The Mets are periodically decent or good primarily by accident, then they quickly squander whatever good will came out of that brief flirtation with competence. It is practically written in the stars.

Seriously, there just aren’t any more dunks. I mean, what else can these guys do? We’ve seen all the dunks.

I always see “competitive balance” tossed around as the main reason they shouldn’t just go 1-16. Okay, so what? So some years there’ll be more West teams, and some years there’ll be more East teams, depending on which conference is stronger. I don’t see any good reason why, from a pure basketball standpoint, just…

I guess the ‘90s really *are* back

Yeah, that performative “(RIP)” after “Steve Jobs” is throwing me off, too.

Oh, no doubt. Michael Jordan is still the GOAT, and I will always love watching Jordan highlights, but post-career Jordan has really been a lesson in what that level of hyper-competitiveness does to a person. I don’t think LeBron will ever be unequivocally seen as the greatest player ever, but I can be sure that I’d…

I’m a Laker fan, and LeBron is better. And Jordan only picked Kobe because Kobe wasn’t perceived as a threat to eclipse Jordan as the GOAT, and LeBron is.

It’s in the same boat as how every year around mid-season, the “What’s wrong with [whichever team LeBron is on]?” takes start pouring out, followed by the “this is the year that [non-LeBron East team] can finally get past LeBron!” takes, followed by LeBron’s team ripping off a ton of wins and sleepwalking to the…

Counter-counter-counterpoint: Oceania is an excellent record (I know Jimmy wasn’t there, but that kid did a reasonable impression), and Monuments to an Elegy is solid.

This. Relying on “loyalty” and “guilt” is a sure-fire way to drive yourself straight out of business. Make ‘em pay.

I saw Iha join Billy and Jimmy on the In Plainsong tour, and it was actually pretty jarring how out of place he seemed. Jeff Schroeder played rings around him. Was pretty much the final nail in the coffin re: any mystique around The Original Band for me.

Don’t be dense, watching the love between Rambo and Trautman blossom over the course of the middle two entries was my first experience with understanding the complexity of romantic love.

Philly fans are like Raiders fans. Yeah, you can turn your nose up at them, but admit it, it’s better that they exist as they are. It makes for a more interesting sports landscape. And they run as a much more entertaining counterpoint to the kind of holier than thou bullshit you get from St. Louis Cards or Pittsburgh…

And hell, it’s not like Gary Oldman doesn’t have a history of routinely doing that (outside of his recently spate of “eh, I’ll just show up looking like myself in some giant movies for a bit” roles). I think since he’s been dancing around in franchise fare for a bit that Darkest Hour reminded everyone that he’s…

I’m with you there. I suppose it’s hubris. They’re so good at messaging, and so many voters are... disinclined... to apply any critical thinking to what’s been an incredibly thinly veiled grift for 40 years at this point, so why not just flaunt it brazenly?

Oh, it’s not, and they know it’s not, and the federal gov’t choosing what foods you get to eat is the kind of monstrous, dystopian Big Brother shit that would be considered The End of Our Way of Life As We Know It if a Democrat had suggested it (I mean, hell, remember when Michelle Obama had the audacity to suggestion…

Yeah, I’ve always gotten the sense that Rondo mostly just wants to be left the fuck alone, not that he’s some huge asshole.

That’s just how Rondo looks in general. Though I think I did see him smile while having breakfast with Kobe that one time.

Seriously, though, what the fuck happened to the Hawks’ uniforms? A few years ago I remember thinking their uniforms were pretty good-looking, and now... I mean, Jesus, really? Is that chartreuse? At least back in the 90s when they slapped a giant hawk on the front you could still look at the jerseys directly. Maybe…

It doesn’t, and you’re right. It would be one thing if Hinkie had sussed out some diamonds in the rough or something, but that certainly never happened, and it’s not as though it wasn’t roundly accepted that Embiid and Simmons would be good-to-great NBA players.