how for this monday and every sunday from now to forever, it's more than just football, and for that i say

geaux saints.

and i say that as i cry my eyes out.

geaux saints.

how fox news has a tremendous amount of nerve

as i've said before, i like to watch fox news while on the stairmaster. i figure that if i'm gonna tivo "the daily show", i should get the other side of the coin.

and usually, when i watch fox news, i'm completely blown away how one-sided and insane their coverage is. but, hey, it's a different viewpoint, and i crave that. and there's usually a morsel within the craziness that makes me think, "hey, if it wasn't for the insanity, that would be an interesting viewpoint."

but today, they've completely outdone themselves.

anyways, they're talking about the saints-falcons game tonight, the triumphant reopening of the superdome, and the guest is talking about how president bush is doing the opening coin flip, and that green day is performing before the game. green day, the band that made an album called "american idiot" that condemns the president and his policies.

the same president who did absolutely nothing in the wake of katrina, and who has continued to do absolutely nothing.

and the guest says, "i have no idea why the NFL would invite green day to the festivities."

what?!?

seriously, it's shit like this that pisses people off, where president bush is so obviously the heavy in this situation, has done nothing for the people who suffered, and is really just showing up for a photo opp. and yet, in what should be a layup, in what would be a great opportunity for "fair and balanced" reporting, he's protected insanely by fox news.

and conservatives wonder why the world considers fox news as a joke.

how this post was blown on pinball and submissive phone sex

okay, this bit from conan o'brien might seem silly at first, but trust me and stick with it. it's fantastic. and then urinate into a moving taxi cab.

how this kid might have wasted his potential if it weren't for the fact that he's fantastic

i don't remember the last time i've seen anything like this.

at least he has a good role model to follow.

thanks for the links, tony.

how "jackass" is the most honest entertainment out there

and, judging by how the red carpet was treated by steve-o (no relation0, i gotta ask them to never stop.

maybe we should ask preston lacy and wee-man what they think about keven federline.

how everything comes together

i just read an amazing book called "the looming tower" by lawrence wright. it's basically a study on the history of al-queda, how they came to be and how they developed their ideology and how we dealt with them. and it's written in such a novelistic way that before you know it, it's 350 pages later and you're done.

it's an amazing read.

remember right after 9/11, how everyone had a theory about how crazy they all are in the middle east - hell, i had some great ones, well, nobody was even close to being right. and that goes for the newscasters and the government. nobody knew jack shit.

it's worth it, just to get into their minds.

and to get yourself mad again. not only at them, but at us.

from the CIA and the FBI not sharing information during the clinton administration to the bush administration ignoring anything to do with terrorism, it just shows how just a little bit of teamwork and attention could have stopped the tragedy. and that is unforgiveable.

which gets me to the topic of this. isn't it funny how, after five years of relative inactivity, president bush is now making a bigger effort to get osama bin laden? i mean, for years, the government barely even uttered his name in lieu of anything and everything iraq. but now, it's all about osama.

the shame of it is that it took something as selfish as mid-term elections to get something done.

you see, polls show the republicans as being awful in iraq but alright on terrorism. so by concentrating on their strengths, and making a bigger hoopla on al-quada, it's a diversion away from their "bad news". it's fucking ridiculous that it's taken something as selfish as keeping power in congress to finish the job of capturing the mastermind of the worst day in the history of our country.

hell, it's not keeping our country safe from terrorism. it's keeping our country safe from bipartisanism.

fucking assholes.

and it's politics as usual.

how pride is how you define it

i asked this of my two friends, die-hard yankee fans, and i figured i'd throw it out there for any other fans of the evil empire:

everybody loved the championship yankee teams of the late 90s. not only were they the best team in baseball, but their front office was also the best in the majors. and when people talk about those teams, they talk about their pitching and defense and timely hitting - mostly because the team salary was the highest, but not out of whack from the rest of the league. they were a team built in a competitive atmosphere.

assuming the yanks win this year, people will remember them as the best team money can buy. they'll look at that lineup and see how expensive it is. they'll look at the infield and see that they're more expensive than five major league teams. they won't be remembered for that intimidating lineup. and it's all because their salary is severely out of whack from the rest of the league. in that way, it's not a competitive atmosphere. but it is within the rules.

you can argue this previous paragraph all you want, but you can't. you might not see it that way, but that's the way it is. everyone admired those old yanks teams. this one is purely mercenary.

