Who knew? It's the tats, stupid!

NBA playoff ratings aren't up just because Boston and the Lakers are in the conference finals. They aren't up just because the West had some very good teams this year. They aren't up because the Pistons and Spurs are still kicking around.

Nope.

It's because not many of the players left have a lot of tattoos!

Whitlock exposes the story that so many others have missed:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8187914/In-NBA-playoffs%2C-less-ink-means-more-viewers

Never mind the fact that the four NBA Finals the Lakers have appeared in since Jordan retired have produced the highest ratings in that time frame. (http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/04/20/nba-postseason-broadcast-ratings-1987-2007/3413) It's not that people really want to see the Lakers, it's that no one wants to see tattoos!

 

[blue]Yeah, when Rodman played for the Bulls NOBODY watched the NBA finals. They wanted to see Jordan, but they just couldn't get past Rodman's tattoos.

 

I didn't want to post this because I know people think we talk about Whitlock too much, but this story was ridiculous even for him.

He actually spells out the reasons for the high ratings in the first few grafs, and then dismisses them to talk about tatoos. Unbelievable.

Maybe no one will talk about it because it's, you know, not true.

 

Further proof that Jason Whitlock is a fucking idiot and the most overrated columnist ever.

 

Tall, muscular guys with no tats? They've lost sportschick as a viewer for sure.

 

Pallister doesn't know why he just broke his kitchen window.

 

My first reaction is -- if this same column were written by a white person it would be condemned as being ridiculously racist and the calls for said columnists head on a platter would be very loud.......

 

What a crock of shit.

The reason ratings are up? You have the two marquee teams (Lakers and Celtics) battling the two most consistantly successful teams (Pistons and Spurs). Bunch of stars on each of the four teams. An exciting regular season with a slew of young, talented, charismatic players energizing fan bases across the country.

 

Ha! Tim Duncan's hotness quotient skyrocketed when I realized he had a tat on his back.

This is really a stretch by Whitlock. The Spurs do not garner big ratings, yet they probably have the fewest visible tattoos. Wouldn't that mean people would watch them more than, say, the Lakers and Kobe, who's covered with them?

 

May those two words NEVER EVER be used next to each other again

 

So would the ratings be down if Utah was in the finals because of Boozer and Deron Williams' tats? Or because it's the Utah Jazz in the finals?

 

I wonder if anyone here will actually come to Whit's defense, because that truly was an idiotic leap of logic.