If it’s true that Ball would be a late lottery pick without his father’s hype campaign, then you’re right about the value he adds. I’ve generally heard that he was going to be top-3 all along, but I honestly don’t know much about it and haven’t watched him play, so I’ll defer here.

What has he “built,” though? He’s great at getting attention, but I have yet to see any evidence at all that that attention is translating to sales for his trash apparel line.

I’m a freelance consultant, and rely on referrals and word-of-mouth to sell my services. If I raped a dog in Times Square, everybody would know my name, but that wouldn’t make me a “genius marketer.” At some point, you have to get people to pay money for a product. Otherwise, what you’re doing isn’t marketing. It’s…

And yet neither of them have any of my money, which is the entire point of marketing.

I mean, that’s true. And I’m mad at those clowns. I’m not mad at Ball. I just think he’s an oaf, and would rather that the father of three middlingly talented basketball players wasn’t the number-one sports news story every day.

Where is the evidence of this so-called genius? Is everyone you know rushing out to buy Big Baller gear or something? Because I have literally never seen anyone where it whose last name isn’t Ball.

It’s a strange endeavor. For the same effort/money, you could put your kid in decent shape to be a $20 million/year CEO, with the backup plan of $3 million/year corporate lawyer. I mean, I wouldn’t do that to my kid, either, but at least the odds of success aren’t ridiculously low.

I’m not *mad* at him. But he’s a clown, and I don’t want it to make headlines every time he claims he’ll only let his sons sign a shoe deal for eight bajillion dollars. He and the press are both to blame for that shit.

Jesus. Has there been any movement to put a cage over the top? Given the height of the back of the car, it looks like the only way the driver would be exposed is if they came down upside down on the wall, which is basically what happened here. Looks like very narrowly diverted disaster.

I can’t.

There’s a difference between “not dodging” and “moving your body so it gets hit.”

When there’s “gray” you err on the side of the guy getting shit thrown at him.

I mostly meant that it should be really blatant that you’re trying to take the pitch for this call to be made. Pitches are fast! There’s not much time to get out of the way! Sure, if you step into one, that’s your own dumb fault. But if you get a little deer-in-the-headlights frozen when you see a ball flying at you,…

I mean, that is total fucking bullshit. First of all, why is it incumbent on the batter to get out of the way. Don’t throw at the batter! Second of all, it looked like he was keyed in, ready to swing, and then when he saw the ball was coming for him, it was too late.

Serious question: Why is everybody so fucking terrible? Like, what the fuck?

Johnny Manziel.

As a (very casual) Celtics fan, thank God.

It must be weird to know EXACTLY how you’re going to die.

LOL

Ah, you’ve graduated to name-calling. Not super mature, but at least it’s legal, I suppose.