here's my question. do you hold a softer spot in your heart for those late 90s teams, who dominated in a competitive environment, or this team, that dominates in a completely different stratosphere?

how to leave a blogger speechless

it's rather easy. just read an article like this and watch any sense of commentary disappear.

words do fail.

how i heard this and it made me think

"america would like to think of herself as baseball, but when it comes down to it, she behaves like football".

kinda dead-on true, don't you think?

also something that made me think: why did marcia, jan and cindy have the last name "brady"?

ponder on that, bitches.

how to fight depression

if you're ever really down in the dumps, with life getting the best of you, and you really can't see the silver lining or even the light at the end of the tunnel, just take a look at this and don't resist the smile.

how i hate to admit this

but i'm kinda digging "sexyback" by justin timberlake.

he's kinda talented. that i'm not ashamed to admit. unlike his ex, he knows what he's doing and he's no studio-creation. he's good at what he does.

although, as soon as that poseur starts to rap, i would give anything for 50 cent to just pimp slap the shit out of him.

how even in grand victory, i can laugh

i got this e-mail from a yankee fan after my latin-heavy new york mets clinched the NL east last night:

To all my Mets fans out there congratulations on winning your teams 5th division title in team history. Now that the Special Olympics, aka, the National League regular season, is almost over, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. I am hoping that my Yankees can wrap up our 9th STRAIGHT Division title, that’s almost twice as many in team history for you math challenged Mets fans. We’ll see you in October, and no there will not be a Puerto Rican Day Parade down the Canyon of heroes, if you comprede amigos…..

Congratulations once again muchachos….

very funny.

how sportswriting can be touching writing

the dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the ninth, walk-off in the tenth to win, to pull into first place in the NL west with twelve games to go.

but, as it was with me and for mostly everyone, it's even a game for the ages can be shared between generations, even if it's not.

great stuff.

how i am watching the next generation of crap

it's 1:24 on sunday morning and i am watching a show called "the dead zone" on abc starring anthony michael hall, and it's pure crap. okay, i know what you're thinking: how can something that starred anthony michael hall be the next generation of crap. but it is.

you ready for the concept? here it comes. buckle up.

he's a guy who awakens with super powers (like being psychic) after six years in a coma.

yep. brilliant stuff. and hey, i gotta tell you, i didn't want to watch it. i really didn't. but how can you resist this dialogue?

johnny (amh): do you have a son?
ex-girlfriend: yes...his name is johnny...he's a hockey player.

i dare you to change the channel.

anyways, it's terrible. really terrible. and it's taking itself waaaaaay too seriously.

i'm only posting this because i think most people think that nothing happens in the world around them when they fall asleep.

but that's not true. crap happens.

UPDATE: "the dead zone" just ended, and it's followed by a movie called "the shipment" starring matthew modine, nicholas turturro and paul rodriguez. so even before it begins, let's recap: it's starring an actor who was happening in the mid-1980s, the brother of a great actor who never really made it big in his own right, and a comedian who was a big star in the late 80s.

unfortunately, this film was shot in 2001.

UPDATE UPDATE: a evil midget cop just entered the fray. (read: this has potential).

how i need someone to explain wilmer valderrama to me

he's dated every young hot starlet in hollywood. hell, he was with lindsay lohan for a year at the most ideal time - before she became a walking virus. and you can't read anything about hollywood without seeing his name mentioned somewhere.

and now, i just watched him co-host a full hour with my beloved, kelly ripa.

a full hour.

with kelly ripa.

i don't get it.

this guy was "fez" from "that 70s show".

FEZ!

the modern-day screech.

i don't see dustin diamond anywhere cool. i don't see him dating anyone famous. hell, i don't see him. god damn, his house is up for sale. that's more like it for screech.

wither fez?

seriously, someone explain it to me.

this isn't a joke. seriously, i need an explanation.

how i'm jealous of a word

i have a list of words that i want to get into a headline or a commercial at some point. these are words that are somewhat outside the vernacular, and when i see them in print, i get excited.

yep, this is what gets me off.

from the cnn.com front page:

U.S. report on nuclear Iran blasted

A congressional report on Iran's nuclear program has been blasted as "outrageous and dishonest" by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. The IAEA slams the House Intelligence Committee report for saying Iran "is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade." The report also insinuates the IAEA may be in cahoots with Tehran in covering up Iran's nuclear ambitions.

sweet.

