NBA Right On Time.

If the NBA season starts and a writer uses a hackneyed cliche, do readers vomit in revolt?

Yes yes, ho hum, another basketball season starts and nobody cares because Indianapolis is hosting New England and SOMEBODY has to lose ... unless they tie. Has anyone thought about what this would do for our nation? I'm pretty sure rivers will boil and frogs will fall from the sky; people like Len Pasquerelli and John Clayton (Dammit!) will wander naked in the streets muttering to no one in particular while the fools on sports radio stations across the country will try to make sense of a world gone mad.

And as usual, there will be the occasional "What Happened To The NBA" article written (saved for a particularly slow sports day), followed by the annual "The NBA Doesn't Start Until After New Years" article (saved for another particularly slow sports day; the dates change, the lazy writing stays the same). And then things will start to ramp up around March and you'll get your whole slew of articles CRITIQUING the NBA, with a bunch of idiots who think they can FIX the NBA even though nothing's WRONG with the NBA.

Of course, don't tell those who yearn for Michael Jordan 2. And don't tell those who think basketball died when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird retired (those would be the same folks who think Rock N' Roll died when John Lennon took a bullet to the chest). To them, the NBA used to be this magical unicorn who used to grant its fans wishes with every contest. Games always ended up in the 130s, men were men and fouls were fouls, and gee golly whiz those short shorts and high knee socks were swell!

Hang the DH!
Down with the 3-Point Line!
Renounce the Cover-2!

I'm telling you, Chuck Klosterman said it best last week on Page 2 - the NBA has always been flawed and always will be. Games never have nor ever will be interesting during the first 36 minutes of play. It's a selfish league full of superstars that always has and always will perpetuate itself in such a fashion as long as kids buy certain sneakers worn by certain players and emulate them by practicing their cross-over dribbles against their friends.

It's a long season. 82 games is a marathon, not an NFL-like sprint. Settle in, try to read the occasional article, maybe catch one game a week, and try to keep up as best you can. The NBA will always be there, it'll always be overshadowed by the other two Bigs, but in the end the people will always watch. They'll watch and continue to talk about it and continue to complain about it because that's the nature of Americans. Nothing's ever good enough and nothing's ever appreciated in its time