Hello everyone and welcome back to my ... wait, I sound like a YouTuber right now. Anyway, thank you for reading my opinion column this week once again. If it’s your first time stopping by, please like and, oh my gosh, I am doing it again, sorry. Let’s just begin.
I’d like to talk about sports and things related to sports. I do not, however, talk about the mental aspect of the game. Yes, that is right, today is about trash talk.
Now I can talk about anyone here, Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, Jalen Ramsey to be more recent, but you get the point, basically any athlete. Even mild-mannered Tim Duncan and the late great often quiet Kobe Bryant, to new stars, such as Aaron Donald and, again, Jalen Ramsey. I know I said Jalen Ramsey twice, but really who else in the NFL is better at that specific craft.
However, in doing my research I have not found any good NFL trash talk, I did indeed find a plethora of NBA trash talk though. There was one story that stood out among the rest, and it was about mild-mannered Tim Duncan. Yes, Tim Duncan, alright let’s dive in.
Kevin Garnett was being interviewed and was asked who the best trash talker was he ever squared off against. He responded with Tim Duncan. Naturally the interviewers are shocked, heck I am shocked as well. Garnett then went on to say “I know it is pretty weird to think about given the fact we all know Tim’s demeanor but see with Tim he would not come after you in full sentences. With Tim he would say phrases like “good shot” on a miss or “better luck next time” or a simple slap on the butt. That story stuck with me and will stick with me for a long time, because I know the Tim Duncan had the game to back it up and you all should too. But this a good bridge into what is coming next.
So, trash talk is used for the mental aspect of sports, however, you do not need to be the best athletically to be effective at the sport. Trash talk is an effective tool in sports as it is used to get inside the opponent’s head and distract them. It also is useful in key situations, or at the beginning of the game to throw the opponent off.
Take Dennis Rodman, for example, he was not the greatest basketball player, but every other player would want to fight him throughout each contest because of his trash talking. Or if you look at the NFL, although he is retired, Philip Rivers was one of the best trash talkers at the quarterback position, and he was never a top quarterback. Those players are just some of the examples of using trash talk to your advantage.
Tim Duncan was somehow an excellent trash talker and I also learned you do not need to be good at your sport physically to be effective. I hope you all enjoyed this, until next time. I am Ben Donner otherwise known as Ben10. Peace.
• Ben Donner is a student at IVCC, living in Streator. He can be reached at dbarichello@shawmedia.com.