Philadelphia’s Black basketball community is a vibrant and passionate group with immense potential. However, it is not without its challenges, particularly when it comes to cooperating and organizing large-scale events. This essay will delve into some of the complexities that often hinder collective efforts within this community, exploring the interplay between “rational choices” exhibited by organizations like the West Chester Basketball program and the City of Basketball Love (CoBL) and self-defeating “frustrated” behaviors engaged in by some Blacks in Philadelphia’s basketball community.

Josh Verlin’s recent success in organizing the 2023 CoBL Interstate Shootout highlights the logistical intricacies involved in staging such events. In a social media post, Verlin proudly stated, “Two days. 108 teams. More than 1,000 players. More than 40 colleges. No clue how many hundreds (thousands?) Of parents and fans… The 2023 CoBL Interstate Shootout is a wrap. Thank you so much to everybody who had a hand in making this our biggest and best team event EVER.”

An endeavor of this size and scope demands meticulous planning, including venue scouting, bid solicitation, vendor coordination, and communication with teams and referees. It necessitates budget management, contract negotiations, and various other administrative tasks. Successfully executing such a large event is a considerable achievement. It also represents an excellent opportunity to raise funds to support an organization’s core mission.

Say… you have a 100 teams paying $225 each to play two games. That will result in $22,500 in revenue from registration fees. Say… each team has 10 fans/family members paying $10 each. That will generate another $10,000 in gate receipts. Say… each fan will spend another $5 at the concession stand, that will generate another $5,000 in concession revenue. For a two-day event, the total revenue would be approximately $37,500. That’s not even taking into account potential revenue from event sponsorships.

Let’s assume facility rental costs of $5,000. Let’s set referee costs for 100 games at $60 per game for a total of $6,000. There will be trainer costs for two days, set that at $1,500. Set scorekeeper/table costs at $20 per game for 100 games, that’s another $2,000. Ticket takers/security will be another $1,000. Insurance will be, maybe, a $1,000. Cost of goods sold at concessions would be around $1,000. In this hypothetical example there will be a total of around $17,500 in expenses.

The gross profit for a well-managed showcase would be somewhere in the range of $20,000. Not bad for a two-day HS basketball event. High school coaches get to see their players in game situations. Small college (D2, D3 and JUCO) coaches get an opportunity to scout prospects. Players test themselves against good competition. Referees get some valuable game speed work in preparation for the upcoming season. Young people earn some money working the event and the sponsoring organization raises funds to support its mission. Organizing these large scale events is without a doubt a very rational choice. A true win-win situation.

The crux of the matter lies in the following question: why can’t Black individuals within this community collaborate to organize and manage similar events? Given the predominance of elite Black players in the region, there is an inherent potential for Black-run platforms that facilitate exposure to college scholarship opportunities.

Furthermore, the financial potential of such an event is substantial, as outlined in the aforementioned projections. The revenue from registration fees, gate receipts, and concession sales, coupled with careful expense management, could result in a significant revenues to help further the organization’s core mission. Organizing and running these types of large scale events makes sense on many levels for Black organizations. Simply stated, one would expect to see extensive cooperation and engagement.

However, rational choice theory, though a generally applicable framework, has limited applicability to decision-making among some Blacks within the Greater Philadelphia basketball community. The reason for these limitations is that behavior among basketball guys in the Greater Philadelphia region comes in two fundamentally distinct varieties: “motivated” and “frustrated.” On one hand, the guys at West Chester and CoBL are motivated. On the other hand, many Blacks within the Philadelphia Basketball community are frustrated.

I will argue here that action that is instigated by frustration may be regarded as “sensible,” although it takes certain forms that a casual observer would consider the height of irrationality. It is sensible because it is well adapted to exigent circumstances that press upon many Black basketball guys at most times and in most situations. By “well adapted” I mean engaging in frustrated behavior performs well certain ineluctable functional imperatives of existence in the Philadelphia Basketball community, without the occurrence of destructive personal stress.

In short, these frustrated Blacks do not seek to maximize a return on their investment of organizational time, energy and financial resources. Instead, they seek to avoid the personal stress associated with seeing other Black persons successfully organize and manage large scale basketball events. Frustrated Blacks can accept organizations such as West Chester and CoBL hosting 140 and 100 teams respectively. They cannot, under any circumstances, accept another Philadelphia-based Black organization having anything close to 100 teams.

