Etan Thomas' Voice Is One Worth Listening To

Scoop Jackson, basketball writer extratrodinare, has an absolutey excellent piece up on ESPN.com about Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas. The article is deep and insightful as they almost always are from Scoop.

His life is bigger than the NBA. It's bigger than the war he hates so much. When it's all said and done, when the clap meets the chrome on his coffin, the dash that will be between the dates on his headstone will stand for something. Too many of us -- professionals, professional athletes, those who feel we have something to lose -- allow that hyphen to be meaningless, to mean nothing.

I have loved Scoop's writing since his days at Slam magazine when I was in middle school, I couldn't wait to read his articles. He always has a fresh angle on things, one that I hadn't always considered. This article definitely doesn't fail at that.

It takes a strong person to take a stand against America. Not its people, but its policy.
His name -- Etan Thomas -- has been placed among those who have spoken loud while saying something. The Alis, the Jim Browns, the Jackie Robinsons, the Ashes, Russells, Carlos and Smiths, the Jack Johnsons. The "it takes a village to raise a child" children. The village voices. He is among them in voice.

In principle. In theory.

But not in reality.

Because in a world of virtual reality, Etan Thomas is virtually unheard. Much like the MCs whose words lace this column, he is outcast because he's not Outkast.

For the record, I like it when professional athletes speak out and take a stand.

Tags: Scoop Jackson, Etan Thomas