Missing the point of the day in sports entirely

I kind of feel like an idiot struggling to write about baseball on the day of the conference championships and Kobe's 81 point game. It's like the day of a presidential election and you're the reporter who's been sent to cover the local elementary school bake sale. Ah well, bake sale it is. But first, Mr. Sinensky posed an interesting question tonight: If you were running SportsCenter, what would you have led with? I think it's a no brainer that you go with the football. A big game should always trump a big individual performance. It doesn't matter that both games were as far from classics as you could be. You have to show a respect for the team achievement. The Lakers and the NBA are the same tomorrow whether Kobe scored 30 or 81. The games that set up the Super Bowl matchup clearly go first in my book. I don't know what SportsCenter actually did, but it's still interesting to discuss either way.

Speaking of Kobe/LA, good work to Jae Ahn for citing a USC webpage touting USC over Texas in his article for the Journal of Labor and Employment Law. This is a model to all sports fans. I'm going to try to do that myself in my article due later this week. "The constitutionality of this issue has sparked heated debates. (Fire can be funny. See, "Howard Johnson & Roger McDowell: The Art of the Hot Foot, 1986 Mets team video)."

While I'm mentioning people, a clarification about yesterday's entry. It appears that Etan Bednarsh did NOT originate that joke about the girl with the penis. Kudos to Sinensky for discovering it in a letter to Bill Simmons. Bednarsh is mortified, as he should be, for misrepresenting his humor, which, after further investigation, doesn't actaully exist. He should no longer be considered a great or even a good man, but we will allow him to remain a great Mets fan by virtue of his apology. However, he's on thin ice. Verrrrrry thin ice.

I was all psyched to write about the Phillies-Indians-Red Sox dealings tonight. Alas, nothing is official, and I think it would be wise to wait until we know for sure just who is going where before delving into any analysis. So I guess that will wait until tomorrow.

Did anybody notice the article on Barry Bonds, in which he says that batting 2nd in the order "doesn't work" for him? Oh I see. The delicate genius has a policy! It's no shock that Bonds isn't the most accomodating guy, but it would be nice if the 41 year old coming off a year of "mysterious" knee surgeries would at least consider moving if that's what Felipe Alou thinks is best for the team. Just why should it "not work" for Bonds? It's not like he has to move positions in the field, or that Alou is talking about hitting him 8th. 2nd in the order is perfectly respectable, and Bonds might get pitched around less, which you'd think would appeal to him as he chases 755. Most guys his age are either retired or in a part time role; does he expect to hit cleanup until he retires, regardless of how effective he may still be? Alou probably shouldn't have even said a word to the media before talking to Bonds about it, but Bonds could be more flexible.