i grew up with that word in mafia-influenced staten island. i didn't realize it survived outside the verrazano. and i'm stoked that a word purely indigenous to any pizzeria in staten island or brooklyn was used to help describe an offical governmental report on iran's nuclear program.

how there are understatements, and then there's colin powell

i've been trying to keep up with the debate in congress over the rewording of how to treat suspects under the rules set forth by the geneva convention. on one hand, rather scarily, i agree with the bush administration in that for there to be clarity, the restrictions need to be specific. on the other hand, it's pretty fucking common sense what you can and can't do.

then again, it is common sense, and if our adminstration had any, we wouldn't be in this mess we're in.

right now, and it's been awhile, i automatically assume that, with every proclamation, the bush administration has something dastardly up their sleeve, and that's not right. it's just not right. it shouldn't be. but it is. you know they're gonna light someone's legs on fire, and then claim it's all good, because their amendment stipulates that you can't light arms on fire, so legs are okay. that's how they do.

anyways, colin powell addressed his displeasure with the bush stance, and he stated:

"the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism."

really, colin? you think? gee, where did you get that idea from? hell, this country ranks above only turkey - turkey! - in the percentage of people who don't believe in evolution, and even this group of idiots overwhelmingly question this administration's moral basis for anything.

way to ease it in there, col.

what's next, general obvious? "the world is beginning to doubt whether or not suri cruise wasn't bought in an asian baby store".

how i just overdosed

you know how you hear about something being so good but, for some reason, you hover around it, dab into it just a little, and you'll know you'll like it if you get into it, but you don't, then at some point, for some reason, you do, and then you're all up in it?

well, it just happened to me. and i'm over my head.

you see, the drug of choice for me is "the wire".

i just spent two days watching every episode from season three. i had watched most of season one already, and hbo on demand gave an eight-minute tutorial catching you up (and when you add that to the episode recap on hbo.com and season recaps on wikipedia, well, i was more than up to speed). and season two i did the same thing, except i hadn't seen any of the episodes, but i was fully armed for thr third season.

(why did i rush past season two, you ask? because season four just began on hbo, and i wanted to be as up-to-date as possible).

and, with all that confusing hullabaloo being said, i gotta say, without a shadow of a doubt, on the highest mountaintop i can find, that season three of "the wire" was the finest season i've ever seen.

of any series.

of any kind.

at any time.

and i'm taking into account "24" or "the office" or "arrested development". and "all in the family" or "cheers" or "seinfeld". and any other show you think fits into that category.

season three of "the wire" was better.

i mean, it was everything you'd want from a series - smart, dramatic, well-written, well-directed, well-acted, well-edited - except done on a scale that is completely unimaginable, completely magnificent. i'd never seen anything like this, and i'm gonna be hardpressed to see anything that'll compare.

it's not for anyone. i mean, not everyone is intrigued by the baltimore drug scene, from the cops perspective, from the dealer perspecitve, from the city hall perspective, without care of good or evil.

it's a pretty amazing achievement.

i can't believe how much i wrote considering that i'm speechless.

how i think i might be a hack

i just bought three highly acclaimed cds from three artists that i admire, and i like a grand total of none of them.

i really need to listen more to thom yorke's "the eraser", but after three or four listens, i find it waaaaay too electronic. his voice needs a baritone behind him. not digging it.

and although i also really need to listen more to "one day it will please us to remember even this", i still found everything about it to be extremely sophomoric. it just, i don't know, it didn't grab me. in fact, it shoved me away.

this is both shocking, mostly because i really dig them as artists.

which leaves me with "modern times" by bob dylan, whom i just bought concert tickets for. i love his most recent albums. his raw voice and deep storytelling is perfect for folk and blues - and especially for this advanced form from the stuff that made him famous. his work has been very mature, very incisive, very original.

this album, however, seems lazy.

the lyrics are beautiful but, at times, uncrafted. the melodies aren't really developed either; you pick up the hook after a minute or so, and they don't progress, and they become repetitive and boring. and his voice just seems to be going through the motions. to say i'm disappointed would be an understatement. dylan is an idol of mine. this is so below the standards that i have for him.

and yet, rolling stone, among others, gave these albums four stars each.

and i need to ask myself, "what am i missing?"

or, rather, "what do they hear?"

either way, they've got one more week on my ipod shuffle to win me over.

