ESPN (Bill Simmons) article on NOLA (1 Viewer)

Yeah. Simmons is easily one of my favorite sports writers. Everything he says in that article about the city and the NBA is accurate (except seeing giant x's on houses driving from the airport unless he flew into Lakefront Airport). We all still have a lot of pain left over from August 2005, but not too many people are feeling sorry for themselves anymore. As he said, we can't afford to. We've got lives to live. Things have changed immesaurably for many of us - life, housing, families, etc. - but life goes on. You can curse the darkness or you can light a candle. It's up to you. If things go as planned, I'm about 15 or 16 months away from moving closer to or back to the city, and I'm pretty excited about that.

TPS
 
good stuff.

Fortunately for us, the Commish never wavered. Not only did he keep the All-Star Game in New Orleans and pull off a safe weekend, but he committed to the single largest day of community service in the history of professional sports -- a group of 2,500 people that included players, NBA employees, media people, investors, sponsors and politicians spending Friday afternoon at 10 different locations -- that lifted the spirits of everyone in the area. At the age of 65, following a tumultuous 2007 season that had insiders quietly wondering if he should step down soon, David Stern turned in what was unquestionably his greatest moment. I really believe that. It's one thing to make everyone rich; it's another thing to enrich people's lives.
 
"You came here because there are only a few cities that make you feel like you're in a movie, and New Orleans happened to be one of them."


Great line; I'm gonna have to remember that.

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For Simmons fans:

Do you remember the heat he took when the Pats played the Rams in 02? He blogged his week in NO and mentioned it was dirty and smelly on bourbon (I think) He was taken to task.

Long story short, he's always loved the city and always talked about it in high regards. One of the few. I am an avid reader. REally, unless he's on one of his RedSox tangents, I read it all.
 
For Simmons fans:

Do you remember the heat he took when the Pats played the Rams in 02? He blogged his week in NO and mentioned it was dirty and smelly on bourbon (I think) He was taken to task.

.

I read that when he wrote it and was suprised that he got so much grief for it. Bourbon is smelly and dirty.
 
This paragraph sums up exactly what I thought after watching the All Star weekend on tv:

"What's not to like about LeBron James? Dwyane Wade? Chris Bosh? Chris Paul? Deron Williams? Brandon Roy? Dwight Howard? Throw in Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Gilbert Arenas, Monta Ellis and Al Horford, and you're talking about an entire team of likable and gifted stars under the age of 25. There isn't a bad apple in the bunch."

I quite frankly have avoided the NBA the last ten years despite the fact I was a big Jazz fan way back when. I think this new crop of players will bring a lot of fans back to the game.
 
"There's a reason why they call this place the Big Easy -- it's just a big, sprawling, lazy place. You'll probably see Jerome Bettis take another painkiller injection in his groin before you see somebody in a hurry in New Orleans. Does anyone even work here? People just amble around ... you're not even really sure where they're going. Usually they aren't carrying anything, and they don't seem to be headed in a specific direction. I've stopped trying to figure it out."


:lol:
 
I quite frankly have avoided the NBA the last ten years despite the fact I was a big Jazz fan way back when. I think this new crop of players will bring a lot of fans back to the game.

Eventually. Perception is ingrained, it'll take some time for things to turn around. Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Steve Nash, etc began the process a few years ago, I personally feel the NBA is about to explode. Too much good basketball going on for too long now.
 
I've watched some outstanding games this season. The other night the Suns played the Warriors and it was an incredible pace and very high level (minimal turnovers).

I lost interest after Jordan retired because every year someone tried to replace Jordan with chumps like Harold Minor.

The game is back... look no further than Chris Paul and the Hornets.
 

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