A Man for All Preseasons

I love professional basketball. It’s easy to insert a joke at this point, comparing my basketball skills with this observation regarding my singing: “John-D loves to sing, but singing doesn’t seem to love John-D”. However, like most of the things we love doing in life, my comparative skill at playing doesn’t seem to diminish my passion for the sport.

The NBA season is about to begin, and the only thing that can compare with the thrill of watching the actual games for this basketball fan is speculating on how the season could unfold. I’ve always suspected that most of the thrill of participating in NBA Fantasy Leagues comes from the basketball fanatic’s subconscious belief that he (or she) can run an NBA franchise better than the actual people involved in running a franchise (with the arguable exception of the San Antonio Spurs, which is a topic for another day). This is why basketball fans, in general, gleefully sift through the different sporting websites in order to weigh the different preseason analyses against their own unassailably correct basketball genius.

I’ve noticed that when it comes to this undeniably sweet basketball pleasure, it rarely matters whether or not the preseason prognostications of our favorite basketball pundits are invariably proven to be right. I remember having a discussion with my good friend, Ralph Lumo regarding the differences in enjoying Fox Sports analyst Charley Rosen and ESPN Page 2’s Bill Simmons.

Charley Rosen’s analysis, albeit a bit dry, curmudgeony and sometimes insufferably arrogant, is based on his encyclopedic knowledge of the game (both as player and coach), his insistence on establishing workable, patiently nurtured systems in teaching and playing the sport “the right way”, and a sincere desire to help everyone (players, coaches, fans) involved in the sport appreciate the subtle elegance of pristine ball. Bill Simmons’ analysis, while overwhelmingly biased in favor of his favorite team (the Boston Celtics) and sometimes lacking in terms of both method and substance, is unapologetic, funny, insightful at times, and undeniably passionate. Simmons also represents to some extent the current incarnation of the die-hard sports fan: knowledgeable, but in a way almost totally devoid of accountability, well-read, and almost frighteningly immersed in pop culture (who else can successfully mate quotations from The Godfather with an engaging, thoughtful commentary on the NBA Draft process?).

Ralph cut right to the heart of the matter, saying in effect, “Rosen, damn him, might be right most of the time, but I don’t always want to read stuff that’s right. Simmons is funny. He might not be right all the time, but he’s funny.”

Enjoying NBA basketball isn’t just about seeing your favorite team win. It’s about rooting for a team which you, for your own specific, personal reasons, identify with. You may not win all the time, but winning is beside the point. Your enjoyment of basketball is rooted in the fact that you root for a team that, for better or for worse, represents you.

At any rate, Simmons is taking his sweet time coming up with his NBA preseason preview (still, you can view his stuff at: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index), but Charley Rosen is all fired up and ready to go. He’s been remarkably prolific lately. It’s almost as if he’s aware that thousands of basketball fans can’t wait to argue with him about his painstakingly argued, but insufferably pompous pronouncements about the upcoming season. Check him out: http://msn.foxsports.com/writer/archive?authorId=227. Then, try to knock the bastard off his high horse.