much better that screwing a girl I had lusted after since the 6th grade.

My heart skipped fast and heavy out of desire for one more hit of that pipe for months after that first time I tried it. If I had been able to get in touch with her in the days after that, I would probably be dead by now. The Richard Pryor, Len Bias incidents were Devine lightbulbs over our heads.

Re: Without Bias

Juba — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:19:25 -0000

Well, except for Wu Tang--and their honest confessions of their wild experimentation with coke and angel dust was so shocking and atypical that it added a whole bunch to their cred as wildchildren of the early 80s NYC.

Re: Without Bias

Juba — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:15:26 -0000

My word of the day is Karl Rove, his second source.

What's your word of the day, "useless sarcasm?"

Whoops, thats two words.

And as for "which bunch of covert intelligence assets" try the ones she was cultivating in her role as a covert agent in the CIA's Counterproliferation program, which she had to abandon when she was outed. If your boss Dick Cheney requires his interns to add sources to their reports, let me know and I'll try and track you some down, Jamie.

Re: Without Bias

luckybastard — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:09:39 -0000

it's definitely cultural. i have a lot of musician friends in billyburg and a few years ago when the music scene was really starting to get hot and bands had more cash in their pockets, you'd start to see coke creep up at parties and shows. in fact, it was even happening in dc. i remember me and my brother went to see a friend's band at the black cat and some slummin white dude comes up and ask us if we're there selling coke. the funny thing is whenever it's mentioned, not to mention when i see it, i bristle. maybe it was all the DARE stuff they did in elementary school. maybe it was watching several aunts and uncles turn into fiends in the eighties. whatever it was, it seems like the vast majority of my black friends have never even tried it while most of my white friends have had points in their lives when they've done it regularly.

Re: Without Bias

BigP — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:51:52 -0000

Dolph and Method beat me to it while I was typing.

Re: Without Bias

BigP — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:59 -0000

TNC,

Couple of things. You KNOW that the most notorious users of coke were the 70's and 80's Cowboys, esp. ol' Hollywood Henderson. I used to be a fan until they fired Landry, but I was always naively wondering why Tom never put the kibosh on it. Probably because they were winning.

Next up, the Len Bias death did have a lot of effect, good and bad. It brought up awareness of the danger of these kind of drugs, BUT, it also put a lot of pressure on politicians and led to draconian mandatory minimum laws, ignoring treatment options in favor of "tough on crime" legislation.

And finally, my old stomping grounds just did this......

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13707672

SAFER Colorado is making strides.

Re: Without Bias

UnclePossum — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:25:57 -0000

Richard is the only comic I know that could turn freebasing into brilliant comment and humor.

I miss him.

And he did it without putting it on anyone else.

Re: Without Bias

UnclePossum — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:21:37 -0000

It does. Was first intro'd in '76 just so and passed.

"Nobody gets hurt."

Tried a line at a post-grad party with a group of art students and was struck by the following:

-Utter lack of imagination in a 'creative group'.

-Complete boredom.

-Ability to channel nothing and everything to nowhere.

Who believes that, ever, about much of anything....?

Including Red Bull.

Or anything else promising trips to Oz.

Steroids occurs as does anything else Guaranteed To Make Us All Smile.

Re: Without Bias

jamie_t — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:21:34 -0000

really, which "bunch of covert intelligence assets" would that be?

also, was richard armitage a neocon too, or is that just your word of the day?

Re: Without Bias

charlieblaze — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:08:25 -0000

The Len Bias story was used to scare me and my classmates straight as well, a decade later. I'm 24, so my college days were '03-'07. In H.S., coke was a foreign and unattractive thing. Sure, people smoked weed, did pills, and even a few kids tried shrooms. Maybe the aversion to coke came from the stigma of crack addicts. While they're technically different, it was similar enough to get insulted and slightly shunned over. Being considered a crackhead in my Chicago

hood was the top insult possible.

During college and post-college, Coke was more common among certain groups. Ironically, I didn't see it at my frat., but rather at parties with hipsters and punk people. This is not to stereotype, but I think there is a certain social group acceptability with the drug. Inner-city black people, not really. Artsy, college/post-college crowd at weekend house parties, more likely.

Re: Without Bias

Methodgrind — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:54:23 -0000

Sorry if it's already been mentioned, but when I think of Len Bias I think of the mandatory minimum laws demagogued through partly in his name(invoked by Tip O'Neill, furious that the Celtics had been denied a draft pick).

