Filowitz's Friday Five

1) The NBA All-Star break comes at an odd time for the league. It's one of the few times of the year where the NBA gets front-and-center sports fan attention, since football is over, baseball hasn't started yet, and no one cares about hockey anymore. Except, this is the time of the year where a lot of teams already start to look ahead to the time off, and badly mail in some games. So you get the phenomenon of people finally starting to give the NBA a real look, only to find some well-hyped teams playing lethargically. The NBA should try to do something about this. Well, the only thing they can do is shorten the season, which will never happen, since it takes away revenue, so I guess we'll have to live with it. And the occasional Suns-Warriors game (like last Wednesday night) to get us by.

2) One of the cool things going on this weekend is that there's All-Star events for the NBDL, too. They're going to have them play HORSE, which could be a cool test to see if that can work for the NBA (as people like Bill Simmons have been calling for for years.) Also, it'll be a chance to see my favorite player-blogger, Rod Benson. If you're not reading Too Much Rod Benson, you're missing out. Boom Tho!

3) Besides this very sentence, I'm not writing a thing about the "story that should just go away and leave me alone but seriously I can't believe Congress is wasting its time holding hearings when it's barely looking at odious bills trying to give retroactive immunity to telecom companies but sure let's all get a chance to call a baseball player a big fat liar" issue that is Roger Clemens.

4) Do respond to Kris' query below. And while I'm plugging things, new Disciples of Clyde NBA Podcast this week. I thank you for your support.

5) In light of the Jason Kidd trade being held up by the incomparable Devean George, and because it is the worst winter in Chicago since I've been here, and since I feel like it and it's my freakin' regular blog feature so I'll do whatever my mood strikes, I leave you with this poem.

Ode to Melancholy

No, no! go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kissed
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty -- Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips;
Ay, in the very temple of delight
Veiled Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous
tongue
Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.


My man John Keats said that.