I KNEW BILL SIMMONS WAS MY FAVORITE SPORTS WRITER FOR A REASON! In today's article for Page 2, Bill discusses the 2004 NBA finals. (and he did a spectacular job of it... even put down a QUALITY description of the Lakers... here's an excerpt!

"More importantly, the sanctity of the game was restored. A team like the 2004 Lakers shouldn't win the title, not with so many involved for the wrong reasons. Shaq and Kobe have been co-existing uneasily for years, like two people trapped in a bad marriage, neither of them displaying the guts to ask for a divorce. Malone and Payton swallowed their pride for supporting roles on a potential champion, then folded like accordions when the team actually needed them. Phil Jackson kept holding on for a chance to break Red Auerbach's record of nine titles, even though he stopped breaking a sweat years ago. (His team was jarringly unprepared this spring.) Even the organization has been mailing it in for years -- it hasn't developed an above-average starter, much less an All-Star caliber player, since it traded for Kobe eight years ago." ~Bill Simmons, ESPN.com, Page 2

Its this kind of willingness to admit that your team is stacked for all the wrong reasons, despite living in LA, that makes me think there is still a shred of decency out there in the sports/sports writing world. There are still a few people out there who do have souls, (unlike Roger Clemens... But that's a whole other ball game). To see the complete Simmons article that I'm talking about, you just gotta go here. Ok, I gotta go to work now.... I'll get back to you kids later!