Pop off

I have faith that someone is going to bother to trudge through my HERE WE ARE/FACE TO FACE manifesto below (not sure exactly when I picked up THC's habit of typing in caps, esp. since I still keep the italics close), but I would be truly remiss in my duties if I didn't make sure every last soul of the tropics heard about the following (courtesy of the indispensable InsideHoops):

LOVE

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls have some interest in famous streetball player Larry "Bone Collector" Williams. The player informed Lenchiner that both Chicago and Minnesota have expressed interest in giving him a workout in the near future. InsideHoops.com considers Bone Collector the most entertaining streetballer on the scene today.

This is probably the worst idea I've heard all off-season, but if anyone's sick enough to make the NBA heed the fiery sails of streetball, it's him. Skip, for all his fanfare and moderate success, has hardly been a basketball prophet; if anything, his background's been a hindrance on the road to becoming a passable point guard with questionable judgment and an itchy trigger finger. He's basically a less potent Jamal Crawford, but with the burden of untoward hype. BC would have no choice but to do shit his way, since he doesn't have that Division I grooming to fall back on.

HATE

Stepping from behind a curtain, through the fake smoke and into a gloomy setting, Andrew Bogut was yesterday presented by Nike as The Bogey Man. Melbourne Herald-Sun

Really, isn't Kobe in all his torment and anti-heroic ambivalence preferable to a lumbering white creep who lives in a dark room and scurries like a rat when called to stand in the light?

Nike's new Kobe campaign is one of the smartest things they've ever done, but apparently they're still feeling some need to hedge their bets with endorsements. Why not give my boy McCants (also signed to Nike) a commercial instead?