how you're probably not gonna find what you definitely can't spell

how tomorrow should be personal

if anyone's looking for me on monday, the fifth anniversary of 9/11, well, i don't know what i'm gonna do, really. i may go to the museum. i may go volunteer somewhere. i may go for a nice long run. i may just take my book and find a warm place to read.

i may just cry in my room.

but i'll tell you this much: i won't be on the internet. i'm not gonna be watching television either. and i'm not gonna read the papers.

if there's one thing i can be sure of, it's that every television channel in american will be milking the anniversary for all its ratings. every channel will be flooded with towers falling. every second filled with memorials and politicking. every moment a chance to open wounds and guilt us into watching for neilsons to be counting.

yes, monday is the fifth anniversary of 9/11. if you need the news to tell you that, then you probably need the television to force you how to feel.

what am i talking about? it's not news anymore; it's exploitation. always has been. always will be.

they can't help themselves, and this goes for the internet too.

their restraint has gone out the window.

my restraint will be of the most paramount.

see you on 9/12.

how we're on the eve of 9/11

and what have we really learned?

have we really grown as a country?

already, all the news channels are beginning to hype up their 9/11 5th anniversary shows - exploiting a national tragedy for themselves, hoping to gain viewers, hoping to make money on it.

already congress is talking up 9/11 and how everyone's proud of the changes in the world since then and how they are responsible - exploiting a national tragedy for themselves, hoping to gain voters, hoping to make money on it.

already there's businessmen and politicians doing the big talk about big plans for what to do next at ground zero without any idea of how to do it but getting their names into the limelight - exploiting a national tragedy for themselves, hoping to gain camera time, hoping to make money on it.

nothing has changed.

we blew it.

we still have politicians talking and getting in front of cameras and doing nothing to catch osama bin laden or even helping the poor people in new orleans. but at least halliburton and their benefactors are doing well.

we still have politicians using the words "9/11" as a scare tactic instead of a starting point for making change, but at least we still have a color-coded warning system that is used primarily to divert attention away from their incompetence.

we still have our soliders dying in iraq without any mission statement, exit strategy or purpose, but at least the front page of cnn.com yesterday not only revealed that ellen is gonna host the oscars next year, but also that paris hilton was arrested on a DUI charge and that suri cruise is a real person. that's what's important, yes?

and we still have a non-partison 9/11 commission report that is being continually ignored in congress, but at least we have both parties putting their differences aside for the sake of the country. right? right? hello?

as usual, like it always has been and always will be, the least important things are firmly implanted in the forefront of our minds and media, and what's most important is being exploited by anyone and everyone for personal gain.

nothing's fucking changed.

and you know what? we still have a huge hole at ground zero to show for it.

i love this country, but sometimes, i'm embarrassed by it.

shame on all of us.

how no matter how much i write, i won't be nearly as sharp and funny as "the onion", and i accept that

here's the front page from the sports section of "the onion" and it's everything this blog should be.

damn.

how i almost lost faith in headline writers, but then they bring me right back

add one gay "american idol" loser to a presidential commission, and you're left with this great headline for this article.

well played.

how a little could do a lot for a big cause

i don't drink coke or any soda for that matter, but if you do, read up:

my friend stu is doing something nice for a sick kid at the st. jude children's research hospital in chicago, and you should too. simply, if you email the 15-digit codes from your coke 12-packs and bottle caps to stu, he's gonna collect them all and use it to buy a prize for brandon mcknight. it's not much, but it's something nice for someone who deserves it.

here's the info about the project.

it's not too much to ask for or do. please, keep this in mind before you throw out the caps or 12-packs.

thanks.

i wish i were back on the caffeine, you know, just to help out.

how the inevitable has happened twice this week

fresh off steve irwin being killed by an animal, we have paris hilton getting busted for a DUI. the biggest question in this whole ordeal, actually, is what took so long. here we have a spoiled socialite who's photographed in different bars and clubs every night in los angeles, a town where you have to drive to get to places, and she doesn't work, so she has no sense of responsibility, and they finally busted her for a DUI? really? it took that long? then again, the LAPD still hasn't found biggie smalls' killer, so something as obvious as this, well, you can't expect miracles.

i have a friend who works for the LAPD, and he sent me paris hilton's mugshot and i gotta say, it ain't pretty.

how there's another great ad in an endless string of great ads

wieden+kennedy never fails to deliver with their sportscenter commercials for espn. and their newest one with peyton and eli manning is just another one to make me jealous.

how the obvious has come as a shock

tom clancy once wrote that the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.

