Monday, May 9, 2011

Winner: JJ Barea



Following his career playoff high of 22 points is there anyone in the NBA whose stock has risen so high, so quickly?

Outside of Dallas Jose Juan Barea was known for being Hispanic and being short. A lot of energy, a lot of spunk - but more curiosity than impact player.

Now he is the beloved everyman who exposed the former two time defending Lakers front-line, a game changing player off of the bench, a tough as nails guy who got back up after taking two cheap shots from guys twice his size.

Oh and he dates a former Miss Universe.

Not bad for a guy who has had to suffer the indignity of security not letting him back into his own locker room because they didn't believe he was a professional basketball player.

Loser: Fake MLK Quote


"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only Love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you did not know the quote that many people had in their status updates on Facebook last week was a fake.

Aside from any political opinion - it was another clear instance of how you cannot believe everything you read on the internet AND how quickly incorrect information can spread via social networking.

This is how we all thought Bill Cosby was dead.

I wanted to go on a rant about how we create our own truths and reality and use our friends and members of our tribe to amplify what we wish to see - but that isn't at the heart of the fake MLK quote.

It was a matter of simple laziness.

In our era of quick hitting messages, auto-pilot sends, likes, and retweets, we are built for speed not accuracy.

It isn't surprising that the quotes got misplaced as the chain went further along - until one person's opinion merged into the realm of historical fact.

What is most disturbing for me is that most people won't care about this - because people who posted it wanted it to be true. They wanted such a universally respected figure to express their own sentiments, and perhaps hide behind that. If we are really honest most people who posted this quote on their facebook probably would not have said anything at all. I would even posit that many of these people had more complicated feelings towards the issue than the sound-bite quote suggested.

However, we will really never know.

All we are left with is a fake MLK quote.