Good to know. I just finished the part where *SPOILERS* “the last battle” occurs in Fillery and the gang from earth are about to head off to the Neitherlands to try and find Ember. So I’m on the home stretch. I’m going to have to go back and read all three together at some point as a lot of the details from the first…

I disagree. I was listening in good faith and that’s not how I took it at all. I’m not saying that your interpretation is invalid and we can certainly give Barkley the benefit of the doubt that he meant well after the fact. But I don’t think it took a bias against him to read things the way I read them in the moment.…

Sure. The population difference should be able to make up for some or all of the different circumstances. That’s a good point. Though I still think the newness factor is huge. Honestly, I’m sympathetic with apathetic fans because I can be apathetic about my sports fandom as well. If you consistently put out a…

I’m not saying your interpretation is invalid, but that’s not how I took it at all at the time. I also think that the “he couldn’t say get those cameras away from him” argument is extremely weak. He’s Charles Barkley. He can and does say whatever he wants. When have you ever known him to pull punches? If he meant “we…

I like both Girls and The Magicians quite a bit. I would agree that the characters on Girls are much more insufferable though. Quentin is immature and annoying at times, but you still root for him. Hannah is consistently awful and played for comedy and most of the people around her aren’t much better.

I would disagree with the extent to which Quentin is “unrelentingly terrible.” He’s selfish and spoiled a bit and struggling with depression, but he’s still relatable. He’s not an actively horrible person. Just immature. I get why people dislike him, but I don’t think he’s nearly as bad as he gets made out to be.

That’s interesting that you’d say that the third is the weakest. I’m reading it right now and I’m loving it. Can’t put it down. Though I loved the first two as well and it’s been a while since I’ve read them, so I can’t really do a ranking. Hopefully the ending won’t disappoint me.

Barkley said “me” and “my” far too many times to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was thinking about what’s best for Thomas. If you’re worried about him or upset that the camera is invading a private moment, then say that. Don’t keep making it about you and your own comfort.

I didn’t think he was calling it unmanly, but I did think he was making it about himself. He kept saying how it made him uncomfortable. As if Charles Barkley’s comfort level is what’s important. If his problem was the crying being broadcast (which it should have been), he could have easily said so. He’s an acclaimed…

Trust the process.

You mean when they hosted the Hornets with reigning rookie of the year Chris Paul rather than the former Sonics with reigning rookie of the year Kevin Durant? Way different. Plus, the new factor still applies. They were starved for pro sports. They had and still have nothing else. And there was the sentimental Katrina…

They were terrible for a season, but they had a budding superstar to build around and were a new, shiny thing for people to get excited about. Not a fair comparison at all.

I don’t mean to knock the OKC fans. They’re definitely good fans. But they haven’t really been tested yet. Those first couple of seasons, they were just excited to have any team at all and they already had a budding superstar to root for in Durant. After that, they were immediately a team on the rise and then a legit…

That’s not fair, Lindsey. You can’t say there aren’t two sides. “I’m a racist asshole who doesn’t care about other cultures” is absolutely a side of the debate.

Good take, Barry. Can I be a Deadspin columnist for the day. I can be just as angry about things as Albert and write in all-caps like Drew. NO ONE DENIES THIS.

Merriam-Webster’s, actually. Dictionary.com is for amateur pedants.

So you’re not mad. You’re the secondary, rarely used definition of an essentially synonymous word. Gotcha’.

And that’s different how?

Bukowski. Definitely Bukowski.

and then use your common sense to determine what usually happens when Westbrook doesn’t go off-the-wall.