This is colloquially referred to as the “crab barrel syndrome” in polite company and “n!gga sh!t” in impolite company. The distinction between “motivated” behavior and “n!gga sh!t” encapsulates a unique set of dynamics at play. Frustrated behavior or “n!gga sh!t,” while perhaps appearing irrational to an outsider, is, in fact, a response to the exigent circumstances faced by some Black organizers in the community.

As noted above, these behaviors are rooted in a drive to mitigate or cope with pain, rather than to pursue pleasure. It reflects a survival instinct in response to the challenges inherent to the Blacks in the Philadelphia basketball community.

Since I am making a rather what will be considered a provocative argument, I should present analogues of frustrated behavior or “n!gga sh!t” and responses to it, in real world settings.

When considering why Blacks in the Philadelphia basketball community do not have large-scale basketball events comparable to those organized by West Chester and the CoBL, I thought of analogues that I have witnessed first hand. On a couple of occasions, several years ago, I held the Black Cager Fall Classic in and around Philadelphia. One year, I held it at Girard College in North Philly and another year it was at Friend’s Central on City Avenue. The Black Cager Fall Classic is a large-scale Black-run event featuring many of the top teams and players in the Mid-Atlantic region.

While the event regularly attracts over 80 teams, the challenges presented by recurring patterns of n!gga sh!t in Philadelphia were formidable. Over and over, on more than twenty occasions each year, I was informed by HS coaches that others within the Philadelphia Black community were emphatically attempting to convince them not to play in the Fall Classic… N!gga sh!t.

This was extremely bothersome because I have never and would never try to persuade a team to not participate in any event. Nonetheless, coaches would repeatedly inform me that “we are playing in the Fall Classic, but he keeps telling me not to play in your event.”

On one memorable occasion, a coach informed me that he was bringing his team but he would be without his best player because the father (a Black man) said his son is not allowed to play in Black Cager sponsored events… N!gga sh!t.

At Friend’s Central one year, the line to gain entrance extended well over 100 yards throughout the day. The Fire Marshall actually informed me that we could only allow spectators in when an equal number of spectators left. We exceeded the combined capacity of the two gymnasiums we were utilizing. It was a beautiful event with highly competitive games until someone pulled the fire alarm and we had to stop the games and completely evacuate the buildings… N!gga sh!t.

On multiple occasions, I would set dates for the Fall Classic only to have other Blacks within the Philadelphia basketball community organizations decide to host similar events on the same day and try to convince coaches not to participate in our event… N!gga sh!t.

One the years, I’ve regularly communicated with West Chester and CoBL to ensure our dates do not overlap. After all, the aim is to have the best teams participate and play one another. It makes zero business sense to have multiple events on the same day. By coordinating with one another, we are able to ensure that the player receive maximum exposure and each sponsoring organization maximizes it’s potential revenues. Moreover, coaches and parents aren’t forced to choose.

A commitment to rational, cooperative behavior, exemplified by coordination with West Chester and CoBL to avoid scheduling conflicts prioritizes the best interests of the players, coaches, and organizers, and promotes a thriving basketball community.

That is motivated and rational behavior.

Unfortunately, all too often rational behaviors do not prevail among Blacks in the Philadelphia Basketball community. Unfortunately, the goal for some frustrated persons is not to seek maximum exposure for the players and revenues for their organization. Instead, the aim becomes avoiding the destructive personal stress associated with seeing other Blacks “shine” in this area. The strategic approach becomes unleashing a relentless barrage of n!gga sh!t designed to decrease the likelihood of success for large-scale Black run events taking place in Philadelphia.

Hopefully, I have shed some light on the intricate interplay of motivated, rational choices and deeply ingrained frustrated responses to adversity (n!gga sh!t) within Philadelphia’s Black basketball community. There is a real need for a collective shift towards rational, goal-oriented behavior to unlock the community’s full potential. By recognizing and addressing these challenges, the community can work towards creating more opportunities for its members and fostering a stronger, more unified Black basketball ecosystem.

Or… we can keep doing n!gga sh!t…

The 2023 Black Cager Fall Classic will take place in Allentown, PA located in Lehigh County on October 7-8.