Our Joints:

Good: Looking Ahead: Three Stories You’ll Be Sick of by March: Angelo discusses three stories that lazy writers will ride all through this upcoming season. This piece resonates with me because Angelo really hits on some themes that were already at play around the end of the 2010-2011 regular season. I am actually sick of these stories because I EXPECT to be sick of these stories. Even if that’s kind of messed up…

Better: 15 Most Watchable NBA Players: No. 3 LeBron James: Something odd happened with the last batch of Most Watchable Player articles — we stopped praising them, and we started analyzing them. That’s when it was clear we were at the cream of the crop. We started to talk about what they were as players or what they mean in the context of the NBA as a whole. As fantastic as this three-week-long series was, this LeBron James article stood out as the best of all them. Mike looks into the process of writing about a player as divisive as LeBron James.

Best: You Give Them The Money. They Give You a Stuffed Dog: In the scary, fan-riotous aftermath of the vetoed Chris Paul trade, new writer Matt throws down his first piece in a cascade of truth bombs. Matt rips apart the lies the NBA has been spewing out about helping small market teams. It’s a beautiful article that somehow mentions “The Sun Also Rises” in a way that makes sense.

Their Joints: 


Good: With Chris Paul Trade Veto, David Stern Allows NBA Owners to Become Cannibals: Please don’t let the title fool you — David Stern hasn’t let any NBA owners eat another human being yet. If he finds out one does, I am sure he will speak out about it. This article actually discusses every single worry I have had after the trade veteo, and it makes me afraid for the future of the NBA because of it.

Bad: Tebow Might Be a True Revelation: When I asked some of the other writers for suggestions for a bad article, Matt and Lee pointed to this one, and boy, were they right. Jason Whitlock tries to make the case that a two parent upbringing prepared Tebow to be a leader in the NFL. Then he tries to compare him to Magic Johnson. Then he tries to blow my brains out with his stupidity. We can all agree that a two parent upbringing is usually a better option for everyone involved, but this article is an insult to single parent households. A lot of great leaders in the world and in sports come from single parent households. A one person example as a case for this argument is really weak.

Tube: Beer Pong Slam Dunk: I wanted to open this with a really awesome basketball moment. Something serious and beautiful. Then Triz Gallo sent me this link for the article, and I laughed. You win, Triz. I’m going with this instead. Very funny.