Some lighter fare...

Let's pretend the world is ok, and talk about something a little lighter here. Of course, this means basketball.

I'm actually down in the library watching the Phoenix Philly game. Let's do some free association here.

- The commentators (somebody and Bill Walton) keep talking about Marcus Banks 'looking great out there'. Uh...no. He can't pass, dribbles too much, and just generally screwed up the Phoenix offense for the past 10 minutes.

- Allen Iverson, like a lot of atheletes, it probably a little messed up from dealing with the whole issue of the kid dying. If you hadn't heard, he paid for the funeral of a child who was shot for wearing an Iverson jersey. Oh, and his tooth hurts, but he's not getting that fixed until after he passes out 5,000 dinners to the homeless tomorrow. And yes, AI is one of my favorite players in the league.

- Amare Stoudamire isn't back, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

- I have no idea what is going on with Philly. Are they rebuilding? Are they expecting to be good this year? I don't get it? They have no coherent plan that I can see.

- Marcus Banks with the shot...no.

- How come Andre Iguodala isn't better? Is there anyone with more talent who does less with it?

- This "Gears of War" commercial is weird.

- Great, I just saw Pizza Hut advertising slogan is "Go for the good stuff"...uh...ok then. Hello anywhere but Pizza Hut.

- Ok, now the whole funeral thing is being milked ridiculously by the announcers.

- "We can only hope that the madness will stop." Bill Walton. Well, that's certainly true.

- Gee, why are the 76ers back in it? Maybe because the Suns offense is stagnated since Marcus Banks came in? No, it's because Allen Iverson is FRICKING AMAZING.

- Is Dr. J. really on the NBA's "All-Time-Team" (Walton just said he would be)? How many guards can we have on that team? Figure 6 out of a twelve man roster, and you're telling me that Dr. J. is going to beat out Jordan, Magic, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Isaiah Thomas, Cousy, or Maravich? And that doesn't even count Dwayne Wade, Lebron, Steve Nash, Wilkins, Iverson, or Kobe. Sorry, Dr. J.: Probably not in the top 12 NBA players of all time.

- And Philly just came all the way back!

- Stupid 007 commercial.

- "Down in Brazil they are loving Leandro Barbosa". I suspect most of Brazil couldn't care less. They play soccer down there.

- Another Marcus Banks turnover. Once he gets the ball the Sixers just try to make sure he keeps it. That seems to be a good strategy.

- Amare is looking ok. Now's the time to pull the trigger Phoenix. Trade him for Garnett RIGHT NOW!!! If Garnett hooked up with Nash and Marion, the Suns would win the freacking championship. They would WIN THE FRICKIN' CHAMPIONSHIP. They might not be competitive in 3 years, but hey, I don't see Heat fans complaining "Oh damnit. We just won our only championship for the next 3-5 years." You know why? Because they WON THE FRICKIN' CHAMPIONSHIP. And yes, I'm a little bitter about the fact that the Mavs passed on a similar opportunity with Shaq.

- Welcome to the human network...cisco. What?

- Oh my god, a female studio personality!? I like this, but she seems nervous, how long has she been doing this? Swin Cash, who's that?

- I don't care. There are not 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper. There's one. Dr. Pepper flavor. That's it.

- Well, I was hoping to call my uncle and talk to him about the game while I was down here, and he doesn't seem to be around...so I think I'm going to go sit closer to the TV and get away from the computer. But yeah, this was fun.

For the record:

Western Conference Playoff Teams (my predictions that I never got out):

Spurs (I guarantee this)
Suns
Mavs
Houston
Clippers
Denver (is there anyone else in this division?)
Sacromento (Musselman is a good coach)
New Orleans
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Lakers (Fuck you kobe!)
Utah
Golden State (although they could be fun to watch)
Portland
Memphis
Minnesota
Seattle

What? Is this for real? Portland, Utah, Golden State, Lakers and Minnesota are all legitimately good teams, but I can't see them beating out any of those other teams for a spot in the playoffs [Ed. Note: Well, after seeing K-Mart go down and Utah destroy everybody...I'm pretty sure the Nuggets are out and the absolutely ridiculous "Melo isn't a winner" stories will start again.] Wow...the West is really good from top to bottom. They are going to kill the East. And once the playoffs roll around either D-Wade or LeBron is going to get preferential treatment from the refs and an Eastern conference team will probably win it all.

Fuck you officials.