Shake off your scales!

On so, so many occasions, FreeDarko has wrung NBA fluid out of news cycle shale. Today, though, we have met our match. There is positively nothing doing in the Association, and it doesn't help that SLAM's Top 50 list is doing everything possible to put us out of business. Not to jock, but Lang's Josh Smith entry hits on exactly why FD (adj.) is not just YouTube-wothy madness. And there's probably no better test case than Smith, whose stabs at credibility excited me far more than his effortless highlights.

Some of you spent the weekend relaxing in football's shade; I was coming to terms with the fact that I can no longer watch NFL games just to see one player perform. I'm not sure if this means I'm losing interest in the sport or actually getting it a little, but it's certainly changed the way I think about Sundays. It seems like even the most promethean of stars must eventually suffer the contingencies of community, making their existence all the more futile and bittersweet. Vick, that luster wore down; with Bush, we should probably anticipate the same. The lone exception to this is Tomlinson, who is ten times as fluid and lyrical a stylist as plenty of people stuck in the The Sport that Enables Such Things.

Further NFL gladness: Chris Henry beat at least one of his cases, which for some reason was an ESPN headline all day. I took advantage of the occasion to watch some of his finer moments, and was shocked to find out that I'd pretty much fabricated his hidden brilliance. Football would either seem to be the ideal sport for fans of potential, or the worst; either the air is continually thick with the stuff even for those who regularly see the field, or it's a double negative that leaves no trace of the actual. Or, to add yet another wrinkle, it seems as if many football players are riveting solely on the basis of their physique and raw locomotion—the combine phenomenon as enduring freedom. Like because that's all you know you can absolutely count on seeing, it's okay to take this as an aesthetic baseline; if nothing else, this is my excuse for Henry-fever.



Finally, anyone who got in on last week's incandescent Wire discussion should visit Heaven and Here, which is like FreeDarko with even more contributors. My maiden post can be found here, but stay checking for all of our evil gang.