Author Bio & Stories

Bethlehem Shoals

Bethelehem Shoals is an editor at The Classical and the founder of freedarko.com. Follow him on Twitter @freedarko.

  • March 12, 2012
    Mark Cuban's Misplaced Apology

    Mark Cuban, criticized rightly for an idiotic aside, decided it was time to look deep within himself and confront his latent prejudices. What’s troubling is that about Cuban isolated the incident, making it about him instead of paying the slightest bit of attention to the circumstances surrounding his offense.

  • March 10, 2012
    Say It Ain't So, Ricky! — The Clog

    Ricky Rubio will miss the rest of the season, and for some reason, we just can't cope. 

  • March 9, 2012
    Yago Colas's Cultures of Basketball Hits SXSW — The Clog

    The University of Michigan professor just wanted to teach a course about basketball-as-culture. Now he's taking his show on the road. 

  • March 6, 2012
    Why the NBA Needs Twitter

    It's been a truism for some time now that the NBA and Twitter, if not necessarily a natural match, work together in a way that no other sport can claim. Maybe it's the density of activity, the level of detail, the amount of material to crack wise about. Mostly, though, it seems to reflect the idea that the NBA, as non-stop activity, defies good, old-fashioned storytelling.

  • March 1, 2012
    Basketball Never Stops

    Basketball specializes in things-happening, not even discrete events, and the effect is both exhilarating and deadening. To watch the NBA properly, to follow like it like a full-fledged 21st century fan, is to eschew a certain amount of coherence. Stuff happens and it never stops. 

  • February 27, 2012
    Fine-Tuning Lob City — The Clog

    A fleeting exchange during the All-Star Game offered some stunning insight into the inner workings of the league's hottest alley-oop connection. Also, Kevin Durant was there, being smart. 

  • February 27, 2012
    The Anthem After Mary — The Clog

    Mary J. Blige's "Star-Spangled Banner" may not quite have been on par with Marvin Gaye's—what is?—but more than Pitbull or Nicki Minaj, it brought out what's great about All-Star Weekend. 

  • February 24, 2012
    The Marathon 2012 NBA All-Stars Rap — The Clog

    For the seventh year running, some intrepid fans have sought to recreate, and update, one of the most immortal moments in rap/hoops crossover: the time ABC thought it was a good idea to pay Kool Keith for a peppy introduction song. 

  • February 24, 2012
    And the Oscar Goes to ... The NBA All-Star Game!

    Alas, the NBA All-Star Game and the Oscars have been scheduled in direct conflict with one another. What lackadasical fiend is to blame? Where can we find his home address? Never mind, let us move forward through the power of imagination, as Bethelehem Shoals and Eric Freeman show you how to kill two birds with one stone. 

  • February 23, 2012
    The Anthem After Marvin — The Clog

    At the 1983 All-Star Game, Marvin Gaye changed the way we saw our national anthem. It  was the perfect illustration of why the NBA is more than just another sports league. Has anyone since really followed in his footsteps?