Spencer Haywood and the Hall of Fame

Have you ever had the feeling that you missed out on something? That everyone knows about a story except for you, and you sit there like a fool, completely oblivious?

That's what is happening to me with Spencer Haywood and the Hall of Fame. In July, you might recall, we noticed that Haywood wrote in an online chat at the Seattle Times he was entering the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2012.

I was, to say the least, surprised to hear this. While it had been established that Haywood was among the nominees for the 2012 class, nothing had been confirmed yet, and no media outlet, to my knowledge, had published that story. Further, Haywood has been a nominee in the past, so he's fully aware that being a nominee doesn't necessarily guarantee enshrinement. Former Seattle Sonic Dennis Johnson waited more than a dozen years before he got the call to the Hall, and Haywood has, obviously, waited even longer.

And, yet, Haywood is at it again. In an article posted today at the Huffington Post, Haywood not only states he is going into the Hall in 2012, he even contemplates what he's going to say in his induction speech.

Again, I'll throw it out there: Is Spencer Haywood in the Hall of Fame? Is he being presumptuous, or is he merely just scooping the nomination committee's official statement later this year?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Wait, Didn't Alanis Morissette Sing About This Already?

I hope I'm not the only one who noticed the irony in Bill Simmons' latest column at ESPN. Essentially, it boils down to this:

The NBA better watch out because if they cancel this season, people are going to abandon the league for hockey.

Yes, hockey, the same sport that canceled its season five years ago. Look, people, I've said it before and I'll say it again - the NBA can, and will, survive a canceled season, a half-season, or a three-quarter season. There is no possible way the NHL will ever overtake the NBA in popularity - it's just impossible.

On the one hand you have hockey, which enjoys a participation rate that dropped 20 percent in a recent survey.

On the other hand you have basketball, which is the MOST POPULAR SPORT with young children in the U.S., drawing more than 25 million participants every year.

Then you add in the NCAA, high schools, rec leagues, gym games ... I mean, can you imagine anyone less egotistical than Simmons even suggesting that the NHL even had a chance at passing the NBA in popularity?

And when you add in the fact that the NHL abandoned its fans for an entire season, and yet rebounded to better popularity, how can anyone in their right mind even remotely believe that the NBA losing a season will impact its' popularity long-term?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it just seems ludicrous to me that the NBA's prospective canceled season should be causing anyone any worry. Yes, hardcore fans will miss some games and our annual Christmas tradition of watching overhyped regular season contests lull us into post-turkey naps might disappear, but, eventually, the league will return.

And so will its fans.

Aubrey: Whole Foods and the NBA

Whole Foods Market opened in Fridayland this week across from the Chesapeake Energy Campus and Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon, who is credited with bringing WFM to the city, said in his travels he noticed Whole Foods in Jackson, Ms., and other regional cities and decided to try to bring the organic food marketer to OKC.

“Turns out it was easier to get an NBA team than a Whole Foods,” quipped McClendon.

/Bangs head against keyboard

(via Oklahoma City Friday)