that has always stuck with me. and it's why i always thought "the crocodile hunter" steve irwin would go down with a heart attack or through natural causes. you know, something he didn't instigate.

that's why his death from a stringray sting has left me shocked, even though it was kinda obvious, right? i mean, the guy made his living from baiting animals and never letting them be. he made his living from pushing danger much further than what is recommended.

and that's kinda how he died, isn't it? having an animal finally get the better hand.

but still, i'm shocked and kinda shook by our loss. because he always did stupid stuff, i figured he was invincible. it makes sense, and therefore, it just makes no sense.

it's kinda like johnny knoxville dying due to bloodloss from a stapled scrotum. should happen, but it won't. he'll die from, i don't know, pneumonia maybe?

crikey.

rest well, croc.

how even towing companies are allowed to have a sense of humor

this was parked near my house:

how millions of rednecks just blew a golden opportunity

you know, for free target practice at dragon con, currently taking place on peachtree street in atlanta.

yeehaw.

how it's been a long, long, long, long, long time

since i laughed as much and as hard in a theater. so much so, that's it's worth the best review i'll ever write.

"little miss sunshine"
starring greg kinnear, toni collette, stave carell, alan arkin, paul dano and the amazing abigail breslin
directed by dayton/faris
written by michael arndt
viewed at the amc van ness 1000, san francisco

i was gonna start this review by saying it would be easier to list all the things that aren't perfect in this movie, but i really can't name any. so here's everything that's right with this film )and, by proxy, everything that's right with movies in general).

1. the casting is brilliant. everyone is precisely understated instead of arkin, whose character shouldn't be. and even so, arkin's ideal. and there's no way that you won't fall in love with abigail breslin,who pulls an absolutely breathtaking performance for someone so young. if you need just one reason to watch, she's it.

2. the directing is brilliant, but what else can you expect from the legendary team of jonathan dayton and valerie faris, who are responsible for a good share of the best ads and music videos from the past twenty years. this is not slapstick. slapstickhas been done to death. and it's uncomfortable, but so much more, so much deeper. to put it plainly, it just is. and what it is just couldn't be improved upon. perfect.

3. the writing was spot on magnificent. when you have a large ensemble cast, it's very easy to stereotype all the characters into certain roles, thereby making them caricatures of real people. these characters have quirks, but are as human as you and me. i can't tell you how rare that is in a comedy.

4. there's a bunch of moments in this film that i'll always have with me, from my heart warming with sweetness to my stomach splitting with laughter - and those scenes made me laugh almost as hard as i did during "there's something about mary". i said "almost'. but it's close.

do you want something imperfect? i wish it would never have ended.

then again, it was just long enough.

i can't wait to see it again. it's easily the best movie i've seen since "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind".

how about that?

how iowa might top san francisco

one of the hidden wonders of this great city is election time, and learning about the different types of people running for office. we've got our share of transsexuals, confused transsexuals, pimped-up mayors and, well, you name it, we've got it. and you can vote for it.

however, in the first time these words have ever been typed, it seems that iowa has topped san francisco.

meet james hill. he's running for congress. and if he were here or if i were there, he'd have my vote. arrrgghh!

how to do movie reviews

double feature. no matter the movies, i'm always the winner.

"talladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby"
starring will ferrell, john c. reilly and sacha baron cohen
directed by adam mckay
written by will ferrell and adam mckay
viewed at the presidio theater, san francisco
you know the fare. it's the same old will ferrell movie. and although i can liberally quote "anchorman" now, and i love that movie dearly, i really didn't like it the first time around. and, quite frankly, i wasn't crazy about this one either and i don't think this movie is as good as that one. it's just not as funny. but, like i said, i didn't like "anchorman" the first time, and this movie has the same DNA. ask me again when it hits cable. what i did enjoy, and wish there were more of, was sacha baron cohen channeling the brilliant peter sellers in "the party". i haven't read any review making that connection (mostly because movie reviewers just recite the plot instead thinking of about it), but the bond is obvious and amazing. i thought he was great, really funny. but, then again, anything he does makes me laugh my ass off. (that being said, the funniest cohen was all night was in the trailer for "borat" that ran before the film).

