Re: Trade Polls

[bird <birdw@aloha.net>]

>Oh, so sorry that thousands  and thousands of people out there in NBA land
>are all "lay people" while you by yourself on the other hand no more than
>the rest of us.  Forgive me, I thought this was America where opinions
>counted and majority ruled.  You must be on Pitego's payroll, because you
>are one of the few who don't see this for what it really is:  "THIEFDOM" at
>its best!  Troy

Oh, no need to apologize, because those thousands of people ought to 
know they are "laypeople."  I'm a basketball layperson, I freely 
admit that, and unless you're involved in the operation of a 
professional team, so are you.  There's no derogatory connotation to 
the term; it's just a statement of fact.  In other words I don't know 
more than you, necessarily, I just don't think that the Knicks made 
off like bandits.

Opinions, in America, as elsewhere, are ubiquitous (you'll recall the 
common adage that says opinions are like a part of the human anatomy 
in that we all have them), and, in the most simplistic sense, the 
majority's opinions (or money, and who can tell the difference 
sometimes?) rule politically, but if you're suggesting that, just 
because a majority of people, drawn from a sample of people who use 
Yahoo or ESPN, say something is so, that it makes that thing actually 
so, then you are sadly mistaken.  And the fact that someone has to 
point that out to you probably makes you a bit naive.  You may be 
right, the trade might work out better for the Knicks than LA or 
Seattle, but then again, you may not.  But the fact that 60% of 
people who chose to respond to a poll on some website happen to agree 
with you, is hardly the be-all and end-all of the discussion.

I don't know, maybe your idea of an ideal league is a "Realpolitik" 
NBA, where teams make all these off-season moves, and fans vote for 
who has the best team, then David Stern just gives to trophy to the 
team with the most votes.  Very democratic, and it _would_ get rid of 
those pesky, annoying games ... hmmm... .

And then, there's the inevitable "You must be on [insert derogatory 
name for Pitino or Walker or whoever]'s payroll" which is a variation 
of the usual insult-of-last-resort for those who can't see grays, but 
only black-and-white.  What can one say to that?  It's better not to 
respond, except to say that that Pitego crack is pretty funny.  (See, 
because Pitino's kind of full of himself, you see, he's got kind of a 
"Little Big Man" thing going for him, you see.  Brilliant stuff.) 
Man, I wish I was getting Ricky kickbacks -- with the big "El 
Presidente" contract, he's sure got enough to spare.