Re: Without Bias

Byrk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:58:21 -0000

I agree with the not sleeping, the worst part. The problem with coke is that you have to sober up completely awake, rather than drinking where you can just sleep it off if you're too messed up. I tried nearly everything to get myself to sleep. However, I did like doing it quite a bit. I don't anymore mainly because we graduated from college, got jobs and stopped doing it too. Too much stigma and risk for being caught with it, and I like drinking just as much anyways. Of course, the punishment for doing a drug never stopped me otherwise I would have quit drinking a long time ago.

Re: Without Bias

Sweet Jones — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:49:11 -0000

Cosigning what TNC wrote. Bias' death, preceded by Ricard Pryor setting him self on fire, was enough for most brothers to leave that coke sh!t to white folks and the fiends.

It is no accident that in Hip Hop, from 1982 up until about 1995, you barely ever heard any (non gimmick) artist rap about using coke themselves. Selling it? No problem. But using? Nah, shit just wasn't cool (at least to acknowledge publicly).

Re: Without Bias

Destro Villain — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:22:00 -0000

yeah, i found the espn replay schedule, i was just thinking locally, they usually replay it out here (L.A.) the same day 3 hours later...i guess now I should figure out the DVR....thanks!

Re: Without Bias

Adolphus — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:18:15 -0000

I was a huge basketball fan and a sophomore at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and I had two reactions to Bias's death. One was devastation. Our team was so bad if more than two players fouled out we would have to forfeit. The crowd was so small they never pushed the top row of bleachers out and you could keep running on the indoor track during the game. In high school me and my friends rooted for Patrick Ewing and Georgetown. Len gave us a reason to root for the home team. When he died we were all crushed. We were white, yes, but poorer white and could not afford coke. Our idea of a chemical high was a $4 case of Wiedemann's apiece and a Rum Soaked Crook at the duckpin bowling alleys. Coke? Pot? Who had the money? We were despondent for weeks.

Then anger set in. The Bias tragedy sent a shock wave of blame and scapegoating across the Maryland campuses. From then until the day I graduated (and beyond, I hear) every Maryland campus instituted the most draconian rules and laws. Every campus dried up, even for those of us of age. They stopped serving beer on campus, even wine at faculty gatherings were outlawed. Even a rumor of someone doing pot would bring the jackbooted rent-a-cops streaming through your dorm with K-9 in tow. And it wasn't just drugs and booze. Just about any frivolity and fun would draw the eye of the administration. Annual festivals died. Concerts on campus stopped. Everything.

All because College Park was (rightfully) embarrassed by what had happened. Most of us moved off campus shortly after this started happening. Lord knows how much drinking and driving this event indirectly inspired.

I know it sounds selfish but for years I was truly angry that Len Bias all but ruined campus life for us peons and I eventually forgot who Len Bias was. When Maryland beat Indiana in 2002 (double sweet since my family is from Bloomington and still worship all things Bobby Knight) I finally remembered him and what he meant to me before he died. I am sorry I missed the movie tonight. I didn't even know it was on. Since it is ESPN I am sure they will rerun it all year.

I know all that sounds petty and selfish, but there it is.

Re: Without Bias

atlantapril — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:02:34 -0000

"Without Bias" will be repeated Wednesday and Thursday nights on ESPN2. Go here http://30for30.espn.com/film/without-bias.html for a list of the replay times.

Re: Without Bias

Ta-Nehisi Coates — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:49:36 -0000

I fucking missed it. Was out working. Damn.

Re: Without Bias

Destro Villain — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:37:56 -0000

I think the myth of cocaine not being addictive dates back to the 70's. Sounds like they're saying the same thing about Red Bull.

Re: Without Bias

Destro Villain — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:35:33 -0000

I am still hoping I can actually watch this as ESPN's time zone schedule seems to be all east coast (most channels replay stuff in prime time out west, but it's not showing up on the schedule).

As for cocaine, I don't agree that it's the vintage of addicts, per se. There was a certain cachet to it, as someone said earlier, it symbolized that you had money, at least in some circles and Bias' death didn't deter a lot of athletes (I'm thinking Cris Carter, Lawrence Taylor, Irvin, Gooden, Strawberry....on and on) from continuing to use it.

Re: Without Bias

Josh — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:02:40 -0000

So what did you all think? I thought it was brutal. The film had no let-up at all, just kept coming in your face with the tragedy of his death and the aftermath. Very tough to watch, but very good.