"scoop"
starring woody allen, scarlett johannson and hugh jackman
written and directed by woody allen
viewed at the presidio theater, san francisco
here's what happened. woody's already in england shooting "match point". someone, probably his producers, ask him he had another script he'd like to shoot since they're already there. hell, scarlett's already here. woody says, "well, i've got this script. i just haven't added the jokes yet, and it's not new york specific, so this'll work". they say, "okay, let's run with it then". and they do some research, and they find that hugh jackman is in england, and he's free to work. woody asks, "hey, isn't he....?" and they say, "yeah, but...well, can you direct and cut around the love scenes and all, right?" and woody says sure and they shoot the film and edit it, and, lo and behold, it's not only unfunny, but it sucks.

how to waste time in the marina

most of you who know me and who know san francisco know of my disdain for the marina district. i take that back; it's not really disdain. i just feel bad for the people there, to be so superficial and vapid all the time, to be so generic, well, it's a sad way to go through life. paris hilton should not be a role model. but that's just me. i'm grounded.

anyways, i had to waste some time before the double feature (see above), so i went shopping.

here's a tale of two stores two blocks apart, very similar but oh, so different.

the gap
i decided to spontaneously buy socks and a belt. i brought them to the counter, where the cashier asked me:
"did you find everything you were looking for?"
"ummm..i...i'm sorry, what?" (i was thinking for a wiseass remark)
"did you find everything you were looking for?"
"oh, no."
"maybe we can direct you to what you're looking for?"
"yes, maybe. where do you keep your battleships?"
"i'm sorry, what?"
"battleships. do you have a section for battleships?"
"like, the game 'battleship'?"
"i'm thinking an actual battleship. you know, with a row of guns and a poopdeck."
"i'm not sure we sell battleships."
"then i'll take this belt and socks."

we laughed. who didn't laugh was her manager, the human botox injection, who either gave me the wicked eye or has the wicked eye permanently frozen on her face. if you're ever on the gap on chestnut, check her out. she looks like a picasso. that wasn't a compliment.

lucky brand jeans
i'm just walking around, wasting time, when an employee asks me:
"can i help you with anything?"
"no, just wasting time."
"if i can help you with anything, let me know."
"thanks."
all of a sudden, "midnight rider" by the allman brothers plays though the speakers. and i say:
"seriously, thanks. i needed a little gregg allman".
"like i said, anything to help".
i smiled. she smiled. everybody happy.

not a bad fifteen minutes in a hellhole.

how we're not gonna win for awhile

of course the american basketball team lost. it should have. it didn't deserve to win. it's against our nature.

as a product of the american basketball system, but never a star, i learned how to play within a team structure. i learned a million ways of moving without the ball. i learned how defense is nothing more than angles and desire and how to mix them well. i learned how to cover for my teammates. i learned how to make not just the extra pass, but more importantly, the right pass. i learned where to be and where others should. i learned how to anticipate because i had to outhink the game due to my physical incapabilites. i never had to think about what to do. i just reacted. it was my second nature.

you know, come to think of it, i was decidedly unamerican. but because i had to play that way, because i had to concentrate on being smarter than relying on athleticism, playing that way, the right way, became second nature to me.

thoughtless genius, if i say so myself.

the players we currently worship in the nba, the players with sneaker deals and purchasable jerseys, our american basketball team, well, they didn't have to learn it. they could always go isolation and dunk over people like me. they could get beat on a backdoor and still get back to pin the rock against the backboard. they didn't have to learn where the ball should go because it usually ended with them, or when they did pass it, it was a gorgeous no-look whip that, even if it didn't end in two points, would elicit a "whoa!"

it was that way in high school and summer aau ball, where the concentration is look good enough to get a scholarship. and it was that way for them in college, where the concentration is to get drafted. and it is that way for them in the nba, because that's what sells. it's not about fundamentals. it's about playing basketball instinctively instead of athletically.

you see, we can teach our best players how to defend the pick-and-roll, but these european teams that know how to play will also kill us with step-back jumpers instead of the roll. or will catch up napping by going backdoor. or something else.

we're just gonna learn how to defend one thing, while they've got lifetimes to ways to beat us.

it's second nature to them. that's a nature our stars never had to learn.

lebron james, dwyane wade, carmelo anthony and the rest are wonderful basketball entertainers in the best basketball entertaining league in the world, bred from the world of basketball entertaining. their nature is to win by entertaining. and it'll win in the nba.

but no matter how hard they play, and lord, did they play hard, substance will always beat style.

and, although coach k is not only a coach of basketball, he's a teacher of life, a lifetime of thoughtless genius is not something they can learn in a two-week training camp. which means it's not gonna get any better by the olympics.